Prejudice and Racism in Canada :: Sociology Racism Prejudice Essays

Racism in Canada "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character" (Martin Luther King Jr.) Ku Klux Klan. Neo Nazis. The Aryan Nations. The American Nazi Party. What are these groups? Why are they present in a land of supposed equality of all men? They are there because there are millions of Americans that believe in their message of white pride. The African American population is growing and Americans are now a mixed group of people. Black people are white people's neighbours, doctors, friends. With a growing unity between the two races, why does racism continue? The answer is simple. Racists from many years ago raise their kids in clans and white supremacy groups and teach them the ways of hatred. These kids grow up "brain-washed" that black people are their enemies and, taught by example, will continue this trend (The Volume Library; 1988). The Ku Klux Klan has been around since the end of the civil war. It is a roller coaster of a history. From extreme power, to rapid decline, and slow reemergence (Software Toolworks Encyclopedia; 1992). The clan, who is notorious for its violence, has a relatively innocent beginning. It was formed from some veterans from the confederate army and was first called the Kuklos Clan which, in Greek, meant Circle Clan. One person thought it would be a good idea to call it the "Ku Klux Klan" as a parody of the fraternity names which always had three Greek alphabet letters in it. They created the Clan to be mischievous and to do it without anyone knowing who they were which accounts for their costumes and masks. They, like most whites, were upset that the black people were free because black people were a constant reminder of the bitter defeat of the South. So to have fun they terrorized black people. Eventually the group grew, fluctuating, but grew to become the first white supremacy group in America and with that growth, their hatred grew as well into what was seen in the early and middle 1900's and what is seen today. Along with the KKK, other anti-black, pro-white groups formed and stemmed out all over the U.S.A. The Neo Nazis who are more commonly know by the term "Skin Heads", are a growing force in hate groups. There hatred of Hispanics, Jews, Blacks, and others are now the fastest growing force in

Helen Gardner :: Helen Gardner Essays

Helen Gardner In act one scene one we discover that Helen is a very down to earth type of person as she says â€Å"when I find somewhere for us to live I have to consider something far more important than your feelings. . . .The rent†, this shows that she is thinking about the more important things in life, she is also emphasising the letter â€Å"I† which is implying that she is a lot better than her daughter, this also shows that she has a roof over Jo’s head. The beginning of this play shows that Helen enjoys drink, â€Å"pass me a glass Jo† the first thing that she thinks about is alcohol, this shows that if she can afford to buy whisky then she may have been able to find a better place for them to live, although the accommodation isn’t very appropriate it still provides Jo with a roof over her head, we also get the impression that she is an unfit parent as her priorities should be towards her daughter and not towards alcohol. Helen feels that Jo owes her a lot, Jo feels the total opposite, and there is not a close relationship, Helen feels that she deserves respect from Jo, most people may think that as Helen is Jo’s mother then Jo does owe her a lot but most people would think that Helen owes a lot to Jo as she hasn’t really been there for her daughter all these years, but as an adult Helen does deserve respect from her daughter no matter what she has done, because at the end of the day Helen did bring Jo into the world and has brought her up to be what she is now. As we can see in act one Jo shares a bed with Helen this is a redeeming quality because if Helen despised Jo that much she wouldn’t be willing to do this, because at the end of the day the both need somewhere to sleep. Helen has a very negative view on life as she says, â€Å"that’s where we all end up sooner or later†, this was related to Jo trying to decide where to put her bulbs, she felt that the best place to put them was in a cold dark place, the cold dark place meaning to Helen a grave, this is yet another reference of death which Helen seems to use. I think that by being a prostitute and sleeping around is a way for Helen to find someone to love her, she craves it. Helen seems to be addicted to men, She gives Jo a distorted view on

Doubt Is the Key to Knowledge

Doubt is the key to knowledge† (Persian Proverb). To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge? Firstly, to understand fully the proverb, definitions should be given. Doubt is the psychological status of being stuck between believing and disbelieving, involving uncertainty and distrust in a particular situation or issue or when there is lack of hard evidence and facts to support the alleged information, action, motive or decision.When you question a notion or you are open to inquisition or reassessment of it, you are having doubt. Only when you can find the justification for your doubt, one that satisfies whatever convinces you to think otherwise, then you will no longer have doubts. To have knowledge is like to have an explanation, understanding or reasoning   to things in the world. Knowledge can be both personal and collective, and not all knowledge is a fact. The big bang theory , the theory of relativity, and the string theory etc. rovides us explanations and re asoning to why the world is the way it is. These theories are what we know but are not necessarily the fact – we do not know if these theories are correct, but still knowing these theories count as our knowledge. Knowledge can come from our personal experience as well. This essay will seek to address the extent to which doubt is manifested as a key to knowledge regarding two areas of knowledge, Science and History.According to Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology, science is the systematic observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts and also the organized body of knowledge that is derived from such observations and that can be verified or tested by further investigation. There is a view that science is seen as provisional, which means that it is subjected to being falsified.In an ever-developing world were new discoveries are made all the time leading to new theories and realizations, older theories are always at the threat of being falsified. Even the new theories, the scientific community will vigorously doubt and criticize any ideas until enough evidence is produced to back them up. It is without ground to say that the basis of scientific growth is on inferred or even imagined hypotheses by scientist in an attempt to create or explain something new or unexplained.Experiments are carried out and positive results can turn these hypotheses into theories and possibly knowledge, of course until they are doubted and contested against by new theories that explores the opposition of the theory in question. Throughout the history of Science, knowledge has been derived from the selfsame processes. In early Mesopotamian study, the Earth was believed to be a flat disk with a dome, until Ferdinand Magellan managed to prove that Earth was spherical after successfully circumnavigating the Earth in the 15th Century.Another example would be of the Italian phy sicist Galileo Galilei who, despite the endless controversy, criticism and denouncing made against him, proved false the long withheld notion of the geocentric view that the Earth was at the center of the Universe. Thus, it is evident that through the use of scientific theories, unless disproved otherwise, knowledge is updated and will remain as such through continual doubt. Hence we can see that as long as there is doubt, new things will be explored and old laws might be disproved of although it is perceived as knowledge to everyone.Although doubt leads to more and more correct viewpoint of an issue, we can never be certain that what we think of as knowledge now is definitely the real truth and can never be disproved. However, with that being said, I believe that doubt and doubt alone cannot be the sole key to gain scientific knowledge, but continual doubt can actually leads to wasting of time and effort and worst is to eliminate the correct fact that is suppose to be true which ca n lead to a regression of knowledge.Firstly, there are many theories in science that remain in the gray area that cannot be logically proven with our current knowledge, like for example the existence of black holes. No scientists have been successful in proving its existence. However, one of the many theories of the black hole might actually be true but as nobody can prove it so, scientists in the field may invest pointless effort into developing new theories instead of directing that effort into proving the theory, which is actually true. Also there are truths that can never be doubted or proven otherwise like the fact that the Earth orbits around the word.Thus, although doubt lends to the progress of science and hence knowledge, it also has limitations which might prove detrimental to the growth of knowledge. The next issue is that of religion. Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. According to New York Times writer Peter Steinfels, published in July 19, 2008, religion is no longer like it was in the past when religious faith was present in everything people do, even for oubters. Nowadays it is almost inevitable that believers must live in a condition of doubt and uncertainty. We often think that there is no room for doubt within faith, that doubt is weakness. Even worse, most conservative faiths regard doubt as something to be battled against because it is dangerous to one's faith. It can lead to heresy, doubting the existence of God, and, according to their belief, perhaps loss of salvation and eternal torture in the fires of Hell.Of course , it had been pointed out by religious thinkers a long time ago that being doubtful about a religion is not the opposite polar of the religion but it is actually the better way of having faith rather than blind belief. Personally, although I am a devout Buddhist, many a time I have found myself doubting my own re ligion. For example, I sometimes question whether there is such thing called karma or does everything just happen by chance and karma is just a way to scare believers into doing good deeds for they fear of having to suffer the consequence afterwards.Ultimately there are people who are kind-hearted and yet still suffer every day. I found my answer not long ago about how it is related to another issue of reincarnation and bringing over karma. I did feel guilty of doubting Buddha and his words but then I learned that he said: Do not accept any of my words on faith, Believing them just because I said them. Be like an analyst buying gold, who cuts, burns, And critically examines his product for authenticity. Only accept what passes the test By proving useful and beneficial in your life.The Buddha (Jnanasara-samuccaya) Doutb, to Buddha is necessary because there is no point in following a religion blindly. According to the Buddha, religion should be left to one's own free choice. Religion is not a law, but a disciplinary code which should be followed with understanding. That’s why the Buddha told his disciples not to blindly follow his teachings but test them and verify them through their own experience like a goldsmith tests the purity of gold. However sometimes fir belief in the spiritual side of things can be necessary or at least comforting.In the book : â€Å"The Age of Doubt: Tracing the Roots of Our Religious Uncertainty†, an example of a 20-year-old boy was given. He is of an agreeable and intellectual appearance,† but he's soon beset with existential and religiously-inflected questions, tied to his faith, that he feels compelled to ask his doctor: â€Å"What am I? What are all these things that are made like me? Why am I? â€Å". â€Å"Why am I? † is perhaps the most remarkable of these questions, with religion offering an answer more confident and comforting than science perhaps ever could.But as his doctor explains, the patien t finds no comfort in theology. He is in one sense suspended between two options, greater faith and firmer uncertainty, yet neither strikes him as possible or appealing. Ultimately religions are spiritual havens that most followers take refuge in; and by constantly doubt its truth, it defeats the purpose of having religions as people are always have this insecurity that what they are doing, adhering to may not do any good to them despite what their religions says.In conclusion, due to the broadness and ambiguity of the knowledge areas of Science and History, it is impossible to accurately evaluate doubt and its ability to present itself as the key to attaining knowledge. Nonetheless, through careful study and research on these various areas of knowledge, this essay presents the stand that doubt, to a large extent, is an indispensable and important factor as the key to knowledge. 1505 words ———————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- [ 2 ]. Sharpe, Alfred. â€Å"Doubt†. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5 (New York: Robert Appleton). Retrieved 2008-10-21. [ 3 ]. http://blogs. yis. ac. jp/13hwangj/2011/09/05/definition-of-knowledge/ [ 4 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Religion#cite_note-0 [ 5 ]. http://www. nytimes. com/2008/07/19/us/19beliefs. html [ 6 ]. http://viewonbuddhism. org/dharma. html [ 7 ]. http://www. budsas. org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/277. htm

Ethics Case Study: Homeless Man Essay

Case Facts: We decided to discuss the case of the homeless man provided in the textbook. Here are the case facts: A homeless man attempted to save a woman that was being attacked in New York City. In the process he was stabbed. He was visibly bleeding on the sidewalk for over an hour, as people walked by, took pictures and stopped to look at him. One man shook him. No one attempted to help him, stay with him, or call emergency services. The homeless man died on the sidewalk. Obligations, Duties and Rights: After reading the initial facts of the case, we discussed the obligations, duties and rights all held by the passersby and viewers of the situation. They are as follows: Every passerby has the right to their personal safety and health, as well as the right to remain silent and anonymous. Given these undeniable rights, every passerby also has the moral duty and obligation to report a witnessed crime to the authorities. They also have the duty to work towards maintaining the safety and well-being of their community. Along with this duty, comes to obligation to support and protect the most vulnerable among this community. Consequences: Our group further discussed the implications of the situation and the associated consequences, both intended and unintended, positive and negative. Following are the consequences that could have occurred if the passersby had chosen to offer aid to the homeless man: First, the man’s life could have been saved. Another outcome would be the finding and persecution of the criminal. Another, would be setting a positive example for the community, in turn promoting the safety of the community as a whole. Another positive consequence could be acting as a catalyst for future laws to be enacted aiding the community. Finally, a positive outcome from helping the homeless man would leave the passersby with altruistic emotions. Negative consequences that could result from refusing to aid the homeless man would include: The homeless man dies and the criminal escapes, potentially continuing to harm more members of the community. Another consequence includes the public losing a sense of security as well as the passersby having the uneasiness and uncertainty of not knowing the outcome of the situation if they chose to walk away before his death. Finally, if the passerby chose to walk away, they face the negative consequence of feeling of regret upon denying their personal morals and obligations. Moral Ideals: Having analyzed the facts, obligations and consequences of the case, the moral ideals that we have extrapolated are: Justice, integrity, loving kindness, and courage. Justice, â€Å"denoting the evaluation of situations according to their merits, fairly and without prejudice, as well as giving each person his or her due.† The best way to carry out justice in this situation would have been to ensure that the criminal was found and prosecuted, and protecting the life of the homeless man. Integrity, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles regardless of who is watching, is the second moral principle that we have decided best relates to this case. If the passerby had acted with integrity, he/she would have opted to stay with or somehow help the homeless man to insure that his life was saved as opposed to denying their moral obligation in walking away and choosing to ignore the situation. The next moral principle is Loving kindness, â€Å"doing unto others as you would have them do unto you,† or simply the Golden Rule. If the passersby had showed loving kindness, they would have felt empathy towards the homeless man as a fellow human being and would have ensured that he received aid, as they would have wished someone do for them if their roles were reversed. The final moral ideal that we felt most applied to this case was courage, â€Å"consisting only in conquering fear and in withholding the body from flight no matter what the risk of pain. We felt that this moral ideal applied to the case, as it would require the passersby to ignore their rights to safety as humans and allow their obligations to aid the man override their sense of fear and insecurity. If the passerby had maintained this ideal of courage, they would have approached the homeless man and helped to save his life.

Canadian history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Canadian history - Essay Example Canadian economy in general flourished during the period in question and even later on because it realized and responded positively to external opportunities and pressures; on the domestic front it improved inland transportation, allowed immigration developed an atmosphere for enterprise and imported technology from Europe leading to a steady growth of an economic infrastructure. One may argue that compared to Europe, the Canadian economic structure had peculiar characteristics comparable only with Australia. Canada has a small population living in an area which is endowed by the nature with plenty of raw material in high demand in Europe. Since there was no government emphasis on and efforts to developing the manufacturing sector, the Canadian entrepreneurs could focus on staples export to Europe and America. After the Confederation was announced in 1970, Canada found itself in the throes of breaking away from British political influence yet having to depend on it for the sale of its staples and import of manufactured goods. It had to set its own policies as a quasi-independent country even when it cannot shrug off the mainly European heritage. This was also a period when Europe itself was passing through the epochal period of industrialization and attendant socio-political change. The cultural difference between the people who ran Canada (such as British and French) and the changing geographical aspects impeded a uniform growth in economy. For instance, if the growth was propelled in some regions by the export of staples to Europe, in other regions domestic progress fueled the economic growth. Also, the progress at the national level varied from one period to the other. One aspect of Canada's economic growth is also stated to be a combination of dependent and independent progress workin g in coordination yet historians have been able to distinguish periods when economic growth was dependent and when it was independent. Therefore, studies of Canada's economic history revolve around H. A. Innis who proposed the development of staples export dependent on Europe and John Rae who was in favour of an independent model of growth. There are many versions of the staple theory proposed by Innis during the nineteenth century and of course many off-shoots of the independent John Rae's economic theory including the Nationalist School in the nineteenth century. But according to Neill, "the political fractionation and geographical expansion that constituted Confederation eventually tipped the balance, for Canada as a whole, in favour of growth dependent on primary product exportshowever, between 1866 and 1896, the central Canadian economy grew at a steady pace, unaided by any significant expansion of staple exports." (Neill, 1991) At a time when Canada enjoyed good relations with Europe especially in terms of trade, it was faced with a threat from the United States which viewed Canada as a weak British colony. Table 1: TRADE OF CANADA WITH VARIOUS COUNTRIES DURING 1886-1955 Year Total($ millions) U.S. U.K. 1886 96.0 44.6

Problem statement Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Problem statement - Research Proposal Example Globalization continues to be an important phenomenon that drives the very basis upon which the modern economic climate functions (Kolsaker and Lee-Kelley, 2008). Meanwhile, the whole idea of globalization has been found to be an unfeasibility in the absence of a well harmonized network security (Kirschner, Buckingham and Carr, 2002). But often as companies try to take advantage of globalization and for that matter network security, the problem of cyber crime draws their aspirations back. Lately, the public perception associated with the embracement of electronic commerce has dwindled drastic because of how insecurity network security has become (Layton, 2007). Current research shows that as much as the problem of cyber crime continues to unfold in various types of data theft for the operation and regularization of electronic commerce, the interest of the public to be involved in electronic commerce continues to go down (Peltier, 2001). Consequently, companies and other corporate bodies that rely on the services of computer networking through electronic commerce become the losers due to growing incidence of computer insecurity (Hung, Chang and Yu, 2006). The current research that the problem seeks to address has to do with the impact of data and information insecurity through cyber insecurity on electronic commer ce. Hung, S.-Y., Chang, C.-M. & Yu, T.-J. (2006). Determinants of user acceptance of the e-Government services: The case of online tax filing and payment system, Government Information Quarterly, 23(3), pp. 97–122. Lin, F., Fofanah, S.S. & Liang, D. (2011). Assessing citizen adoption of e-Government initiatives in Gambia: A validation of the technology acceptance model in information systems success, Government Information Quarterly, 28(2), pp.

Research Proposal Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal - Research Paper Example This is because the combination ensures very high level of empirical representation of data as well as consolidates the validity and reliability of data collection and analysis. It is estimated that the present research will cost USD 900 and span for a period of 2 months. It would however become the hub of comprehensive information for Al Waseet to identify its market base and rightly strategize on both short term and long term to take advantage of this market. Background Al Waseet enters the Daily New Paper market as a new entrant who is faced with a number of critical competitions, which if not addressed could affect and undermine the success of the business (Project Management Institute, 2008). But to address the issues effectively, it is important to have a comprehensive marketing research that identifies key opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the company (Alexis, 2007). It is against this background that the present marketing research proposal is necessary. It w ould be observed that access to information is fast becoming a necessity for the ordinary person on the streets of Bahrain (McClain, 2002). This is partly because the world is shrinking in terms of access to information and becoming closed up under the wheels of globalization. The Daiky Newpaper industry has therefore become competitive in Bahrain. This notwithstanding, Al Waseet is in a position to creating its own competitive advantage that would make it not just a local force in the business but a company with international repute (Perry, 2008). Problem Definition/ Objectives of the Research There exists a well formulated Newspaper industry in Bahrain (Gabby, 2009). This however does not mean that the door is closed to new entrants. The only problem is that new entrants would have to have their own competitive advantages and marketing strategies that would help them win new lines of customers. The objective of the research is therefore to come out with both short term and long te rm strategic marketing plan that would ensure that Al Waseet gains a competitive advantage as a new entrant on the Bahrain market. Approach to the problem As a marketing research, it is highly important that the proposed research have qualities that make it possible to have tangential access to information (Tawiah, 2009). More to this, it is important that data collected can be ascribed to both qualitative and quantitative scrutiny. In light of this, there shall be a mixed approach towards the research whereby the researcher shall use a mixed approach made up of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Research Design The selection of research design is directly linked to the research approach because the research design should be selected in a way that makes it possible to achieve the provisions of the research approach, which is proposed to be a mixed approach. To this end, the researcher proposes the use of survey research design for the present study. With a survey rese arch design, the researcher will be offered the opportunity to use a number of data collection instruments to collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from both the field and from existing literature (Alpha, 2005). Fieldwork/ Data Collection The fieldwork is going to constitute an important component of primary data collection. What this means is that the researcher is going to use fieldwork to collect