George Orwells Classic Essay on the Homeless

George Orwells Classic Essay on the Homeless Best known for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair) was one of the most notable political writers of his day. The following short piece has been drawn from Chapter 31 of Orwells first book, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), a semiautobiographical account of living in poverty in both cities. Though the word beggars is rarely heard nowadays, the ordinary human beings he describes are, of course, still with us. Consider whether or not you agree with Orwells thesis.After reading Why Are Beggars Despised you may find it worthwhile to compare the piece with two essays by Oliver Goldsmith: A City Night-Piece  and The Character of the Man in Black. Why Are Beggars Despised? by George Orwell 1 It is worth saying something about the social position of beggars, for when one has consorted with them, and found that they are ordinary human beings, one cannot help being struck by the curious attitude that society takes towards them. People seem to feel that there is some essential difference between beggars and ordinary working men. They are a race apart - outcasts, like criminals and prostitutes. Working men work, beggars do not work; they are parasites, worthless in their very nature. It is taken for granted that a beggar does not earn his living, as a bricklayer or a literary critic earns his. He is a mere social excrescence, tolerated because we live in a humane age, but essentially despicable. 2 Yet if one looks closely one sees that there is no essential difference between a beggars livelihood and that of numberless respectable people. Beggars do not work, it is said; but, then, what is work? A navvy works by swinging a pick. An accountant works by adding up figures. A beggar works by standing out of doors in all weathers and getting varicose veins, chronic bronchitis, etc. It is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course - but, then, many reputable trades are quite useless. And as a social type a beggar compares well with scores of others. He is honest compared with the sellers of most patent medicines, high-minded compared with a Sunday newspaper proprietor, amiable compared with a hire-purchase tout - in short, a parasite, but a fairly harmless parasite. He seldom extracts more than a bare living from the community, and, what should justify him according to our ethical ideas, he pays for it over and over in suffering. I do not think there is anything about a be ggar that sets him in a different class from other people, or gives most modern men the right to despise him. 3 Then the question arises, Why are beggars despised?- for they are despised, universally. I believe it is for the simple reason that they fail to earn a decent living. In practice nobody cares whether work is useful or useless, productive or parasitic; the sole thing demanded is that it shall be profitable. In all the modern talk about energy, efficiency, social service and the rest of it, what meaning is there except Get money, get it legally, and get a lot of it? Money has become the grand test of virtue. By this test beggars fail, and for this they are despised. If one could earn even ten pounds a week at begging, it would become a respectable profession immediately. A beggar, looked at realistically, is simply a businessman, getting his living, like other businessmen, in the way that comes to hand. He has not, more than most modern people, sold his honor; he has merely made the mistake of choosing a trade at which it is impossible to grow rich. (1933) Other Responses To find out how other readers have responded to this excerpt from Orwells Down and Out in Paris and London, visit the discussion board at reddit/r/books.

Globalization of Rastafarianism Essay Example

Globalization of Rastafarianism Essay Example Globalization of Rastafarianism Essay Globalization of Rastafarianism Essay Rastafarianism has been globalized through music, practice, and symbolism. One could argue that the main catalyst behind the globalization movement was through the music of Bob Marley. He popularized reggae music, and thrust it to the world stage during his musical career. He sang songs that carried the morals of a Rastafarian, and that spoke on social issues of his birthplace in Jamaica. He sang to many about the culture of Ethiopia in which he called â€Å"Zion†, and about the resistance of western culture and society, which he called â€Å"Babylon†. These songs that contained Rastafarian messages were recorded and distributed by Island records. Island records was founded in Jamaica, but then reached out to offices in the United Kingdom and the United States, because of the success of Bob Marley’s records. This led Marley to tour the world and become an international icon. He was then awarded the â€Å"Peace Medal of the Third World†, educated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and awarded the Grammy Lifetime achievement award, for his music and lyrical content. This resulted in a mass acceptance, and adoption of the Rastafarian religion. The music of Bob Marley and reggae music has impacted the lives of people around the globe. In turn, the people who were influenced by Marley have integrated, and built businesses from the Rastafarian culture. Many shops around the globe sell Rastafarian paraphernalia such as incense, giant Jamaican flags, articles of clothing that bear the colors of the Jamaican flag, and marijuana clinics based around Rastafarianism. Although, these shops seem to only support the most basic elements of Rastafarianism instead of the meat of the culture. Many people will purchase these items to portray the image or â€Å"look† of the Rastas. : They will wear the colors of the Jamaican flag, smoke marijuana, grow their air into dreadlocks, and even use the word â€Å"Irie†, the Jamaican word for powerful, pleasing, or feeling good. Many places of cultural diversity seem to have integrated some Rastafarian culture in style, music, and basic ideology. Colonization has played a major role in the Cargo Cults history. Colonization of different civilizations was catalyst behind the cults. Whether it be colonization from Europeans, Japanese, or the interference between the Australian government, their intentions is what challenged faith and knowledge of the primitive peoples. The arrival of foreign peoples, primarily white people, signified the apocalypse. Not only that, but an overall change in power. The emergence of the white man was believed to first cause an apocalypse, which would then lead to a god or higher power to reveal itself and create a world with no sickness, hunger, disease, or age, then turning the cults white and the white men black. The Melanesian Cargo Cults were completely challenged when none of their beliefs became realities. For example, the villagers that resided Wewak were urged by a â€Å"Black King† and his prophets to stop paying taxes to the Europeans. The prophets claimed that an earthquake would cause their government station to be swallowed by the sea. These then led to the imprisonment of four prophets while three other were exiled. Another example would be the case in which Papuans attempted to attack the Japanese. In this incident, the Papuan grew restless of the Japanese colonies, which caused the Papuan to form some sort of military force and try and attack the Japanese. This resulted in several boatloads of Papuan’s being shot down by Japanese ships. Since the Cargo Cults had little to no idea about modern civilizations, they assumed the cargo and technology had to be some sort of magic. It is this inability to cope with modern ideas and technology that continues to sustain the cults. If it weren’t for colonization, the cults may not even exist. The same could be said for the Ghost Dance Religion. One of the main catalyst if not the only catalyst behind the first generation of the Ghost Dance Religion was born out of the revival of traditional Indian ways. These ways were compromised when there were disputes between the Indians and the white men. One of its primary focuses was on the disappearance of the white man and his influence over Indian culture. When Wovoka reinstated the Ghost Dance Religion, it was so appealing to many other tribes outside of Nevada because Indians across America had been under persecution. The Indians had suffered from loss of land, and attempts to rid the cultural ways and identity of native americans. That is why the Ghost Dance Ritual focuses so heavily on Indian customs. It would support the ideals of being Indian such as, respect for land and nature, harmony between one and their community, and a resistance toward western morals and objects. Colonization eventually ended the religion, when Wovoka excited many Indians in Sioux, which lead to the murder three hundred and seventy Indians. Without colonization, the Ghost Dance Religion would have less of a reason to exist. Although colonization may not be the entire reason for the Ghost Dance Religion to exist, the struggle against the white men in order to retain a level of Indian identity was a crucial factor.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Summary - Essay Example In the same manner, ESL students are likely to acquire English with difficulty if the lessons are overly focused on grammar skills development at the expense of content. For music study to be worthwhile, therefore, students must study sheet music and at the same time actually play the instrument that interests them. For ESL students, the musical keys and notes are the language while the actual playing of the musical instrument is the content. Language and content must go together for a more efficient ESL teaching, especially in countries being swept by globalization like Korea where interest in English is growing but where the first or native language has an alphabet with wide phonetic distance and the popular ESL teaching method is characterized by rote memorization. This sums up the whole content of the paper, which argues that content-based instruction (CBI) can push ESL instruction in Korea to a higher level. It says that by shifting its language-centered practice of ESL instruction with one that integrates language and content, Korea will keep in step with the modern trend in this field and make ESL study in the country more efficient.