It ask to look critically at a contemporary social or cultural issue Essay

It ask to look critically at a contemporary social or cultural issue - Essay Example However, with societys liberalization came the dawn of a new age where homosexuals declared openly their sexual preference for same sex partners. They lobbied for social acceptance by challenging legislative statutes, and proceeded to sensitize people about their inherent right to express themselves freely. Consequentially, society remains divided on whether to accept or reject same sex couples. Discussed below includes a brief overview of the history of the gay movement detailing challenges homosexuals face and milestones they managed to overcome. This discussion also tries to analyze the context of homosexuality in contemporary society by analyzing the international reactions on homosexuality. Anthropological research on ancient societies spanning across the globe reveal homosexualitys prevalence. Murray & Roscoe (2011) advanced that homosexuality was consistent and common among African societies. According to these anthropologists, societies refrained from shunning such acts because they deemed them permissible. This explained why some of their leaders engaged in homosexuality; for example, King Mtwapa II, leader of the Baganda kingdom located in Uganda engaged in sexual relations with other men. Presently, modernization of society continues to redefine individuals perspectives on homosexuality. Majority remain ignorant of their past influences leading to irrational deductions. Moreover, religious doctrines influence peoples views on morality by differentiating between right and wrong. Therefore, issues pertaining to same sex relationships are immoral and shunned by societies built on conservative, religious values. Finally, legislative restrictions also continue to shap e perspectives on homosexuality. The laws of any country reflect the countrys cultural and religious views. Consequentially, countries with strict religious backgrounds and conservative cultures institute legislations that prohibit behaviors that deviate from

The alternative globalisation

The alternative globalisation Introduction Globalisation is an ongoing process by which countries and their economic, political and social spheres integrate on a daily basis. Being part of national states, people become citizens of the world. In the course of daily activities, individuals increasingly come into contact with people from different backgrounds, with unlike beliefs and values and they learn to live and work in a globalised world. Countries become interconnected and interdependent. Thus, now there is no doubt that globalization has become the dominant factor in the development of world civilization. United Nations General Assembly, which brought a record number of participants to an important meeting 189 countries, signed over 300 agreements, and at the end of the session the UN Millennium Declaration was concluded. Main provisions of the declaration were as simple and accessible facts as freedom, equality, solidarity, security, tolerance, respect for nature and mutual responsibility. As a result, the Millennium Summit formalized globalization as a new global ideology, defining the world order of the 21st century. However, examining the structure of current globalisation, we face some issues that this phenomenon introduces. The popularity of the modern concept of globalization is primarily due to the economic and social achievements of developed countries dictating its terms to the world market. As a result, the gap between poor and rich countries broadens; development based on competition, profit-making, cost-reduction and increasing market shares expands. And therefore, the need for an alternative globalisation arises around the globe. This essay is divided into four main parts. First part focuses on three major schools of thoughts, which give characteristic descriptions of globalization from different perspectives. Second part of this essay concentrates on the chronology of globalisation the way that international trade was liberalising and production received a global character. Third, introduces readers to main problems of the current globalization and discusses why the alternative to the current globalisation is required. Finally, the last section offers the analysis of things that could be done differently in todays globalisation, examines whether an alternative globalisation is possible or not, and concludes with an optimistic summary table consisting of a number of significant changes that are necessary for peaceful transition, in a long-term period from the current globalisation to an alternative one that this essay offers. Three Perspectives on Globalisation There is no single definition of Globalization and at the same time there is a big debate about its characteristics, classification, its impacts and causes. It is possible to differentiate the following three schools of thought: the hyperglobalists, the transformationalists and the sceptics. The goal of each of the following schools is to characterise distinctive features of globalization from different points of view. Hyperglobalisers, such as K. Ohmae and R. Reich believe that global economy has an important impact on humanity and politics; they argue that the market is borderless and economy is single, global and integrated. Todays world economy is genuinely borderless. Information, capital and innovation flow all over the world at top speed, enabled by technology and fuelled by consumers desire for access to the best and the least expensive products (Ohmae, 1995). We are living through the transformation that will rearrange the politics and economics of the coming century. There will be no national products or technologies, no corporations, no national industries. There will no longer be national economies (Robert Reich, 1992, p. 3). The sceptics, such as P, Hirst and G. Thompson suggest that globalisation is largely a myth. They believe that the extent of existing globalisation is exaggerated and that the increase of global trade has happened only in major developed economies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. The international economy is one in which processes that are determined at the level of national economies still dominate and international phenomena are outcomes that emerge from the distinct and differential performance of the national economies. The international economy is an aggregate of nationally located functions (Hirst, Thompson, 1999, p. 10). The third group is defined by Held and McGrew as transformationalists, which includes such authors as Rosenau (1997) or Giddens (1990). They assume that globalisation plays an essential role in fast economic, political and social changes that are restructuring world order and modern societies nowadays. Globalisation denotes the intensification of worldwide social relations and interactions such that distant events acquire very localised impacts and vice versa (Held, McGrew, 2007, p. 2). Globalisation concerns the transformation of local, and even personal, contexts of social experience. Our day-to-day activities are increasingly influenced by events happening on the other side of the world. Conversely, local lifestyle habits have become globally consequential. Chronology of Globalisation There is also no single agreement about the time globalisation has emerged, opinions about the chronology of its appearance and development vary depending on how one looks at the meaning of globalisation. Some might say that globalisation is a recent development, others could state that it has began far back in history, while thirds would argue that globalisation has not yet started at all. I see the beginning of globalisation in the rise of international production and international trade, formation of which refers to the 1970s-1980s. It has started with oil and energy crisis in 1973-1974, when state enterprises started to show the signs of inefficiency. States were not able to react to the impulses of the world market and to reduction of production costs. This, on one hand, led to reduced profitability or even to losses in some industries in developed countries. And on the other hand, it led to significant discrepancies between the national conditions of reproduction in the course of industrialization the rates of wages, education level and workforce skills, interest rates, price of raw materials and energy. Due to those facts, numerous attacks on government business and the requirements of its liquidation were taking place; the privatisation of state property according to the neo-liberal theories has started. The liberalisation was one of the tools for successful globalisation, which appeared in two forms. Firstly, reduction of tariffs, elimination of non-tariff barriers, simplification of import and export procedures occurred based on numerous international agreements. In other words, there was a reduction of restrictions on access and operations in the global market. Secondly, there was a change in domestic legislation relating to foreign economic relations, such as the elimination of quotes for import and export, removal of restrictions on foreign capital in the domestic market. As a result, labour-intensive, material-and environmentally-polluting industries started to be relocated to developing countries. In addition, scientific and technological advancements have created opportunities for the spatial separation process (such as capital-intensive and energy intensive processes) and placement of the individual phases in accordance with the prices of factors of production. At the same t ime, improved transportation and communication allowed the interaction of these scattered productions at relatively modest cost. As a consequence of all above mentioned factors, production received a really global character today. We can say that todays world became interdependent and interconnected; because one countrys well being very much depends on the cooperation with other countries. As an example we can take the production of cars, it is scattered on the companies in different countries around the globe. And entrepreneurs in each country are responsible for a specific phase of production design, production of engines and electrical equipment, the manufacture and marketing. In the 1950-1960s, each company worked in the market limited by national borders. However, today restrictions on movement of goods and services across national borders have decreased and international manufacturers of the world market can move quite easily. (ORoukre, Williamson, 1999). We can now see that the cause of globalisation was a capitalist ideology, based mostly on profit-making and cost-reduction, which has a lot of positiv e as well as some negative effects on the worlds development. In the next section, I would like to focus on some of those negative effects problems of the current globalisation. Problems of the Current Globalisation This section focuses on main three issues political, economic and social that I believe require changes in current globalised world. One of the main economic problems of globalisation is related to the following question: Who is benefiting from globalization? In fact, rapid growth is typical only for a small group of rich countries; while the least economically developed countries have much lower growth rates and their gains from globalization are minimal. If we take an example of trade discussion of Uruguay Round, which was finished in 1994, we can see that the advanced industrial countries of the world, such as the US and the EU, received the biggest share of the gain and the poorest countries have actually worsened off. Developed countries still preserve tariffs against the poor countries at the rate of four times higher than the tariffs they have against other rich countries. Their whole tariff structure is directed against trade with poor economies, which effects lowering the price of the export goods of them and hurt their economies. (Stiglitz, pp. 172-173). If national and international political processes are influenced by money, there should be no illusions in understanding that power in decision-making processes relating to the global economy remains mostly with those countries, firms and organizations that are economically the strongest. (Helleiner, Gerald, 2001) The second problem arising is a political one and relates to the potential regional or global instability because of interdependence of national economies on global level; so called butterfly effect appears. National security and nation-states depend on the activities of other countries and decisions of governments in neighbouring states more and more in todays globalised world. (Michael Zurn, 2005, pp. 235-244). Local economic fluctuations or crises in one country can have regional or even global implications. This possibility is not merely theoretical, but is very real, and the current financial crisis confirms that. Peter Evans argues that inability of the state to impose even a modicum of collective discipline on private economic elites at the national level (most crucially in the United States) undercuts productive dynamism. (Peter Evans, 2008, p. 280) And the last issue that I would like to bring up is related to social aspect. The main goal of a global market and current capitalist globalization is rapid accumulation of wealth, which hardly meets any human and social needs. Lets take a simple example of one corrupt government that accepts investment money from a multinational company. People who live in that particular country have no choice but to work for that company, at the same time company does not pay workers enough money to afford sufficient food, healthcare and education. The company has promised to the government that it will develop their countrys economy. However, people are starving and diseases are spreading in the crowded conditions in which they live. Some people realize the damage and start to fight to get their country back on track, but those people are usually being arrested and being sent to jail. The multinational companies as well as government of that country make huge profits while people suffer and die. The irrational pursuit of profit often harms the environment and conflict with other social values. The imbalance causes a broad wave of protest, which is not welcomed by governments and companies and as a result brings social problems, inequality and fear to confront the current political regime. (Sklair, 2008). Alternatives to the Current Globalisation Based on the problems described in the previous part of my essay, I would like to propose some necessary changes to the way globalisation develops nowadays. With the reference to the economic issue, I would say that in order to have more balance as to benefits of the globalisation and the world trade, globalization must be more regulated and countries should collaborate better. Developed and developing countries have to act co-operatively, so that the gap between poor and rich does not widen more and more each year, but it has to start narrowing. However, there are no institutions, particularly democratic institutions to do that effectively. In order to make globalization more manageable and seek to base it on principles of solidarity, it is important to reform and strengthen the role of such international organizations as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Expanding ties of international organisations with non-government al organizations might be one of the examples for the reform (Lindert, Williamson, 2001, pp. 30-35). The role of media plays an important role and therefore media must be fairer and more opened. Media nowadays is driven by consumerist forces, and not by all citizens. People around the world are not being helped to recognize that most important issues overcrowded cities, quick spread of new infections, global warming, growth of worldwide disparity, destruction of the environment are all part of the same global process called globalisation. People should be aware that these issues do not just happen, but they all are related (Cavanagh, Mander, 2004, pp. 52-54). The next range of issues is related to the fragility of the international economic and political systems that follow from interdependence and interconnection of countries around the globe. We can see that local economic, financial and sometimes even political instability in one country can have regional or in some cases even global effect. Therefore, I suggest that states must be more local oriented and solve national problems first, but at the same time they should be able to react promptly to global issues, because states continue to be essential actors in determining the global regime. The same applies to business world, in order to be successful in the global competition, companies need to think globally and act locally. Practice shows that businesses which are able to design globally for narrow local requirements and which follow broaden your vision, yet narrow your focus will generate growth and success. (Pinto, 2004). The idea of globalization that bigger is better is wrong. I t involves lack of concern with local issues and overrides locality. In connection with this agenda the concept of glocalization has been introduced. It became an aspect of business jargon during the 1980s, which originates form Japan, where the general issue of the relationship between the particular and the universal has historically received almost obsessive attention (Miyoshi and Harootunian, 1989). Glocalisation is a double process firstly, institutional and regulatory activities move from the national scope upwards to regional or global scopes and downwards to the scope of individual or local. Secondly, economic activities and inter-firm networks are transforming at the same time to become more localised and transnational (Swyngedouw, 2004). With regards to the social point, I would like to argue that the current globalisation is very capitalist one which prioritizes the growth of private income over the creation of employment and other social aspects of our lives that are important both for individuals and for the community as a whole. (Sklair, 2008). Global economy needs global ethics, reflecting respect for human rights and recognition of personal and social responsibility. Horst KÃ ¶hler, the managing director of the IMF states that people living together in local communities have always recognized and responded to common moral principles, such as sharing with those who have less, and protection of the vulnerable. As the world has become more integrated and interdependent, the scope for applying such fundamental values has widened (KÃ ¶hler, 2002). I believe that the WTO and the IMF should address the problem of reducing poverty deeper, by creating employment, improving healthcare and education systems and therefor e improving quality of living standards in all countries around the world. In the following table, I have tried to summarize some of significant changes that are required for peaceful transition, in a long-term period, from the current globalisation that we have to a globalization that is more regulated, more oriented on local aspects and focused more on social sector. Conclusion In a last decade of the twentieth century, the term globalization became one of the most frequently used in the analysis of contemporary international relations, and continues to be actively used to characterize global political, economic and social processes. However, the current globalisation is mostly influenced by the interests and guidelines of economically developed countries and their ideological preferences. These factors leave their imprints on the development of globalisation, accelerating or slowing it down, and give specific nature to certain aspects of this phenomenon. Main requirements of an alternative globalization are the equality for all nations, people and countries, as well as regulation of specific areas of the worlds development with the help of strong democratic international institutions. This essay shows that an alternative globalization is essential for sustainable development of the world, and if the right steps and efforts are taken worldwide, an alternative to the current globalisation will be possible to implement. An alternative globalization as described in this essay would bring together countries and people in single global equitable and prosperous area, despite all the crises, failures and deviations, which is in everyones interests. References: Alison Brysk, 2002. Globalization and Human Rights. University of California Press Anthony Giddens, 1994. Beyond Left and Right: The Future of Radical Politics. Polity Press David Held and Anthony McGrew, 2007. Globalization/Anti-globalization: beyond the great divide. Polity Press Erik Swyngedouw, 2004. Globalisation or Glocalisation? Networks, Territories and Rescaling. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 17(1), pp. 25-44 Helleiner, Gerald K, 2001. Markets, Politics, and Globalization: Can the Global Economy Be Civilized? Global Governance, 7 (July), pp. 243-263 Horst KÃ ¶hler, 2002. Working for a Better Globalization Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2002/012802.HTM [Accessed 23 March 2010] J. Cavanagh, J. Mander, 2004. Alternatives to Economic Globalizaion: a better world is possible. Berrett-Koehler Publishers J.E. Stiglitz, 2008. Making Globalisation Work. The economic and social review, Columbia University, USA, 39 (3) Jim Pinto, 2004. Think Globally, Act Locally. Automation World K. H. ORoukre and J. G. Williamson, 1999. Globalization and History: The evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy. Achorn Graphic Services Kenichi Ohmae, 1995. The End of the Nation State. Free Press Paperback Edition. Leslie Sklair, 2008. The Emancipatory Potential of Generic Globalization. The Berkeley Electronic Press Available at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a918201775db=all [Accessed 23 March 2010] Masao Miyoshi and Harry D. Harootunian, 1989. Postmodernism in Japan. Duke University Press Michael Zurn, 2005. From Interdependence to Globalisation, Handbook of International Relations. Sage publications P. H. Lindert, J.G. Williamson, 2001. Does Globalization Make the World More Unequal? Harvard University and University of California Available at: http://128.97.165.17/media/files/GlobalUnequal_10_252.pdf [Accessed 23 March 2010] Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson, 1999. Globalization in Question. Polity Press Peter Evans, 2008. Is an Alternative Globalization Possible? Politics Society, 36, pp. 271 298 Available at: http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/2/271 [Accessed 23 March 2010] Robert F. Bruner, 2004. Think Globally, Act Locally. Batten Institute at The Darden School Foundation Robert Reich, 1992. The Work of Nations: preparing ourselves for 21st-century capitalism. Vintage Books Roland Roberson, 1995. Global Modernities. Glocalizaion: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. Sage publications, p. 25-41.

Comparing the Wifes Role in A Dolls House and Death of a Salesman Ess

The Wife's Role in A Doll's House and Death of a Salesman      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "A Doll's House" (1879) and "Death of a Salesman" (1949) are plays written by Henric Ibsen and Henry Miller respectively. And, although they were published in different centuries, and "A Doll's House" was written seventy years before than "Death of a Salesman" Nora's portrayal of the wife's role is much more modern, liberal and less chauvinist than Linda's. Nora and Linda's main differences are reflected in their way of acting towards their husbands, their children and them selves; how they each see life.    To her husband, Linda is the perfect wife, she loves him despite knowing he is only "a small man." She is always worried about Willy's health, and tries to protect him. She knows that many times Willy is wrong, but she is unable to face him just in case she hurts his feelings. She supports all his mad ideas knowing this will probably take him to his death. She is loyal and loving, and is always on the background defending him from their sons Biff and Happy. She expresses all this feelings in Act 1, when she says, "I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog." On the other hand Nora doesn't love her husband, but she doesn't become conscious of this until the end of the play when she discovers she has been living a lie all her life. As Linda, she is worried about her husband's health, but instead of just watching she confronts him, acting behind his back, knowing that she ma... ...who keeps it attached together but she is nothing without her husband. Nora is not of the family; she is more modern and independent, moreover her family is totally broken apart.    In conclusion, we can see that nor Linda, nor Nora are happy with their situation. Linda is incapable of expressing herself and confronting her husband therefore her husband ends up dead. And Nora has never had real love and has always been living a lie, but she realises this too late, and now she has to reinvent herself.    Works Consulted    Corrigan, R.W. (ed.)   Arthur Miller:   A Collection Of Critical Essays.   Prentice-Hall, NJ:   1969. Ibsen, Henrik. Four Major Plays: A Doll House, the Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, the Master Builder. New York: New American Library, 1992. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Gerald Weales, ed. New York: Penguin, 1996

African American Identity Essay

It was a hot August day as sweat beat down on Thomas Jefferson Brown. He had been working in the field 2 hours before the hot sun had made its presence known. He looked back over the drying field, hoping that this crop would provide for his family better than last years crop had. Thomas watched his oldest son, Nathan, who worked down one row of the field while staring intently at the cotton plants as he picked the cotton. Nathan was a very inquisitive young man who had just yesterday asked his father what it was like being a slave for Mr. Walter Johnson. When his father had told him that in a lot of ways life was so much easier than now, Nathan had given him a look that allowed Thomas to know that his son could not understand. How could he understand? Nathan had not grown up a slave and seen that while it was extremely difficult, there was a feeling of stability to life then. Yes, Thomas Jefferson Brown had endured the beatings and yes he had watched as his Mother and eventually his sisters had been sexually assaulted, but how do you tell a young man such as Nathan that such was the way of life; it was to be expected, along with the comfort of knowing where your next meal was going to come from. Since Tomas had been freed after the great war, He s and his family had endured much more than that; having watched the lynching of two of his brothers and numerous friends. They were the lucky ones though, Thomas thought, while looking up at the fiery ball of heat known as the sun. They did not have to endure other hardships; their suffering was over. Yes it was hard for Nathan to know that life was indeed easier as a slave than a freed man, and maybe, just maybe, things would change during Nathan’s lifetime. Thomas Jefferson Brown wiped his brow once more and continued on picking the cotton? Even though the civil war ended in 1865, African Americans still faced an uphill battle to obtain rights that were afforded other Americans. This was in spite of the fact that 24 African American soldiers earned our Nations highest honor; the Congressional Medal of Honor, during the Civil War. Even with the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865 banning slavery and the 14th Amendment giving African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law, there were still so many other issues that would deprive African Americans of their lawful rights, such as having the first African American elected into the 41st Congress in 1869 continuing through 1901 with the 57th congress, which had no African Americans. This trend would continue until the election of 1929 before another African American was elected to congress. In 1873 the Supreme Court decision ruled that the 14th-Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws extended only to federal civil rights, thus removing southern states from the duty to protect the civil rights of African Americans, but it was just not their rights that were taken; but their lives as well. Between 1882 and the end of 1900, 1751 African Americans and 1105 white Americans were lynched for trying to further the African American cause (National). Given all of this discrimination and violence, it is hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to further the African American cause, but many stood ready to not only give of themselves, but perhaps even to give their life for this noble cause. African American writers were presented with these problems of equality and self esteem, and yet have truly transformed and continue to support a freed people, to obtain all of their rights. What follows is from three writers who each in his own way contributed mightily to the African American cause. They are W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Glen Loury. First, we have W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Dubois, who was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Dubois was one of the most influential black leaders of the first half of the 20th Century. Dubois shared in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, in 1909. He served as its director of research and editor of its magazine Crisis until 1934. He was the first African American to graduate from Harvard University, which he accomplished in 1896. At first, Dubois thought that African Americans could be freed through the Social Sciences, but quickly became disillusioned with this idea and began to believe that freedoms could only come about by agitation and protest(Chew). Dubois recognized that the African American’s of his day faced many problems, not the least of which were of the life threatening variety. After his disillusionment with helping African Americans through the social sciences, Dubois thought that African Americans needed to develop their own culture, which was definitely more American than African. Dubois enjoyed the unique African American culture, particularly that of the Negro spiritual songs. Dubois thought that African Americans should not give in to what white Americans expectations were of African Americans, but to continue to develop as a people. Dubois wrote that all people regardless of their culture, heritage, sex, should be treated as equals. Dubois also thought that African Americans should not worry about competing with the world as a group, but that they should join together to help each other. He eventually was forced to leave the United States because the government considered Dubois an agent of the Soviet Union. That is why he immigrated to Ghana, first obtaining Ghana citizenship, joined the communist party and eventually died there in 1963. Dubois was there for all future African Americans to follow his example. Dubois founding of the NAACP led to many victories for the rights of all Americans, most of which he never saw. Next we have Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who was born in Jamaica on 17 August 1887. Mr. Garvey is best remembered as a pivotal figure in the struggle for racial equality, not just in the United States but throughout the world as well. He founded the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and African Communities League in 1914 while still in Jamaica, and also championed the ‘back to Africa’ movement of the 1920s. Of the Africans who departed, Garvey thought, some had left independently while others were brutally removed for economic gain and exploitation. Garvey perceived that the main problems facing not only African Americans, but Africans as well was that they must first go back to Africa and free their African brothers before moving on to other parts of the world. Through the organizations that Garvey had formed (UNIA and ACL), he reasoned that until Africa is free and redeemed, not only in name but in reality, no one would be free, Black or White. Garvey reasoned that no matter what one’s race was we are all bound together by the Creator, which is Spirit. The Creator has a purpose for everyone and that purpose did not include being made a slave or subject to anyone for that matter. While Dubois and Garvey did not see eye to eye on the issues involving African Americans, Garvey did align himself closely with Dr Robert Love, and Dr Loves teachings that a race could progress no further than the dignity and esteem of their women and younger girls. Garvey and Love thought that the best way to plant the seeds of dignity and self-esteem would be through the woman and younger girl. Last, we have Glen Loury, who was born in 1948. Mr. Loury is a professor of economics at Boston University while also being a consultant to the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Loury has devoted a major portion of his career to the study of race and public policy. He is the author of ‘On the Need for Moral Leadership in the Black Community’, ‘Responsibility and Race’, ‘Impact of Affirmative Action on Equal Opportunity: A New Look’, and most recently ‘A New American Dilemma’. Mr. Loury saw many problems facing not only African American, but also all Americans, including the civil rights policies of 1960-1985, which seemed to have been based on equality of outcome rather than on equality of opportunity. Mr. Loury also thought that affirmative action policies created backlash. Loury maintained that all Americans should have equal rights with none being given favorable treatment over any other. Loury reasoned that it is hard to justify denying admission to an elite college to anyone who struggled to be able to pass the admissions exam; while admitting a member of a designated minority group, who did not work near as hard to earn his score and is only admitted based on his minority status. Such actions build resentment towards these policies and are only heightened when defenders of the policies claim that to question these policies is to engage in a racist act. Mr. Loury contends that giving preferential treatment with no sound explanation only led to more heightened tensions and is a very grievous error on the part of those who merely wish to be advocates of affirmative action. Loury did see, that there was a proper use of affirmative action, such as on police forces around the country that had a significant percentage of African American citizens and yet none on the police force. These Authors present their own conclusions and reasoning’s for what happened to the African Americans previous to, and of their own time. These writers used the influences of other African Americans and were also pioneers themselves. All of these writers believed in equality for everyone and thus did share at least one common goal. In Mr. Dubois we have a writer and scholar who originally thought that through a study of Social Sciences and doing what was right could African Americans receive their rights, and yet Dubois was able to refocus and remain firm in his opinions of helping each other and thus able to help not only the African American’s of his generation, but the ones to follow as well. Mr. Dubois saw all of the problems besetting African Americans and knew that they must unite, working together, to build a culture of their own, that would allow all African Americans to have a better life. Mr. Garvey on the other hand, perceived that until the rights and freedoms were restored in the entire African continent, Africans elsewhere would always be treated as second-class citizens. Garvey along with Dr Robert Love, thought that it was through the African women, especially the younger women, that Africans had a chance to make a difference in providing a better future. Mr. Loury saw problems that came about because of the Civil Rights movement, and that African Americans should not merely rely on being a minority to get ahead in life, but instead grab the opportunity that was before them so as not to create a political backlash. Each of these writers have stood their ground for what they believe in, and our world we live in today is better for it. Each of these writers, in their own time, helped frame not just African Americans lives but has truly transformed and continues to support a freed people, obtain all, of their rights. Works Cited Chew, Robin â€Å"W. E. B. Dubois Sociologist, Author & Civil Rights Leader 1868 ? 1963†³ February 26, 2005. 6 Feb 2006 Dr Coony, Mark â€Å"Race and Affirmative Action† 6 Feb 2006 Du Bois, W. E. B. â€Å"Of our Spiritual Strivings. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 131-145 Garvey, Marcus â€Å"Motive of the NAACP Exposed† Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 153-154 Loury, Glenn. â€Å"Free at Last? A Personal Perspective on Race ad Identity in America. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 173-180 â€Å"Marcus Garvey Biography† November 2000, K. W. Spence-Lewis Consultant Researcher Community Health and Planning Plant Science. â€Å"The Making of African American Identity VOL II 1863-1917† National Humanities Center 6 Feb 06 Bibliography Chew, Robin â€Å"W. E. B. Dubois Sociologist, Author & Civil Rights Leader 1868 ? 1963† February 26, 2005. 6 Feb 2006 Dr Coony, Mark â€Å"Race and Affirmative Action† 6 Feb 2006 Du Bois, W. E. B. â€Å"Of our Spiritual Strivings. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 131-145 Garvey, Marcus â€Å"Motive of the NAACP Exposed† Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 153-154 Loury, Glenn. â€Å"Free at Last? A Personal Perspective on Race ad Identity in America. † Cultural Conversations The Presence of the Past. Ed Stephen Dilks, et al. Boston: Bedford/St Martin, 2001. 173-180 â€Å"Marcus Garvey Biography† November 2000, K. W. Spence-Lewis Consultant Researcher Community Health and Planning Plant Science. â€Å"The Making of African American Identity VOL II 1863-1917† National Humanities Center 6 Feb 06.

Coronary Heart Disease Essay

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. There are many types of heart diseases that fall into this title. Two of the most popular forms of cardiovascular diseases are heart attack and stroke. The increasing amount of exposure of known risk factors for these diseases to young adults is why I feel it is necessary to promote what it takes to lead a heart healthy lifestyle in order to avoid becoming another statistic. I feel as though I did not choose this topic as much as it chose me, as 2 years ago my Father was hospitalized and underwent a Quadruple Heart By-pass surgery in order to remove the blood clots in his 4 main arteries. Knowing that this disease is partly hereditary I feel as though it is important to educate myself and others with early intervention steps that could keep you from being affected by any heart diseases. In my research I plan to introduce how heart diseases are caused and also the best prevention techniques to ensure that the number of people affected by Coronary Heart Diseases, specifically Heart Attacks, is falling each year instead of climbing. In my research I came across an article provided by the ProQuest Research Library entitled â€Å"Coronary Heart Disease: Primary and Secondary Prevention†. This article is a published study done by The College of Pharmacy and Drug Topics of the University of Florida and discusses the many â€Å"do’s† and â€Å"don’ts† in order to lead a heart healthy life. The focus of this article is to prevent your body to become a future hot spot for a heart disease. The article counters these risk factors with ways to prevent the â€Å"modifiable factors† from occurring. The article states that risk factors are classified as modifiable or non-modifiable. â€Å"Non-modifiable risk factors include age, family history, and gender. Modifiable risk factors include smoking, diet, obesity, physical inactivity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome† (Brenner, Michael, and Allison Butcher). Most of these factors are obvious but some may be less known. Hypertension is the occurrence of high-blood pressure in your body, while dyslipidemia is the occurrence of high cholesterol. Diabetes mellitus can increase the risk of developing a heart disease by 2 to 4 times as likely. A second article I found through ProQuest was the scholarly journal provided by The New England Journal of Medicine titles â€Å"Cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease†. This article provides a more detailed look into some prevention techniques used in order to stay healthy in both the physical sense, but in the long term heart health. An idea that this article brought the table was the â€Å"Prescription of Exercise†. â€Å"Preliminary data suggest that a regimen of low-intensity, prolonged, daily exercise, called â€Å"high-caloric training† because it maximizes the expenditure of calories, results in greater fat loss and greater modification of risk factors than does a regimen of more intense but briefer exercise sessions.† (Ades, Philip A) As mentioned in the statement, maximizing the length of time that you are exercising maximizes the fat/calories being burned in your work-out. This in the long run brings my researc h back to the facts stated in my first source, which states that improving the modifiable factors like obesity and physical inactivity can greatly reduce your risk if developing a heart disease. A third article that I found through the ProQuest Research Library was a scholarly journal published by the British Medical Journal entitled â€Å"Triggering a heart attack†. This article allowed me to shine a different light on my research as it discusses momentary impacts on your heart. This article was done in response to numerous news headlines that involved fatalities due to unexpected heart attacks and strokes during a physically and/or emotionally strenuous activity. This study focused on activities like jogging, shoveling snow, and swimming that have been commonly lead to cardiac death due to vigorous physical effort. This idea relates very similarly to that of the â€Å"Prescription of Exercise† idea stated in my other source. The relation between the two stems from the idea of the less beneficial short and strenuous activities and exercise in correlation to the recommended longer low-intensity activities and exercise. This article is proving that not only are the more strenuous and shorter periods of activity less beneficial, but they can also become fatal when asking the body to do too much. Coronary Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in The United States which is why I believe that it is crucial to educate others about the many risks that factor into such a group of fatal diseases in the heart. Thru ought my research I learned that it is often the less suspecting individual that can become a victim of a Coronary Heart Disease simply because he/she did not know what steps to take to lead a heart healthy lifestyle. In order to stop the constantly rising number of fatalities caused by heart disease, we must first become educated on how to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Works Cited Ades, Philip A. â€Å"Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease.† The New England journal of medicine 345.12 (2001): 892-902. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Brenner, Michael, and Allison Butcher. â€Å"Coronary Heart Disease: Primary and Secondary Prevention.† Drug Topics 153.12 (2009): 50-9. ABI/INFORM Complete; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. â€Å"Know Your Facts.† York Weekly Record: 14. Jun 13 2006. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 23 Oct. 2012 Petch, M. C. â€Å"Triggering a Heart Attack.† British medical journal 312.7029 (1996): 459-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. â€Å"Study: Treatment Reduces Risk of Heart Attack by 70 Percent.† FDA consumer 2002: 7-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 23 Oct. 2012 .