French Revolution of 1789 Was a Major Cause of the Haitian Revolution of 1791

The French Revolution of 1789 led to the development and insertion of new political forces such as democracy and nationalism which was inspired by the Enlightenment of the mid-eighteenth century. It questioned the authority of the King, priests, nobles and religion on a whole; namely Catholicism. The revolution gave new meaning to the political ideas of the people. France’s involvement in the American Revolution had left the country in a massive financial crisis.Debt, inflation a lack of food and King Louis XVI lavish spending and heavy taxation on the Commons of society served to anger the people and so they demanded a new system of government. The Old Regime and Social Stratification in France Under the system of the Old Regime the King was seen in society as being the absolute monarch whose rule was ordained my God. The King had centralized power in the Royal Bureaucracy. In unison the King and the bureaucracy preserved royal authority and maintained a system of social stra tification stipulated by the Old Regime.The society in France was legally stratified by birth, divided into three Estates. The First Estate consisting of the clergy, the Second Estate; the nobility and the Third Estate the Commons which consisted of the bourgeoisie, city workers and peasants. The First Estate, the clergy which was also made up of members from the nobility enjoyed various privileges which were unavailable to those below their station in society. They paid no taxes and to support activities of the church collected tithes or taxes on income. The Second Estate, the nobility hardly paid taxes despite their great wealth.Their source of income came from rents and dues collected from the use of their farms and estates. The Third Estate resented the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and nobility. They were forced to pay taxes, tithes to the church and rent and dues to landlords for the land they occupied. This served to cause an upset in the society as it prevented the common s from entering into upward social mobility which was primarily based on the order in which one was born. Due to these occurrences the Commons wanted to have some form of equality in the French society. Thus they were in constant negotiation with the Crown for better and more privileges.The Estates-General (1789) As a result of King Louis XVI was forced to call a meeting on Estates-General on May 5, 1789 at Versailles. This was the place where representatives from each social Estate could be represented and their grievances voiced. Social tension plaguing the Old Regime was the central grievance of those representing the Third Estate. Because the First and Second Estates were primarily made up of citizens of the nobility they were allowed to override the Third Estates as they contained two out of the three votes available. As a result the Third Estate was left voiceless.The Third Estate offered a vision that privilege in society was to be determined by usefulness rather than birth. Writers of the Enlightenment; Voltaire, Montesquies and Rousseau served to be an encouraging factor to those seeking equality in society as they viewed these privileges enjoyed by the nobility as being rooted in tradition. As a result the Third Estate invited the other estates to join a new legislature. They eventually renamed themselves the National Assembly which was based on the people rather than Estates. By doing this they revealed their intention of becoming the official legislative body of France.In the summer of 1789the National Constituent Assembly declared itself the full authority of the nation. This led to the abolition of feudalism and the system of privileges under the Old Regime. Figure 1. The Estates-General inFrance The Role of the Enlightenment The Enlightenment of the mid-eighteenth century was a philosophical movement that proposed that talent replaced birth as the main determinant of ones social standing. They believed that methods applied to studying the natura l science could be used to correct the problems of society. Advocates of this movement concerned themselves with ‘reason’ and ‘liberty’.The Enlightenment caused people to consider the view that knowledge could only be acquired through careful study and ones reasoning abilities. In order for this to be achieved religious ideology and traditional beliefs had to be forsaken. Thus they encouraged the concept of liberty which they defined as being freedom from religion, press and unreasonable government. These ideas not only inspired the Commons in France but also the politicians and Heads of State. This was what eventually inspired French revolutionaries to construct a declaration that would serve to mold a society based on reason rather than tradition.The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) This Declaration insisted on the freedom and equality of man and gave birth to the revolutionary triad; ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ . Pu t in place by the National Constituent Assembly; was encouraged by the philosophical and political ideas of the Enlightenment. The declaration puts in place the ideology of Natural rather than religious doctrine and authority. The rights of man were to be secured and recognized by a government of elected representatives. This therefore meant an ending to privilege and feudalism; and equality in France.Clergy, nobles, judges and even ordinary tax payers lost whatever special standing they once had. Each person was now seen as being ‘identical’ before the law. Figure 2. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Ciizen Saint Domingue prior to French Revolution The society in St. Domingue was a replica of the society in France plagued by the Old Regime of social stratification in France. This was introduced to the colony as the Royalist/Metropolitan Whites brought with them to the colony the traditions held by the Old Regime. Conflict between each social group was based on r ace and the acquisition of capital.Tensions between the Whites, Mulattoes and Blacks and more specifically within the white society; tension between the Royalists, Grand and Petite Blancs was plaguing the society in St. Domingue. This segregation within the colony can later be credited as one of the contributing factors of the revolution in 1791, as the French Revolution of 1789 left each group seeking equal rights and privileges within society Social Stratification in St. Domingue The Metropolitan Whites/ Royalists: These were whites who came directly from France to St.Domingue as members of the bureaucracy whose purpose was to see to the Governance of the colony. They enjoyed the commercial privileges of the French bourgeoisie and brought with them to the colony the traditions held by the Old Regime in France of absolutism of the monarchy and the ideology of feudalism. At the head of the bureaucracy was the Governor and Intendant. The King’s representative in the colony was the Governor who was a soldier and aristocrat. His duty in the colony was that of granting concession, being an agent for European merchandise in the colony and colonial merchandise in Europe.The Intendant in the colony had judicial responsibilities as well as seeing to the finance and general administration of the colony. The Metropolitans had extensive privileges and power in the colony that could not be enjoyed by whites below their station. The Grand Blancs: These were wealthy plantation owners, top civil and military officers of St. Domingue. Some of whom had aristocratic origins in France while others were known Creoles. Their ambition in the colony was to regain enough wealth to return to France despite the fact that they were the most prominent of social groups within the society.The Petite Blancs: These were the poor whites of St. Domingue; primarily shop keepers, book keepers and merchants. They were seen by other superior whites as being unproductive within the society, performing no important role within the economy of the colony. It was often thought that the Mulattoes and Blacks could carry out the tasks performed by Petite Blancs if they were to be deported. They were also excluded from privileges enjoyed by the Grand Blancs, however, because they were white it was easier for them to fit into the society. The Mulattoes/Affranchis: These were the children of white planters and slaves.They were exceptionally numerous within the society with the fate of their freedom resting in the hands of their white fathers. By the mid-eighteenth century their economic advances had began to overshadow members of the white society. A number of them participated in the purchase of land and slaves, they ran their own plantations and some were allowed the privilege of being educated in France. It is argued by historians David Barry Gasper and David Patrick Geggus, that the affranchise owned one third of the colony’s plantations, one quarter of the slaves and one quarter of the real estate property.Slaves: The treatment of black slaves in St. Domingue was the worst endured by slaves of the West Indies. Planters had been making immense profits in the colony to the detriment of the slaves. They were worked excessively hard, harshly punished and poorly fed. Because of this every five years the slave population of St. Domingue had to be replenished as the colony held the highest death rate of blacks within the region. Racial Tension and Discrimination in St. Domingue Prior to 1791 The Metropolitan Whites/Royalists looked upon the Grand Blancs with arrogance and disdain despite their wealth and status in society.They too however, were also resented by the Grand Blancs as they thought the Royalists to be wasteful and extravagant. They also hated the fact that they could not hold civil service positions held by the Metropolitans which meant that they had no power over the running of the colony. Similarly the most notable tension between whites can be found between the Grand and Petite Blancs. Although they were of the same colour, the Grand Blancs resented the Petite Blancs as they thought them unproductive to the economy of the colony. Due to their status in society the Petite Blancs were not able to partake in privileges enjoyed by the Grand Blancs.Voting, for example within the colony was based on the amount of property one possessed, thus the Petite Blance were exclude from the administration due to lack of land. The economic advances of the Affranchise within St. Domingue was viewed by whites as being a dangerous trend that could eventually undermine the superiority of the white plantocracy. Thus it became increasingly important to both Colonial Whites and Royalists to enforce white superiority in St. Domingue by legislating against Mulatto equality with whites by repressing their political ambitions and placing them in degrading positions n society despite their wealth and education. This was done to ensure that th e Affranchise remembered their slave origins which made it impossible for them to be equal to whites. The Mulattoes were hated by the Blacks as they showed resentment for their genealogical ties to blacks and slavery. They tried very hard to imitate the lives of the whites and saw to drown out all traces of their origin. Thus the slaves hated them as well as the whites. Due to this the slaves were feared by both the Whites and the Mulattoes as they were vastly outnumbered. Impact of the French Revolution on St.Domingue The events of the revolution in St. Domingue can be credited to the influence of the French Revolution in 1789 as it was the factor which inspired the events in St. Domingue. All social classes in the colony were greatly affected by the French Revolution as the Grand and Petite Blancs, the Affranchise and the Slaves saw the events taking place in France as an opportunity to seize liberty and equality. The Grand Blancs saw the opportunity to secure independence in the colony from the restrictions of the Mother country retarding their economic growth.Thus liberty to the plantocracy meant the removal of Metropolitan controls over the affairs of the colony. For the Petite Blancs, the impact of the ideologies of the French Revolution meant social equality with the Grand Blancs and liberty meant ‘active citizenship’ allowing them to vote freely without the acquisition of land standing in their way. For the Mulattoes in St. Domingue they thought that the revolution in France gave them the opportunity to demand civil and political rights which were denied to them because of their black origin.For the slaves equality and liberty reinforced their aspirations for personal freedom. The Revolt of the Grand Blancs The white planters in St. Domingue had began demanding political representation. The calling of the Estates-General in France in 1789 left them determined to get their interests and grievances voiced in France. Because of this the Grand Blancs supported the revolution taking place in France as for them it meant liberty from the shackles of the Mother country. For them the revolution meant freedom of trade and political control of St.Domingue at the expense of the Petite Blancs, Mulattoes and slaves. However without authority from the National Assembly, the Grand Blancs called elections in St. Domingue for a General Assembly in 1790. As a result the Petite Blancs were excluded from participating in the Assembly due to the lack of land they obtained; the Mulattoes were also excluded from partaking in the Assembly due to their lack of civil and political rights within the colony. Due to their newly found power the Grand Blancs had begun disregarding the authority of the Metropolitan whites and the National Assembly in France.Because of this the Royalist and Petite Blancs and to some extent the Mulattoes untied to crush the revolt of the planters as they preferred the Colonial ties with France and obedience to the Nat ional Assembly. Due to the defeat of their cause the Grand Blancs then turned their fury upon the Affranchise of the colony because of their role aiding the suppression of their revolt. The Revolt of the Affranchise Because of the occurrences of violence by the Grand Blancs against Mulattoes; questions concerning their civil rights and social equality were brought to the attention of the National Assembly.As such there was an attempt made to pacify the Mulattoes in the colony by allowing them equality with the Whites in the Militia. Thus in 1790 a decree was passed by the National Assembly granting voting rights and the right to hold office to all Mulatto ‘persons’ owning property over the age of twenty five who met the income requirements stipulated. However, the decision to ensure the rights of these ‘persons’ was left within the hands of the Grand Blancs who hated Mulattoes and refused to give them the right to vote.Because of this the Mulattoes were for ced to appeal to the Governor complaining that their rights were not being secured. The leader of the Mulattoes, Vincent Oge? threatened to use force if their demands were not met. Thus they encountered violent opposition from the colonial whites which eventually caused the movement to escalate into an armed revolt. Unfortunately the revolt was violently suppressed and leaders executed; however, as a result of the revolt a proposal was put forward by the Colonial Assembly that granted political rights to those born of legally free parents. The Revolt of the Slaves in 1791Figure 3. The revolt of the slaves The question of slavery in France was one of a complicated nature due to the fact that French commerce greatly depended on the production of their colonies which was facilitated by slavery. Thus revolution and resistance in St. Domingue became possible when slavery was challenged in France by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The colony was under the instruction of French laws yet these rights did not relate to the blacks. To the National Assembly the exploitation of slaves was a profitable business as such they had no intention of granting them freedom.The news of the French Revolution and its triad, ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ was dispersed throughout the colony and slave population via ships and their sailors as well as French revolutionaries who believed in the equality of all. The sailors spoke in excitement to blacks unloading and loading cargo into the ships of the events taking place in France. Upon hearing this, the slaves then realized that they had witnessed similar events that had occurred in the colony to what was happening in France in the name of liberty and equality.The Grand Blancs revolt against the Bureaucracy and in 1790 the revolt of the Mulattoes to the Grand Blancs. Thus upon hearing of the success of the French bourgeoisie the slaves took it as an example which would enable them to gain freedom from their masters. The first sign of unrest within the slaves occurred when they believed that their masters were withholding three free days that the King himself had given them. The first attempt of slaves to gain their free days originated in Port-Salut in the South province.Because the masters refused to comply, the slaves were forced to engage in a conspiracy which was aimed at ensuring their masters granting the rights the King had given them. The conspiracy was however discovered and ringleaders arrested. These occurrences signaled the beginning of the revolutionary struggle of the slaves in the South Province. The slaves of the North were also greatly affected by the occurrences in the South and thus prepared a massive revolt. Simultaneously slave gatherings in the West also appeared similar to the ones in Port-Salut.After a religious ceremony headed by voodoo priest Boukman the revolt aimed at liberty for the slaves began in the North Plain District of Acul in 1791.B I B L I O G R A P H Y Books Bayan, Patrick. ‘The Haitian Revolution and its Effects. ’ Heingmann. 1998 Brians, Paul. ‘Reading about the World: Volume 2’. American Heritage Custom Publishing. 1998 Censer, Jack and Hunt, Lynn. ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution’. American Social History Production Inc. 2001 Gasper, David B. and Geggus, David P. A Turbulent Time: The French Revolution and the Greater Caribbean’. Indiana University Press. 1997 Greenwood, Robert and Hamber, Shirley. ‘Emancipation to Emigration’ Macmillan Publishers Limited. 2003 James, C. L. R. ‘The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Overture and the San Domingo Revolution’. Random House Inc. 1963 Websites Bromley, Jason. ‘Resistance and the Haitian Revolution’. scholar. library. miami. edu. 2008 Chavis, Jason. ‘The Estate-General of 1789: Foundation of the French Revolution’ french-history. suite. 101. com 2009

Cask of Amontialldo †Character Traits Essay

The character of Montresor in, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is one who can only be defined with words along the lines of evil, or wicked. He vows to avenge the bold and childish Fortunato, whom Montresor swears did him wrong. Montresor could be described with many bold words, one being guilty. Though he is guilty, he is determined not to get caught. For instance, Montresor declares, â€Å"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity† (Poe, 1). Essentially, he is saying he will seek revenge on Fortunato, but he will get away with the vicious crime. Another obvious character trait for the devious Montresor, is dishonest. He claims to have obtained a cask of Amontillado, when the reader can tell through situational irony this is not true. He claims, â€Å"†¦ I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, but I have my doubts† (Poe 1). Fortunato unknowingly follows the fiend, and in theory, seals his own fate. Montresor is also quite sneaky. He slyly gets Fortunato into a small inlet in his wine cellar– also a home for skeletal remains. He hastily chains him up before the poor Fortunato can even realize what’s happening. Explaining the situation, Montresor says, â€Å"†¦ inding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered†¦ a moment more and i fettered him to the granite† (Poe 4). Lastly, Montresor is just plain mysterious. Readers never know exactly why he decided to go after Fortunato, but it is hinted he offended the killer in some way. When asked about his coat of arms, Montresor blatantly states, â€Å"A human foot†¦ the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel† (Poe 3). The motto underneath is â€Å"nemo me impune lacessit† (Poe 3). To conclude, Montresor plays not only a degrading character, but one of many evils.

How Apple Does It (Time Magazine Oct 24 2005) Essay

How Apple Does It (Time Magazine Oct 24 2005) - Essay Example 1 According to the conventional wisdom, described in the article, the Apple is operating like closed mini economy, and thus the company might be doomed as it attempts to do everything at once. Apple produced hardware, operating system for it and programs; traditional approach would allow Apple to license some of its products to other companies that specialize in the development of the products and then access the products produced by the companies mentioned. However in my opinion, the company would really increase the efficiency and competitiveness of its products if it followed more traditional approach as in this case, new innovations and consequently new products might appear much quicker, then the current policy adopted by the company. Huge diversification in one company might erode specialization, which is the cornerstone of innovations; it certainly does mean that differentiation and strategy adopted by Apple might not be successful in some circumstances, as the example of ipod clearly indicates, yet in my opinion it was rather the exception from the rule rather than the result of it. In order to access the effectiveness of the strategy implemented by the company, one should understand the princ... In spite of the fact that this product is just several years old, none of the competitors of Apple so far has been able to provide its customers with identical products of digital music industry. So the price of the Ipod certainly reflects some unique added features related to this product. Another element of competitive advantage strategy is the differentiation focus, when the company attempts to differentiate within the segment of the targeted audience. In this case the company should provide the customers with the product that matches the needs of the customers in the situation when current products of the competitors may not meet the needs of the targeted customers. All this features are present in this case as ipod has many unique features not available in the products of the competitors. Let us evaluate the this product within five forces model designed by Michael Porter that comprises the threat of new competitors, the threat of entry in the market, the threat of substitutes, the threat of bargaining power of suppliers and buyers.3 The threat of competitors. Not strong. Sony has started providing the customers with its new product- mini version of Walkman at the end of 2004. According to the research conducted by Moseberg, journalist from the Wall Street Journal, new mini player of Sony was thinner and wider, thus design was more convenient in use, as well as the battery life of the product was much longer. 4 However, when the Sony products appeared in the market the ipod was still unbeatable in the speed with which MP3 songs could be transferred to the player; whereas it took 2 hours and 13 minutes to transfer the 416 to the player of Sony, it took less than five minutes to

Stakeholder analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stakeholder analysis - Essay Example 4. Government –the organizations works with the local government of North Carolina. The identification of the stakeholders has been carried out based on what they do in the organization (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006, p. 9). This information was analyzed in the following ways: collected using observation method, then sampled using systematic method and then reported utilizing the tabular form below. B). The stakeholders have been classified depending on what they bring to the table and their contribution to the whole organization. This is not more of an assumption on the first two classifications; that is the members and the management. The assessment here is that; for the management they make the decisions that involve the everyday activities of the company. For the members, these are the women who benefit from what the organization is doing at the given time (Jigna 2011, p. 12). Looking at what the organization does, one learns that the projects that they do are; physical activity buddy programs, cooking club education, fruit and vegetable purchases at a discount, increased access to produce vendors and increase access to places for physical activity. This means that the organization needs other stakeholders, such as gym owners and vendors, these are the stakeholders that are identified for the last classification of stakeholders above. Jigna D. (2011): Development of the Oxford Hills Healthy Moms Project using a social marketing process: a community-based physical activity and nutrition intervention for low-socioeconomic-status mothers in a rural area in Maine. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Greensboro, USA retrieved on May 17, 2015. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006). Healthy People 2010 midcourse review. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention

Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Crisis - Essay Example pying mechanism as the person undergoing such a phase is unable to perform normally and require intervention to reclaim the state of equilibrium (Kanel, 2011). Crisis intervention, based on psychiatrist medication, helps when people are at the state of crisis, need motivation for adapting the changes, deciphering higher than natural anxiety and need help. To be noted in this regards, psychotropic medication is generally termed as the process of prescribing drugs, which are used for treating and managing the challenging behavioral or psychiatric symptoms in individuals undergoing crisis. This medication process emphasizes specific classes like antidepressants and antipsychotics. It is in this context that such a process acts in the betterment of the patient’s health status. On the contrary, deinstitutionalization affects towards crisis intervention, as it often results in creating mental illness crisis with discharging individuals from the ‘Public Psychiatric Hospital’ before complete further rehabilitation and medication, which are necessary to grow their independent living capability in the community. In the real terms deinstitutionalization process is criticized owing to the fact that it fails to assist effective deliverance of medical assistance to individuals undergoing crisis and thus, acting against psychotropic medication (Kanel,

Visit to Zilver Seafood Restaurant Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Visit to Zilver Seafood Restaurant - Assignment Example The reasons why customers visit restaurants are varied. Some customers go to a restaurant to satiate hunger, while others visit the restaurant simply to catch up with a friend and enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Whatever be the objective of the visit, there lies a common thread; the thread of expectations. Irrespective of the purpose of the visit, all customers want to be treated nicely at the restaurant and expect their order to be served promptly. It is important to remember that elements of hospitality and swiftness in serve revolve around the core service which is critical to success. In the case of restaurants, the quality of the food is the core. Thus the minimum expectation of each customer is that the food should be delicious. Whatever add-ons come along are welcome for e.g. a good ambiance would make the experience at the restaurant all the more pleasurable. Keeping in view the aforesaid discussion, the assignment of visiting a restaurant of choice was carried out. This report pe ns down my findings at the Zilver Seafood Restaurant. ... There is no doubt in the fact that the quality of the core service is important; however, the manner in which this service is rendered is equally important. It can be safely stated that restaurants, by virtue of their nature of the business, not only sell cooked food to customers but pass on a full-fledged eating experience to their customers. A lot of factors clubbed together, make this experience either a memorable one or a nightmarish one for the customer. Other experiences like ‘average’, ‘just OK’ etc. may lie on the continuum. The quality of food, speed of service, attitude of staff, and overall ambiance of the restaurant are just a few of the numerous factors that contribute to making a restaurant fall either in the ‘special’ or in the ‘me-too’ category. A logical corollary of this aspect is that these very factors enable the customer to judge the restaurant. An inherent characteristic of services is its inseparability i.e. t he service cannot be separated from the service provider. Services are also perishable and are therefore produced and consumed instantaneously. Inseparability and perishability of services bring into play human involvement. In case of restaurants, the parties involved are the host (provider of food) and the guest (customer). The human involvement adds to the complexity of any given situation. It may also lead to variability in the service rendered. Different customers may have different needs and motivations. The mood of the customer at a given time may impact his own experience as well as that of the fellow customers.

Spiritual and religious traditions of our ancestors Essay

Spiritual and religious traditions of our ancestors - Essay Example After awhile, he left the tent and went straight to the Confederate picket line where he seriously tried to commit suicide. (Blaise, n.d.) In the end, he was considered to be a hero for successfully diverting the Federal attack away from the civil war. For this reason, he was given the option to choose his own assignment in which he had chosen to see the ‘frontier’ – a remote post in remote South Dakota. As he reaches close to the Sioux village, a Sioux woman cuts her own wrists because her husband past away. (Willis, 2000) However, Dunbar was able to stop her from going through her plan of committing suicide. This woman happens to be a white woman that was raised by the Sioux tribe. For this reason, she became Dunbar’s personal interpreter. In the end, both Dunbar and the interpreter fell in love. The tribe is composed of the whites, the Sioux, and the Pawnee where racism has become the main reason for the civil war. (Willis, 2000) The group of individuals coming from three different races strongly hates people who are different from their own race. The story shows a great violence among the white Americans among other whites, the white on Indians, Indians on white, and Indian among the Indians. The Sioux were directed to show humanity in everyday life which causes the viewers to take side on them when they were at war with the Pawnee. As part of showing the intense war between the three groups of people, the use of profanity was enormous throughout the story. Religiously speaking, there should be no war and everyone should respect each other as brothers and sisters regardless of race, gender and status in life. However, the film focuses more on civil war that strongly violates humanity and the right of men to live. It is a religious tradition that once the husband or the wife past away, the widow or the widower has to mourn for the dead husband or wife for a certain period of time. However, this was

James Luna Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

James Luna - Essay Example The product of a Mexican father and Luiseno Indian mother, Luna was born in 1950 on the La Jolla Indian reservation in Southern California. Raised in Orange County, he received a degree in art from the University of California Irvine in 1976. At that time, the art department at Cal-Irvine was a significant influence throughout southern California in terms of encouraging performance and conceptual art. Upon graduation, Luna returned to the La Jolla Reservation and enrolled at San Diego State University where he received a Masters degree in counseling. Currently, he is employed by Palomar College in San Marcos as a counselor. Initially trained as a painter, Luna now travels the globe demonstrating his version of conceptualistic art working principally with presentation video and visual art. His performance combines contemporary artistic offerings with Indian rituals, parodies, humor and autobiographical nuance within the context of prevailing, conventional attitudes toward native culture. Although the artistic methods he employs would be readily recognizable to an audience that prefers contemporary performance or gallery art, he injects this form with the teachings of his native cultural heritage and presents current conditions of native peoples. Despite this, Luna maintains that his form of art is not intended to politically motivate his audience. â€Å"In doing work about social issues I use myself to explore conditions here on the reservation. It is not my place to tell people how to act† (Durland, 2003). Through his works, Luna constantly endeavors to challenge the stereotypical, idealized notion of the dignified, yet savage Indian. His performances are theatrical in nature and are aesthetically intricate while making both subtle and overt political observations all of which produce a multi-faceted perception regarding the native culture to the audience. Luna’s performance is hardly what

Personal freedoms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal freedoms - Essay Example It would seem a perfect situation if there is no drug trade, no terrorism, secure borders and complete order in the country. However if this is done at the price of searching one’s belonging more thoroughly, or by performing body scan tests on the airport, then I would not tolerate this invasion of privacy even if this is done in an attempt to curb the terrorism. On the other hand there are many things which appear an invasion on one’s privacy but according to me I think we can sacrifice. For example, if the government keeps a record of my phone history or the books that I have checked out of library, then there is no issue because such information is trivial for me and if it helps in reducing violence and terrorism then I have no problem with this sort of surveillance. It is therefore important that the government tries to exterminate terrorism without taking from people much of their freedom. Abram, T. (2010, November 13). Personal Freedom and the American Government. Retrieved July 05, 2012, from Freedom Works:

Christian Values and Americas Historical Documents Essay Example for Free

Christian Values and Americas Historical Documents Essay While socially networking, a person will run into many different opinions on all topics. People have their own beliefs and ways of looking at things, so when I was expounding on my ideas, the inevitable topic of religion was brought up. As much as the Golden Rule flows through most religions, there are people who are not able to put their ego aside and open their minds to the simplest possibilities. The specifics of this topic were of such that the United States was founded on Christianity. Religion and politics are highly volatile topics and most people will only argue emotionally instead of stopping and critically thinking about any information they may be given on these two subjects. Many people believe that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were founded on Christian values, but in closer examination, they both have vague wording and Deist beliefs. Counterarguments There are several reasons that people believe that the historic documents of the United States were written with Christian values in mind. One reason is, in the 19th Century, a movement started which believed that the settlers were led here by the hand of God (Allison, 1998). This was a popular belief and many people still hold true to this belief. It is taught in public schools that the colonists came over from England because of religious persecution. Another argument for this way of thinking is that, because of the belief that God showed the settlers where to go, that He also must have had led the Founding Fathers to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States (Allison, 1998). This lead to the belief that God is needed to preserve not only religious institutions, but also democracy. Human rights are seen to be given by God, which, in a nation that was intolerant of non-Christians, meant the Judeo-Christian God (Cherry, MD, 2011). Our Founding Fathers separated Church and state, but not God and state. Church and state and God and state are sometimes seen as  the same idea, which can be confusing, even to a Christian. In addition to this, many believe that this country was founded with Christian values because of a statement that was made in Madison’s Federalist Paper Number 37 where it states, that only, â€Å"†¦ a finger of that Almighty hand† could have shown him the insight to write the Constitution (Ferguson, 1987). United States Constitution The United States Constitution was written in such a way as to be intentionally vague and without Christian values, but Deist values instead. The Constitutional Convention had many problems in coming up with this historic document. Every man that attended this convention had their own ideas and ways to convey what they believed needed to be included in this document. Vague Wording Ben Franklin’s ambiguous wording in the Declaration of Independence led Madison to exaggerate the wording even further in the Constitution. The intentionally ambiguous wording that Madison used in the Constitution was used â€Å"to bring conformity within a divided country,† (Ferguson, 1987, p. 159). In the 14th Amendment it states, â€Å"Any person†¦,† but when this document was written African-Americans were not considered people, so Jim Crow Laws were kept in place in many areas of the country. In the convention meetings leading up to what the Founding Fathers wrote to become the Constitution, compromises were made. In the second amendment, it states that people have a right to keep and bare arms. What makes this vague is that most of us take this to mean any, and all people, but what the Constitutional Framers meant was to indicate those that were in the militias. So, those â€Å"people† that were in the â€Å"militias† could keep and bare â€Å"arms,† not just anyone could. Deist Beliefs The Constitution forms a secular document and is in no way related to God (Walker, 2004). God was not forgotten in the writing of the Constitution. This omission was purposely done to keep the government and religion separate from each other. The Constitution’s preamble starts out â€Å"We the people†¦,† and clearly states the intention of the men who framed the Constitution, including â€Å"establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility,  provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity†¦.† Nowhere in the Constitution is the word God, so there would be no mistake as to the thoughts of Madison. The First Amendment to the Constitution even states that, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof†¦,† which means that the government is not supposed to support any one religion or to stop any individual from practicing their religion or lack thereof. Religionists and atheists are able to equally practice their belief system because of this. This alone is a contradiction to the First Commandment, which demands fealty to a specific god (Trent, 2012). The Constitution’s confusion stems from the ambiguous wording of the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence’s wording and belief system is not only vague, but also Deist. This historic document did not take sides and was intentionally meant in an unbiased way. This can be shown in several different ways. Vague Wording Ambiguity in the wording of this document by Ben Franklin tends to give many the misunderstanding by using phrases such as, â€Å"Nature’s God† and â€Å"their Creator,† which leads people who are Christian, by default, to the thought that this is a Christian-based document. Wording such as this is intentionally vague, because it comes from the belief in a higher power; whatever that may be to each individual as opposed to strictly Christian beliefs. The intentionally vague wording, such as, â€Å"unalienable rights† and â€Å"laws of nature,† transcends the political, and even the religious, arguments of from where these rights came from and by whom they were given. One of the words in the introduction is necessary and when this document was written, this word had a much more significant meaning than we have today for it. Back then, it meant that it was something that was made in association with fate and was beyond control of human agents. An example of this meaning is the Revolutionary War was going to happen and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The division of the people between England and the settlers could not have been repaired by anyone or anything. Deist Belief System As it is stated in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Deism is a movement or system of thought advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th Century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe. The Founding Fathers, such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and several others, were only strictly Christian in appearance, but Christian-Deist in belief. These men followed the works of philosophers, such as Descartes and Voltaire. This led these men to question Christian beliefs. Believing in what the classic philosophers wrote, had the Founding Fathers put the test of reason to every idea and assumption. When they put this test to religion, they found they needed to strip away revelation, which led to Deism (Johnson, 2004). The Founding Fathers were very closed-mouth about their personal religion, but encouraged religious tolerance and a belief in God. When writing the Declaration of Independence, they were in reality writing the reason of their actions to the rest of the world for why they did what they did. In short, it was a foreign policy document. The second and most famous paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states that the Founding Fathers believed that it was self-evident that all men are created equal. The Creator, as is believed by any one person, granted all men with certain rights; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which is given by the universe’s natural laws. This one belief shows that at least some of the Founding Fathers were Deists, as this is a Deist belief. The Declaration of Independence is interpreted many different ways to fit neatly into everyone’s individual belief system, when it should just be read the way it is, and not try to make more of it than it is. The Declaration of Independence is a statement of why everyone deserves liberty and freedom. Conclusion The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were written without Christian values because when the settlers came to America they were trying to get away from a government that was telling them what to do and how to believe without the â€Å"voice of the people† reaching those in power. If the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written with Christian values, the Founding Fathers would not have put in  the segments about religious freedom into these documents. I believe that if Christian values were used to write the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, that religious freedom would not have been a part of these historic documents. Everyone has their own way at which they look at and perceive things, and they will make things fit into their belief system to make it easier for them to understand. Sometimes, this is not necessarily the way that things in history were meant to be interpreted, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. We are taught this in school through text books, at home with taught beliefs, and political affiliations see this topic differently, but if we break out of the mold, and try to think for ourselves, we can learn and enjoy from the simple beauty in which these documents were written. With an open mind, we are more apt to realize the original intent of historical events and documents. References Allison, J. (1998). Declaration of Independence: Its Purpose. Retrieved from http://candst.tripod.com/doipurp.htm Cherry, MD, R. R. (2011). American Judeo-Christian Values and the Declaration of Independence. Retrieved from http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9876/pub-detail.asp Ferguson, R. A. (1987). Ideology and the Framing of the Constitution. Early American Literature, 22(1987), 157-165. Formisano, R. P., Pickering, S. (2009). The Christian Nation Debate and Witness Competency. Journal of the Early Republic, 29(Summer), 219-248. Johnson, R. L. (2004). The Deist Roots of the United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.deism.com/deistamerica.htm Rubicondior, R. (2012). Founded on Christian Principles? Retrieved from http://rosarubicondior.blogspot.com/2012/04/founded-on-christian-principles.html Trent, B. (2012). First Amendment or First Commandment. Up Front, May-June (N/A), 10-11, 37. Walker, J. (2004). The Government of the United States of American is not, in any sense founded on the Christian religion. Retrieved from http://www.nobeliefs.com/Tripoli.htm

Barriers To Sustainable Tourism Developments Tourism Essay

Barriers To Sustainable Tourism Developments Tourism Essay Introduction Tourism is highly known as one of the worlds fastest growing industries and become the major contributor to the countrys economic growth in terms foreign exchange earnings and creates job opportunities in both large and small communities. Hence, the increasing economic importance of tourism has captured the attention and interest in most developing countries. However, people have not been thinking about the range of impacts resulted from tourism which is broad and could even negatively impact on the destination community. The uncontrolled rapid growth of tourism can poses a significant threat towards the environment and social community in other words tourism can result serious environmental and social-cultural problems. Therefore, in a way to controlled and minimize the negative impacts of tourism, sustainable tourism development need to be achieved. Sustainable tourism today become highly important in the tourism industry and it is important to encourage more people to travel green and to ensure that the tourism is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Many destinations have also recognized the importance of achieving sustainable tourism development. However, for many developing countries worldwide sustainable tourism has not properly been translated into wide practice and there can be economic, social, and physical barriers that tend to pose great hindrances to sustainable development. In order to determine how the tourism industry can move towards sustainability, it is important to examine the barriers that hinder sustainable tourism, and then develop strategies to reduce the barriers. Thus, aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the barriers of implementing sustainability initiatives and achieving sustainable tourism development particularly in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. 2.0 Literature Review on Sustainable Tourism Tourism is a significant global industry with a huge impact towards the environment. Tourism is also the worlds largest industry, with total receipts from the international tourism equaling US $682 billion (WTO, 2006). The tourism industry also employs an estimated of 10 percent of the global workforce and capital formation. Due to this significance of this industry and that environmental degradation has impacted most tourism destinations; the need to implement more sustainable practices has come to forefront of global issues (Graci, 2004). The need to plan for tourism in a sustainable manner is evident through the developments that have occurred worldwide since the United Nations Conference on Environment Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In the conference, tourism was identified as one of the five main industries in need for achieving sustainable development (Theobald 1998, Budeanu 1999, Pryce 2001). The World Tourism Organization, World Travel and Tourism Council, and the Earth Council published Agenda 21 for the travel and tourism industry in 1995, which this document aimed to establish systems and procedure to incorporate sustainable development considerations into the decision making process of tourism activities. It also highly emphasized the importance of partnership between tourism industry and government and demonstrated the benefits of making the whole industry sustainable, not only just the niche ecotourism sector (Pryce, 2001). The idea of sustainable tourism has its roots in the concept of sustainable development, defined by the Brundtland Commission as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). Other effective adoption or concept of ecologically sustainable tourism, defined by the World Tourism Organization (2002) is: Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present generation tourists and host communities while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is highly emphasizes the management of all resources in such as a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs are fulfilled while maintaining the cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems. (WTO, 2002) This clearly means that sustainable tourism activities is aim to ensure that development will maximize enjoyment and create positive experience for tourists and communities, at the same time minimizing the negative impacts upon the destination site; the environment, community and local population. Therefore the sustainable implementation of sustainable development requires the duties of the tourism industry, environmental supporters and community or the three cycles which need to be interrelated. The latter should be based on three main principles of sustainable development (WTO 1993, Mowforth and Munt 1998): Ecological sustainability which demonstrates that development is compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity and resources. Social and cultural sustainability suggests that development increases peoples control over their lives and it is compatible with the culture and values of people affected by it which maintains and strengthens the community identity. Economic sustainability ensures that development is economically efficient and that resources are being managed properly in order to support the future generations. Further explanations by World Tourism Organization (2002) the need for achieving several objectives for ensuring sustainable tourism, which are involve the protection and conservation of resource include natural, historical, and cultural for future generations, whilst at the same time ensuring long term economic viability for businesses, and providing socio-cultural benefits to the wider society. Tourism development is also being planned and managed so that it does not negatively impact on the environment and cultural society, the overall environmental quality of tourism is maintained and improved as well. 3.0 Sustainable Tourism in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia Gili Trawangan is known as the largest island located amongst the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok in Indonesia. The island is also known as a sun, sand and sea destination. It is approximately three by two kilometers and low-lying with a small hill to the south, rising to 72 meters above sea level (Hampton 1998). Gili Trawangan is considered as the most developed of all three Gili islands, which the other two islands Gili Air and Gili Meno are being the newly developed. There are several expatriates lives and work on the island as well and the majority of land on the island is used for tourism and the rest is coconut plantation and some small field of agricultural crops and livestock. Tourism is regarded as the major economic activity on the island with more than 80 percent of families is employed by tourism. However, Gili Trawangan is not highly developed tourism destination in terms of mass tourism, infrastructure, and services, and the island has limited resources of fresh wa ter. In terms of sustainable tourism, there have been some initiatives for developing sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan. However, the initiatives have been faced with a slow implementation and have not been completely adopted in practice. The main of the initiatives developed by the dive operators on the island is known as the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust. This Gili Eco-trust was being set up in order to protect and conserve the coral reefs around the island against destructive fishing practices. While the main purpose of this organization is to manage the collection of a dive tax which guest are charged about US$3 per diver and US$1 per snorkeler. The dive tax is then used to pay the local fisherman to stop damaging the reefs and the funds are also used for beach cleaning, rubbish management and monitoring (Lombok Network 2009). 4.0 Barriers to sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan The Eco-trust is one of the initiatives developed by the dive operators on the Gili Trawangan Island for developing sustainable tourism. However they have encountered various barriers to sustainable tourism development in the area that has led to frustration on the island. Based on the research study which was conducted by Sonya Graci in the article, Accomodating Green: Examining Barriers to Sustainable Tourism Development (2004), number of barriers was documented in this research consisting of five main barriers to implementing and achieving sustainable tourism initiatives in the destination. The first barrier is the inadequate resources associated with high cost, lack of information, skills, knowledge, expertise, time and the reluctance to get assistance from outside consultants. The numerous ideas for initiatives such giving payments to fisherman to stop their illegal fishing can be a problem for the Island since they dont have enough resources and many of these plans could fail. Another example such as that the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust also attempted to implement a waste management collection system by building of a landfill with areas to separate and organize recyclables. Yet, again with lack of resources the landfill development would failed. Besides, a number of business owners and the local government also have indentified that the inadequate of resources was the biggest barrier as it is realized on the island without any proper systems in place, the environment will degrade even further and this will eventually affect the tourism on Gili Trawangan. Thus, the destination needs the ability to implement those systems with the necessary funds and knowledge to develop feasible systems. The second barrier being emphasized is the lack of momentum to take action concerning to the sustainability initiatives by business owners; restaurants, accommodations, dive operators, and bars. There was a belief by a number of business owners that current practices were lack, yet, there was a lack of momentum to move forward and implement sustainable initiatives. There are several business owners who did not want to take responsibility in managing the implementation of the initiatives especially involving time and money, and they also had complaints about the management of the environment, such only one business owner in conjunction with the local government to manage the eco tax funds to pay the fisherman. Thus, this is a practice that was not look upon favorably as a sustainable solution by many of the business owners and no other solutions were put forward. The third barrier is related to the corporate culture of the island which comprised of the attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values of the organization. The isolation of environmental issues from other aspects of the organization or destination, and the bureaucracy that exists within each of organization are barriers that have affected the implementation of sustainable tourism initiatives in the island. The corporate culture in the Island is one of the employees and local which are resistant to change though they realized the benefits associated with sustainable tourism initiatives such as reducing health problems in the community which arises from the lack of garbage collection. Generally this is because of the lack of education that the local people discouraged to participate in the sustainable tourism development. Another barrier to sustainable tourism development in the destination is related to government bureaucracy and corruption which usually arises in many developing coun tries. The provincial and national governments have consistently collected taxes from the Island without any investment in infrastructure or development of policy in the area. Moreover, in 1998 the provincial government of Western Nusa Dua developed the Gili Mantra Marine National Park strategy. However the marine park strategies were never implemented, but then it was the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust who implemented initiatives to stop illegal fishing to protect the reefs. Lastly, infrastructure or physical attributes such location and age of facilities are another barriers faced in the destination at the same time this closely related to the problem of having lack of resources on the Island to purchase new technologies. Despite if initiatives such as solar power or a sewage treatment plant were installed, it would be difficult to fix or adapt to the technologies due to the isolation of the Island. The Island also may have an issue on having no enough space or room for businesses to install composters to dispose organic waste. 5.0 Recommendation After indentifying the various barriers of implementing and achieving sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia, there could be some strategies or solutions to overcome the stated barriers which contribute to the development of sustainable tourism in Island of Gili Trawangan. The strategies can include the alternatives of composting, employing financial mechanism such as tourist taxes and developing a multi-stakeholder island committee to manage the development and implementation of sustainable tourism initiatives in the destination. Extensive consultation with the locals and all stakeholders on the Island who involves could be performed as well which this allows to motivate and support the implementation of sustainable initiatives in the area. Whereas, the inadequate of resources on the island particularly for financial resources should likely be obtained from outside or non-local interests since it might be difficult for local people in the destination to play a leading role as entrepreneurs in the tourism industry. Local government should also support for educational programs and tourism training on the island to improve the knowledge and skills of the people and therefore it will encourage them to participate in the development of sustainable tourism. 6.0 Conclusion Achieving sustainable tourism development is highly important to the island of Gili Trawangan in Indonesia, in which it will help in protecting and conserving the local resources while minimizing the negative impacts of tourism and benefiting the island communities. However, despite the efforts from a number of local businesses, various barriers exist and affect the implementation of achieving sustainability initiatives in the tourism industry in the destination. Yet, a cohesive and inclusive strategy still can be developed to move this tourist destination towards sustainability.