The major causes and consequences of ruralurban migration in the Essay

The major causes and consequences of ruralurban migration in the developing countries - Essay Example The migration culture in India was initially confined to the lean season for agriculture at many parts of the region till the end of summer. People used to flee to nearby towns and cities for working as daily wage workers at construction sites and other jobs to meet their expenses. They used to return to native villages when the rains arrives and used to spend their time in cultivation. The consistent unstable rains, the famines, the drought have unsettled the farmers resulting in migration to the urban areas. The growing IT and ITES boom with strong real estate drive created opportunities with sufficient work year round with satisfactory income made the rural folks to stay away from their lands. The ever growing cities expanses have swallowed nearby villages which made some wealthier and left with some no land to cultivate who ultimately migrated to cities in search of survival. The low literacy rates in the rural population: The rural population is mostly illiterate due to lack of awareness to educate themselves and concentrating more the physical work they need to perceive in the fields to cultivate. The villages are remotely located at times isolating them from the rest of the world and he developments. The villages had primary schools and at times high schools in major villages. The facilities provided at the schools as not encouraging. Child labour being cheaper than the elder wages and the poverty of the families force every one to work The families send their children for daily labour like every other family member to earn the daily expense when they migrate to towns and cities which does allows the children to perceive their education. The low and specific skill oriented farmers: The farmers in most of the developed countries cultivate with the primitive methods. The cultivation methods were not effective to yield good returns. The crops need more water, and in turn for more water they need electricity to pump ground water. The electricity is more scarce and expensive for already lean farmers. The farmers have only specific skills like cultivation, cattle raring which were said to be unskilled jobs and does not yield at timely regular intervals. The works at urban and metros yield good daily income and the amount of earning will depend on the way he learns the particular job as he gains expertise. The facilities demand-supply gap in urban areas: The huge migrations were not to the two or three tier cities but to the metro which are already crowded. The ever growing demand for basic amenities does not provide a chance for a brief and refined plan but forces for a temporary makeshift which in turn leads to a non uniform town or city planning. The below par basic amenities like water, electricity and housing: The urban authorities are pressurized by the ever growing demand that might hinder the authorities to provide the requisite facilities. Reference: Impact of the rural urban migration on the sustainability of the cities, 7 May, 2004, available at http://www.wscsd.org/ejournal/article.php3id_article=109 Making India world skill capital, Education must cater to the need of the industry, 30October,2004, available at

Sex education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sex education - Essay Example of learning about sex, how it makes males and females different from each other, yet attracts them to each other and involves deep feelings, desires, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy.19 Puberty is the stage in a child’s life when physical and emotional changes are sudden and unsettling, and to an unprepared child, this can be very unnerving.18 For adolescents who have just entered into the age of puberty, proper and age-suitable sex education can reassure them that what they are experiencing is normal, and most importantly, can prevent them from becoming victims of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, which are among the most prominent problems faced by the younger generation today..11 In my opinion, there is no such thing as â€Å"too much† sex education. It is an on-going process.2 I think sex education should be part of a school’s curriculum and should ideally inform about 4 topics: sexual development, reproduction, contraception, &

Letter to senate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter to senate - Essay Example As a senator, if you choose to support the idea it would be very close to committing political suicide. It is strongly suggested that you vote against the notion of a national ID card. The supporters of the national ID card may suggest that it would decrease the chances of terrorism and would make official government business easier to conduct. However, it must be understood that terrorism is not prevented by easily falsified documents (no matter how difficult to duplicate they may be). It is stopped by effective security measures and the sacrifices made by hardworking men and women out to stop it with positive intelligence gathering and old fashioned detective work. On the issue of making matters easier for the government bureaucracy, identity itself is currently verified in all instances where it needs to be done. Adding another layer or requirement to identity documents would only complicate matters while being a significant expense for the government that tries to issue cards to millions of Americans. Overall, having a national ID card is not only an unworkable idea, it is also a dangerous one in political as well as social terms as it would create a lot of difficulties for those who demand the simplest of rights to their privacy i.e. the right to be left alone (Garrett, 2001). A senator who values the rights of the people would certainly vote against any such plans to impose a document which does nothing to improve matters but does a lot to harm anyone who desires not to be engaged in

Cabling and Factor Tools Essay Example for Free

Cabling and Factor Tools Essay When choosing cabling for a network, there are several factors to consider: cost, Expansion capabilities, bandwidth, signal attenuation, and EMI (Electro- Magnetic Interference). Each type of cable has different specifications that affect these factors, and each organization has different needs. Considering Cable system factors is very important for building a network system that meets an organization’s needs. Now in the design of the installation of your cabling a poorly designed or installed network cabling set-up can reduce network performance. Today, data centers are growing and maturing, and cable management is becoming an important consideration. Proper cable management allows the fast identification of all system connections both at the physical layer and at the documentation level; good cable management also improves the maintenance of hardware equipment and the installation of new one; and finally, structured cabling management makes possible the effective cooling of the data center. You also have to consider fire and safety issues, for where you will be installing the cables. How they will be run throughout the building, will the cables be near other electrical cables and can it cause interference. Will the cableling be properly used under standards and local codes? And if not what would have to be done in order to makes sure it’s all up to code, and fire safety inspections. Some of the tools that will be needed for your installation will be Crimpers, Wire cutters/Stripper, Cable ties, Punch-down tools, voltage dectors, testing tools for when done. Also it would be smart to have a drill and bits/paddle bits, pliers, gloves, flashlight, and a tape measure. These are just a few things that would be useful to have. Prev Page Next Page Search

Feminism And Nationalist Themes

Feminism And Nationalist Themes The twentieth century Indian literature has drawn a considerable amount of its themes especially feminism and nationalist themes from two major epics: The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. Like Bible in European culture these two major epics dominates the Indian culture strongly and powerfully because they discuss all the major problems that are faced by all kinds of people. They discuss the issues of social inequality, gender inequality and for the rights of the lower class people too. Especially in India, for most of the people, myth is a lived reality, is a part of ones lived reality, every day existence, and large communities of people live by myths. As Daniel Tehapda, the philosopher from Cameroon states in La Place du my the dans Lexistence du negro-African. Another critic Ritwik Ghatak says the purpose of using such ancient myths and traditional music is to constantly point towards some dormant inspiration that lies hidden in reality. Sita, the female protagonist of the Ramayana and Draupadi, the female protagonist of the Mahabharata have become signs or cultural icons as pativratas (ideal wives) and as earth born Goddess. In the epics and in the culture that influenced and is influenced by them, a woman alone, a woman the powerful, a woman capable of bringing shame upon her family-that is to say, any woman is a woman in need of control. On a relatively innocent level, she is viewed as vulnerable creature in need of masculine protection. More insidiously, she is seen as essentially unable to control her own fatal force. But literary texts have brought subtle readings of these two epic women- sita can wage a psychological war against her captor Ravana; Draupadi can argue. The Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa, is generally agreed to have been composed between 500BCEto 400CE. The Ramayana, attributed to Valmiki, is likely between 200BCE to 200CE. In the eleventh century, the Tamil poet Kamban wrote a recension in the south, and in the sixteenth century,Tulsidas translated the epic into Avadi(old hindu),which was later brought into Bengali by Krittivasa,and into modern Hindi. William Jones translated it to English. Both the epics recension of oral and written have emerged in all major Indian languages, as well as in European languages, from palm leaf into paper, drama, film, poem, etc. When one speaks of epic in India at large, with its literate and non literate audiences, no one written text is necessary to mind: Mahabharata or Ramayana is more likely to be envisioned. Doordharshan televised version of Ramayana, generally based on Tulsidas, but incorporating other major texts, faithfully watched by over80,000,000viewers,some of whom Bathed before watching, garlanded the set like a shrine, and considered viewing of Rama to be a religious experience. (Rich man 3) Most of the versions of epics focus upon the tradional heroes (Rama in the Ramayana, the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata); only very few versions focus the views of the heroine. India is casted as Bharathmata, a maternal figure who has been captured, insulted humiliated by evil men or rakshasas (demons) Draupadi at the hands of Duryodhana, Sita at the hands of Ravana. Social activists or writers perceive the darkness and power of sita and Draupadi to rescue from their avenging figure to liberate one of a nation, of a gender, of a class. This chapter concentrates on the major crisis Sitas reunion with Rama at Valmikis Ashram; Draupadis humiliation at Hastinapura after Yudhistra has lost her in a game of dice, the innocent lives of innocent people was written or reworked in literature. Mahaswetha Devi says, Im not a student of history but anyway I read, I wrote, then I tore away the pages, I collected folklores, ballads, things like that. I was drawn to the great importance of collecting the oral traditions. I was only 26 or 28. Because at the time Thakur mansingh was operating. I had left my child son at home with my husband. I went to all these places. Never have I faced any danger, except one small Encounter with a dacoit. That was the time when I realized that oral tradition, folk material, is very important of historical, material. So those must be kept and preserved and printed if possible, because when these people die, the next generation, their life style might change, they will not see these. Indian people anywhere, tribal or non-tribal whatever happens; they keep it alive in folklores. Else, you will be surprised to know how many songs about Telegana struggle have been collected and published. I have taken After Kurukshetra story collection, Dopdi from Breast Stories and Ambais Atavi for the study. In all these stories, the women move on. They do not wait for endings. They meet the demands of life and find resolutions in nature. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana has received a great deal of exegetical and explicatory attention over the years, yet the voices of the oppressed in the great epic have remained a somewhat neglected field of critical enquiry. Mahaswetha Devi and Ambais palpable intention is to underscore the contrast between the Rajavritta and Lokavritta, in which one Honours and celebrates life. Kunti and Nishadin epitomize these two contrasting world vies respectively. The fifteenth chapter of the original version of the Mahabharata the ashram Vasik Parva describes the three years stay of the three familiar characters of the great epic Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti- in a forest towards end of their lives. After fifteen years of reign, they opt for a life of vanaprastha which is the third of the four stages of life, prescribed tradition for a caste Hindu, the stage of abandoning worldly affairs. Much against his wishes, Yudhistra lets them go. One day, as Dhritarashtra finishes his ablutions and returns to their hermitage, he comes to know that the forest has caught fire. The wind blows and the flames spread everywhere. The animals and the birds start deserting the forest. The blind Dhritarashtra, Gandhari with her blindfolded eyes and kunti, all awaiting death, ready to give themselves up to the flames. They have spent their times in penance, prayers and yogas till their death in the forest-fire. In her attempt to rewrite the story, Devi has made a couple of brilliant interpolations-Kuntis confession, her guilt-stricken conscience at being unwed mother and her helplessness in not accepting Karna as her son in public. What shocks her more is the Nishadins reminder of a greater crime committed by her, of which she was totally unaware, that is, the murder of six innocents belonging to the lower caste society. In her introduction to the politics of literary theory and representation, Pankaj.K.Singh states that, this is an interrogative rewriting of a segment of the Mahabharata from the point of view of the Nishadin whose mother-in-law and her five sons were made to die in the fire of Lakshagriha to cover the escape of Kunti and her sons, and who holds up for interrogation the whole practice of Rajavritta. Commenting upon its cotemporary relevance Singh states further that contemporary India has its own subalterns in the lower castes, the tribal, the landless, the poor and their women, Devi gives voice in her writing. Devi says, its my realization that the more we read through the lines and give voice to the countless infantryman used to protect the landed epical heroes, the dasis (mother of vidura, mother yuyutsu and countless others) and the vratyas used as cannon fodder during rajavritta emergency, the more the mythical time come into focus and the eternal game of politics comes into view. The first thing which strikes us, as the story opens, is the pitiable, pathetic plight of Kunti, the mother of mighty pandavas, queen of Pandu undergoes an existential despair, Mother of the Pandava, wife of Pandu, the role of a daughter-in-law, the role of a queen, the role of a mother, playing these hundreds of roles where was the space, the time to be her true self? All that while, amazingly she never felt that anything was hers, hers alone. She feels betrayed by life, now, she cant bear to keep it all locked inside her. But never tried to learn the life style of Nishadins, even she did not care their presence, one day she sees some middle-aged Nishadins moving about the forest with their children and familiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Kunti never tried to learns the language they speak. Kunti is not happy, she laments of her present situation, whereas Nishadins are happy without any crumbling. This forest is full of tall, resinous trees. They gather this resin, honey, tubers and roots. They seem to be a tranquil, happy, hardworking lot, their faces always wreathed in breath smiles. After watching nishadins life Kunti feels that she has wasted her life by following the rituals of rajavritta. Watching Nishadins, it strikes her for the first time that she is wasting herself living like this, subsisting on rotting, withered leaves. Blindly following predetermined predestined path to death. Then realizes that, she never knew that she carried within her such a burden of unspoken thoughts. She feels guilty of being on unwed mother to Karna, one of the greatest heroes of Mahabharata and her helplessness, in accepting him openly as her son because of the oppressive patriarchal social order gnaws away at her conscience, Karna looked so much at peace as he lay there, dead. Gandharis piercing cry at the sight of Karnas body struck me like a whip. Why did I not have the courage? To cradle Karnas severed head in my lap and say, this is my first born? Dhananjaya! You have murdered your eldest brother! The son I abandoned for fear of public shame! Had I not disowned him, my name would have been sullied forever. Karna is the only one of my sons whose father I took of my own free will. What irony! What irony! Not one of the five pandavas as is sired by Pandu! Yet they are Pandavas. And Karna? A carpenters son. O! Ancient mother! That day Kunti stayed silent. What greater sin can there be? Gandhari knew she was pure and innocent. This knowledge gave her courage to publicly speak t he truth. Death is approaching slowly towards her and she feels the urge to unburden herself before she dies. She knows that the confession at this stage is urgent because Silence would be unpardonable. Then, her second confession, its about when she directly went to Karna asking him to leave Duryodhana and join to Yudhisthira I hesitated no more. I have not committed just, one sin, after all. I had not told my sons about the birth of Karna. Then, the day before the battle, I went to Karna and told him, abandon Duryodhana, side with yudhisthira. At this time she feels for being Rajavritta, living in the Rajavritta makes one cunning, treacherous. Because love did not dry Kunti to meet Karna only her self-interest did. Against the world of Rajavritta, the dark Virgilian world of deceit, duplicity and double moral standard stands the world of Lokavritta, world of Nishadins that is guided by natures law, where different standards of judgments do not have any place. Natures law. Nature abhors waste. We honour life. When a man and woman come together, they create a new life. But you wont understand. As the Nishadin proudly tells Kuti, we do not deny the demands of life. If we are widowed we have the right to remarry. Those who wish to, can marry again. We did so. We have husbands, childrenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth that is the way of the Rajavritta. That is what Kurukshetra was all about. The Lokavrittas ways are different. The conversation between Kunti and Nishadin brings out the sharp contrast between the worlds of Lokavritta and Rajavritta, the Rajavritta folk and the Lokavritta folk have different values, different ideas of right and wrong. If a young Nishadin girl makes love to the boy of her choice and gets pregnant, we celebrate it with a wedding. After the conversation Kunti understands clearly that Lokavrittas moral and spiritual ethics have been destroyed by the Rajavritta and which does not allow her to lead instinctive life and to confess her sin. It is in the forest Kunti realizes her true self, do not forgive me, o mother! The brute wealth of the royal palace, the might of the son on the throne, I felt caged and torn to pieces. Kunti dreams of her past life. She recalls her life as Rajavritta, the life of Rajavritta was so different, and she had so many roles to play. Deep in the forest she notices the Nishadins but nothing registers on her mind, oh, yes, I not only understand it, I speak it too. Of course you never thought of us as human, did you? No more than mute rocks, or trees, or animals. The Nishadins are so self-composed, hardworking, innocent people. But Rajavritta knows only to attend the Brahmins and worshipping the Gods. Kunti does not remember ever talking to a lower-class people, how could they? Her life had been the Rajavritta, the Gods, serving the Brahmins. Had she ever spoken to a dasi? Had she developed any genuine bond with hidimba? Life outside the Rajavritta had not touched her at all. Kunti wishes to confess, to purge herself of the sins she had committed. After every confession Kunti finds herself at peace, cleansed light and on every occasion. The nishadins hear her maternal lamentations, but Kunti believes them to be as dumb as rocks. Nishadins do not know her language or Kunti their, still the elderly nishadins reprimands her: no confessing of sins today? Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Ive heard you out day after day, waiting to see if you will confess your gravest sin. Your languageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦likes mineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? Oh yes, I not only understand it, I speak it too. Of course you never thought of us as human, did you? No more than the mute rocks or animals. The elderly Nishadin accuses her of committing the most heinous crime, the massacre of innocents for self-interest. As the Varanavata episode from the Mahabharata was a conspiracy to kill Pandavas. But the Pandavas came to know the plan of Kauravas and hatched a counter-plan for survival. When the vax palace was set to fire by the trusted soldiers of Duryodhana, the pandavas escaped through a secret tunnel. In order to make the Kauravas to believe that Kunti and Pandavas were burnt to death, an elderly Nishadin and her five sons were invited to a feast and oceans of wine were served with food. The innocent Nishadin and her five sons drank too much and slept well. The elderly Nishadin, in Mahaswetas story whom discusses with Kunti is none other than the daughter-in-law of the dead old Nishadin. Kunti is shocked by this revelation and fears for her life. The elderly Nishadin makes clear view of their (tribal) ethics to kunti. She says, no I wont kill you. The Nishadin informs Kunti that a forest fire, which is disastrous natural phenomenon, has already broken out. She says, Yes, we can tell, from smelling the air, just as the other creatures of the forest can, that a fire has started. That is why they are fleeing like we are. Where to? Far away, beyond the reach of the forest fire. Where there are mountains, lakes and winding rivers. Kunti asks for forgiveness but the elderly Nishadin says, three blind, weak and infirm people cannot make it there. One is blind from birth, another has chosen to be a blind, and you, you are the blindest of the three. The thought of forest fire makes Kunti fearful but the Nishadin is not ready to forgive. She believes that it is easy for the Rajavritta to commit sin. to beg forgiveness is typical of the Rajavritta . The narrative ends with Kuntis acceptance of the destiny with the sense of finality. She got up. She has to go back to the Ashram. Wait for the forest fire. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, after their loss of a hundred sons, are waiting patiently for death, waiting for the final fire to consume them. Kunti also welcomes death. In the story the five women, the narrators are five war widows, their husbands, foot soldiers, died in Kurukshetra war to protect the chariot mounted heroes. these women are not of the rajavritta, women of royalty, nor are they servants or attendants. These women are from the families of the hundreds of foot-soldiers Podatics from various other little kingdom. The women of Rajavritta strictly follow the ordeal but the women of Janavritta lives life in close association with the natural world. The Rajavritta is represented by Kunti, Draupadi, Subhadara and the pregnant Uttara where as the five women from the Kurujangal represent the Janavritta. I am Godhumi. This is Gomathi, holding my hand. That is Yamuna, with the red spot between her brows. That one standing there with a finger on her chin is Vitasta. And this is Vipasha, Vitastas sister. The five women consider the war as futile clash of egos, so many great kings joined in a war between brothers. Some choose one side, some cross over to the other. It was not just brother slaughtering brother. We know of quarrels jealousies rivalries too. But such a war for just a throne? This, a holy war?! A righteous war?! Just call it a war of greed! The five women are appointed to keep Uttara company and help her to overcome her grief. But to Uttara all the five women seems to be inseparable. the five women seem to think as one. They are so close that they seem to understand each other without words, speak to one another with their eyes alone. They look, they understand. The companionship of these five women is in contrast to the isolation of the women of the Rajavritta. Uttara feels as a stranger to them. Uttara, like the other women of Rajavritta believes that all the soldiers who died in the holy war are very secured in Divyalok the heaven, but the five young women reject this idea. Gothumi says, no chariots came down from Divyalok. They did not go to heaven. The foot soldiers, died fighting in the very same Dharmayudha. But no funeral rites were held for their souls. Further they reject the idea of Dharmayudha, this was not out Dharmayudha. Brother kills brother, uncle kills nephew, shishya kills guru. It may be your idea of dharma, it is not ours. The Janavritta women enjoy the public participation where as it is denied to rajavritta. Thus Uttara expresses surprise, imagine men and women singing together. The rajavritta women have no companionship or bond with their child, at best her child will stay with her a year. After that, the wet nurses will take over its upbringing. Royal offspring are not raised by their mothers. Then will begin the prescribed rites and rituals, the self-denial, the penance. So, this story clearly shows that the rajavrittas were restricted by false notions of high civilization. The natural human state is represented by the five Kurunjugal tribal women, whose life, ideas and quests are opposite to the destructive and sterile attitudes of the higher class of society. Uttara understands the difference and is not ready to leave them. But as widows of rajavritta, all the women (widows) concerns only for Uttara and not for the five young widow. Rajavritta women expect them to give a good company to Uttara because she may beget a son for the throne. how anxious her mother-in-law are! Draupadi, Subhadara, all the others, are deeply worried. If Uttara bears a son, he will be a king. After becoming so close with the five people Uttara used to question, did the rajavritta the royalty ever care to know about the Janavritta common humanity? through the story the five women Mahasweta Devi reveals to the reader the other side of Kurukshetra war and the ingenious of rajavritta women towards Lokavritta people. The third story, Souvali focuses on the irreconcibility of the rajavritta and the Janavritta. Souvali is a former handmaid who served to Dhritarashtra and bore him a son named Souvalya; known as yuyutsu. Souvali, a woman from Janavritta is forced to send her son to the Gurugrigha at the age of five. She is not able to bare the life of Janavritta so she gives up her dasi status and lives outside of the town, waiting for her son to return. On the margins of the town live the marginalized. Their settlement is a lively, noisy place. The alleys are narrow, the houses small. Ponds here and there, surrounded by trees, cattle sheds beside the huts. There, on the stoop of a large hut, sat Souvali. Souvalya is insulted and discriminated from the Kauravas, Dasiputra! Slave child! Its because of this Dasiputra that you got water from a sons hand! Kunti! Gandhari! Gandhari never once, in all these years, acknowledged you as a Kaurava. But he only performs the last rites (tarpan) for Dhritarashtra after the forest fire. The conversation between mother and son reveals that Souvalya is happy to rise above the status of dasi-putra by the pandavas. But his mother is not happy to accept the recognition rather she calls it as a farce. She wants her son to be a Janavritta, her son is foolish. Following the norms and customs of royalty even though he is one of the common folk. She thinks to herself, if you must learn, learn from your mother. I was nothing but a dasi in the royal house-hold but here, amongst the common people, Im a free woman. This story shows the difference between centre and the margins of society. its true. Its in the janavritta,amongst the common people, that we are in touch with our natural emotions. Tenderness,caring,compassion romance,love anger,jealousy. But in the rajavritta,you know how they keep such natural emotions strictly in check. Thus, mahasweta devi shows the two types- the subaltern as gendered subject and the subaltern as class subject clearly. The charcters exemplify the twin problems of class and gender. Mahasweta devis another story draupadi concentrates on the major crisis of drupadis humiliation at hastinapura after yudhistra has lost her in a game of dice. Briefly the Mahabharata chronicles the ancestry and the escalating conflicts of two sets of the brothers, the pandavas and the kaurauvas,for ruler ship of the land. In most recensions, drupadi is born from the earth(although some have her emerging from the fire of her fathers ritual sacrifice). Not long thereafter (she emerges as a young woman of marriageable age), her father arranges a sw aymvara, a gathering of eligible men who compete for her hand in marriage. Arjuna, the third of the five pandavas,wins,as she had hoped he would. But when he returns with his brothers to tell their mother the joyful news, their mother thinking he has won some material goods, commands him to share his winnings with his brothers. As her word can never be taken back, arjuna must share her, to the consternation of all. Draupadi marries all five pandavas in turn, yudishtra, the eldest and wisest; Bhima,noted for his physical strength and tenderheartedness; Arjuna, the consummate warrior, friend of Krishna, and Draupadis favourite; and the twins nakula and sahadeva, celebrated for their good looks. They device an arrangement to eradicate jealousy: beginning with Yudhisthira, each brother ha sole right of conjugal acces to Draupadi for a year at atime, during which the other may not even accidently enter the marital bedroom. Draupadi bears a son to each husband. Eventually, due to pressure exerted upon them by the king Dhritarashtra, the two sets of brothers reconcile, although mutual suspicion remains. In a move of anticipatory, Dhritarashtra divides up the kingdom between the two sides of the family: half to the pandavas and the other half to the hundred kauravas, an arrangement most unsatisfactory to the kauravas. The leading kaurava , Aduryodhana, arranges for yudhisthiras horse sacrifice and coronation,followed in the kauravas grand assembly hall by a ritual game of dice in which players are supposed to ceremonially lose to the new king. But Duryodhana puts his maternal uncle Sakuni, a master at dice, to play in his stead, and the loaded dice take away yudhistras land, wealth and slaves. Yudhistra then stakes each of his brothers in turn, again losing each time. He stakes himself, and again he loses. While the pandavas, stripped to their undergarments, stand aside helplessly as slaves, Duryodhana demands that Draupadi be brought out of the womens hall, and sends a messenger to fetch her. Informed about what has just occurred, she asks whether Yudhishtra lost her before or after he lost himself, and argues that one who no longer owns himself cannot own another to give up. She sends back the messenger. Another messenger is sent, and again returns. Finally, in frustration, Duhshasana himself goes to the womens hall; Drupadi tells him to leave her alone that she is having her period and unable to come to mens gathering. Ignoring her protestations, he drags her by the hair out to the assembly hall, where she pleads in vain with her husbands to help her, which they cannot do. Draupadis fury unmans all present. A debate ensues, interrupted by Duhshanans demanding that Draupadi be stripped, and Duryodhana laughingly patting his thigh to invite her to sit. This humiliation in the assembley hall is Draupadis central crisis, and is related in varying ways. Most recensions show her caling for Krishna to protect her; some show her merely as being jeeringly told to pray. In either case, a miracle occurs: as Duhshasana pulls at the cloth, Draupadi remains clothed:sari after sari appears, and ultimately, after pulling off hundreds of saris, Duhshasana collapses,weary and confused. Dhritarashtra halts the proceedings and grands Draupadi twoo boons. She asks for the freedom of Yudhisthira and for that of the other pandavas. The king grands freedom to every one, and restores all of their posssssessions and land to the pandavas. A second dice game ensues, which Yudhisthira again loses:the terms of the loss are that the pandavas must go into exile for twelve years, remain in exile in disguissse for another year, after which their half of the kingdom would be restored.draupadi follows them into exile, and tjhrought their years away from the kingdom is most eager for revenge: Bhima fulfill his promise to break Duryodhanas thigh and to drink Duhshasanas blood. A reworking of the mahabharatas assembly hall scene, draupadi brings forward the struggle of a santal woman(black like the epics draupadi, for whom she has been named by her mothers master). A cadre in the naxalbari rebellion, draupadi, in the text referred as dopdi is ultimately captured by senanayak, a Bengali army officer whose expertise in anthropology makes him perfect for the task of apprehending tribals. in order to destroy the enemy,become one . senanayak has become one just as in the Mahabharata , kauravas planned to wipe out draupadis husband,the five pandavas. Both the narratives clearly show the struggle of less powered people at the hands of powered ones and the less powered peoples wake of the powerful cheating. Similarly to the disempowering of the epic draupadis husbands,who,enslaved by the loss at the dice,cannot move,dopdis husband is murdered. on one such search, army informant Dukhiram Gharari saw a young Santhal man lying on his stomach on a flat stone, dipping h is face to drink water. The soldiers shot him as he lay. As the 303 threw him off spread- eagled nd brought a bloody foam to his mouth, he roared Ma-ho and then went limp. They realize later that it was the redoubtable Dulna Majhi. She refuses to fall into the armys trap by going to bend his body. The problem is thus solved. Then, leaving Dulnas body on the stone, the soldiers climb the trees in green camouflage. They embrace the leafy boughs like so many great God pass and wait as the large red ants bite their private parts. To see if anyone comes to take away the baby. This is the hunters way, not the soldiers. But senanayak knows that these brutes can not be dispatched by the approved method. So he asks his men to draw the prey with a corpse as bait. All will come clear, he says. I have almost deciphered Dopdis song. The soldiers get going at his command. But no one comes to claim Dulnas Corpse. Rather than lead her pursuers to capture other rebels, Dopdilets herself be caught, refuses to tell names.unlike the epic Draupadi,whose sari flow out in endless profusion,she is stripped, Draupadi mejhen was apprehended at 6.53 pm. It took an hour to get her to camp. Questioning took another hour exactly. No one touched her, and she was allowed to sit on a canvas camp stool. At 8.57 senanayaks dinner hour approached, and saying,Make her. Do the needful, he disappeared. The next day she is ordered to senanayaks tent and offered a pot water to slake her by-now overpowering thirst. But her response upsets all expections, Draupadi stands up. She pours the water down on the ground. Tears her piece of cloth with her teeth. Seeing such strange behavior,the guard says,shes gone crazy, and runs for orders. He can lead the prisoner out but does not know what to do if the prisoner behaves incomprehenstably .so he goes to ask his superior. Mahasweta devis Deaupadi refuses to be clothed again. She forces the confrontation with her tormentors-letting them see exactly what they have done to her, refusing to futilely attempt to cover herself. No goddess will come to help her and no king will fight for her behalf. Senanayk is paralysed at what he sees, Draupadistands before him, naked. Thigh and public hait matted with dry blood. Two breasts,two wounds. What is this? He is about to bark. Draupadi comes closert. Stands with her hand on her hip, laughs and says, The object of your search,Dopdi Mejhen. You asked them to make me up, dont you want to see how they made me? Where are her clothes? wont put them on,sir. Tearing them. Drauypadis black body comes even closer. Draupadi shakes wih an indomitable laughter that senanayak simply cannot understand. Her raveged lips bleed as she begins laughing. Draupadi wipes the blood on her palm and says in a voice that is as terrifying, sky spiliting and sharp as her ululation,whats the use of clothes? You can stripe me, but how can you clothe me again?are you a Man? She looks around and chooses thr front of senanayaks white bush shirt to spit a bloody gob at and says, There isnt a man here that I should be ashamed. I will not let you put my clothe on me. What more can you do? Come on, counter me- come on counter me-? Draupadi pushes senanayak with her two mangled breasts, and for the first time senanayak is afraid to stand before an unarmed target, terribly afraid. In the Mahabharata Draupadi is dragged from her menstrual cycle into the assembly hall in one garment, the stained garment is signifier that dushasana is expected to understand. She is not to be touched, and she certainly is not to be brought to the view of men. She reminds him,but he mocks at her and forces her to be in the hall. Dopdis signifiers of bllod, in contrast , mark a rape and torture completed rather than forestalled. The soldiers and senanayak are paralysed rather than goaded like Duhshasana into further action. Like the epic Draupadiu, who decries the impotence of her husbands, dopdi can find no man present within the camp. Ferociously, she defiles senanayak with her blood-she spits on him with her bleeding mouth, and pushes him with her wounded breasts into hiswhite shirt. Occypying his physical, forcing him to see her made up, she shoves his own fear into his face. Unarmed, but threatens what the actions of the next hour may be. In dopds case,the insults she hurls at senanayak and his men- which echo those that the master narrator Vyasa gave to the epic Draupadi in the assembly hall, and even her spitting and her pushing her wounded

Dear Mama :: Personal Narrative Writing

Dear Mama By the same token I leave you, I leave myself (with you) Wong May, "Dear Mama" Wong May, poet extraordinaire, transnational writer, post-colonial female subject, unphotographed, barely reviewed, past unknown, present undocumented, and for all intents and purposes disappeared after 1978 somewhere in Western Europe. Things I do know about her, mostly from an entry found in Contemporary Poets, edited by Thomas Riggs: She is Chinese by birth, born November 16, 1944 in Chungking, China. She is/was/is not anymore a Singaporean citizen. 1965, Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature, University of Singapore 1968, Master of Fine Arts, University of Iowa, 1969, first book of poetry A Bad Girlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Book of Animals published by Harcourt, Brace and Jovanich while working as Assistant Editor for United Business Publications. This is her only documented professional appointment. 1972, second book Reports. 1975, she is translated into German and receives a German Academic Exchange Service fellowship (Deutsch Akademisch Austauch Dienst). 1973, marries a certain Michael Coey, who is referred to as a travelling companion in her last and final book, 1978 Superstitions. With all this information, she fills one page of my notebook. Then she disappears. Or rather, in the spaces between her poetry, she was never there in the first place. My obsession is with her absence, her absence in reviews, her absence in critical studies, her absence in official conversations about Singaporean poetry. On the inner book sleeve of her second book her quote reads, "My poems are about wordlessness..." So I decide I want to write about her, a substitution for writing to her, because it is to her that I would rather write. But since there is no way of doing this, I pick the second best, I write, I investigate, I fixate. The last lines of her last book read, O Travellers, travelling anywhere the world is beautiful Our windows get dirty Her books are all dedicated to her mother, "DEAR MAMA," "To My Mother," "To my mother." Her poems are the only chronicles I have of her life. In the second book we learn that she started writing it in the winter of 1968 in New York and finished it in Winnipeg in September 1971. Her third book is begun in Berlin that same year and finishes in France, in between she continues in Hebrides, Singapore, Steglitz, Meylan, Budapest, Iona, Cracow, Prague, Poland, Malaysia, Paris.

American Politics

Liberty is a concept that is commonly used by the average American in his daily affairs. A lexical definition of liberty states that it refers to the freedom to believe or act without the restriction of an unnecessary force. As far as the individual is concerned, liberty is the capacity of a person to act according to his will. But do we really know the history of America’s liberty? Do we really understand the historical events that have shaped the liberty that we know of and enjoy in these contemporary times?In this paper, I will be examining the roots of American liberty from the founding era to the modern debates surrounding the concept of liberty. I will also be looking into the proponents of liberty and those who have shared a significant role in defining and upholding liberty as we know it today. The Founding Era Hundreds of years before today, America was an entirely different place. Long before the creation of the Constitution, different European countries have already established their own settlements across America. The Spaniards and the French were among the early colonizers until the time of the British.During the rule of the British Empire, severe shortage in human labor resulted to enslavement and indentured servitude of the natives. In the years that followed, conflicts broke-out between the Native Americans and the English settlers. It should be noted, however, that Virginia already had black indentured servants in 1619 after being settled by Englishmen in 1607 (â€Å"Virginia Records Timeline: 1553-1743,† http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjvatm3. html), thereby suggesting that the attainment of genuine liberty from the colonizers is yet to be realized.It is perhaps during the time when the English pilgrims came to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 and established their colonies that the concept of liberty came about, not the least in the context of the pre-Constitution history of America. As Mark Sargent w rites in his article â€Å"The Conservative Covenant: The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth,† some of the passengers in the Mayflower ship â€Å"who were not travelling to the New World for religious reasons would insist upon complete freedom when they stepped ashore† since the New World is already â€Å"outside the territory covered in their patent from the [British] crown† (Sargent, p.236). After the Seven Years War between the British forces and the alliance of French and American Indian forces in 1763, the British Empire enforced a series of taxes on the Americans so as to cover a portion of the cost for defending the colony. Since the Americans considered themselves as subjects of the King, they understood that they had the same rights to that of the King’s subjects living in Great Britain.However, the Sugar Act, Currency Act—both passed in 1764—the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Act of 1767, to name a few, compelled the Americans to take drastic measures to send the message to the British Empire that they were being treated as though they were less than the King’s subjects in Great Britain (Jensen, p. 186). Moreover, the taxes were enforced despite the lack of representation of the American colonists in the Westminster Parliament.One of the famous protests taken by the Americans is the Boston Tea Party in 1773 where numerous crates containing tea that belonged to the British East India Company were destroyed aboard ships in Boston Harbor. As a result, the British government passed a series of acts popularly known as the Intolerable Acts in 1774, further fanning the growing oppression felt by the American colonists. Eventually, the American Revolution ensued beginning in as early as 1775 when British forces confiscated arms and arrested revolutionaries in Concord, thereby sparking the first hostilities after the Intolerable Acts were passed (Jensen, p.434). From 1775 to 1783, the colonies tha t formed their own independent states fought as one as the Thirteen Colonies of North America. Lasting for roughly eight years, the American Revolutionary War ended in the ratification of the Treaty of Paris which formally recognized the Independence of America from the British Empire. Between these years, the colonies underwent several changes which constitute part of the developments toward the framing of the Constitution (Bobrick, p. 88).One of these changes is the shift towards the acceptance of notable republican ideals, such as liberty and inalienable rights as core values, among several members of the colonies. Moreover, the republican ideals of the time saw corruption as the greatest of all threats to liberty. In essence, the concept of liberty during the founding era revolves around the liberation of the American colonies from the British Empire and the growing oppression it gave to the colonists through taxation burdens and a series of repressive acts.For the American colo nists, liberty meant the severing of its ties from the British government and the creation of its own independent nation recognized by other countries. The writing and ratification of the Constitution On the fourth of July in 1776, the second Continental Congress signed and officially adopted the United States Declaration of Independence which established the separation of the thirteen American colonies—the colonies which were at war with Great Britain from 1775—from the British Empire.Although others say that the founding moment of America is not on July 4 but two days earlier (Groom, http://independent. co. uk/arts-entertainment/books/review/the-fourth-of-july-and-the-founding-of-america-by-peter-de-bolla-455878. html), it remains a fact that there came a point in time when America finally declared its independence. The evolution of American political theory—especially that which is concerned with liberty—can be better understood during the confrontatio n over the writing and the ratification of the Constitution.In fact, the Declaration asserts that people have unalienable rights which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of Confederation served as the constitution which governed the thirteen states as part of its alliance called the â€Å"United States of America†. After being ratified in 1781, the â€Å"United States of America† was brought as a political union under a confederate government in order to defend better the liberties of the people and of each state. Meaning, each state retained its independence and sovereignty despite being politically held together as part of the union.However, the Articles were not without opposition and criticisms from several notable political thinkers of the time. For example, James Madison saw several main flaws in the Articles of Confederation that were alarming, or threatened the very existence and purpose of the Articles first and foremost. For one, Madison was concerned about the dangers posed by the divided republics or â€Å"factions† given that their interest may stand in conflict to the interests of others. Madison argues in The Federalist, specifically in â€Å"Federalist No.10,† that in order to guard the citizens from the dangers posed by these individuals who have contradicting interests, a large republic should be created, a republic that will safeguard the citizens from the possible harms brought by other states. It is likewise important to note that the union is not a homogenous group of citizens with the same political inclinations. Madison also argues that for the government to become effective it needs to be a hybrid of a national and a federal constitution.The government should be balanced in the sense that it should be federal in some aspects and republican in others instead of giving more weight to each separate state over the larger republic. In his â€Å"Federalist No. 39,† Madison prop oses and describes a republic government guided by three fundamental principles: the derivation of the government’s legitimate power through the consent of the people, representatives elected as administrators in the government, and a limitation on the length of the terms of service rendered by the representatives (Kobylka and Carter, p.191). Madison also pointed out in â€Å"Federalist No. 51† that there should be checks and balances in the government, specifically among the judicial, legislative and the executive branches. The judiciary, therefore, is at par with the other two inasmuch as each of the other two are at par with one another. Giving one of the three more powers disables the other two to check if that branch is still functioning within its perimeters.As a result, the more powerful branch becomes a partisan branch which consequently creates dangers to the liberties of the people. Another important part of the evolution of American political theory is the c ontention raised by Patrick Henry. In a letter sent to Robert Pleasants in January 18, 1773, Patrick Henry sees the relationship between the new government and the institution of slavery as a contradiction precisely because while the new government is said to be founded on liberty, there the evil that is slavery persisted under the new government.During those times, slavery was not yet abolished and that the new government was unable to meet the challenge of living up to its roles and foundations by failing to address the institution of slavery and demolishing it altogether. Moreover, Henry understood the efforts of secession from the hands of England were a matter of freedom or slavery, which can also be looked upon as a question of either a freedom from or a continuation of tax slavery from the British.While Madison was part of the â€Å"Federalists† who were supporting the ratification of the Constitution, the â€Å"Anti-Federalists† apparently argued against its ra tification. It was Patrick Henry who led the group in criticizing the contents of the proposed Constitution. For instance, Henry argued that the phrase â€Å"We the People† in the Preamble of the Constitution was misleading primarily because it was not necessarily the people who agreed and created the proposed Constitution but the representatives of each participating state.Thus, Henry argues that the Preamble should instead read as â€Å"We the States† which in turn delegated power to the union. Another argument of the Anti-Federalists is the claim that the central government and, therefore, the central power might result to a revival of the monarchic type of rule reminiscent of the British Empire which the Patriots fought. The fear is that, by delegating a considerable amount of power to the central government, the liberties of the individual states and the people are weakened as a result.Nevertheless, the Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 and later rati fied in each of the state conventions held. The anti-federalists share a significant role in strengthening some of the points of the Constitution through the succeeding amendments. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are popularly known as the Bill of Rights; it is largely influenced by the arguments of the anti-federalists. For the most part, the Bill of Rights aimed to guarantee that Congress shall not create laws which stand against the rights and liberties of the citizens of the nation.In effect, the Bill of Rights limits the power of the federal government in order to secure the liberties of the people in the United States. In â€Å"Federalist No. 84,† Alexander Hamilton argues against the Bill of Rights for the reason that the American citizens will not have to necessarily surrender their rights as a result of the ratification of the Constitution and, thus, the protection of the rights through the Bill is unnecessary. Moreover, Hamilton also argues that creatin g a Bill of Rights would effectively limit the rights of the people since those that are not listed in the Bill will not be considered as rights.In response to the argument, the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution was introduced and ratified later on. The amendment specifically states that the rights of the people are not to be limited to those which are listed in the Constitution. As it can be observed, the time before and during the ratification of the Constitution and the succeeding amendments made reflect how the people at the time sought to protect the liberties that they have realized and gained after the American Revolution and the defeat of the British Empire.Moreover, the debates at that time revolved around the issue of what to do with the liberties gained and how to secure them for the coming generations. One side—the Anti-Federalists—argues that the central government weakens the independence and sovereignty of the states as well as the rights and liberties of the people. The other side—the Federalists—argues that the Constitution will help preserve and strengthen the Union. Modern debates In the years that followed, debates over the interpretation of the Constitution, the role of the government and the place of the individual in American society have escalated.In his essay â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† (popularly known as â€Å"Civil Disobedience†) first published in 1849, Henry David Thoreau asserts that the people should not simply remain passive and allow the government to be an agent of injustice. Much of Thoreau’s political beliefs eventually follow that same philosophy. In his work Walden published in 1854, Thoreau attempts to live a life of solitude in a cabin, away from the reaches of the society. In one of his days in Walden, Thoreau was arrested for the charge of not paying his taxes. His defense was that he refuses to pay federal taxes to a government that tolerates slavery.In ess ence, the fact that Thoreau decided to stay in solitude for approximately two years (although the contents of Walden was made to appear as though all the events happened within just a year) signifies his decision not to conform to the dictates of the society. On the contrary, Thoreau lived a life of liberty, free to do anything that he chooses without the institutions of society restraining him. The same sentiment—non-conformity or disobedience to the dictates of the society, especially the government—echoes through in Thoreau’s other work, which is â€Å"Civil Disobedience†.Thoreau asserts that â€Å"the only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think [is] right† (Thoreau, http://sniggle. net/Experiment/index. php? entry=rtcg#p04). That passage, along with the rest of â€Å"Civil Disobedience† and its theme in general, implies that people have an inherent liberty, which is the liberty to do any time what the y think is right. Taken altogether in the context of the concept of liberty, Thoreau seems to suggest that people ought to disobey a government that oppresses other people since each individual has inalienable rights that nobody can take away, not even the government.In the face of oppression such as slavery (which was still very much a part of America within twenty years after the ratification of the original Constitution since the issue of slavery was a very delicate and contentious matter during the Philadelphia Convention), Thoreau even suggested that Abolitionists should not only confine themselves with the mere thought of abolishing slavery but resisting the instructions of the government such as paying taxes.Thus, as a reading of Thoreau’s works would suggest, to have liberty is to act upon crucial issues instead of passively allowing contentious actions of the government to thrive and continue. I cannot help but think that Thoreau’s concept of liberty is someth ing that is absolute, which I also take to mean as confined only within one’s disposition instead of being limited by the government. Moreover, since Thoreau suggests that liberty is doing any time what one thinks is right an individual should first know if what he or she thinks is indeed right instead of being wrong.Charles Madison notes that Thoreau was heavily concerned with the â€Å"ever pressing problem of how one might earn a living and remain free† (Madison, p. 110). I cannot help but begin to think that Thoreau attempts at embodying and enacting his individualistic beliefs. As Leigh Kathryn Jenco argues, â€Å"The theory and practice of democracy fundamentally conflict with Thoreau’s conviction in moral autonomy and conscientious action† (Jenco, p.355); democracy is essentially the rule of the majority which consequently ignores the decisions of the minority. However, I think that much of Thoreau’s thoughts were heavily influenced by the c ircumstances during his time. His aversion towards the imposed taxation policy of the government stems from the fact that the government at that time still tolerates slavery which is directly against an individual’s liberty.Thoreau’s insight on the perceived conflict between the liberties being upheld by the Constitution and the actual state of the government during his time points us to the ideal that the people are sovereign because the people is the ultimate source of power of the government. If it is indeed the case that the Constitution upholds the rights of individuals including the right to liberty, it seems appropriate to consider as well why slavery at that time was not immediately abolished entirely especially at the time when the Constitution was ratified.In fact, it was only in 1865 under the Thirteenth Amendment—about 80 years after the original Constitution was adopted—when slavery was legally abolished and when Congress was given the power to finally enforce abolition. During the time when slavery was not yet abolished and immediately after the original Constitution was ratified, it can be said that not all citizens living in America were given full liberties. Several people were still laboring as slaves to their American masters.That is perhaps an often neglected piece of history that undermines the spirit of creating a Constitution and a government that will uphold the rights of the people. The pre-American Revolutionary war, the founding era, the ratification of the original Constitution, the creation of the Bill of Rights and the other succeeding amendments to the Constitution—all these stand as testimonies to the evolution of American political thought. The concept of liberty has played an important role in the development of the federal government and the Constitution.Although the history of American political thought might reveal that the attainment of liberty through the years has never been a smooth jo urney, contemporary America has reaped a large amount of benefits from the sacrifices and ideas of the Founding Fathers and all the people who lived and died during those times. Some might even argue that liberty is yet to be truly attained in today’s American society. But if liberty is yet to be attained in practice, how is it possible that people are given the right to air their grievances before the government?How is it possible that people have the liberty to do as they please so long as what they do does not conflict with what is legal? In any case, the present American Constitution guarantees the liberty of the people and that there are institutions which seek to promote and guard that important right. Had it been the case that the early Americans swallowed everything that the British Empire throw in their way and that the Founding Fathers abandoned the creation and amendment of the Constitution, the United States of America would not have been the land of the free and the home of the brave.Works Cited Bobrick, Benson. Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War. 1st ed. New York, NY: Atheneum, 2004. Groom, Nick. â€Å"The Fourth of July and the Founding of America, by Peter De Bolla†. 2007. Independent. Co. Uk. October 16 2008. . Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist, on the New Constitution. 1787. October 18, 2008 . Jenco, Leigh Kathryn. â€Å"Thoreau’s Critique of Democracy. † The Review of Politics 65. 3 (2003): 355-81. Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution 1763-1776. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004. Kobylka, Joseph F. , and Bradley Kent Carter. â€Å"Madison, The Federalist, & the Constitutional Order: Human Nature & Institutional Structure. † Polity 20.2 (1987): 190-208. Madison, Charles. â€Å"Henry David Thoreau: Transcendental Individualist. † Ethics 54. 2 (1944): 110-23. Sargent, Mark L. â€Å"The Conservative Covenant: The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth. † The New England Quarterly 61. 2 (1988): 233-51. Thoreau, Henry David. â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government†. 1849. October 18 2008. . â€Å"Virginia Records Timeline: 1553-1743†. The Library of Congress. October 17 2008. . American politics One of the best characteristics of the US political system today is this particular feature: the presence of a socio-cultural and socio-political atmosphere that encourages and promotes the right of the individual to vote and the right to suffrage. This is considered as a positive aspect of the US political system. Not all of the countries and their respective political system make room for this rather delicate matter, to which the balance of power hangs and to which the fate of the country and its socio economic and socio political stability rests.The US political system should not change this particular aspect and on the contrary, manage to find ways on how to make this particularly enviable characteristic of the US political system develop more into something that lessens and lessens the chances and situations that limits or prohibits its citizens to vote and is not threatened by the possibilities of being corrupted by the politicians themselves.An important part of the praise-wor thy characteristic of the US political system to support the right for suffrage and encourage a population that is willing to go to voting precincts and vote and choose their own leader as part of the exercise of the democratic country they all live in is the fact that the right to vote is centered and is promoted not only among true blooded American citizens, but also to immigrants who are granted citizenship.This is important because this goes to show that the US' political system did not renege on its promise embedded on the towering facade of the Liberty Statue about bringing in and welcoming people from different cultures with open arms and giving them an equal treatment especially in the aspect which in other countries maybe a very delicate matter altogether – the right to vote.In the US, protection and promotion of the right to vote has been widely supported that politicians themselves are becoming â€Å"increasingly aware of the voting-bloc power of the immigrants (B ray 19)† that they â€Å"are offering meaningful choices and reforms to immigrant voters (Bray 19)† as well. One of the positive characteristics of the US political system is the consistent inclusion of the consideration for and fighting for the exercise and preservation of the human rights.Yes, it is true that the United States, as a country, has been the place where great battles on human rights were fought. The Klu Kux Klan reminds the world about the extent of racism in the United States. Isn’t it the same country that was divided and shed the blood of their countrymen because they do not see eye to eye with regards to the issue of liberating former African American slaves that the white people own? These are all important points that prove the problem of human rights in the US, especially during its earlier, younger years.But more important than these historical notes is the fact that it was through these experiences that heroes, like Abraham Lincoln and oth er fighters for human rights, were given the time to shine their brightest and influence not just the country, but the world about important socio-cultural values and the significance of human rights. Despite the times of troubles, the political system of the country has shown through the years that it is capable of learning and integrating inside the system the wisdom and knowledge lifted from previous experiences so that the system could be better in the end.Today, the protection of human rights in the United States is all the more highlighted and magnified, especially when news in Africa and from other countries tell the tales of individuals who died not being able to enjoy the most basic human rights, and leaving behind friends and family members who are still under the threat of having their human rights taken from them and violated in front of them.Their own political system is not powerful enough to protect them from this kind of atrocity that is still very much alive in many parts of the world even today. It is indeed very reassuring to know that the US political system features important aspects that can guarantee the exercise and protection of human rights, not just the rights of American citizens in the US but also the human rights of other people if the US political system can extend help for this cause as they did in the past like what they did in 1973 (Liang-Fenton 151).One of the problematic aspects of the US political system is the power of political appointments. It is considered as one of the â€Å"anxieties† haunting civil service as far back as the formative years of the National Commission on the Public Service (Bowles 239). This is something that is considered as problematic and is a characteristic that leans more on the negative side than on the positive side.This is because of the fact that political appointments are largely based on the whim of politicians who often use political appointments, either as leverage so that the poli tician can manipulate the exercise and flow of power and influence, or as a way/means for the politician to return the favor he or she owes to private individuals who, in one way or another extended help or assistance to the politician and in the process someone to whom the politician is owed to. In both cases, it is reflected how the power for political appointment is becoming more and more vulnerable to being utilized as a tool for used for the wrong reasons.An important change correcting this problematic situation is the limitation of political appointments to just a handful of aides that the politician will have to work with everyday. While it is true that the truly capable leader is capable of willing with different types of people and can function as a team player even if surrounded by team mates who the politician did not choose, there are significant benefits that comes out of letting the elected leader pick at least his core team. It follows that if the electorate trusts th e leader that they voted, they will trust the people whom the elected official trusts in return.In this line of thought, it now comes that political appointments should be limited to the immediate staff of the politician and no greater than that. Besides, the elected official was not elected to personally handpick every other civil servant. The current power for political appointments should be diminished and have the civil service system handle the filling of government positions so that the truly deserving individuals are placed in government positions without the bias from politicians who may exercise their powers incorrectly.It is quite unclear or uncertain yet in which particular part of the history the United States and its political system has actually began to become a hegemon, although John Agnew seemed to give the readers an idea akin to the amalgamation of several different factors leading to this reality of what is now known as the US hegemony on political, as well as ec onomic and even cultural spheres (Agnew 53).What is now clear today is that the United States has taken the role of the global hegemon, the US politics and the US system dictating and influencing heavily the course of action that many aspects of the present day globalized world has taken collectively. While it has its perks and positive features that the country and its people can and have enjoyed, this aspect of the US political system is something that causes problems and is more of a disadvantage than advantage.It is more of a negative characteristic than it is a positive characteristic because of what the hegemon role brings inside the country and towards it people – particularly, death by many US citizens which is often not morally or ethically justified. Take for example, the wars and armed conflict that the US has committed itself in fighting because of its self righteous role that comes out of being a hegemon.It wants to show the world that the country will be the lea der in fighting ideas like terrorism and how it physically manifests by bringing US soldiers to far off countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. These countries are turning out to be modern day version of Vietnam because of the continuous increase in casualties among US citizens who are fighting people from other culture and nation and carrying with them either very vague or very generalized ideas of the reason of war per se.The country should instead be content in the exercise of the limitation on trying to be the leader at everything with, at times, unreasonable sense of self-righteousness that it is doing more harm than good to the people of the country for which the US political system should serve in the first place, like making the US and its citizens prime targets of hate campaigns instigated by non Americans who detest the state of US hegemony.Works Cited Agnew, John A. Hegemony: The New Shape of Global Power. University of Chicago Press, 2005. Bowles, Nigel. The Government and Politics of the United States. Palgrave Macmillan, 1993. Bray, Ilona. Becoming a US Citizen: A Guide to Law, Exam and Interview. NOLO, 2008. Liang-Fenton, Debra. Implementing US Human Rights Policy: Agendas, Policies, and Practices. United States Institute of Peace Press (USIP), 2004. American Politics The United States Congress is composed of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and Committees. The Senate consists of 100 members, two from each state, regardless of population or area, elected by the people in accordance with the 17th Amendment to the Constitution (Johnson). The members include the Senate President, President pro tempore, Majority/Minority leaders, and whips. The House of Representatives consist of 435 members, which include the Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and whips, elected every two years from among the 50 states, distributed to their total populations (Johnson).There are different kinds of Committees in the United States Congress: Standing Committees, ad hoc committees, conference committees, and House Rules committees. According to Johnson, the Article 1, Section 1 of the United States Constitution states that only the Congress has the power to make laws and to write all the laws that are required to make the Constitution into implementation. The Congress has also the constitutional power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. It has the sole authority to raise, finance and regulate forces of the military units and to declare war.Moreover, Congress can alter the number of justices on the Supreme Court and can ascertain which cases the federal courts can hear by establishing limitations on their jurisdictions. It is Congress that played a role in the establishment of the departments, agencies, and bureaus that cover the majority of the executive branch. Most sources of legislation and proposed drafts of bills are conceived by a Member but may also come from various interest groups and private citizens and the President.These sources may come from the election campaign during which the Member had promised, if elected, to introduce legislation on a particular subject (Johnson). In addition, the executive communication has turned into a source of legislative proposals, usually in the form of a message or letter from a member of the President’s Cabinet, the head of an independent agency, or the President himself (Johnson). These legislative proposals are then forwarded to Congress with a request for their enactment (Johnson). In the Senate, a Senator usually introduces a bill or resolution (Johnson).If there is no objection, it is read by title and referred to the appropriate committee and is placed on the Calendar (Johnson). In the House of Representatives, the bill is assigned its legislative number and then referred to the appropriate committee. A committee will then ask the input of the relevant departments and agencies about a bill (Johnson). The committee may schedule a date for public hearings if the bill is of sufficient importance (Johnson). The subcommittee will consider the bill in a session, referred to as the markup session, after hearings are completed.Bills are read for amendment in committee by section and members may offer amendments (Johnson). Bills will be given consider ation by the entire Members of the House with adequate opportunity for debate and the proposing of amendments (Johnson). After passage or rejection of the bill by the House, the bill goes to the Senate for consideration. Votes on final passage may be taken by the electronic voting system. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall be presented to the United States President before it becomes a Law (Johnson).If the President approves the bill, he/she signs it and usually writes the word approved and the date (Johnson). If the President does not approve the bill, he/she shall return it, with his/her objections to the House and proceed to reconsider it (Johnson). When a law has been enacted, it shall be made known to the people who are to be bound by it (Johnson). Reference Johnson, C. W. How Our Laws Are Made. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www. senate. gov/reference/resources/pdf/howourlawsaremade. pdf.