Fertility decreases Life expectancy

http://graphs.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=2005$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0TAlJeCEzcGQ;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL%5Fn5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=0.842;dataMax=8.7$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=12;dataMax=83$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=

 

The pattern I found in the indicator is that the higher the child fertility rate is, the lower the life expectancy is. One can see that the African countries are all grouped at the bottom corner meaning that they have a large amount of children in their families. And countries with a higher life expectancy show that there is a lower fertility rate. High fertility does not necessarialy indicate well being.

Most people in sub-saharan countries depend on agriculture and  earn a living by farming. Their mentality is that the more children they have the more children would take care of the buissness and help the parents make money. However, they don’t take into consideration that higher attention is needed for more children and health care aswell. Due to the many deadly diseases in sub-saharan Africa, money spent on health care is highly needed to increase life expectancy. The lack of resources and nutrition decreases their life expectancy.

One main subject that is left unclear is why would a country with low life expectancy also have a low fertility rate? These countries include Zimbabwe and Swaziland. How does this affect population in these countries? and Does it mean that their population is rapidly decreasing?

Psychology of War

Fighting  in a war is the most stressful experience someone can go through. This is due to the fact that soldiers are fighting for their country, which thereby means they’re giving up their life for their country. This is a very patriotic act, however one has to be faced with death amongst peers, exhaustion, lack of sleep, and obviously homesickness. This all together creates a really stressful, unhealthy environment, which then leads to Posttraumatic Stress disorder.

During WWII, the Allies were battling solders who were given incentives for their patriotic acts. Hence, less than 5% of Japanese soldiers surrendured in combat, whereas 5 million German soldiers did so against the Allies. This can easily be observed when watching  “Letters from Iwo Jima” where Japanese soldiers that didn’t do as they were told, were considered a disgrace to their country. There is a scene in the movie where one of the main Japanese soldiers didn’t want to kill the dog, so he let it go. However, when the dog was found by the other soldiers to still be alive, the lenient soldier was severely punished. This act on people created a lot of pressure when in combat, as they weren’t fighting for their life but for their countries power and well-being. 

Though, psychology of war is told to be a result to one in fighting a war, it can also be seen as what happens during the war. And how people’s opinions were shaped during WWII. This is also known as Psychological warfare. Psychological warfare is the use of propaganda that influences the opinions and attitudes of hostile foreign groups. It is used as a weapon towards the enemy-mind. For example, in WWII, Adolf Hitler was the first leader to gain fanatical support through a microphone. This exaggerated his leadership, to make him seem God-like. Winston Churchill also followed up on this against the Nazis. During the invasion of Normandy, the American soldiers used false signals and decoy equipment to deceive the German soldiers observing them. This created a misleading effect on the German High Command. 

Due to the fact that society at that time had recently developed relatively new warfare, different war tactics were used. This meant that less soldiers were needed because there was deadlier bombs and weapons. In fact, in order to keep many soldiers from evacuating their positions, they weren’t told that aircrafts were attacking until the last minute or unless it was completely necessary to do so. This was to keep soldiers from bailing out on defense plans. A source from the First Armourded Division reported that when soldiers were well taken care of after intense fighting and were well taken care of, then it was less likely for them to evacuate or become “metals”. Soldiers were placed under so much pressure that pyschiatrists gave them sodium pentathol in order to want to return to battlefield and reach a catharsis. Almost two million soldiers were treated for battle “fatigue” during WWII.

Posttraumatic stress disorder was also a main result of battle. It is when one becomes very emotional after going through a very stressful or fightening experience that results in a near-death experience. Symptons include avoiding certain places or people that remind them of past experiences in battle. Approximately 7% of the American population develop PTSD. In the movie “Flags of our Fathers”  two main characters develop posttraumatic stress disorder. For example, Bradley becomes an alcoholic, which is one of the many symptoms of PTSD. Also, we can see that he had serious mood swings that is also a symptom of PTSD. Furthermore, the extent of the traumatic event that has occured reflects the severity of the traumatic stress. Also, when someone a person who undergoes a traumatizing event when they are young, can reflect on how the are when they are older. PTSD, is treated medically and psychologically, for instance psychotherapy. However the process of curing this disorder takes a sufficient amount of time. 

Iraq veterans are highly effected by the traumatizing events that occurred whilst at war. People who return home to their regular lives will always have images and flashbacks of the setting of a war zone. With hundreds dying right before their eyes, and being ones to do that job, in the first place. 12, 422 of the 244, 054 people that have returned home from Iraq, contained symptoms associated with PTSD. These symptoms not only effect the veterans, but their families as well. 

“I had real bad flashbacks, I couldn’t control them. I saw the murder of children, women. It was horrible for anyone to experience” (Bocanegra). 

Not only are people coming back from war with visible scars, but with ones that will remain in their memory forever. The tormenting visions of destruction and death is unimaginable for those of us who haven’t experienced it. War is destructible. Not only financially or physically but psychologically. 

Womens Rights (#3)

In Armenia, one of the oldest Christian nations, is in denial about women´s rights and it is alarming the rest of the world. According to an 8 page report in Amnesty International documents one in four Armenian women are physically violated by family members, many more are psychologically abused. “Worst of all, violence against women is a taboo in Armenia, with all-male government agencies reluctant to investigate “private matters” and women afraid to report abuse in the first place.” This current conflict also causes women not to report physical abuse, and causes women’s rights to become less significant, as they treat the physical harm normally, because they are used to it.

Amnesty International is an organization that works to protect human rights, which makes this source reliable.

This is a comment from an English-based Armenian blogger detailing her family´s tragedy: “My aunt was being beaten by her husband; when her father (my grandfather) intervened, then the husband hit the father too. As a result, my grandpa killed that husband: it was self-defense. Now, the grandfather is gone too, but when I visited home, there women still tolerate everything men do. They [the women] tried to shush me when I escorted a certain drunken male relative out the door.”

This point of view represents an women from Armenia who went through violence in her family. However, no one has the right or an excuse to physically abuse women like this, therefore no point of view is missing.

Though this is a Christian society, it reminds me of what would happen in many cases of a Arab society, they are similar because they both involve physical harm towards women, however I haven’t read about cases in which Armenian women are forced to marriage, like many Arab women are.

Though there is a culture for violence in Armenia, I believe this should be halted immediately.

Fortunately, there will be round-table discussion on sexual violence against women in Armenia on 27 November. This is a very important topic that should be discussed because physical abuse violates human rights, and we should care because if any human right is violated and tolerated by a nation the significance or our rights will decline. This is also a very important topic for women, where they are violated daily, everywhere across the globe in different situations, because it can raise awareness on how women’s rights cannot be violated in any situation.

Womens Income (womens rights)

http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=147

Womens Rights #2

The most recent article concerning gender issues, was one that explain a tradgedy that recently occured in Egypt. It was about a 30 year old woman named Shaimaa, who was a University Teacher Assistant for dentistry.

She trusted her doorman´s 18 year old son enough to watch her apartment, and as soon as her family left he knocked on her door and told her that her car was parked in a non-parking area. Then, she gave him her car keys (that was on a keychain which included her apartment keys) to move the car. He used the car, by taking it for a quick drive, and later came into her apartment and assaulted her, and tried to rape her, using a kitchen knife. She tried to fight it off, but she was stabbed to death.

This is an example of something that happens every day. Women get rapped, and I find it one of the most degrading actions a human being can do to another. However I wonder, why does situations like this only happen to women? Its obviously the gender issue, and its really concerning how some men are so selfish, concerning a womans sexuality. In my opinion, this is the worst crimes someone can commit, because one is taking the pride a woman has over herself, and usually women are murdered, afterwards.

I think something should be done about this, unfortunatly people will always continue doing this, in some countries more than others. This is an issue that concerns me a lot, because one can´t be sure who the next victim will be.

Women’s Rights (#1)

Women’s Rights are being violated, everyday and everywhere, and have been violated for as long as humanity can remember. Women’s social status has been improving in most countries in the Western hemisphere, though the same can’t be said for many regions along the Western hemisphere, including many countries in Asia and in the Middle East. 

Recently, an author commented on how “there is a veil which covers the face but allows women to show their two eyes, an Islamic scholar from Saudi Arabia is now calling for a veil which shows one eye only.” A female author, Bahraini Esra, replied to this proposal saying that “such disturbing calls only further objectifies women, inviting “religious” clerics to harass and disrespect them in ways that are no longer acceptable.” She believes that women are already mistreated enough as it is, and it is only worse that they someone would want women in the Middle East to cover up more than they already are. 

Another article explains that in Syria, a 22 year old female, Manar, ran away from her home to escape a forced marriage. In the article, her friend explains that she wasn’t being mistreated by her groom, but she just didn’t love the man or wanted to marry him. When she refused him, her parents got very angry, and told her she would have to get married anyway, so they asked “why not this one?.” When she refused they locked her in her house and his her ID, but when she had the opportunity she found her ID and ran. 

I believe that women’s rights, should no be violated in any case, people are equal and they’re gender shouldn’t determine whether they should have a decent standard of living or not. In the case of the articles I summarized, I strongly believe that women should have the right to chose their marriage, because they are choosing who they want to spend the rest of their life with. And in that case, the Univerasal Declaration of Human Rights states that you have the right to marry and have a family. 

In the case of women who have to wear a head scarf, I personally think that if they religiously beleive  that it is part of their culture and they want to wear one, then they should. Women have the right to. However, countries should not force women to wear one.

Grading Format

In our 20th century history class, we had to write essays on modernity and the way we were graded was by the teacher who recorded his thoughts and feedback on the essays. We would listen to the recordings and then correct our essays.

I personally really enjoyed the way Mr. Bergey graded our modernity essays. First of all, because it was really different, which made it more interesting to know what a teacher is thinking when they are grading our essays. I also think that it will make a bigger difference when it comes to the student correcting an essay because when we are handed our essays back, most of the students don’t take the time to read the footnotes a teacher writes for us to learn from, but instead they usually focus more on the final grade they got. This form of grading will help people concentrate more on their writing, rather than trying to get a good grade or comparing their grade to another student’s.

I hope that this grading system could be used in the future, because in class I noticed that I was really focused in improving my writing, and correcting my mistakes.

Mr. Bergey corrected our essays by recording his feedback. I thought it was a great way making us learn from out mistakes because most of us receive our essays without looking at the feedback and without looking for a way to improve our essays, and instead we focus on the final result or grade of our essay. This way of grading makes us improve our writing, because we understand what he is thinking about when he is correcting our essay. 

I also enjoyed this form of correcting our essays because it was different than the usual red-pen marks all over our essay and getting our grade, in this case we listened to the teachers corrections and as we listened we went back in our essays and corrected the mistakes we made. 

I hope this form of writing is continued in the future, because I noticed what I need to work on and I really have to improve my writing, and this is helping.

Modernity Survey

 

 

“In the 21st century, we still fundamentally believe that the future will be brighter than the present.”

 

 

Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
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Modernity Essay

Brenna Cunningham

20^th century history

October 15^th, 2008

Modernity

Modernity as a Positive or a Negative

       Modernity is best described as the modern era, but it could also be referred to as a cultural and intellectual movement. Some say the movement was from about 1630-1940, others say from the beginning of the 20^th century, or the Industrial revolution. There were many outspoken critics of modernity, namely; Engels, Marx, Gandhi, and movie producer Fritz Lang. At the turn of the 20th century, authors disagreed about whether modernity will lead to social progress.

         Many authors believed that modernity was defective, and would be harmful to the future. Friedrich Engels explains in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific: “But the perfecting of machinery is making human labor superfluous.” He deciphers that labor is becoming abundant and unnecessary because of machinery and it displaces manual labor throughout. He also quotes Marx saying that “the machinery becomes the most powerful weapon in the war of capital against the working class”. Another persuasive author that clearly states he is utterly against modernity and developed civilizations is Gandhi. In his Hind Swaraj he compares the differences in the lifestyle of a modern and a former society some of his arguments being: “Formerly, only a few men wrote valuable books. Now, anybody writes and prints anything he likes and poisons peoples minds…Men will not need the use of their hands and feet…Everything will be done by machinery… People lack real physical strength or courage.” As one can see, Gandhi strongly believes that the modern civilization is becoming immoral and is destroying traditional customs. Gandhi explains that with machinery becoming the new form of labor, people don’t need to work anymore and they become lazier and not as active. To Gandhi and Engels, modernity is destroying society.

            Though many authors thought modernity was contemptible, others believed that the future would always be brighter than the past. In Vol. IX of the Economist, it states that “We look upon the Part with respect and affection as a series of steppingstones, to that high and advanced position which we actually hold and from the Future we hope for the realization of those dreams, almost of perfectibility, which a comparison of the Past with the present entitles us to indulge in”. This defines what a significant amount of important philosophers and authors believed in; which basically is that people look towards future as an opportunity for improvement and to create a perfect society. An author who thought alike was Walt Whitman, who wrote an optimistic poem about the upcoming future and the progress it would bring to society. In his poem he mentions “I see Freedom, completely armed and victorious and very haughty, with Law on one side and Peace on the other”. He strongly believed that the future would be different and progress to more equal and developed ways, as his poem, Years of the Modern, contains his expectations of a brighter society in the future.

          Humanity could improve throughout time and it could progress. However, one cannot be sure. As far as Gandhi, Engels, and many other authors are concerned, humanity could be doomed, due to the effects and growth of modern society. Humans are on a path they cannot avoid, a path of evolution, for the better or for the worse. Society will constantly be growing intellectually and culturally, new creations will be developed, and more machinery will be formed to make daily tasks easier, but the question is, is all of the change beneficial?