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

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.

"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.

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.

Other Forms Of Discrimination

Lookism - http://www.lookism.info/eng/index2.html http://www.geocities.com/s_cullars/lookism.htm Ageism - http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageism.html http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/ageism.asp Disablism - http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/columnists/tom/060904_index.shtml http://www.scope.org.uk/disablism/ Xenophobia - http://www.csvr.org.za/papers/paphar1.htmhttp://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/download/wcar.pdf http://users.bigpond.net.au/bstone/xenophobia.htmhttp://mediaspecialist.org/ssnoplace.html

Freedom of expression or Social responsibility?

Singapore is a multi-racial society consisting of many races living together in harmony. Being democratic, it therefore allows and practises freedom of expression which may sometimes be contradictive to the various beliefs that different ethnic cultures have in Singapore. The provided views by Singer firstly states his grief over his demised grandparents due to the Holocaust, alerting readers that his views are not blatantly spawned from an outsider, but on the other hand taking into account his ability to address the problem of freedom of expression despite being an indirect victim of an incident himself, his opinions can be taken seriously to a larger extent due to impartiality. Thereafter, he states strongly that the views expressed freely due to democratic policies do not change cold hard facts, henceforth such expressions do not pose significant threats to others, and that we should look to the future than dwell on the past. He then states that we should make use of freedom of expression to its fullest extent, and not limit its range leading to hindering of human progression. Sizlagyi, on the contrary, focuses on the presence of globalization and multi-culturism, hence there is an absence of barriers which limit us to a certain community. Hence social responsibility must be practised in order to limit freedom of expression so as to prevent offending other ethnic groups or communities which may spark off racial clashes or even global conflicts.
In such a country such as ours, in my opinion, it is apparent to practise szilagyi's views. It is indeed conspicuous that there are no barriers between the various ethnic groups in Singapore as we live in one community. As in Singer's case, it can be aptly described by a person raining profanities on another, but the truth remains that the latter may not be what is rudely spoken of him/her. Respect is not given to that person however. Though freedom of expression in Singapore prior to race and religious differences may be positive or negative, we are strongly fuelled by ethnic and racial differences to demean the other, and with our country having inproportionate amounts of people, freedom of expression and racism will hence be related. More of Chinese will speak against other races, thereafter leading to violent conflicts and more violation of human right laws and privileges. People will also be classified hence by race or religion, which is undesirable in a democratic society. Besides, racial conflicts are detrimental to a country's economic and social progress, and furthermore, there is no link between racial criticism and positive mankind progression, as Singer's views addresses more so on the issue on the Holocaust, which is a different issue from racial discrimination, the main problem in Singapore if freedom of expression is not controlled or limited by law.
On the other hand, Singapore cannot be flourishing in a totalitarian state. Freedom of expression must be allowed, but again be controlled by social responsibility or law. What is most important is the content of the opinions voiced, as well as the motives. To help improve government policies, or to agitate and provoke alternative racial groups may be some motives of people. As such, we must strike a balance between making use of freedom of expression for benefit, simultaneously not disrespecting or offending other racial or ethnic groups of people, henceforth a limit must exist so as to prevent going overboard on these views. Social responsibility provides the answer, whereby mature and constructive views can be voiced to help others, at the same time taking into account the beliefs and faiths, feelings and opinions of others. I feel that then will freedom of expression serve its true purpose.

Is the death penalty neccessary in society?

The implementation of the death penalty has been present ever since the medieval times of the world. It is versatile due to the many functions it serves, as well as the abundant ways it is carried out via, but these revolves around basically the main concept of using death to condemn or get rid of certain 'scum' of the society or country, government or any other authority. The debate on its existence, however, focuses on human rights on life, additionally justice as well.
People usually relate justice to getting rid of evil people. This is due to the fact that by so called killing evil people, we make life safer and better for others. Therefore, since throughout the times the main objective of death penalty is to remove criminals or scum that do people no good, but harm rather, the main benefit of the death penalty would be to prevent the latter to inflict more harm on the people, as well as to clear the atmosphere of fear and insecurity in society. Take for instance a corrupted society, leading to the decline of power of the law. Criminals are free to roam and commit crimes, instilling fear into the hearts of many as they may be victims anytime. Security and safety are hence compromised in such a place, making it a place not suitable for inhabitation. Henceforth, it is essential to get rid of these criminals by meting out punishments so that they learn their lesson so as not to repeat their mistakes such as via jail terms or caning and fines, consequently they repent from the fear of the punishments reenacting in their lives. For hardcore criminals which are seen as hopeless, or their crimes are too unpardonable, they must be removed so as to deter the possibility of repeat of these crimes which will harm the general public.
Punishments not only serve to 'persuade' a criminal to change his ways the hard way, but also to set an example for potential criminals to think twice before commiting the unlawful act. Witnessing or knowing about such punishments inflicted on the criminals deter the potential latter from doing what they should not to break the law. Coincidentally, since humans are mostly fearful of death, the death penalty would attack the core of a potential criminal's heart and mind, and with the rationality to think for their lives outweighing their desire to commit the crime, they are deterred to break the law to harm others. For instance, if people are executed for mere crimes such as in a tyrannical government, it would likely be a crime-free one. Both these points aim to deter hardcore criminals and potential criminals to commit their crimes, mentally and physically.
However, people generally despise or detest criminals for the harm and pain inflicted upon others for their own selfish gains via unethical and immoral methods. Therefore, people's judgement towards their crimes are blinded by their thirst for revenge to inflict the equal punishment on the criminal himself, hence the death penalty may be a consequence from the judgement of the punishment they truly deserve in addition to the hatred for the criminal himself, hence the punishment may be too harsh for the criminal in terms of true justice. Since the death penalty is the harshest punishment in existence, it hence should be abolished to accomodate true justice rather than a mixture of hatred and vengeance itself, by making more punishments more lenient.
In addition, every human has basic human rights, which most essentially is to preserve one's life. By executing a criminal, we are seriously infringing upon the human rights of the criminal. It is felt that we should not play god and impose death penalties on wrong-doers, since every human is counted as equal in society, and that no man is better than the other. By infringing on the most fundamental of all human rights, with the justice system practising such a punishment backed up by the government, which in turn comes up with such regulations to protect human privileges in a human society. How does that differentiate the justice system from criminals? Rather, we should leave god to do the extermination of evil himself. As the saying goes, what goes around comes around, and non-atheists would believe that criminals would get their just deserts.
In conclusion, i feel that the death penalty is indeed essential in the justice system nevertheless. We cannot compromise the safety of others, and that there is no scientific evedence of the presence of any god despite the presence of the various religions and faiths. We must take things into our own hands.

Is censorship neccessary?

Censorship refers to the process whereby the media or any other authority examines films, publications or letters, any form of media to suppress objectionable content, such as that of explicit, obscene, pornographic, or racially or politically sensitive issues, as they might cause unrest and negative effects on society, especially if these were exposed through the media or press. It is deemed neccessary for the prevention of conflict between groups of people, uprisings or even war, or tensions among the country, to safeguard government and national interests, protecting the young and weak-minded from harmful influences, as well as ensuring right messages get across to the minds of people.
Take a racially blended country such as singapore for instance, the small island comprises chinese, indians, malays as well as less significant groups such as eurasians or indonesians.
Such a nation without proper racial harmony preservation resembles a cauldron ready to implode any minute, as tensions build up to lead to conflicts among citizens, leading to lack of peace and security within singapore. Unfortunately, racial prejudices do occur, though not rampant in singapore, but nevertheless leads to racial strife among small parties. The government reacts appropriately by censoring incidents of such conflicts, which would spark off national racial conflicts off much larger proportions, further endangering the lives and property of the citizens. Censorship in this case acts like a shield in a forest that prevents fire from spreading, protecting security interests of people by sieving out racially sensitive issues or incidents, henceforth it is an effective measure to promote racial harmony.
The childhood of a person is when it acts most like a sponge, whereby the values and images he sees make a significant impact on his later life. This usually detemines his personality, apart from the genes of his parents, as well as his character and actions. Overexposure of explicitly violent and sexually-oriented images through the media might well persuade the young that all these are part and parcel of life, and from this spawns promiscuous activity, increased crime rate or murder, or even traumatisation due to blood and gore images from movies like SAW or even 300. Such symptoms of lack of censorship leads to social problems in society, such as the threatening of law and national security from increased crime rate, additionally changing the face of society with the wide influence of media, citizens become immoral, violent, and have little principles and values to speak of. Censorship prevents this by erecting a barrier between the weak-minded and young away from explicit images, texts and videos, protecting them from harmful influences on the mind.
Every government should have the best interests of the people at heart. Therefore, it is essential that they bring the correct political, social messages across to the people via the media. Censorship of external influences or media prevents ideas that are not in line with the government's plans for the people from reaching the latter, henceforth for the benefit of the people as well as by emphasizing the correct messages, the country, society and economy for functioning efficiently. For instance, by censoring smoking commercials, correct messages of health are brought across, with its absence, by restricting wrong messages of health.
On the other hand, censorship may be unneccessary in certain aspects of people's lives, or even to the extent of being detterent to the latter. Such instances include the lack of exposure retarding the growth of youngsters, as well as the need to practise self-censorship, both of which revolves about the need to have matured people in our society.
For instance, many people relate exposure to growth, knowledge and experience. For example, the more one travels, the more knowledge and experience one gathers, the more matured and learned one becomes, the more the growth. It is true to an extent that people need to be exposed to something in order to learn about it. Additionally, however, people are reckoned mature enough to practise self-censorship via religions like christianity, whereby the 'see no evil, hear no evil' saying is used to keep a person 'pure and untainted', or simply by the determination of one's mind to keep away from such influences.
Even so, i feel that censorship is needed nevertheless. We cannot assume all people as rational or mature people and henceforth, censorship is implemented to ensure the safety and security of all by protecting them against the harmful influences of the media, such as childen or the intellectually disabled.

TVBS media scandal

I refer to the article" TVBS scandal points to credibility problems in Taiwan's media industry".
People are reliant on the media to obtain information, news about their many aspects of life such as weather, entertainment and current affairs. Sad to say for Taiwan, their media is an unreliable source of information, as they forsake their true purpose of existence, to serve the public by reporting accurate news, for ratings, hece they cook up news just so people tune it, regardless of the effects generated due to the fabricated lies. For instance, in this case, a TVBS journalist had filmed a heavily armed gangster making death threats to a rival mob boss, which was obviously an act just to boost ratings, with the fake guns being used and the reluctance to acknowledge the source of the video. This has led to the mobilisation of the police force to investigate the mater, as well as affected people negatively all over the country. This may reflect upon the poor state of Taiwan security, as gangsters have access to firearms, hence putting many at risk, worrying them. The time of the police force has also been compromised due to the investigation, whereby they could have contributed more towards the security of Taiwan. Other such instances include when they falsely reported that duck slaughterhouses made used of asphalt to unfeather ducks, leading to a decline in duck sales, affecting the suppliers and sellers as they had made losses due to the drop in demand.
In my opinion, the media is a powerful tool to influence the minds of the citizens as it is the link between what is happening and what we know as it aims to inform accurately so that we can respond appropriately to the situation, such as for the weather reports and stock market statistics. Hence when inaccurate information is broadcasted, people tend to react to the situations which henceforth are pointless or self-destructive. What aggravates the matter is that since the media reaches out to the masses of Taiwan, the reactions generated will produce significant impacts on the various aspects of the contry. For instance, the boycott of ducks has led to the loss of money in the poultry industry, in turn affecting the whole economy adversely, and hence the many people it consists of. Therefore, i feel that the media should be a responsible and focused media towards the people and the aim of its existence, to provide accurate news, in order to avoid large-scale unneccesary responses to false reports, as well as to inform them for their benefit.
The drop in Taiwan's media standards is due to many reasons such as the cutting of costs in news reporting, and fierce competition in the field of the latter. The extent to which the media's standards have plummeted can be gauged by the lack of trust entrusted in the media itself, such as that only 1% of majo business stakeholder groups rely and trust the media and that media watchdogs warn of an uprising crisis. From cutting corners and peer pressure spawns unethical and underhand means to achieve higher ratings so as to outdo other news reporting stations, which compromises the benefits and in turn affects negatively the citizens they should serve. The government can play a part in preventing this by merging more news stations into 1 corporation so as to eliminate competition in the field, and increasing the budget allocated to the reporting media so that they do not cut costs to compromise reporting standards.