Relationship between environmental conditions and standard of living

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The relation between environment and human standard of living is an area of research that has been given inadequate attention. But there is an emerging consensus among intellectuals and research scholars that there is indeed a strong correlation between the two concepts. In other words, it is rarely a coincidence that poverty thrives in hostile geographies and that affluence is usually seen in ambient landscapes. Apart from the literal sense of the word, ‘environment’ could also be taken to mean the political and socio-cultural context of a particular geographic space. This essay attempts to address the aforesaid correlation from both these perspectives. Examples from recent and far history of the United States are used in support of arguments, while also making relevant references to the rest of the world.

Statistics from eighteenth century shows that Americans had been the tallest people in the world at that time. For example, Americans averaged 172 centimeters in 1750, . . . Read More

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Management Strategy: A case study of Guardian Media Group

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News media institutions across the world are always pressed with the two opposing imperatives.  On the one hand is the upkeep of brand value through reliable, balanced journalism.  On the other hand is the pressure to achieve commercial viability.  The news media in the United Kingdom is no exception to this rule.  The Guardian Media Group (GMG) and its management strategies will be the focus of discussion in this essay.  The marketing strategies of GMG’s flagship product, namely the Guardian newspaper, will be scrutinized and evaluated in detail through references to appropriate scholarly sources.

The Guardian is one of the oldest newspapers in Britain, which celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2007.  From a historical perspective, the Guardian has witnessed and reported the suffragette movement, the two World Wars, the war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, the Margaret Thatcher era and the resurgence of the New Labour under the leadership of Tony . . . Read More

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Public health issues in Australia

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The public health system in Australia is one of the best among advanced nations in the world.  It is to the credit of the Australian public health system that it ranks above the U.S.A. and U.K. in terms of efficiency, competence and overall health outcomes.  Yet, there have also been some lingering issues which have not found satisfactory redress so far.  Foremost among them is the inability of the public health system to reduce occurrences of arthritic and musculoskeletal conditions, cancer and mental illness among the general population.  On the administrative side, the public health authorities are confronted with the issue of finding qualified doctors and nurses to fill several vacancies. Moreover, there is the issue of aborigine health, which is beset by racial and ethnic prejudices.  This is largely due to socio-historical injustices and hence an effective remedy is likely to take the form of a social recompense program, granting aborigines higher priority in all public . . . Read More

Socrates and the notion of an examined life

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According to Socrates, a commitment to moral reasoning is an essential condition of a well-lived life.  An individual should base his actions upon the outcomes of such internal dialogues.  The exercise of self-examination and introspection as a way of arriving at moral truths is of paramount importance to Socrates.  So much so that he unequivocally declared that “an unexamined life is not worth living”.  This commitment to truth by way of rational, critical enquiry would eventually cost Socrates his life.  But, even when in sight of his impending death, Socrates calmly reasoned with his friends and supporters that accepting the judgment of the state is to follow the moral course of action and he refused to escape into exile.

Socrates was brought to trial by the democratic Athenian jury, which had scores to settle with prominent members of the previous regime.  Socrates’ association with the previous regime made him a target of persecution, irrespective of the . . . Read More

Science, the Enlightenment and Politics: Which is more important?

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This essay argues that the Enlightenment is the most important concept among the three given in the title. The Age of Enlightenment was a period in early modern history when western societies, led by its intellectuals, made a marked shift from religion based authority to one of scientific reason. Prior to this period, the Church and the State were intricately interlinked; and the Enlightenment sought to sever states and politics from religion through the application of rational analysis based on scientific observation and facts. This movement traces its origins to the seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe. Similar undercurrents of progressive thought were seen in the New World as well, most notably from such intellectuals such as Tom Paine and other proponents of American independence (Porter & Teich, 1981).

The Enlightenment has had a profound impact on the cultural evolution of Western Europe in particular and the whole of the continent in general. A landmark piece . . . Read More

Lagaan (2001): A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment

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The Bollywood film chosen for analysis in this essay is Lagaan, released in 2001.  The film, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker stars Amir Khan and Gracy Singh in lead roles.  The movie combines popular formulaic elements within the time-tested format of sports movies, making it a unique production to have come out of Bollywood in many years.  Not only was the movie make a lot of money at the box-office (both in India and abroad), but it also attracted positive reaction from the critics.  This is evident from the fact that it was one of the movies nominated for Best Picture under Foreign Language Movie category in the following year at the Academy Awards.  It is hoped that reasons such as these make Lagaan an appropriate choice for discussion in this essay.

Before getting the detailed analysis of the film, a brief summary of the story is called for.  Lagaan is a fictional story set in nineteenth century India, when the country was still under the rule of British Empire.  A . . . Read More

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Judith Jarvis Thomson’s argument for limited abortion rights

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Judith Jarvis Thomson’s essay titled A Defense of Abortion serves as a polemic against some of the common objections made by pro-lifers.  The first of her objections to the pro-life standpoint is regarding the status assigned to a human fetus.  The pro-lifers argue that right from the moment of conception the fetus has to be assigned the same rights and respect that is granted to born individuals.  Thomson takes issue with this assessment, arguing that a fetus cannot be equated with a born individual since the moment of conception, although she concedes that it is very difficult to exactly ascertain when a developing fetus deserves recognition as a human being.

The other point she makes is that on what grounds would pro-lifers oppose abortion when the pregnancy was the result of a rape.  Judith Thomson is essentially trying to differentiate between cases of pregnancies that result due to negligence or indifference of either of the partners, and those which arise due to . . . Read More

Analysis of cinematography and mise-en-scene of a short sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929)

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Alfred Hitchcock’s movies are renowned to have their characteristic elements of suspense, drama and crime.  Not least of Hitchcock’s distinctive style is the quality of cinematography and mise-en-scene.  The movie Blackmail, released in 1929 is no exception to this rule.  This essay will analyze the cinematographic merits of one particular segment from the movie, namely the sequence of shots surrounding the murder.

It is important to note at the outset that Blackmail was first conceived and filmed as a silent movie.  To this extent that visual imagery was the primary mode of communicating to the audience the cinematographic style reflects this.  In the depiction of the murder, the director does away with the ghastly details of the struggle between Alice and her harasser and we are shown only a scuffle behind a curtain and her hand snatching the knife.  Furthermore, as Leanne McGrath points out,

“After she has committed her crime, Alice freezes . . . Read More

How can nurses deal with a patient with paranoid schizophrenia?

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a) What nursing strategies could you document in your care plan that might assist the patient to drink the volume required to maintain their physical well-being?

Patients with paranoid schizophrenia are highly suspicious of their environment, always being on the lookout for lurking dangers where none really exist.  In order to make the patient in question drink the required volume of water everyday, the caretaker must come up with strategies that take into account the fragile and unpredictable state of mind of the patient.  If the patient suspects that the water given to him is poisoned, it would be a good idea to take a sip of water before the patient’s eyes, so that he is reassured of its palatability.  Since water is an essential intake for the patient, the caretaker might have to repeat this exercise several times over the course of a day.  While it might be cumbersome and annoying at first, there are good chances that the patient grows less . . . Read More

The politics of same-sex marriage

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One of the issues that elicit a broad range of views from politicians, scholars and intelligentsia is rights for same-sex couples.  At the very minimum, these rights would entail legal recognition for same-sex partners and enable them to adopt children.  As same-sex partnerships gain greater acceptance in society, the members of this community expect to attain financial benefits and custodial rights that are on par with heterosexual couples.  This essay will foray into the main arguments for and against such legal grants by way of citing scholarly sources.

It deserves mention in the outset that the political atmosphere here in the United Statesis much more hostile to the practice of homosexuality than elsewhere in the developed world.  The primary resistance to homosexuality in the country comes from the powerful and influential Republican Party, especially the more orthodox of its members.  The functioning of the party over the years suggests a disregard for the notion . . . Read More