The Fundamentals Aspects That Shaped the Great Mind of Plato Essay Example for Free

The Fundamentals Aspects That Shaped the Great Mind of Plato Essay The importance of understanding concepts and analyzing the true meaning of words capture the human mind to develop philosophical thinking, so men can determine what they know about the world. A particularly exciting aspect of the human mind has always been intrigued in understanding reality, and Plato was fascinated with the abstract and theoretical principles of what constitutes reality. To Plato, ideas or conceptual forms were essential realities; when we refer to justice or beauty, it is essential to analyze the real meaning of the words to understand the form. Plato developed a whole philosophy in trying to examine how the human mind arrives to knowledge. Plato was a remarkable thinker and writer, and his system of thought and metaphysics have strongly impacted many societies. A great mind like Plato’s is the result of a sequence of experiences and historical events, the impact of certain figures in society and the combination of a great intellect. The aspects that shaped Plato’s ideas were: first the society of Sparta and the deceitfulness of the Athenian democracy, and second the influence of philosophers like Socrates, Phytagoras, Parmenides and others; the synthesis of these aspects is revealed thought out his beliefs and works. . One of the most crucial aspects in Plato’s philosophy is his Utopia. There are central elements that shaped Plato’s perception of what a perfect state should constitute of; therefore, it is vital to analyze the historical context of Plato’s life. Plato was born in 428-7 B.C., in the early years of the Peloponnesian War. After Athens’s defeat in the war, antidemocratic sympathizers brought the rule of the Thirty Tyrants, and Plato was related to various people who were concerned about the new rule. At a young age, it is possible that Plato could have blame Athens’ defeat to democracy1 (Russell,105). Plato came from one of the â€Å"wealthiest and most politically active families in Athens† (Annas, 18). He was a student of Socrates, for whom he felt a tremendous affection; Socrates was found guilty in corrupting the youth and believing in other gods and was put to death by the Athenian democracy. Plato showed in many of his early Dialogues th e figure of Socrates as the philosopher who gave enlightenment to the citizens of Athens because his knowledge relied on logic and reason; for example, in the dialectic development of the idea of piety in the Euthyphro, Socrates emphasized the exercise of reason in analyzing the fallacies of his opponent’s arguments. The irony of this dialogue is that Socrates is charged of impiety, and he proved to know more about piety than his opponent. It is not surprising that Plato will favor Sparta in his Utopia because the Athenian democracy is responsible for Socrates’ death. In Plato’s works, Socrates is in the highest level of intellect and ethics, and in the dialogue Crito Socrates is the perfect example of what an ethical position should be: â€Å"The view that the citizen who has agreed to live in a state must always obey the laws of the state, or else persuade the state to change its laws, or leave the state† (Crito 51bc-52a-d); then Socrates affirmed: one must not even do wrong when one is wronged, which most people regard as the natural course. Socrates represents the great martyr and philosopher who is willing to act in name of justice besides of the circumstances. He would prefer to die rather than to act unjustly. Plato established most of his highest ethical values throug h Socrates’ voice in the Dialogues. It is possible to assume that Plato could have felt a great loss after Socrates’ death, and his resentment towards Athens influenced him to see Sparta as a better society. Plato will also favor Sparta’s educational and social reforms in his works. In Plato’s Utopia, the Republic, the first dialogues near to the end of Book V, consists of the elements necessary to construct an ideal state. Plato introduces us to three classes: the common people, the soldiers, and the guardians. Since the guardians have political power, Plato is concerned in how the guardians will develop their roles in the most appropriate way, so education is essential in the role of the guardians. There are many similarities in what Plato suggests about the guardians’ education to the one provided in Sparta. For example; Plato explains that education is divided in two areas: music and gymnastics. In Platos’s Utopia, it is important to encourage a type of education that stimulates the mental and physical training of the guardians to encourage them to die in battle if it is necessary. This is similar to Sparta’s main interest of education to convert yo ung men into warrior machines. Courage and good behavior are the characteristics to be promoted in the Republic. It seems to be that there is a â€Å"rigid censorship† over the literature that young men have access in the Republic; for example, mother and nurses are to tell their children only â€Å"authorized stories.† Homer and Hesiod are not part of the education because they provide examples of gods behaving badly, and it cannot be taught that evil things come from gods2 (Rusell 109). It is possible to assume that there are elements in Homer and Hesiod that will make the readers develop a fear of dead, and in his Utopia it is unacceptable to stimulate the fear of death in young soldiers because the main purpose is to encourage men to die in battle. In the Republic, education seems to aim only at the functional level of the military, and it tries to discourage men to question about the gods’ evil and erroneous actions because these factors will distract them form protecting the state. In Sp arta, the Lycurgan reforms’ main objective of education was to build strong soldiers, and the stimulation of cultural and scientific education was not on the picture. For example, at the age of seven, children were sent to schools where they were subject to a very strict training; they were taught to steal and if they were caught they were punished but not because of the action but because of their stupidity. Plato also proposes a system of communism for the guardians and possible to the soldiers, these men are supposed to have a simple way of living like simple houses, food, and none private property beyond of what is required. Gold and silver are forbidden. If we look at the Spartan society much of this is the same. For example, none Spartan citizen should be â€Å"destitute, and none should be rich,† and Spartans were expected to live on the procedure of theirs lot, and they could not own gold or silver. Sparta impacted many Greeks through the creation of the â€Å"myth† of a perfect state, and this is reflected in Plato’s political theory. The admiration of Sparta seemed bizarre especially during Lycurgus’s reforms. Lycurgus is thought to be a â€Å"mystical person,† whose origin was Arcadian and his name meant â€Å"wolf-repeller.† During this time, the Spartan constitution attributed to Lycargus seemed to have shaped the society in order to pursuit war and encourage its citizens to sacrifice everything in the battles. It is hard to understand that Sparta could have played an important part in what Greece have contributed to the civilization, but certainly many greeks were inspired and attracted to the simplicity of this state as Bury explains: A stranger from Athens or Miletus in the fifth century visiting the straggling villages which formed her unwalled unpretentious city must have had a feeling of being transported into an age of long past, when men were braver, better, and simpler, unspoiled by wealth, undisturbed by ideas. To a philosopher, like Plato, speculating in political science, the Spartan state seemed the nearest approach to the ideal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bury, 141). In understanding Plato’s Utopia we can see that there is so much resemble to Sparta because Sparta represented the opposite of Athens, and it appealed to Plato in many ways like the social organization and the education. Plato was very attracted by the stability of that state; for example, the Spartan constitution remained unchanged for centuries. In the first books I-V of the Republic, justice become very important for Plato; for example, the guardians exert a great amount of power because they represented the wisest group in the community, so decisions are taken by the wiser because they will know was good and best for the people and â€Å"injustice would only occur,† according to Plato’s theory, â€Å"if there were men in other classes who were wiser than some of the guardians† (Russell, 114). And this is the reason why Plato proposes the stratification and deprivation of citizens, but the question is very complicated in defining the science of power, g overnment, and politics. It seems very just to give the power to the wisest man to make decisions, but how do we determine who is the wisest and most important if that person would use his wisdom in the interest of the state. In understanding how to rule a community the ethical ideal is very important. As Plato explains, justice consists of men doing their jobs, as the doctor will pursuit to cure the sick, but the problem is how men decide what their jobs should be or what is their function in an active society in terms of utility. Men have to decide what they want to work on and fulfill the skill that is required on that job, but the problem is whether men should decide their jobs based on their tastes or based on the state’s judgment of the aptitudes of every individual, and the question is who has the strongest ethical ideal to decide that: the individual or the government? For Plato, the purpose of the government is essential in determining what a man job should be, but this involves many difficulties in making the adequate choice because there is none assurance that the government will make the right decision. The problem is that even though the rulers are philosophers, there is not room for innovation, as Russell says â€Å"a philosopher is to be, for all the time, a man who understands and agrees with Plato.† The dilemma is that philosophers are not encouraged to think beyond Plato’s ideals. This example of the government been in charge of determining men’s aptitudes and their jobs takes us back to the organization in Sparta. The Utopia perceived by Plato was strongly influenced by Sparta, but a Sparta that is more mythical than real and that exists only in Plato’s ideals. Certainly the situation in Athens, the democracy that he disapproved so much, and the unethical action in convicting Socrates forced Plato into many struggles with his subconscious mind. This influenced Plato to see in Sparta the possibility to create a Utopia in his mind but certainly one with many defective aspects. Plato’s profoundest and original ideas resulted from the attempt to solve problems by his predecessors. Aristotle speaks of Plato’s ideas as â€Å"resembling the Pythagorean, but with certain features of its own† in the first book of Metaphysics. The philosophical influences of that time shaped many of Plato’s ideas. The Heracletian view, that proposes that the world is in constant flux and cannot be the object of knowledge, appealed so much to Plato that he decided to approach Socrates on this matter. Socrates at that time was concern with ethics and was seeking the universals and their definitions. The idea of Heracletian and the image of Socrates as the philosopher is shown in many of Plato’s dialogues. The Dialogues dealt with the search of definitions and abstract ideas. Plato’s main inspiration was Socrates; for example, in the majority of the Dialogues, Socrates always take the leading position, even in the Theaetetus and Philebus which were written in Plato’s maturity4(http://plato.stanford.edu). Socrates influenced Plato with the concern of ethical problems in the society, and this explained why â€Å" The Good† dominated on Plato’s thought; â€Å"no evil can happen to a goo d man, either in life or after death†( Dialogues, Apology). Plato derived many ideas from Pythagoras especially the â€Å"Orphic elements† of his philosophy such as; the religious ideas like the belief of immortality, his passion for mathematics, and eternal truth. Plato found very appealing Socrates’ idea of universal definitions; but since universals could have no application in a world subject to the â€Å"Heraclitean flux,† he needed to test whether Socrates was right or not. If Socrates was right, there would have to be realities outside the world of the â€Å"ordinary sensible experience.† This leads Plato to consider the following question: was there any evidence for the existence of ‘such changeless truths’? If they exist, how could we have any knowledge of their nature? For Plato, it was possible the existence of a world of eternal forms, but he needed mathematical truth to prove this. Through Pythagoras’s discovery of application of music as regarded by Pythagoreans as the prime cause of order and harmonia in the universe; Plato found an example of the existence of truth outside the empirical world. Another example is that in the case of the statement that the triangle consists of three straight lines is true, but is not true for a triangle draw by hand because by definition â€Å" a line has length but no breadth and is therefore invisible† (ellopos.net). It follows that the triangle of experiences only approximate to the form of truth, and Plato embraced this idea. Plato perceived that ideas like justice or love or beauty have an invisible form; for example, in the perception of beauty one could see a beautiful sculpture but this only approximates to the eternal form of beauty. Clearly â€Å"the modern explanation of mathematical truth as analytical or tautologous was not possible† (ellopos.net) in the minds of Plato and Phytagoras because then the universals of a form could not have exist in the idea of immortality. Another greatest influence on Plato was Parmenides, and from him Plato derived the idea that reality is eternal and timeless and that on â€Å"logical grounds, all changes must be illusory† (Russell, 105). All the ideas of these Greek philosophers combined all together lead to Plato’s belief that â€Å"knowledge could not be derived from the senses, but only achieved by the intellect† (Cantor, 12). In Plato’s theory of knowledge, he concluded that reality is pure idea and that we know it by defining our concepts trough reason and critical thinking. The middle of the Republic Book V to Book VII concentrated on the philosophy and the ideals of forms: Until philosophers are kings, or the kings or the princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy,and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner nature who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from these evils-no, nor the human race, as I believe- and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day. (Plato, Republic, Book V). Trough this passage we can see the combination of Parmenides and Pythagoras thoughts produced a doctrine which was felt to satisfy the intellect and the religious emotions3 ( Russell, 120). In understanding what Plato meant by knowledge and opinion, we have to look at Par emenides. Paremenides stated that an individual who has knowledge has knowledge of something that exists, and for what does not exist is nothing. It is possible to assume that knowledge cannot be mistaken because it exists as a pure form, and opinion can be mistaken because opinion cannot be of what is not because if it was then it would be knowledge. Plato also suggested that things have opposite characters; for example, what is just can be in some respects unjust. It is self contradictory to assume that a thing can be just and unjust at the same time, and so particular things have to be accepted as not real; as Heraclitus mentioned: â€Å"we step and do not step into the same rivers; we are and are not.† Particular things are not the forms because they are concerned with opinion, and knowledge is the only concerned with the actual form. According to Plato, opinion is part of the world of senses and knowledge is part of the eternal world; therefore, perfect. Another important aspect of the theory is the fact that is â€Å"partly logic and partly metaphysical†; for example, if we look at a table, we would ask ourselves what is a table? A table is just the structure of a certain material like wood, plastic, or metal in a particular form but without a form, it would only be a shapeless material. For the table to come into existence there has to be the idea of a table which gives its shape. We can say that the physical world has no form unless it is shaped by an idea. In Plato’s metaphysics the presence of Heraclitus shaped his thoughts. Plato agreed with Heraclitus in the point that when the world is experienced trough the senses the reality is constantly changing; however, he took this to a step further and believed that there has to exist a reality that can be known through reason and this reality is not in change. In the last book of the Republic Plato dealt with the allegory of the cave and the influenced on Pythagoras is there. In the allegory, men live in a cave and in a world of shadows in which they are inevitable force to regard them as real, until a man is able to escape. He becomes aware of the reality, and this man that has discovered the real world outside the cave will represent the kind of philosopher who will fit best to become the guardian, and his duty is to inform and convince the others in the cave about the real things he saw outside, so they can save their souls. Plato and Pythagoras held that knowledge is necessary for the salvation of the soul, and this idea explains why is important that the man who has discovered the world outside the cave help the others to save their souls from their ignorance. The men in the cave would mock him at the beginning because they still live in a world of ignorance. Plato also reinforces the importance of becoming a philosopher and how knowledge will lead to the ‘intellectual world in the perception of the absolute good (White 91).† The mysticism of Plato’s theory leads to some conflicts in which reality is perfectly good and in other to perceive reality is to perceive good, but what exactly he meant by good? The idea of science and truth in good still seems to be more influenced by the mysticism of some philosophers rather than objectivism. In Plato’s theory of forms the presence of many philosophers is almost in every aspect of what he believes to be knowledge; his theory is the combination of different mechanisms extracted from different philosophers that allowed Plato to arrive at what is called the theory of forms. It is impossible to deny that Plato’s theory of forms represented the beginning of a philosophical system that had and continue to impact the world. Platonism is a very important philosophical system that has intrigued many thinkers, and in order to understand this philosophy is important to understand the philosophers who influenced Plato. Plato’s ideas and beliefs gave the foundation of what we called philosophy, and Plato’s love for wisdom and the necessity to know where the human mind gets its ideas was his most profound inspiration; however, it is difficult to ignore the various elements that define his ideas. The historical circumstances in which Plato lived influenced some of his thoughts especially his perception of a Utopia. In the Republic, there are many ideas that show significant similarities to the organization of the Spartan society. Plato was influenced by many philosophers, and the one that he regarded as a true inspiration was Socrates, and this leads us to follow his indignation to democracy in Athens. There were other figures that impacted Plato’s life and thoughts like Pythagoras, Parmenides, and Heraclitus, and they allowed Plato to come down with many of his ideas. Plato has been regarded as the eminent philosopher and has been admired by many societies, but in order to praise him is necessary to understand what could have influenced him. Plato will always remain a very interested and enigmatic figure that will continue to intrigue society because there has not been any other philosophical thought that has influenced so much our society.

Kent State Essay -- National Guard History Kent State Essays

Kent State In 1970 the nation was in its highest state of controversy. The generation gap that had begun to form in the sixties was now more of a ravine. The youth of America was finally standing up and raising their voices in protest against all the problems that plagued the country they would have control of in years to come. There were many events that helped in feeding the flame in the hearts of Americans. One such event was the Kent State University incident. It is an event that touched the nation and made such a profound mark, and yet it only lasted for thirteen seconds. In the thirteen seconds the Ohio National Guard, along with the rest of government by association, established themselves as the new enemy. All eyes were on them, scrutinizing their every move, pointing out every mistake they made. Interestingly enough, most don’t even really know exactly what went on in those thirteen seconds, but they knew that it left four students dead and nine injured at the hand of the Nation al Guard, so that was enough to strike the hearts on millions. Still today, twenty-nine years later, we still don’t really know what went on. Who fired the first shot, and were they provoked? Was it necessary for the National Guard to be present on this typically calm college campus in the first place? And why did it have to end in such tragedy? There are so many questions, and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story. Before choosing sides one must always look at the facts. The most important fact to know about the situation at Kent State University is that in the days before the shootings, the campus was anything but calm. It all began on Thursday, April 30,... ...nd nobody has been to this. In all of the books, magazine articles, and web pages dedicated to this subject, it is impossible to find an unbiased one. I have to admit that I did go into my research in favor of the students, but the more I read of the situation on campus in the days prior to the shooting, the more I found myself asking â€Å"How I would I have handled a situation like that if I had been a member of the Guard?† I can only conclude that there is no right answer to that. There are so many questions, and so many misconceptions about this incident, and like any controversial issue, there are always two sides to the story. Now that I have thoroughly studied both sides to the story, I still have no idea who I think was in the wrong. There are simply too many unanswerable wholes in the stories from both sides that now I can’t say I’m for or against either one.

All about russia

Every society in the world with its embolic powers of coexistence with the nature’s upheavals and society’s turbulence is always on the move towards growth and development for assuring the maintenance for the generation next. This typical feature of the Society is its Character by which it is recognized. This Character is further determined by the interaction of traditional culture, its Land and its social and political tendencies, which since centuries are digging deeper roots in the consciousness of the citizens and their intellectual attitude towards life and society.In 989 when St. Vladimir accepted Christianity, Russia took its first step forward to take over the heritage of Constantinopole. Again in 1453, when New Rome of Constantinopole had fallen to Turks, Moscow emerged as a â€Å"Third Rome† and the Soviet Union after taking its own course became a new synthesis of the dialectic of history and its Duke became the â€Å"Tsar of All the Russians†. The history of Russia begins with the East Slavs, an ethnic group, which was eventually split into Russia, Ukrainian and Belarusians.This group emerged from the Vikings who were the barbarian tribes and illiterate pagans indulged in the activity of raping and pillaging, but they were technologically quite advanced and had stable organizational set up. These Vikings entered the Black sea through the Russian river systems known as â€Å"Varangians† (from their name in Slavic, now Varyag in Russian), but when they settled in the area, they came to be known as Rus. Primary Chronicle even says that, â€Å"These particular Varangians were known as Russes. † (Ross, Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present, Grand Princes of Kiev, Para.1). Kievan Rus was the first East Salvic state that was converted to Christianity in 988(Online, Russian Church Architecture) and they brought with it the Cyrillic alphabet, which got authenticity by the Soviet Union along with the other unrelated languages like the Turkish of Central Asia. Poland and the Baltic States brought Latin alphabet characteristic of Francia and the Jews of Poland wrote Yiddish in the Hebrew alphabet. And with the passing time, the small nations of the Caucasus like the Armenians and Georgians started using their own alphabets.(Ross, Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present, Introduction, Para. 2) After the 13th century, Moscow became the vast cultural centre and by 18th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow formed the huge Russian Empire, stretching from Poland towards the Pacific Ocean. By 19th century, development in the Western Countries created an incredible influence on the Russia, which led Russian regime to make the way for reforms for the overall growth and development. As a result, Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861 but it proved to be fruitless for the peasants that led to the building of revolutionary pressures.With the abolishment of Serfdom and the beginning of World War I in 1914, Russ ia saw numerous changes in the economy and politics. The most prominent reform was the reform of Stolypin agrarian reforms, which transferred the archaic obshchina form of Russian agriculture towards more progressive and capitalist oriented form of agriculture, giving private ownership rights to the farmers, second was the First constitution of 1906 which was also known as fundamental laws and was enacted on April 23rd, thirdly there was the establishment of State Duma.A State duma constituted one of the several representative assemblies of modern Russia. These reforms brought about numerous changes in economy and even in the politics of Russia, but still the autocratic rule of the Tsars did not vanish completely and the result was the Russian Revolution in 1917. There were two revolutions in Russia: First Revolution was the overthrowing of the Tsar and formation of the Provisional Government and the other was the October revolution in which Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Gove rnment.The life in Russia during Revolution saw the immense change and uncertainty. On one hand cities and industries were mushrooming whereas on the other hand there was great level of uncertainties. Rural population began to migrate more and more towards the Industrially centered areas, middle class of white-collar employees, businessmen, and professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, engineers, etc. were on the rise. Nobles too were undergoing through different stages, finding ways to adjust themselves in this changing economy.Two types of classes emerged- proletarians and capitalists, who were divided along the lines of status, gender, age, ethnicity, and belief. There was emergence of different groups- migrating peasants, worker intellectuals, gentry professionals etc. which changed the whole texture of the life of people inculcating themselves into the world of materialism. This rapid industrialization led to the over crowding of the urban areas and poor condi tions for urban industrial workers.A new proletariat was formed between 1890 and 1910 due to the increase in the population of the St Petersburg and Moscow from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600. Thus there was unrest everywhere which was the ground enough for the Russian revolution to fuel. The Russian revolution brought the coalition of liberals and moderate socialists to power on the one hand and then Communist Bolsheviks on the other. Between 1922 and 1991, there was the beginning of the new era in the history of Russia when Soviet Union came into existence, a union that held the roots of ideological thoughts and perceptions.The beginning of the post-Stalinist in 1919’s saw the growth of media and intervention of TV and radio programs in its vicinity, which led to the real awakening among the Russians in all the social, political and economic spheres. Stalinism with this Marxism and Leninism approach replaced the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the year 1920 with Five Year Plans of 192 8 and collective farming, which by the end of 1930 led the Soviet Union to be emerged as the major Industrial power in the world, but this had adverse effect on the peasants due to the collective policy and the repressive measures of the Government.The repressions and political, social and economical upheavels led to the â€Å"era of stagnation† in the 1980s. But by the late 1980s, the weaknesses in the economic and political structures led the Communist leaders to embark upon the major reforms, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the Russian Federation. By the mid of 1990 when Yeltsin came to power he adopted most unpopular Yegor Gaidar’s shock therapy for putting an end to the price controls, cutting in state spending, and starting of the open foreign trade regime in early 1992.These reforms were the blow to the living standards of most of its citizens, especially for the groups who were enjoying the benefits of Soviet-era state-control led wages and prices, state subsidies, and welfare entitlement programs and consequently Russia suffered an economic downturn much more severe than the United States or Germany had undergone six decades earlier during the Great Depression. On the other hand these economic reforms opened the doors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for the largest and fastest privatization in the world.The big enterprises were acquired by the old managers, leading to criminal mafias and Western investors, and at the bottom level there was inflation, unemployment, prostitution, and crime. Tax revenues had collapsed and Russia's economy was further plunged into the Financial crises in 1998. Russian Economy again recovered in 1999, due to the increase in the world price of oil and gas. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Russian Federation, para. 5) By 2000, Yeltsin gave his resignation, and gave the reigns of the government to the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.The whole of the character of th e Russian Industry was dependent on the combined efforts from the various spheres of economy. Russia did not rely on the European powers but leaped towards the development on its own efforts, the separate branches made tremendous progress, which rose with extraordinary speed especially between the first revolution and the war and made the Russian historians say, â€Å"We must abandon the legend of backwardness and slow growth. † When the war was at its peak the tzarist Russia had prospered to considerable degree; as for every one hundred square kilometres of land, Russia had, at the time of war, 0.4 kilometers of railroads, Germany 11. 7, Austria-Hungary 7. (Trotsky, Peculiarities of Russia’s Development, Para. 17). The Financial Institutions had also developed in Russia to implement the growth of Industrial Revolution but the heavy industries such as metal, coal and oil were all under the control of foreign finance capital, which had created auxiliary and intermediate system of banks in Russia, and it was true for light industries also. The other nations were holding 40 per cent of the stock capital of Russia, but in the leading branches of industry this percentage was much higher.The Russian industry even influenced the social character of the Russian bourgeoisie and its political physiognomy and the concentration of the industries meant that there was no hierarchy of transitional layers between the capitalist leaders and the popular masses, but the ownership of the foreign hands led to un-stability. All these factors along with the concentrated oppressions of tzarism led the Russian workers towards the revolutionary thoughts. Russia at the onslaught of the twentieth century had a population of about 150 million, out of whom more than 3 million were in Petrograd and Moscow, from which emerged social differences.From the artisans and independent peasants of the army of Cromwell and through the sansculottes of Paris – to the industrial pro letarians of St. Petersburg, the revolution deeply changed its social mechanism methods, and its aims. (Trotsky, Peculiarities of Russia’s Development, Para. 24). Thus this Russian Revolution made the tzarism to fall and the bourgeoisie became economically more powerful. In the beginning, the Russian revolution was called as the democratic revolution but caused the problem of political democracy.Once Vladimir Lenin says, â€Å"If you have no opportunity to implement the proclaimed slogans, revoke them! And in fact the Bolsheviks lacked the skill to do that† (Birshtein, Russian Character In The Aspect Of Reflexive Comprehension, Para. 27) Russia’s character now lies in its perusal of regional policies for nationalistic, strategic and for the development of economic resources, but there never emerged the need for reducing regional and income disparities in the standard of living of the people.Even Lenin said once, â€Å"Russian Empire was a â€Å"prison-house of nations† but so was the Soviet Union and so is the Russian Federation of today†. (Watkins, Economy of Russia, para. 1) Russia by now is not just a geographical space but its citizens by inheriting their ancient traditions have cultivated new behavioral and spiritual moulds. The number of Billionaires has grown up-to 53, which makes Russia in the third place of Forbis list with billionaires of the world. Russia is also the second biggest Oil manufacturer after Saudi Arabia. The estimated growth rate of Russia is 6.6% in 2006 and now above 6%. Its foreign debt is totaled 8% of the GNP but it is also true that majority of the Russian population is crushing under the poverty line, there is hindrance in the expression of civil liberties, centralization of power and decline of all societal values. (Stanfel, Social Unrest In The Land Of Billionaires, Para. 6) On one hand there is an upsurge of Billionaires whereas on the other hand for common citizens, life in Russia is a stru ggle. Even though there is a considerable reduction of the inflation rate it is still on the higher rate, which goes up-to nine percent a year.The average salary of the citizen amounts to half the average salary in Croatia. Russian peasants are below the poverty line whereas Billionaires are using expensive yachts to cross the rivers because of the slow traffic on the roads. (Stanfel, Social Unrest In The Land Of Billionaires, Para. 8. ) Looking at the social life in the 20th century, and with the advent of the new technology in Media and cultural affairs it was analyzed by the Intellectuals that the role of Media could exert a negative impact on the social ideologies and evolution of human beings in capitalist and socialist countries.The advocates of the socialist ideologies consider that the penetration of western social ideas and artistic values into the minds of Soviet people can lead the Soviet youth towards the violence and pornography of bourgeois pop-art which has started sp reading like wild fire and is taking the rich culture of Russia in its vicinity. As expressed by Ashin: â€Å"one who approaches the analysis of `mass culture' predominantly from the assumption about its content and social functions is compelled to deny it in the conditions of socialism†.(Yerofeyev, Youth and The System of Cultural Reproduction: Rethinking the Critique of Mass Culture in the Soviet Union†, Para. 6) Thus, in the past ten years, the life of Russia has considerably changed in all the economic, political and cultural spheres. The contemporary younger generation Russians are growing up in a pluralistic, westernized society and does not recognize themselves with the totalitarian government and are following the free market rules in all their business activities.The biggest group of Russians participated in the democratization and glasnost movement. The oldest group are finding themselves outplace and with communism enshrined in their blood, they are more cons ervatives and are finding very difficult to adjust to the fast pace Russia. The changes in the business arena also are going on at a rapid pace but there is no clear-cut rule. Younger generation is not allowing the rule of central planning and bureaucratic structure to enter in economic field and on the other hand the older generations are against capitalist way of thinking.Though it is a Patriarchy society, women are making their mark felt in the economic development in the large numbers though they have to involve themselves in the domestic chores. They can work, own property and sign contracts. The soul of Russia is hospitality of its people. Their openness and friendliness with which they welcome the strangers cannot be forgotten in the generations ahead. (Olga Ivanova-Nuss and Katrin Franz, People and Life in Contemporary Russia, Para. 8-10).Thus the character of Russia as said by classical philosophical thinker Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948), who was persecuted in Soviet Russia and was emigrated in 1922 to Berlin and then to Paris said that the spiritual structure of the Russian people is their attribute towards the Westernization, basically Russia is the Christian East. â€Å"This contradiction-filled nature of the Russian soul was determined by the complexity of the Russian historical destiny, collision and antagonism of the Eastern and Western elements in it†¦.Among the Russian â€Å"the nature† is a spontaneous force stronger than among the Western people†. (Birshtein, Russian Character In the Aspect of Reflexive comprehension, Para. 20) WORKS CITED 1. Birshtein I. B â€Å"Russian Character In The Aspect Of Reflexive Comprehension† Internet (2003) Available: http://72. 14. 235. 104/search? q=cache:P-QWqYb3dXMJ:www. reflexion. ru/Library/EBirshtein2003. doc+development+of+Russian+character+through+ages&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=in&ie=UTF-8, April 26, 2007 2. Ivanova-Nuss Olga & Franz katrin, â€Å"People and Life in Contemporary R ussia,† Internet Available:http://216. 239. 59. 104/search? q=cache:lTkoqb_4BF8J:www. culturalawareness. com/Newsletter-2002-04. pdf+Social+life+of+Russia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=in, April 26, 2007 3. Kaboub Fadhel â€Å"A Rising Tide Cannot Lift All Boats† Internet (February 2001) Available: http://f. students. umkc. edu/fkfc8/RisingTide. html, April 26, 2007 4. Reuters, Javno. com â€Å"Russia-Berezovsky: Tycoon Stands by Threat to Topple Putin† Internet Available: http://www. javno. com/en/world/clanak. php? id=35911, April 26, 2007 5. Ross L. Kelley, â€Å"Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present† Internet (1999) Available:http://www. friesian. com/russia. htm, April 26, 2007 6. Stanfel Nikolina, â€Å"A New Revolution? † Internet (March 11, 2007) Available: http://www. javno. com/en/world/clanak. php? id=25573, April 26, 2007 7. Trotsky Leon, â€Å"Peculiarities of Russia’s Development† Volume One: The Overthrow of Tzarism, The Histo ry of the Russian Revolution ONLINE VERSION: Translated by Max Eastman, 1932, Transcribed for the W. W. W by John Gowland (Australia), Alphanos Pangas (Greece) and David Walters (United States) 1997 through 2000 Internet (Updated:15. 4. 2007) Available: http://www. marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/ch01. htm, April 26, 2007 8. Watkins Thayer, â€Å"The Economic History and Economy of Russia† Internet. Available: http://www. sjsu. edu/faculty/watkins/russia. htm, April 26, 2007 9. Wikipedia Encyclopedia, â€Å"History of Russia† Internet (Last Updated: 24 April 2007) Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_Russia, April 26, 2007 10. Yerofeyev Sergey, â€Å"Youth and The System of Cultural Reproduction: Rethinking the Critique of Mass Culture in the Soviet Union† Internet Available: http://lucy. ukc. ac. uk/csacpub/russian/yerofeyev. html

Do We Have Civil Rights - 2647 Words

Do We Have Civil Rights? I do not think we have civil rights even after 50 years of the Civil Rights Act. We have been carrying this generational target on our back. We can never seem to get rid of it. The target gets bigger with each generation. The target developed on our back in the early 1600s. The first slaves was brought to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The reason behind the slavery idea was to bring economic revolution to America with growing of cash crops like tobacco. Slavery was spread throughout the American colonies. When the American Revolution ended so did slavery profits. In the North, the idea was dying out, it was until a cash crop was developed by an invention called the Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin was to help with the textile mills to use the type of machine to develop the cotton. The slavery was competently dead in the North but in the South the slavery was back alive and well. 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