Positive Impact of Guidance Counselors Essay Example for Free

Positive Impact of Guidance Counselors Essay A school counselor, usually called a guidance counselor, is one who helps guide students through different aspects of their life whether it be academic, career, college, or social aspects from grades K-12. At some levels a guidance counselor may help students with bullying or a bad home life, and at other levels they help students stay on track and guide them down the right academic path for the student’s success and graduation. No matter what direction the guidance counselor is going, their mind set is always one that will have a positive impact on their school climate and culture. Guidance counselors have the ability to work collaboratively with other educators to make program changes necessary to help prevent students from dropping out of school. With the help of the counselor, students can be directed down correct paths that will prevent student drop outs, thus positively affecting the school climate and culture. An effective guidance counselor will also spend time with troubled students helping them work through their issues, thus creating a better classroom environment for the teachers. When troubled students are receiving the help they need outside the classroom, teachers can maintain an orderly environment free of disruptions, and therefore higher learning can take place. This is yet another example of the positive impact that the counselor has on school climate and culture. The school culture is positively affected by counselors yet again due to the fact that guidance counselors help connect the school with the community, and the school with the parents. Counselors help connect the family as a whole to the educational process by having informative sessions with the community in regards to things like: how to file the FAFSA; explaining what test scores mean; offering help with ACT study sessions, etc. Counselors also send home informative newsletters keeping the parents and community informed about what’s going on inside the school building. In conclusion, it is evident that a school counselor has numerous positive impacts on a school’s climate and culture. They are an irreplaceable resource for the students, school, and the community. Without their presence, schools and students could not and would not be where they are today.

Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Example for Free

Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a long-term investment by a foreign investor and is considered a key component of national development strategies across all countries over the globe. This type of investment boosts the economic growth of a country through its positive impact on the country’s domestic capital, productivity, and employment statistics. FDI is the lifeblood of a growing economy that provides the host country benefits of increased labor standards and skills, transfer of new technology and innovative ideas, improved infrastructure and conducive business environment. It is a leading source of external financing. Countries that have stable market conditions coupled with high productivity, low costs of labor, effective government policies and adequate infrastructure facilities are considered to be the most favored destinations for foreign investment companies. Liberalization of economies has opened doors for many countries into the emerging markets of the developing nations such as China and India. The Chinese Economy The Chinese economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has emerged from being an economy with virtually no foreign investment in the late 1970s to a country that attracts one of the largest amounts of foreign investment from investors across the globe. The increasing openness of the Chinese economy to foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The increase in foreign direct investment in China has contributed to higher investment, and growth in productivity, greater employment opportunities, and a dynamic export sector. China is one of the most populous countries in the world with more than 1. 3 billion people with an annual growth rate of 0. 8%. It has taken adequate measures to curb its rising population figures and this has made a positive impact on its growth rate. The population density is approximately 136 persons per square kilometer with most of the people (almost 60 percent) living in rural areas. Life expectancy is also higher in this country than most developing nations across the globe. The country also has high literacy rate of 91 percent. The Chinese economy witnessed a slow but dramatic growth over the past twenty years. It has transformed from a poor economy with relatively low per capita income to the world’s fastest growing economy. The Chinese economy has emerged as a market-oriented economy that has become a dominant figure in world trade. The country has increased its interaction with international economy that has resulted in increased foreign trade and gross national product (GNP). The Chinese economy grew at 11. 4 percent in the year 2007. As per the FDI Confidence Index compiled by A. T. Kearney in the year 2005, China hold the first position followed by India and United States. China is currently the world’s fourth largest economy and it has expanded by at least 10 percent annually in the last four years. Foreign direct investment in China rose by 4. 5 percent in the year 2006 to approximately US$ 63 billion. The country’s foreign currency reserves are the world’s largest and primarily derived from the trade surplus that rose to almost US$ 177. 5 billion in the year 2006. FDI investment trend in the past 10 years Foreign direct investment sector in China has spelled success over the past ten years. It has increased from a mere US$ 19 billion in the year 1990 to more than US$ 700 billion in the year 2007. A glance at the capital and financial account item’s surplus in the past few years reveal that the foreign direct investment has made great contributions to the foreign exchange reserve accumulation. Besides this the FDI has a stabilizing influence on the country’s economy. This is largely due to the long-term commitment that FDI stands for while establishing foreign affiliates. Most developing countries hence are adopting policy reforms to attract more foreign investment into the country. China has accounted for more than one-third of the gross FDI flows to all emerging markets over the past decade. Despite the weakening of the global markets in the recent years, China has remained an essentially fast growing economy. The country’s capital inflows have been dominated by FDI that has made significant contribution to stabilizing the economy along with other associated benefits such as technological transfers and increasing managerial expertise. In 2007 the overall FDI inflows into China totaled US$ 82. 7 billion that is a 13. 8 percent increase from the previous year figures. The total number of deals dropped by almost 8 percent in the year 2006 from 44,019 in the year 2005 to 41,485 in the 2006. The increasing appreciation of the local currency renminbi during the period and the subsequent impact on the market was responsible for this drop. The year 2007 saw only 37,888 foreign investment deals, a drop of 8. 7 percent from the previous year figures. But the value of the FDI was significantly larger than the previous statistics. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises represented almost 78 percent of all foreign investments followed by equity joint ventures and contractual joint ventures. Continuous foreign capital inflow has rendered the Chinese economy the prime position in global context in terms of attracting foreign investment. The country accounts for an investment of foreign capital funds totaling US$ 8589 million by 5136 new foreign corporations between the period January to February 2006. The major sources of FDI in China are Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Among other investors the prominent countries are United States, Taiwan, Cayman Islands, Western Samoa, and Mauritius. These top ten countries together account for 87. 2 percent of total FDI inflows into China. The manufacturing sector accounted for nearly 57. 7 percent totaling US$ 40. 1 billion of the total FDI inflows in the year 2006 followed by 11. 9 percent equivalent to US$ 8. 2 billion in the real estate sector. Other prominent sectors that reflect increasing foreign investment are leasing and business services (US$ 4. 2 billion), transport (US$ 2. 0 billion), wholesale and retailing (US$ 1. 8 billion). Low cost of manufacturing, increasingly wealthy consumer market comprising of 1. 3 billion people are attracting larger number of foreign companies to establish their outlets in China. The large-scale investment by foreign investors has helped in pushing the nation’s foreign currency reserves to almost US$ 1. 2 trillion that is quite high by global standards. The FDI outflow of China received significant attention in the year 2007 due to the creation of People’s Republic of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp. and several other high profile investments and acquisitions. China Investment Corp. purchased a stake of US$ 3 billion in Blackstone and 9. 9 percent stake of Morgan Stanley worth US$ 5 billion in the year 2006. The statistics of the total FDI outflow in the year 2006 reveal a total figure of US$ 21. 2 billion that is an increase of nearly 73 percent over the previous year figures. The State owned enterprises accounted for almost 86 percent of this total FDI outflow. The FDI outflow in the country is spread across 172 destinations across the world. The largest share of the FDI outflow from China is received by Latin America followed by Asia, Cayman Islands, and Hong Kong. The prime regional sources of China’s overseas investments are Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hainan, Hebei, and Beijing. Balance of Payments trend in the past 10 years Over the last ten years China’s Balance of Payments (BOP) kept its current and capital accounts in surplus constantly. The annual total scale of BOP accounts’ increased by 31. 6 percent during the period 1984 – 2004 when foreign reserves increased from US$ 0. 054 trillion to US$ 1. 91. In the first half of the year 2005, the BOP raised to US$ 1. 14 trillion that is an increase of 25. 3 percent over the previous year figures. There is a complimentary relationship between the growth of FDI and international trades. The trades and foreign investment have immense impact on the position of balance of payment, in terms of growth in international business activities. Source: International Financial Statistics July 2007, International Monetary Fund The changes in economic policies adopted and implemented by the Chinese government have made tremendous impact on its trade and balance of payments. The opening of the economy and its gradual move towards a market-oriented economy has made significant impact on the trade balances and foreign funds inflow into the country. A look at the balance of payments figures indicates that the current account surpluses and foreign direct investment have remained important contributors to accumulation of foreign exchange reserves in China. The trade surplus widened to over 177 billion dollars in 2006 to 262 billion dollars in the year 2007. The Government of China is planning to stimulate imports and streamline exports in the coming years. GDP and Inflation Trend in China GDP has shown a healthy growth trend over the past decade in China. Individuals have become richer with annual GDP rising from US$ 8,440 billion in the year 1998 to US$ 24,661 billion in the year 2007. The real GDP growth in the year 2007 was 11. 4 percent raised from 11. 1 percent in the year 2006. The 11. 4 percent GDP growth rate is the highest for China in the last 13 years and it is expected that the GDP will grow 10 percent in the forthcoming year. The economic growth in China was expected to slow down in the year 2007 due to the global market slump. However the rising oil prices across the globe has not made much of an impact so far on the Chinese economy due to the huge amounts of foreign investment in the country. But Chinese economy being more dependent on international trade will face a slow down eventually. Economists predict that the rising consumption pattern will have a slow down impact on the GDP growth rate in the year 2008. It is expected that the Chinese exports will slow down from 26 percent in the year 2007 to 19 percent in 2008. This is mainly accountable to the weakening global market demand and cuts in export rebates. A look at the inflation in China reveals a steadily growing curve. Inflation reached a high of 4. 8 percent in the year 2007 from 1. 5 percent in the year 2006. The rising inflation has reached the peak within the decade. It is expected that the inflation will continue to rise in the forthcoming years with percentage rising to more than 7 in the year 2008. The rising global price of oil has made significant impact on the market prices of goods and commodities in China. This has led to rising consumer oil prices and food prices, and producer price index. Inflation has spread to the service sector as well indicating rising cost of labor in the country. The consumer price index rose by 4. 5 percent in the urban areas and by 5. 4 percent in the rural areas in the year 2007. The rise in inflation is mainly attributed to increased food prices and housing sector. This is becoming a matter of concern for the Chinese economy since the escalating prices can have a negative impact on the overall economic growth. The Chinese government is trying to control inflation adopting strict monetary and trade regulations. Unemployment trend The per capita disposable income was 13,786 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of 17. 2 percent from over the previous year figure of 11,759 yuan. The rural per capita disposable income was 4140 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of almost 15. 4 percent over the previous year figure of 3587 yuan. The employment figures also raised in the past few years steadily both in the urban and rural sectors. The number of employed people in urban areas reached 12. 04 million people in the year 2007 an increase of 200,000 people over the previous year statistics. China has generated almost 51 million jobs in the past five years in the urban areas. Statistics reveal that there are about 20 million new job seekers in the country every year and the economy is able to provide approximately 12 million jobs per year. Government efforts are directed towards generating more jobs. The country has implemented active employment policies since the year 2002 that has increased the number of employed people from 8. 4 million to 12. 04 million in the last year. Impact of FDI on the Chinese Economy The past few years has witnessed the emerging of China’s economy as the most successful in the world utilizing the inflow of foreign direct investment towards its economic development. The key driving force towards this economic mobilization is the opening up of the Chinese economy to foreign trade and investment. The opening of the economy with subsequent rise in foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The foreign direct investment has made a positive impact on the country’s balance of payments. Besides this the impact has been favorable on the country’s GDP growth rate. It has not only raised GDP growth by adding to capital formation but also has contributed to higher GDP growth through its effect on total productivity. The establishment of foreign funded enterprises has directly contributed to the GDP growth an introduction of new technologies and management skills. The growth in industrial establishments and service sector has created new employment opportunities and this is seen as a significant contributor to economic development in China. Moreover, the foreign direct investment has assisted in establishing a highly competitive manufacturing sector in the country. This has contributed immensely to the rising exports and the country’s participation in world trade. References: 1. Foreign Direct Investment in China: International Monetary Fund, 2002 http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/pdp/2002/pdp03. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 2. The US-China Business Council – Forecast 2008 China’s Economy http://uschina. org/public/documents/2008/02/2008-china-economy. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 3. ADB: China’s GDP to grow 10% in 08, inflation at 5. 5% http://www. chinadaily. com. cn/china/2008-04/02/content_6587641. htm accessed on 9th April, 2008 4. Chinese Inflation hits highest level in more than a decade, Feb 20, 2008 http://www. iht. com/articles/2008/02/19/business/yuan. php accessed on 9th April, 2008 5. National Bureau of Statistics of China http://www. stats. gov. cn/english/statisticaldata/yearlydata/ accessed on 9th April, 2008

Human Population Size And Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay

Human Population Size And Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay Over the years, human society has changed the local ecological system and caused the change of regional climate. Today, mankind has begun to affect the entire planets climate. The worlds population in the next 12 to 13 years will increase more than 1 billion. It is predicted that by 2020, the population will increase to 76 billion from the current 6.5 billion, in 2030 to 8.2 billion, in 2050 to staggering 9.0 billion. There is a huge gap between population growth and food supply growth. When the population growth exceeds the capacity of the food supply, famine is inevitable. The more people mean needing more air, water, and more housing, education and employment opportunities. To meet these, people will ignore the prevention and treatment of the serious consequences of climate change. But climate change has caused global warming and rising sea levels, which could lead to the destruction of the Earths civilization without any measures. Humanity in the process of production and consump tion make destruction, pollution and impact on the environment, but changed environment also affects the survival of mankind. The relationship between population and the environment has been objective relationship since the origins of mankind. The population development is a special kind of social process, which is mainly determined by economic and social conditions. During a social process, population and environment have the opposite and unity relation of interrelatedness, interaction, and mutual restraint. This essay will first discuss the development of population size and the problem. Following this, it will describe the impact of population on the climate. Finally it will describe impact of climate on the population. Development of population size and the problem Overall, the worlds population growth is relatively fast. The second half of the 20th century, the world had an unprecedented rapid population growth. Not only the population growth rate reached a historic peak level and increment of the population exceeded the total accumulation population in more than 200 million years of human history. U.S. Census Bureau data showed that the worlds population in 1930 reached 20 billion, in 1974 to 40 million, in 1987 to 50 million, in 1999 to reach 6.0 billion. The population growth rate has been accelerating in the 20th century. The worlds population had doubled in 1850-1950 years, while in 1950-1990 a short period of four decades had doubled. At present, in the world about 365,000 people born every day, of which 57% born in Asia, 26% in Africa, 9% in Latin America, 5% in Europe, but was born in North America and only 3%. In addition, less than 1% of the population is born in Oceania and the oceanic islands. After subtracting the number of deaths , the global average daily increase is nearly 21 million people. The Earth increases by nearly 80 million people each year, almost equivalent to a large population country. India is one of the worlds youngest population countries, more than half of the national smaller than 25 years of age, 1/3 of the population smaller than 15 years(Ehrlich, 1997).. World Population Prospects published by United Nations predicts that by 2050, Indias population will increase to 1.593 billion In this century many scientific observations indicate that concentrations of greenhouse gases in atmospheric are increasing. Prior to 1750, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels remained at 280ppm. After the industrial revolution, as human activities, especially the growing consumption of fossil fuels (coal, oil, etc.), massive destruction of forest vegetation and the growing man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, atmospheric carbon dioxide level gradually increases, per year increasing 1.8ppm (about 0.4%), and it has risen to nearly 360ppm so far. In the past century, global average surface temperature has risen by 0.3 à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ãƒâ€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ to 0.6 à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ãƒâ€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, the global sea level rise of 10-25 cm (EPA, 2006). Recent years, countries around the world have emerged the hottest weather over centuries, and the frequent occurrence of El NiÃÆ' ±o phenomenon, which have caused tremendous economic losses. With the reduction in per cap ita grain area, more and more countries bear the risk of loss of food self-sufficiency. The extension of water scarcity is perhaps the most undervalued resource problems in the contemporary world. However, in any areas where the population is still growing, per capita fresh water supply is decreasing. Impact of population on the climate In the human production and life, over-grazing, deforestation makes the soil erosion, land degradation; super-exploitation of resources has led to depletion of a lot of natural resources; a variety of waste emissions cause serious environmental pollution and damage, which cause a series of global environmental issues. Population size, distribution, migration have also a huge impact on regional ecological environment. At present, the environmental changes caused by the rapid population growth and rapid development of urbanization have begun to affect the global biogeochemical cycles and long-term climate change, and become an important eco-driving force for large-scale changes in the environment and population. 1). According to UN information, per capita cultivated land was 0.31 hectares in 1975, and in 2000 it drop to 0.1 hectares due to population growth. In the condition of huge population and the relative decrease in the arable land, raising yield per unit area is a positive way to increase the grain. It relies mainly on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to reach the aim. However, large-scale use of fertilizers and pesticides has brought serious environmental problems such as soil compaction, poor physical and chemical properties, organic matter reduction and the fertility decline. 2). Forest is an important factor to maintain the quality of the environment for human survival. However, population growth is bound to destroy forest for cultivated land, or to build a house. As a result, an increasing number of forest resources are destroyed. Forest area on the planet had reached 76 million hectares, in 1962 reducing to 55 million hectares, in 1975 reducing to 26 million hectares. Accordi ng to the calculation of American scholar, with the population growth, depletion of forests will be extended to the year 2020. Then forest area will stabilize at 1.8 billion hectares, of which about 1.45 billion hectares are in developed countries, only 370 million hectares in developing countries. Because the forests are heavily exploited, topsoil on the earth being that are washed away are 24 billion tons every year, loss of several million tons of fertilizer, having a great bad impact on farmers and livestock production. 3). Rapid growth and high concentration of population have brought tremendous pressure on the environment. Environmental pollution is one of the most serious mankind facing problems, such as: air pollution, water pollution, traffic congestion, noise nuisance, accumulation of garbage and so on. Population growth will increase carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides in the atmosphere due to respiration, combustion and industrial development, which may cau se acid rain and photochemical smog events. More serious is to cause the earths average temperature increase to affect climate due to the greenhouse effect caused by the increase in carbon dioxide, resulting in serious damage to the planets ecosystems (Smith, 2008). Impact of climate on the population Population distribution, migration and the quantity and quality depend on certain region environmental conditions to a considerable extent. Therefore, the relationship between population and the environment have obvious regional characteristics because of the different regional conditions. Integrated resource supply capacity of environment plays an important role in population distribution and migration. Quantity and quality of the population are affected by natural and social environment, the dual constraints. Population is the unity of its quantity characteristics and quality characteristics. Population quantity and population characteristics and physical appearance are all severely constrained by the environment. The demographic impacts of climate change on population are mainly in the following aspects. 1) Population growth makes a pressure on water supply and demand pressure, even without considering the impact of climate change, by 2050 there will also be 5 billion people facing water shortage situation, more than half of the worlds population. Impact of climate change makes the water problem even worse. Rivers dried up and falling water table are regarded as evidence of shortage of water resources, such as the Nile, the Yellow River and the Colorado River, which almost have waterless flowing to sea. At present, the world water tables of major grain-producing areas are falling on every continent. The U.S. southern Great Plains, the North China Plain and in most parts of India, groundwater aquifers are becoming increasingly dried up. International Water Management Institute predicts that in 2050 year in some countries a total of about 1 billion people live will face absolute water scarcity situation. These countries will reduce agricultural water to meet the needs of residents and industrial water demand. China and India are considered the worlds two major agricultural irrigation countries, and will have a significant reduction in irrigation water supply (Leigh, 2007). 2) Extreme weather and sea level rise have the most serious effect on the coastal and low-elevation areas, and coastal areas accounting for 2% of the total land live on 10% of the population around the world. Take Bangladesh and China for example, in 1990 to-2000 years, population growth rate living in coastal areas is twice the national rate of population growth. In the negative effects of sea-level rise and extreme weather, number of living people is growing. Others such as landslides, flash floods and glacial lake overflow and other issues also have impact on the human. It is expected 40% of the worlds population will be affected by the Asian mountain glaciers and snow melting. 3) The agricultural productivity reduces. Tropical and subtropical agriculture are most affected, because the regio ns crop is already under the extreme climate varieties. As the population growth, reduced crop output and increasingly higher food prices, to 2080, will cause 90000000-125000000 population in developing countries facing the problem of hunger. 4) The global climate change often leads to severe changes of regional climate and weather, which have wide-ranging implications on human health. Global climate warming causes more heat in summer and temperate in winter, which is accompanied by an increase in frequency and intensity of heat waves. Humidity increase aggravates the effect of extreme heat in summer on human health. In temperate regions, high temperature increases the number of deaths during the day to day. For example, the United States during the heat wave in Chicago in 1995, the death was over 500, of which the highest mortality is at older ages. The future, as increase in frequency and intensity of heat waves, deaths number and serious illnesses caused by extreme high temperatu re events will increase. Also, because of air pollution, during the heat wave in 1995, the United States, it was estimated that more than half the number of deaths was caused by increased air pollution (Jonathan A. Patz, 2005). Flood causes casualties and infectious diseases to increase (P. Martens, 1999). Drought affects food production, and exacerbates the existing situation of malnutrition, inducing famine to affect human health. During the drought and water shortages, the water only is used for cooking but not for health, so that it increases the risk of disease and epidemic disease outbreaks. Conclusion Sir Nicholas Stern in 2006, in Stern Report pointed out that climate change could trigger the worst ever and the most extensive market failure. He warned that the world must invest one per cent of gross domestic product to slow the effects of climate change, the cost of failure to do so is the economic downturn of up to 20 percent of being the worlds gross domestic product. Climate change is a serious challenge to the whole world, and has an extensive impact on human well-being and safety. According to IPCC estimation, by 2050, due to coastal flooding, shoreline erosion and agricultural pollution and other reasons, there will be 150 million refugees. Investment in family planning and reproductive health, girl education, women empowerment and economic opportunities and youth development can accelerate demographic transition in the least developed countries and developing countries, so that they can seize the demographic dividend, to achieve economic growth, while to enhance the abilit y to address climate change. In strategies of adaptation to climate change, demographic factors should not continue to be ignored. It is necessary to take effective measures to meet the worlds most vulnerable populations, including womens needs. Universal population policy of voluntary contraception, comprehensive consideration of population dynamics and development of poverty reduction will ultimately achieve sustainable population development adapting to climate change.

Abortion - Morally Wrong for 3000 Years! :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Judaeo-Christian tradition has always condemned abortion as a grave evil. The law of Moses ordered strict penalties for causing an abortion. We read, "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [Hebrew: "so that her child comes out"], but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Ex. 21:22-24). This applies the lex talionis or "law of retribution" to abortion. The lex talionis establishes the just punishment for an injury (eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life, compared to the much greater retributions that had been common before, such as life for eye, life for tooth, lives of the offender's family for one life). The lex talionis would already have been applied to a woman who was injured in a fight. The distinguishing point in this pas sage is that a pregnant woman is hurt "so that her child comes out"; the child is the focus of the lex talionis in this passage. Aborted babies must have justice, too. This is because they, like older children, have souls, even though marred by original sin. David tells us, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Ps. 51:5). Since sinfulness is a spiritual rather than a physical condition, David must have had a spiritual nature from the time of conception. The same is shown in James 2:26, which tells us that "the body without the spirit is dead": The soul is the life-principle of the human body. Since from the time of conception the child's body is alive (as shown by the fact it is growing), the child's body must already have its spirit.    The approximately 5,000 historic documents of the Early Church Fathers makes numerous references to abortion as a grave sin. The Didache, perhaps the first Christian catechism from 70-90AD, records the following in chapter 2, verses 1-2: "The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child.

Black Thunder :: Black Thunder Essays

Black Thunder In the year 1800 Thomas Jefferson was campaigning very hard against John Adams for the presidency of the United States. Across the Atlantic, in France, Napoleon Bonaparte had consolidated his leadership of France. Meanwhile, in Santo Domingo (later Haiti), Toussaint L'Ouverture, with the succor of his countrymen and tropical diseases, repelled 20,000 French troops and formed a new black republic. The exploits of Toussaint did not go unobserved by slaves in the United States, especially in Virginia's Henrico County. In Black Thunder, Gabriel's Revolt: Virginia: 1800, author Arna Bontemps tells us what legacy the age of revolution brought to the slaves of Richmond. The chief character and leader of the slaves is Gabriel, the youngest of three brothers. although he is the biggest and strongest of the three. Gabriel and his brothers, Martin and Soloman, are the property of plantation owner Thomas Prosser. Gabriel's ascendancy to the leadership role of the slaves is secured when he bests Ditcher, a huge slave, who defeated Soloman and Martin in previous combats. Gabriel's' awakening and enlightenment to freedom starts and grows from his many trips into Richmond as Mr. Prosser's carriage driver. In Richmond, Gabriel makes it his duty to eavesdrop on the conversation of M. Cruezot and Alexander Biddenhurst, Frenchmen whose discourses are often laced with phrases of equality and liberty. These Frenchmen are referred to as Jacobins by the whites. Moreover, Gabriel and others are regularly listening to a freed slave, Mingo's reading of the Bible; they find passages about the Children of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and David's slaying of Goliath interesting. The slaves consider themselves another Children of Israel in another time. With a natural yearning to be free, and the enlightenment to reinforce and fuel his urge, Gabriel starts to lay a plan to smash the shackles that bind him. Everything is in place, the revolt is poised to be executed, but the unexpected and most unwelcome thing happens -- a thunderstorm. The streams become inundated, the roads turn into rivers of mud, and Gabriel's legions are bogged down, unable to rendezvous with him. The torrential rain breeds superstition and it in turn breeds desertion. Some of the slaves say the stars are against them, and others question the rightness of their mission. A dwindling force is not one that insures victory, so Gabriel postpones the revolt to await more favourable weather. During this time, Pharaoh and Ben, two slaves who are assigned the task of rallying support from the slaves of Carolina County, are having second thoughts about going through with the plan.

Argument Against the Death Penalty Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive C

Argument Against the Death Penalty Life is sacred. This is an ideal that the majority of people can agree upon to a certain extent. For this reason taking the life of another has always been considered the most deplorable of crimes, one worthy of the harshest available punishment. Thus arises one of the great moral dilemmas of our time. Should taking the life of one who has taken the life of others be considered an available punishment? Is a murderer's life any less sacred than the victim's is? Can capital punishment, the death penalty, execution, legal murder, or whatever a society wishes to call it, be morally justifiable? The underlying question in this issue is if any kind of killing, regardless of reason, can be accepted. In this paper I will discuss if the modern American form of capital punishment can be morally justified. Opponents of the death penalty have a distinct advantage when arguing their point over advocates. Their advantage is the fact that taking the life of another is immoral, and if you remove all outstanding circumstances capital punishment is nothing more than legalized murder. This argument alone is not strong enough, though, because of the many circumstances surrounding capital punishment, such as the fact that the convict being executed has more than likely taken someone else's life. The first justification for the claim that capital punishment is immoral is the idea that it creates a climate of violence. If a society punishes a murderer by murdering them what are we saying about violence? Our society teaches its children that violence does not solve anything, and yet our highest form of punishment is no different than the crime it punishes. Capital punishment also furthers the desensitiz... ... Press Inc, 1986. The Washington Research Project. The Case Against Capital Punishment. 1971. Sowell, Thomas and DiIulio, John J. Jr. "The Death Penalty is a Deterrent." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. 1986. King, Glen D. "On Behalf of the Death Penalty." The Death Penalty in America. 1982. Prejean, Helen. "The Death Penalty is Morally Unjust." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. 1986. Amsterdam, Anthony G. "Capital Punishment." The Death Penalty in America. 1982. DiSpoldo, Nick. "The Death Penalty is Applied Unfairly to the Poor." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. 1986. Ross, Michael. "The Death Penalty is Applied Unfairly to Blacks." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. 1986. Rothman, Stanley and Powers, Steven. "The Death Penalty is Not Applied Unfairly to Blacks." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. 1986.

Parallels similarities between the experiences of womenmen in Gileadean and US society Essay

I would like to concur with Atwood that the Gilead society only exist in the land of Gilead alone, and such attributes are not witnessed in the basic American societies even though this concurrence is limited. I will begin by citing Atwood opinion. Firstly, the Gilead society transferred women wealth to their husbands or relatives. Thus, a woman was seen as a property and could not be allowed to own property since she was a property. This is not the case with contemporary US society where women can make significant macroeconomic decisions American women are leaders of large businesses, control large investments and even assume elective posts. I will, therefore, compare the identity issue to makes sure that you understand the differences between American societies and Gilead societies. Unlike in the American society, in the Gileadian society women were highly segregated from one another. For a woman to befriend a fellow woman that relationship was to be made public. As such, their husbands took women as properties. Thus, they expected women to consult them on what choices they would want to make in life. According to Atwood, Gileadian woman would wear uniforms coded to their functions. However, American women have independent decisions. They choose who and who not to relate with. Besides, Audience, Atwood believes that Gilead women were infertile, and they would help their husbands during insemination commonly known as ceremony. The women were only in charge of the household discipline, however, their freedoms since way the feel week they were left to die with no care at all. As well, the women were expected to provide subsequent child catering; as quoted; They would tell Bible stories for children and sing hymns. One of the women was called Serena Joy†¦..was expected to laugh and cry†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦in order to teach the children (16) Rather complex, the women of Gilead, who are seen handling complex administrative jobs, for instance, becoming police officers, are still considered properties of men they are working with. As such, the women become rigid, middle-aged who have internalized patriarchal values. In fact, Gilead women are dogmatized to live in a society that does not seem to care about their objectives. Similarly, women of Gilead operate re-education centers; however, they are not mandated to carry out critical decisions concerning education. However, this is not the case their American counterparts. American counterparts contribute positively towards the development of the society. Their decisions are independent. Similarly, the creation and destruction of property rights fundamentally presents legal challenges affecting the women of Gilead. Men, control the Gilead government. Gilead state captures wayward and loose women who can bear birth to the incoming generations; however, they fail to recognize the power and legitimacy of the new regime. Thus, their property is their self and freedoms and as illustrated earlier, the access to money. As a result, women become the property of their husbands if they have one or the state that has their discretion can dispatch them wherever they see them. In this case, males are in power to claim property rights in women who have been foiled. However, in America, women are not treated as fugitives in fact, they present an equal 50/50 power distribution and resources are shared evenly. Ironically, the Gilead regime pretends to respect the feminist philosophy in its treatment of women and the paints a picture of an utopian future that female society turnaround to become the sorority and prevent from being hurt. However, the patriarchy principles in Gilead embrace the paradox of protection in the imprisonment, where women face significant prejudices in the type of decisions that they make. This is not the case with the present American society. Joining Atwood, I prefer Aunt Lydia reflection on what freedom-to-freedom means. Ironically, the commander justifies the Gilead by claiming that women are relevant if they fulfill their biological duties. Literary the commander had married so many women, and had one ceremonial as Atwood is quoted saying At one, level was an almost a caricature of the banality of kitchen talk that could be a scene from a Pinter commender†¦But in the terror-filled austerity of the commander house, it is seductively comforting†¦.note the word seduction. (10) Such a doctrine is rapid, and it indicates how women are considered as a property of the Gilead men communities. American women consider giving birth as a service to the society and not necessary as a reward for a better life. Besides, American women consider giving birth as a way of giving back to the society positively. Equally, audience please be advised that the fascist Republic of Gilead, which differs the contemporary United States society assigns every woman to different classes of women: without their will to protest. The classes are as a follows: wives, belong to the married men who have a superior military rank. These women, despite their will, are treated fairly better than other counterparts are in the society. Secondly, the Gilead society assigns a second class of women, handmaid, econowives or Martha the role of reproduction and matrimony. These women, despite their will, are engaged into hard jobs serving the rich in one way, or another. The group is forcefully married to a lower rank military regime that does not have enough status to obtain a handmaid or aunts function. Even though ironically, Handmaids surrogate for the infertile heterosexuals, as well as, serving as women housekeepers and cooking nannies. To achieve that, the Gilead initiates a dogmatizing religious program, one tha t ordains the reproduction where multiple doctrines are enacted to affirm the system of social rituals. Members, such as absurd society does not exist in America. On the contrary, in America, women are empowered to make decisions concerning the sexuality. As quoted saying †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦The flesh arranges itself differently. I am a cloud congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear†¦ (Chapter 13, 43) However, the social complexity of the US, American women control their sexuality and as well, control how they would prefer bringing forth their off springs. Similarly, since Gilead is actively involved in patriarch driven conflicts, most members are either infertile or sterile, it is arguable that men through the subsequent political battles have made their property. As such, subsequent political battles have increased toxic wastes and nuclear fallout, where toxic waste colonies are increased. To hide the truth behind such rituals, the Gilead societies have invoked a biblical ritual called â€Å"The Ceremony.† However, arrogantly, how they conduct their sexual activities is unbecoming. The command penetrates the handmaid exposed sex in an attempt to impregnate a woman. The commander is quoted to have said I’m not talking about sex; he says. That was part of it; the sex was too easy. . . You know what they were complaining about the most (Chapter, 32) This is unbecoming since the woman has been lured to sex. Any sound child born by the handmaid is handled over to the wife of the commander as if the child belonged to the commander’s wife. Such a social setting is very wanting and prompts the question on the role of women in the society. To answer that, American women make independent decisions on how when and where, they want to give birth. American women also make the choice to have sex, when, where and with whom. Nonetheless, despite the complex differences between the Gilead society and the American society, we still notice some similarities. While it is evident that the Gilead society obligates women roles as predominantly domestic, the US society seems to emulate that by assigning women the task of raising children while men are technically exempted from that. Additionally, members you will agree with me that the congress, which happens to be active Christian right is looking for traditional family values. Even though we acknowledge that radical pieces of the Gilead system have not found a way into the American system, it is notable that domestic institutions have secret doctrine women in the Gilead society. A common doctrine is the domestic chore, where the common American woman is made to believe that in order to make a perfect partner, one has to wash the dirt, prepare food, and even entertain a commander called the husband. Men experiences, therefore, are not radical, or in any case equal as those affecting women. It is also disheartening to note that efforts by feminine movements are currently being considered outdated or extremists and are not attracting subsequent influence as they were expected two decades. Efforts to benefit and strengthen the woman counterpart peel away the layers the practice once again set to maintain the domin ant-subordinate relationship. Reference Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. London: Vintage Classic, 2010. Print. Source document