Social Darwinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Darwinism - Essay Example â€Å"Social Darwinism† is a term used to refer to the application of ideas and concepts applied to the social world which are allegedly derived from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (Leonard, 2009). There is much controversy surrounding Social Darwinism, its historical significance, its usage and applicability and most importantly its association with some of the known social scientist in history such as Darwin and Spencer. The debate around the definition of the term has in most cases revolved around whether or not Social Darwinism came out of the works of Darwin and other theorists that wrote about the role of biology to explain the social hierarchies present during that era, as Europe, America and other continents witnessed the aftermath of industrialization. There are basically two types of approaches to the definition of the term that have been put forward to explain the different approaches theorists have taken in order to explain the term (Crook, 1996). The â€Å"generalist† approach basically refers to Social Darwinism as the analysis of social inequality by the help of evolutionary and developmental ideas using Darwinian terminologies such as â€Å"survival of the fittest† but not explicitly relying on the original works of Darwin (Weiler). The second type known as the â€Å"restrictionist† approach in contrast, argues that a mere use of phrases that represent the work of a theorist such as â€Å"survival of fittest† does not define the theorist as a Social Darwinist (Weiler). According to the broad definition, the theory came to denote racism, imperialism and capitalism during what came to be known as the Gilded Age where, whilst the poor suffered the consequences of Industrialization in the American society, those that owned the factories and benefited from the wealth they were acquiring, although fewer in number, used Social Darwinism to justify why such notions as â€Å"survival of the fittest† put forward by Darwin and Spencer made it logical for only those that were biologically gifted or a so called â€Å"superior race† to be market leaders and worthy of acquiring the most wealth and superior positions in politics (Hodgson 2004). There is also debate on when the term was first used and while the works of theorists like Hofstadter gave a strict definition of who the Social Darwinist are, others such as Hodgson have argued that these theorists present as facts what are basically just labels (Hodgson 2004). The history of the term is a controversial issue. While some say that the term was first used in the late 1800s and was associated with known social theorists like Spencer and Sumner (Wieler), for example Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy is one of the first pieces of literature where the term can be traced (Hodgson 2004), others argue that Spencer never used the term Social Darwinism and that he is deemed one of the founders of the theory only based on assoc iations made between the theory and Spencer’s work (Hodgson, 2004). This paper will aim to present a critique of the theory â€Å"Social Darwinism† as presented in the book â€Å"Social Darwinism in American Thought† by Hofstadter that proved to be a very influential piece on the theory. In order to do so I will look at the work of revisionists such as Hodgson and Leonard who

Initial response to Malcolm X and Black Rage Essay Example for Free

Initial response to Malcolm X and Black Rage Essay In the essay, Cornel West tries to explain how Malcolm X’s â€Å"Black Rage† articulation wasnt directed at white americans only, but also to black americans who view their lives and minds through what West describes as â€Å"White lenses†. West also claims that Malcolm X’s idea of â€Å"psychic conversation† would promote blacks to turn that rage to love and appreciation of their own culture and self worth. Another claim West mentions is that the idea of psychic conversation struck fear into black professionals, due to their constant surrounding of white social circles, but at the same time understand the idea precisely for the exact same reason. West compares these kind of individuals to Du Bois’s idea of â€Å"double consciousness†. Blacks living between their own live and whites, never settle in either, yet crave acceptance mainly from whites. ! West also believed that Malcolm X viewed black equality as a farfetched possibility due to the majority of white racists, and black victims of democracy. What interests me the most is that Malcolm X feared cultural hybridity even though he, himself, comes from a hybrid culture. But eventually Malcolm X began to slowly remove that fear after looking into the acceptance of humanity regardless of race, class, or gender in the Islamic regimes of Muslims in the Middle East. In the end of the essay, West thinks that future generations should take Malcolm X’s â€Å"black rage† and â€Å"psychic conversation† as an example of rejection to any sorts of inequality. I strongly agree with West’s idea to follow such examples in order to achieve change in human equality and acceptance.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare :: essays research papers

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare there is a major conflict throughout the whole play. The main character Macbeth is faced with many decisions. The key decision that Macbeth makes that leads to his death is his decision to kill King Duncan. The opportunity cost would be keeping his loyalty to the king and his country. Macbeth, who is the Thane of Cawdor and already Thane of Glamis, has everything going for him. He has a good heart, but there is only one thing which keeps him from continuing to be a good person. The love of his life, Lady Macbeth, wants him to commit a heinous crime. She wants him to kill King Duncan so he could be crowned king and her Queen. Macbeth is manipulated and faced with the opportunity cost of killing the king. MACBETH. If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir† (1.3.34-36). This is Macbeth trying to decide whether or not he should kill the king, but in doing so he would be faced with other predicaments. The key decision Macbeth makes, which is to kill the king, leads to his own death and his moral downfall. Macbeth has a huge decision to make, to kill King Duncan or not kill him. The opportunity cost of killing King Duncan is Macbeth will get crowned king. The advantage of not killing him and waiting is he will gain king right away if he waits. The disadvantage of not killing him is he has to wait and could not get crowned king. He also may die before that happens. On the contrary the advantage of killing Duncan is he gets crowned right away and gets major status. The disadvantage is the murder could backfire on him and Macbeth could get killed while being king. People also would not respect him or his leadership if they thought he killed King Duncan. LADY MACBETH. When you durst do it, then you were a man: And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man (1.7.48-53). Macbeth’s decision was based on Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. She would mess with his ego and threaten his love for her until her committed the crime. Macbeth wanted to obtain king the holy way or the right way, but Lady Macbeth had other intentions, such as, killing King Duncan.

My Mugged Response Essay

In lesson 1 we demonstrated our perception of Dig and Marky through physicalising there characters. The aspects of the drama medium we used were, freeze frame, improvisation, thought track, mime, movement and gesture. As a class we read and comprehended pages 5-21. They’re about Markey and dig interchanging there burglarized items. After we read through the play, sir split us into 2 groups. One group: Markys, One group: Digs. We had to show a scene from their morning routine (in the shop). I got put into the group of Dig, I interpreted Dig in a behaviour which was to procrastinate. I conducted Dig in lifeless ,manner. I showed that dig was lazy by my use of drama medium (movement) and acting skills. My actions were very postponing and sluggish letting the audience know , my character was extremely careless. I played Dig in a careless, lifeless manor, because from the play we know that he is very self-centred and in ones self. In lesson 6 we had to summarise how each character might feel about the murder. In lesson 6, we used guilt spilt staging, voice & contrasts, We used one of the forms of stimuli of ‘play scripts’ . In the play script we explored the line ‘ I told him not to come back didn’t I mel’ to understand how all the characters feel guilty. The characters feel guilty because marky has been murdered. All the characters feel conscience-stricken and guilt ridden. The script changes throughout the ending of the play it raises the tension by shortening the dialogue. The characters speech becomes shortened and there words become more scarce and sudden . We then did a police interview by the use of drama medium ; split staging. Split staging can use two or more different levels, and the audience can see characters better if one group is behind the other and using the raised level. Me and shea was the police officers interviewing dig and sophie which in this case was Hodan and Arthur. We asked them questions such as , how do you feel about the death of markey ? They replied with very abrupt replies as we know thy was very heartbroken about the tragic news. In lesson 3 we had to explore characters reactions to the morning of the murder. The drama mediums we used were hot seating, role play , characterisation, action, plot content. We read pages 22-28 . Then we hot seated marky, dig, leon , taylor soph or mel. When it was my turn to hot seat I was soph. My group asked me questions such as how do you feel towards leon? How do you feel about your school life and home life? I replied in the character as soph as much as possible. I had a lot of positive feed back on my use of hotseating . Eisa said ‘’ carlie answered the questions well linking back to the script and what we already know about soph and she answered immediately and confident ‘’ In my opinion Jerome Richardson was hot seated outstandingly! Using him sense of emotion very well showing us his emotion by the way he spoke and the way he looked uncomfortable with certain questions . Jerome really played the character breathtakingly when asked the questions. He stayed in character and was very believable. Then we did a role play off text improvisation showing characters feeling before the murder (using thought track) By doing a off text improvisation we are showing out understanding of how much we know about the character. i was mel in the scene so I took all I knew about mel and pretended I was her thinking about how she would act and what she would do.

Federal Budget Deficit

Excessive Borrowing: Our Federal Government's Budget Deficit Maria comes home one day earlier than usual. Her family, two daughters of age five and eight and a stay-at-home husband, is surprised to see her so early and unexpectedly. The tired look on her face reveals the experience she had at work. She brings out a sluggish smile as her daughters rush up to greet her with their warm embraces, reminding her of the happiness they constantly provide but also saddened by their questionable future. Quietly, she sits down in front of her anxious spouse as he patiently awaits the news, sensing the tension in the air.Many people like Maria face the ultimate doom of losing the only method they can gain family income, especially in homes where only one spouse is employed. Laying off workers is the government's â€Å"plan† for reducing America's deficit. Of course, getting rid of the executive CEO whose company had a rough year would be bad because we all know not to bite the hand that f eeds you. The federal government is planning on making the gap between revenue and borrowing smaller by making cuts here and there throughout certain interests of America.This makes sense because in all economic situations, if you are spending more than you have, then you either need to cut back on how much you spend or manipulate ways to increase revenue. Cutting military spending has been big in debate whether as to reduce our defenses or not. Many people speculate that military cuts are sound in reducing the deficit because it is too large for us to afford today. It is overlooked that we have been dropping our armed forces significantly over several decades since the early 1980s, from 2. 1 million to 1. 4 million in 2010 (Samuelson).The resulting savings of lowering military spending would be little, since there isn't much else to cut from the already reduced forces. If our national security is a large concern, especially after 9/11, then why expose both troops and citizens at ri sk of terrorist attacks and cyber warfare? The government's job is to protect the nation and its people, and putting money towards improved technology and training is necessary for upholding America's safety and reputation. The question of the budget deficit also involves the issue of raising taxes, one that has not gone smoothly since Britain's reign over the colonies.Many people argue the importance of increasing the taxes on the rich in order to support our economy. Although it makes sense that those with more money should be paying more on taxes than lower income people, but the evidence gathered fails to give strength to the claim that many believe is a solution to the deficit problem. For instance, Obama's plan for raising the taxes for â€Å"those making more than $250,00 is expected to bring in merely $0. 7 trillion† compared to the overwhelming $13 trillion to be accumulated over the same time period (Malm, Sanandaji).It is obvious how big the gap is between the two intimidating numbers, and the government is just wasting its breath about the potential tax hikes. All the talk about the inevitable decisions of either cutting government programs or increasing taxes to save our deficit, and our economy overall, seems ominous and depressing(Aaron). However, our federal government is looking at this the wrong way. It's not about how much a program is cut or how large the numeric value of the deficit is; it's about what and where the money is being invested to enable consistent growth in the upcoming future(Conason).Think back on the potential tax hikes and how it could barely affect our economy. If increased taxes leads to slight growth in revenue, then won't tax cuts lead to loss in revenue? This is another misconception many people, and the government, have about the Bush tax cuts. It lowered the total federal tax burden in order to â€Å"increase market incentives to work, save, and invest and thus create jobs and increase economic growth† (Foy). In essence, the tax cuts focused on the long run instead of the potential losses that immediately followed.Many skeptics challenge the reasoning for investing so much money into helping so many other countries when that money could instead help us improve internal affairs. After all, foreign aid spending has increased to $50 billion a year today, which could be put towards funding education to ensure that more kids go to college and possibly affecting the innovation of the future(Morris). Giving more than you receive is nice, but when it involves a country's financial crisis, maybe it's best if Santa cuts back some of this year's presents.And although the argument may be valid, lending out a helping hand can create more allies than enemies to help us in return when we need it. In fact, foreign aid only accounts for 0. 5 percent of the federal budget (Stearn). Compared to all the other matters at hand that the government is worrying about, the amount of spending put into aidi ng poorer countries is positive in both a moral aspect and a political aspect. The federal budget deficit that we put so much trust in having handled for us is not to be dismissed so easily. This isn't just about the future of our current generation, but also our children's future.Our government fails to look back at history and see how growth has improved our economy and made it flourish. Ultimately, what's at stake here if nothing is done is our jobs, job benefits, our safety, and, overall, having a weak country whose currency is based off of its own good name. By no means is having a high deficit bad, and neither is creating a budget deficit to combat it, but it's all about how the government is handling it, and less spending doesn't always mean more revenue. Works Cited Samuelson, Robert J. â€Å"The Dangerous Debate over Cutting Military Spending. http://www. washingtonpost. com/opinions/the-dangerous-debate-over-cutting-military-spending/2011/10/28/gIQAnPWEXM_story. html. 201 1. Rpt. in  The US Deficit. Ed. Kathy Jennings and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Sanandaji, Tino, and Arvid Malm. â€Å"Raising Taxes Will Not Resolve the Budget Deficit. â€Å"The US Deficit. Ed. Kathy Jennings and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"Obama's Folly: Why Taxing the Rich Is No Solution. http://www. american. com/archive/2011/august/obamasfollytaxingtherich/ article_print. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Conason, Joe. â€Å"Deficits Do Not Matter. †Ã‚  The Federal Budget Deficit. Ed. Susan Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Rpt. from â€Å"Dick Cheney Was Right: Deficits Don't Matter—and Republicans Who are Complaining About Barack Obama's Spending Are Hypocrites. †Ã‚  Salon. com. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Aaron, Henry J. â€Å"The Un ited States Needs to Address Two Distinct Budget Deficits. Government Spending. Ed. Noel Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"A Tale of Two Deficits: Stop Treating Them Like They're the Same Thing! †Ã‚  New Republic  (1 June 2011). Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Foy, Andrew, and Brenton Stransky. â€Å"The Bush Tax Cuts Were Good for Economic Growth. †Ã‚  Government Spending. Ed. Noel Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"Lying About Bush's Tax Cuts. â€Å"www. americanthinker. com. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.Stearns, Richard. â€Å"Congress Should Not Cut Foreign Aid. †Ã‚  Is Foreign Aid Necessary? Ed. David Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from â€Å"Cutting Foreign Aid: Not the America I Love. †Ã‚  Huffington Post. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Morris, Di ck. â€Å"Congress Should Cut Foreign Aid. †Ã‚  Is Foreign Aid Necessary? Ed. David Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from â€Å"Cut Foreign Aid Budget Now. †Ã‚  http://thehill. com  (29 Mar. 2011). Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Gay and Lesbian Studies Essay

Gay and Lesbian Studies Essay If you are assigned to write a paper on gay and lesbian studies – you will have to mould your own personal opinion on this matter as well as prove your opinion by providing vivid examples and strong argumentation. Gay and lesbian essay has to be a paper showing either tolerance of gay and lesbian relationships or disapproval on the contrary. Basically, a gay and lesbian essay – is written for you to be able to think and convince the reader of your opinion. In order to succeed in this assignment – your academic paper should be logical and well balanced. The message that you want to deliver in your essay, term paper, research paper should not cause any objections, and if it does – these objections need to be forecasted and addressed. Another good technique in writing a paper of this type – is to show all the pros and cons of gay and lesbian relationships. You need to be able to observe the gay and lesbian relationships from the inside, and try thinking the way gays and lesbians do. Only if you manage to do so – you will be able to claim yourself as a neutral party. There is no better argumentation than history. You can easily make history and historical events prove your point, without taking into consideration of are you for or against gay and lesbian relationships. Why not have an expert writer write your custom gay and lesbian studies paper for you? You can delegate your assignment to CustomWritings.com, and we will pleasantly amaze you with the quality of our custom written papers. CustomWritings.com can help you with this assignment. Many of our writers are proficient in gay and lesbian relations studies, and we can write the custom paper for you. If you think that this paper is simply unbearable – try asking CustomWritings.com for help.

Was Germany Responsible for the Outbreak of the First World War essays

Was Germany Responsible for the Outbreak of the First World War essays The First World War was a devastating war that effected many places and also very many lives. Because of the effects of the war people were determined to search for the country that was to blame for all the disaster created. The outbreak was contingent on a determining number of factors. These factors included nationalism that was being spread throughout Europe during the time before World War I had started and the alliance system. Although Germany was not all to blame for the outbreak of World War I, it did contribute more than a fare share in its involvement in the alliance system, nationalism, the arms race, and emulation between countries and colonies. Previously, before the start of World War I, the dominating powers of Europe (Russia, France, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, and Germany) were experiencing various problems, which caused the relationships between each power to be extremely edgy and undependable. All five powers were just beginning to adapt to the industrial revolution within their own country, which did not help the matter of dealing with other countries. At the same time, a strong sense of nationalism was brewing throughout the countries of Europe causing many more problems with how to deal with other countries when ones own citizens dislikes anothers own. Nationalism brought about competitive manners amongst Europe, causing aggressive results at times. Because of the creation of the German Empire in 1871 Germany feared an attack was coming due to the mass jealously of Germanys advancing industry and military antecedents. By this time Germany seemed to be the most advanced in military and in industry, so in order for self-defense of each European country, alliance agreements were reached. Great Britain, France and Russia made the Triple Entente, while the opposing powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy created the Triple Alliance. Germany began becoming a country of ...