When Volunteerism Isn't Noble Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

When Volunteerism Isn't Noble - Essay Example 58-61). The Liberty High school board demanded that all its students undertake community service. All students were required to demonstrate that they have undertaken at least 60 hours of community service or other volunteerism work, failure to which they would not obtain their high school diploma (Steirer Par. 2). This requirement baffled Lynn and disturbed her immensely as she saw it as contradictory and going against the spirit of volunteerism, which should be explicitly voluntary. Lynn perceived the move as diminishing, rather than promoting the spirit of volunteerism. These decisions by the board presented Lynn with a dilemma: should she subscribe to  the program, or stay true to her principles, which itself is civil disobedience (Steirer Par. 3). For Lynn, volunteerism had always been a cherished attribute demonstrated for her extensive service as an aide in Meals on Wheels, Girl Scout, and other charity activities. The hundreds of hours she committed to the community were out of her own initiative rather than an obligation. Lynn undertook her community service but failed to submit her hours for credit, a decision that denied her a diploma. According to her, staying true to her values was more fulfilling (Steirer Par. 6). Lynn and her parent believed that the requirement for volunteerism inculcates the wrong values, besides being unconstitutional. Lynn Steirer claimed that mandatory community service for high schools infringes on students’ rights and vitiates the notion of volunteerism by twisting it into an â€Å"involuntary servitude,† an affront on freedom. Mandatory Community service is a privilege to volunteer and students bear a responsibility to contribute their talent, time, and energies towards the welfare of all, and give back part of the numerous concessions given by the community. First, communities gain significantly from the intelligence and the resourceful energies of high school students (Salamon 510).

The Seduction Of Unreason Essay Example for Free

The Seduction Of Unreason Essay Postmodernism suffers many critics, some arguing for its responsibility in practically destroying the study of literature in America and Europe with a Leftist bent. Richard Wolin, professor of history and comparative literature at the City University of New York, disagrees and his own critique is that Postmodernism’s founding fathers were fascinated almost obsessed with the far-Right fascism of 1920s and 1930s. Wolpin demonstrates in his book that basic tenants of postmodernist thought considered politically Leftist in origin, come actually from the ultraconservative far-Right. At the same time, he does not consider Postmodernism a serious threat to literary study or society: â€Å"Conservatives hold postmodernists responsible for the latter-day decline of the West, accusing them of promoting relativism by undermining the traditional concepts of reason and truth. But they seriously overestimate postmodernism’s impact and influence, which has—happily—largely been confined to the isolated and bloodless corridors of academe† ( Wolin 2004, 313).   However, he states that postmodernist thought is a â€Å"celebration of heterogeneity and radical difference risks abetting the neotribalist ethos that threatens to turn the post-communist world order into a congeries of warring, fratricidal ethnicities† (Ibid.).   In this, he believes these identities and related demand for political correctness will replace reason, to the detriment of society. Wolpin considers a few select thinkers, namely Bataille, Blanchard, and Jung; comparing their ideologies to those of Heidegger, Nietzsche and a few others. He claims that the similarities between the two camps are not coincidence and in fact, these philosophers are all conservatives. Bataille, Blanchard, Jung, and their followers simply repeated the antidemocratic ideals and reactionary teachings of Nietzsche and Heidegger to varying degrees. Many Leftists rejected French Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Postmodernist thought is currently dominant in academia, the media, literature, and world politics. Rejection of power in Postmodernism seems to be a distrust of politics in general and this rejection attempts to hide within a sense of special identities and political correctness. For example, European neo-fascism once spoke of white supremacy, but now promotes national and ethnic identities, or multiculturalism. Wolin shows that the current ideal of multiculturalism is merely political and anti-democratic. He sees associated secularism as moral decay and societal downfall in a grand conspiracy of thought tracing back to the enemies of the French Enlightenment who felt reason and critical inquiry to be evil. Replacing a belief in reason and progress, there is now a Leftist obsession with political correctness and a cult of identity in cultural factions. In The Seduction of Unreason, Wolpin successfully demonstrates the seductive but obvious and radical element of thought that spurs the rejection of reason in Postmodernism, and it is fascism. References Wolin, Richard. 2004. The Seduction of Unreason:   The Intellectual Romance With Fascism From Nietzsche to Postmodernism. Princeton University Press.

Model Of Web Of Causation Health And Social Care Essay

Model Of Web Of Causation Health And Social Care Essay The model of web of causation dates back to 1960, when it was developed to represent different pathways that point on a genesis of a health problem or a disease, giving rise to defined causative risk factors. The model has been used in community health and nursing to explain diseases and disabilities caused by multiple factors and identify possible points for preventive interventions in community health problems. This research paper introduces the conceptual nursing model of the web of causation and uses a community aggregate of children below 18 years diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to discuss conceptual nursing web of causation. Introduction Medicineamigo (2007) defines web of causation as a medical term used to represent a complex group of subjects and relationships that can contribute to occurrence and spread of a disease. The model of web of causation shows that diseases are not distributed randomly in any group but isolation of how they are distributed requires one to study several factors. This implies that there are multiple and heterogeneous causes of any disease, symptom or health condition, collectively forming a web of causation. Clark (2008) argues that the model of the web of causation represents pathway factors that point to a genesis of a health problem and gives rise to or mitigate more precisely defined causative risk factors. Based on this model, one can increase the chances of controlling a disease or a health condition by breaking more links within the web of potential factors in the model. The model offers a solution in conceptualizing health problems that have multi- factoral etiologies such as diabe tes. Historical Development of Model of Web of Causation MacMahon, Pugh, and Ipsen (1960) came up with the model of web of causation; whereby it was used explain the occurrence of icterus for a group of patients who were receiving treatment for syphilis. This was followed by a more sophisticated but generalized web of causation that Stallones came up with in 1966. The purpose of his web of causation was to to describe the interrelationships among the 3 main types of cardiovascular disease. After some further research, Friedman developed a web of causation that was more detailed in 1980. His model was based on causation for the classic heart attack. This development marked the beginning for mapping what is today known concerning the etiology of heart diseases. The model of web of causation has continued to gain popularity since its discovery in 1960 and has proved useful in identifying possible factors for preventive interventions in community health. How Concepts Relate Within the Model of Web of Causation Duncan (2007) points out how the model of web of causation emphasizes on agents in explaining causes of diseases, while providing multifactoral causes that traverse various pathways, mirroring reality. In this model, the disease or a health condition is not only seen to be having different causes, but each one of these individual causes is viewed as a consequence that came from the multiple causes, of which each is an effect resultanting to multiple causes. This web is built using arrows of causation, with each arrow of causation implying that the element at the arrow source is somehow an individual cause of the element at that particular point of the arrow. Using type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children under 18 as an example, the disease can be as a result of new potential risk factor within the neighborhood or a variable in the web of causation representing a toxic environment that leads to diabetes or a variable representing lack of health care for possible underlying causes of dia betes such as high blood pressure or obesity, or having genetic predisposition that leads to diabetes (At Health 2005). Model Application to Nursing Process The model of web of causation can be used in nursing process to explain diseases and disabilities caused by multiple factors such as hepatitis and diabetes, which can be explained using complex relationship in the disease agent, host and environment; integrating factors such as genetic factors, environmental factors and race among others (At Health, 2005). American Diabetes Association (2000) highlights the importance of the model of web of causation in monitoring of diabetes in children and adolescents to avoid further complications resulting from the disease. This can be achieved when families work together with health care providers to help set a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s target for blood glucose levels and develop a personal diabetes plan for healthy meals, regular exercise and oral medication. Duncan (2007) explains how the model can be applied in nursing to address health related threats and conditions such as the problem of teenage pregnancy, which is attributed to complex interaction between several causative and contributing factors such as ignorance, peer pressure and lack of contraceptives among others. Applications Model of Web of Causation to Community Health Problems According to Clark (2008), the model of web of causation is applied in enhancing the understanding of non-communicable diseases. The model has further been used in identifying possible points for preventive interventions in community health problems. Based on this model, prevention of obesity can be used as an intervention measure to protect the target population from being infected with type 2 diabetes. Duncan (2007) explains the importance of the model of web of causation in summarizing community health information for presentation, communication and analysis. He points out the importance of the model in study of distribution of health outcomes in a given population through interpretation of epidemiological relationships. Importance Of Community Partnership In Community Health Projects Community partnership in community health projects brings collaborative efforts to improve health through sharing of resources, combining talents and enhancing opportunities to achieve positive health outcomes (World Health Organization, 2002). According to World Health Organization (2002), involving communities in community health projects is a sign of giving up control and concern about who contributes to success of the partnership. This empowers people to creatively develop skills and build competencies and capacities because better and more sustainable decisions are made by involving communities in decision making. Furthermore, community participation in health projects is a way of extending the democratic process by opening up governance and redressing inequality in power for organizations involved. This offers new opportunities for creative thinking and innovative planning of health projects. Partnership with community in community health project implementation creates dedicated staff in project implementation as communities positively identify with the projects. This ensures ownership and sustainability of the projects, provides a source of information, knowledge as well as experience and eliminates deficiencies in the society, while empowering members to put emphasis on problem solving (WHO, 2002). Conclusion The model of web of causation is an important model that has been used in community health to represent different pathways that point on a genesis of a health problem or a disease, giving rise to defined causative risk factors. It has proved to be a viable model in addressing health problems that have multifactoral causes like the type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Lasting solutions in addressing community health problems can be achieved by involving people at community level in decision making and participation in community health projects.

conscription Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Non-essential Conscription   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the war on terrorism continues more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are dying every month. The government is struggling to organize the number of soldiers maintaining the opposition in both Afghanistan and Iraq which brings up a popular topic-conscription (mandatory military enlistment). Senator Charles Rangel of New York was the one that introduced the call for the military draft upon the Senate. The draft was revoked and still hasn’t been in affect since the Vietnam War over thirty years ago. Reinstitution of conscription would not help this country right now, it will just make matters worse. It is not necessary to permit a draft in the United States because our advanced voluntary military should be able to control the defense of our country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If years from now we are still fighting in operation Iraqi freedom and record numbers of troops are dropping, then congress should start to propose a draft, not now. They probably are pre-warning us right now yet won’t actually pass this mandate until next year or months from today. Who knows, the government can construct a draft tomorrow if they feel that it’s necessary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A meeting between democrats and republicans took place in January this year regarding conscription. They basically discussed how and when this will take action. â€Å"The middle class and lower middle class should not be forced to bear the burden of fighting and dying if, in fact, this is a generational war.† (Senator Chuck Hagel-Republican from Nebraska) He and many other senators made it clear to the press that if there was a draft, then the majority of the upper middle class and upper class would be targeted to fight for our country. I agree simply because during the Vietnam War, many children of the higher social layers of society found any possible way to avoid the draft.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our military defense has the most advanced weapons and protection system in the world. Ever since Bush took place in office, our taxes were contributing towards the expenses of the military. After watching the Department of Defense spend billions of dollars on military needs these last past four years, I wonder why they have to bring up this non-essential topic. This budget that Clinton actually proposed was $277.5 billion for the Sec... ...r paying rent and was in the best shape of my life. It wasn’t that bad, also when I was deployed to Iraq I saved a lot of money and came back to the States feeling and living great. The reason why I got out is because I wanted to go to school.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every person in the U.S. between the ages of 18-26 should be aware of this situation that can possibly happen. They should all have the right to be heard and share their opinions with the rest of the country instead of just the Pentagon, Senate, Legislatures and Politicians. They aren’t the ones who are going to be forced to fight, we are, and we as the young people of society are the easiest intentions. From my knowledge and what I’ve seen while I was in the Army I can say that our armed forces are fine over in Iraq. We don’t need to draft more troops for the war in Iraq. While conscription will ruin our country, another country will be benefited doesn’t make sense. Works Cited http://grassley.senate.gov/won/2003/won02-01-10.htm http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2000/b02072000_bt045-00.html http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/draf-a22.shtml   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Factors of courage Essay

In this essay I will consider the social, economic and political factors of courage. Many an afternoon has been enjoyed by a family, bonding over the discussion of courage. While much has been written on its influence on contemporary living, it is important to remember that ‘what goes up must come down.’ Often it is seen as both a help and a hinderence to those politicaly minded individuals living in the past, many of whom fail to comprehend the full scope of courage. At the heart of the subject are a number of key factors. I plan to examine each of these factors in detail and and asses their importance. Social Factors Society begins and ends with courage. The immortal and indispensable phrase ‘honesty is the best policy’ [1] shead new light on courage, allowing man to take it by the hand and understand its momentum. Much has been said about the influence of the media on courage. Observers claim it is crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle. Nothing represents every day life better than courage, and I mean nothing. Just as a dog will return to its own sick, society will return to courage, again and again. Economic Factors Economics has been defined as ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.’ To my learned ear that sounds like two people with itchy backs. Of course, courage fits perfectly into the Inter-Spam model of economics. The statistics make it clear that courage is a major market factor. In spite of the best efforts of The World Bank the cost of living world wide are driven entirely by courage. The financial press seems unable to make up its mind on these issues which unsettles investors. Political Factors No man is an island, but what of politics? Comparing the ideals of the young with the reality felt by their elders is like contrasting playing with a puppy and singing with a blackbird. In the words of one of the great political analysts Odysseus T. Time ‘Political idealists must ideally deal, for I daily list my ideals politically.’ [2] This clearly illustrates the primary concern of those involved with courage. It would be wise to approach the subject with the thought that ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’. However this can lead to missing out important facts. I wait anxiously. What will the next few years bring for courage? Conclusion What can we conclude? Well, courage is, to use the language of the streets ‘Super Cool.’ It inspires, brings glamour to an unglamorous time and is a joy to behold. I’ll leave you with this quote from Leonardo Beckham: ‘It’s been nice educating you.’ [3] [1] Traditional – possibly first said by King Arthor†¦ but probably not. [2] Time – Yes Indeed – 1987 Indegro Books [3] Smashing Hits – Issue 224 – Jazz Media

Bad Land essays

Bad Land essays Jonathan Raban, in his award winning novel, Bad Land, attempts to describe the migration of homesteaders to eastern Montana in the first decade of this century, and examines the last great wave of American western settlement. More tellingly, Bad Land is somewhat of a memoir; a well edited collection of stories and events that took place during Rabans experiences in the Great American West. His novel is an attempt to redefine a travel book, in which Raban drags us through a century's frontier history. There is no doubt of Rabans excitement and interest in Montanas culture. You can feel Raban's compulsive interest in the West expand as the book progresses, and although there are some wonderful moments when he tries to communicate his excitement to others, as a whole, the novel leaves you with a feeling of, I guess you had to be there. To describe the way in which Jonathan Raban writes would take little more than one word; emotional. Jonathan Raban writes with such feeling and passion, that you feel the exact sentiments of the people or the surroundings being described. When reading about the loneliness of the land, you too feel as though you are the only human being for hundreds of miles. When getting a sense for the hardships and struggles these people had to face, you too feel cold and hungry. But there is a point at which Raban seems to go overboard: everything in moderation. Raban seems to get caught up at many points within the novel with his descriptions of events that obviously touched him deeply and left a strong and deep impression with in his mind. His passion starts to become repetitious and monotonous; which makes you start to question the sincerity of his feelings. Throughout the novel, Raban uses vivid imagery to make the reader understand and feel as though they were too a part of the experience being described. Raban uses his mastery of tone and diction to recreate the histor...