Day When Every Thing Went Wrong

It was a fine Saturday morning. I got up in haste. Quickly I got ready for my school. It was 7. 05 am and my mother shouted at me for not taking my breakfast properly. However I ran to my bus stop and to my utter misfortune the bus had already left. I was literally breathless. I couldn’t afford to go a single minute late in my maths examination. Again I ran to my house and luckily my brother was there to take me to my school. I thanked God for that and bidding goodbye to my mother we both went to school.On the way we saw huge mass gathering for there took place an accident. My brother stopped there for a while. I actually didn’t want him to go and inspect the matter. Rather I said him to take another route. He managed to take me by another way. Suddenly my eye fell on my watch and I saw there were fifteen more minutes for our examination to start. I just closed my eyes and prayed that I would be able to attend my examination properly. My brother asked me not to worry an d assured that we would reach school in just five minutes.He raised the pin of the speedometer to 80 . I took a deep breath of relaxation as I could see my school in front of my eyes. Then suddenly two dogs rushed to the middle of the road fighting strenuously. My brother failed to control the speed and ultimately one of the dogs came between the two wheels of our bike. Our bike got hashed on the wall. My head got banged on a stone. But still then I was uttering â€Å"my examination, my examination!! †My brother was bleeding profusely.But he managed to take a lift from a van. I got admitted in the Hospital and had facial paralysis for some time. Seriously if I had to remember the worst day of my life then it would be none other than 4th January 2010. I felt so bad that I couldn’t even express my feelings in words. The whole year I worked so hard and at the end I got promotion to the next class on the basis of a medical certificate. But I thanked God for keeping me and my brother safe.

Racial Discrimination Within the Gay Community Essay

My community is the most diverse of all. I am speaking of the gay community. Our community consists of people from every race, every religion, every gender, and every economic sector. We claim to be all-inclusive, embracing everyone despite our differences and celebrate our diversity with pride very openly. The issue of gay civil rights came to national attention on June 27, 1969. On that evening, police raided a small gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village called The Stonewall Inn, which sparked three days of rioting. The event is considered the single most important event that led to the modern movement for gay civil rights. The gay community’s perseverance has led to gay pride celebrations being held across the country. San Francisco is the considered the birthplace of pride celebrations, as a â€Å"gay-in† was held on June 27, 1970, to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Current pride celebrations often include themes such as inclusion and diversity, demonstrating the gay community’s beliefs that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of any differences. However, as Buchanan (2005) stated, â€Å"We claim to be the most maligned group in society, but when it comes to discrimination, some say that gays can give as good as we get† (Gays at receiving end of bias claim). The issue of racial discrimination in the gay community came to light when the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) issued their report on April 26, 2005 after an investigation of alleged discrimination at a popular bar in the Castro. The investigation was initiated by a group of citizens that claim the bar, SFBadlands, was practicing discriminatory acts in employment and patronage. I frequent the bar in question regularly and am personally acquainted with an African American who works there as a bartender. The group making the accusations, And Castro For All, alleged in a letter sent to the HRC June 22, 2004, that the owner of the bar implemented policies to discourage African Americans and women from patronizing the bar. The group also alleged that the bar owner practiced discriminatory hiring practices. Out of the forty-five employees of the bar at the time, only seven were â€Å"people of color† and none were women. The group requested the HRC investigate the bar owner and his business practices to determine if there were any â€Å"civil rights violations†. The group also requested the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to revoke the owners’ liquor license. Further allegations against the bar and it’s owner included unwarranted removal of African-American and other minority patrons from the bar, inferior service to minority customers and denial of entry of minority customers due to dress while white patrons dressed similarly were admitted. The commission found the bar and its owner discriminated against African-American job applicants and customers, however there was insufficient evidence to conclude any other wrongdoing. During the ongoing investigation, And Castro For All staged protests in front of the bar that caught media attention and sparked national conversation regarding the persistence of racism in the gay community (VanDeCarr, 2005). During these protests, the bar was busy as usual. The demonstrations, one of which was held during the Castro Street Fair, a popular street fair held every October, did little to diminish patrons to enter the bar. As I stood in line that day waiting to enter the bar, listening to the chant â€Å"Think before you drink† there was not much for me to think about. I had talked to the African-American bartender that I know about the allegations, and he responded that the allegations were false. The protests and demonstrations by And Castro For All have been compared to the civil rights and women’s movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The fight for gay marriage has also been compared to the civil rights movement. These comparisons have people of color raising an eyebrow, and have bred hostility where it should have sown solidarity. In Massachusetts shortly after gay marriage was legalized, Governor Matt Romney told city clerks they could enact a 1913 law forbidding out-of-state couples from marrying if their home states would not recognize the marriage. The law was written with the intention of barring interracial marriages. The Massachusetts Supreme Court made another equation when gay marriage was legalized. They referenced the historic cases that legalized interracial marriages to the case that led to the legalization of gay marriage by citing the difference as a single trait: skin color in the interracial cases, sexual orientation now. This â€Å"formula of gay = black has upset some Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people of color† says Hernandez (2005 Gaily ever after 11). During the 1990’s when the gay movement went mainstream, LGBT people of all colors claim it became a mouthpiece for wealthy gay men. The reason the comparison of gay marriage to the civil rights movement has raised indignation say some LGBT people of color is because it does not account for the racial and economic privileges white gays have. In not being able to marry, some say this is the first time that white gays are feeling the effects of discrimination. Further accusations of racial discrimination in San Francisco’s Castro district disrupted a meeting of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC) on March 3, 2005. The subject of racial discrimination came to a head when the President of MUMC was accused of paying obligatory attention to the growing concerns of racism in the Castro. White males own most businesses in the Castro, a fact that many do not realize. In attendance at the meeting were about 25 members, five of which were either non-white or female. Thanks to a neighborhood economic development program organized by the LGBT Center of San Francisco, a yoga studio opened in October of 2004, which is the first black-owned business in the area in a few years. So, what does the future of the Castro look like? According to Bevin Duffy, an openly gay man on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is hopeful. Speaking after a mediation agreement was signed between the owner of SF Badlands and the group An Castro For All, Duffy is quoted: ‘This has been a painful process but it has created a great deal of awareness of the distance we need to go to be a truly inclusive community†¦. I hope for all of us it is an opportunity to heal now and to move forward, with each of us individually committed to be open, welcoming and accepting to people in our community who may be different. ’ (Bajko, 2006, p. 2). Not everyone shares Mr. Duffy’s optimism. Gomez (2006) states â€Å"Thirty years from now maybe queer will have evolved from a fashion statement†¦and retained its original connotations: progressive, independent, empathetic, activist. Colored queers will still be making the noise of protest†¦Maybe by then we’ll believe we’re stronger together than apart† (Race: the growing chasm, 10). I think Gomez is wrong, at least when it comes to my neighborhood. I have hope for my neighborhood. The Castro has long been seen as â€Å"gay mecca† to LGBT people the world over, and hopefully the racial scar isn’t too deep. At least the actions of a few people have paved the way to change. Until we can resolve the inequalities in our own backyard, will we then be able to achieve equality with our straight allies, such as equal marriage rights. Once we become the kind of people we say we are, then we can become a racially diverse role model for the world.

Imperialism In The Spanish-American War - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 601 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/04/15 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Imperialism Essay Did you like this example? Since the United States have become their own country, it has gone through many changes in status. Before becoming a country, the United States was merely a series of territories belonging to multiple countries. When we began to advance in status, we learned that one key to success was a strategy called imperialism. Imperialism happens when a country uses its military and relationships with other countries to gain control of other territories. This system makes the power of the country rely on the territory that the country has obtained. In the late nineteenth century, the ways of imperialism were very popular in America because they wanted to expand their territory in order to become more powerful. In the late nineteenth century, Spain didnt have power over very much land. The only territories they had were Puerto Rico, Cuba, some islands in the Pacific, and a couple of small territories in Africa. They were wanting more territory, like the United States, and they were set on defending the territories they were already in rule over. They may have been so possessive because only years before, the Spanish territory was in power of much more land than it was at the time before the Spanish-American War. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Imperialism In The Spanish-American War" essay for you Create order The Spanish-American War was really sparked with the fight for the independence of Cuba. When they decided that they wanted independence, the Spanish decided that they needed to fight back because they did not want to lose one of the few territories that they still had ownership over. Cuba was very important to the Spanish Empire; it was so important that Spain gave the territory of Florida to Britain in order to keep control of Havana, Cubas capital. From this point on, a battle of territory ensued. The practice of imperialism in these two countries, or empires, if you will, has now begun a war. Before the war, the United States did not approve of the way the Spanish Empire was governing Cuba. The rule of Cuba became more absolutist, despite its state of being a colony. Even the inhabitants of Cuba who opposed independence in the beginning now began to seek reform, whether that be through independence or through being added to the United States. Major General ximo Gmez Baez was a leader of the Cuban revolution against Spain. The Cubans were revolting against their Spanish rule because the people of Cuba had suffered centuries of oppression, and by the early 1800s, they were forced to pay high taxes to their Spanish rulers. His troops had already been fighting Spain in the Ten Years War from October of 1868 to 1878, which was for their independence. The effort Cubas separation had failed, ending in a peace in which Spain promised Cuba some limited self-government. This deal was never fulfilled on Spains part. ximo mez Baez went to the United States to meet with Jos Mart ­, a Cuban revolutionary and activist who was exiled because of his passionate activism. These two ended up having very different ideas of how to get Cuba into its own, independent state. Connections like these are what gave Cuba American support in their fight for freedom. At this point, the United States were aware that they were not going to be able to buy Cuba from Spain and that Cuba was going to want to be a self-reliant country. The way that the United States was serving Cuba became more of a sympathetic relationship than a business deal. The U.S. remembered what it was like for themselves being under the rule of other empires and just wanting to provide for and rule themselves. Imperialism in the Spanish-American War - Free Essay Example Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 692 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/08/16 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Spanish American War Essay War Essay Did you like this example? Since the United States have become their own country, it has gone through many changes in status. Before becoming a country, the United States was merely a series of territories belonging to multiple countries. When we began to advance in status, we learned that one key to success was a strategy called imperialism. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Imperialism in the Spanish-American War" essay for you Create order Imperialism happens when a country uses its military and relationships with other countries to gain control of other territories. This system makes the power of the country rely on the territory that the country has obtained. In the late nineteenth century, the ways of imperialism were very popular in America because they wanted to expand their territory in order to become more powerful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the late nineteenth century, Spain didnt have power over very much land. The only territories they had were Puerto Rico, Cuba, some islands in the Pacific, and a couple of small territories in Africa. They were wanting more territory, like the United States, and they were set on defending the territories they were already in rule over. They may have been so possessive because only years before, the Spanish territory was in power of much more land than it was at the time before the Spanish-American War.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Spanish-American War was really sparked with the fight for the independence of Cuba. When they decided that they wanted independence, the Spanish decided that they needed to fight back because they did not want to lose one of the few territories that they still had ownership over. Cuba was very important to the Spanish Empire; it was so important that Spain gave the territory of Florida to Britain in order to keep control of Havana, Cubas capital.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this point on, a battle of territory ensued. The practice of imperialism in these two countries, or empires, if you will, has now begun a war. Before the war, the United States did not approve of the way the Spanish Empire was governing Cuba. The rule of Cuba became more absolutist, despite its state of being a colony. Even the inhabitants of Cuba who opposed independence in the beginning now began to seek reform, whether that be through independence or through being added to the United States. Major General Mà ¡ximo Gà ­?mez Baez was a leader of the Cuban revolution against Spain. The Cubans were revolting against their Spanish rule because the people of Cuba had suffered centuries of oppression, and by the early 1800s, they were forced to pay high taxes to their Spanish rulers.   His troops had already been fighting Spain in the Ten Years War from October of 1868 to 1878, which was for their independence. The effort Cubas separation had failed, ending in a peace in which Spain promised Cuba some limited self-government. This deal was never fulfilled on Spains part. Mà ¡ximo Gà ­?mez Baez went to the United States to meet with Josà © Martà ­Ã‚ ­, a Cuban revolutionary and activist who was exiled because of his passionate activism. These two ended up having very different ideas of how to get Cuba into its own, independent state. Connections like these are what gave Cuba American support in their fight for freedom. At this point, the United States were aware that they were not going to be able to buy Cuba from Spain and that   Cuba was going to want to be a self-reliant country. The way that the United States was serving Cuba became more of a sympathetic relationship than a business deal. The U.S. remembered what it was like for themselves being under the rule of other empires and just wanting to provide for and rule themselves. In addition to this, Cubans were also being put into concentration camps by leaders of their government, and this was completely unacceptable. Although all of these terrible things were happening to Cubans, the United States remained neutral between the Spaniards and the Cubans. The U.S. president at the time, William McKinley, just tried to influence Spain to end the violence in favor of Cuba. The Spaniards believed that they had the divine right, or right given by God, to any territory they could get possession of.

Strategic Management The World s Second Largest Pc Vendor

With a fast economic development and an increasingly competitive marketing, it has demonstrated that a successful company has to performance effective strategies through the whole operation for its survival and development. As known to all, a strategy is a overall view, referring to the plans and actions a enterprise selects to achieve its goals, including â€Å"some planned and systematic consideration of how to remain or become successful in that business†, some â€Å"internal factors† and â€Å"external factors† (textbook, ). Additionally, Strategic management regards as how to formulate, implement and evaluate strategies through a series of managerial activities, strengthening an organisation’s core competences, (MGM foundation). In a company, it is usually considered as the key engine of how and where it should invest its resources. It is well known that Lenovo is the world’s second-largest PC vendor ,as well as the China’s second-largest smartphone company, manufacturing desktops, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs and own accessories (Lenovo website, n.d.). Having changed its name to â€Å"Lenovo† since 2003, the company has decided to expand its market outside China by carrying out a series of effective management strategies, particularly in PC+ strategy, multi-brand strategy, â€Å"protect and attack† strategy and global-local strategy. Depending on the seasonable adjustment for the rapidly changing markets, Lenovo currently already has obtained trust and loyalty from millions of consumersShow MoreRelatedDell Computer Corporation – Strategy and Challenges for the 21st Century16130 Words   |  65 Pages....................................................................................11 2.4 Diversification.......................................................................................................11 3. 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Legend Holdings changed its name to Lenovo in 2004 and, in 2005, acquired the former Personal Computer Division of IBM, globalisation has been helped from the success of actively promoting Lenovo brand name at the 2008 Olympic Games. â€Å"The company that invented the PC industry in 1981† (KhaledRead MoreDell Computer Corporation – Strategy and Challenges for the 21st Century16121 Words   |  65 Pages..................................................................................11 2.4 Diversification.......................................................................................................11 3. ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING - P E S T 12 3.1 Political...............................................................................................................12 3.2Economic................................................................................................Read MoreAcers Critical Success Factors3665 Words   |  15 Pages1. INTRODUCTION The Acer Group is one of the worlds largest PC and computer component manufacturers. Associated Acer companies include the worlds third largest PC manufacturer, and Acers mobile computers, network servers and personal computers are ranked in the worlds top ten most popular brands in their respective product categories. Acer is the market leader in many countries around the world, and is ranked in more than 30 countries globally owing to the strength of its core business. On theRead MoreThe Term Of Emerging Market Economy2063 Words   |  9 Pagesfinance corporation of the World Bank in 1981. It refers to country with an underdeveloped industrial base and infrastructure but with a rapid growth rate even more than the developed countries. In addition, emerging market is often unstable in politics and institution, as well as continued demographic growth in some extent. (Tarun Khanna, 2010) Lenovo is a Chinese multinational technology company with headquarters in Beijing, China. It is the world’s largest PC vendor and one of the world’s leadingRead MoreDell Strategic Management Report3502 Words   |  15 Pagespose more potential risks to an organisation achieving its strategic objectives than external elements.† Dell is a multi-national information technology corporation which designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports a range of computer systems and services that are customized to individual customer requirements. As one of global PC suppliers, Dell set 2 strategic objectives to achieve, to be the No.1 global market share PC supplier, and optimize the balance of liquidity, profitabilityRead MoreThe SWOT Analysis of Lenovo IBM Acquisi2644 Words   |  11 PagesLenovo’s PC business and try to demonstrate a possible roadmap for future business. On December 8th of 2004, Lenovo announced its merging of IBM’s world personal computer (PC) business which included the ThinkPad line of PCs. This deal costing Lenovo $1.25 billion, including $650 million in cash, 600 million shares and an additional $500 million of IBMs debt. The merger makes two companies formed a complex joint venture. For Lenovo, even the cost is relatively high for it to purchase IBM PC at 2004Read MoreThe Values, Mission and Vision of Dell2309 Words   |  10 Pagesplayers and other electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is well known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce. On May 3, 2010, Fortune Magazine listed Dell as the 38th largest company in the United States and the 5th largest company in Texas by total revenue. It is the 2nd largest non-oil company in Texas (behind ATamp;T) and the largest company in the Austin area. Current situation Dell is weathering a downturn in consumer demand by emphasizing itsRead MoreLenovo Market Segmentation1094 Words   |  5 PagesLenovo’s business strategy has witnessed a massive transformation over the past seven years. Surpassing rivals Dell and Acer, Lenovo became the world’s second largest pc vendor behind Hewlett Packard in its fiscal year of 2011. Recently, new target market segmentations have been established to endure this rapid trend of accomplishments. Lenovo’s current target markets include city customers, rural customers with strong brand awareness, customers with advanced concepts and a high level education.Read MoreA Case Study of Lenovo Strategies4635 Words   |  19 PagesGSB Case Study Centre for Lenovo to Go Global —A Case study of Lenovo Group Strategies I.Lenovo: refocus on PC operation On December 8 , 2004, Lenovo consummated a deal with IBM whereby Lenovo was to acquire IBM’s desktop and laptop PC unit and its RD and procurement operations worldwide for the sum of US$1.25 billion. On May 1 2005, Lenovo completed its acquisition of IBM’s PC Unit. â€Å"Using an analogy, our enterprise is well likened to a tortoise but our foreign competitor is more like a rabbit

The Effects Of Divorce On Children s Development

Family is an important structure within society. The word family may be defined in various ways: you may define it as a group of close friends who you genuinely care for and trust, or as a group of people who are related by the blood which runs through their veins. In this country, we see all types of families. The traditional nuclear family consists of – a father, mother, and children. However, currently this is not always the case. Divorce rates have risen over the years, breaking the nuclear family; unfortunately, this event can affect children’s development. Gary Peterson and Kevin Bush mention the conclusion of – children benefiting from two-parent families rather than single-parent families (499). This can be proven when we notice†¦show more content†¦They tend to internalize and sometimes externalize their feelings. Some common immediate reactions are: fear, anger, sadness, fear of abandonment, denial, and imaging reconciliation between parents (M cwhorter 12). An example of this can be found on the first page of the article ‘Preparation and a Gift Help the Transition,’ when it states â€Å"Children often misinterpret and blame themselves for stressful situations.† Divorce can be a very stressful meanwhile young children tend to blame themselves for the whole situation; most of them believe that it’s their fault that their parents were fighting. Of course, this is not true in many divorce cases, yet it is commonly seen because they try to find someone to blame. This can be a way of coping with the idea of their parents divorce. We can study the short terms effects divorce has better when we observe younger children. This term, younger children, can be broken down into two different categories: preschool age, toddlers, and school age.Common short term effect we see in preschool children, are: the tendency to have behavioral and withdrawal problems. For school-age children are frequently seen as hav ing academic problems and experience feelings of fear, worries, sadness, and lost (Clarke-Stewart Brentano 130). There are more differences between the children’s reactions. Preschool children are usually very young and sometimes can’t remember what has happened before the divorce, but

School Life Hacks free essay sample

Every student has their own hacks for school stuffs, but the thing is do them actually often does it? To make life easier for busy students here are some useful life hacks and study tips. You must have these school life hacks and study tips for you to be organize and productive.School Life Hacks†¢ PlannerTracking your class and exams schedule†¢ VisualsSuch as pictures or drawings and highlighting important terms on your reviewer†¢ FlashcardsAdd some game while reviewing; it helps you to remember simple things with a bit of enjoyment†¢ Apps for School (Games with relation to school)I recommend downloading Heads up game because there is an option which you can also make your own game, just like flashcards but built in through your phonesGames: Word search, Quiz bees and Puzzles†¢ Merriam-Webster DictionaryNot necessary the book itself but the application on play store, it helps you for easy access on a dictionary with the unfamiliar words you will encounterâ₠¬ ¢ Google ScholarMore specific knowledgeStudy Tips†¢ On the examination day, hear your teachers voice or imagine your teacher saying it†¢ Study early in the morning at least hour before the test†¢ Have some snacks while reviewing (peanuts, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables) or treat yourself with dark chocolates it also helps boosting your mood†¢ Sleep early around 8:00 pm in the evening, it helps your brain relax and peaceful when you wake up in the morning†¢ Take a break on your social media accounts, try to watch movies and listen to music with positive effect while your studyingStudying is never been easy for us students. We will write a custom essay sample on School Life Hacks or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You study because for your future, but it is actually for your own good that others won’t let you down. It’s hard to study but if you plan and have courage to reach your goals you can make it!

The Future of Family Planning and Fertility in Iran

Introduction One of the post-modernity’s main aspects is that fact that, as of today, the growth of the human population has attained a clearly defined exponential momentum. This raises certain concerns about whether the human civilisation will be able to maintain its resource-related sustainability in the future.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Future of Family Planning and Fertility in Iran specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After all, unlike what it happened to be the case with ‘human resources’, the natural ones are not self-renewable, which in turn implies that, despite its politically incorrect sounding, the notion of overpopulation is indeed legitimate. What also adds to the sheer acuteness of the earlier mentioned issue is that there are no universally accepted discursive explanations as to what can be considered the actual causes of the exponentially defined process, concer ned with the planet population’s continuial growth. Moreover, there are no thoroughly comprehensive explanations as to the fact that there are a number of unmistakably phenomenological overtones to the issue at stake. The main of them is that some countries, formerly associated with the skyrocketing birth rate among their citizens, were nevertheless able to reduce this rate by 60% within the matter of a decade (Cohen 161). In this respect, Iran stands out as the perfect example. However, there is a good reason to believe that, contrary to what it is being commonly assumed, there is nothing ‘mysterious’ about the ongoing ‘demographic boom’, on the one hand, and the fact that this process appears to be thoroughly manageable, on the other. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above suggested at length. There will be two consequential phases to how I intend to address the task: a) outlining the most relevant theoretical approaches to tacklin g the issue of high/low fertility, b) utilizing the obtained insights, in order to come up with the suggestions, as to the discourse-related implications of the current demographic situation in Iran. Literature review As of today, the most commonly deployed approaches towards dealing with the fertility-related issues can be generalised as ‘neo-Malthusian’, ‘phenomenological’ and ‘neo-Marxian’. The origins of the first of these approaches date back to the late 18th century, when Thomas Malthus published his famous Essay on the Principle of Population. In this essay, Malthus promoted the idea that whereas the accumulation of a ‘surplus product’ increases in the mathematical progression to the flow of time, the simultaneous growth of the population, which makes the production of this product possible, occurs on an essentially geometrical (exponential) basis. As he pointed out: â€Å"The only true criterion of a real and permanent inc rease in the population of any country is the increase of the means of subsistence†¦Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There must be periods when population increases permanently, without an increase in the means of subsistence† (Malthus 41). What it means is that people’s enthusiasm in ‘baby-making’ is a strongly counterproductive category as the more populous a particular society happened to be, the higher are the changes for it to collapse due to overpopulation. There is one more implication to this Malthusian suggestion: the assumption that it remains well within the range of just about every government’s executive authority to exercise a control over the demographic dynamics within the concerned society (Yew 52). Malthus was able to illustrate the validity of the earlier mentioned idea mathematically, therefore there is nothing o dd about the fact that throughout the first part of the 20th century the Malthusian outlook on the humanity’s grim future (due to overpopulation) used to be shared by many prominent intellectuals/social activists of the time. In this respect, we can well mention the name of Margaret Sanger – one of the early proponents of birth control and eugenics as the instruments of ensuring a high biological quality of a nation. According to Sanger, the birth-control policies, enacted by the government, cannot be solely concerned with addressing the dangers of overpopulation. Rather, they should reflect the fact that after having realised themselves in the position to exercise a rationale-fueled control over their destiny, as the representatives of Homo Sapiens species, people are now thoroughly capable of applying a conscious effort into increasing the extent of their evolutionary fitness: â€Å"We must first free our bodies from disease and predisposition to disease. We must pe rfect these bodies and make them fine instruments of the mind and the spirit† (Sanger 270). Nevertheless, the Germany’s defeat in 1945 has effectively ended the popularity of Sanger’s idea in this respect. The reason for this is that ever since the end of the WW2, the very concept of eugenics had become strongly associated with the notion of ‘Nazism’. As time went on, more and more Western sociologists were becoming increasingly aware of the fact that there is a link between the rate of fertility, exhibited by a particular society, and the measure of this society’s socio-cultural advancement. Such awareness on their part became the conceptual premise, upon which the proponents of neo-Malthusianism base their view on what accounts for the actual significance of what happened to be the spatially localized rate of people’s self-reproduction. This premise is concerned with the assumption that unlike what it happened to be the case with peop le who reside in large cities, the well-being of rural dwellers overwhelmingly depends on how successful they are while tending crops. Hence, the explanation to the phenomenon of the rurally-based people’s high fertility: by conceiving as many babies, as possible, these people simply try to survive physically, as even young children can be well turned into the agricultural helpers.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Future of Family Planning and Fertility in Iran specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its turn, this implies that the rate, with which people go about ‘making babies’, is consistent with these people’s place on the hierarchical ladder of evolution. The more complex a particular society happened to be, the fewer are there the objective preconditions for the society’s members to preoccupy themselves with procreation. What is being rarely mentioned in this respe ct is that in the technologically advanced Western societies, the Darwinian laws of natural selection no longer work, which in turn sets these societies on the path of degradation and extinction. The currently endorsed Western policy of encouraging mentally inadequate citizens to ‘celebrate uniqueness’, even at the expense of allowing them to pass their defective genes to the representatives of next generations, illustrates the validity of the earlier suggestion perfectly well. Partially, the above-mentioned provides us with the insight into the causes of the recent rise of neo-Malthusianism (commonly associated with the name of Paul Ehrlich – the author of The Population Bomb) – a theory that forecasts the eventual collapse of the human civilisation due the effects of overpopulation (Ehrlich 130). The reason for this is that, as the mentioned book implies, it is not the rising level of poverty (assumed to have been caused by overpopulation) among people i n the Third World, which concerns Westerners the most, but rather the fact that while continuing to increase in numbers, the ‘poor and needy’ from these countries will begin to pose an acute danger to the Western civilisation’s continual well-being. The full soundness of this statement can be well illustrated in regards to the fact that, for example, within the matter of the last sixty years, the population of Ethiopia has tripled, despite the fact that throughout this time Ethiopians continued to suffer from the never-ending civil war and famine. On the other hand, it is not only that, throughout the course of recent decades, the rate of the White people’s fertility has been reduced down to its all-time minimum, but they have also grown increasingly incapable of addressing even the most basic challenges of life (McArdle 35). Nevertheless, the apparent biasness of the neo-Malthusian (positivist) assumption that the less there are children ‘per womanà ¢â‚¬â„¢, the better, and that the more there are children in a particular family, the greater is the measure of this family’s technological/cultural backwardness, can also be shown in regards to a number of the assumption’s methodological inconsistencies. For example, there appears to be very little rationale in associating the high rate of fertility with the high rate of illiteracy.Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As Motavalli noted: â€Å"Education usually does produce smaller families, but there are exceptions. Tanzania had achieved 90 percent female literacy by the early 1990s, but parents in 2002 had an average of 5.3 children† (3). Also, there are no good reasons to believe that the strength of people’s sense of religiosity always positively relates to the strength of their taste for ‘baby making’. Even though the total rate of fertility (TRF) among religious women in the Second and Third World countries has always been much higher, as compared to the TRF among the perceptually secularized females in the West, as time goes on, there appears to be more and more exemptions from this rule. The most striking of them is concerned with the phenomenon of the annual birth rate in Iran having been reduced rather drastically throughout the course of the recent decade and a half, despite the fact that just as it was the case fifteen years ago, the Iranian society continue s to remain strongly religious (Vahidnia 260). This explains why it is namely the ‘phenomenological’ outlook on the significance of the fertility rate in a particular society, which nowadays affects the dynamics of the ongoing fertility-related public discourse to an ever-higher degree. According to the advocates of a ‘phenomenological’ sociology, it is utterly inappropriate to refer to the TRF in a particular region of the world as being reflective of the concerned people’s socio-cultural development alone. For example, according to Bongaarts and Watkins, the essence of the fertility-dynamics in the society cannot be discussed outside of what accounts for the phenomenological subtleties of how the society’s members socialise with each other. As the authors pointed out: â€Å"Development alone is insufficient to account for the observed variations in the timing of the onset of transitions (in fertility)†¦ Before the transition onset, soc ial interaction can inhibit fertility change† (Bongaarts and Watkins 669). Nevertheless, just as it happened to be the case with neo-Malthusians, ‘phenomenologists’ tend to regard the notion of high fertility in largely negative terms. This stance, is being challenged by the so-called ‘neo-Marxian’ sociologists, who believe that it is namely the workings of the greed-fueled ‘free market’ economy, which legitimise the idea that there can be no ‘room under the Sun’ for all on this planet. According to these sociologists, it is in the very nature of Capitalism (as an economic system that goes about optimizing its functioning by means of reducing the affiliated operational costs) to seek out the ways to have as few people employed, as possible (Malakoff 545). What it means is that if the Capitalist society continues to function ‘unattended’, it becomes only the matter of time before it begins to exhibit the signs of being demographically stagnant. After all, there is simply no other way for such a society to be able to maintain the adequate standards of living among the citizens, other than by means of preventing them from being able to reproduce in sufficient numbers. This explains the actual origins of the process of Western societies growing progressively ‘aged’ (Herrmann 28). This is also the reason why the main challenge of Capitalism has always been the overabundance of workers, whereas the Socialism’s main problem has been the permanent shortage of the available workforce. The above-mentioned suggests that the ‘problem of overpopulation’ cannot be referred to as being thoroughly objective, as it is only Capitalism that creates the situation when, as time goes on, more and more people realize that they represent the world’s ‘human burden’, regardless of the rate of these people’s fertility (Von Eschen 420). The earlier provided t heoretical considerations as to what can be deemed the actual forces behind the fluctuations of the TFR in a particular country should prove rather enlightening within the context of discussing the specifics of the demographic situation in Iran. The case of Iran Probably the main feature of the modern history of Iran is the fact that through the years of 1986-1996, the country’s population of 60 million was enlarged by 10 million, hence, becoming to account for 70 million ‘strong’ by the beginning of 1997. In its turn, this implies that the total rate of fertility in Iran throughout the mentioned period was 6 births per woman. However, during the course of the next decade (1996-2006), the Iranian TRF was reduced down to 2.8 births per woman. Moreover, as time goes on, the total rate of fertility in this country continues to decline rather rapidly: â€Å"The own-children estimates of fertility for Iran based on the 2000 Iran Demographic and Health Survey show tha t the TFR has declined further and reached replacement level (2.26) during the period 1998-2000. The figure for the year 2000 is 2.17† (Abbasi-Shavazi 425). The main reason behind the earlier mentioned reduction of the TFR in Iran was the fact that ever since 1985, the government started to implement the policy of ‘family planning’, the main objective of which was to slow down the uncontrollable growth of the country’s population. The following is the list of the main factors that contributed towards this particular policy, on the part of the Iranian government, proving itself utterly effective: a) Ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Iranian government never ceased to invest rather heavily in providing the educational opportunities for as many citizens as possible. In this respect, the emphasis was placed on educating women. In its turn, the increased rate of literacy among Iranian women resulted in the latter becoming secularised to an extent, h ence, providing the additional incentives for these women to choose in favor of ‘family planning’. This confirms the validity of the earlier mentioned neo-Malthusian assumption that the rate of people’s literacy positively relates to the extent of their educational accomplishments. b) The country’s top-ranking clergyman thoroughly supported the government’s fertility-reducing effort. In 1980, Ayatollah Khomeini declared that the use of contraceptives on the part of Iranian citizens is fully consistent with the main theological provisions of Islam. This, aided the mentioned governmental effort rather substantially, because of the Khomeini’s approval of contraceptives, even the country’s utterly religious citizens were growing emotionally comfortable with the idea of exercising caution, while indulging in the sexual socialisation with each other. There are clearly defined ‘phenomenological’ undertones to it, as the example o f Iran indicates, there can be no good reason in believing that the Church always acts as the fertility’s main agent. c) The implementation of the earlier mentioned fertility-reducing initiative on the part of the Iranian government proceeded hand in hand with the process of the country’s continuous urbanization. It has been estimated that by the year 1996, 60% of the country’s population consisted of urbanites (Abbasi-Shavazi 430). This established the additional preconditions for the governmental initiative to succeed. After all, as it was pointed out earlier, there are no objective reasons for city dwellers to consider ‘baby-making’ an activity that is crucial to ensuring their very survival, in the physical sense of this word. d) Through the years 1985-1996, the Iranian economy sustained a number of setbacks. In its turn, this naturally caused the country’s sexually productive citizens to experience a certain psychological anxiety related to the prospect of not being able to secure a well-paid job on their part. Consequently, the rate of reproduction among these people has declined rather dramatically. In light of the above-mentioned, we can come with suggestions as to what predetermined the essence of the Iranian demographic policies in the recent past, and also as to what will account for the country’s demographic dynamics in the future. First, the sheer successfulness of the implementation of the ‘family planning’ policy in Iran has been largely predetermined by the essentially authoritarian paradigm of a political rulership in this country. The reason for this is apparent as after having decided to proceed with enacting this policy, the Iranian governmental officials continued to exercise a full control over every consequential phase of the policy’s implementation. Second, the foremost reason for the Iranian government to choose in favor of implementing the earlier mentioned policy was that, despite being strongly committed to the traditional values of Islam, the Iranian society continues to remain essentially Capitalist. This explains why in the time of peace the Iranian policymakers tend to regard the prospect of the country’s population continuing to boom in terms of a ‘problem’, rather than in terms of an ‘economic asset’. Third, contrary to what it is being assumed in the West, Iran is not preparing actively for war with America and its allies in the region. Had this been otherwise, the country would have pursued with implementing the aggressive pro-natalist policy, just as it was the case during the course of the Iran–Iraq War (Goldstone 5). The popularity of the anti-natalist sentiment in today’s Iran can also be explained by the fact that, as time goes on, this country grows increasingly secularised, which reduces the chances for the outbreak of yet another Persian War even further. Finally, if the current â €˜family planning’ policy in Iran remains enacted, in about 20 years from now the country’s economy will face the acute challenge of having to sustain the existence of the exponentially proliferating population of senior citizens. This challenge will prove especially serious, given the fact that at this time the number of fully employed young Iranians will be severely undercut, as a direct result of the currently implemented ‘family planning’ policy. This implies that in order for Iran to be able to maintain its economic sustainability as an independent country, it will need to put away with the concerned anti-natalist policy. Conclusion The earlier provided line of argumentation as to what accounts for the qualitative essence of the ‘neo-Malthusian’, ‘phenomenological’ and ‘neo-Marxian’ approaches to fertility-management and as to what can be considered as the discursive significance of the currently enacted †˜family planning’ policy in Iran, appears thoroughly consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. Apparently, there can be indeed a very little rationale in believing that the notion of ‘fertility’ is thoroughly objective and that, as such, it is not being affected by the currently predominant socio-cultural discourse. The deployed arguments also imply that the most effective instrument of addressing the problem of overpopulation would be concerned with overthrowing Capitalism on a global scale and with adopting the Socialist methods of managing the population/economy. Works Cited Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad. Recent Changes and the Future of Fertility in Iran. 2007. Web. Bongaarts, John and Susan Watkins. â€Å"Social Interactions and Contemporary Fertility Transitions.† Population and Development Review 22.4. (1996): 639-682. Print. Cohen, Joel. â€Å"Population and Climate Change.† Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 154.2 (2010) : 158-182. Print. Ehrlich, Paul. The Population Bomb. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971. Print. Goldstone, Jack. â€Å"Population and Security: How Demographic Change Can Lead to Violent Conflict.† Journal of International Affairs 56.1 (2002): 4-22. Print. Herrmann, Michael. â€Å"Population Aging and Economic Development: Anxietiesand Policy Responses.† Population Ageing 5 (2012): 23–46. Print. Malakoff, David. â€Å"Are More People Necessarily a Problem?† Science 333.6042 (2011): 544-546. Print. Malthus, Thomas. An Essay of the Principle of Population. 1798. PDF file. Web. McArdle, Megan. â€Å"Europe’s Real Crisis.† The Atlantic Monthly 309.3 (2012): 32-35. Print. Motavalli, Jim. The Numbers Game. 2003. Web. Sanger, Margaret. The Pivot of Civilization. New York: Brentano’s, 1922. Print. Vahidnia, Farnaz. â€Å"Case Study: Fertility Decline in Iran.† Population Environment 28.4/5 (2007): 259-266. Print. Von Eschen, Donald. â €Å"Capitalism and Imperialism: An Introduction to Neo-Marxian Concepts.† Contemporary Sociology 3.5 (1974): 419-421. Print. Yew, Lee. â€Å"Laissez-Faire Procreation.† Foreign Policy 150 (2005): 52-53. Print. This research paper on The Future of Family Planning and Fertility in Iran was written and submitted by user Tristen F. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.