Fire safety writing paper
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Universal Healthcare in the United States Term Paper
Universal Healthcare in the United States - Term Paper Example To be noted is that as a concept, universal health care does not simply imply the coverage of individuals for all risks i.e. one-size-fits-all conceptualization. Rather as Navarro (1989) portrays, it is determined by three fundamental dimensions ââ¬â those covered; services that are covered, and what amount of total costs (accrued), are covered. Health care systems are in a majority of states funded through mixed models of funding. Generally, revenues accrued from taxation do compose the primary funding source, with most countries supplementing the revenues with specific levies. This is essentially by way of a mix of private and public contributions thereby ââ¬Ëspreadingââ¬â¢ the costs over a larger population. Compulsory insurance is a key avenue of enhancing universal healthcare, usually enforced by way of legislation in given jurisdictional arenas. This may thereafter, necessitate citizens to purchase their insurance; but in many cases (in effect), it is the government that provides such insurance, as part of its social welfare responsibilities. Examples of compulsory insurance contexts are exemplified by both the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Swiss Healthcare system. In the U.S., the crusade for some form of universal healthcare (government-funded) is traceable to the 20th Century with advocacy of the same facing different obstacles despite close success. While other developed states had initiated some form of social insurance, proponents in the U.S. continued facing hurdles, especially as a result of the federal government (then), leaving each state to its own doing. The different states in turn left such matters to voluntary and/ or private programs, based perhaps on the lack of national legislation. It is however during the Progressive Era that major undertakings took place, with reformers working on enhancing social conditions for the growing working class (Navarro, 1989). Unlike
Friday, November 1, 2019
Strategic Capability of Organization Assignment
Strategic Capability of Organization - Assignment Example The marketing strategy and orientation focus on innovation, strategic capabilities and competitive environment, general business environment of the company, and the political, environmental, economic, social and technological factors would be considered along with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business environment. Sony is a leader in the global electronics industry and global market as its global presence is seen in all markets across different regions of the world. Sony has global competitors and different competitors for its wide ranging products from cameras to cell phones, computers to MP3 players. In case of mobile phones, Nokia would be its toughest competitor whereas for MP3 players, Apple would be its closest competitor, for computers and laptops, Toshiba and Compaq would be the other players in the market and Samsung also remains one of its major competitors in all other product areas. The research and development unit of Sony is studied here and the R&D unit of the company would relate to marketing and strategic needs of the organization and recommendations are provided on what changes should be made within the strategic management of the company so that maximum productivity and performance could be attained within the specific business environment (Bradbury and Kissel, 2006). SWOT Analysis - Competitive Advantages The strengths of Sony or its competitive advantages would be its brand name and strong brand presence (Kerckhove, 2002) and its extensive advertising and marketing strategy that highlights innovative products around the world in accordance with the needs of the global markets. Sony is focused on meeting the needs of consumers of all ages and cultures and especially focuses on meeting the needs of the youth by constantly upgrading its technology to meet the demands of the market and to keep up with a rapidly changing electronics market. The focus of the company is on innovation (Harryson, 1997), well developed and well equipped R&D facilities, talented product engineers and managers and the company's leadership and established position in a global market. Capability Gaps The weaknesses or capability gaps would be its flaws in its corporate strategy that may not always be culturally sensitive, very established competitors and continuous new product development initiatives by competitors can leave Sony behind, higher costs of Sony products may not be within reach of a large consumer base and fluctuating economies in certain countries where Sony has made its foray would be a major disadvantage. Opportunities for Sony will be entry into new markets and focusing on continuous and new innovative products and product development through R&D that can give it an edge over competitors (Arimura, 1999). The threats of the company would be its competitive environment and in product areas such as mobile phones, Nokia is its primary competitor, in computers and laptops, Toshiba and Compaq are close competitors, in MP3 music players, Apple seems to have a leading role in the market with its
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The Affordable Care Act (frequently known as Obamacare) Essay
The Affordable Care Act (frequently known as Obamacare) - Essay Example The Affordable Act provides improved opportunities for the already insured citizens and offers affordable plans and healthcare services for those who have been uninsured up till now. Extension of Medicaid services in conjunction with the Child Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) and addition of new reforms improves the availability of health services to families and for individuals. Medicaid is a health program that provides health coverage to children, pregnant women, parents, seniors and disabled individuals. The Affordable Act reaches out to treat the States of America equally and simplifying the enrolment for the families and individuals. Under the Title II, Subtitle B, Section 2101, 2102 ââ¬Å"Enhanced Support for the Childrenââ¬â¢s Health Insurance Programâ⬠is focused in improving the federal budget for the health services provided to the children (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). This includes the increase in federal financial participation for the Child Health Insurance Program and technical corrections. The Affordable Act also focuses on the simplification of the CHIP enrolment plan through Medicaid according to the Title II, Subtitle C, Section 2201, 2202 (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). This reform allows the hospitals to make presumptive eligibility determinations for ass Medicaid eligible populations and simplifies the enrolment and coordination with the State Health Insurance Exchanges (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). The extension of Child Health Insurance Plan allows a new group of children to become eligible for the health care services which is a good source of preventive medicine and public health support for the children. The health plan provides the services of vaccinations, routine check-ups, emergency room visits, dental care, laboratory and X-ray facilities and inpatient and outpatient hospital care. The Affordable Act introduced by
Monday, October 28, 2019
High school diploma Essay Example for Free
High school diploma Essay Did you know that education in school is really important? Many parents believe that education is important because it leads to a degree which grants you a good job. With an education you can get a steady pay check. With that pay check you will get away to financial independence as an adult. Why is Education So Important? he first thing that strikes me about education is knowledge gain. Education gives us knowledge of the world around us. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life. People debate over the subject of whether education is the only thing that gives knowledge. Some say, education is the process of gaining information about the surrounding world while knowledge is something very different. They are right. But then, information cannot be converted into knowledge without the catalyst called education. Education makes us capable of interpreting things rightly. It is not just about lessons in textbooks. It is about the lessons of life. Did you know that education in school is really important? School and education help people you understand beyond the world around them. Education helps ones immediate family, area, region, country, culture, race, or civilization. These different subjects open up information and knowledge. An important aspect of education is learning how to learn in order differentiate fact from fiction. Education is important because it equips us with all that is needed to make our dreams come true. Education opens doors of brilliant career opportunities. It fetches better prospects in career and growth. Every employer of today requires his prospective employees to be well educated. He requires expertise. So, education becomes an eligibility criterion for employment into any sector of the industry. We are rewarded for exercising the expertise required for the field we venture. We are weighed in the market on the basis of our educational skills and how well we can apply them. Education brings about economic wealth, political stability and social prosperity; all these are hallmarks of a prosperous society. It can therefore be said that education playas an important role if a society is to be successful. Tertiary education is an important aspect in the development of any society that considers or aspires to be modern. It is by far the best investment that a nation or an individual can make in its youth or oneself respectively. Educated people are in a better position to contribute to the development of their country; these educated individuals get employment opportunities that give them satisfaction and also earn some form of respect among their work mates. It also plays an important role in the integration of a society in that by interacting with people from various areas, it will raise different issues that people in rural areas are facing thereby promoting knowledge and understanding of these areas Life is nothing without education? Life without education is like living in the streets. Without education youll become lost. You will not have a guaranteed future. You will no go home ridding your favorite car to your Own home. By learning your basic alphabets youll work your way through to have a professional career. Therefore with out Education to school you will not learn at all. Life is never without education. In societies without formal schools, parents pass skills on to children. Education starts before you ever go to school and goes on after you finish school. That said, formal education is a great way to ensure that every child knows what is most necessary to live in a particular society. Without education you will be an illiterate person your children in the future will come up to you and youââ¬â¢re not going to know how to answer them with a right answer. Education will help build your own perspective. Schools are the place you school of started how to pronounce and count. Importance of education is needed in order to succeed in todayââ¬â¢s world. In order to receive education you must go through some process. Your first process is to graduate from high school with your diploma. The next step is to attend college to obtain a degree in a trade that you would like to pursue. Without education you wouldnââ¬â¢t get good pay or promotion that you deserve. However, some people feel that they can get by in life without education, sadly that is not true. If you would like at the graphic at the bottom you will see that the higher the education you have the more money you can make. Education is important to have in todayââ¬â¢s society. Importance of education able you to have a good job security and knowledge of your field supporting the hard work a person put into there education. Overall, school is the basic start that will drive you to your future. With knowledge youll get the sense of pride that you know must of the things. Education will help brighten your childrenââ¬â¢s future. 66% of the US population has a high school diploma or high. You should be amongst these people.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
I Know What You Did Last Summer :: essays research papers
1) Julie, Ray, Helen, and Barry are four close friends, Julie and Ray being a couple and Barry and Helen also being one. Being high school students, they went late one night up to a clearing in the forest to hang out. When driving home, they had been a little drunk and were still kissing, they ran over a ten year old kid, David Gregg, who was riding a bicycle. Ray had been driving. The four kept driving until they reached a telephone, where an anonymous ambulance was called for help for the child. The four formed a pact as to keep the incident between them and not to anyone else. Julie and Ray had been against it, but agreed and made it. After that happened, Julie and Ray isolated themselves from the rest of the group. Julie, normally a highly school activity involved social girl, turned to studying and working hard for her senior year, having a new boyfriend named Bud. Ray totally fled the scene, moving to be carefree in California for a year. Helen and Barry remained a couple, Bar ry going to the local University and Helen being the channel 5 Golden Girl, or weather reporter. The real plot of the story begins with Julie receiving a note at home simply stating: ââ¬Å"I know what you did last summer.â⬠She gets upset over it and after not talking to her for a year since the incident, calls Helen to talk to her. Helen arranges a meeting for the three, but they all convince each other that it was just a kid pulling a prank. That blows over until Ray finally shows up, and upon finding an apartment, is mailed the article about the incident. Ray and Julie take a drive to talk about the note and article, and Julie convinces Ray to take her to see Davidââ¬â¢s parents. Not confess, just meet and ask about. They arrived at the house and rung the doorbell a few times, only to meet Megan, the sister of David. She told Julie, while Ray was off ââ¬Å"calling for help for their carâ⬠, that Davidââ¬â¢s mother was put in a hospital due to an unstable mental s tate, her father staying by her side. Her older brother was off and out of the house. Anyway, as they left, Ray notes that Megan was hanging up menââ¬â¢s shirts to dry and the houseââ¬â¢s paint looked fairly new ââ¬â and in places that Megan, who was short, couldnââ¬â¢t reach, even with a ladder.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Shakespeare with Professor Ken Tomkins
In at least four plays of the Shakespeare Canon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Richard II, and Romeo and Juliet, the function of class structure and economics governs the conduct of the characters and provides a central conflict that moves each story towards it's climax. Shakespeare wrote these plays with the social class system in mind. Audiences from all economic levels of society viewed these plays, which included characters from each social set as well. The economic fortunes of certain classes is influenced by life at court and the political and social commentaries which are imbedded in particular plays reflect the injustices which were common practice during those times. Dutiful daughters, regarded as second-class citizens, rebel against advantageous marriages, kingdoms are overthrown, commoners discuss royal figures with derision, and characters reject court life and tyranny. Economics is a fine web that supports different characters and the destinies they are to fulfill. One not born to an economically advantaged world cannot fulfill that destiny. 1 We, as audience, are invited to court to learn the mannerisms of the nobility and we experience banishment into the ââ¬Å"green worldâ⬠2 countryside, with its resulting restoration of social order. Audience Audience is one key to understanding the function of class and economics in William Shakespeare's plays. We generally understand that he wrote his plays for economic gain as well as for artistic expression; therefore, we cannot afford to overlook his audience, and the potential impact they had upon his writing style. His audience was comprised of the three-tiered social structure and there had to be something in each play to charm them all. Class and economics determined the set-up of the theaters in that time, so it is not an issue that could be ignored by this playwright; rather he echoes it in his works. Separation from the masses was assured by the seating arrangements. The top tiers were reserved for royalty and the middle areas were for the landed gentry, while the floor seats where the ââ¬Å"groundlingsâ⬠viewed the proceedings resemble our modern-day mosh pits. In that time, it would have been unthinkable for the lowest class to be seated in seats above the other social strata and it is interesting that this seating arrangement has shifted over the centuries. Shakespeare made sure to guarantee his patron base by appealing to the people who financed his plays. Frequently the most important roles were kings and queens or nobles. The acting out of the schemes that take place in court life was undoubtedly familiar and welcome to members of that class. Shakespeare targeted women as consumers because they are historically strong patrons of the arts, while men probably enjoyed gambling and carousing more. In that patriarchal society, class, and expectations restricted women's actions. As characters in Shakespeare's dramas, they challenged their long- accepted roles. The ââ¬Å"groundlingsâ⬠were satisfied because they, like our society today, liked to see the nobility in disarray. There is an entire sub-culture of gossip publications and news shows that deal exclusively with the nobility of our time, Hollywood actors, and sports personalities. Much interest was generated to the same end in Shakespeare's time. The peasant class thrived on scandal that involved the nobility. Shakespeare made sure to include as much court-inspired strife as was possible, without ostracizing that particular set of patrons. He was able to get away with it because the lords and ladies, the middle-class, enjoyed gossip even more that the plebeians did. In As You Like It, and Richard II, he portrays the usurpers in an unflattering light, while the true Duke and King respectively, gain the audiences pity. This is a very delicate matter, groundlings can enjoy watching nobility fall, and the nobility can watch the usurpers get their own back. The plays satisfy a variety of audiences. Class Conflict Class conflict is a function of Shakespeare's work because, without it, there is no conflict to be resolved. It is the driving force behind many of his plays. Conflicts always start in the court setting, and cannot be resolved until the natural order of each monarchy is reinforced or put back in place. There can be no subversion at the end. The role of class in Romeo and Juliet reflects royal determinations regarding the family rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues. The play opens with an angered prince and closes with one. Apparently, with both families on the same higher social level, the fighting between them is not something that should happen at this altitude. They are playing out their feud at the street level, which is demeaning to both families. ââ¬Å"From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. â⬠(1. P. 5). The word, ââ¬Å"unclean,â⬠suggests that they have tarnished their images. The prince re-emphasizes this image in his admonishment, ââ¬Å"Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel-ââ¬Å"(1. 1. 82). The prince is a minor character in this tragedy; he has not many lines to speak. It is clear to all that he controls the social order in the following quote. ââ¬Å"And then will I be general of your woes, And lead you even to death. ââ¬Å"(5. 3. 219). The drama that occurs in his kingdom is subject to Royal will and dictates. A Midsummer Night's Dream starts in the human court and ends with the balance of power in the Fairy court. Social order always returns to whoever was the rightful owner. We can make an argument that in the end of Richard II, the wrong king is in power, but we must remember that Richard himself upset the divine right of succession by stealing away Bullingbrook's inheritance and name. Richard upset the class system, and he pays the price. It is interesting that these Henriad plays focus on placing the ââ¬Å"Ideal Christian Kingâ⬠in power. Richard, while the object of pity in the end, obviously was not such a king because he was the catalyst for change, and he paved the way for the ââ¬Å"New Man. ââ¬Å"3 The fortunes of all in Richard II depend upon who is in power; indeed, the change of power changes not only the economics, but also the life status of the characters Bushy and Green. This theme is still prevalent today, the change in power structure extends down the power line, only now instead of losing one's life, administrative employees lose their positions, which in political life, is the death of one's career for a time. Class, Social Rank & Freedom Class serves the function of determining degrees of wealth and freedom in many plays. Mapped out, it looks something like the following: 1. Royalty & Nobility- (ruling-class) they enjoy great power and authority that is limited only by the expectations of their subjects. The magnificence of these offices is sadly linked to the loss of freedom. They are subject to the severe maxims that govern this class, which include their personal conduct, lines of succession, and ability to marry. The role that government fulfills also affects the economic stability of their subjects. When speaking to one another they use the more formal poetry, and when they speak to someone below their station, they tend to resort to a simpler prose form of speech. As rulers, they are also targets, everyone will come out of the woodwork to overthrow them or create stress for them. Duke Sr. in As You Like It, holds forth, â⬠Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp? â⬠Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious court? â⬠(2. 1. 2-4). 2. Middle-ranks- (landed gentry and merchants) The survival of the middle ranks depends upon the survival of the highest ranks, that is changes in power are reflected at this level because they are the supporting class. As gentry, their lives can be forfeit or spared, their lands can be confiscated or returned, and their titles bestowed or revoked. As merchants or citizens, they can experience economic changes that can enhance or deplete their fortunes. Their speech patterns also vary according to their conversations, just as we use different language with our bosses than we do with our peers, so did they use prose when speaking with lower classes and poetry with those in the upper ranks. 3. Lower-ranks- (peasants and laborers)- This class of society ââ¬Å"enjoys the most freedom and their lives are the least bruisedâ⬠by whoever is in power, as they never alter their position in society. No matter who is in power, their privileges and fortunes do not change. They have the least expectations placed upon them and do not have to strive to impress any one outside of their social class other than the people who employ them (Reynolds). 4 In each of these plays, the complicating action starts in the court as the ruling classes that will affect the families and country around them, make catalytic decisions. Since Shakespeare introduces most of his characters in the first act, the complicating actions hinge upon the fact that the primary characters never resist the opportunity to make a better outcome for themselves. Luckily, they forge ahead on their ill-advised paths; otherwise, there would be no end to the first plateau of each play. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, we have two sets of Royals: the King and Queen of the fairies, and the Duke, Theseus and soon-to-be Duchess of Athens. Egeus needs permission to send his wayward daughter to a nunnery or her death, for her refusal to marry Demetrius. Her refusal is a blatant upset in the social order, mirrored in the fairy world by Tatania disobeying Oberon. Only when the conflict is resolved in the fairy world can it be resolved in the human world. 5 In this particular play, the Fairy King and Queen are the uppermost level of classes. Their actions are affecting those classes below. The decision made by the Duke forces the young characters departure from the court to the ââ¬Å"green world. â⬠The tension begins with his proclamation: ââ¬Å"For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself To fit your fancies to your fathers will; Or else the law of Athens yields you up (Which by no means we may extenuate) To death or vow of single life. ââ¬Å"(1. 1. 120). ââ¬Å"Extenuateâ⬠is a very important word in this passage, as it explains the rules that the upper classes must live by. Theseus seems to care about Hermia, and almost appears to be pleading with her to make the right decision, because he cannot mitigate the rules. Bound by the traditions of his office, he cannot resolve the problem. Once the Fairy world is back in order, and the lovers are in love with their rightful partners, then only can Theseus pardon their behavior. It is an empty pardon, for the highest ruling class already resolved the conflict. Another line that reveals the importance of class is, ââ¬Å"Know of your youth, examine well your blood. ââ¬Å"(1. 1. 68). Said by Theseus to Hermia, it is telling that bloodlines are important and come with a specific set of expectations that must be fulfilled. Hermia and Juliet struggle from the dictums of their class, they are pre-destined to execute their duty under the patriarchal system, and they go to extreme measures to escape their restrictive environments. Juliet blithely wishes that Romeo would deny his name and fate, because she wants to eat her cake and still have it. If he were to refuse his name, she could avoid the ââ¬Å"dutiful daughterâ⬠restraints, and retain her true love. Montague wishes his daughter to have a few more years on the planet before she is married off, but he submits to Paris' request because of the social climbing nature of society. Both he and his wife wish to make the most advantageous match for their daughter, and would marry her off immediately after the death of a kinsman no matter how socially unseemly it is. The nurse character in Romeo & Juliet appears strangely unbound by the traditions of this level of society. Her place in the family is assured, as she has raised Juliet. Her place in the class system is as a ââ¬Å"Naturalâ⬠. She speaks of sex and practical matters and is viewed as a ââ¬Å"bawdy character,â⬠according to Tomkins. 6 Lady Montague seems to have a bit of trouble deciding weather or not this woman is worthy of joining in on family discussions of Juliet's future, but the nurse feels confident enough to meddle in their affairs. Expectations of this character are mixed according to the players on the stage. Tatania also strays from the expectations of fairy society by taking a clown with an Asses head as lover, but this was not by choice, but rather by trickery. This is a blatant upset of social order. Bottom represents the lower human kingdom, the lower class, and the lowest of all possible levels, an animal used for the most menial tasks. Bottom, while not the lowest class of human, but close to it, is affected by the decisions of King Oberon and for a brief while enjoys being pampered, cosseted and loved by the Fairy Queen. As an actor, Bottom's economic fortune is dependant upon the Duke picking the play of ââ¬Å"Pyramus and Thisbyâ⬠to view as his wedding's entertainment. We never find out if the rustics are paid for their work, but it is suggested that they gain something of value for being chosen. Banishment Romeo is destroyed by his banishment from Verona; it represents his banishment from his economic base as well as his social milieu. He equates banishment with death, ââ¬Å"And world's exile is death; then banished Is death misterm'd. (3. 3. 21). Banishment suggests rustication, or the stripping away of all economic and family scaffolding, typically in a country setting. In Shakespeare, all of important society lives in cities, certainly not in the country. 7 In As You Like It, not only is the Duke exiled from his duchy, he is exiled from comfort and he is leading the life of a different social order. Shakespeare, by his choice of speeches, shows us that court life is truly preferable in terms of creature comforts. Orlando complains of his treatment by his brother Oliver, â⬠For my part, he keeps me rustically at home, â⬠and ââ¬Å"Stays me here at home unkept; for call you that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that differs not from the stalling of an Ox? ââ¬Å"(1. 1. 7-11). Duke Sr. complains in a roundabout way, â⬠Here feel we not the penalty of Adam, The seasons difference, as the icy fang And churlish chiding of the winter's wind-ââ¬Å"(2. 1. 7). The symbols of office are of important economic importance in Richard II and represent something of a crisis to Bullingbrook. Without the symbols of office, he is not truly king. He needs to secure those symbols because without them his character is still one exiled from his country and disinherited from his family line. He is a man without any social class at all without that crown (4. 1. 175-80). The young gentry in A Midsummer Night's Dream act strangely once they are out of the court setting. They, under the spell of the fairy kingdom, fight and act rudely towards one another. Lysander said, ââ¬Å"Get you gone you dwarf; You minimus, of hind'ring knot-grass made; You bead, you acorn. It appears that with the removal of the trappings of court, or higher society, former members of high society experience a breakdown of manners and class characteristics (3. 2. 327-9). The four plays that are discussed in this essay have countless references to the expectations of social class; however, it would take a much longer document to include them all. For our purposes, it is clear from the examples above, that Shakespeare deliberately used social class and economics as a function to move story lines along and to satisfy the needs of his audience. According to Tomkins, ââ¬Å"Silliness is not a class thing, it crosses gender and nobility lines. 8 The role that the ruling class played is most important, because it usually establishes the outcome of all the players in each performance. In the end, each character fulfills their own personal destiny according to the dictums of their identifiable economic sphere. It is also clear that Shakespeare's audience was aware of, and possible approved the preference of the court over the ââ¬Å"green world. â⬠If the ââ¬Å"green worldâ⬠were a preferable locale, story lines would end in that vicinity.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Seeing the World Through a Broken Heart
The world is a pit of suffering and pain yet we see it not. All across the world, people are suffering from injustice, oppression, and from other afflictions caused by our very own brothers yet we feel not these things, least of all, know of them.A worse thing we have done is make ourselves be the very cause of their pain as if our indifference is not enough a mockery. We do not know their plight, we cannot see their sufferings, we cannot feel their pain all because our hearts remain unbroken.We think the world is confined to the corners in which we move. We have learned to deafen our ears and harden our hearts to the grave injustice and oppression that our brothers across the continents go through everyday. We have downplayed their sufferings with cliches and punchlines we learned from self-help books and by doing so, our hearts do not turn to see their reality.And then, a single movie, carrying a powerful message, turns our worlds upside down. It breaks our hearts to millions of pi eces and opens the eyes of our hearts. We witness the realities of this world and we get shaken. We start to stir up inside.We begin to ponder intently and thoughtfully about what the world goes through, we start to philosophize and discuss within ourselves who we are and what man is and what does man do. We start to wander through life's realities and we always ask why. Our hearts have been broken and now see things in their most naked honest state, and so, it refuses to rest.What is a broken heart?A broken heart simply is an honest heart. It is a heart which is not blinded with fantasies but clearly sees reality as it is. It is a heart that looks at people through a clear glass and not through a rose-tinted window. It is a heart which does not deceive itself with promptings taught by the learned but contents itself only with what it has witnessed.Hotel RwandaHotel Rwanda pounded on my chest like a jackhammer with a deadline. It crushed my heart down to its basic components and for ced me to adopt a whole new perspective about things. I never knew that a world such as that I have seen in the movie existed. I thought people from Africa suffered only from hunger.I never knew of a racial prejudice of that magnitude. I thought only Saddam Hussein was guilty of racial cleansing. How could have I been so base so as to be ignorant of what our brothers go through? I have never seen man so vicious. I have never seen man treat their brothers as ââ¬Å"cockroachesâ⬠all because they are of a different race.My heart was shaken and the scenes remain vivid in my mind long after I have seen the movie. Often, in solitude, I contemplate on the movie and I ponder on why man such as the Hutus will do such a thing as they have done. Their skin color was the same.The only reason for the discrimination which I could gather from the movie is that the Tutsis were taller and had the more handsome features. And I ask: what is that?! Perhaps, it is envy.As I continue to ponder, I h ave come to believe that envy really is one viable reason for racial discrimination. The Great Holocaust, which executed hundreds of thousands of Jews, was inspired by envy. Aryanism is built upon envy over the chosen people of God.So perhaps too, the thing that happened in Hotel Rwanda was inspired by envy. The Hutus were envious of the Tutsis because the latter had better physical features. It is a shallow reason but it is enough to cause man to want to eliminate an entire tribe of people.Envy is the second of the seven deadly sins. And rightly so. The movie has proven how deadly it is. What does envy do to man? Among lovers it has caused a lot of broken relationships, unstable marriages, and even manslaughter.Stories of lovers shooting each other because of jealousy have passed by our ears millions of times. Among families, it has caused dissension.Families get broken up because of envy. Envy has caused brothers to hate their own brothers. It is noteworthy that the first murder c ommitted was inspired by envy. The Bible account of Cain and Abel contains the story of the first murder where Cain killed his own brother, Abel, because of envy. Among friends, envy has caused contempt. Among classes and races of people, it has caused discrimination.
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