Thursday, August 9, 2007

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty"(Aristotle) Do you agree?

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty"(Aristotle) Do you agree?

A revolution is a significant change that usually occurs in a relatively short period of time. There have been many revolutions throughout human history. It is more commonly known and associated in the historical-political context, where the word revolution is used with the meaning of a state and society turning. For example, the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed. However, there are other revolutions such as cultural, intellectual, philosophical and technological. Crime is an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law. While revolution usually affects large groups of people, a country, or even the whole world, crime is usually on a smaller scale within a country. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions for a minimum standard of well-being and life.


It is true that poverty do lead to revolutions and crimes to a certain extent. When people cannot get the minimum standard of living they need, and are deprived of necessities, they may be driven to desperation to commit crimes such as stealing and robbing. Lower income families may not be able to afford education too. This lead to a vicious cycle where the children are stuck with low paying jobs due to a lack of education and in order to improve their standard of living, they turn to crimes. On the other hand, the rich get richer as they try to make as much money as possible out of the poor. According to the article S'pore's dirty secret on July 28 2007, there has been a growing trend of outsourcing, especially for low-skilled labour, as they are paid less. Thus, those with little or no education at all will have to compete with them and their income will be lower. In the last 10 years, the starting salaries of all occupational groups rose, except cleaners and labourers. On the other hand, the employers will get richer as the cost of hiring these workers will be lower.



In countries that have high poverty level, the impact will be more serious. The government not only has to deal with the high crime rate, but also face the risk of revolts and revolution if the people see that the government is not helping them. For example, one of the many causes of the 1911 revolution in China was due to extreme poverty of the peasants - the majority of the population - and the lack of help by the government to improve their standard of living. Therefore they may try to overthrow the government in the hope that their lives will improve under the new government.



However it is not totally true that only poverty leads to revolution and crime. There are many other factors that we should consider. One of them is media influence. Almost everyone in developed countries are exposed to the media everyday, and there are many scenes of violence and sexual activities. According to a report, 57% percent of television programs contain psychologically harmful violence. Exposure to violence also increases physical and verbal aggression, and aggressive thoughts and emotions. Humans are greedy too. As our basic needs are met, we will keep wanting more and we may steal or rob too. Also, as a country becomes more advanced, there is an increase in high-tech crimes such as hacking and scamming. A person's background and family upbringing is very crucial in determining whether he or she will commit crimes too. Studies have shown that a person is more likely to commit crime if he lives in a violent environment. There is an increase in crime rates in children that grow up in a single parent family too. Over the past thirty years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers. Similarly, a decrease in crime rates does not necessary indicate a decrease in poverty level. Other factors such as increase in security and more severe punishments have to be taken into consideration too.


Revolution is affected by many factors too. Using the same example again, the 1911 revolution was caused by a combination of factors. For example, the government was inefficient and weak, and was unwilling to reform. Seeing China was so weak, the foreigners came in and try to make money out of its large population. Thus this lead to the revolution as the people wanted to change their lives for the better.
As for cultural, intellectual, philosophical and technological revolution, for example, the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century and early 19th century, there is little or no direct connection to poverty.

In conclusion, poverty does causes an increase in crime rate and may lead to revolution. However, it is only one of the many causes for it.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Lookism, Ageism, Disablism and Xenophobia

Lookism - Lookism is discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance.
The New Discrimination: Looksism
The Dialectic of Fat --- Obsession over body image
Lookism - Our tendency to discriminate bad-looking individuals:


Ageism - stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age.
Ageism said to erode care given to elders
Ageism And The Assumptions Made ---
- Older employees have a very definite way of thinking and are less inclined to welcome change. They rarely stray from their preconceived notions and are less flexible than a younger employee.
- Older employees are less ambitious in direct contrast to younger employees who are hungrier, more enthusiastic and far more ambitious.
- Older employees command higher salaries due to their experience where younger employees with superior qualifications can be hired and molded to the company’s requirements.
- Older employees are less inclined toward flexibility due to outside commitments where younger employers have less demands on their time and are more willing to work late nights and weekends.
- Older employees are less up to date technologically than younger employees.
Ageism against the young



Disablism - inherent discrimination against people with disabilities in favor of people who are not disabled.
'Disablism': A Closer Look
Nelson Mandela backs call for equality amongst disabled people



Xenophobia - fear or contempt of foreigners or strangers.
SOUTH AFRICA: Xenophobia has an economic cost
Attack in German Train Station, Injuring Immigrants, Highlights Xenophobia in Germany