Cultural Diversity in Mauritius: Myth or Reality? Essay

Many people tend to dab the â€Å"Mauritian culture,† as a homogenous one. Some deny the cultural diversity in the island evolving harmoniously. In this regard, unity and diversity are interchangeable words. Constituting of ethnic groups and world religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, co-existing with Hinduism and myriad spoken languages, the island’s people avow and practice different faiths which are reflected in our customs, rituals, norms, and festivals. Despite the contrasting way of life, the citizens remain essentially united. As Mauritians, we love to say that Mauritius is a twinkling model of unity in diversity. But then, we tend to do a lot of things which can only undermine the unity of this country. Unfortunately, diversity is used by many opportunistic politicians for disruptive purposes. After 45 years of independence, ethnicity remains the stratifying factor. Multicultural policies through funding religious groups are considered as empowering minority communities to voice out. In reality such policies have empowered not individuals but their â€Å"leaders† who owe their status and influence mainly to their affiliation with the government which benefits in its turn by manipulating the population and projecting their conventional image to the public through such platforms. At the 473rd anniversary of Maharana Pratab Singh and the creation of the Indian state of Rajasthan on Sunday 19th May 2013 at Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, Phoenix the Prime Minister asserted that â€Å"Diversity should not be divisive. We are from different parts of India, but we are in the same boat. We should not make any difference between us,† as reported by the newspaper Le Dà ©fi Quoti dien. As a remedy, several solicit a secular state- a clear separation between religion and the state, which honestly, is not really the case in Mauritius who has lived an enigmatic development of its political history since the pronouncement of the United Nations, on the case furnished by ‘Resistans ek Alternativ’ militating against the exigency for a candidate of general elections to mention his ethnic belonging. Recently in the limelight, the Best Loser System was designed to provide â€Å"balanced† ethnic and political representation. Boasting about being â€Å"one nation, one people,† what is it about this â€Å"balanced† ethnic and political representation? Across several  decades since independence, haven’t we evolved and gained enough maturity to catabolise our ‘minority or ‘majority’ complex? If this does not show the erosion of that sense of togetherness in a culturally diverse society, then we wonder what it means. Wo uld a secular state mean that there will no longer be public holidays based on religious festivals, something that exist nowhere else in the world? Would we finally live in a flourishing democracy? Mindset. The Mauritian psyche is accustomed to doubt the unfamiliar and see â€Å"external† social groups as a menace. This demeanour is a real threat to national integration, peace, progress and development. This mentality is derived from fear, suspicion and mistrust in the country. To the newest generations, the 1999 riot in relation to Kaya’s death could be the reason that took a tragedy to uncover the truth of existing communal tension. Pretending that all is well in the society means doing very little to instil social cohesion. How can we expect a progressive change when the communal mentality is being perpetuated across generations? Official reform is one thing but changing the mindset of 1.3 million of people implies kissing impossibility. Nevertheless, many are optimistic and try to manoeuver the next generation through example and education. Despite all, for some, Mauritius has a marvellous timeline of peaceful cohabitation. We need not go back at the time of independence where we stood together as a one nation to steal a glance of that. April 2013 marked the flash floods which affected Mauritius causing large-scale disasters. The Mauritian solidarity and unity that we were to witness in providing the huge aid to the victims in need were indeed commendable, proving that we may have different religions and skin complexions, but we all belong to one human race. Alfred Adler said â€Å"There is a Law that man should love his neighbour as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it he must perish.† Thus it seems imperative that all Mauritians should bury their petty differences and work collectively. We must create the foundation of a new Mauritius. We cannot be satisfied with the partly biased idea of a harmonious society, pressurisi ng us to believe in a stable nation. Common has it become in this interest-minded world to veil sinister intentions  behind this masquerade. Unity in diversity is not a slogan. It is a way of life. But will the forthcoming generation adopt this way of life?

Golden Ass Book Review

Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Translated by Joel C. Relihan. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company Inc, 2007. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Maps. Index. Pp. xlv, 254. Apuleius’ The Golden Ass describes the trials and tribulations of Lucius, a privileged man who’s extreme curiosity leads to his unfortunate transformation into an ass. His journey as an ass leads to a newfound perspective, enlightenment, and eventual salvation. Relihan’s translation is vividly descriptive and allows the modern reader to relate to the tale. Although extremely complex and vulgar at times, The Golden Ass is an entertaining, humorous, and inspiring story which provides valuable insight into ancient Greco-Roman society. The Golden Ass consists of many stories which are all interconnected. Apuleius weaves folk tales and myths into the main story of Lucius, which draw parallels to the main theme of The Golden Ass. The reader must pay close attention to such tales, particularly that of Cupid and Psyche, as they are important in understanding Lucius’ redemptive journey. Although the format is often difficult to follow, it is crucial to the significance of the story . Lucius’ intense curiosity and inability to control his desires lead to his transformation and all the negative consequences which follow. Apuleius may have been attempting to convey the downfalls of greed and lust, showing that they always lead to trouble. Lucius’ experiences as an ass are often very funny and explicit. Apuleius’ wit and use of sexual humor provide light-hearted entertainment for the reader. On the other hand, Lucius also lives the inhumane life of a slave after his transformation to an ass. He experiences a way of life he never thought of before his transformation. He is abused and fears for his life on several occasions. This perhaps reveals another moral of The Golden Ass, that is, treat others how you would like to be treated. The Golden Ass serves as an excellent historical document. It describes ancient Greco-Roman society’s morals, social classes, and overall way of life. Apuleius offers insight into all sectors of society. Wealthy upper classes, thieves, artisans, and slaves are all depicted in great detail. The society portrayed in The Golden Ass is in chaos. Greed, immorality and crime are abundant. When Lucius is living with a group of robbers, the reader gets to see how their society functions democratically, as well as their desperation and greed. Lucius’ life as an ass shows his maltreatment as well as the abuse of the slaves around him. These descriptive passages cause the reader to empathize with both Lucius and the slaves. This makes his journey more meaningful and effective at the end. The portrayal of women in The Golden Ass shows that women were viewed very negatively. The Tale of the Wife’s Tub, Miller’s Wife, and Drycleaner’s Wife, all describe women as adulterous and manipulative. Another story, the Tale of the Oppressive Land Owner, shows the tyrannical nature of the small land owner’s of the time. These were likely the characteristics of the society in which Apuleius lived. Relihan’s translation offers several tools which are beneficial in helping the reader understand the text. The introduction provides a summary of the work and important background information about Apuleius. The maps and index are helpful to the reader, as they provide more detailed information about place location and character description. A glossary of major characters is not included, but would have been helpful. The Golden Ass is not for the conservative reader, as it contains explicit sex and violence. One must pay close attention to the story, as there are many details which could easily be missed. The Golden Ass is witty, descriptive, and historically relevant. Readers will be entertained by Lucius’ journey to redemption and gain information about ancient society. As stated in the first chapter, â€Å"pay close attention and joy shall be yours. † (p. 3).

'Hegel argues that the history of civilizations is the history of Essay

'Hegel argues that the history of civilizations is the history of Reason and rationality permeating mankind' To what extent is h - Essay Example Using Horkheimer and Adorno, it will be argued that human nature cannot be completely subjected, and second, that the elimination of superstition has also brought about the subjugation of nature in general. Therefore, there is a progress of reason, but some important limitations too so it cannot be maintained to have completely permeated humankind. For Hegel, history is the succession of stages of consciousness, and these stages of consciousness culminate in a notion which might be said to be a universality of reason or a notion reflecting wide-scale enlightenment.[Hegel, 1952: 216]. To realize universal reason, is to understand history, and to have therefore, self-understanding. Hegel addresses the nature of history at the end of the Philosophy of Right. Concerning these stages, Hegel identifies ‘four’ main periods. These are the ‘Oriental realm’, ‘the Greek Realm’, ‘the Roman realm’, and finally the ‘Germanic realm’ [ Hegel, 1995: 220-223]. Of the first realm, he states that they are both indicative of "natural† and ‘patriarchal’ communities. Further, he identifies these as forms of consciousness where pantheistic views of nature dominate all forms of explanations, and indeed, where history itself is poetry [Hegel, 1952: 222]. While the Greeks eliminate many of the limitations of the irrational that preceded them, they still had â€Å"slavery† which he suggests that as being a â€Å"compromise† of â€Å"freedom†. Slaves, for example, are like Oedipus before he discovered his own identity. In other words, if history is about memory or recollection, and it is about self consciousness or self awareness, then, in this regard we can understand how a society with slaves cannot be a society with universal reason. Slaves are denied the possibility of real self understanding, but by virtue of being enslaved. Reason is essential to freedom [Gallagher, 1997: 128]. The second last stage is the Roman realm which like the Greeks is a divided society. First, he argues that there is equality and private rights, however, the nature of the relations among individuals is both formal and abstract [Hegel, 1952: 221-2]. A division persists between the classes, however, the division in the Roman realm is between those who follow there intuition or senses (superstition), and those who use ‘reason’ and self-understanding as a guiding principle. [Hegel, 1952: 221]. In this sense, Rome had an educated elite, but an un-educated and â€Å"superstitious† majority. In the ‘Germanic realm’, reason is reconciled with irrationality. This occurs in a two-fold sense, according to Hegel. First, those who follow passion, belief, sensation or the ‘law of the heart’, become elevated toward the ‘head’, so to speak. Second, ‘reason’ which had been ‘abstracted’ from the senses becomes embodied in this world. There exists a mutual recognition in each others rational capacities, and this mutual recognition entails that ‘universality’ is no longer abstract, but rather, manifest in a community of rational individuals [Pinkard, 2002: 160]. For Horkheimer and Adorno, the progress of reason is also viewed as a product of the Enlightenment, however, the progress is viewed as a means of subjugation rather than emancipation. While the progress of history promises the emancipation of people through enlightenment and reason,

Increased Women's Issues and Its Significance in American Culture Essay

Increased Women's Issues and Its Significance in American Culture - Essay Example Women were offered low payment compared to men in 1820 and this facilitated them to replace men in school teacher’s position. Women as they started receiving jobs, they gained an acknowledgeable position in the society. The concept of republicanism initiated equality between women and men, and even altered family and social values. Woman’s rights movement was one of the causes behind women gaining significance in American culture. Abolitionist movement and women rights movement took place at the same time. These movements were closely knitted with one another since they reinforced each other. Both the movements were associated with incorporating equality within the system. Second Great Awakening indicated that women shall be considered to be moral reformers of society as well as family. There were circumstances when women were observed to become a part of abolitionist sphere. This strengthened women in order to stand up for equality in the society. Abolitionist proposal enabled women to criticize any wrong happenings occurring in American society.1 Several American institutions were abused who not only supported women empowerment but also was against equality for African Americans. Women’s Rights Convention was organized in 1848 in New York. This was one of the reasons behind evolution of women’s issues. The convention held was an act of protest, mainly in context of mistreatment towards women in religious, social, political and economic dimension. The convention ended with Declaration of Independence, which clearly stated that women would be provided with equal privilege and right like men, encompassing right to vote. This change in laws and regulations made women powerful in American culture. The new set of laws designed was in favor of women and their societal position. American society noticed turmoil with the emergence of women’s issues.

History of Climatology of Tornadoes in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area Essay

History of Climatology of Tornadoes in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area - Essay Example Drawing evidence from the studies’ statistics, the loss caused by F4 tornado despite having highest magnitude was one death and nil value of property damage. Additionally, most of the tornadoes experienced in St. Louis Metropolitan region usually take place in the afternoon hours where the damage increases as the time of the day shifts towards in the evening (National Weather Service, 2012). For illustration, the highest PRPDAM values reported entailed those occurring from 1600hrs to 2200hrs. Mostly, these encompass 50,000,000 (1815hrs), 5000000 (2035), 2500000 (1645), 30,000,000 (1859hrs) and 25,000,000 (2110hrs) except for few cases occurring towards the noon. Hence, tornadoes experienced in this region have similar characteristic trends. This is because its climatic conditions are the same despite being in the tornado’s alley (Forbes, 2011). In addition, studies show that Illinois’ most places experience numerous tornadoes during the onset days of the month (f rom 1St to around 12Th), which is contrary to Missouri’s regions. Missouri’s tornado occurrences redistribute themselves all through the month (St. Louis County Missouri, 2010). Forbes, Greg. â€Å"Tornadoes in St. Louis, Mo. (1950-2011)†. The Weather Channel, LLC weather.com. 2012. http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/severe- weather/articles/tornadoes-by-month-saint-louis_2010-03-25. Stoos, James. â€Å"St. Louis Tornado Highlights Aprils Wild Weather; Spring Tornado Facts† Yahoo! Inc. Accessed 8 November 2012.

Peace Processes Are the Preferred Method of Establishing Lasting Peace Assignment

Peace Processes Are the Preferred Method of Establishing Lasting Peace - Assignment Example The move to use peaceful means for dispute resolution was accelerated in large part by the influx of the First and Second World War in the twentieth century. The use of violence failed to accomplish little more than death and destruction on a scale never witnessed before in both of these wars. This paper will attempt to analyse why peace processes have failed to end the violence in conflicts. The scope of the current discussion will remain limited to the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries alone in order to develop a stronger argument. The first major visible effort for initiating peace in the twentieth century came through the Treaty of Versailles in the aftermath of the First World War. Some may argue that the Treaty of Versailles was little more than retribution for Germany’s actions in the war. However, it must be borne in mind that the statesmen of Europe were mature enough to attempt to deliver lasting peace using the Treaty of Versailles. This maturity stemmed from previous peacebuilding efforts such as the Congress of Vienna that had delivered Europe with peace for nearly a century (King, 2008) (Zamoyski, 2007). The comparison between the Treaty of Versailles and the Congress of Vienna provides an immediately noticeable difference – the representation of stakeholders. The Congress of Vienna was highly tolerant of the demands of Talleyrand but there was no such behaviour at the drafting of the Treaty of Versailles. It has also been suggested that the Germans were purposefully kept out of the dr afting procedures in order to deliver a harsh blow to the German state under the Treaty. While the Congress of Vienna was tolerant of the French, the Treaty of Versailles was discriminatory to the Germans (Lentin, 1985). This behaviour of the Allied victors through the Treaty of Versailles was enough to instigate German resistance to this understanding of peace.  

Mercedes-Benz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Mercedes-Benz - Essay Example Later on, Emil Jellenik made a deal with the Daimler manufacturers in Germany, to sell him the cars and then he honored his daughter by naming the fleeting of the bought cars after her-Mercedes. The reason which made the Mercedes cars to stand out is the high performance engines which had a relatively higher horse power than any other vehicle at that time. Secondly, the Mercedes Benz had custom made leather seats which introduced comfort of another level. This was particularly prominent in the US where the customers had a taste of class and luxury or ostentation. Over the years, the brand of Mercedez Benz has grown to be known as a car of luxury and ostentation (Jenkins, 2010). This is to imply that the price was relatively higher to denote the class that Mercedes Benz was postulated to be in. Thus, the people who drove or bought Mercedes Benz were assumed to belong to a certain class, like in Singapore, where few elites could afford it. In the same line of thought and respect, the technical and technological ability of Mercedes Benz was more agile and superior giving the owner or drive some natural technical abilities to maneuver the car as compared to other models of cars . The production center in China ensured that the Mercedes brand was technically alright to as to appeal to the mechanically savvy population of China. It is important to note that the vehicles were designed with proper engines which were powerful and superior in terms of engine use and fuel consumption. Thus, if person bought the Mercedes Benz, he or she would be assured of spending lesser in terms of gas and fuel consumption (Sandalow, 2006). Culturally, it is important to note and mention that the people who drove the Mercedes Benz were considered to be of a superior cultural dispensation or class. The performance of the Mercedes Benz as a company relied on business environment that would be