Monday, February 11, 2019
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Individualistic
Its been more than an year since I last penned something for my blog. The last few weeks has been very refreshing. I got hooked to this TV series named MadMen. The show is based on an advertisement agency in the 60s. I feel the TV series lays out the individualist fervor of the USA in the 60s. The intellectuals and producers of the society blazing ahead amidst their personal lives intertwined with challenges and weaknesses.
At times I get tempted to view my own persona against each of the characters in the movie. Say Pete Cambell, the convining and yet the successful head of accounts. He strives to get ahead of the game by winning accounts. It seems like he would not hesitate to pull the trigger and make a kill, even if it involves crossing the moral or ethical boundaries. In his own mind, he seems to think that he is the intellectual and others need to fall in line with his thinking process.
Then there is the central character Don Draper, inspite of his personal fallacy, he is the objective thinker. His individualistic thinking embodies the true character of men of grit that build the USA. In a way he is the mentor for most of the characters in the series. I can sense the steely resolve that wants to be righteous and be very fair with all of the people around him.
Another stronger personality Peggy, who actually works her way from being a secretary to become head of creative. Most of us have been in Peggy's role at sometime in our life. We follow the ever right and true mentor and will metamorphosize into someone of similar virtue.
In a text book setting of Philosophy, I always wonder where my place will reside. Am I a thinking person of rationale? Or would I be submerged in the world of mystics who fear the unknown and follow a path laid out by the brutes?
At times I get tempted to view my own persona against each of the characters in the movie. Say Pete Cambell, the convining and yet the successful head of accounts. He strives to get ahead of the game by winning accounts. It seems like he would not hesitate to pull the trigger and make a kill, even if it involves crossing the moral or ethical boundaries. In his own mind, he seems to think that he is the intellectual and others need to fall in line with his thinking process.
Then there is the central character Don Draper, inspite of his personal fallacy, he is the objective thinker. His individualistic thinking embodies the true character of men of grit that build the USA. In a way he is the mentor for most of the characters in the series. I can sense the steely resolve that wants to be righteous and be very fair with all of the people around him.
Another stronger personality Peggy, who actually works her way from being a secretary to become head of creative. Most of us have been in Peggy's role at sometime in our life. We follow the ever right and true mentor and will metamorphosize into someone of similar virtue.
In a text book setting of Philosophy, I always wonder where my place will reside. Am I a thinking person of rationale? Or would I be submerged in the world of mystics who fear the unknown and follow a path laid out by the brutes?
Friday, September 02, 2011
Structural Violence in Employment Based Legal Immigration
The word violence conjures up images of physical or mental assault on a person. Violence is normally seen as harm inflicted upon a person by another individual or group of individuals. However, there is another form of violence known as structural violence where individuals are clearly harmed by the rules or procedures laid out by the system. We live in a society embedded with well-defined systems like the school system for educating our kids, the road traffic system for proper movement of vehicles or immigration system to help people immigrate to the USA. In the current day and age, the topic of immigration brings into limelight the discussion of illegal immigration. The mere mention of the word illegal immigration incites passionate debate among people from both sides of the aisle. On the contrary, very little is mentioned about legal immigration in the news media. Employment based immigration is one form of legal immigration to the USA. The applicants for employment based immigration have to endure severe hardship with regards to delays in the process, restriction on job changes and difficulty with work authorization for spouses. A candidate for employment based immigration is clearly disadvantaged by the immigration process hence that individual falls within the realm of structural violence.
The term structural violence was originally created by Johan Galtung, to highlight all the disadvantages faced by humans due to economic and political structures (Winter and Leighton 1). In their article, Winter and Leighton mentions that “structural violence occurs whenever people are disadvantaged by political, legal, economic or cultural traditions. Because they are longstanding, structural inequities usually seem ordinary, the way things are and always have been” (1). On a similar note, the authors of the article “Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine” explicitly bring out the meaning of the term structural violence. They specify that in a social setting “the arrangements are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of our social world; they are violent because they cause injury to people” (Farmer, et al. 1). The system in order to restrain an individual will use legal framework, political ideology or social and cultural traditions. It harms the individuals in the long run by curbing their growth. One such system that needs further analysis is the employment based legal immigration process.
A candidate for employment based immigration has to follow several steps to obtain permanent residency. The state travel department website points out that the first step in this process is labor certification which is filed by the employer of the candidate. The date of labor certification sets the priority date for employment based immigration. After the approval of labor certification, the “employer then files an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the appropriate employment-based preference category” (“Employment Based Immigrant Visas”). The I-140 procedure forms the second stage. The subsequent approval of I-140, leads to the third stage, where the candidate is assigned a visa number if his priority date matches the qualifying date (“Employment Based Immigrant Visas”). Since there are numerical limitations each year for the number of visas for each country, the qualifying dates are retrogressed for candidates from heavily subscribed countries (“Visa Bulletin”).
The numerical visa limitation per country makes several candidates from retrogressed countries wait for decades to obtain their green cards. Cyrus D. Mehta in his article “Adjustment of Status Interview After Decades,” clearly highlights the briefing by Jeff Gorsky of the State Department Visa Office to an Indian interest group, stating that employment based immigration wait period for some categories can easily extend beyond 40 years. Mehta emphasizes the fact that candidates from India and China will be most affected with delay, since they are from heavily over-subscribed countries. The State Department officials have openly accepted the fact that there are delays that extend beyond several decades. This reflects how deep rooted the problem persists for employment based immigrations. Thus the system’s failure places the person’s immigration status in a limbo for decades.
Another issue that stands out among employment based immigrant community is the inherent restriction imposed by the process on job movement. The labor certification process is tied to the job. Vivek Wadhwa in his article “America’s Other Immigration Crisis” pin points the fact that once a candidate starts the process, he has to remain in that same job and would have to deny any upward job movement or else he would lose his slot in the immigration queue (Wadhwa). This definitely places the candidates in a quandary, since they have to remain in the same jobs for years, if not decades. These restrictions on individuals which does not allow them to grow to their full capability for no fault of their own, clearly depicts the faults in the immigration system.
The immigration system also imposes impediments on the spouses of these immigration applicants by not allowing them to seek employment. Wadhwa exemplifies the issues faced by spouses in his paper by drawing attention to the story of Sanjay Mavinkurve. Wadhwa notes that Sanjay had a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Harvard University. He was involved with companies like Facebook and employed with Google. However his work visa restricted his highly educated investment banker wife from obtaining employment in the USA. Thus Sanjay had to leave the USA and seek employment in Canada. Wadhwa also adds that the spouses of the candidates cannot get social security numbers. Hence it becomes much harder for them to open a bank account or obtain driver’s license (Wadhwa). It becomes clear that the immigration system has rules and regulations that restrict the spouse’s developments with regards to their careers and other financial freedom.
The opponents of employment based immigration argue that this type of immigration suppresses labor wages and reduces the demand for that field. Wadhwa in his article emphasizes that employment based immigration bring foreign workers at reduced wages. As per the law, these workers are supposed to be paid wages determined by the Department of Labor. In the field of technology a person’s salary is determined by his skills and competence. So employers misuse the system by paying average salaries to highly competent foreign born workers. This suppresses the wages for all the workers in that field (Wadhwa 37). Alan Tonelson, a research fellow of The U.S Business and Industry Council Education Foundation, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, that suppressing wages in the technology sector might provide short term benefits to those industries but it will make those sectors less attractive to American students. Hence very few students would pursue careers in those fields. This will affect research and development in the long run for the technology sector (Tonelson). Both Wadhwa and Tonelson have explicitly stated the ill-effects of employment based immigration but these disadvantages are perpetuated by the corporations and not by the applicants of the immigration process. These candidates of the employment based immigration system have followed the law and yet the system unfairly restricts these individuals and their family members from growing to their full potentials. Any restriction that needs to be implemented should be more focused on preventing the corporations from misusing the system for their own profits.
The immigration system is laid out in such a way that candidates of employment based immigrations are unfairly made to wait for decades. They are not allowed to make upward job movements during that period and also their spouses are restricted from seeking any form of employment. The waiting period of several decades keeps the immigration status of the person in an uncertainty which prevents the person from fully integrating with the American society. Also the inability to accept promotions at work in order to maintain their slot in the immigration queue definitely hampers the growth of the person professionally. Employment restriction on the spouses hinders them from providing financial support to the family. Thus employment based immigration system is structured in such a way that it limits its applicants from growing to their full potential. For no fault of their own, they have to suffer the hardship at different levels due to the fallacy of the immigration system. These hardships can distinctly be viewed as a form of violence due to the way immigration system is structured. Hence candidates of employment based immigration system clearly undergo structural violence. The employment based immigrants are at the mercy of the immigration system and thus have to suffer the violence inflicted by the system. An easy fix to the structural inadequacies of the immigration system involves implementing changes in the law. A onetime visa number increase needs to be adhered to clear all the applicants from the backlogs. This will remove the decade long waits needed for immigrants from certain retrogressed countries. There should be no upward job movement restriction on the candidates. The spouses of the candidates must be allowed to seek employment if they are eligible to be employed. Loop holes with regards to wage determination must be closed to prevent corporations from taking undue advantage of the system. These few changes will go a long way in alleviating the misery caused due to structural violence in the employment based immigration system in the USA.
Works sited
"Employment-Based Immigrant Visas." Welcome to Travel.State.Gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2011..
Farmer, Paul E., Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, and Salmaan Keshavjee. "Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine." PLoS Medicine 3.10 (2006): 1686-691. Print.
Mehta, Cyrus D. "Adjustment of Status Interview after Decades." Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, PLLC ~ US Immigration & Nationality Law. N.p., 15 June 2009. Web. 04 Apr. 2011..
Tonelson, Alan, "Employment Based Permanent Immigration." FDCH Congressional Testimony (n.d.):Military & Government Collection. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
"Visa Bulletin for April 2011." Welcome to Travel.State.Gov. N.p., 08 Mar. 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011..
Wadhwa, Vivek. "America's Other Immigration Crisis." SiliconIndia: India's Largest Professional Network. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 04 Apr. 2011..
Winter, Deborah Du Nann., and Dana C. Leighton. "Structural Violence." Ed. D. D. Winter. Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Ed. Daniel J. Christie and Richard V. Wagner. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 1-5. Print.
The term structural violence was originally created by Johan Galtung, to highlight all the disadvantages faced by humans due to economic and political structures (Winter and Leighton 1). In their article, Winter and Leighton mentions that “structural violence occurs whenever people are disadvantaged by political, legal, economic or cultural traditions. Because they are longstanding, structural inequities usually seem ordinary, the way things are and always have been” (1). On a similar note, the authors of the article “Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine” explicitly bring out the meaning of the term structural violence. They specify that in a social setting “the arrangements are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of our social world; they are violent because they cause injury to people” (Farmer, et al. 1). The system in order to restrain an individual will use legal framework, political ideology or social and cultural traditions. It harms the individuals in the long run by curbing their growth. One such system that needs further analysis is the employment based legal immigration process.
A candidate for employment based immigration has to follow several steps to obtain permanent residency. The state travel department website points out that the first step in this process is labor certification which is filed by the employer of the candidate. The date of labor certification sets the priority date for employment based immigration. After the approval of labor certification, the “employer then files an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the appropriate employment-based preference category” (“Employment Based Immigrant Visas”). The I-140 procedure forms the second stage. The subsequent approval of I-140, leads to the third stage, where the candidate is assigned a visa number if his priority date matches the qualifying date (“Employment Based Immigrant Visas”). Since there are numerical limitations each year for the number of visas for each country, the qualifying dates are retrogressed for candidates from heavily subscribed countries (“Visa Bulletin”).
The numerical visa limitation per country makes several candidates from retrogressed countries wait for decades to obtain their green cards. Cyrus D. Mehta in his article “Adjustment of Status Interview After Decades,” clearly highlights the briefing by Jeff Gorsky of the State Department Visa Office to an Indian interest group, stating that employment based immigration wait period for some categories can easily extend beyond 40 years. Mehta emphasizes the fact that candidates from India and China will be most affected with delay, since they are from heavily over-subscribed countries. The State Department officials have openly accepted the fact that there are delays that extend beyond several decades. This reflects how deep rooted the problem persists for employment based immigrations. Thus the system’s failure places the person’s immigration status in a limbo for decades.
Another issue that stands out among employment based immigrant community is the inherent restriction imposed by the process on job movement. The labor certification process is tied to the job. Vivek Wadhwa in his article “America’s Other Immigration Crisis” pin points the fact that once a candidate starts the process, he has to remain in that same job and would have to deny any upward job movement or else he would lose his slot in the immigration queue (Wadhwa). This definitely places the candidates in a quandary, since they have to remain in the same jobs for years, if not decades. These restrictions on individuals which does not allow them to grow to their full capability for no fault of their own, clearly depicts the faults in the immigration system.
The immigration system also imposes impediments on the spouses of these immigration applicants by not allowing them to seek employment. Wadhwa exemplifies the issues faced by spouses in his paper by drawing attention to the story of Sanjay Mavinkurve. Wadhwa notes that Sanjay had a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Harvard University. He was involved with companies like Facebook and employed with Google. However his work visa restricted his highly educated investment banker wife from obtaining employment in the USA. Thus Sanjay had to leave the USA and seek employment in Canada. Wadhwa also adds that the spouses of the candidates cannot get social security numbers. Hence it becomes much harder for them to open a bank account or obtain driver’s license (Wadhwa). It becomes clear that the immigration system has rules and regulations that restrict the spouse’s developments with regards to their careers and other financial freedom.
The opponents of employment based immigration argue that this type of immigration suppresses labor wages and reduces the demand for that field. Wadhwa in his article emphasizes that employment based immigration bring foreign workers at reduced wages. As per the law, these workers are supposed to be paid wages determined by the Department of Labor. In the field of technology a person’s salary is determined by his skills and competence. So employers misuse the system by paying average salaries to highly competent foreign born workers. This suppresses the wages for all the workers in that field (Wadhwa 37). Alan Tonelson, a research fellow of The U.S Business and Industry Council Education Foundation, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, that suppressing wages in the technology sector might provide short term benefits to those industries but it will make those sectors less attractive to American students. Hence very few students would pursue careers in those fields. This will affect research and development in the long run for the technology sector (Tonelson). Both Wadhwa and Tonelson have explicitly stated the ill-effects of employment based immigration but these disadvantages are perpetuated by the corporations and not by the applicants of the immigration process. These candidates of the employment based immigration system have followed the law and yet the system unfairly restricts these individuals and their family members from growing to their full potentials. Any restriction that needs to be implemented should be more focused on preventing the corporations from misusing the system for their own profits.
The immigration system is laid out in such a way that candidates of employment based immigrations are unfairly made to wait for decades. They are not allowed to make upward job movements during that period and also their spouses are restricted from seeking any form of employment. The waiting period of several decades keeps the immigration status of the person in an uncertainty which prevents the person from fully integrating with the American society. Also the inability to accept promotions at work in order to maintain their slot in the immigration queue definitely hampers the growth of the person professionally. Employment restriction on the spouses hinders them from providing financial support to the family. Thus employment based immigration system is structured in such a way that it limits its applicants from growing to their full potential. For no fault of their own, they have to suffer the hardship at different levels due to the fallacy of the immigration system. These hardships can distinctly be viewed as a form of violence due to the way immigration system is structured. Hence candidates of employment based immigration system clearly undergo structural violence. The employment based immigrants are at the mercy of the immigration system and thus have to suffer the violence inflicted by the system. An easy fix to the structural inadequacies of the immigration system involves implementing changes in the law. A onetime visa number increase needs to be adhered to clear all the applicants from the backlogs. This will remove the decade long waits needed for immigrants from certain retrogressed countries. There should be no upward job movement restriction on the candidates. The spouses of the candidates must be allowed to seek employment if they are eligible to be employed. Loop holes with regards to wage determination must be closed to prevent corporations from taking undue advantage of the system. These few changes will go a long way in alleviating the misery caused due to structural violence in the employment based immigration system in the USA.
Works sited
"Employment-Based Immigrant Visas." Welcome to Travel.State.Gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
Farmer, Paul E., Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, and Salmaan Keshavjee. "Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine." PLoS Medicine 3.10 (2006): 1686-691. Print.
Mehta, Cyrus D. "Adjustment of Status Interview after Decades." Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, PLLC ~ US Immigration & Nationality Law. N.p., 15 June 2009. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
Tonelson, Alan, "Employment Based Permanent Immigration." FDCH Congressional Testimony (n.d.):Military & Government Collection. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
"Visa Bulletin for April 2011." Welcome to Travel.State.Gov. N.p., 08 Mar. 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
Wadhwa, Vivek. "America's Other Immigration Crisis." SiliconIndia: India's Largest Professional Network. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 04 Apr. 2011.
Winter, Deborah Du Nann., and Dana C. Leighton. "Structural Violence." Ed. D. D. Winter. Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Ed. Daniel J. Christie and Richard V. Wagner. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 1-5. Print.
Friday, June 03, 2011
Structural Violence the Unseen Violence
The term violence brings to memory an image of physical or emotional assault on a person. In most circumstances, the person affected due to violence is aware that a violent action has been performed on that person. There is another form of violence where the affected individual, in most cases are unaware of the violence inflicted upon them. These types of violence are termed as structural violence. Structural violence is a form of invisible violence setup by a well-defined system, to limit an individual’s development to his full potential, by using legal, political, social or cultural traditions (Winter and Leighton, 1).
The term structural violence was originally phrased by Johan Galtung, to highlight all the disadvantages faced by humans due to economic and political structures (Winter and Leighton, 1). Human beings lives within the boundaries of accepted norms, setup by society. Sometimes the society lays out the structure for living, in such a way that it hinders the person from growing to their full ability. This form of hindrances which stops the person from fully utilizing his potential due to intentional layout of a system or structure, by the society, can correctly be termed as structural violence. The authors of the article Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine explicitly brings out the meaning of the term structural violence. They specify that in a social setting “the arrangements are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of our social world; they are violent because they cause injury to people” (Farmer et al. 1). The system in order to restrain an individual will use legal framework, political ideology or social and cultural traditions.
According to 2006 PLoS medical journal on the study of ethno graphics in context of migrants in USA, structural racism and anti-immigration policies have led to poorer health and living conditions. The research clearly shows how ethnicity and citizenship status is directly tied to an individual’s health status and health care experiences (Holmes, 1787-88). We know that immigration to USA is regulated by law. The political hierarchy has framed the legal law in such a way that immigrants do not enjoy the same privileges as citizens. The apparent differences between people who are citizens and non-citizens is so inherent, that the disadvantaged non-citizens accept it with little outlet for protest. Since it is the law of the land, non-citizens willingly accepts the structural violence inflicted upon them due to immigration related issues.
In recent months we have seen political unrest in Tunisia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. In each of these countries the political leadership had amassed immense power and was using these powers to restrain and limit their countrymen from development. The ruling class clearly had formed a political structure with a clear agenda to inhibit the growth of their fellow citizens. In the past few decades, people from these countries have endured structural violence due to political hegemony. Exposure to western media has made the people realize the advantage of distributed power. Hence these countries are witnessing a surge of protest, with people fighting against the system. Parsons emphasizes on the distribution of political power and its effects throughout his article.
If a society then equalizes the distribution of power, all will possess equal amounts of it and hereby equally be objects of either structural violence or structural peace. As a result, structural violence could be collectively reduced because all have the power to end such avoidable needs deprivations. Presumably such a collective choice to end suffering would be in their immediate interest. (Parsons, 177).
So a proper distribution of political power can reduce structural violence and orient it towards structural peace.
Social and cultural traditions have been used to restrain women for generations. In most South Asian cultures, women have been raised to believe that they are inferior to men. These women have been brought up with the mind frame to accept these repressive customs and beliefs. They do not realize that the system has been setup to obstruct their growth. These women have to bear this seemingly invisible form of structural violence, since they are trained by the society to embrace the systemic violence.
We can clearly see that structural violence is omnipresent in different forms among human kind. It harms the individual in the long run by curbing their growth. Structural violence is not visible, yet inflicts a systematic form of violence. The endemic system is built to induce a hidden violence by setting up legal barriers, disproportionate distribution of political powers and by enforcing restrictive social and cultural rules. Identifying and acknowledging the fact that certain systems are built to hinder a person’s development will go a long way in curbing the impact of structural violence.
Works sited
Winter, DuNann Deborah and Dana C. Leighton “Structural violence.” Peace, conflict, and violence: Peace psychology in the 21st century. Ed. D. J. Christie, R. V. Wagner, D. D. Winter , New York: Prentice-Hall, 2001. Print.
Farmer , Paul, Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, Salmaan Keshavjee. “Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine.” PLoS Medicine, 1686-91. October 2006. Print
Holmes, Seth. “An Ethnographic Study of the Social Context of Migrant Health in the United States.” PLoS Medicine, 1776-93. October 2006. Print.
Parsons, Kenneth. “Structural Violence and Power.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 173–181, print.
The term structural violence was originally phrased by Johan Galtung, to highlight all the disadvantages faced by humans due to economic and political structures (Winter and Leighton, 1). Human beings lives within the boundaries of accepted norms, setup by society. Sometimes the society lays out the structure for living, in such a way that it hinders the person from growing to their full ability. This form of hindrances which stops the person from fully utilizing his potential due to intentional layout of a system or structure, by the society, can correctly be termed as structural violence. The authors of the article Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine explicitly brings out the meaning of the term structural violence. They specify that in a social setting “the arrangements are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of our social world; they are violent because they cause injury to people” (Farmer et al. 1). The system in order to restrain an individual will use legal framework, political ideology or social and cultural traditions.
According to 2006 PLoS medical journal on the study of ethno graphics in context of migrants in USA, structural racism and anti-immigration policies have led to poorer health and living conditions. The research clearly shows how ethnicity and citizenship status is directly tied to an individual’s health status and health care experiences (Holmes, 1787-88). We know that immigration to USA is regulated by law. The political hierarchy has framed the legal law in such a way that immigrants do not enjoy the same privileges as citizens. The apparent differences between people who are citizens and non-citizens is so inherent, that the disadvantaged non-citizens accept it with little outlet for protest. Since it is the law of the land, non-citizens willingly accepts the structural violence inflicted upon them due to immigration related issues.
In recent months we have seen political unrest in Tunisia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. In each of these countries the political leadership had amassed immense power and was using these powers to restrain and limit their countrymen from development. The ruling class clearly had formed a political structure with a clear agenda to inhibit the growth of their fellow citizens. In the past few decades, people from these countries have endured structural violence due to political hegemony. Exposure to western media has made the people realize the advantage of distributed power. Hence these countries are witnessing a surge of protest, with people fighting against the system. Parsons emphasizes on the distribution of political power and its effects throughout his article.
If a society then equalizes the distribution of power, all will possess equal amounts of it and hereby equally be objects of either structural violence or structural peace. As a result, structural violence could be collectively reduced because all have the power to end such avoidable needs deprivations. Presumably such a collective choice to end suffering would be in their immediate interest. (Parsons, 177).
So a proper distribution of political power can reduce structural violence and orient it towards structural peace.
Social and cultural traditions have been used to restrain women for generations. In most South Asian cultures, women have been raised to believe that they are inferior to men. These women have been brought up with the mind frame to accept these repressive customs and beliefs. They do not realize that the system has been setup to obstruct their growth. These women have to bear this seemingly invisible form of structural violence, since they are trained by the society to embrace the systemic violence.
We can clearly see that structural violence is omnipresent in different forms among human kind. It harms the individual in the long run by curbing their growth. Structural violence is not visible, yet inflicts a systematic form of violence. The endemic system is built to induce a hidden violence by setting up legal barriers, disproportionate distribution of political powers and by enforcing restrictive social and cultural rules. Identifying and acknowledging the fact that certain systems are built to hinder a person’s development will go a long way in curbing the impact of structural violence.
Works sited
Winter, DuNann Deborah and Dana C. Leighton “Structural violence.” Peace, conflict, and violence: Peace psychology in the 21st century. Ed. D. J. Christie, R. V. Wagner, D. D. Winter , New York: Prentice-Hall, 2001. Print.
Farmer , Paul, Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, Salmaan Keshavjee. “Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine.” PLoS Medicine, 1686-91. October 2006. Print
Holmes, Seth. “An Ethnographic Study of the Social Context of Migrant Health in the United States.” PLoS Medicine, 1776-93. October 2006. Print.
Parsons, Kenneth. “Structural Violence and Power.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 173–181, print.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Rhetorical Analysis on “The Wal-mart You Don’t Know”
Please read this article published by Charles Fishman before you dig into my rhetorical analysis of his Article.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Here is my analysis to the article.
Charles Fishman, a senior staff of Fast Company, published the article “The Wal-mart You Don’t Know” on 1st December 2003. This article has received the Best Business Magazine Story of 2004 award from the New York Press Club (Fishman 532). As specified in the website for Fast Company, they cater to an audience whose median age is at 45.6 years with an average house hold income at around $162,825. Also the male to female ratio is at 65%to 35%, with most of the readers being key decision makers in the industry ("Audience/Print"). This indicates that the primary audiences for this article were mostly high end business personals from various industries. The article discusses how Wal-Mart uses its sheer buying power to dictate terms to their vendors, in a way pressurizing them and thus affecting their survivability and impacting the economy of the USA as a whole. The article is best summarized by the thesis sentence which states that “it’s the story of what that pressure does to the companies Wal-Mart does business with, to U.S. manufacturing, and to the economy as a whole” (533). By using cause and effect rhetorical strategy the author in his article provides a persuasive argument about Wal-mart’s imposing ways of performing business with other organizations and its overall impact to economy.
Fishman brings out the interaction between Wal-mart and its suppliers. The introduction of the article starts with story of Vlasic’s one gallon jar of pickle at a price of $2.97. Vlasic in order to increase their sales numbers agreed to Wal-Mart’s pricing for one gallon jar of pickles. Even though the profit margin at that pricing level was too low, the larger sales numbers from Wal-Mart formed the incentive for that business decision. However, Fishman specifies that accordingly to Steve Young, a former vice president of grocery marketing at Vlasic, the one gallon jar of pickle deal with Wal-Mart “accounted for 30% of Vlasic’s business. But the company’s profits from pickles had shriveled 25% or more” (535). Fishman delves further into the relationship of Wal-Mart and the organizations that it does business with by narrating the story of Huffy the bicycle manufacturing company. According to John Mariotti who was the president of Huffy Bicycle Co., one time in order to meet the delivery demands with Wal-Mart, Mariotti “gave the designs for four of his higher-end, higher margin products to rival manufacturers” (537). Thus Fishman emphasizes that fierce standards laid out by Wal-Mart has resulted in Huffy’s shut down of their manufacturing unit in 1999 (537). Fishman elaborates on similar stories of other business organizations like Lovable Company, the bra and lingerie manufacturer, MasterBrand industries who were the manufacturers of Master Locks and Levi Strauss the clothing manufacturer. In each of these cases the companies, after conducting business with Wal-Mart had, to counter the stiff competition from Chinese, Mexican and Taiwanese manufacturers which led closing of their manufacturing units in the USA (537-541). On a positive note, Fishman credits Wal-Mart for invoking a sense of discipline and commitment to delivery in all the firms that does business with them. Fishman finally concludes that the consumer that shops for cheaper price is responsible for the jobs leaving the USA (541).
Clearly in this article, Fishman provides a persuasive argument about how Wal-Mart as a corporation is responsible for closure of several manufacturing units in the USA and thus affecting the economy as a whole. The argument’s strength is based on several accounts of business heads explanations of what pursued after their liaison with Wal-Mart. Fishman has clearly followed a cause and effect analysis to bring out this relationship and its eventual impact to the manufacturing sector. Right from the beginning of the article with the story of Vlasic’s one gallon jar of pickles, Fishman explains that each organization, driven by the anticipation of high sales number from Wal-Mart align themselves to meet their delivery standards. These changes in the end result in loss of profitability due to aggressive pricing and finally closure of their manufacturing plants in the USA. Thus for every story in the article, Fishman guides the readers through a simple order of how each of the client organizations partners with Wal-Mart to its eventual complex or ironical conclusion that is their downfall or shutdown of manufacturing units in the USA.
Charles Fishman has targeted his article for the more educated business class community with higher educational level and better understanding of business structures. This is clearly reflected in statistical numbers with regards to prices and sales figures being used throughout the article. Also the tone of the writer seems expository and more business oriented. There is a tinge of ironic sarcasm embedded in the article, since every story begins with a positive outlook and ends with a calamitous result.
Throughout the article, Fishman has reached out to former business leaders that had worked with Wal-Mart to get their opinions and views about what transpired between Wal-Mart and their organizations. All the narrations are quoted in-text to bring out the unbiased nature of the article. This demonstrates a higher degree of ethos for Charles Fishman. However, some readers would be interested to know Wal-Mart’s perspective for each of the events explained in the article.
The article “The Wal-Mart You Don’t Know” is an eye opener for most of the American society that heavily indulges in consumerism. The constant pressure imparted by consumers to seek the cheapest products has led to the destruction of manufacturing units in the USA. Charles Fishman has not presented Wal-Mart’s point of view for each of the stories. But he has convincingly persuaded us to accept the negative impact of Wal-Mart’s quest to drive prices lower. This article opens up a serious debate on how far the American consumers can push their retailer to seek cheaper prices which eventually would lead to their job losses.
.
Fishman Charles. “The Wal-Mart You Don’t Know.” Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines. By Katherine Anne Ackley. 5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009.532-541.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Here is my analysis to the article.
Charles Fishman, a senior staff of Fast Company, published the article “The Wal-mart You Don’t Know” on 1st December 2003. This article has received the Best Business Magazine Story of 2004 award from the New York Press Club (Fishman 532). As specified in the website for Fast Company, they cater to an audience whose median age is at 45.6 years with an average house hold income at around $162,825. Also the male to female ratio is at 65%to 35%, with most of the readers being key decision makers in the industry ("Audience/Print"). This indicates that the primary audiences for this article were mostly high end business personals from various industries. The article discusses how Wal-Mart uses its sheer buying power to dictate terms to their vendors, in a way pressurizing them and thus affecting their survivability and impacting the economy of the USA as a whole. The article is best summarized by the thesis sentence which states that “it’s the story of what that pressure does to the companies Wal-Mart does business with, to U.S. manufacturing, and to the economy as a whole” (533). By using cause and effect rhetorical strategy the author in his article provides a persuasive argument about Wal-mart’s imposing ways of performing business with other organizations and its overall impact to economy.
Fishman brings out the interaction between Wal-mart and its suppliers. The introduction of the article starts with story of Vlasic’s one gallon jar of pickle at a price of $2.97. Vlasic in order to increase their sales numbers agreed to Wal-Mart’s pricing for one gallon jar of pickles. Even though the profit margin at that pricing level was too low, the larger sales numbers from Wal-Mart formed the incentive for that business decision. However, Fishman specifies that accordingly to Steve Young, a former vice president of grocery marketing at Vlasic, the one gallon jar of pickle deal with Wal-Mart “accounted for 30% of Vlasic’s business. But the company’s profits from pickles had shriveled 25% or more” (535). Fishman delves further into the relationship of Wal-Mart and the organizations that it does business with by narrating the story of Huffy the bicycle manufacturing company. According to John Mariotti who was the president of Huffy Bicycle Co., one time in order to meet the delivery demands with Wal-Mart, Mariotti “gave the designs for four of his higher-end, higher margin products to rival manufacturers” (537). Thus Fishman emphasizes that fierce standards laid out by Wal-Mart has resulted in Huffy’s shut down of their manufacturing unit in 1999 (537). Fishman elaborates on similar stories of other business organizations like Lovable Company, the bra and lingerie manufacturer, MasterBrand industries who were the manufacturers of Master Locks and Levi Strauss the clothing manufacturer. In each of these cases the companies, after conducting business with Wal-Mart had, to counter the stiff competition from Chinese, Mexican and Taiwanese manufacturers which led closing of their manufacturing units in the USA (537-541). On a positive note, Fishman credits Wal-Mart for invoking a sense of discipline and commitment to delivery in all the firms that does business with them. Fishman finally concludes that the consumer that shops for cheaper price is responsible for the jobs leaving the USA (541).
Clearly in this article, Fishman provides a persuasive argument about how Wal-Mart as a corporation is responsible for closure of several manufacturing units in the USA and thus affecting the economy as a whole. The argument’s strength is based on several accounts of business heads explanations of what pursued after their liaison with Wal-Mart. Fishman has clearly followed a cause and effect analysis to bring out this relationship and its eventual impact to the manufacturing sector. Right from the beginning of the article with the story of Vlasic’s one gallon jar of pickles, Fishman explains that each organization, driven by the anticipation of high sales number from Wal-Mart align themselves to meet their delivery standards. These changes in the end result in loss of profitability due to aggressive pricing and finally closure of their manufacturing plants in the USA. Thus for every story in the article, Fishman guides the readers through a simple order of how each of the client organizations partners with Wal-Mart to its eventual complex or ironical conclusion that is their downfall or shutdown of manufacturing units in the USA.
Charles Fishman has targeted his article for the more educated business class community with higher educational level and better understanding of business structures. This is clearly reflected in statistical numbers with regards to prices and sales figures being used throughout the article. Also the tone of the writer seems expository and more business oriented. There is a tinge of ironic sarcasm embedded in the article, since every story begins with a positive outlook and ends with a calamitous result.
Throughout the article, Fishman has reached out to former business leaders that had worked with Wal-Mart to get their opinions and views about what transpired between Wal-Mart and their organizations. All the narrations are quoted in-text to bring out the unbiased nature of the article. This demonstrates a higher degree of ethos for Charles Fishman. However, some readers would be interested to know Wal-Mart’s perspective for each of the events explained in the article.
The article “The Wal-Mart You Don’t Know” is an eye opener for most of the American society that heavily indulges in consumerism. The constant pressure imparted by consumers to seek the cheapest products has led to the destruction of manufacturing units in the USA. Charles Fishman has not presented Wal-Mart’s point of view for each of the stories. But he has convincingly persuaded us to accept the negative impact of Wal-Mart’s quest to drive prices lower. This article opens up a serious debate on how far the American consumers can push their retailer to seek cheaper prices which eventually would lead to their job losses.
Works Cited
"Audience / Print." FAST COMPANY :: Progressive | Creative | Innovative. Web. 08 May 2011. Fishman Charles. “The Wal-Mart You Don’t Know.” Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines. By Katherine Anne Ackley. 5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009.532-541.
Monday, December 27, 2010
ecocomics
Someone sent me these bar stool economics
############
Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 and If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.)
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Because you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." so drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected...They would still drink for free...But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'...They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33...But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer..So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before...And the first four continued to drink for free...But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man.
"I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the-- highest taxes-- are entitled to get the most from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
###############
Here is my input to the above theory:
I am happy for the the tenth man, that he could afford to pay a bigger share. It does look unfair that he has to pay a bigger share.
The question remains on how could that tenth man afford to pay for everyone's beer.
He probably had the first 4 working for him at an hourly basis.
He had the fifth and sixth as managers
Seventh and Eighth were like senior managers and VPs.
The ninth was some part of the team that formed committees, that advised the law makers, which helped him make big bucks that made him wealthy. Maybe some of the ninth ones were law makers themselves.
So he realised, if I pay a bigger share and provide free beer and subsidized it to everyone else, then I can pretty much rule these idiots.
The question is not about fairness, the question is how can you be the tenth person or be closer to the tenth.
Is there a path for everyone else to become that tenth person? If the path does not exist or is made difficult by the ninth person as per direction from the tenth, then we know why the tenth one was more then ready to pay for everyone else.
But if there is a path, that allows anyone to reach that goal, then I think this is a fair system, except that he does not need to be punished for being successful. My suspicion is people beat him, because they did not find a path to become the tenth person.
############
Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 and If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.)
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Because you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." so drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected...They would still drink for free...But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'...They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33...But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer..So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before...And the first four continued to drink for free...But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man.
"I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the-- highest taxes-- are entitled to get the most from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
###############
Here is my input to the above theory:
I am happy for the the tenth man, that he could afford to pay a bigger share. It does look unfair that he has to pay a bigger share.
The question remains on how could that tenth man afford to pay for everyone's beer.
He probably had the first 4 working for him at an hourly basis.
He had the fifth and sixth as managers
Seventh and Eighth were like senior managers and VPs.
The ninth was some part of the team that formed committees, that advised the law makers, which helped him make big bucks that made him wealthy. Maybe some of the ninth ones were law makers themselves.
So he realised, if I pay a bigger share and provide free beer and subsidized it to everyone else, then I can pretty much rule these idiots.
The question is not about fairness, the question is how can you be the tenth person or be closer to the tenth.
Is there a path for everyone else to become that tenth person? If the path does not exist or is made difficult by the ninth person as per direction from the tenth, then we know why the tenth one was more then ready to pay for everyone else.
But if there is a path, that allows anyone to reach that goal, then I think this is a fair system, except that he does not need to be punished for being successful. My suspicion is people beat him, because they did not find a path to become the tenth person.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Personal integrity
I was reading a checklist for a certain program and came cross a statement that said the person needs to possess high level of personal integrity. I started wondering about that line. What exactly do we mean by personal integrity? Is this something that we learn in school or does the environment around, teaches you integrity. The definition runs closely with our moral compass that we maintain within ourselves. In reality personal integrity is actually what defines who we are and what our moral composition is comprised of. The pillar of integrity gets built brick by brick based on events and incidents we face in our life. We lay the boundaries for ourselves and people around us perceive our whole self based on this very moral fabric we weave ourselves into.
The strongest realization of your own integrity will dawn upon you, when you act it out on your own, without any intervention and without anyone actually witnessing it.
Like returning extra change handed out to you mistakenly by a cab driver. Returning to the rightful owner something that does not belong to you, even when you know that you could have got away with it and no one would have noticed, that would define you as someone with better integrity.
The strongest realization of your own integrity will dawn upon you, when you act it out on your own, without any intervention and without anyone actually witnessing it.
Like returning extra change handed out to you mistakenly by a cab driver. Returning to the rightful owner something that does not belong to you, even when you know that you could have got away with it and no one would have noticed, that would define you as someone with better integrity.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Failure a positive step
What exactly would be termed as failure? The way I see it is that there exists a goal post, beyond which a person will strive to exert an effort to reach the post. There is a time span that is defined, in which you are supposed to make it to the goal post. Not everyone can be winners, there will be losers. These folks that lose will experience the emotion called failure.
Everyone needs to realise that failing is just part of life. Every game that is played has a losing and winning person or team. So you lose a game or event in life. But thats not end of your life or end of the career for a player.
Failure is the begining and actually the first stepping stone for success, if you can orient your energy in the right direction. Learn from your mistakes and start working on the next event. Every junction in your life is like a game, you win some you lose some.
The way I see it is that when I lose a big event, I lay out the the timespan. The game is not over until I win it. It can span from few months to decades or maybe till my last breath. I will build the stage for a come back. So do not count me out, there will be a comeback, it maybe a delayed one, but win has to be mine. Positive vindictiveness is a good thing and keeps me on my toes.
Everyone needs to realise that failing is just part of life. Every game that is played has a losing and winning person or team. So you lose a game or event in life. But thats not end of your life or end of the career for a player.
Failure is the begining and actually the first stepping stone for success, if you can orient your energy in the right direction. Learn from your mistakes and start working on the next event. Every junction in your life is like a game, you win some you lose some.
The way I see it is that when I lose a big event, I lay out the the timespan. The game is not over until I win it. It can span from few months to decades or maybe till my last breath. I will build the stage for a come back. So do not count me out, there will be a comeback, it maybe a delayed one, but win has to be mine. Positive vindictiveness is a good thing and keeps me on my toes.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Vivir Mata
One of my colleague at work, gave me this movie to watch. Vivir Mata, in spanish it means life kills. The movie deals with how two strangers concoct lies to impress upon each other, Thus they find some kind of twisted romance in their adventure. To be frank, I did not get the punch that I have normally felt from other Spanish language movies. It was a little slow going and did not really draw me into its story line. The movie deals with how some people are desparate to derive pleasure from relationships with strangers, that are more exotic, even if its a total sham and built with lies. The movie does end with a feel good effect, where both of them accept the fact that they were drawn towards each other for their respective lies and yet choose to accept one another.
In a way, I still see it as similar to how two people in order to impress each other will build a fantasy world around them. Each of them enjoys the bliss and works hard in maintaining the level of excitement. But how long can you maintain the same level of excitement? That is why sometimes people are bored after getting married and would term that the relationship has become meaningless or is losing its weight.
But if you look harder and try to understand, you will realise, that the meaning and weight to the relationship was built by this imaginary fairy tale perception by both the involved parties. Marriage is just a ritual that was performed, it should not blunt the effort for maintaining excitement at the same level or maybe higher. SO the question I ask is do you still work hard to impress your soul mate, just like you did when you met them the first time?
In a way, I still see it as similar to how two people in order to impress each other will build a fantasy world around them. Each of them enjoys the bliss and works hard in maintaining the level of excitement. But how long can you maintain the same level of excitement? That is why sometimes people are bored after getting married and would term that the relationship has become meaningless or is losing its weight.
But if you look harder and try to understand, you will realise, that the meaning and weight to the relationship was built by this imaginary fairy tale perception by both the involved parties. Marriage is just a ritual that was performed, it should not blunt the effort for maintaining excitement at the same level or maybe higher. SO the question I ask is do you still work hard to impress your soul mate, just like you did when you met them the first time?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Death
There comes a time in life when we have to face the subject of death. As much as death is end of life for the person involved, it does result in start of vaccuum for all the people related to the deceased.
One of my neighbors nine month old son passed away to heavenly abode yesterday during the early hours. The family had been fighting the baby's illness for several months. The pain involved for the parents in such a situation is totally unexplainable.
The family did not leave any stone unturned to find a cure for the illness. They hopped from one hospital to another, with hope upon hope to fight the tumor that refused to budge from the little gems delicate brain. However their relentless pursuit to keep him with us mortal souls wanned day by day, since almighty god had laid out a different journey for the little soul, perhaps more glowing and celestial than ours.
Today I offer my deepest thoughts and prayers to the family in pain, as they continue to embrace the heart wrenching reality that they will have to undergo for years to come.
One of my neighbors nine month old son passed away to heavenly abode yesterday during the early hours. The family had been fighting the baby's illness for several months. The pain involved for the parents in such a situation is totally unexplainable.
The family did not leave any stone unturned to find a cure for the illness. They hopped from one hospital to another, with hope upon hope to fight the tumor that refused to budge from the little gems delicate brain. However their relentless pursuit to keep him with us mortal souls wanned day by day, since almighty god had laid out a different journey for the little soul, perhaps more glowing and celestial than ours.
Today I offer my deepest thoughts and prayers to the family in pain, as they continue to embrace the heart wrenching reality that they will have to undergo for years to come.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Avatar
A few days ago, I watched the much talked about movie Avatar. I would give full points for its technical brillance. The whole concept and its execution is really commendable. But I personally felt that the story line was very much hackneyed. A sci-fi movie can have the liberty of portraying an abstract message, something that can convey a larger, more challenging theme. But they chose to go with a concept that was easily likable to the masses, hence did not prefer to choose a subject that would have been more intellectually stimulating.
But the name Avatar, echoes back to India. Avatar is a sanskrit word and in simpler words avatar means to take a different form. The Hindu mythological stories abound in various avatars of the gods. Especially Avatars of trinity gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. From what I understand from these stories are that the Gods would take Avatar (forms) of different beings to slay a demon or to bring a drastic change. The way I see it is that to bring about a change, we need to make transformational changes in ourselves, so to speak as though take an Avatar.
But the name Avatar, echoes back to India. Avatar is a sanskrit word and in simpler words avatar means to take a different form. The Hindu mythological stories abound in various avatars of the gods. Especially Avatars of trinity gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. From what I understand from these stories are that the Gods would take Avatar (forms) of different beings to slay a demon or to bring a drastic change. The way I see it is that to bring about a change, we need to make transformational changes in ourselves, so to speak as though take an Avatar.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Sub conscious mind
I was reading about hypnosis the other day and came across several articles that talks about how hypnosis can help a person to work on his personality traits like self esteem, confidence level and also addictions. That got me thinking as to how there exist a whole different universe out there which we probably don't use in our day to day life, which if used would bring immense changes in our lifestyle.
One subject that I want to broach here is the potential of subconscious mind. This is an arena if tapped correctly can bring about changes in multi-dimensional level. As far as I can recollect, I first came across this topic in a book, that I picked up from a road stall at Andheri railway station in Mumbai. You know, like those cheap books you can buy for Rs 20 or something, that you want to tag along for a quick read. As always I was looking for something that would challenge my curiosity and found this book titled "The power of subconscious mind". I don't remember who the author was, but I carried that book with me while I was flying to UK. This was in 1999, I was reading this book on the airplane and to the best of my knowledge, I think the author was some christian preacher.
The book wandered more into the religious aspect of it. But the whole concept really awed me. I added my own perception to his philosophy. So here is the gist of my perception from the book.
We have a conscious mind which defines and shapes our physical identity in this world. But there also exist a subconscious meta physical existence, which is actually the universe by itself. The whole universe, non-physical nature and everything in this universe is controlled by the subconscious existence. So when we refer to our inner self as subconscious mind, we are actually sapping some energy or an abstract phenomena from the subconscious meta physical existence.
So speaking in mathematical terms, the subconscious existence is a whole set, in which resides the universe, without the physical presence of nature. Our subconscious minds are a subset of this larger set. So mathematically all of our subconscious minds are connected together and form part of the system.
So how is this going to help us? Well, if you can feed positive energy to your subconscious mind, then you can pass that energy to the larger set around you and hence influence your surrounding to change or affect you in a positive way. So the name of the game is stay positive and feed your inner mind with positive energy and you will remain confident and be successful in all your endeavors
One subject that I want to broach here is the potential of subconscious mind. This is an arena if tapped correctly can bring about changes in multi-dimensional level. As far as I can recollect, I first came across this topic in a book, that I picked up from a road stall at Andheri railway station in Mumbai. You know, like those cheap books you can buy for Rs 20 or something, that you want to tag along for a quick read. As always I was looking for something that would challenge my curiosity and found this book titled "The power of subconscious mind". I don't remember who the author was, but I carried that book with me while I was flying to UK. This was in 1999, I was reading this book on the airplane and to the best of my knowledge, I think the author was some christian preacher.
The book wandered more into the religious aspect of it. But the whole concept really awed me. I added my own perception to his philosophy. So here is the gist of my perception from the book.
We have a conscious mind which defines and shapes our physical identity in this world. But there also exist a subconscious meta physical existence, which is actually the universe by itself. The whole universe, non-physical nature and everything in this universe is controlled by the subconscious existence. So when we refer to our inner self as subconscious mind, we are actually sapping some energy or an abstract phenomena from the subconscious meta physical existence.
So speaking in mathematical terms, the subconscious existence is a whole set, in which resides the universe, without the physical presence of nature. Our subconscious minds are a subset of this larger set. So mathematically all of our subconscious minds are connected together and form part of the system.
So how is this going to help us? Well, if you can feed positive energy to your subconscious mind, then you can pass that energy to the larger set around you and hence influence your surrounding to change or affect you in a positive way. So the name of the game is stay positive and feed your inner mind with positive energy and you will remain confident and be successful in all your endeavors
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