The white mountains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The white mountains - Essay Example Surprising tones were displayed among the bands of earth made visible by road cut-throughs. These bones of the mountains, the strata that reveal their core construction, only serve to heighten our perception of the volume of rock we’re seeing and the weight of patient time it has taken for wind and weather to sculpt the billowing rounded crests we see emerging around every angle we look. Even the chatter in the car during the drive takes on new dimensions with the changing scenery. While we start with discussions of a suitably frivolous nature, by the time we’ve hit the true mountains our conversation has taken on new weight and purpose. We begin discussing our destination point, The Old Man of the Mountain, and how it came to be. This was a rock formation chiseled out of a cliff’s edge by wind, water, weather and the natural rock fracturing that occurs as a result of constant changes in temperature. The formation closely resembled the features of a craggy old man in profile. The formation collapsed in 2003, the year after our visit. Our stories of how we’d first heard about the Old Man and how we eventually came to the decision to visit slowly began to taper off as the grandeur of the mountains surrounding us began working on our subconscious. With the revelation of each new vista, we began losing track of our conversation, allowing sentences t o dangle without completion as we were struck silently breathless at a new view. Then, suddenly, we were there, at the lookout point just off the freeway that affords a perfect view of the Old Man in profile as he gazes over a spectacular view of Profile Lake. The lake isn’t often mentioned in descriptions of the site and makes a stunning and sometimes surprising counterpoint to the face. He exists in awesome, mystifying reality, poking out from the side of the cliff in perfect detail. It is surprising to us how

The Line between Democracy and Totalitarianism in Lord of the Flies Ess

Golding immediately shows how voting procedures of a democratic society can help stop evil from taking over. During the first encounter between Jack and his choirboys and Ralph and his group, it becomes clear the differences in between both groups. Jack, during the first meeting, yells at the boys to â€Å"Stand Still!†(Golding 20) and even when â€Å"one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand† he makes the others choirboys move â€Å"the fallen boy to the platform and let him lie† (Golding 20). With this brief peek into the leadership of Jack, it is evident that Jack has no concern for the common men in his choir, furthering the illusion of his dictatorial skills. The theme of leaving the masses of common citizens uncared for, while the elites are given exclusive powers is a major notion of the totalitarian government. When these boys see how mistreated Jack’s choirboys are, the vote for chief is affected. When Ralph asks, â€Å"Who wants Jack for chief?† the choirboys â€Å"With dreary obedience [they] raised their hands†(Golding 23). Then, when Ralph asked, â€Å"Who wants me? Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand†(Golding 23). Evident here is how the public and Golding perceive the two contradicting types of government. This tiny glimpse shows that even when a dictator has all the power over his citizens, he cannot beat a democratically elected leader in an election. The undertone of this situation shows that citizens prefer a democratic leader that they elect than somebody who attempts to usurp the throne. While this was only the first time the two sides meet, the two sides only become more distanced by every time they meet. Furthermore, Golding uses frequent meetings to further es... ... until â€Å"the prodding became rhythmic†(Golding 182). Then, â€Å"Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority† (Golding 182). Samneric, in this situation, are illusions to the political opposition that are present in most totalitarian societies. Samneric are treated as political prisoners and bullied into keeping their mouths shut about their views and into accepting the new leader’s way of ruling, which is with an iron, unyielding fist. Golding, in this situation, tries to show the reader how a totalitarian government does not allow any opposition to the official government’s idea. If a person disagrees with the government, then it is better to keep that opinion to their self or face severe backlash from the government. All in all, Jack’s newly increased tribe only happened due to Jack using fear and brutality as a means to keep his tribe in line.

How Democratic Is the Uk?

How democratic is the UK? Democracy is a difficult concept to define, but as a simplification and a conventional definition, it is the people's right to choose and the right to say how the country is run. Democracy falls into many categories and comes in various different forms. One form is when power is in the hands of the population as a whole and political decisions are made themselves, this is known as direct democracy. An example of a direct democracy currently present in the UK is a referendum.Another form is representative democracy; in this case citizens will vote for representatives to create decisions for them and the responsibility is handed over to the representative to make decisions for the country. The representatives are also accountable to the electorate. The democratic elections are a crucial part of UK democracy. A core feature is free and fair elections. They are based on universal suffrage, which is when anybody eligible to vote has their own freedom of choice on which party to vote for without any influence.Your elected vote is also kept secret; this process is called the secret ballot. This prevents intimidation from other people and it prevents judgments made on your electoral choice. However there are four groups of people who are ‘unenfranchised’, these people are the homeless, imprisoned convicts, the mentally incapable and the lords. If you aren’t in any of those categories and you satisfy the requirements established by the law, you are then eligible to vote with the free rights of your own electoral choice. Under First Past The Post (FPTP) voting takes place in single-member constituencies.Voters put a cross in a box next to their favored candidate and the candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins. All other votes count for nothing. It’s clear and simple with clear choices and a simple outcome. It allows the voter to clearly express a view on which party they think should form the next govern ment. However, FPTP can be questioned, as it’s not entirely democratic. Representatives can get elected on a small proportion of public support as it doesn’t matter by how much they win, only that they get more votes than the other candidates which in effect wastes uge numbers of votes, as votes cast in a constituency for losing candidates, or for the winning candidate above the level they need to win that seat, count for nothing. FPTP is also disproportionate and biased towards labour or conservatives. This means the votes are of unequal value. Labour votes are inflated and Liberal Democrats votes are deflated. This therefore means the smaller parties have a significantly depleted chance of winning the votes and it will therefore tend to produce a two-party system, which in turn tends to produce single-party governments.Encouraging two party-party politics can be good, but in a multi-party culture, third parties with significant support can be greatly disadvantages, w hich means that it goes against the democracy of the UK. Consensus politics is when two major political parties, for example, the Conservative Party and Labour Party, are in agreement, or consensus, over certain basic government policies. The two parties still have small variations but they aren’t significant. They do this to gain voters from the middle ground. It reduces electoral choice because both parties share similar ideologies; it makes everything too similar without distinct variation.UK citizens have shown an obvious enthusiasm to vote for third parties and to clinch a form of political pluralism, which runs directly against the way FPTP operates. FPTP tends to produce a two-party system, which in turn tends to produce single-party governments. However, in a multi-party culture, third parties with significant support can be greatly disadvantaged. This is why FPTP doesn’t work as well as it used to have done. As the UK is changing in terms of politics, more par ties are getting involved however these parties have little or no chance in gaining support because of the unequal voting value.This is why I think the UK needs to improve on the FPTP system because it’s restricting it’s full democratic potential. The UK Parliament is built up of two Houses – the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons has 646 MPs. The political party with the majority of MPs in the House of Commons forms the Government. The House of Lords has approximately 700 unelected members who examine the work of the House of Commons. The UK Parliament is the main democratic body in the UK and is comprised of three parts: the House of Commons, the House of Lords nd the Sovereign. The UK is a parliamentary democracy and unlike many other democracies it does not have a written constitution. A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. A mass meeting, which is an unorgan ized group meeting open to all individuals in a sector of the population who are interested in to engage in long and careful concern about a subject proposed by the meeting's sponsors. This can include meetings to discuss common political concerns or community interests.This helps towards the democratic process of UK parliament because it in cooperates everybody’s opinion. Parliament is essential to the democratic process in the UK because it is elected by the popular vote, which is therefore democratic, however it has been criticized for being undemocratic because the 2nd Chamber is entirely unelected. This weakens the representative role of parliament. Party discipline also prevents MP’s from using their own judgment in representing their constituents; it also restricts freedom of debate and voting in the House of Commons.Also Parliament’s ability to scrutinize the executive is weak because the government of the day usually has majority control of the House of Commons. Overall, Parliament is strength because it does solely represent the population. However the 2nd chamber is entirely unelected, which does weaken the representative role of parliament but that can be an improved. However, parliament does not govern, its role is to check or constrain the government of the day and it also discusses the policies. Parliament calls the government to account on policies.For those reasons it’s not entirely significant that the 2nd chamber is unelected. Another core feature of UK democracy are pressure groups. They enhance democracy in the UK, because they give a political voice to minorities that are ignored by the majoritarian parliament system. They also provide a way in which citizens can exert influence between elections and they also enhance political participation. However pressure groups don’t have legitimacy and since pressure groups are unelected, they aren’t representative of the majority of the population. Some pre ssure groups have owerful, but unrepresentative leaders who may not be representative of anyone but themselves. Some leaders do not reflect the opinions of their organization’s members. However, pressure groups are enormously enhancing of the UK democratic system because it gives a political voice to minorities. They allow the population to politically participate and put pressure on the government on issues, which they may turn a blind eye to. This in my opinion is strength of the UK democratic system. Other parts of the UK democratic system enhance democracy in the UK, such as referendums, devolution, the E.U and civil rights. A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire population is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This increases political participation and involves the whole population. However, they can be non-binding. This means the government may not have to do what the results show. Devolution is also another feature of the UK democratic sy stem that increases democracy in the UK. Devolution is the transfer of power from central government to subordinate regional institutions.This means they pass down the powers or duties down from a higher authority to a lower one. This gives the constituent nations of the UK their own political voice. It refined representative democracy by allowing voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately to express their views about national issues. It also widens the opportunities available for political participation. However the effectiveness of devolution in promoting democracy can be questioned because it has limited powers. Devolution stops well short of ‘home rule’ or full self-government.Although the powers of devolved bodies have, in some cases, widened, major economic and foreign policy decisions are still made at Westminster. Devolution has also done nothing to advance representative democracy in England, which is where 84% of the UK’s population lives . In my opinion referendums are effective in enhancing democracy in the UK because it increases political participation and it allows for a raw opinion on what the public think about particular issues. However, the government can’t be held accountable because they’re not the ones making the decision in a situation where a referendum is used to decide a particular proposal). Devolution however is ineffective in some cases because it doesn’t advance democracy in England, where 84% of the UK’s population lives. However, it does allow for the smaller areas of the UK to focus on particular issues that may be affected by local problems rather than national problems (for example rural areas in Wales). To conclude I think the UK is democratic to a certain degree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone has the right to free and fair elections.However the UK is being limited by certain blockages in the democratic system such as FPTP. Issues with FPT P can be resolved to allow the UK to reach its full potential of democracy. In a multi-party culture, third parties with significant support can be greatly disadvantaged. This is why FPTP doesn’t work as well as it used to have done. As the UK is changing in terms of politics, more parties are getting involved however these parties have little or no chance in gaining support because of the unequal voting value.Strong points in the UK democratic features are pressure groups. They enhance the democracy in the UK, they allow the population to politically participate and put pressure on the government on issues, which they may turn a blind eye to. This in my opinion is strength of the UK democratic system. Referendums are also effective in enhancing democracy in the UK because it increases political participation and it allows for a raw opinion on what the public think about particular issues. So, to a certain degree, I think the United Kingdom has a strong democratic system.

The Confederate Flag Is A Flag Of Hate - 1163 Words

Is the Confederate flag really a flag of hate? Contrary to popular belief, the Confederate flag does not stand for racism, it stands for freedom. It stands for the men who lost their lives fighting for a doomed country, white and black. It stands for not letting others push you around and control you. I stands for the â€Å"bad side† in the Civil War. It is the proof that despite the fact that we boast about being stubborn, we are ignorant to the fact that all we do is follow the crowd. It represents a piece of history incredibly rich, yet so full of sorrow, that we are trying to erase. But people do not see this, they only see hate, and they are too oblivious to truly understand what this symbol of liberty stands for. This is why the†¦show more content†¦In fact, the Emancipation Proclamation states that only the slaves in the southern states were free, about 25% of the original slave population was still legally allowed to be enslaved. Lincoln himself admitted I wou ld do it if I were not afraid that half the officers would fling down their arms and three more states would rise. Meaning that he feared he would lose half his army (that all were â€Å"anti-slavery†) to the South, and three more states would rebel. This proves that he was more worried about losing the war (and the base of the Union economy), than slavery continuing. Also, there was a higher mortality rate for free slaves living in the north, this is why; factory work was one of the only jobs available to immigrants and former slaves. The conditions were horrendous, and most of them died doing a job that paid peanuts. If the Union was even more racist than the Confederacy, why did we become biased against Confederates? Before the war, Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the wealthiest men in the south, he was a slave trader and he used slaves to grow and sell cotton. He started as a private in the Civil War, but soon after joining, his military prowess was recognized and over the course of the war, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He was very talented, but ruthless, and he hated African Americans. After the battle of Fort Pillow, he ordered his men to massacre the African American