Modern Platos Cave Essay -- essays research papers

In the Allegory of the Den written by Plato. In his writing he explains human beings live in an underground den, here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move. Being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. The three areas in modern American life that relate to Platos cave are school, community, and home or personal issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the areas of modern American life that relates to Platos den is school. In grades 1-6 (elementary) kids don't really know anything bout life. Kids just play, act crazy, and don't think of other genders. After elementary is over they go to middle school. While in middle school, teenagers get pure pressured into doing something such as: drugs, steal, sex or alcohol. Teenagers also start to recognize other genders. They also start to argue with their parents. This is also know as the ElectroOedypius complex. After they graduate from middle school they enter high school. They start taking responsibility and get more serious. They start to get stressed about work and essays. But after high school they start to think about freedom. But they really don't get freedom. Everybody has to do something to survive like working for money, food, and pay the bills.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another area in Modern American life that relates to Platos cave is community. The reasons why community i...

The Sun Also Rises Essay -- essays research papers

The Sun Also Rises   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes is a lost man who wastes his life on drinking. Towards the beginning of the book Robert Cohn asks Jake, â€Å"Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it? Do you realize that you’ve lived nearly half the time you have to live already?† Jake weakly answers, â€Å"Yes, every once in a while.† The book focuses on the dissolution of the post-war generation and how they cannot find their place in life. Jake is an example of a person who had the freedom to choose his place but chose poorly. This point of Jake’s life is centered on readjusting himself to normal life after World War I. Jake is lost and doesn’t know what to do. He has a few friends w...

How did Pondo ng Pinoy transform you as a person Essay

Pondo ng Pinoy has transformed me as an individual by making me a more improved Christian or a more enhanced follower of Jesus because with Pondo ng Pinoy, I can be capable of and will be able to help out those citizens who are very much in need of these money that we put inside the Pondo ng Pinoy bottle. The amount of the money we put in may have a small amount of value, but it doesn’t stop us from making other people’s lives worth living because no matter how small or little the amount in total is, as long as we do it on a regular basis that becomes our habitual act in our everyday life and it will be a significant part of our lives. Pondo ng Pinoy has given me an opportunity to let a large number of people have one more chance to make their own living, to let me lend a hand to those who are really in need to reconstruct their own upcoming future and to make them once feel that they really are and will always be welcome to come back to the Christian community- especially to those individuals who were about to let go of their faith because they had thought that nobody else cared for them-, and make themselves financially, spiritually and physically independent and I can be of assistance to a whole lot more to people. With Pondo ng Pinoy, I have helped those children who want to have a better education and for those children to get to have an education that they have longed for. I have helped those people- who are less fortunate- to have their own micro-finance businesses and micro-enterprise businesses that they couldn’t do without the help of Pondo ng Pinoy. I have helped people to be healthier to live in a better surrounding, to have a better atmosphere and to feel more secure. I have helped people to have their own place to live where their family can call it home. It transformed me to be more sensitive in other people’s needs. It made me realize all the blessings that I have received from God, and that I am blessed. Most of the times, I tend to get unsatisfied with things God, my parents or my family or anyone do for me. But realizing this Pondo ng Pinoy program, not only that, it made me see more clearly that there are other less fortunate brother and sisters of ours who would get so happy and be contented to receive those things people have done for me. Because of that, I learned to be more appreciative of the things those persons do for me. I would even be more glad to share the blessings that I receive everyday from God to those less fortunate brothers and sister of ours because I realize that I am blessed and it is never wrong to make them happy of the little things that I can do for them as a student or as their sister. People would usually see the 25 centavo as a loose change, but it would change their perspectives once they knew about the Pondo ng Pinoy. I’m also pertaining to myself as one of the people who thought that a 25 centavo is a loose change- when I still didn’t find out about the Pondo ng Pinoy. I have come to realize that I value the centavos even more these past few years. I would rather have changes that are centavos instead of pesos. I always get energized when my parents get changes that are centavos and I would instantly ask it from them or when I see centavos from my parents’ coins in their drawers. To be honest, I even have a separate coin bank that only centavos are containing in it. So I guess that is how Pondo ng Pinoy had put an effect or impact in my life. It will permanently be a part of my everyday life. I’m not bragging but, ever since I was a little kid I have always wanted to help out those people who are needy. So I guess as a 15 year old, this can be another way for me to help them regularly instead of just occasionally. If all together, all Filipinos would work hand in hand with the Pondo ng Pinoy project, I am very confident that we can help all our Filipino brothers and sisters to have a better existence or a better experience to live here on Earth since all of us only live once. So those are the things that the Pondo ng Pinoy has transformed me as a person.

Gang Violence among Adolescents

Whenever I see young adolescents loitering or hanging out in streets, doing nothing worthwhile but trying to act tough while showing it to their friends or hurting other people, I feel nothing but regret. They should have been at school, learning things that could help them have a better job and future, or at home helping their family and having fun with them. They could do so much if only they make better use of their time and youth. Local governments are faced with the problems associated with gang violence among adolescents.Preventing adolescents from wasting their lives should be a matter of importance for communities, and this should be prioritized because adolescents can have a better future away from the streets. When crowds of young people gather, they may take a group identity. Other groups or even them, may identify themselves as gangs. Furthermore, cliques tend to identify the formation of a gang as a result of threats or conflicts, police pressure and media coverage.Accor ding to studies, gang behavior is â€Å"situational in nature,† and the attribution of hostile behavior to one gang may further contribute to the formation and identity of a gang. In addition, it may be further solidified once â€Å"neighbors, police, school authorities, and others identify unsupervised groups of young people as gangs† (Short, 1996, p. 3). Preventing young people from being associated with violent gangs have been one of the priorities of communities. Past studies showed that gang violence continue to plague communities as gang-related crimes increased over time.For instance, in 1995, it showed that gang-related homicides increased. From 1979 to 1994 alone, a record of 7,288 gang-related homicides was documented in Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The proportion of gang-related homicides increased from 18 to 43 percent (Maceo, 1995). These figures alone would tell how worse gang violence has become. Gang violence brings young people to jails. In fa ct, many adolescents have been charged for being involved in criminal activities.Just this year, a 15-year-old student was killed by a young man who was an alleged member of a violent street gang. The 18-year-old suspect, who pleaded guilty, was charged with 30 years in prison (Castaneda, 2009). This scenario should not be the kind of life that young people must have. Families should be the first ones involved as they are the primary influencing factors in the lives of adolescents. In the case mentioned above, the parents of the victim were completely unaware that their son was a member of a gang. They learned about it when it was too late to save their son.Parents should know the things that their children are being involved in, and must find ways to talk to their children about the consequences of joining gangs that tend to be violent. Parents should encourage their children to be involved in more worthwhile activities, such as sports, that would further develop their skills and i mprove their talents and make them better individuals. The community also has responsibilities in preventing the existence of violent gangs. There should be constant patrols especially in dark and derelict areas.It would be also beneficial if there are programs designed to lure young people away from the streets, such as volunteer works or business ventures that would teach adolescents the importance of working and being properly compensated for a good work done. Moreover, a center for young people can help those who are trying to get out of gangs and trying to change. Attention must be focused to those who want a way out because they might be harmed due to their willingness to have a better life. These young people should really have a good, fruitful life that a violent gang can never give them.

Case against death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Case against death penalty - Essay Example Some people view that the death penalty is barbaric, expensive, and executed in an arbitrary way. Some people also cite death penalty as a cause of psychological burden to the executers, prone to errors, and a mark of death and not life. Death penalty also causes sorrow to the families of victims, create unfairness, and fails as deterrence. With better ways of punishing capital offenders, there are many reasons justice systems should stop practicing death penalty, but employ other humane alternatives. Death penalty is a barbaric act of punishing capital offenders as compared to other options like life imprisonment (Banner 169). The practice of the death penalty is a cruel form of ending the life of capital offenders, because justice systems take their life with no thought about it. Today, it is true that the death penalty has evolved from severe brutality to more decent forms of taking the life of those sentenced to death. However, that notion that justice systems can end the life of a capital offender makes the practice brutal and barbaric. Some decades ago, this practice was a key attraction for all people in society, particular those who were interested in seeing others being shot or hanged. Despite the public attention to such events, the practice still displays the brutality that offenders receive when justice systems subjects them to this practice. With the society embracing a peaceful society where brutality is outdated, there are many reasons why justice systems should abo lish the death penalty.

Cultural Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Tourism - Essay Example This paper approves that to improve the services that the igloos offer, it is safe to add a unit service crew where the group shall attend to the needs of people staying. At the same time, there should be catering services where the food making paraphernalia are provided and are meant to be made by the visitors in order to have a more enhanced feeling being an Eskimo. The foods that must be served are those fit in the Eskimo culture so that the feeling of satisfaction is enhanced. In this manner, people will definitely look forward to coming back to the place. There is also a need to ensure that a positive, reliable and strong workforce exists. The good thing also about this ice restaurant is that it is the largest of its kind in the world and nothing else. This is already one of its marketable characteristics. How is this important? Possession of certain characteristics that are commendable would already leave an impression of awe and curiosity on the part of the tourist who are excited to go though the adventure. This essay makes a conclusion that the Igloo village can be considered as an attempt to preserve history. This cannot be disregarded, devalued and neglected. At the same time, this cannot be considered tokenistic. It something that justifies the need to show importance towards culture that has been neglected in this world that starts to become globalized. Culture is something that is preserved upon the attempt to create and establish a reputation. This should be done in almost all levels of planning when it comes to tourism, cultural, political and economic conditions.

South Africas Native Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

South Africas Native Population - Essay Example Eventually, South Africa's native population took over and the dominant group is no longer the white minority in that country. A dominant group is defined by who holds economic, political, social, or coercive power over the minority. b. A minority group is defined as the group that is dominated by the dominant group. Again, in South Africa, the minority groups were 90% of the population while the dominant group was only 10% of the overall population. The dominant group has the power over the minority group despite the numbers of either group. In South Africa, 10% of the population held the power over 90% of the population. C. Racial categories are considered social because they are a division of people based upon appearance only. Before genetics race was considered proof that there was a significant difference between peoples. Genetics proved that despite outward differences in appearance all people were part of one genetic race. Differences in appearance are the outward adaptation to climate or region. Racial categories are still used to divide peoples and those who hold prejudices against others base their prejudices upon the assumption that one racial make up is inferior to another. Again, genetics does not support this belief. Another reason race is a social issue is because it is easy to point to someone and point out their differences. Most often race is an issue for the dominant group and is defined by the dominant group. d. The main difference between race and ethnicity is that race is defined by the dominant group whereas ethnicity is self defined. Ethnicity can be defined by language, cultural activities, and religion. Sometimes ethnicity is defined by physical characteristics such as clothing or modesty. Ethnic groups located in the United States include Hispanics, American Indians, Jews, African Americans, and white Americans. Ethnicity can be identified by how people celebrate (Christmas for example.) and how people mourn their dead. Many African Americans share a common desire for foods that have been passed down from one generation to another. These include fried chicken and collard greens. Many Mexican Americans still prefer Mexican fare such as tortillas and refried beans. And, as more and more cultures assimilate in the United States the identification as American can include foods considered 'American' such as hot dogs and apple pie. Question 2 Three social paradigms exist. Each paradigm describes human behavior and society. Social scientists use social paradigms to explain their viewpoints about what is happening in society and why. Paradigms describe only and cannot be enacted or made to happen. Figure 1 (Fox Valley Technical College 2000) a. The Conflict Paradigm The social conflict paradigm is characterized by conflict and inequality. It is a paradigm that seeks to answer such questions as what are the social inequalities, where does the conflict exist, and are their winners or losers The conflict paradigm asserts that society is made up of everyday interactions. The best way to think of it is as a society of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. For example, when driving along the highway you can almost bet on what the income level or socioeconomic class a person is in by looking at the car they drive.