OUTLINE THE MAIN CRITICISM OF THE CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THESIS MADE BY Essay

OUTLINE THE MAIN CRITICISM OF THE CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THESIS MADE BY MEDIA GLOBALISATION THEORISTS. ARE THESE CRITICISM VALID - Essay Example There are two theories that explain media globalization which include media imperialism and modernization. Globalization is the process by which contemporary society and other countries are connected and interrelated by cultural experiences and trade communication. Global sale of films, media products and the internet brings together people in the developing countries and western countries in direct contact2. Cultural imperialism concept is used to refer to the cultural influence of a developed country on the developing nations. Cultural globalization is the emergence of beliefs and values that are shared by the entire world. The critics of the cultural imperialism believed that cultural imperialists do not have empirical explanation and practical evidence. Cultural imperialism involves spreading modernity whereby it leads to cultural loss but not cultural expansion. There has not been any group of conspirators who spread any specific culture. However, global economic and technological advancement decreased the value and importance of national culture3. It would be baseless to attribute global development to any one culture. The idea of cultural imperialism or voluntary cultural conquest is not relevant. Instead, all the countries in the world irrespective of their location are subject to worldwide cultural change. Cultural imperialism is not valid because what the people watch in the mass media can be advantageous to them. Certain programs aired by the western media have a positive influence on the third world countries depending on whether to use them or not for instance, some countries staged a revolution after watching certain programs aired by the western television. That does not mean the audience were compelled to doing so but because they found it necessary because they had the belief that it was the best way. Western cultural imperialism is considered irrelevant because some third

Memories of a Childhoods Slavery Day Essay Example for Free

Memories of a Childhoods Slavery Day Essay In Memories of Childhoods Slavery Days, Annie Burton was born into slavery in 1858 on a plantation outside of Clayton, Alabama and raised by her mistress after her mother ran away. She grew up during the Civil War and remembers her early days on the plantation. After being set free, Burtons mother returned for her children. Annie was hired as a nanny by Mrs. E. M. Williams, who taught her how to read and write. After her mother died, Annie took responsibility for her three younger siblings and moved to Boston in 1879. She later moved to Georgia and then Jacksonville, Florida, where she worked in a restaurant before returning to Boston. In 1888, she married, and ran a boarding house with her husband. She began taking evening classes at the Franklin Evening School, and the headmaster, Frank Guild, suggested that each of the students write their life story. It was this suggestion that gave Burton the push to write her autobiography. Burtons Memories of Childhoods Slavery Days (1909) is divided into four parts. In the first section, called Recollections of a Happy Life, Burton talks about her childhood on the plantation in Alabama and her marriage to Samuel H. Burton. In the second section, Reminiscences, Burton reflects on being set free and the way it changed her life. The third section, Vision gives a detailed account of Burtons religious change. Burton also includes an essays and poems she wrote. â€Å"The memory of my happy, care-free childhood days on the plantation, with my little white and black companions, is often with me. Neither master nor mistress nor neighbors had time to bestow a thought upon us, for the great Civil War was raging. That great event in American history was a matter wholly outside the realm of our childish interests. Of course we heard our elders discuss the various events of the great struggle, but it meant nothing to us. Burton talks about knowing that the Civil War was going on but not being old enough to know or care about it. She also calls it a â€Å"great† event in American history. Though it may not have been to white Southerners, it was day slaves were waiting for. She also states that : â€Å"There are hidden wrongs perpetrated by the whites against the negro race that will never be brought to light until the race owns and controls its own daily newspapers which alone have the power to discover and enthrone truth, thus becoming a safe guide to all honest seekers of facts respecting the race whether from a moral, educational, political or religious field. To carry out the plans suggested, whether viewed from an intellectual, industrial, commercial, or editorial standpoint, the world must acknowledge that to-day the negro race has the men and women, who are true to their race and all that stands for negro progress. †

Employee Violence Essay -- Work Job Essays

Employee Violence INTRODUCTION: When we hear the word violence, many of us think about crime in the streets. This paper will focus on workplace violence committed by employees. Today more than 1,000 Americans are murdered on the job every year, 32% more than annual average in the 80’s (Toufexis 36). It is very hard for people to imagine that their job site can be a potential target for violence. To some people their job is like their second home. Employees who suffer stress, are terminated from work, under paid, or who have problems with management/co-workers are the ones more likely to engage in workplace violence. Over the past twenty years, many employers especially public organizations have been victims of workplace violence. The most recent incident occurred in Newington, Connecticut. A thirty-five year old accountant opened fire at the headquarters of the Connecticut State Lottery, killing three top officials before chasing down and slaying the lottery’s president in a parking lot (Goldman 13). Incidents like the one at the State Connecticut Lottery are driving public managers to develop effective guidelines and solutions on how to address workplace violence within their organizations. BACKGROUND: Workplace violence occurs all over the nation, it does not discriminate organizations in the public or private sector. Any type of organization can be a victim of workplace violence. However, the recent focus has been on public employees engaging in violence. According to Joseph Kinney, executive director of the nonprofit National Safe Workplace Institute in Charlotte, N.C., a public employee is almost 50% more likely to be murdered than someone in the private sector (Wagner 20). The motives for aggressive behavior a... ...ohn J. "Accountant Kills Four at his Connecticut Lottery Office." Los Angeles Times 7 March 1998: (www.latimes.com/cgi-bin/archsearch-cgi). Maynard, Roberta. "Avoiding Worker Violence Over Terminations." Nation’s Business May 1994: 13. Newsradio 88 Staff. "Shot Fired at Connecticut State Lottery Office, Five Dead" 6 March 1998 (www.yahoo.com/external/wcbs_radio/stories/8891998980.html). Rigdon, Joan E. "Companies See More Workplace Violence." Wall Street Journal 12 April 1993: B1+ . Roan, Shari. "A Refuge no More." Los Angeles Times 30 Aug. 1994: E1+. Romano, Catherine. "Workplace Violence takes Deadly Turn." Management Review July 1994: 5. Toufexis, Anastasia. "Workers who Fight Firing with fire." Time 1433 (25 April1 994): 35-37. Wagner, Michael G. "Public Employees Seen in Greatest Danger at Workplace." Los Angeles Times 19 Dec. 1997: A 20.

Abortion and the Symbolic Interaction Paradigm

In this paper, we needed to discuss whether or not abortion contributes to the corruption of today’s society, using the symbolic interaction paradigm. We have come to the consensus, as a group, that abortion does contribute to the corruption of today’s society simply because it is such a heated issue and therefore people choose sides. When people choose sides, and are unable to look at a situation from another person’s point of view, there tends to be corruption. Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical perspective that people use definitions, meanings, symbols, interpretations, and human interactions to compare themselves to others (Henslin, 2010, p. 15). Herbert Blumer, whom attended University of Chicago with one of the founders of the symbolic interactionism perspective, George Herbert Mead, developed one of the most prominent versions of the perspective (McClelland, 2000). Mooney, Knox, and Schacht explained Blumer’s theory of the symbolic interactionism perspective. According to Blumer, social problems develop in stages. The first stage is â€Å"social recognition†, when the social problem first happened. The second stage is â€Å"social legitimization†, when the problem is recognized by the community. When the community gets concerned and starts to develop a way to react is called the â€Å"mobilization for action†. â€Å"Development and implementation of an official plan† is when legal regulations occur (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2000, p. 10-16). There are many ways that people interpret the idea of abortion, and they often use words to help get their opinions across. Language is just a system of symbols that we recognize as a way of communication, and in terms of abortion, there are several ways to use language to make points to solidify one's position on the issue. The pro-choice movement is a group that believes that women should have to choice to have an abortion if they feel that it is necessary given their personal circumstances. The phrase â€Å"pro-choice† is a very strong symbol in itself because it can cause people to think in a more broad sense, implying that if one is not pro-choice, then he/she must believe that the mother of the unborn child does have rights to her own body. On the other hand, pro-life can also be seen as a very significant symbol, because it also tends to imply that if one is not pro-life, they simply believe that the unborn child in the womb does not deserve to live. Obviously, this conclusion is not always true, but it is the implications that make the phrases such strong symbols. Each side of the argument has its own list of legitimate reasons why they feel that their way is the right way, but there are some words that they use that are demeaning and insulting to whomever it is that is considering an abortion. While it is understandable that many pro-life groups believe that an abortion is a terrible way to end a life, the use of strong, suggestive words makes it seem like they are simply trying to make women feel even guiltier about having an abortion. Having an abortion is oftentimes one of the most heart-wrenching, difficult decisions a woman has to make, and some pro-life activists still feel that it is necessary to make the woman feel even more torn by comparing abortions to murder. This is probably the strongest, most symbolic word used to describe an abortion. No matter what a group's opinion on the subject, they should not use guilt as a means of trying to turn people away from abortion. This leads to further arguments, and more importantly, it leads to women feeling even worse about their decision should they decide to go through with an abortion. Words are a very big part of symbolism when dealing with such a sensitive subject like abortion. They can be used positively, to try to enlighten a person on the subject, or they can be used negatively, to try to scare a person into siding with one group or the other. Because there are so many negative connotations that go along with having an abortion, it becomes a very significant factor of social corruption. There are different types of abortion, therapeutic abortion, when the mother’s health would be at risk if the pregnancy was continued; elective abortion, when the woman decides not continue a pregnancy for whichever reason; abortion pill, which can terminate a pregnancy up to 9 weeks into it (Planned Parenthood, 2011). Many people feel differently about the different types of abortion and there are laws regarding how far into pregnancy an abortion can be performed. The news and media cover the abortion debates frequently and often help to stir up some of the controversy. It was found by David Shaw, a write for the LA Times-Washington Post Service, that the media often favors pro-choice advocates over pro-life and â€Å"Columns of commentary favoring abortion rights outnumber those opposing abortion by a argin of 2 to 1 on the opinion/editorial pages of most of the nation’s major daily newspapers† (as cited in Wade, 1990). On Yahoo Answers, â€Å"Does the media influence teenagers to get pregnant and to have abortions? † was asked and one of the responders, Ashley, replied that â€Å"†¦it does encourage them to be sexy- which then leads to sex and pregnancy, and sometimes abortions. But the media is only partly to blame; the main problem is the attitude of today’s s ociety (2009)†. It is easy to research and find distasteful images and photographs from pro-life sites. The ultimate goal is generally to convince a woman out of an abortion or to make people feel that abortion is murder. On the Maine Vitae site, mainerighttolife. com, there is a link to â€Å"Issues†. If you then click on a sub link called â€Å"The Ugly Reality†, there are 9 pictures of aborted fetuses from 8 weeks to 24 weeks gestational age (2010). It is relatively easy to find pro-choice images online, with a lot of the images including children and woman stating that they are pro-choice. A major issue for most people is the idea of abortion as contraception. The Centers for Disease Control released a statement on November 27, 2009, â€Å"Women should use contraceptives, not abortion, to prevent unwanted pregnancies. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study showed that 19-25% of women who received abortions in 2006 had previously had one or more abortions† (2009). Religions often have an opinion that they provide as public knowledge on the abortion debate. In the bible, the sixth commandment is â€Å"Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13, King James Version)†. The commandment is often used to explain why people believe that abortion is considered murder. Traditional Buddhism teaches that life begins at conception and the fetus is â€Å"as entitled to the same moral respect as an adult human being (Keown, 2004). In our research we also found medical doctors, citizens and psychologists that are against abortion. Henry Sigerist gave his interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath’s opinion on abortion; â€Å"The original text of the Hippocratic Oath, the oath that doctors traditionally take when swearing to practice medicine ethically, forbids abortions. One section of the oath reads: â€Å"I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion. † The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna also forbids abortion in its line, â€Å"Above all, I must not play at God† (1996). With his interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath, Henry Sigerist, shows that people can form different interpretations from the same information. David C. Reardon, PhD, et al. also found that women who aborted were 154% more likely to commit suicide than women who carried to term (2002).

Life †Purpose Essay

Life is a gift. It is an honor, a spark, an excitement. We all have a world of our own. Albert Camus, once said, â€Å"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life† (Camus, 1946). Life is about living to your fullest abilities. Why waste our time looking for the meaning of each breath we take? Each person is a part of life. Each life has a world of its own. I believe that the meaning of life, is to find meaning in our own life. The meaning of life is a philosophical question concerning the significance of life or existence in general. It can also be expressed in different ways, such as Why are we here? , What is life all about? , and What is the purpose of existence? It has been the subject of much philosophical, scientific, and theological assumption throughout history. There have been a large number of proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The meaning of life is in the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness, and borders on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, the existence of one or multiple Gods, conceptions of God, the soul, and the afterlife. Scientific contributions focus primarily on describing related experiential facts about the universe, exploring the perspective and parameters concerning the how in life. Science also studies and can provide recommendations for the pursuit of well being and a related origin of honesty. An alternative, humanistic approach poses the question â€Å"What is the meaning of my life? † The value of the question regarding to the purpose of life may agree with the achievement of ultimate reality, or a feeling of oneness, or even a feeling of sacredness (d2bb. org,2011). The meaning of life is a question that is thrown around from person to person asking them what they think. Some people have an idea of what the meaning of life is and other has no clue. Some believe that you just live life and others believe while living life you find the meaning. When I had a conversation with my father about what the meaning of life is all about he had the same response to the question that basically everyone else had came up with. The one difference that he said while we were talking was that life is full of choices and decisions. I thought for a while about what he said thinking that there was more behind it then just what he had stated. What I came up with was that maybe he was implying that what we do during our period of living is what sets up the next thing that happens in life. So each choice that we make is important in that it’s not the meaning of life that’s so important but the concept of what we do during life is the meaning. Some might disagree still thinking about what my father has said to, but its just another point of view and I have no problem looking at it from a different angle. Another big topic when it comes to the question of the meaning of life is music. Music is a great way to hear what other people and especially artist think about the meaning of life thought their songs. Sometimes it’s hard to hear but if you listen closely there is always a message somewhere that says something about the meaning of life. For example, in the song I don’t wanna be by Gavin Degraw, he speaks out about what he thinks about the meaning of life threw what other people are and what he doesn’t want to become. â€Å"I’m surrounded by liars everywhere. I turn. Imposters everywhere. I turn surround me. I’m surrounded by identity crisis everywhere. I turn Am I the only one who’s noticed? I can’t be the only one who’s learned I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately. All I have to do is think of me and I’ve peace of mind, I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I got to do Or who I’m supposed to be. I don’t want to be anything other than me† (azlyrics. com). What these lyrics are basically saying is that he can see that everyone around him is acting like something that there not. Then he says that he doesn’t want to act like everyone else and not know who he is but he just wants to be himself and live life the way he wants to. The next topic that is a good place to find out the meaning of life is the creative minds of artist and there art work. Art work is always a good place to find out the meaning of life because again the artist have a message in there work hidden and you have to find what there saying. The only difference from music is instead of saying the message they paint the message in a form of image weather it’s a paining or it’s a sculpture. There is many ways that you can discover meaning of life. In some ways its not what you find the meaning of life in its more about what you perceive of the meaning of life. When you look at something like a painting or a song what do you think it is trying to say? Does it paint a picture in your head and what does that picture look like? I find that the best way to see the meaning of life is threw movie. Movies are an image of the life that we live but it shows us the true meaning of life in a way that we can all understand. People are blind when it comes to what makes them in this world. Hope is another one, if you don’t have hope then you have nothing to look forward to so then what is the point of living. The main thought in a lot of movies are get busy living or get busy dieing. What this is suppose to mean is if your not going to start living and doing all the things you want to complete in life you might as well start on dieing. That brings me to my next question. Is there a God? If there is, why did he put us here? Any Christian asked will say our sole purpose is to serve God. First of all, what does that even mean? And second, I must ask why? Why would a supernatural being place us strategically on this planet strictly to serve him? That sounds pretty selfish to me. There has to be something more. Something solid or something greater. How could there not be (brainpickings. org)? The meaning of life is very complex and you can’t always pick up everything that it’s going to throw at you. That’s why movies, art and music in around so that other people who think about the topic more can show you there incite. If you listen and look at thoughts things you can learn things that will show you what the meaning of life is or at least what you can do to get started on living your life. I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. Throughout my entire life, I have wondered what the purpose is. Why am I and every other human being even on this planet in the first place (thinksimplenow. com)? All my life I have worked hard to succeed. I have challenged myself and fought to do better than my best. Why? I asked myself. Why stress so much when I’m only going to die in the end? Pessimistic, I know. Finally, I thought, maybe the meaning of life doesn’t have to be so complex. Maybe the meaning of life is whatever we want it to be. Maybe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. I do what I do because I want to do it. It’s that simple. I do it because it means something to me. Everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal. The meaning of life is never complex. The meaning of life is actually quite simple to think about. Many people help the needy. Others play sports. Both activities add meaning to those lives involved. Purposes change, but the overall meaning of life will always stay the same. The meaning of life is simply to give life a meaning. This I believe. Reference Degraw, G. (2009). I Don’t Wanna Be. Retrived December 31, 2012, from AZ Lyrics website: http://www. azlyrics. com/lyrics/gavindegraw/idontwanttobe. html Calmus, A. (1946). The Strangers. New York, NY: Vintage Books Brian, M. (2011). The Meaning of Life. Retrieved January 1, 2013, from Deciding To Be Better website: http://d2bb. org/meaning-of-life. htm Popova, M. (2012). Charles Bukowski, Arthur C. Clarke, Annie Dillard, John Cage, and Others on the Meaning of Life. Retrieved December 28, 2012, from Brain Pickings website: http://www. brainpickings. org/index. php/2012/09/17/the-meaning-of-life/ Su, T. (2011). What Is The Meaning Of Life. Retrieved December 28, 2012, from Think Simple Now website: http://thinksimplenow. com/happiness/what-is-the-meaning-of-life/.