The Growing Population and Their Fight for Survival - Assignment Example

The Growing Population And Their Fight For Survival 1. Goodall writes that due to the growing population and their continuous fight for survival, trees at Gombe national park in Tanzania were cut to provide land for farming and housing (Goodall 427). This situation was equally grim for people and the chimpanzees living at Gombe (Goodall 427). The latter suffered the lack of food and grew increasingly susceptible to human diseases (Goodall 427). Protecting the chimpanzees would have been impossible without trying to improve the living and social conditions for the humans. Goodall writes that they started to work with 12 villages, to build trust and provide local populations with the basic health education (427). The program was later expanded to include 24 villages at Gombe (Goodall 427). The long-term goal of the program is to improve the wellbeing of the young women and their children, and increase spacing between births (Goodall 428). Despite a number of challenges, including the lack of male acceptance, the program has proved to be beneficial for the natural environment – forests are growing again, followed by the watershed regeneration and reduced erosion (Goodall 430). 2. Schell elaborates on the significance and implications of the 9/11 attack. The author believes that the 9/11 tragedy emphasizes the scope of the danger which “weapons of mass destruction, and especially nuclear weapons, present to the humanity” (432). Prior to the catastrophe, many of its ingredients had already been obvious, including suicide bombers and the exaltation of the Asian hatred toward the West (Schell 433). The emergence of suicide bombers and the expanding market of nuclear weapons were both responsible for the escalation of violence (Schell 433). However, the hidden danger of the nuclear weapons in Russia and the United States can be more serious (Schell 433). Understanding the sources of the hate toward the United States is the task crucial for the future safety and stability in the U.S. (Schell 435). 3. Atwood describes her visit to Afghanistan in February 1978, several weeks before one of the most significant military conflicts broke out. Atwood writes that her relatives tried to change her plans (279). Yet, she could not lose the chance to see the houses of Kabul carved wood and taste the cultural and political atmosphere in the country (Atwood 279). Atwood visited the country with her child, and she hired a car to see the disastrous retreat of the British from Kabul (279). She felt the pressure of the cultural norms – men never talked to her directly, whereas women in the streets were wearing chadors (Atwood 280). She bought a chador in the market, and once put on, Atwood could feel turning blank in the visual field, being both there and not there (280). 4. Bordo is preoccupied with the topic of eating disorders and the influence of the mass media messages on the female perceptions about their bodies. The author refers to the example of Fiji, Central Africa and China, which never displayed any predisposition toward eating disorders (Bordo 19). However, Bordo is confident that this makes her story even more striking, for even the remotest islands and populations display the growing incidence of eating disorders as a result of mass media expansion (Bordo 19). In today’s world, images possess immense power and teach people what is normal (Bordo 20).Bordo writes that body insecurity is easy to import and market, like any other profitable commodity (21). What to do in this situation is difficult to define, but the time has come to recognize that eating disorders are a cultural problem (Bordo 21). The sooner this problem is recognized the sooner the society can begin developing new strategies for change (Bordo 21). 5. Quindlen discusses the issue of female rights. The author writes that Secretary Clinton was the first lady to present a view the world had already shared (152). In simple terms, “women do most of the good things but get most of the bad responses” (Quindlen 152). However, the situation is slowly changing: the more active women become the more productive they grow in their efforts to improve their social position (Quidlen 153). Quindlen refers to the President’s introductory speech, which claimed that not beliefs but efficiency was the key to women’s success (Quindlen 153). These decisions have far-reaching implications for the U.S. foreign policy, which needs to reduce some arrogance and accept the significance of the new ideology – women are ready for that, too (Quindlen 154). 6. Johnson writes that September 11 for America was like a new Great Awakening (97). The author provides several compelling reasons why American imperialism had been so successful. First, America speaks the language of the twenty-first century (Johnson 98). Second, America pioneers the process of acquiring and using technologies, creating the “climate of freedom for inventors and entrepreneurs” (Johnson 98). Third, America experiences high birth rates, without which imperialism is impossible (Johnson 98). In the changing political conditions, it is high time America recognized the inevitability of security globalization and adjusted its imperial efforts to match the new dynamic of change (Johnson 101). Analysis Goodall is correct in that “to protect the chimpanzees and their forest habitat, it would be necessary to help human populations around Gombe” (427). Definitely, the core of the most environmental problems is in the social complexities which local populations experience but fail to resolve. I am confident that deforestation is just a reflection of the deeper social problems, including the lack of food, appropriate housing, and the growing burden of the family planning issues. I often witness how numerous programs are being developed to target ecological problems in Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, many of them are initially doomed to a failure, because ecological problems exemplify the top of the social iceberg, which we, the members of the economically advanced societies, are obliged to identify, analyze, and successfully address. However, contemporary difficulties are not limited to ecology. Schell writes about the consequences and implications of the 9/11 attack and is confident that “none of the measures can repeal the vulnerability of modern society to its own inventions, revealed by that heart-breaking gap in the New York skyline” (434). I feel, however, that the implications of this statement are two-fold. On the one hand, the rapid technical evolution and the limitlessness of the technological progress put our society at risks of being killed or injured by our own inventions. Every year, millions of people die innocently as a result of car accidents and airplane crashes – the two inventions that marked the turning points in the global society’s development. On the other hand, our inventions frequently become an instrument of fighting for political ideals. It is high time countries and societies reconsidered their internal and external policy goals, to ensure their politics do not turn their inventions against themselves. Most of the discussed political problems are in one’s inability to understand the cultural and political specificity in other countries, especially those in the Middle East. Atwood discusses her decision to purchase and try a chador during her visit to Afghanistan: “I thought I could understand such a thing. I also knew that clothing is a symbol, that all symbols are ambiguous and that this one might signify a fear of women or a desire to protect them from the gaze of strangers” (280). However, what Atwood felt while wearing the chador was distinctly different from what she had expected it to be. She says she felt isolation – being someone and no one at once (280). Yet, I must say that if this feeling is unfamiliar to the Westerners, it is not necessarily unacceptable or difficult to understand for the members of the Afghan cultural community. The cultural gap between the east and the west persists. Those who were born in the west will hardly ever accept and understand the values of those living in the east. Tolerance and understanding are required, to maintain peace in the global political environment. The chador is not discrimination but a symbol of the Afghan culture, and no one has the right to claim that Afghanistan does not pursue the norms of democracy, unless he (she) visits the country, feels its atmosphere, and recognizes the value of its cultural and political uniqueness. This cultural uniqueness is also the topic of Bordo’s discussion, but in her essay, she claims that “in 1998, just in three years after the station began broadcasting, 11 percent of girls reported vomiting to control weight” (19). Bordo presents a case for preserving the cultural uniqueness in societies that are getting familiar with the benefits of the media advancement. That media representations of human bodies influence individual perceptions has long been established by scholars. However, when the expansion of the mass media to underdeveloped countries is inevitable, it is essential that effective strategies be developed to educate populations about potential media threats. I think that in case of eating disorders, the amount of body images on the radio must be reduced. In the meantime, school-based programs must be implemented to explain what eating disorders are and how dangerous they can be to health. In this way, countries and populations will help to reduce the negative effects of the media on their people. Unfortunately, the media cannot always tackle with the continuous arrogance and swagger in the American policy. Really, “an American foreign policy informed by swagger and arrogance has been a conspicuous failure, making the United States not respected but reviled” (Quindlen 154). This line of arrogance is easy to see through the prism of the American political approaches in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the former Yugoslavia. For some reason, America deems appropriate and even necessary to intervene with the internal and external policy issues in different countries. Terrorism has already become a convenient cover of the American imperialistic intentions. I do not think that with such arrogance, America can achieve long-term political success. Rather, arrogance is an indication of the American political weakness and its failure to establish mutually productive relations with other countries. To give up arrogance will mean to open the gateway to the rest of the world and become a vital member of the global community. Certainly, that America enjoys an imperialistic position is due to a number of factors. It appears that “America has and will continue to acquire the pioneering technology of the twenty-first century, its lead being widened by its success in providing a clear climate of freedom in which inventors and entrepreneurs of all kinds can operate” (Johnson 98). Yet, the tragic incident of 9/11 shows that American imperialism is not always beneficial to America and its people. It can generate hatred, whereas the technologies which America successfully produces will work against its stability. I feel that the success of technological advancement and entrepreneurship is in giving everyone, regardless of their race, nationality, or ethnic belonging, an opportunity to develop their inventions and give them to the world. As of today, America remains extremely closed from the rest of the world, and this closeness imposes the image of arrogance and hostility on the American land. Works Cited Atwood, M. “When Afghanistan Was at Peace.” Pp.278-81. Bordo, S. “The Globalization of Eating Disorders.” Pp.17-21. Goodall, J. “To Save Chimps.” Pp. 426-31. Johnson, P. “America’s New Empire for Liberty.” Pp.97-101. Quindlen, A. “The End of Swagger.” Pp.151-54. Schell, J. “A Hole in the World.” Pp.431-35. Read More