A Problem Is a Situation That Needs a Solution - Essay Example

Mid-Term Paper Problem A problem is a situation of difficulty that needs a solution. Since people do not like being in a difficult situation, they solve the problem by removing the difficulty. A problem can divide two people who do not have the same understanding of the situation. The person who caused the situation may not understand why it is difficult for another person. It is not a problem for the first, but a problem for the second. The solution is to share information (how the person affected is in a difficult situation) until they both understand the situation in the same way. Then, they can work together and solve the problem by removing the difficulty. 2. Issue An issue is a subject that divides people who are informed and intelligent. It is different from a problem because in an issue, two intelligent persons are in a difficult situation caused by each one having different information on a common subject. As each subject has many elements that have a different meaning but are both true, two persons can be in dispute or divided. The difficulty is that agreement is not present as both understand and believe different truths. 3. Argument An argument is an element of dispute on a subject. Another may not believe what I believe to be true, so I have to use perfect arguments to prove to the other person that what I believe in is true. A perfect argument should be clear, contain all the significant information, be presented in a logical way, and based on facts that are proven to be true (La Favre). If the other person is reasonable, she should accept my conclusion. I will do the same. However, there are cases when both of us are correct, for example, which country is the best to live in. Then, we can agree to disagree and remain friends. 4. Thoughts and 5. Beliefs What are my thoughts and feelings and what do I believe is going on in each photograph Fig. B. I think Saddam is afraid of what will happen to him because they caught him. I feel pity for him because he will be punished. I believe Saddam is showing he is brave, he will fight, and he is hoping those who like him will take him out of prison. Fig. C. Osama is smiling, and I think he knows Americans will not find him. I feel he is nervous and afraid, I see it in his face, and he knows many soldiers are looking to capture him. I believe he will continue hiding and fighting because he believes what he is doing is right. Fig. D. There are two women in the picture. The election officer looks tired and afraid. The other woman is covered, so I do not know what she is thinking, but she is putting her voting paper into the box so I think she is happy she can vote. I feel both women are nervous and feel not secure, maybe because they know there will still be wars and killings in their country. I believe the two women look helpless because they know things will not change, but because they have hope, they decided to vote. Fig. E. I think American soldiers are in the war because they know it is the right thing to do, and if they do not fight, their families back in America will not be safe. I also think many soldiers are in the war because they want to improve their life, maybe get an education or more money, and they are willing to face danger for it. I believe the soldiers are fighting because they love their country and they love freedom. Fig. F. The picture shows a rebel dancing on top of a burning American car. I think he is happy they are winning and showing the world they are fighting for their country. I feel the rebel deserves to be happy because he does not know when he will die. I believe he has a right to fight, because what may be freedom for the Americans is slavery for them. Maybe they know that getting rid of Saddam brings in people who will take power and cause more suffering. Fig G. I remember watching Saddam's statue fall. I think the people are happy Saddam is gone, but I feel they are nervous because they do not know what will happen next. I believe the celebration was too early, because there is still no peace in Iraq. Fig H. I think what the Iraqis did in the picture is cruel. I feel pity for the victims and their families, but I feel more pity for those who did it because it shows they are not human but animals. I believe war is cruel for everyone, especially innocent young people, some in the photograph, and that we have to do everything not to have war. Fig. I. The photo shows the Iraq museum after the war, after people stole many things and destroyed it. I think what people did to the museum show how bad things were in Iraq. Why did they destroy precious things that future people will never enjoy I believe the museum was not looted by ordinary people but by criminals who want to sell what they stole and to make money by stealing. Fig. J. This is another picture of cruelty in war, this time of American soldiers making a captured Iraqi prisoner afraid. I think the Americans want to show the prisoners they should follow what the Americans say. I feel pity for the poor prisoner, and I also pity the American soldiers because they are becoming like the people they were fighting. I believe the dog is the only one in the picture who is innocent. Fig. K. I think the woman looks happy because her finger has ink, because she voted in the election. I feel happy because she is happy, and she is showing hope because she wants peace in the country after many years of war and no peace. I believe she will be disappointed, because there are many people like Saddam who want to take over in Iraq. 6. Facts/truths and 7. Issues Fig. B. Facts: The picture is one of the first to be shown on CNN the day after Saddam was captured. Because of the beard, people thought it was not Saddam, but when they showed him without the beard, people saw it was Saddam. I saw on the news there was dancing in the streets of Baghdad when these things happened. Issue: Should Saddam be punished for his crimes A. Saddam committed violent crimes against his people and should be punished. B. The only way to rule Iraq is with violence, so Saddam should not be punished. Fig. C. Facts: This is a photo of Osama bin-Laden somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan, they really do not know where, taken after his former camp was attacked and one of his lieutenants was killed. Osama wanted to show people he was alive. Issue: Why can they not capture Osama bin-Laden after all these years A. If he is captured there will be no more enemies to fight, so they will not capture him. B. Osama is a good soldier, so he can hide away from the soldiers going after him. Fig. G. Facts: The image of Saddam's statue in Baghdad being brought down by Iraqis with the help of American soldiers was shown on the 9th of April 2003, less than a month after the coalition forces invaded Iraq. Issue: Did the people of Iraq really hate Saddam A. Many Iraqis suffered from Saddam and are happy to see him out of power. B. Many Iraqis had good lives under Saddam and are not happy to see him out of power. Fig. I. Facts: This photo is the Iraq Museum in Baghdad that was destroyed and with many valuable items missing. An investigation was made and they found that many valuable items were missing and not destroyed, and that whoever entered the museum knew what was valuable to steal and can be sold. Criminals who steal valuable art organized this stealing and destroyed some items to make people believe it was the Iraqi people who did it. Issues: Who was behind the Baghdad museum lootings A. Iraqi people who wanted money were behind the looting of the museum. B. International criminals were behind the looting because they were organized and knew what to steal. Fig. J. Facts: The photo is one of those leaked to the newspapers on what happened at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where American soldiers abused several Iraqi prisoners, most of whom just wanted to have fun of their prisoners. There were reports the humiliation was a way to get information from Iraqi prisoners, but because this is not right, some of the American soldiers in the photo were tried in the U.S. military court and found guilty and punished. Issue: Can soldiers abuse their prisoners to get important information from prisoners A. To save more lives, soldiers can do anything to force prisoners to give information. B. Prisoners have to be treated like humans and should not be abused. Fig. K. Facts: This is a picture of a woman who had just voted in the elections in January 2005, the first elections held in Iraq since Saddam took over as President. Many pictures of Iraqis who voted in the elections showed the victory sign, because they believed that joining the election is already a victory. Issue: Is the Iraqi election a useful or a useless exercise A. The elections show that democracy is coming to Iraq, so it is good and useful. B. Iraq is not used to democracy so elections will not be useful and will not work. 8. Essay: The Perfect Argument I chose as my essay to write an argument on issue A of Figure K, which shows a photo of an Iraqi woman showing her fingers with ink after voting: The elections show that democracy is coming to Iraq, so having elections is good and useful. I will also show why I do not agree with the other issue: Iraq is not used to democracy, so elections will not be useful and will not work. My first argument is on democracy and why it is good. Democracy is a government by the people, of the people, and for the people. In democracy, people are free. They vote for the people who will make the laws they will obey, and as long as they follow the laws, they are free to go anywhere, say anything, and even do nothing. There are no secret police or soldiers killing your family or getting your house. In a democracy, you are not afraid, because there is respect for rights of other people. There is freedom. One of the freedoms people enjoy in democracy is the freedom to choose people in government with the use of elections. This is why elections are important in democracy, because people are free to choose, not like in a dictatorship like Iraq where Saddam chose himself in every election for almost thirty years. In democracy, if people do not like the President, they can choose or elect a new one after four years. This is why election in a democracy is good. In democracy there is also freedom to work and to earn money. You are free to work where you want, save and spend what you want, and if you work hard, you earn more. In a country that is not free, people do not enjoy these things. That is why they are poor, and when a person is poor, they live a difficult life and will do anything to get out, even become a terrorist. This is one reason why there are many terrorists in poor countries, and in many Islamic countries there is poverty and the best way for people to get out of it is to become terrorists because they believe they can go to paradise. The connection between being poor and terrorism is one reason President Bush is spreading democracy in the Middle East (Economist 24-26) and helping those countries to grow economically with trade and investments. Many people say insurgency in Iraq, two years after the attack by the U.S., is proof that Iraq will not be democratic. What they forget is that democracy does not happen overnight. It takes time for the people to learn how to be free, and more in Iraq, a country that has not been free for over thirty years. The United States was under the English for more than one hundred fifty years since the Mayflower went from Plymouth, England to Cape Cod (Jensen 586). For a long time the Americans fought the British to be free, even after the Declaration of Independence in 1776; it took the Americans more than forty years until the British gave up and gave the Americans freedom. Since then, there have been wars with the American Indians and a bloody civil war where millions died, and until the 1960s, blacks were discriminated. Some say that because Iraq has never been a democracy, the elections are useless. Well, if we look at all democratic countries today, you can say not one of them started out as a democracy. Even America was under the English king, the British were under French kings and Romans emperors, and even France was once under the king, but at one time in their history, they wanted to be free, they removed the king, and they became a democracy. Democracy is a long and hard process. It took America, the example of democracy, hundreds of years to learn and adjust. Removing a bad dictator, rebuilding houses, starting again of shops and markets, and spreading the air of freedom in Iraq in the last two and a half years are the first steps towards what I hope will be the start of democracy in the region. People who say that Iraqis do not want to be free do not know what they are saying. As the elections showed, Iraqis are like you and me. They want to be free and they will die for freedom. The election is a crucial first step and, as the woman showed in our picture, it is a small but important victory. Works Cited "Does he know where it's leading" Special Report. The Economist, 30 July-5 August 2005: 24-26. Jensen, Merrill. "Mayflower." Collier's Encyclopedia. Canada: Crowell-Collier: 1988 ed. La Fave, Sandra. Critical thinking checklist: Steps in argument analysis. 2004. West Valley College. 02 December 2005 Read More