Saturday, February 29, 2020

Causes of crime in Trinidad

There are several causes of crime in Trinidad and Tobago but this essay will analyse four of these causes of crime in Trinidad and Tobago.Firstly I will analyse the laxity with which the government has been dealing with the crime situation; It will also be discussed that a nation that forgets God will sin in this way; The eroding morals of society is another ;and the impact of the media on people’s lives. Ð ¡auses of crime And the raison detre successive governments have been unable and unsuccessful in dealing with this problem is primarily because they have all adopted a Euro-centric approach instead of an Afri-centric approach. The Euro-centric approach focuses on the results/effects of a problem while the Afri-centric deals with the causes. This writer strongly contends that the endemic causes of crime in Trinidad and Tobago are three-fold, viz, the 18th century imposed Euro-centric British education system, the abolition of corporal punishment in schools in February 2001 and the subliminal Americanisation of all aspects of life in Trinidad and Tobago, 24/7 365 days a year. The fact of the matter is that the current Euro-centric education system produces young people who are unemployable, devoid of the vital life-survival- empowerment skills and any sense of direction plus low esteem. As a result of all this societal baggage on their shoulders, these young people have no other choice but to resort to a life of crime to survive, And this mind-set makes sense to them, period. The Euro-centric education system continues to imbue in these young people a sense of worthlessness, nothingness and unpreparedness. At the end of their matriculation, these young people seriously and disgracefully lack the 3Rs— Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. They are doomed, period. They are totally convinced (rightly or wrongly) that society, as in the System, has failed them. They feel betrayed by society. Ipso facto, they not only internalise their accepted truism that they are failures but more self-destructively, they also publicly act out Bob Marleys lyrical dictum that the Babylon system is a vampire. Ergo, they are now totally convinced that they have the right to turn on society—crime, therefore, becomes their magnetic force just to survive. On the thorny issue of corporal punishment, this writer vociferously rejects the Euro-centric notion that the decision to abolish was based on research carried out in North America and Europe. Thats the problem. Again, this is exactly what the renowned Euro-centric psychologist Sigmund Freud did centuries ago, namely, using the European behaviour/experience as the norm, standard and model for all people ( including governments) to accept and follow—total, unabashed rejection by this Afri-centric scholar/professor, period. This decision not only represents a direct correlation with but also a very dangerous embrace of the Euro-centric world view and policy-making modus operandi. And thats the problem with solving crime in Trinidad and Tobago. The stark reality is that the historical experience/behaviour of the European coloniser is totally different from that of the colonised. Ergo, what is good and works for the European coloniser is not necessarily good and works for the colonised. That must be clearly understood by public policy-makers in Trinidad and Tobago. The truth be told: As a direct result of the Euro-centric decision made in 2001, today (2012) the chickens (have finally) come home to roost in Trinidad and Tobago, period. The subliminal Americanisation of life in Trinidad and Tobago is overtly reflected in the proclivity for crass materialism, instant gratification, 50 Cent philosophy, disgusting ghetto attire, slangs, body antics and mannerisms of young people, gang turf warfare, just to cite a few. Indeed, judging the daily attire of young, mature and older Trinbagonians one can correctly conclude that just maybe Trinidad and Tobago has been re-assigned. albeit re-located, from the tropical (hot) zone to the temperate (cold) zone. The truth be told: The failed Euro-centric education system in Trinidad and Tobago compels young people to gravitate and mimic only the most self-destructive aspects of American ghetto life styles. In the final analysis, this writer offers the following Afri-centric solutions to deal with crime — (i) radical surgery on the current dependency Euro-centric education system (ii) re-introduction of corporal punishment in schools so that young people will respect/obey adult authority/discipline and (iii) immediate deletion of the BET and BET J channels on Trinidad and Tobagos daily television schedule.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Worldview as it Relates to Philosophy Research Paper

Worldview as it Relates to Philosophy - Research Paper Example Through experience and education individuals develop these perspectives and implement them as a means of living their daily existence. When considering myself I recognize that my worldview has changed drastically over the course of my life and has been greatly influenced by experience and philosophy. This essay considers my current worldview and the way my past worldview has been influenced and changed through philosophy. Before taking this course my worldview was strongly rooted in religious doctrines. Throughout the formative periods of my life I grew up in an environment that was strictly Christian. Within this environment my parents and most of my peers believed in the major tenants of the Christian religion. Growing up in this environment I learned to adopt most of the religious principles that are espoused by the Christian religion. In terms of the creation of the world I believed that Earth and the universe had been created by God. I believed in morals as they related to the c oncept of good and evil as established by the Bible. In these regards, morality was presented as an easily understandable concept – if an individual adhered to the law and the tenants of the Bible then they were a moral and good person. I also embraced a concept of the afterlife. If individuals adhered to the Biblical principles and allowed God into their life then I believed they would go to heaven. Conversely, if they disregarded these aspects, they would go to Hell. My relation to science and logic were complex. While I embraced the principle of science in an overarching sense, I came to believe that oftentimes science could be wrong or mistaken. Specifically, in terms of evolution and cosmology I believed that while scientists had approached the concepts of existence and biology with their greatest ability, they were ultimately flawed in their findings. I understood that that ultimately their current scientific investigations would be proven wrong and they would ultimatel y discover that God and Biblical principles were the true reality of existence. When I look back on my worldview during this period of my life I recognize that I was greatly influenced by my personal surroundings and parents’ influence. As I gradually became more exposed to new ideas and new people my worldview drastically changed. In large part, the philosophical ideas I was exposed to in this course shaped and sharpened my worldview in a variety of ways. One of the major notions that I came to recognize through my research in philosophy emerged in terms of Christian morality. While Christianity noted that there were easily understood concepts of good and evil, my exposure to philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil led me to understand that moral actions couldn’t easily be broken down into concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ but often involve a complex number of philosophical implications (Nietzsche 1993). Another profound such changes that I experienced occurred in my understanding and eventual embracement of scientific principles. As I previously indicated that I had believed science did not properly understand Christian understandings of the world, as I became exposed to more scientific thought I came to understand that in large part the principles behind such concepts as evolution are supported by substantial scientific research. In these regards, I learned to increasingly embrace the notion that many of the claims made in the Bible may be wrong. As I became exposed to earlier notions of mythology, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, which contains a flood story, I further came to recognize

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Can Genetically Modified Organisms Save the World Essay

Can Genetically Modified Organisms Save the World - Essay Example Today, the process of genetic modification is rapidly advancing throughout the planet. In 2004, 8.25 million farmers in 17 nations (Ahmed, 30) grew the crops. The production and marketing of GM foods are due to the superficial benefits they hold either to the producer or to consumption of these genetic foods. In the beginning, GM seeds developers needed their products to be accepted by producers and focus on innovations that have direct benefit to the farmers and the food industry at large. For example, the International Rice Research Institute located in the Philippines manufactured the GM golden rice to help people in the South East Asia that were lacking food. GMO foods are unavoidable and we cannot live without them. The WHO, the Food, Drug Administration, and other scientific bodies in the world have strongly advocated for the use of GM foods, since they do not have any harm to the human health. Additionally, research shows that the risks to human health that may be brought about by the consumption of GM foods are the same as those that are brought about by the consumption of non-GM foods. Moreover, the GM foods are safe to use as they tested for food safety and passed the safety assessment. Some people believe that GM foods should be eliminated due to the risks they have like the health issues. It is a fact that people have eaten some of the GM foods unknowingly, but no complains of serious concerns (Ahmed, 18). By 2040, the world’s population is predicted to increase significantly and this therefore means that there are more resources to use and more people to feed. This growing human population entails to being open to new ideas and the use of new technology to curb food insecurity. Moreover, with this new technology, there are many benefits that the genetic modification has in terms of dealing with malnutrition, food security, and agricultural