Each of Us Has the Power to Change the World :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the whole world has been seeking world peace harder than ever before. Ironically though, the world today has also seen tragic wars and conflicts that have the capability to destroy mankind. Possession of nuclear weapons, indiscriminate attacks against innocents, and abuse of human rights are the realities that we should not turn our back on but instead face up to. Strong individual, ethnic, and national identities sometimes lead to conflicts because they are entities which drive humans to become self-seeking, disrespectful, and often exclusionary. However, the process of becoming aware of individual identity also can result in the solution of international conflicts between people of different cultures and ethnicities. This happens because in the process of understanding who you are, you are also able to appreciate other people's identities. Hence, it is important for every single person, whatever culture or philosophy he or she possesses, t o believe that an effort made by an individual can directly solve future conflicts between people, no matter what their ethnic differences. One must understand conflicts to solve them. It is important to consider what they are, why they are, what characteristics they have, and how they can be categorized. Conflicts are natural among humans; people desire to protect their local society or, in the present, the international community. In fact, a conflict that maintains or eventually reunifies national identity is an advantage for human society.1 Imannuel Kant, an Enlightenment philosopher of the eighteenth century who strongly believed in international cooperation and peace, even stated, "All wars are so many attempts to bring about new relations among the states and to form new bodies...there is created a state that civic commonwealth can maintain itself automatically."2 In the same way, confrontation within a society sometimes has positive consequences. During the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1960s, African Americans were determined to draw a line between white people and themselves recognize themsel ves as an independent and equal entity. They suffered severe conflict to achieve this goal. Conflict exists today because we have ethnic or cultural borders that are not only geographical (i.e. national borders) but also psychological. These boundaries are often mutable and situational, however. In fact, many anthropologists define ethnic identity and boundaries in different ways. One of the reasons for the different definitions is that people choose which ethnic identity to use based on context.

Free Terrorism Essays: We Must Oppose Peaceniks :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

We Must Oppose Peaceniks There is a certain segment of the population on any contemporary college campus that is never satisfied unless it is dissatisfied. So addicted is this small minority to the rush one receives from righteous indignation that, after centuries of moral progress in what is by now a relatively just society, their lives are reduced to a desperate search for sufficiently eye-catching evils to combat. Sweatshops one year, the low wages of University workers the next - while collegiate activism addicts often find themselves fighting real and continuing injustices, their brief battles are mere momentary fads, reduced to being the political equivalent of bellbottoms or boy bands. In the middle of the 2001 fall fashion season, however - a season which was supposed to bring with it both shorter hemlines and renewed opposition to the IMF - Americans witnessed evil in its purest and most dramatic form. Here, finally, was a genuine need for immediate action. Habitual activists thus joined their fellow students in giving blood and helping to organize aid for the victims of the tragedy, and I applaud them for their good work. Horrified at for once being part of a moral majority, however, this coterie soon found that the relief effort was insufficient to satisfy its old addiction. A real jolt of righteous indignation, it seems, comes only from a stance directly opposed to that of the American mainstream, or, as they like to call it, the capitalist hegemony. The movementarians needed to find a new, less popular movement for themselves, and sure enough one was to be found with relative ease - a late '60s classic that never goes out of style, one by the name of "peace." Generally speaking, I too am in favor of peace. (For the record, I'm generally well to the left of Joe Lieberman.) Not only would I take a state of peace over a state of war any day, I am also opposed to such military tactics as the invasion of randomly selected developing nations or the wholesale slaughter of their innocent civilians. Except for those with a religiously grounded commitment to absolute pacifism, however, we can all agree that there are times when certain acts of war are both appropriate and just. The vast majority of the American people believe that now is one of those times, and they are right to do so.

Analysis of Mise-En-Scene in the Film ‘American Beauty’

How does mise-en-scene create meaning and provoke response in the opening of American Beauty? The opening scene of American Beauty shows a teenage girl lying in a bed, venting her feelings towards her father. In this, the audience sees her in dull clothing and colours, minimal make-up and has greasy-looking hair. As she sits up, her hair falls around her face and she stares directly into the camera, giving a sense of unease to the audience. The next shot is an establishing shot, showing the street where the main character, Leister, lives.Its fall/autumn time and the trees are bare or dying, possibly indicating and foreshadowing a death later on in the movie. Also the streets are very linear, all vertical and in uniform, as it were. The opening very much portrays emptiness and dysfunctional family relationships. A perfect example of this would be the bedroom shot; the room is very empty and bland. The colour scheme looks very neutral as the walls, carpets, sheets and even lamps are cr eams and white- a clean look.The bedroom is also divided and symmetrical; the audience gets the feel that the relationship between Leister and his wife is not very close and intimacy is lacking. Also, the lamps and bedside tables placed either side of the bed suggests separation and how their relationship seems very â€Å"Mr&Mrs†. Leister is also a disruption to the room- his checked pyjamas are in linear and in uniform with the rest of the room- as he looks out of place, sprawled in the bed, sheets ruffled and contrasting with the colour scheme of the room.When Leister then moves into the shower, the audience sees him ease his face into the pouring water, suggesting how he might ease his way into life situations slowly and cautiously. The next shot pans across the room as Leister masturbates in the shower, indicating the lack of intimacy in his relationship and that he feels the need and obligation to satisfy his own sexual needs. The shot shows the shower doors and the vert ical lines around the door frame, looking like bars almost, suggesting he is enclosed. This sense of enclosure and being trapped is repeated and a recurring theme throughout the sequence.This opening introduces the family’s lifestyle and sets the scene for the audience, from the shot following Leister’s shower, the audience gets the sense that the wife is the head of the house as she gardens in a bright, contemporary looking garden. The camera goes to a close up on the rose as the woman clips it from the bush. This rose is called American Beauty which is also the name of the film. She is dressed in a plain grey suit and a clean white apron, again fitting in with the colour scheme of the interior decor.She also wears pearl earrings and a pearl necklace with her hair perfectly framing this and has impeccable make up, indicating what the perfect American housewife should resemble. She also converses with the homosexual neighbours about the secret to her roses flourishing so well; she seems happy and overly enthusiastic. The audience then see a shot of Leister, again, enclosed in an environment- this time the window. The audience sees him behind the window panes, in between two bright blue shutters, indicating his isolation and loneliness within his own home. The colour blue is also an interesting choice by the director.Blue suggests calm and tranquillity within the home, and also reflects on the colour of the perfect blue sky. Leister seems to fit in as he reflects on his own life and his past happiness, and also seems unsettled within himself, contrasting to the natural connotations of the colour blue. Following this shot, the daughter, Janey, is introduced as she types on her computer in her bedroom. Janey wears a jumper with roses embellished across the top half, with stripes down the arms, it is a very ‘busy’ jumper and again her sleeves represents a similar linear lifestyle to that of the rest of the house.The camera then moves to a point of view shot so the audience can see what she is looking at- as she shuts down a list of some sort, a web page on ‘Breast Augmentation’ is shown for a few seconds, giving the audience enough time to read the title of the page and respond. This is deemed to be something a teenaged girl uncomfortable in her own body would typically look at. Janey then walks over to her mirror and turns to the side and stares at her breast and visually inspects them in disgust.She seems disheartened and is dressed in a pair of beige/khaki trousers which completely contrast to her jumper, making her look ‘frumpy’ and out of place. The outside of the house is then shown in a long shot as Janey and Leister exit the house to the family car. The house looks bright and contemporary with bright blue shutters, a red door to compliment the roses in the bushes, perfect green lawn and a white picket fence, again representing enclosure, the feeling that Leister is trapped in a cag e. The house looks like a family home that wishes to portray friendliness and welcome guests.Also, the family car is much too large for the family; there is too much space inside. This shows how empty the family life is and suggests the proximity of relationships within the family. The family positioning in the car is also odd, the wife in the front seat driving, Janey in the passenger seat and Leister taking a nap, hugging his suitcase to his chest in the back seat; Leister has almost taken the child’s role in the family. The camera then shows the audience the view from the back window, and focuses on one small, lonesome cloud that has broken away from the others.This could show Leister’s isolation and how he feels like he is ‘sedated’, cast away from the other people and disconnected and alone. Overall, this opening sequence really uses mise-en scene to provoke empathy for Leister and to an extent, Janey, and show a deeper meaning into the family’ s lifestyle. The director has used mise-en-scene throughout the opening sequence to show how dysfunctional a seemingly ‘perfect’ family is and unravels family problems and struggles within the first four minutes just by using props, patterns and structuring settings.

Computer Ethic and Privacy

Computers and the world of information technology are advancing quickly in this generation. Moor in his 1985 article â€Å"What is Computer Ethics? † stated that, â€Å"Computers provide us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for action†. Hence, arguments about privacy and ethics in computer technology arise. With the birth on computers there â€Å"was concern right away that computers would be used inappropriately to the detriment of society†(Herold, 2006). I believe that the good is outweighing the bad when it comes to computers.I also believe there is a degree of user Alana Northrop states in her paper that, â€Å"Computerized search systems have been one of the most widely deployed management science technologies in the fight against crime†(1993). Police officers use computers in their cars now. The computers gives them access to information on citizens and also has the ability to give them directions to where they want to go. E verybody benefits from the use of GPS. At some point everyone has used Google Maps and perhaps even Google Street View to find an address.But is Street View seen as an invasion of privacy? Or is it just another stride in computer and information advancement? I believe the way people use computers and information play a big role in the social benefits. People and corporations alike use computers and information as a tool for more information or for leverage. What users do not often understand is that â€Å"they also have a responsibility to consider the ramifications of their actions and to behave accordingly†(Herold, 2006).Software piracy and plagiarism are examples of what happens when computer users decide to ignore ethics and use the computer and information for their own personal gains and/or pleasure. Hackers believe that it’s acceptable to do anything with a computer as long as the purpose is to learn. This utilitarian way of thinking, that anything is ok as long as it is for the greater good (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2009), contributes to harming the social good. Hacking, piracy, plagiarism; these are the things happen because of how a person decided to use information.The information in and of itself is not harming the social good. That being said; the benefits of computers and the information they gather and store will always outweigh the harming of the social good. If you look at how far mankind has come with the help of computers and information technology, you will find evidence of this. Hospital records and now easier to access and store. Credit reports no longer takes weeks to obtain. We could go on and on with examples of how computers benefit society. I’m not sure that there is a way to effectively embrace computers while preventing the harm of the social good.With good things come the bad. We just need to accept that. Laws and regulations are in place to help minimize damage to the social good but even those have their li mits. It really leans heavily on the moral character of the people that live in today’s world. Yes, without computers we wouldn’t have these issues. But we do have them and they mostly make our lives easier and simpler and I would say the trade-off is fair. References: Beauchamp, T. L. , Bowie, N. , & Arnold, D. (2009). Ethical Theory and Business, (8th ed. ).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Herold, R. (2006). Introduction to computer ethics. Retrieved from http://www. infosectoday. com/Articles/Intro_Computer_Ethics. htm Moor, J. (1985). What is computer ethics?. Metaphilosophy, 16(4), 266. Northrup, A. (1993). Police use of computers. Informally published manuscript, Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations, University of California- Irvine, Irvine, California. , Available from Escholarship. org. (qt71x0h7hb)Retrieved from http://escholarship. org/uc/item/71x0h7hb

History of Jackie Robinson Essay

The movie 42 is a fairly new non-fiction movie describing the life history of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Baseball League (MLB) in the modern era, and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 42 shows how hard it was in the 1940s to be a black man or woman, but Jackie Robinson and his team executive, Branch Rickey, did the unthinkable. The film 42 takes its audience on a journey through Jackie Robinson’s life as a professional baseball player and shows all of his accomplishments, along with all of his downfalls. Jackie Robinson’s team executive from the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, put himself and Jackie Robinson to the forefront of history. When Rickey signed Robinson he made a major decision, and broke the Major Baseball League’s â€Å"color barrier†. Not only did Branch Rickey put himself and Jackie Robinson in danger, but also other baseball players. Everyone was facing bashing racism from all sides. The film 42 shows how Jackie Robinson had to demonstrate tremendous amounts of courage and restraint. If Robinson would have reacted in anyway towards all of the racism he could of destroyed Rickey’s and his own dreams. The story presented in 42 mostly focuses on Robinson’s season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and somewhat on his season with the Montreal Royals in 1946. His first season in 1946 with the Montreal Royals is where he battled a lot of racism from his audience. One scene from 42 stood out the most and was actually a hard scene to watch. Ben Chapmen, the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies at the time, repeatedly called Jackie Robinson a â€Å"nigger† loudly while he was up to bat. Of course Robinson had to remain calm, but it was so difficult. He then went back into the dugout and ended up smashing his bat into the walls and ground venting his anger. After Branch Rickey came to calm him down and explain that no one said what Jackie was doing was going to be easy, Jackie Robinson got up to bat once again. Robinson then proves Chapmen wrong and he ends up hitting a single, then stealing second base and continuing to third base on an error,  and then finally scoring the winning run. Ben Chapmen was left speechless. Later on, Ben Chapmen came to realize that what he did was very unacceptable, even under the circumstances. Although all the insiders knew Chapmen still believes what he did is okay, Chapmen decided to get a picture taken with Jackie Robinson shaking his hand to show the public and press that he w as â€Å"sorry† and that everything between him and Robinson was â€Å"okay†. The press believed it and so did the public, so it actually worked. Besides the incident with Ben Chapmen, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey were still facing major racism comments and letters from the public. The public was not happy with the thought of an African American playing America’s favorite sport. The letters and comments were mostly horrible threats that Rickey and Robinson had to ignore because even the police would not do anything about it. Most of the policemen even agreed to what was being said! The beginning of Jackie Robinson’s career was tough, but Rickey believed in him, and his family. Not only was Jackie Robinson making baseball history, he was also starting to win over fans and teammates with his astounding skill and calm nature. Robinson’s wife, Rachel, was always on the side lines cheering him on from day one, even before the MLB was even brought up to him! She was his number one fan throughout his whole life and career. They were inseparable, and eventually went on to have a baby boy and named him Jackie Robinson Jr., who then became Robinson’s second biggest fan. Number 42 let his talent silence his critics as the seasons went on. Peopl e began to cheer for him instead of â€Å"booing† him and calling him mean names. Of course there were still many people who opposed the idea of having a black man in America’s favorite sport, but eventually those people had to get over themselves because time was changing, and it was not going back to the way it was before. He basically paved a path for other African American baseball players to follow as well. Many people of all ages who knew and saw Robinson looked up to him. Jackie Robinson was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and when he retired, his number 42 was retired throughout all of baseball as well. Jackie Robinson is a baseball legend, and the movie 42 shows it all. Works Cited 42. Dir. Brian Helgeland. Perf. Brian Helgeland and Thomas Tull. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2013. Film.

Foundation Early childhood studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Foundation Early childhood studies - Essay Example ironment that emphasizes on morals and religion there is a high probability that those children will be well disciplined (Jones, Holmes & Powell, 2007). That notwithstanding the religious knowledge which was introduced to them at a tender age will enable them view the world from a religious perspective whereby everything has to be related to a supernatural god (Global Alliance for Advancing Hcd Programmes, 2010) In addition, child development does not entail only physical growth it is a multi-facet process that entails a lot of process ranging from cognitive development to the manner in which a child views things and reasons out (Fabian, & Mould, 2009). Human beings are social beings thus they will tend to imitate the behaviours of the people they interact with in their immediate environment (Derobertis, 1997). Children that are brought up in a surrounding whereby people are drunkard or possess any other undesirable trait will most likely grow up with the same trait (Taylor, & Woods, 2005). This basically because when the mind of a human being is young and developing the things that it was exposed to are prone to stick there forever unless that individual undergoes a total psychological dynamism in some point in life which may help to change the mind-set from previous habits (Meggitt, 2006). Human beings just like any other creatures undergo the process of physical development this is occasioned by repetitive differentiation of body cells leading to cell multiplication which in turn results to a living organism growing (Meggitt, (2006). According to the maturationist theory which was advanced by Arnold Gessel physical development in children is a purely biological process that occurs automatically to all children as long as they are kept health in an enabling environment (Fabian, & Mould, 2009). It goes on to state that the physical development process is predictable in the sense that by carefully analysing the progress in a child one is able to predict the

Business financial system analyst Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business financial system analyst - Essay Example The aim of this essay is to outline the business model that the business analyst develops in an effort to determine the projects potential success or failure or whether the risk free rate should be used as the alternative of the financial model. The investment sector chosen is the financial sector. Choice of Investment Financial sector can be defined as the stock category that contains the firms whose main job is the provision of services relating to finance to the commercial, as well as the retail customers. The sector comprises of entities ranging from banks, insurance companies, and investment funds to the real estate. As a business analyst, the choice to invest the 100 million United States dollars in the real estate and the investment funds was inevitable (Kolb, 2010). When making an investment choice, a number of items are considered to ensure that the investment will be profitable. The investor has to analyze the extent of risk that he or she can handle. For instance in choosi ng to buy bonds or shares, the risk is high since the funds are not insured. The investor has to choose the best investment mix or portfolio. Considering an investment mix is beneficial especially when the investor is protecting or guarding against unanticipated losses. The assets allocation should be carried out in a way that the risk is spread and high to ensure higher returns. The investor has to consider diversifying the investments to ensure that the risk of losses is not extreme. For instance, it is advised that the investor should not make hug investments in one sector of the economy. Otherwise should the sector fail, all his or her investment s would be submerged. With this knowledge, the investor decided to make the following decision. Money's 60 % was invested in the building of a prominent rental building in the outskirts of Chicago while the remaining 40 million dollars were invested in purchases of bonds of the Microsoft and the Unilever companies (Lockie, 2013). Having chosen the investment portfolio, it is significant to note that financial stability is therefore, crucial when it comes to sustaining economic growth. Economic growth in this case refers to the growth of the investment. In an effort to detect the vulnerability that exists in the financial system, macroprudential analysis model is recommended to be the best in analyzing the situation of a financial system. The analysis involves the identification of the financial soundness indicators and some of the methods that are used in their analysis (Robert, 2006). Macroprudential Analysis This is defined as the analysis of the economy that seeks to evaluate and examine the soundness of the financial system while taking into consideration the vulnerability and of a given financial system. The analysis involves the use of quantitative information mostly involving FSIs. The use of other indicators of the economy that give a broader picture in matters of financial and the economy is also recommen ded. Using this model I shall establish and investigate the linkages that exist between the real economic sector and the financial system (Mesonnier, 2012). The model will also assist in the scenario analysis and also in the testing of the stresses that may occur in this business investment field. Through the model, I will be able to note the system's sensitivity to the various economic shocks together with the resilience to the shocks. In a broader perspective, macroprudential