During those times when I have lost hope Essay Example for Free

During those times when I have lost hope Essay I cannot imagine life without Christina. In fact, I cannot remember a time in my life when she was not there with me or for me. More than best friends, we are like sisters. We shop together and we talk about everything and anything. And just like sisters, we too have our own fair share of misunderstandings and arguments but in the end, it is our bond of friendship that makes us kiss and make up. Christina was not my best friend when I was younger. In fact, we did not like each other. She was the type who was always hanging around with the cooler girls in school while I was the one who was always hanging around with the guys. So she was the princess and I was the tomboy. We could hardly look at each other because our crowds were of two completely different worlds. But an unfortunate event happened that made us talk to each other. You see, Christina and I were neighbors. And on that fateful rainy spring day, I got locked out of my house while my parents were out of town for a conference. I had to knock on the door of Christina’s house and her family let me stay until my parents got home. It was then that we realized that we were not really that different from each other. We liked the same movies and the same kind of music. From then on, we started hanging out in school and after school. Christina is a very optimistic person, the complete opposite of how I am. I always see the worse in things while she always saw the sunshine after the rain. During the lowest times of my life, she was there to cheer me up and always reminded me that there is no problem big enough that cannot be solved. She always told me that the problems that come my way are just challenges in life that I must overcome to become a stronger and more mature person. During those times when I have lost hope, her hug or simple pat on the shoulder would make everything alright because she makes me feel that I do not have to go through life alone. It is from Christina that I have learned that there is something good in every person and in every thing. I must admit that I am a very judgmental person but Christina has influenced me to be more open minded about how I perceive the people I meet and the things that I encounter. She would constantly tell me the cliche don’t judge a book by its cover and I would just laugh her off. But then she would remind me of the circumstances on how we started becoming friends. And she’s right that by her appearance alone, I will choose not to be friends with her. But she is also correct that since I took time to get to know her, I learned that her appearance alone does not define her entire being. Now, I am very careful with how I interact with people and that before I dismiss them and not want anything to do with them, I try to talk to them first and get to know a little bit of them to see if we have things in common. Another good thing that I have learned from Christina is how to take a break from school and all the other stressful extra-curricular activities that I have. I come from a very demanding family when it comes to school and my parents do not realize how much pressure they put on me to do well in school. So there are times when I would be awake for days, trying to prepare for an exam or a paper and would miss out on parties and shopping with friends. Christina taught me the importance of balance in life. For one, she is the type of student who can go to a party every weekend and yet still manage to get those A’s in school. She constantly reminds me that rest is important and that there is no use in studying all the time if I would be too tired or weary to take the exams. I have learned that there is a time for everything and that balance is essential to keep myself sane. But by far, the most important thing that Christina has taught me is how to love myself. My insecurities are like little battles for me everyday. When my boyfriend broke up with me for a girl who looked like a supermodel, all my insecurities started to envelope me. I started hating and doubting myself. There came a point when I found nothing good about myself and started wasting my life away. But Christina was there to pick me up and to shake some sense into my head. She, with some other friends, talked to me through some sort of intervention and told me all the good things that they see in me. They pounded in my head that unless and until I start seeing the good in myself, I will never be able to offer what I have to other people; and that if I didn’t believe in myself, then other people will start losing their faith in me as well. It was not easy to bounce back into the life I used to have: the more focused and idealistic me. But I am grateful that Christina was with me every step of the way, helping me collect the pieces of my life and putting them back together, as if completing a puzzle. Differences brought me and Christina together as friends. And it is differences that continue to bind us. I no longer consider Christina as my best friend but as my sister, someone that has shaped my life and continues to shape my life for the better. I just wish that someday I can give back to her everything that she has done for me as my way of saying how grateful I am that she is a part of my life.

War & Peace (International Security) Essay Example for Free

War Peace (International Security) Essay For almost half a century humans have sought principles for the maintenance of their security and the peaceful settlement of their disputes. Each historic period has witnessed the emergence of new concepts or an instance of re-emergence of old with trust that the mistakes of the past would not be done again. After the Cold War mankind has entered again such a period of doubt and research. The framework of international relations has changed so meaningly over the last decade that it is fair to declare that a new era has begun. This era offers hope, but no condition of being certain. Some unanimity has become obvious: that this new era needs a many-sided approach to the resolution of its conflicts, some that came from the past, some generated in the chaos of adaptation to new conditions of growing freedom, of enmity reborn, and of increasing challenges to the peace required for security of people. After the Cold War, globalization increased the motives for states to pursue more cooperative security policies, in particular at the regional level. In what follows, this paper looks at the main transformations in the structure of international security over the last decade. How is one to understand the structure of security at the global level? The paper considers how globalization in general and particular aspects of it became securitized by the actors in the international arena. Main Body Any coherent regionalist approach to international security must begin by establishing clear distinctions between what constitutes the regional and global level. Distinguishing the regional from the global is not easy task. The easy part is that a region must surely be less than the whole, and of course much less. There would not be much opposition to the claim that the United States is a global level actor. But the problem emerges when one tries to determine particular actors. Should Russia be regarded as a global power or a regional one? What about China? Traditional realism does not help in this task because it usually positions states as great, middle, or small powers. Traditional realism does not regard the powers that are structurally significant at the regional level. How the structures are defined shapes the nature of international security. For this reason it is better to approach the global–regional boundary by starting from the top down. Both the neorealist and globalist theories focus on an idea of global structure. Neorealism is considers two levels, system and unit. Neorealists either underestimate or disregard all levels except the system one. Neorealism is to some extent strong on territoriality. Potential harmony between it and the regionalist perspective is possible, specifically when states are the main actors. There is room for controversy between neorealism and regionalism when the security agenda moves to issue areas other than military-political, to actors other than the state, and to theories of international security other than materialist (Wohlforth 42). In addition, the most abstract and theoretically ambitious variants of neorealism (for example, Waltzs) tend to understand system in such abstract terms that territoriality disappears. From the regionalist perspective of international security discussed in this paper, a key weakness of both the neorealist and globalist approaches to international security is that they exaggerate the role of the global level, and disregard the role of the regional one. Neorealism in a simple manner chooses not to consider much the levels below the systemic. To the degree that globalism disregards territoriality particularly and levels in general, it is not an appropriate approach for considering things still defined in territorial terms. However, the more reasonable versions of globalism do give room for a regionalist perspective. The regionalist perspective is chosen approach to analyze international security. Friedberg (2000) indicated â€Å"the regional level stands more clearly on its own as the locus of conflict and cooperation for states and as the level of analysis for scholars seeking to explore contemporary security affairs† (7). This approach can be described as a post-Cold War focus concentrating on two assumptions: 1. That the decline of superpower competition decreases the penetrative quality of global power interest in the rest of the world (Friedberg 160); and 2. That most of the great powers in the post-Cold War international system are now pulled away. The argument of this paper is that the global level of international security over the last decade can best be understood as one superpower plus four great powers. It is essential to distinguish between superpowers and great powers even though both are at the global level. Then it is necessary to differentiate that level from the one defined by regional powers and regional security complexes. Almost nobody debates that the end of the Cold War had a considerable impact on the whole organization of international security. But, more than a decade after the transformation, the character of the post-Cold War security order still remains eagerly disputed. Over the last decade the regional level of international security has become both more self-governing and more leading in international politics. Katzenstein (2000) concludes that the ending of the Cold War accelerated this process. This thought comes naturally after the ending of bipolarity. Without superpower competition intruding all-absorbing into all regions, local powers have more room for tactic. For a decade after the ending of the Cold War, both the remaining extremely powerful states and the other great powers (China, EU, Japan, Russia) had less stimulus, and displayed less desire, to take a decisive role in security affairs outside their own regions. The terrorist attack on the United States on the September 11, 2001 may well give rise to some affirmation of great power interventionism. However, this is likely to be for quite narrow and particular purposes, and seems improbable to recreate the general will to step abroad that was a characteristic of Cold War superpower competition. The definite autonomy of regional security over the last decade forms a pattern of international security relations fundamentally different from the steadfast structure of superpower bipolarity that was common during the Cold War. The regional structure of international security is the relative balance of power of, and relative relationship within it between, regionalizing and globalizing trends. The central idea in the regional structure distinguishes between the system level cooperation of the global powers. Since most security threats travel undoubtedly over short distances than over long ones, international security interdependence is normally arranged into regionally based divisions: security complexes. As Friedberg (2000, 5) discuses: â€Å"most states historically have been concerned primarily with the capabilities and intentions of their neighbors†. Security complexes may well be largely penetrated by the global powers. However, their regional dynamics have a considerable degree of autonomy from the plans set by the global powers. Usually, two main levels dominate security studies: national and global. National security– for example, the security of France–is not in itself a significant level of study. Because security branches are intrinsically relational, no nations security is self-contained. At the same time, global security refers at best to a strong desire, not a reality. The globe is not tightly characterized by integration in security terms. Except for the special case of superpowers and great powers discussed above, only little can be said at this level of generalization that will reflect the real conflicts and problems in most countries. The region, in contrast, is connected with the level where states or other units cooperate together very closely and their securities cannot be analyzed separate from each other. The regional level is the space of national and global security mutual action, and where most of the operations occur. Both the security of the divided units and the process of international power intervention can be understood only through comprehension of the regional security dynamics. The best understanding of the dynamics of international security could be achieved by treating global and regional levels as distinct, and considering how they played into each other. On the basis of a distinction between superpowers and great powers international security has outlines as follows: Over the last decade the global power structure shifted to 1 + 4. The USA remained as a superpower, and China, the EU, Japan, and Russia as great powers. There was some mobility in the pattern of regional prospective. North and South America continued to be much as before. The breakdown of the Soviet Union meant that two (and for a while almost three) regional security complexes emerged in Europe. In Asia, the integration of the Northeast and Southeast Asian complexes brought the total to two. In Africa, the Southern Africa complex spread into Central Africa, and a Central African RSC came into view increasing the number to four. If to consider the Middle East as one, then the global total in 2001 was eleven. Thinking about the future, 1 + 4 remains the most probable structure for at least a couple of decades. A shift to 2 + x is connected with the possibility that either China or the EU will be elevated to superpower status. Kapstein (1999) and Hansen (2000) share the widely held view that the emergence of a second superpower within the next two decades is unlikely (79). More likely is a transformation to 0 + x. This could happen little by little if the USA experiences a long-term relative decline in its material assets in regard to other powers, or quite quickly if the USA decides to give up its superpower role and become a normal great power. Some writers, particularly Wohlforth (1999) and Krauthammer (1999), are strong supporters of an unipolarist strategy for the USA. This general course seems to have been made stronger both by the Bush administration and by the US acts in regard to 11 September. Waltz (2000) sees a multipolar world with the USA as one pole. South Asias strong regional securitization was strengthened over the last decade. Post-Cold War, South Asia was chiefly affected by the 4 element of 1 + 4. While Post-Cold War developments increased the possibility of the Asian super complex unification into a full Asian regional security complex, it was not absolutely matched by securitization of China in India. In South Asia, the strongest concern is a possible change of essential structure made up of the organization of an internal and an external change. East Asia witnessed the merger of two previously independent regional security complexes, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. In East Asia, like in South Asia, the breakdown of the Soviet Union contributed considerably to the relative empowerment of China and its movement towards the centre of the US debate about possible peer competitors (Buzan and Little 13). It also generated to the emergence of a security regime in Southeast Asia and the union of the Southeast and Northeast Asian regional security complexes. The US activities in the region contributed to the incensement of securitization between it and China. They also dampened down securitizations of China elsewhere in the region. China is chief but possibly not in the near future powerful enough to create a centered Asian regional security complex. The Middle East is to some extent very much like Asia, a region where strong local controversy dynamics intersect with a mighty US presence and worries about the future of the US role. In this regional security complexes, the shift to a 1 + 4 structure generated a period of unipolar intervention by the USA intended at a kind of coercive desecuritisation (Friedberg 68). This made a considerable impact on the local division of power, supporting Israel and hammering Iraq. This also put all of the former clients of the Soviet Union into a weaker position. The Middle Eastern regional security complex has experienced some medium-scale transformations. Over the last decade, Africa underwent the reduction of external support for the postcolonial state structures. Since sub-Saharan Africa, similar to South America, has no neighboring great powers, it was not much influenced by the 4 element of 1 + 4 (Wohlforth 40). Dynamics of securitization were driven downward to the domestic level and upward to the international one. Africa is possibly to become the home of four regional security complexes. In Africa, the concern is about the formation and evolution of regional security complexes in a subcontinent dominated by state failure. There is the lack of much interest or intervention on behalf of the global powers, and the not absolutely strong roles of transnational organizations. In Europe, the end of overlay disclosed both the centrality of the European Union as the main international security institution, and the growing of the stakes in the global great power status, or not, of the European Union (Buzan and Little 37). It also demonstrated the difference between the international security community dynamics of Western Europe in comparison with opposition formation dynamics in the former Soviet Union and its former empire. For the Central and South-eastern European countries caught in the middle, this contrast determined their whole foreign policy problematic. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only replaced one of the superpowers, but also created a new regional security complex. In both Europe and the post-Soviet region, the regional and international levels play considerably into each other because the regional activities are responsible for the emergence and distribution of a great power. What is striking about the US power in Europe, East Asia, and South America (however, not the Middle East) is the level to which its position has become institutionalized through the creation of super regional projects including Atlanticism, Asia-Pacific, and pan-Americanism (Buzan 2000). These projects commonly involve a strong mixture of super regional economic organization, and mutual defence and security processes, the special mix varying depending on the local conditions and history. These projects enable the USA to appear to be a powerful member of these regions. Where super regional projects are present, it is quite usual for the United States to be considered, and probably to consider itself, as a member of those security regions. By putting the USA inside these regions, super regional projects make less distinct the crucial distinguishing feature between regional and international level security processes. They also make them difficult to see from within the United States. This blurring becomes a significant tool for the supporting of the USAs sole superpower position, not least in keeping from the emergence of more autonomous regional coalitions that might be a threat to its influence or its primacy. This is not to refuse to recognize that these projects have considerable and sometimes positive political effects. But they can also contribute to the problems in terms of distinguishing between being a superpower and being a great or regional power. The US security role in East Asia, South America, and Europe can be compared with its role in the Middle East. The US’ role is an outside global power penetrating into the affairs of the regions. The main point to support this theory is that there can be disputes concerning an outside power withdrawing, or being expelled, from the region concerned (Buzan and Little 69). For example, Germany cannot detach itself from Europe, nor Japan from East Asia, nor Brazil from South America. But the US can withdraw itself (or be withdrawn) from Europe, East Asia, and South America. There are numerable debates both in the USA and in those regions (and also the Middle East) regarding the desirability or not of such transformations. Conclusion The attacks of 11 September showed how much international security is produced by the specific interactions of regional and global security dynamics. It is clear that the structure of international security is defined by the interplay of regions and powers. Regional security complexes analysis offers a significant tool for analyzing and understanding not only the past and present structures and processes of international security, but also the future transformations. This paper argued that the regional level of security is significant and is a considerable part of the overall area of security in the international system. Bibliography Buzan, Barry, and Richard Little 2000. International Systems in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Friedberg, Aaron L. 2000. In the Shadow of the Garrison State: Americas Anti-Statism and Its Cold War Grand Strategy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Hansen, B. 2000. Unipolarity and the Middle East. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. Kapstein, Ethan B. 1999. Does Unipolarity Have a Future? , in Kapstein and Mastanduno 1999.

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.

Children Activism :: History child Children government UN essays

Children Activism The Special Session on Children is an unprecedented meeting of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world. It will bring together government leaders and Heads of State, NGOs, children's advocates and young people themselves from 19-21 September 2001 at the United Nations in New York City. The gathering will present a great opportunity to change the way the world views and treats children. A follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children In 1990, at the World Summit for Children, 71 Heads of State and Government and other leaders signed the World Declaration on Survival, Protection and Development of Children and adopted a Plan of Action to achieve a set of precise, time-bound goals. These goals included:  · Improving living conditions for children and their chances for survival by increasing access to health services for women and children  · Reducing the spread of preventable diseases  · Creating more opportunities for education  · Providing better sanitation and greater food supply; and protecting children in danger. The commitment to realizing the World Summit goals has helped move children and child rights to a place high on the world's agenda. The Special Session is an important follow-up to the 1990 World Summit. What does the Special Session on Children hope to accomplish?  · A review of the progress made for children in the decade since the 1990 World Summit for Children and the World Declaration and Plan of Action. The end-of-decade review will combine national, regional and global reports. The review will not only chart the achievements of the last decade; it will also serve to inform world leaders as they plan future actions for children.  · A renewed commitment and a pledge for specific actions for the coming decade. World leaders will explore the long-standing challenges of serving and protecting children, as well as the issues emerging in this rapidly changing world. They will be asked to identify strategic solutions to the problems facing children and to commit the critical human and economic resources that will be called for. Expected outcomes of the Special Session The Special Session is expected to produce a global agenda with a set of goals and a plan of action devoted to ensuring three essential outcomes:  · The best possible start in life for all children.

The Assyrian Sacred Tree Essay -- Mythology

A traditional interpretation of what has become known as the Assyrian Sacred Tree conceives of it as the date palm. Consisting of a series of nodes and interlacing vines, the depiction of the â€Å"tree† contradicts the morphological appearance of a date palm seems at best to be a highly abstracted consolidation of various botanical characteristics from separate distinct species. Despite recent proposals by several art historians and botanists to conclusively determine its proper classification, indubitable evidence unlocking the enigma behind this timeless symbol—a sacred fountainhead for many western religions originating in the Near East—has yet to uproot the deep seeded academic insistence on the date palm. The â€Å"Sacred Tree,† (fig. 1) was originally positioned behind the king’s throne. The scene shows two genii, sometimes with birds’ heads and sometimes with men’s heads and the horned hats of gods. Each of the winged figures holds a bucket and reaches out with an oval object toward a stylized â€Å"tree.† The composition has been read as being based on bilateral symmetry, with the vertical stalk-like structure crowned by a palmette. A meticulous examination reveals that although balanced, it has many discrepancies on both sides that deviate from perfect mirror symmetry. Ashurnasirpal appears twice, shown from two sides, dressed in ceremonial robes and holding a mace connoting his authority. The figure of the king on the right makes an invocative gesture a god in a winged disk in the top center of the relief. Ashur, the national god or Shamash, the god of the sun and justice, may be identified as the god who confers the king divine right. On t he left, the king holds a ring, an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of divine kingship, in one... ...ee of Life." Economic Botany 56, no. 2 (2002): 113-29. Parpola, Simo. "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Monotheism and Greek Philosophy." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52 (1993): 161-208. Porter, Barbara Nevling. "Sacred Trees, Date Palms, and the Royal Persona of Ashurnasirpal II." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52, no. 2 (1993): 129-39. Reade, Julian. Assyrian sculpture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983. Richardson, Seth. "An Assyrian Garden of Ancestors: Room I, Northwest Palace, Kalhu." State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 13 (1999): 145-216. Tylor, Edward B.. The Winged Figures of The Assyrian and other Ancient Monuments. London: Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1890. Winter, Irene. "Ornament and the 'Rhetoric of Abundance' in Assyria." Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies 27 (2003): 252-264, at 253.

Renting Software :: essays research papers

Renting Software The life expectancy of software, especially purchased software, has become shorter and shorter over the years. While in the past an organization could be on the cutting edge of technology for five or six years with the software it had, now some applications become obsolete within two or three years. If you personally want to use the most current application, such as word processors and spreadsheets, you must pay several tens or hundreds of dollars to upgrade your version every two or three years. Now imagine how much money organizations have to pay for the same privilege for hundreds of thousands of employees. Worse, unlike households and small firms, many organizations spend millions of dollars on enterprise-wide applications, such as supply-chain management, ERP, and Web-based transaction systems only to find that two or three years later their version is old and lags behind the newer versions that their competitors use. Also, for small companies, the cost of even a single module o f an enterprise-wide system may be too high for purchasing. They prefer a monthly payment to a single, but large allocation of capital for the software. The answer to these challenges may be a relatively new approach to acquiring applications – renting. There are two approaches to renting: in one, the organization pays for the use of an application over a limited period of time at its site; in the other, the organization pays to use the application through the web. On-site Renting Many IS executives would rather rent software for a limited period of time and pay less than own it for a much higher cost. To satisfy this need, many software vendors now offer rental programs. For example, many organizations rent antivirus software rather than purchase it. Network Associates, Inc., the company that owns the popular McAfee antivirus software offers rental contracts for limited periods, as short as one year. The company realized that since thousands of new computer viruses are launched every years, its customers prefer to rent a version of the application for only one year, and when the next version, which takes care of new virus, is available, rent the newer version. When a company rents software, the rental rate is determined by the number of users and the period for which the software is rented. At the end of that period, the company must delete all copies of the software from its computers, or renew the rental agreement. Renting Software :: essays research papers Renting Software The life expectancy of software, especially purchased software, has become shorter and shorter over the years. While in the past an organization could be on the cutting edge of technology for five or six years with the software it had, now some applications become obsolete within two or three years. If you personally want to use the most current application, such as word processors and spreadsheets, you must pay several tens or hundreds of dollars to upgrade your version every two or three years. Now imagine how much money organizations have to pay for the same privilege for hundreds of thousands of employees. Worse, unlike households and small firms, many organizations spend millions of dollars on enterprise-wide applications, such as supply-chain management, ERP, and Web-based transaction systems only to find that two or three years later their version is old and lags behind the newer versions that their competitors use. Also, for small companies, the cost of even a single module o f an enterprise-wide system may be too high for purchasing. They prefer a monthly payment to a single, but large allocation of capital for the software. The answer to these challenges may be a relatively new approach to acquiring applications – renting. There are two approaches to renting: in one, the organization pays for the use of an application over a limited period of time at its site; in the other, the organization pays to use the application through the web. On-site Renting Many IS executives would rather rent software for a limited period of time and pay less than own it for a much higher cost. To satisfy this need, many software vendors now offer rental programs. For example, many organizations rent antivirus software rather than purchase it. Network Associates, Inc., the company that owns the popular McAfee antivirus software offers rental contracts for limited periods, as short as one year. The company realized that since thousands of new computer viruses are launched every years, its customers prefer to rent a version of the application for only one year, and when the next version, which takes care of new virus, is available, rent the newer version. When a company rents software, the rental rate is determined by the number of users and the period for which the software is rented. At the end of that period, the company must delete all copies of the software from its computers, or renew the rental agreement.

Is It Ethical or Not? Essay

This study examined the ethical aspect of human cloning. By considering the promises and perils which it could bring to mankind as well as by scrutinizing the arguments of both supporters and opponents of employment of human cloning the study tried to define whether human cloning can be regarded as unethical procedure. The argumentation considered in the study testifies that there is not unanimous consent among the scholars as to ethical justifiability of human cloning, although the most scepticism of its opponents could be easily rebutted. In sum, the study demonstrated that human cloning can and has to be regarded as ethical procedure provided that it is properly used, as it promises substantial advantages in treating infertility, in transplantology and other branches of medical science. On February 22, 1997, the news that scientists had cloned an adult animal – the sheep Dolly – spread round the globe (Cantrell, 1998, p. 69). Unsurprisingly, as the possibility of cloning humans emerged on the horizon, people were worrying about the morality of using the new technology. Then and now they have been anxious about the ethical borders that might be crossed when duplicate humans can be produced by separating the cells of a newly fertilized human egg or, in the more distant future, by creating a zygote from an existing person’s genetic material. When Dolly’s birth was announced, countries throughout the world had already initiated efforts to prohibit human cloning. Australia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain are among the countries outlawing human cloning (Walters, 2004, p. 5). Opposition came from other groups, including the World Health Organization, numerous religious bodies such as the Vatican, and even the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Outlawed in one way or another by numerous nations, damned by the General Assembly of the World Health Organization as â€Å"ethically unacceptable and contrary to human integrity and morality†, prohibited by the European Commission with its Biotechnology Patents Directive, by the Council of Europe with its Bioethics Convention, and by UNESCO with its Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, without a doubt human cloning received massive disapproval (Gillon, 2001, p. 184). But not all scholars agreed with those conclusions and many did not support such rapid passing of banning legislations on human cloning (Childress, 2003, p. 17). The purpose of this study is to reveal whether human cloning is really unethical as the public opinion and most governments consider it. Toward this end we will investigate the advantages and weaknesses of human cloning, explore carefully the arguments of both advocates and opponents of it, consider possible consequences of human cloning implementation in our life, and make the conclusions. For an entire planet standing at a critical crossroads, cloning offers both promises and perils. For humans the promises extend into all sorts of possibilities, such as finding drugs that would alleviate serious diseases, cultivating one’s own bone marrow as well as solid organs for transplantation, and genetically altering animals such as pigs in order to provide perfectly compatible organs for transplantation into humans. As an extension of reproductive techniques, the possibilities in human cloning promise ways both to relieve infertility and to prevent the transmission of genetic diseases (Brannigan, 2001b, p. 241). There are also disturbing possibilities, particularly when we consider what is traditionally regarded as the nucleus of society – the family, for which enough radical changes have already taken place in the past century. As we have moved into the twenty-first century, human cloning may pose the ultimate challenge to our notions of family, and its possibilities pose special hazards because the field of reproductive technology is without any real government regulation or oversight. And extreme caution will be needed to prevent the kind of profiteering that human cloning may engender (McGee, 2000, p. 267). Indeed, human cloning profoundly challenges our deepest and most cherished beliefs about what it means to be human. It impressively duns mankind of the radical nature of the connection between ontology and morality. The questions raised by human cloning reveal all the more plainly the intimate rapport among matters of identity, meaning, and morality.