The universal truth that effort and awareness are necessary for liberation is evident in the song “Wavin’ Flag” by K’NAAN, essay “What is Poverty?” by Theodore Dalrymple and documentary “Solar Mamas” by Mona Eldaief and Jehane Noujaim through effective presentation of the Marxist Literary Theory. Firstly, the universal truth that effort and awareness are necessary for liberation is displayed in the essay “What is Poverty?” by Theodore Dalrymple through the idea that ignorance restricts enlightenment. Ignorance makes an individual blind o he world, unaware of the truth and reality. To be aware and to escape ignorance, effort is required True liberation of the mind, body, and soul leads to enlightenment. Both lack of effort and awareness are up to the individual, and thus, liberation and enlightenment are up to the individual as well. To achieve liberation, one must take the effort, and one must dispel ignorance by being aware. This is displayed in the essay through a quote; Moreover, political authority in the countries in which I worked was arbitrary, capricious, and corrupt… Yet nothing I saw—neither the poverty nor the overt oppression—ever had the same devastating effect on the human personality as the undiscriminating welfare state. I never saw the loss of dignity, the self-centeredness, the spiritual and emotional vacuity, or the sheer ignorance of how to live, that I see daily in England. In a kind of pincer movement, therefore, I and the doctors from India and the Philippines have come to the same terrible conclusion: that the worst poverty is in England—and it is not material poverty but poverty of soul. (Dalrymple, 6) In reference to the quote, the “poverty and overt oppression” in countries like Africa did not stop t... ... middle of paper ... .... However, the academic nature of the essay leads to it being taken more seriously. Therefore, the form of the essay is more effective due to its form. Thus, the essay “What is Poverty?” by Theodore Dalrymple is the most effective medium of representing the universal truth that effort and awareness are necessary for liberation. Works Cited Warsame, Keinan Abdi. "Wavin' Flag." K'NAAN. Kerry Brothers, Jr., Bruno Mars, 2009. CD. Dalrymple, Theodore. “What is Poverty?” Oh, to be in England. Ed. Brian C. Anderson. New York: The Manhattan Institute, City Journal, Spring 1999. Electronic. 6. Solar Mamas. Dir. Mona Eldaief and Jehane Noujaim. Perf. Rafea, Abu Badr, Umm Badr, and Raouf Dabbas. Rafea: Solar Mama. Toronto International Film Festival, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.
What is poverty? Is poverty measured by a state of being or is poverty measured by the money we make and material possession’s we hold on to so tightly. In Theodore Dalrymple’s “What is Poverty” he explains the effects of a being a “welfare state”, such as England is, but does this truly answer the question of what it truly means to be povern.
Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2008.
Whether it’s trying to cope with living in poverty, being different from others, or questioning fate; all internal battles that these authors are writing about in their essays. In the essay ‘Shame’ by Dick Gregory, he explains what he must do because he is living in poverty. Nevertheless, his family doesn’t have much money he goes to school on an empty stomach, which makes him
In this program, it centers on a pattern of segregation and genocide evident in King Leopold’s Belgian Congo rampages, the terrorism of Jim Crow, South Africa apartheid rule, and less recognizable examples that persist in today’s global community. Slavery caused Blacks to suffer, and allowed
In “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” Peter Singer is trying to argue that “the way people in relatively affluent countries react to a situation… cannot be justified; indeed,… our moral conceptual scheme needs to be altered and with it, the way of life that has come to be taken for granted in our society”(Singer 230). Peter Singer provides striking examples to show the reader how realistic his arguments are. In this paper, I will briefly give a summary of Peter Singer’s argument and the assumptions that follow, adding personal opinions for or against Peter’s statements. I hope that within this paper, I am able to be clearly show you my thoughts in regards to Singer.
University, T. T. (2011). Deprivation and it's Discontents. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from indianapublicmedia.org: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/deprivation-discontents/
...th what little they have, however; why is it left to the poor to have to suffer the consequences of these political choices. The persistence of extreme poverty and social ills speak to a situation that bears for a different approach. It is clear that capitalism and free market solutions cannot spread wealth as advocated. American governments have shown their reluctance to admit this discrepancy through the strategic creations of welfare policies and welfare reform coupled with placing blame upon the citizens who possess little power to change market decisions that govern and effect their lives.
...taking the viewpoint that everyone can contribute in the fight for the common good, and that every action has the potential to be a catalyst for further actions, even the greatest forces of oppression can be taken down. It is only when we start to think of our fellow man, and begin to accept the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around a one single entity, that the chains of political and social injustice will loosen and a sustainable citizenship will become viable.
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions. 8th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 7-15. Print.
Fraser, D. (2003) 3rd Ed. The Evolution of the British Welfare State. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Stitt, S. (1994) Poverty and Poor Relief: Concepts and Reality.
Shipler, David K. “The Working Poor: Invisible In America”. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
What do you consider poverty to be? Do you have a definitive explanation of it or do you consider it an abstract circumstance? In the article "What is Poverty? Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. First given as a speech, this article is written as an attack on human emotion.
...of oppression. In order to free ourselves from this cycle, we must alter the very tools used by the powerful to perpetuate the system of oppression. Out of all the factors that contribute to the maintenance of oppression, Education plays the most extensive role in preserving a hierarchical order. This is because education is the vehicle by which knowledge is produced and attained. Freire’s “co-intentional” education would contribute to the struggle for liberation the most out of all other factors.
...person has to get inside the experience of poverty. To get inside of the experience of poverty is to understand what a person who lives in poverty goes through on a daily basis, such as alienation from the rest of society. Second, they must understand the economic situation of the poor. This person has to understand what it feels like to barely make it in a society that is driven to focus on an idea of success and prosperity. Lastly, they must understand the spirituality (Vocatio) of theology. To understand this Vocatio the person must change their social class and live the way of poverty.