Thursday, October 30, 2008

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Should sports stars be paid obscene amounts of money?
The phenomenal appeal and omnipresence of sports in today's world is undeniable. Sporting allows an individual to exhibit skill, technique and physical capabilities in overcoming difficulties, and in the gruelling process having fun simultaneously. Another method of enjoying sports is through watching top-notch players battle it out in competitions or matches via forms of media. This is generally known as sports entertainment, and the latter is presently a dominating industry in the modern context. Due to sports entertainment's alluring appeal, sports stars and personalities have earned fat pay cheques, spawning the debate about whether their incomes should be so high. One root cause would be free market forces of demand and supply, coupled with commercialization providing these sports professionals with high profits, since there is excessive demand for their performances and services. Furthermore, professionals sacrifice extraordinary amounts of time and effort to pursue and maintain their high standards of sporting and appeal. Hence, I opine that sports stars should be paid obscene amounts of money since they are talented and appropriate for the job. However, by pursuing professionalism in search of monetary benefits, sportsmen often lose sight of sportsmanship and other important values instilled and benefits provided by sporting itself, defeating the purpose its existence. Additionally, sky-high incomes commanded by sports stars add to the countries' income inequality gap, which may open another pandora's box of problems.

Via an economical viewpoint, sports stars deserve to be paid their abundant sources of revenue because they provide adequate entertainment to the masses, and by satisfying such demands they should be paid for it. But how is it that famous NBA star basketball player Lebron James made his first million at the early age of nineteen? This is due mainly to the fact that sports star's performances are not rivalrous in consumption, hence these performances can be broadcasted throughout all forms of media to all people without affecting the quality and quantity available to another consumer. Therefore costs are kept at a minimum and profit margins are high for such sports stars. This is further spurred on by the largely excessive demand of sports entertainment. In today's industrialised world, people have to work for their keep. Hence their time for leisure sporting is compromised by their hectic lifestyles which revolve about their work. These people seek relaxation via sports entertainment, contributing to the high incomes of sports stars. In my opinion, as long as sports stars do their job by supplying their performances to audiences, they deserve their sky-high profits if they have a large sphere of influence, provided by the media, to satisfy a substantial amount of needs for sports entertainment in society.

Another service provided by sports stars is that they serve as 'ambassadors' of commercialization, which adds to their already colossal revenue. We all have seen Thierry Henry, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods on television commercials bombarding people with balls, urging them to purchase the new Gilette shaver. Neither have we missed out on Maria Sharapova, a tennis personality, taking photos of her dog with a Canon video camera. These are but the tip of the iceberg in the industry of advertising, a tactic in the books for firms to boost their sales. Due to their innate ability as sports personalities to coerce people into purchasing certain goods and services, they are highly paid by such firms requiring their services as promoters when these firms make high profits. In my opinion, since sports stars have the charm and appeal to such an extent that it influences their audience's consumption habits to favour a certain advertised good or service, they should be duly paid for their service towards promoting a firm's product, even if it seems an exhorbitant amount of monetary revenue.

People always argue that sports personalities earn obscene amounts of money just by playing sports professionally. It may seem that sporting is less demanding and taxing compared to most other jobs available, which in turn pay a meagre fraction of what sports personalities today earn. However, these people do not realize the countless sacrifices these sports stars have made to stay at the top of their game, and to have their incomes at such high levels. Part and parcel of professionalism is the arduous training all sporting professionals have to endure and overcome day by day in improving their technique and physical condition for them to stay on top of their game. Sports professionals also risk sustaining life threatening injuries which may prove lethal or end their careers, rendering them unable to support themselves for a long time to come. The case of Eduardo de silva perfectly exemplifies this point. The Arsenal soccer player has sustained a broken ankle injury due to a bone-crunching tackle by another Everton defender, causing Eduardo his career and possibly his ability to walk ever again. Also, NFL player Kevin Everett suffered a lethal spinal injury after a collision another player. Despite being rescued from the brink of death, he lives in suffering and despair by requiring tedious physiotherapy and psychological afflictions. Hence, I feel that sports stars deserved to be paid their high salaries to compensate for their hard work and also the risks they take every time they step on the field or court.

However, via a socio-political viewpoint, it is generally a bane for the nation if sports stars command colossal salaries, since it aggravates the income inequality gap. In most nations, certain groups of people are rich whilst usually the majority are poor or drawing moderate wages. This has been a phenomenom present in society since medieval times. When such an issue gets out of hand, a country might face serious social, economical and political problems as history has taught us many a times. Take for instance in the 19th century, when the chinese Qing dynasty faced problems due to the poor revolting against the government, leading to social unrest, economic instability and political turmoil. If the poor see themselves suffering today, while looking at another person named Tiger Woods enjoying an annual salary of US$100million merely by swinging a golf club at a ball, feelings of resentment are bound to arise. Consequently, if the amount of discontented poor are substantial, this may well induce a revolt against the government, leading to other problems such as social instability, economic disruptions and political turmoil. Therefore, it may be essential to prevent such catastrophes from befalling the nation by regulating downward the salaries of these sports stars such that it is not obscenely high to cause instability within a nation in its various essential aspects.

The pursuit of professionalism in today's sports entertainment industry by sportsmen is mainly for the monetary benefits of being a sports star, causing certain values such as sportsmanship instilled by sporting to be cast aside and neglected. Take for instance Marion Jones, an Olympic female track runner who utilized steroids, a performance-enhancing drug, which earned her 5 gold medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In such a case, she has clearly ditched any form of sportsmanship and honour in the pursuit of glory and monetary gain by being hell-bent on winning to such an extent that it involved unscrupulous means of doing so. As such, I feel that the salaries of sportsmen should not be exceedingly high so as to encourage the true spirit of sporting in sporting professionalism, for sportsmen to embrace the values instilled by sporting such as teamwork and foresight, and to hence maintain the authencity of the sport itself.

In conclusion, I feel that sports stars should be paid high amounts of revenue if they deliver what they promise, entertain the masses and do what they should to maintain their standards of performance. Moreover, revolts due to the high incomes of a few sports stars are unlikely to occur. Sports entertainment, revolving about profits, would continue to flourish as a successful industry and an effective tool for commercialization.

Monday, July 7, 2008

essay on $$$

“When it’s a question of money, everyone is of the same religion.” How far is this true as society’s values today?

Interpretation: Society today has become overly materialistic, with too much greed and desire for money. Obsessed with money.

Paragraph One:
One example that proves this point is the mass media today, where privatization of the media has caused it to become commercialized. As a result, important social functions inevitably become corrupted into commercial functions – take for example the fact that the only thing the media spreads awareness are in its commercial advertisements. Prime-time TV in the US has almost 21minutes of commercials per hour. The media has also contributed to the materialism of society today, as these advertisements manipulates people and create imaginary needs, causing the lifestyle of extreme consumerism to become prevalent.

Paragraph Two:
In today’s modern society, material wealth is fast becoming more and more of a survival necessarily, with constant inflation and rising cost of living draining the incomes of the population and driving the rat race even faster. Furthermore, rising fuel and food costs amplifies this so such an extent that materialism inevitably becomes a means to survive instead of a symbol of greed.

Paragraph Three:
Taking a macro-perspective, perhaps one reason for this trend of materialism are when entire countries’ pursuit of economic growth have caused them to neglect other important factors such as social needs. Take for example Singapore, which despite the people having a high standard of living in terms of monetary value and physical aspects have long working hours and dangerously high stress levels which have led to strong criticism worldwide about the societal values being passed on the future generations.

Paragraph Four:
Yet, there are inevitably exceptions to this trend, such as the increasing trend of altruism and philanthropy today, where more and more people are beginning to spend large amounts of time and money to help those in need. Consider Angelina Jolin’s high profile adoption of African children, or Bill Gates constant donations to aid poverty and education all over the globe.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Globalisation and Culture,Environment & Biodiversity, Sustainable Development,Terrorism and War

1. Globalisation and Culture
Globalisation refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres.Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.PRO-GLOBALISATIONThe pro-globalisation arguments are based on the statement that (cultural) change is an essential part of life and not neccessarily means the loss of traditional values. Proponents also state that the export of American products all over the world is only a sign of economic success, not of monocultural dominance. Indeed, new global media, such as the internet, have proven a powerful means of projecting traditional culture (and the culture of radical opponents of globalisation). In addtion the integration of culture coming along with globalisation is seen as a positive movement against fundamentalistic violent ways of thinking.ANTI-GLOBALISATIONIt is argued that one of the consequences of globalisation will be the end of cultural diversity, and the triumph of a uni-polar culture serving the needs of transnational corporations.An example of cultural clash in the name of globalisation was the destruction of a McDonalds outlet in southern France by a farmer, Jose Bove, who supplies milk for French Roquefort cheese. http://www.gascd.com/josebove.php
2. Environment & Biodiversity, Sustainable Development
Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.Sustainable development is defined as balancing the fulfilment of human needs with the protection of the natural environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future.Energy and environment are essential for sustainable development. The poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable energy services. These issues are also global as climate change, loss of biodiversity and ozone layer depletion cannot be addressed by countries acting alone.There is growing recognition that we have to look beyond economic progress to achieve sustainable societies. Sustainable Development must be ecologically sustainable. Economic and social progress depends on base ecosystem services (for example oxygen production and carbon dioxide absorption by plants) and a healthy environment. Development also implies an improvement in the quality of life through education, justice, community participation, and recreation.
3. Terrorism and War
Terrorism in the modern sense is violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians for political or other ideological goals. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear or "terror", are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or utterly disregard the safety of non-combatants.War is a prolonged state of violent, large-scale conflict involving two or more groups

Copyrite from joshua blog

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Is same-sex marriage a practical consideration in this age of globalisation?

All humans are born differently, with varied mindsets, intellect, build and other aspects. One such aspect that triggers worldwide attention is a rapidly growing phenomenon of homosexuality. Being a taboo in many societies and religions due to the former's contradiction of the nuclear family concept, additionally the practice being deemed unnatural as no offspring can be produced in such relationships, people with unusual sexual orientations are robbed of freedom of will and human rights, as well as facing discrimination, prejudice, and being the butt of jokes. However, the increasing amount of homosexuals in modern context, additionally substantial similarity with the exception of sexual orientation in comparison to a straight human instills pressures to governments to integrate gays and lesbians into society, providing them with rights such as adoption and same-sex marriages. I personally feel that religions including Islam and societies should rethink their policies and traditions in labelling homosexuals as 'untouchables' who are undesirable, so as to treat them as their own to improve social cohesion, accept diversity and prevent conflicts. We should provide them with basic rights such as same-sex marriages, a symbol of love for homosexual couples, proving that society accepts people harbouring different sexual orientations and views.


In today's modern world, the concept of democracy emphasizing human equality and rights, and freedom of thinking and speech, predominates in global politics. The practicality in legalising same-sex marriages allows for upholding human social rights, signifying social progress towards a more developed and advanced 1st world society, as well as promoting social cohesion. Accepting same-sex marriages in turn means that people are more open-minded towards homosexuals by allowing them a certain human privilege, marriage. This bolsters the assumption that people would become less narrow-minded and more accepting, kind and amiable towards different people. As such, by providing such rights and privileges to homosexuals, it aids the integration of homosexuals into society, in turn allowing people to interact with the former by eliminating discrimination via laws against homosexuals, improving social cohesion and unity in dealing with common problems. This also improves the character of normal humans in society, leading to a better progressive society as well as upholding democracy simultaneously.



By legalising same-sex marriages, it proves as a practical solution in allowing more underprivileged children to be adopted by well-to-do families. This is due to the fact that the numbers of couples would increase with legalisation of same-sex marriages, in turn increasing the numbers of adopted children, giving them a more secure and privileged life. For instance, 1 in every 20 adopted children goes to a homosexual couple. Furthermore, in USA, the amounts of children adopted by same-sex couples rises by 50% each year approximately. This proves that a substantial amount of underprivileged children are being adopted and provided for aptly by homosexual couples. In addition, there is no scientific proof that normal couples enjoy greater stability in comparison to homosexual couples. Orphanages are being stuffed excessively with underprivileged children which thereby require financially stable couples to take them in. The inability of homosexual couples to procreate offspring further encourages them to adopt children. Henceforth, same-sex marriages should be allowed to provide orphans and underprivileged children with a stable and privileged life, as well as to lighten the financial load of non-profit organisations and governments in supporting them via orphanages.


Another reason to allow same-sex marriages is the pink dollar, which describes the purchasing power of lesbians, transexuals, gays and bisexual people in todays economy. Homosexuals usually coupled together have abundant disposable income due to the former having 2 sources of income as usually both work. For instance, the LGBT market marks its value at 641billion US dollars in 2006. As such, it proves as a new untapped industry for greater economical growth for greater earnings which will provide additional revenue for the country and improve the living standards for all generally via economical thriving. The legalisation of same-sex marriages provides new demands for products pertaining only to homosexual couples, therefore improving the variety of products in the LGBT industry, improving the economy simultaneously.


Therefore, we should allow same-sex marriages as it brings social and economical benefits.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty"(Aristotle)

Revolution and crime have plagued societies and governments ever since the olden days of its existence. Revolution involves the uprising of the citizens against the state government, usually consisting of strikes which bring economies to standstills, restricting income to families, and riots which involve violent confrontations among groups of people and the police, henceforth virtually desecrating any form of order of law in society, embedding a sense of insecurity and fear deep into people's hearts. Crime may seem mediocre in comparison, as its effects are much less damaging to society or government. It is the frequency of their occurences and methods carried out to commit these crimes, in turn reflecting humanity's dark side, which is appaling and damaging to social security and citizen welfare and safety. Revolutions occur when many citizens reach breaking point to an extent that they want to rid themselves of a fatuous leading government, whereas crime occurs when a person reaches breaking point, be it in terms of finance, desire or anger, hence the former is less frequent. Poverty, rather, is the consequence of a lack of financial resources to such an extent that it involves the inability of one to fulfill basic survival or living needs, such as food and water. Therefore, to a larger extent do I agree with the above statement. Throughout history, the usual causes that fuel the implementation of crime or revolution against the governments or other organisations are directly or indirectly due to financial benefits being compromised, or that their own inability to earn these finances force people to resort to drastic and harmful, disruptive measures. However, causes of crime may also be due to other factors such as anger, over-consumption of alcohol or desire, and for revolutions, it may be due to inequality in terms of discrimination and suppressions applying to a certain race or religion for instance.


One reason for crime would be the poverty of the people. The latter deprives people from their ability to support themselves or other loved ones financally so as to provide for basic neccessities such as food essential for survival. For instance, longitudinal studies in Canada have shown that children who live in poverty, especially those deprived of basic neccessities, are more likely to commit crime in later stages of life. Research has also shown that the intervention of couselling or national social organisations such as the Canadian council on social development on youths at risk of immersing themselves in a life of crime have significantly reduced crime rate in the future. This proves that desperation drives the human soul into commiting harmful and despicable acts of crime which contradicts human nature and values immensely. They would then see crime as a quick method of obtaining financial resources for their own survival, which anyone would prioritise as top in life, when they cannot support themselves. Such crimes include robbery and theft, burglary and so forth.


One reason for revolutions against governments would also be poverty. The latter deprives people from their ability to support themselves or loved ones financially so as to provide for basic neccessities such as food essential for survival. The government utilises economic policies so as to improve the latter which in turn improves employment, ensuring that people earn their keep to support themselves. However, when the government fails to prevent a declining economy and spreading poverty, the blame is shifted onto the government. For instance, in the late 19th - early 20th century in China, whereby the Qing monarchy took charge of government, people were poor due to foreign intervention from various western countries who robbed China of its resources, causing an adverse economic downturn which left people jobless and penniless. Poverty became rampant throughout the country, leading to anti-Qing sentiments which eventually led to the overthrowing of the fatuous and weak monarchy who succumbed to Western unreasonable demands. This shows that when people's survival is threatened due to a lack of financial resources, they tend to resort to drastic measures to fulfill their basic essential needs which they prioritise as top. Since the government is unable to accomplish the job of ensuring the welfare of the people by securing economic stability and jobs, people are not obliged either to continue allowing the present government to rule and hence, revolution would occur so as to remove the inefficient and welcome other reforms of new governments which would probably do a better job.

On the other hand, there are other factors that give rise to crime and revolution, not only poverty. Such factors respectively include anger, desire or over-consumption of alcohol, as well as racial, religious or gender inequality in countries.

Many people tend to commit crimes when their minds reach an unstable state, which compels them to do things rashly and irrationally. These states can be attained by breaking points of anger, high levels of desire not associated with money, and additionally the loss of proper thinking and being sober via over-consumption of alcohol which is widely available globally. For instance, crime rate comprises a large proportion of murder, manslaughter, assault, rape, child abuse, drunk driving and so forth. Murder, manslaughter, assault and rape are associated with a loss of soberness which leads to irrational thinking, makes a human accomplish such inhumane acts. Murder and other physically harmful acts are associated with anger, whereby hatred of a person results from conflicts into anger which in turn compels humans to harm the other individual as anger controls the mind. Similarly, desire such as horny and perverted thoughts lead to rape and child rape, etc. As such, a huge proportion of crime resides from causes involving financial resources. Henceforth, poverty may not be entirely the mother of crime as stated, but only to a certain extent.

Revolution does not arise basically from poverty, as it is due to unhappiness and disatisfaction of the government, which covers many areas which do not comprise only poverty. One of which may be racial, religious, gender or any form of discrimination which leads to revolution. For instance, the racial conflicts between the protestants and catholics in northern ireland has been a source of conflict for many decades, and catholics have made many attempts to change the status quo by appealing to governments of both northern ireland and ireland mainland. When they do reach a boiling point, they would rebel against the government in fits of anger as they are being supressed by a protestant government, henceforth compromising their human privileges and rights, as well as welfare and social security from riots and conflicts. People would rebel in order to change this.



Monday, August 6, 2007

An insight into Japan's economic&social problems

In Japan these days, certain towns are becoming healthy and lively once more. The economy is recovering at a rapid pace, and urban buildings and structures are being built for accomodation and recreation, even aesthetic appreciation. Huge SUVs plague the tiny roads of Japan, ferrying the rich to their destinations of fun and enjoyment. The 54 storey tokyo midtown complex has been built, featuring another major attraction, an arts museum inside the tallest skyscraper, coupled with a newly built Ritz-Carlton hotel, makes the capital an advanced modern city oozing with tourist attractions and potential revenue. On the other hand, the armpits of Japan, including bankrupt cities like Yubari, reflect the hazardous lack of vision of Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe in his governing methods. He is unable to promptly and decisively nip the problems in the bud, which include the widening social disparity in terms of financial status, the economic insecurity foraging through the cities of Japan, as well as the aging workforce, snowballing debt owing other countries, additionally external competition such as China and U.S. However, the most essential problem lies in the political status of Abe, as he is unable to solve these serious problems leeching the country of prosperity and social satisfaction, henceforth he has brought in pesty critics who have questioned his decisions and have striked at every opportunity to bring him down lest a mistake of great proportion occurs that could spell disbenefit for the citizen's welfare, which Abe seems to have neglected. These problems would spell the downfall of Japan's economy.
One reason is that there is a greater disparity between the lower and higher classes of society despite Japan hailing itself as a largely middle class country. This is because the income levels between the 2 groups are widening apart, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the economy is affected adversely. The economy of Japan is shooting sky high, with annual GDP rising from 0.1% in 2001 to 2.7% in 2006. The corporate profits of Japanese companies have reached a record 428 billion, accompanied by a seemingly impressive low 4.1% unemployment rate. However, the average monthly earnings of Japanese decrease instead from $2881 in 2002 to a more meagre $2749 in 2006. The consumer-confidence index is erratic and public anxiety soars to a 67.6% of all Japanese. The former's standard of living is decreasing, or so they reckon. This trend exists due to the selfish desire for money of the leaders of such thriving corporations, hence they keep more of the profits for themselves, rather than distribute it throughout the company by increasing wages. Stagnant wages result, and as confidence in the country's economy plunge, people are less willing to spend on products and services that Japan or any economy relies on to keep it going. With less profits, the companies and firms suffer losses, hence the economy declines generally. Poverty, an extreme case of wage decrement consequence, presently plagues the country to such an extent that it ranks 2nd behind the U.S in terms of relative poverty. This threatens the sustainability of economic prosperity, and will eventually lead to a bankrupt country as in the case of Yubari, especially coupled with other head-throbbing problems such as huge debts.
Unfortunately, Japan has such a problem. She has obtained much loans from other countries for her own benefit to build up her economy and for development. Her debts amount to a staggering 175.5% of its annual total GDP, making it the country to be most in the red. With such a huge snowballing debt robbing the country of its revenue, less of it can be allocated to solve other social and economic problems such as educational system loopholes, as well as the former social insecurity issue. As such a huge debt cannot be cleared in a short period, it remains a parasite to Japan's economy, leeching away its prosperity, additionally and in turn worsening living standards of the citizens by further reducing wage rates. This worsens the economy further like a vicious cycle since people are poorer, they spend less. Abe's plitical status might then be in serious jeopardy.
Similarly to the context of Singapore, Japan is heavily reliant on trade with other countries. This means that imports and exports of products and revenue earned from such processes comprises a huge proportion of the country's revenue. Such countries include mainly U.S and China, as them, being the strongest developed superpowers presently, have a higher demand of Japanese goods. However, when diplomatic relations falter or sour, such as with China, Japan cannot rely on domestic consumer spending which is so feeble in supporting the economy with the above stated problems. The economy will face serious setbacks when it cannot fall back on foreign countries, and with people knowing that, they have less faith in the economy as well as Abe's leadership. This not only puts the economy of Japan in the hands of outsiders, it also endangers its prosperity depending on Japan's relations with other countries. Japan's entertaining abilities come in handy in such situations, making the country seem inferior and reliant.
The aging population, the bane of many economies, also threatens Japanese economy. This is due to the fact that when a workforce ages, elder members are seen to be less productive due to physical restrains as well as outdated knowledge in terms of skills and essential requirements. For instance, Japan's workforce is estimated to drop form a present 66million to a paltry 55 million in 2035. This is due modern thinking and poverty. People have less money to provide for children, and more women seeking equality, reject the idea of being a housewife, but would rather carve out an impressive career. Hence as less babies are born, less people are able to replace the retired members of the workforce. The latter shrinks and is forced to consist more of the elderly. Coupled with Japanese low mortality rate due to healthy eating habits, more senior citizens would live to a riper, older age so as to burden the economy further when the latter is faced with the challenge to support these senior citizens. The productivity and power of the workforce decreases as it ages, hence the economy produces less products and exports in terms of rate, the former suffers as less revenue is earned. Reiterating, people's lives deteriorate, and political faith in Abe decreases.
Last but not least, the political problems arising from Shinzo's ineffective leadership is the most quinessential in the equation which spells disaster for Japan. It is seen that he lacks a vision for Japan. His ability to reassure his citizens of economic stability clashes with economic realities, and most people know it. His solutions to the country's problems either backfire or lack prompt action to carry out, though a stable foundation has been laid for its implementation. Such examples include his party member's urge for a higher birth rate, incidentally yet disrespectfully refering Japanese women as 'birth-machines', angering the people and critics, who seize the chance to pinpoint faults in Abe's leadership. His economic plan for development, such as 'Innovation 25' to be implemented in 2025, which emphasizes R&D, lack serious action to implement. Despite his success with dealing with foreign affairs, it has not convinced Japan that Abe will be the new leader to lead Japan into an era of prosperity, since he cannot decisively and swiftly eliminate problems plagueing the country. It should occur to him to either buck up, or ship out of politics.