Value Diversity More Than Ever Before
-
Upload
h1generalpaper -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
3
Transcript of Value Diversity More Than Ever Before
DO WE VALUE DIVERSITY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE ?Essay Outline for JC2 General Paper Revision 2014
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 1
STEP 1 : INTERPRET• Diversity – Meaning ? In what aspects ?• Value – How do we value something ? • By seeing it as important; appreciating it; wanting to have more of it; preserving/protecting it
• More than ever before • comparison with the past & even a more distant past • Qn about CHANGE What factors transform society ? (refer to Term 1 lecture)
• Big Ideas linked to this question : • Freedom (of speech; of choice) Individuality
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 2
STEP 2 : CRAFT POINTS
STEP 3 : ADD SUPPORT
STEP 4 : ORDER
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 3
Some may argue that we value diversity in the economy more than ever before because we believe (or even expect) that rapidly changing technology can make a wider range of choices possible, thereby continuously improving our lives.• Transportation facilitates the transport of goods like
never before to help consumers get what they want.• Diversity encourages competitive innovation, which
means better products and services for consumers. • In addition, we expect greater customisation of
products and services to be possible.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 4
EXAMPLES• Internet businesses – eBay, Amazon, bookdepository.com
• Mobile phones
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 5
Those who are sanguine about diversity may present evidence of human rights progress to show that we value diversity more than ever before.• More rights today
• More active watchdogs and international organisations• Compared to horrific episodes of persecution in Man’s
violent history
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 6
EXAMPLES• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history
• Today : Efforts to keep authoritarianism in check & help protect diversity• Threat, or enactment, of sanctions• ICJ , war tribunals, UN peacekeeping forces• Civil rights movements – changes in laws to protect minority rights
• NGOs : Amnesty International, Reporters without borders
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 7
HOWEVER, the fact is that even though we value diversity of opinions, lifestyles or cultures more than ever before, our governments today are no less paranoid of diversity than their predecessors.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 8
•New threats to national unity or social stability• & to the political status quo from within and beyond its borders•Leaders – past and present – all take a variety of actions to keep the opposition in check
EXAMPLES• Racial profiling (or any kind of profiling)
• Tracking movement, banking, communications, online activity
• The Patriot Act • http://www.bordc.org/issues/
• Naomi Wolf – 10 steps to fascism :• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 9
It is not true to say that we value diversity more than ever before because new technology, especially social media, has given us the means to express our intolerance towards others in an unprecedented way
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 10
• Hate sites, sites to counter arguments, petitions, groups to champion specific causes• Not the same kind of scholarly debates of the past; not the same degree of decorum
EXAMPLES
•Anti-Democrat Crusaders fb page•Republicansareadisease.com•Petition against Ashley Madison in Singapore
•+ practically any online forum
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 11
It is also not true to say that we value diversity more than ever before because cultural homogenisation has become more and more pronounced as almost all societies get plugged into the global economy
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 12
EXAMPLES
•“McDonaldisation” – in so many aspects including junk journalism & education esp. MOOC (George Ritzer)
•Western pop culture
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 13
STEP 5 : Thesis Statement•The messages of freedom and human rights are resounding in this day and age. While more diversity does exist in this climate of openness, I think it is not true that we actually value all kinds of diversity more than ever before.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 14