Report Dance of Life Popular Culture and Music in the Modern World Essay

Report Dance of Life Popular Culture and Music in the Modern World - Essay Example In so far as music is the focus f this study, it is the contents f popular songs that structure the main arguments, specifically, the political motivations reflected in, and further generated by these songs as they are created, performed, and consumed in varying ways by different social agents. The first chapter is exemplary in its theoretical breadth, incorporating varying discursive modes from Frankfurt theorists, Birmingham School f Cultural Studies, ethnomusicology, media, and popular music' studies. Lockard drawls on different ethnographic examples to substantiate his discussion f the popular culture phenomenon in the contexts f modernity, post-imperialism, and technological mediation. He defines "popular music" as a musical phenomenon that is "disseminated largely by the mass media", and that functions as a social commodity, the production and distribution f which depends on "a clientele able and willing to purchase the commodity" (pp. 18-19). This chapter explores the current situation f popular music studies and examines the significance f such studies (or the lack f it). More importantly, it summarizes the prevailing academic trends in popular music and popular culture research, and serves as an excellent introduction to this field f cultural studies. Book's first chapter is a survey f a variety f philosophical approaches to popular music. Lockard views popular culture as an arena f contradiction and struggle, and potentially, f resistance; he rejects the Frankfurt School's view that it is too standardized and degraded to be f value. The first chapter alone has 212 notes. This density f documentation at times makes for choppy reading, especially in paragraphs that career through several disjointed subjects. Though Lockard has taken pains to discover all f the English-language academic studies f the region's music, he also relies on many journalistic accounts from newspapers, weekly news magazines, and consumer guides to world music. These sources are uneven in quality and often anecdotal in their coverage, and they lack detailed documentation. Further, the nature f the Western press is to seek subjects that are interesting (i.e., outlandish or confrontational) but have a glimmer f familiarity to their audience--topics like teenager rebellion or a third-world Dylan. Lockard provides a well-informed social context in each chapter, and illuminates the historical and contemporary political junctures that have characterized each country from approximately the 1940s to the present. With this rich contextual background, he then proceeds to trace the historical significance f various popular music forms, such as the Kroncong and Dangdut in Indonesia, Pinoy in the Philippines. He pays particular attention to the emergence f the mass media and state control f the media in each country, and also explores various political movements in which musicians played decisive roles. In the process, Lockard examines the social complex created by the intersection f popular music, dictatorship, regionalism, nationalism, religion, mass mediation, and cultural imperialism. Lockard's narrative analyses popular music in local and transnational contexts,

Child Responsibilities Essay Example for Free

Child Responsibilities Essay Many parents may be very strict on their kids when it comes to doing things like playing with fire, using power tools, having a job, or even owning a pocket knife, but I on the other hand, disagree. Although I understand that it’s very dangerous for kids to be handling such things, it also builds their character. You wouldn’t just allow any kid to be in charge of such thing, they must have maturity and responsibility up to a certain point to be able to be trusted in these situations. A speech titled â€Å"5 Dangerous Things you should let your kid do† by Gever Tulley on TED.com talks about kids who are allowed and even encouraged to do things most parents would never dare to let their kids be involved in. Tulley discusses how kids who participate in these activities build strong character. It’s good for kids to be in these kinds of environments as long as they already have responsibility up to a certain level. An issue similar to this that is thrown around in politic and economic discussions now days is child labor. Should we allow kids to have jobs? Should families who are economically struggling allow their kids to work in order to bring in enough food and necessities to the family? I don’t see a problem in child labor. Like Tulley, I agree with these ideas and think they build better personalities and make a child more understanding. Although, I do not think that a family should be able to force a kid to work, it’s also important to a kid’s childhood that they get a chance to be a kid, and not have to worry about work. The earlier a person starts working, the bigger chance they have to be successful in life. I can understand why some parent’s wouldn’t be willing to let their kids be in such environments, these environments can be very unsafe sometimes. A kid could have the possibility of cutting a finger off, or doing something that they would have to live with for the rest of their lives, but with adult supervision this is less likely to happen. Although UNICEF has stated that children are more likely to get hurt then adults because they have yet to learn what not to do, we have to understand that getting hurt can happen in any activity that a person participates in, that’s just part of life.

Confession of Moral Bankruptcy Essay -- Sex Offenders Crime Essays

Confession of Moral Bankruptcy State and local governments are both challenged by the problems of sexual predators. This issue has been addressed at the federal level for many years, but now state and local governments are being given the responsibility to change policy. What this paper will examine are three major issues. This paper will examine what state and local governments are doing in context to the civil commitment issue. Secondly, once sexual predators are given the opportunity to return to society there is always the fear that they will commit crimes again. Therefore, all fifty states have some form of a sexual predator registry. Third, states and communities are beginning to prevent sexual predators from moving into areas where they are not identified by community notification laws, more commonly known as Megan’s Law. In order to address these problems, state and local governments are passing new legislation to help deal with these issues. In the last ten years, state and local governments have begun to legislate policy changes on the issue of sexual predators and most are still deciding how to make it work within their own locality. Once sexual predators have served their time in prison, there remains the daunting question of will they relapse back to their former state, or even a more fearful question of have they even been cured of this illness? According to John Leo of the US News and World Report, â€Å"The state has an obligation to defend the public from dangerous criminals. Is it really helpless to act if a violent inmate with a long record says he plans to mutilate and kill children when released? To say authorities can’t do anything but wait for a child to be murdered is a confession of moral bankruptcy.... ...iminary Report.† International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparitive Criminology. Galveston: Sage Publications, 2003. Office of the Attroney General, 2003, â€Å"Kilgore Files Richard Ausley Civil Commitment Petition - Convicted Pedophile Faces Criminal Trial Prior to Civil Commitment Hearing -† Retrieved on 4-25-04. http://www.oag.state.va.us/media%20center/Current%20AG%20News%20 Releases/080503_ PrimeTime, 2001, â€Å"Predators Among Us: PrimeTime Investigates Release of Dangerous Sexual Offenders† Retrived on 4-25-04. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/2020/PRIMETIME_010621_classof91_featur e.html Roberts, Julian V., et al. Penal Populism and Public Opinion. New York: Oxford Press, 2003. Teir, Robert and Kevin Coy. Approaches to Sexual Predators: Community Notification and Civil Commitment. New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement 1997.

Arabic Mythology Essay

Like any other culture, ancient Arabs believed in demons, devils and the like, or at least they had stories about these things whether or not they believed those stories were true. Like everybody else they had their own mythology. Some of these stories are not really famous even for native speakers, like the story of how the rooster lost its ability to fly, or the legend which states that a very long time ago everything was able to talk; And some other stories are well-known (at least for those who DO read) like the ogres and poetry Genies. Arabs have a long-forgotten term which says â€Å"when everythingQ was talking† to describe something that happened a long time ago, especially in the pre-historic era. The root of this term is that ancient Arabs believed that everything -everything including animals and rocks- had the ability to talk at one point in history. And a lot of Arabian legends took place at that part of history. One example of this is the story of how did the rooster lost its ability to fly. The story goes like that: the rooster and the crow were drinking together until they finished all the drinks they had. So the crow told the rooster that he would bring more drinks and food if he gave him his wings and the rooster agreed. Needless to say, the crow never returned them and that is why the rooster crows every morning. He is calling the crow at the same time he took his wings. Most of the paranormal Arabian stories take place in the desert with a single hero. There are just so many Arabian stories about encounters with paranormal creatures in the desert. Some of them are friendly like poetry demons or genies and some are not like ogres. Also there are some stories about heroes like â€Å"Ta-ab-ba-ta_Sha-run†, a real man who became a legend because of all the stories that were made up about him. He was described as â€Å"The fastest man when he run, and the strongest when he fights. His spear when thrown is like winter’s wind†¦etc† and he had so many encounters with demons and ogres in the desert. One of these encounters gave him his name when he fought an ogre bare-handed and killed it in â€Å"Raha-Bitan†. Then he carried it to his people under his armpit so they gave him his name which means â€Å"the one who carry evil ender his armpit. † Unfortunately he was a thief in a lot of stories. When talking about pre-Islamic Arabs you can consider the demons and the Genies to be the same. Genies were famous as excellent poets, and Arabs believed that every human poet had a Genie friend who inspires him with verses, even if he didn’t know about it. The genie is called â€Å"Ra-Ei, this word is driven from the verb ‘to see’ and ‘realizing what is behind the seen’. And from a noun mean seeing the future – or predicting it – ether in real life or a dream that turns true. When you talk about a poet and his genie you say that the poet is the Genie’s â€Å"Elf† and the genie is the poet’s â€Å"Ra-Ei†. Elf is a word driven from â€Å"Elfah† which means a close relationship or feeling comfortable with a person or a thing that you get used to. Also some say that the Genie is born with you and you are stuck together forever, while others said that you do not born with a Genie but you can have one later. People said that the Genies come from a valley named â€Å"Abqar/Abkar† and their master is setting under â€Å"the poetry tree†, the root for all rhythms and verses in the world. It is said that you will become a poet if you sleep in that valley for one night and you will meet your genie. All poetry Genies belong there even if they didn’t actually live there. A genie doesn’t necessarily need to be physically near his human friend to inspire him with verses so some Genies decide to stay there. Some famous poets claimed that they know their Genie and gave him a name, and some of them said that they met their Genie personally. Like ‘Abu-Nawas’ and ‘Al-Faraz-daq’ who both claimed that the head Genie is their â€Å"Ra-Ei†. Nowadays, we know that almost all mythologies are wrong, but that is not a reason to forget them because the value of mythology does not lay in its veracity but in its role as a part of history and culture.

Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness In the book, â€Å"You Learn by Living,† Eleanor Roosevelt notes: â€Å"Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product†(Roosevelt 95). When one’s specific desire is fulfilled, feelings of happiness flourish. Therefore, happiness is the ultimate goal in life for many people in today’s society because their life revolves around desire. That said, everyone’s interpretation of happiness varies. Some may believe wealth and power will bring them happiness, while others might argue that beauty and popularity will keep them happy.Whatever the recipe of happiness may be, the product is universal—they all generate feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Temporary pleasure and satisfaction, that is. What if the word â€Å"eternal† was inserted into the definition of happiness to say that it was a state of eternal well-being and contentment? How would one sought to pursue this form of happiness? At the start of Book One of The Consolation of Philosophy, Ancius Boethius, a learned official of the Roman Empire who awaits execution for unjust accusations, desolately rests in his jail cell, writing poetry and contemplating on life with the Muses of Poetry.He is soon interrupted by Philosophy, who appears to him in the form of a lovely woman that is â€Å"full of years, yet possesses a vivid color and undiminished vigor† (Boethius 2). As a physician treating a patient would, Lady Philosophy diagnoses Boethius with a serious illness, which she says she is here to cure, unlike the Muses she calls â€Å"hysterical sluts†(Boethius 2) who is only here to take Reason away from him. When asked to â€Å"discover his wounds†, Boethius begins to moan about the loss of good fortune: his wealth, his power, his friends, and even contact with his family.He goes on to complain that he is suffering unjustly in a state of complete innocence, blaming Fortune for taking away these goods. As for Lady Philoso phy, whether or not Boethius is a â€Å"victim of Fortune† (Boethius 4), as he calls himself, is simply not important. The fact that Boethius has fallen under Fortune's spell, and forgotten three important things: his true nature, the end and purpose of things, and the means by which the world is governed (Boethius, 10), seem to be the bigger issue since they are the main causes of his illness.Throughout all five books of The Consolations of Philosophy, in her intent to cure Boethius’ disease, Lady Philosophy corrects Boethius of the errors that caused his illness–the main error being his misconception of how happiness can be achieved. When told of Boethius’ sudden reversal of fortune, rather than feeling pity and empathy, Lady Philosophy scolds Boethius for mourning over tangible and earthly things like fame, wealth, and power. These â€Å"goods†, or rather â€Å"false goods† can deceive to bring happiness, but it fails to satisfy the true, eternal soul.Wealth and power were merely gifts from Fortune that temporarily visited him by the wheel of Fortune. Moreover, Lady Philosophy is able to prove that they are in fact false goods because they were taken away from Boethius; they did not belong to Boethius. Lady Philosophy tells Boethius, â€Å"Be not overcome by your misfortunes, for the gifts of fortune are fleeting and happiness is not to be found in temporal goods†(Boethius 21). The things that are thought to make us happy, wealth, honor, and power, have no actual value or power and therefore cannot truly make someone a happy person.Lady Philosophy further explains how these false goods only evoke feelings of negativity. Wealth only leads oneself to greed and further protection of himself, honor creates jealousy, and power is meaningless because it does not last. Lady Philosophy explains: â€Å"Why, the prefecture, which was once a great power, is now but an empty name†(Boethius 23). These lesser goods, which hold less power than mankind, cannot drive one to live a happy life; only a greater good that is more powerful than man possesses that power. This leads to the next question: How is true happiness achieved?In Book Two of The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy thoroughly explains true happiness: â€Å"If I ask you whether there is anything more precious to you than your own self, you will say no. So if you are in possession of yourself you will possess something you would never wish to lose and something Fortune could never take away†(Boethius 23). She says that happiness can't consist in things governed by chance because true happiness cannot be taken away. She goes on to explain that nothing on earth can bring true happiness—not one that is eternal.The common belief of all mankind agrees that God, the supreme of the Heavens and the Earth is the highest good. True happiness comes from the desire for the perfect itself and the perfect Good—God. The refore, one can only attain true happiness through the pursuit of God through intellectual and spiritual means. On page 23 of Book Three, Lady Philosophy says: â€Å"Only by being like God, who is the highest good, can lasting happiness come to man. † Everyone desires happiness, and happiness is identical with the good, therefore God and true happiness is of neness. She also says that the good gain their reward automatically, since by being good, they attain the good, which is happiness. Furthermore, only our spirit and intellect can lead us to the true good—the true happiness of the soul, God. As a strong believer, and child of God, it is only sensible that I agree with Lady Philosophy on her reasoning that only one higher power offers true happiness. The all-powerful Creator of humankind motivates man to live a good, virtuous life under Him, which, according to Lady Philosophy defines true happiness.Seeking God, in many ways, is parallel to seeking true happiness. Th e bible, which quotes the words of God, in many cases, teaches the man in God to strive for the higher goods that make up true happiness and, to keep away from what are the evils of false happiness in not only religious terms, but also philosophical terms. In Psalms 37:4 of the New International Bible, it says â€Å"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. † The desires that the bible verse refers to are not casual wants that nature longs for, but innermost desires that satisfy the inner soul—the true goods.The bible disfavors certain desires, in which Lady Philosophy would consider â€Å"false goods† and the Bible refers to â€Å"lusts. † These desires are often described as cravings that long to satisfy physical appetite, like food, alcohol, sex, money, and pleasure. Once man rids himself of desire, he begins to be carefree, letting the mind be emotionally free, free of worry, confident, and at inner peace, reaching a state of happiness under God. Lastly, God rules the universe for the highest good, so man works to move toward that good according to their own will to be obedient towards the highest good, God.As I have begun to discuss above, I strongly believe that living a life for a higher power, rather than oneself, creates an optimistic state of mind, resulting in a more satisfied, happier person. Research shows that that religious people are happier and less stressed. Once one understands that the world is not governed by Fortune, but by a reasonable Creator, unhappiness becomes absent because he is agreeing to Divine Providence. Giving reason to everything that happens makes life less distressful.Rather than staying in a state of despair, only a person in God understands that suffering leads to the sanity of reason and therefore, with suffering, happiness will be awarded at the end. It can also be said that the person in God is not only happy, but also virtuous because being â€Å"goodâ⠂¬  consists of being virtuous. In relation to what Lady Philosophy defines as false happiness in The Consolation of Philosophy, someone who seems to have everything that most people desire, often times, suffers from severe depression. Marilyn Monroe is a great example.She had everything that many seem to think brings happiness—beauty, wealth, fame, sex appeal, and popularity—but she ended her life in suicide. It can be further argued that happiness consisting of anything other than the one God, cannot be everlasting. While these so-called â€Å"false goods† temporally satisfies one’s self, the one real true good, the Creator, provides consolation that is eternal. In comparison to lesser goods, faith is a consistent element of happiness and good health. In explaining happiness to Boethius, Lady Philosophy says, â€Å"Why, then, O mortal men, do you seek that happiness outside, which lies within yourselves? True happiness cannot be found through the sens es. Happiness comes from within one’s soul. It is not external. It is a by-product of an inner condition. It is not simply a temporary indulgence of pleasure. If one lives only for personal happiness, he will probably never find it. As American social writer and philosopher, Eric Hoffer said, â€Å"The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness. † Getting rid of the longing for false goods, or evil desires, is the first step of achieving true happiness—one that will last forever!