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Importance of environmental sustainability
Importance of environmental sustainability
Importance of environmental sustainability
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A New Vision of Reality
All throughout history human societies have been built and
destroyed. When destruction was within a society rather than from outside influences,
that society may have survived if problems had been recognized and
resolutions to those problems applied. In today's age, a society not only
has corrosion within the structure of that society but we must also face
extreme environmental problems which affect all of the world societies.
Upon reading The Turning Point by Fritjof Capra, I have reflected and
reevaluatedconcerns about our environment, social structures and relationships, and
thewelfare of the world's inhabitants.
This book has given a new scientific understanding of these issues
and their problems by exploring a holistic view of life and all of its
components. As Capra terms it, "a new vision of reality. The world is
becoming intertwined economically. This forces cultures to influence each
other. Therefore, problems must become worldly rather
then isolated issues. This means the new vision must encompass worldly
ideals into a meshing pot with old ideals. I will explore many isolated
cultural views throughout the paper, which blend with new worldly views.
The theory of evolution, the idea which things evolve over time, is no
longer a new concept in our view of reality. Therefore to understand our
multifaceted cultural crisis, we must adopt a variety of worldly ideals
and instead of placing these ideals in a fixed social structure we must
allow for a structure which evolves smoothly through changing times. If
societies can embrace the view that instead of fighting change within the
structure, we must intertwine never-ending change with culture's old
ideals, crisis appears as opportunity.
We can recognize the same belief in the Chinese culture through the
meaning of the word "wei-ji," in English translation the meaning of the
word "crisis." The Chinese alphabet is composed of characters and by
placing characters together, words are created as seen in "wei," the
character for danger and "ji," the character for opportunity. These
characters express crisis as a danger to the society's existence but there
is also opportunity to solve the problem and in-turn better the society.
Looking at the nature of our challenges not at the various symptoms of
crisis, but at the underlying changes in our natural and social
environment, we can recognize the joining of several transitions. Some of
them are connected with natural resources, others with cultural values and
ideas. One of the most profound transitions is due to the slow but
inevitable decline of patriarchy (man's nature and his relation to the
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
David W. Blight's book Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War, is an intriguing look back into the Civil War era which is very heavily studied but misunderstood according to Blight. Blight focuses on how memory shapes history Blight feels, while the Civil War accomplished it goal of abolishing slavery, it fell short of its ultimate potential to pave the way for equality. Blight attempts to prove that the Civil War does little to bring equality to blacks. This book is a composite of twelve essays which are spilt into three parts. The Preludes describe blacks during the era before the Civil War and their struggle to over come slavery and describes the causes, course and consequences of the war. Problems in Civil War memory describes black history and deals with how during and after the war Americans seemed to forget the true meaning of the war which was race. And the postludes describes some for the leaders of black society and how they are attempting to keep the memory and the real meaning of the Civil War alive and explains the purpose of studying historical memory.
Typical stories of civil rights demonstrations by African Americans and civil rights workers in the south tell accounts of passive resistance and nonviolent protest. They tell accounts of African Americans being neglected and ignored in restaurants, verbally abused for being out of “their neighborhoods”, and beaten and arrested for speaking up or acting out against such grave injustices. They were further repressed by the fact that the police, prosecutors, judges, mayors, and even governors of southern areas not only turned a blind eye to newly enacted civil rights legislation but also actively participated in ensuring the continued suppression of African American acceptance. This complete segregation from society and lack of protection under the law naturally spawned groups of African Americans who decided that the only protection they were going to get was the protection they provided for themselves. They began to arm themselves, forming small bands that set out to protect civil rights demonstrators and retaliate against racist acts. One such group was the Deacons for Defense and Justice in Louisiana. In his book Crossing Border Street Peter Jan Honigsberg tells of his experiences with the Deacons while working as a civil rights worker in Louisiana. Becoming deeply immersed into African American culture Honigsberg learns what it means to be black and living in the south during the civil rights movement. Furthermore he reveals some of the motivations of white individuals who participated in the movement.
In the poem pride, Dahlia Ravikovitch uses many poetic devices. She uses an analogy for the poem as a whole, and a few metaphors inside it, such as, “the rock has an open wound.” Ravikovitch also uses personification multiple times, for example: “Years pass over them as they wait.” and, “the seaweed whips around, the sea bursts forth and rolls back--” Ravikovitch also uses inclusive language such as when she says: “I’m telling you,” and “I told you.” She uses these phrases to make the reader feel apart of the poem, and to draw the reader in. She also uses repetition, for example, repetition of the word years.
Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery' clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery,' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.
One’s identity is influenced by many things. It’s something that one has a choice of what he wants to become. One has a personal choice as to what identity he possesses; for instance, he can choose what he likes, who he wishes to be friends with, and what he wears. After all, “Fashion is an expression of personal identity” (Latterell 11). Queen Latifah states, “All things start inside your soul and work outward” meaning that it is one’s choice as to what he lets work its way out (Latifah 34). People have even made personal choices that affect their identity by changing their name. Just as Firoozeh Dumas describes in The “F Word”, “Thus I started sixth grade with my new, easy name and life became infinitely simpler” (Dumas 86). People made fun of Dumas’ name, Firoozeh, and thus made her want to change her name to fit in; she changed her identity. An identity is mainly comprised of personal choice.
Turning Point by Jimmy Carter provides a look into his first experience with politics as he runs for the Georgia state senate in 1962. He believed it was possible to change the direction his home state was headed, specifically focusing on education. Instead of having a run-of-the-mill experience in democracy, he faced election corruption by those in power and legal challenges up until the moment he was finally sworn in as state senator.
In his book “Between the World and Me”, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores what it means to be a black body living in the white world of the United States. Fashioned as a letter to his son, the book recounts Coates’ own experiences as a black man as well as his observations of the present and past treatment of the black body in the United States. Weaving together history, present, and personal, Coates ruminates about how to live in a black body in the United States. It is the wisdom that Coates finds within his own quest of self-discovery that Coates imparts to his son.
Daru, the schoolteacher in a remote area of Algeria, is torn between duty and what he believes is the right thing to do when he is suddenly forced in the middle of a situation he does not expect. He must escort an Arabic prisoner to the nearest town. It is not that Daru has much sympathy for the man; in fact, he does not, and actually finds himself disliking the Arab for disrupting so many lives. "Daru felt a sudden wrath against the man, against all men with their rotten spite, their tireless hates, their blood lust." Unfortunately, Daru loves his homeland, and cannot bear to think of leaving, despite the chaos that is raging around him between France and the Algerian natives. I believe that Daru makes the right choice in letting the prisoner choose his own fate. Daru has reaso...
Anabolic steroids are a group of muscle building chemicals, which are synthetic versions of the male hormone, testosterone. Developed in the 1930’s, they were prescribed to aid in muscle tissue repair by those who had undergone surgery or had degenerative diseases. Now the patients do not only use them but also athletes. Starting in the 1940’s steroids were introduced into sports. Steroids were one of the main reasons that Russia’s 1952 Olympic weightlifting team came out with pile of medals. With these results other nations thought their competitors should have the same advantage, and the use of steroids spread like wildfire.(NIDA pg 2) But now steroids are illegal to use if not prescribed by a physician, and have been banned by nearly all-athletic organizations, both professional and amateur.
In the short story “Being There”, by Jerzy Kosinski, there are multiple examples of satire that are displayed throughout both the book and the movie. A few of them are: media, death, politics, and racism. The satire of the media was very similar in the book and the movie. Media played a big role in society and still does to this day.
The article discussed how women are trying to work their way up the ranks into high level senior leadership roles. In an article by Cook and Glass (2011) talked about Human Resource Management and how there was an increase in stock price for a company when investors discovered that there was going
O'Neil, June. "A Flexible Work Force : Opportunities for Women." Journal of Labor Research (1992): 67-72.
Women at Point Zero is a book written by Nawal El Saadawi where she focuses on the main character Firdaus and shares her story in a way that allows reader to get an idea of the patriarchal structures of Egyptian society. Her life story shows readers the obvious discontentment women have with the way society views them, and the glorification of things that go against normal societal structures. This book does an excellent job of portraying the patriarchal society and how women are dominated by men. However, it truly reinforces the stereotype that western culture has of Middle Eastern men as being animalistic beings ravaging defenseless women and the role of Islam.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.