The Term Mass Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Term Mass Culture - Essay Example Spread of Mass Culture Culture, particularly the mass culture, has spread rapidly with the passage of time. There was a time when there was little or no globalization in the world. Even the concept of national culture was non-existent in a vast majority of countries because of the fact that regional differences dominated. Within the same country, people belonging to different regions had possession of different kinds of regional resources. This gave rise to the development of subcultures in the same nation wherein people were classified into different communities with distinct values, norms, and principles. Regional culture was stronger than the national culture and the mass culture was non-existent. This was predominantly the time till the mid 19th century. The onset of industrial revolution brought a change in the trend and national culture started to gain dominance over the regional cultures. With the development of technology and the identification of new opportunities of employm ent and business, people developed acceptability towards external cultures. As technological trade amongst countries improved, consumers in different countries started using same products. This trend continued over the centuries. People from the underdeveloped countries started migrating towards the developed countries in large numbers in search of better opportunities of employment. The technological exchange was followed by the cultural integration and unification across nations. This happened since the start of the industrial revolution till the late 1900s. Then came the era of massive exchange of cultures; particularly the 21st century. While all kinds of technologies contributed towards the development of mass culture, one technology that played the most important role in the spread of mass culture was the Internet. Internet provided people with the opportunities to communicate with one another almost free of cost from different parts of the world. Many of the brick and mortar businesses also got transformed into virtual businesses because of the reduced costs and increased profitability of businesses. The development and introduction of the social media websites aided in the creation of a virtual self of their users. Today, a vast majority of the people all over the world have similar lifestyles in that they use same products, are the employees of same organizations irrespective of geographic variations, speak same languages, and understand and respect one another’s values. This is what has fundamentally promoted the mass culture. There is a very small percentage of people who have not merged into the mass culture. Mass Culture and Popular Culture People sometimes use mass culture and popular culture interchangeably. â€Å"The development of the idea of popular culture is linked to arguments about meaning and interpretation which predate but become strikingly evident in the debates over mass culture† (Strinati, 1995, p. 3). There is a very thin line of distinction between the mass culture and the popular culture. The popular culture is the totality of the norms, values, and perspectives of a given culture. â€Å"Popular culture is made from within and below, not imposed from without or above as mass cultural theorists would have it† (Fiske, 1991, p. 2). Mass culture can be considered popular culture in a vast majority of cases, though mass culture is not necessarily always popular,

Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbecks Themes of Strength and Sacrifice

Themes of Strength and Sacrifice in The Grapes of Wrath, In Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, Ma Joad and Rose of Sharon graphically portray the themes of strength and sacrifice. They are universal characters, the people who make up the fabric of society in every nation. Through them we understand the need for unity and we feel the desperation of the billions of laborers who struggle every day just to survive. Throughout the story Ma is a model of the strength of the human spirit. For example, Steinbeck says of her, "if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone". She is the foundation upon which the rest of the family stands. Just as when a single driblet of dye is dropped into a glass of water and disperses throughout, her strength permeates to the rest of the family, infusing them with her mightiness. Also, when the Wilson’s car breaks down and Pa proposes splitting up just for a short time until the car is repaired she threatens him with a jack handle. She knows that all they have in the world is each other and without each other to hold on to they have nothing. There is a saying "one finds comfort in numbers" however in this case "comfort" is replaced with survival. In addition, near the end of the book, when the boxcars have flooded and it seems all hope has been lost Ma leads the family to higher ground. Despite the despair she feels she overcomes it to do what must be done to insure that they survive to live another day. Her strength gives her the power rise above adve... ...s of people they exploit. They are in fact lower than those they consider subordinate. 1. Your thesis statement appears at the beginning of your paper. Thesis statements generally come at the end of the introductory paragraph. 2. Be sure to cite your quotes with the name of the author and the page number on which the exact quote can be found. â€Å"Blah† (Steinbeck 13). 3. You have good conclusion paragraph. You combine the strength of the characters and apply it to the world today. 4. Overall, you have a strong paper, just be sure to support your writing with quotes from the novel. You have one good quote but a quote to support the paragraph on Rose of Sharon would have strengthened your paper.

Effect of Economic Crisis Towards Politics in Malaysia

We have discussed the impact of economic crisis towards economy and social. But there are other consequences due to this subject. One of them is political. Malaysia is practicing the democratic system which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows people to participate equally either directly or through elected representatives in the proposal, development, and creation of  laws (Roberts, H. Cox. 2012) However, the economic crisis could lead to the destructible of the stable political status in the country.Malaysia now days have lists of political parties that have the same aim which is to rule Malaysia. On the other hand, economic crisis is one of the crimp to these political parties to rule the country or even to the dominant political party such as UMNO. When the Asian financial crisis 1997 hit Malaysia, the impact was traumatic. There was economic and political turmoil. The stock market, the currency and the property mark et nearly collapsed. That in turn affected the overall economy.UMNO, the dominant political party in the ruling alliance, experienced political turbulence when its charismatic deputy president, Anwar Ibrahim, was expelled from the party when he disagreed with the then president, Mahathir Mohamad, over, among other things, Mahathir’s rejection of loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yet, Malaysia was not that badly affected as compared to some of its neighbors. It did not experience the extent of the socio-political distress as occurred in Indonesia where the rioting that broke out ultimately led to the overthrow of Suharto.Nor was its economic sovereignty that deeply compromised as happened in Indonesia and Thailand when both countries were forced to accept the conditions imposed by the IMF for the acceptance of their loans. Besides, there is a major consideration of questions is the view purported by some quarters that Dr. Mahathir has â€Å"overstayed† h is tenure and that heir apparent Anwar would have been the right successor of a more liberal Malaysia. The questions being around at that time is does it true that Anwar rejection is the consequences of he brings the economic down term in Malaysia and idea in conserving loan from IMF or because Dr.Mahathir is feeling discomfort or unsecure due to the trusts and confident level of the people is falling down? This questions has delivered main elements of events of the recent two years is that possibly what transpired between Mahathir and Anwar climaxed as a second â€Å"battle royale† in Malaysia’s political history. There is more than a hint that underneath it all was a political contestation fought with intense intrigue and complexity; one reflection observes that the â€Å"Anwar group† (some call it the Anwaristas, as opposed to the â€Å"Mahathirists†) had indeed been conspiring to take the mantle of power by contrived means.Accordingly, it was a  "plot† exposed in time by Dr. Mahathir’s forces. But yet, to suggest a real political division between â€Å"Mahathirists† and â€Å"Anwaristas† in the Malaysian political scenario is too neat an explanation of reality, and certainly these inchoate groupings are not mutually exclusive. As may be expected, there are also the â€Å"fence-sitters†. As we noticed, Anwar expels is due to the economic crisis. But if we storming deeper, the existence of opposition of the ruling parties in Malaysia (Barisan Rakyat), namely Parti Keadilan Rakyat.Parti Keadilan Rakyat is formed in 2003 by a merger of the  National Justice Party  and the older  Malaysian People's Party. Keadilan was led by Dr  Wan Azizah Wan Ismail ( Anwar’s wife)  and increased its parliamentary representation from 1 seat to 31 seats in the  Malaysian general election, 2008  until the five-year political ban imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister  Anwar Ibrahim  was lifted on 14 April 2008. Here we can see the existence of one more political party in Malaysia due to economic crisis. Anwar Ibrahim has been expels from the party and he form another party through his wife in the period of he was arrested in jail.Through this brings up another question to Malaysian. Whether Parti Keadilan Rakyat is really stand up on representing the public fate and rights? Or else, is just because of Anwar’s agenda to be the Prime Minister is failed because he was expelled from being Deputy Prime Minister by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Then he forms up his own political party? No matter what the question is, we can see that the existence of Parti Keadilan Rakyat giving a huge impact on the political environment in Malaysia. Large portion of society putting their trusts on Keadilan Rakyat and this is the warning and a big challenge to the government Malaysia in uling the country very well. The Malaysia government, Barisan Nasional is doing their best to society be cause they believe that Keadilan Rakyat have their own strength and ability in overcoming the government. In conclusion, economic crisis brings up too many negative impacts towards our politics in Malaysia such as expellation of Anwar Ibrahim, unstable of ruling political party Barisan Nasional, the disunity of public trusts in ruling political party due to lost in trust of the leader on that time.However, the existence of main opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat brings a very great impact to government on how they rule the country due to the possibility and ability of Parti Keadilan Rakyat to gain the public trusts. Thus, economic down term really brings a negative impact toward Malaysia in short run, but however the subject brings a cause of positive impact toward Malaysia political environment in long term.

Descartes, Hume and Skepticism Essay - 735 Words

Descartes, Hume and Skepticism Descartes is responsible for the skepticism that has been labeled Cartesian doubt. Hume critiques this skepticism in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. After his discussion of Cartesian doubt, he offers a different type of skepticism that he considers as being more effective philosophically. Is Hume right in his characterization of Cartesian doubt and is the skepticism he offers better? Descartes introduced the idea of universal doubt to philosophy. If there is even a slight case for doubting something, then it should be doubted. His skepticism was used to find a basis for knowledge and his aim was to establish truths. He relayed this universal doubt to all human understanding. Not only does it†¦show more content†¦Cartesian doubt does not allow us to advance. We would be in a constant state of doubting. How would one lay a foundation of truths if it is possible to doubt all? No reasoning could ever bring us to a state of assurance and conviction upon any subject (Hume Section XII part 1). Hume does give some credit to this method of skepticism. It can be useful in philosophy when used reasonably. A degree of doubt should escort every person who reasons. This doubt gets rid of prejudices in judgments and helps rid closed-mindedness brought about by education. It allows philosophy to be brought down to basic principles and gives a foundation to slowly build upon. This slow progress allows a review of thoughts and establishes sure steps to truths. Humes skepticism is limiting but not as limiting as Cartesian doubt. Hume calls this mitigated skepticism. Another species of mitigated skepticism which may be of advantage to man-kindÂ… is the limitation of our enquiries to such subjects as are best adapted to the narrow capacity of human understanding (Section XII part. 3). We should direct our focus and studies to experiences of everyday life and to common occurrences. Extraordinary or remote ideas and thoughts shou ld be left to the imaginations of people of the arts. By looking at the natural powers of the mind one can find what should be the objects of enquiry and study. Hume writes that are two enquiries that manShow MoreRelatedDescartes and Hume: A Look at Skepticism and Finding Stability915 Words   |  4 PagesRenà © Descartes was a skeptic, and thus he believed that in order for something to be considered a true piece of knowledge, that â€Å"knowledge must have a certain stability,† (Cottingham 21). In his work, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes concludes that in order to achieve this stability, he must start at the foundations for all of his opinions and find the basis of doubt in each of them. 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Many people who don’t agree with empiricism lean more towards Rationalism. Rationalism was made famous by a philosopher that goes by the name of Rene Descartes, and Rationalism says that knowledge should come from reasoning. empiricism, and rationalism are both interesting topics, but in my opinion Descartes rationalistRead MoreThe Philosophical View Of Empiricism1382 Words   |  6 PagesDavid Hume. Empiricism states that our knowledge should come from sensory experience, impressions, and obser vation. The other philosophical view I will be taking about is called Rationalism. Many people who don’t agree with empiricism lean more towards Rationalism. Rationalism was made famous by a philosopher that goes by the name of Rene Descartes, and Rationalism says that knowledge should come from reasoning. empiricism, and rationalism are both interesting topics, but in my opinion Descartes rationalistRead MoreDavid Hume Essay1210 Words   |  5 PagesDavid Hume Hume, David, 1711-76, Scottish philosopher and historian. Hume carried the empiricism of John Locke and George Berkeley to the logical extreme of radical skepticism. He repudiated the possibility of certain knowledge, finding in the mind nothing but a series of sensations, and held that cause-and-effect in the natural world derives solely from the conjunction ofRead MoreAn Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding By David Hume914 Words   |  4 PagesDavid Hume, the Scottish empiricism philosopher who endorses on all knowledge is obtained from sense-experience and he practices moderate skepticism for his entire academic life. Hume’s moderate skepticism refers to abduction today in which it means inference to the best explanation. To it another way, he means credible belief is possible and genuine knowledge could be inaccurate. In the â€Å"section IV- Sceptical Doubts concerning the Operation of the Understanding† part two of the book â€Å"An EnquiryRead MorePersonal Identity : David Hume1133 Words   |  5 PagesDavid Hume dedicated a portion of his philosophy in the attempts to finally put what he saw as a fallacious claim concerning the soul to rest. In the skeptical wake of Hume, German idealist, beginning with Immanuel Kant, were left with a variety of epistemic and metaphysical problems, the least of which was personal identity. David Hume was a Scottish empiricist who became renowned as a philosopher for his metaphysical skepticism and his account of the mind. Born in the 18th century, Hume followsRead MoreSkepticism On The Search For The Truth Of Our Knowledge1936 Words   |  8 Pages Skepticism in the Search for the Truth of Our Knowledge How many times have you said, â€Å"No way, I do not believe it!† It is our natural tendency not to believe in something that we have not seen with our own eyes or experienced it personally. There is a saying, â€Å"seeing is believing† which has led us to a world full of skeptics. We want proof so we are not gullible fools. Skepticism, or scepticism, as it was spelled back in the ancient times, was pondered by philosophers who tried unsuccessfullyRead MoreDavid Hume s Bundle 1041 Words   |  5 PagesHume’s ‘bundle’ (written as a reply to Descartes) The silhouette of a subject was drawn by a council of moments and David Hume named it an illusion, humanity named it the self. In the modern ages of philosophy while Rene Descartes’ affect still remains eminent, David Hume comes with an argument which kills the I Descartes created and lets it fly as a ghost in human perception. Not only in the case of the subject, the contrast between Hume’s and Descartes’ ideas can be seen in their search for aRead MoreInternational Relations ( Ir )983 Words   |  4 PagesInternational relations (IR) is one of the fascinating fields of political science that different ancient and modern philosophers have written about. When reading for David Hume or Renà © Descartes, I have found many ideas that could be applicable to global politics and the relations between states. Even though these ideas might not be aligned with Hume or Descartes’s individual political philosophies, they are worth applying to the current global po litical system. The first idea is Descartes’s doubting of everything