Tag: decline

The Decline Of European Christianity

Posted on | by KN Simon

The Decline Of European Christianity

Introduction

            The importance of religion cannot be gainsaid as far as the health of any society is concerned. In fact, religion has been touted as one of the fundamental pillars of any society both in the contemporary and traditional times. Needless to say, different parts of the world had different dominant religions in line with the key beliefs and foundations of the societies in those regions. In Europe, Christianity, both Protestant and Catholicism, has been recognized as the dominant religion at least in the past. However, research shows that the population of Christians in Europe has been diminishing by the day. In fact, statistics indicate that the Christian church was losing about 4,300 people daily in Europe between 1970 and 1985[1]. This comes as a surprise considering that at around the same time, Christian churches in Africa were reporting 16,500 conversions every day, which translated to a growth rate of more than 6 million converts per year. This means that the recession of Christianity in Europe must be set against the incredible accession of the same in numerous other parts of the world[2]. Questions arise as to why Christianity was becoming increasingly reduced in Europe. While there may be varied reasons for this, scholars believe that the dynamism of Western culture, which involves the rejection or denunciation of patriarchal structures, coupled with the establishment of numerous competing public interaction frameworks or public spheres, has left Christianity isolated and looking like a relic in a misplaced age. 

            One of the key reasons for the decline of Christianity in Europe is the influx of reason in the 18th century. In late 17th century, Europe saw the entry of rationalists, individuals whose attitudes may be typified by conviction about the strength of reason and typified by an interest in the world. Rationalists started influencing the thinking of Europeans, as well as the manner in which they came to epistemic stance. The initial incursion of rationalism resulted in two individuals who had immense influence on the change of attitude towards Christianity in Europe. These were David Hume and Immanuel Kant. Hume asserted that belief in Christian God emanated not in pure love for truth but in fear of death, desire for pleasure and joy, as well as anxiety. These thoughts were expounded on by Kant who built his philosophy pertaining to reasonable knowledge by distinguishing between phenomena that are spatiotemporal objects and noumena which is neither temporal nor spatial, in which case the two worlds are distinctive. Kant underlined the notion that the Christian God fell under the realm noumena, which no one has any intuition of nor has anyone experienced it[3]. In essence, he stated that no one can even start to have any knowledge of the Christian God, leave alone be capable of describing or outlining His attributes. As much as the Hume’s and Kant’s claims were not factual, they had and continue to have immense impact on Europe, increasing secularism in the region. 

            In addition, the decline of Christianity may be blamed on the dynamic social structure pertaining to religion especially with regard to the shrinking family. Scholars note that in the past, Christianity was passed on from parents to their kids. While this factor may have in no way ensured that the kids got saved, the cultural trait pertaining to sharing the faith of a family was a fundamental part of the growth and development of the Christian church in its entirety. In instances where an individual’s parents were Christians, there existed a high probability that the individual would also have a similar religious affiliation[4]. Scholars note, however, that the practice of handing down religious faith within families has declined which has shrunk the actual population of highly religious families that succeed in handing down the faith. On the same note, the average family size in Europe has reduced especially after the turn of the millennium. The falling birth rate, coupled with the reduced tendency to pass Christian heritage within families has resulted in a reduction of the overall cultural impact, as well as the population of Christian followers and believers[5]. Still on the same note, some scholars state that the numbers of Christian followers are not declining especially when one considered the cultural identity of Europeans. They note that atheists in many parts of Europe especially Northern Ireland have been identified with Christianity. This cultural tag has inflated the population of Christians in Europe, a fact that has been negated by the post-modern culture. 

            Moreover, the decline of Christianity in Europe may have resulted from the destructive ecumenical movement in terms of syncretism[6]. Scholars note that in instances where a religion dominates a certain culture or region, change becomes inevitable if there is an influx of foreign individuals in the region or if it comes across other religious traditions. Syncretism revolves around the notion that the introduction of new influences on society results in the borrowing and adaptation of traits from each other until such a time when the initial religion is different from what the founders may have intended it to be. For instance, the entry of Hinduism in England may have resulted in increased respect of cows by the Anglican Church. Of course, there are varied positive results of blending varied cultures including enhanced technology, and cultural diversity among others[7]. However, scholars note that in instances where religious cultures are allowed into societies where a single religion is dominant, there is likely to be a shift in the religious affiliations, with the dominant faith being depreciably reduced. In Europe, other cultures and religions, especially Islam, whose historical heritage in the continent was undefined has been integrated with a significant degree of success[8]. It goes without saying that the success has been at the expense of the dominant religion, in this case Christianity. Unfortunately, the reaction by Christian churches to regain their stronghold in the continent has been considerably ineffective. 

            Lastly, there decline has been caused by the entry of a new form of Atheism led by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. These atheists have been increasingly belligerent in attacking Christianity especially in the private sphere. As much as their arguments are mainly recycled rhetoric from past atheists, they have been dismissing a large number of claims by professional Christian philosophers[9]. It is worth noting that their audience is more concerned about living their lives of moral and cultural relativity rather than scholarship, in which case they have taken up the elementary arguments supporting their position. These atheists have made tremendous efforts to indicate than an individual does not have to engage in theism in general, and Christian theism in particular so as to live a morally ethical  or fulfilled life[10]. It is worth noting that this form of atheism has become increasingly attractive and appealing to a culture that has been considerably dormant with regard to the past piety. This has resulted in the decline of Christianity in Europe.

            In conclusion, religion has been a fundamental pillar of many societies in the world. Different religions dominate different parts of the world, which is the case for Christianity in Europe. However, recent times have seen a decline in Christianity in Europe thanks to a myriad of factors. First, there has been the influx of other religions in the continent, which have eaten into the number of Christians. In addition, scholars note that there has arisen a new breed of atheists based on more or less the same notions as the previous form of atheism. This, however, has renewed its attack on Christianity and proven more appealing to individuals in Europe especially as it does not demand that individuals adhere to stringent rules of Christianity. In addition, there has been cultural shifts especially within the family sphere. Initially, it was expected that religious affiliations would be passed from the parents to the kids. Given that most parents were Christians, it followed that their kids would be Christians too. This, however, has changed with kids taking routes that are different from those of their fathers. The effect of this factor has been compounded by the reduced birth rates in Europe, which means that not only is there a reduction in the probability that the religion will be passed down to kids, but there is also fewer people on whom such passing will be done. 

 

 

Bibliography

Allievi, Stefano. Reactive Identities and Islamophobia: Muslim minorities and the challenge of religious pluralism in Europe. Philosophy & Social Criticism 38, No. 4-5 (2012): 379-87. 

Plantinga, Alvin. “Warranted Christian Belief.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Craig, William Lane. “Richard Dawkins on Arguments for God.” In God is Great, God is Good: Why Belief in God is Reasonable and Responsible. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2009.

Gonzalez, Justo L. “The Story of Christianity Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation.” New York: Harper One, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Gonzalez, Justo L. “The Story of Christianity Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation.” New York: Harper One, 2010.

[2] Craig, William Lane. “Richard Dawkins on Arguments for God.” In God is Great, God is Good: Why Belief in God is Reasonable and Responsible. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2009.

 

[3] Craig, William Lane. “Richard Dawkins on Arguments for God.” In God is Great, God is Good: Why Belief in God is Reasonable and Responsible. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2009.

[4] Gonzalez, Justo L. “The Story of Christianity Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation.” New York: Harper One, 2010.

[5] Allievi, Stefano. Reactive Identities and Islamophobia: Muslim minorities and the challenge of religious pluralism in Europe. Philosophy & Social Criticism 38, No. 4-5 (2012): 379-87. 

[6] Craig, William Lane. “Richard Dawkins on Arguments for God.” In God is Great, God is Good: Why Belief in God is Reasonable and Responsible. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2009.

 

[7] Gonzalez, Justo L. “The Story of Christianity Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation.” New York: Harper One, 2010.

[8] Allievi, Stefano. Reactive Identities and Islamophobia: Muslim minorities and the challenge of religious pluralism in Europe. Philosophy & Social Criticism 38, No. 4-5 (2012): 379-87. 

[9] Plantinga, Alvin. “Warranted Christian Belief.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

[10] Plantinga, Alvin. “Warranted Christian Belief.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

 

Place this order or similar order and get an amazing discount.

Simple Steps to get your Paper Done
For Quality Papers

The Decline in the Proficiency of English in Malaysia Essay

Posted on | by KN Simon

The Decline in the Proficiency of English in Malaysia Essay.

The decline in the proficiency of English in Malaysia has reached an alarming level. Analyze the cause and effect. In your answer, you should include suggestion to deal with this problem. English has become an international language ever since the early 20th century. This clearly shows that English has become a very important role in the world especially to our country, Malaysia. What is English? English is a West Germanic language and it is widely used all around the world. English is also the 3rd most common native language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

What are the functions of English? English is widely used in business, employment, education and media but not that much in Malaysia. This is mainly because teenagers nowadays in Malaysia speaks in a very unique that only exist in Malaysia. We call it ‘rojak language’. ‘Rojak language’ is a mixture of English, Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien and of course our Malaysia’s mother tongue, Malay.

What has caused the decline in the proficiency of English in Malaysia that has reached an alarming level?

First of all, the learning environment is one of the major effects that cause the decline of proficiency of English in Malaysia. At home, most parents does not practice English at home when they are nurturing their children instead of using ‘rojak language’ when communicating with their children. Besides that, teacher as the English ambassador in school, they do not speak proper English during English lesson.

In addition to that, some of the teachers even speak Hokkien or Mandarin Chinese during English lesson. Besides that, peers are also one of the factors that cause the decline of proficiency of English in Malaysia. That is because, most of the teenagers dare not communicate with their friends using English unless they speaks fluent English because they are afraid that their peers would either laugh or even isolate them when they could not speak fluent English. In conclusion to this, they would only speak English when they are forced to do so.

Next, government is also one of the causes of this issue. Nowadays, in school, all students are exam oriented. They study only to get good result in exam but not for their own knowledge. In return they only study English because it is a subject that they must study in school.

Writing English essays has become a part of their obligation to teacher. In Malaysia, only a few subjects are taught in English such as Mathematics, Science, Additional Mathematics and the three sciences subject that is Biology, Chemistry and Physics. But all that is going to change, as the government wants all this subjects to be taught in Malay language once again. This obviously show that our government care about Malay language more than any other languages.

With the decline in the proficiency of English in Malaysia, it would have a big effect to our country, Malaysia in many ways. One of the major effects is that the development of our country will be affected because the young teenagers of today as the future leaders of tomorrow in our country do not speak proper and fluent would make people of our country to lose their faith in them.

Besides that, the economy of our country will also be affected. This is because the foreign will also lose their faith in our country, Malaysia just because we could not speak proper English. Let’s put it this way, would you travel to a foreign country where you do not speak their language and they do not speak your language as well. Then you expect to communicate with them in English but yet they also cannot speak proper English then you will have a very hard time communicating with them.

Other than all that, it would also affect the future of the students as they leave schools and move into the working society. When the students cannot read, speak, listen and communicate in English with others will not do well in their future English examination. Then after their high school graduation, most of them will not able to proceed to further study in college or even matriculation because all the subjects that they are going to study majority are in English. With that, it will cause them their job opportunities in the future and lose out to all those that excel in English. Nowadays, the minimum requirement of employment in most of the company is to know how to read, listen and speak English.

To overcome this problem, our government has to increase the hours of the English lesson so that students have more time to study English language. As for the teachers, they should be trained to speak fluent English and emphasize to speak English when English lesson is being carried out. They should not use other language than English to educate their students.

Teacher can also have more public speaking during English lesson. This can give students more chances to practice their English and to ensure that they can speak fluent English by the time they graduate from high school. Other than all this, government should also make English as a compulsory subject to score in all exams as well as matriculation.

Enough of talking about the roles of governments and teachers in improving the standards of English in Malaysia. As a parents, they also play a very important role in improving the standard of English. They should speak or instill English to their children at home since they are small. They should also motivate their children to take part in all those campaign or talk that are about English.

During the weekends, parents can bring their children out to book store to buy books that will help to improve their English. But that does not mean only buy workbook but do not ever forget that even novels or story books will do a big part in enhancing the vocabulary of the children. Parents should also train their children not to be too exam oriented but always enjoy their time learning because knowledge is important but the process of growing up happily is even more important.

In conclusion, English is a very important language that our Malaysian should improve on immediately. This is to ensure that the image of our country is protected. If Malaysian continues to neglect this issue, the foreigners will never put faith into our country anymore and conclude that Malaysia’s education standard is far below expectation. There will be no improvement to our Malaysia’s education until the suggestion above is being considered.

You may also be interested in the following: factors affecting english proficiency in the philippines, factors affecting english proficiency in the philippines pdf

The Decline in the Proficiency of English in Malaysia Essay

Place this order or similar order and get an amazing discount.

Simple Steps to get your Paper Done
For Quality Papers

Decline In Oil Price And Its Impact

Posted on | by KN Simon

Decline In Oil Price And Its Impact.

Question:

Recent decline in the global oil prices has shown the overarching influence and impact of OPEC member States’ collective energy policies on the global energy security vis-a-vis both the oil industry and national economies. Critically discuss different policy measures that non OPEC member States can take to mitigate the impact of OPEC’s current trend as an international oil producer cartel?
 
 

Answer:

Introduction:

In June, 2014 the crude oil price has decreased by over 40%. The cost was $115 per container at that point. Although the present cost is near $60 per container. In overall oil market, OPEC engaged 40%. Due to reduce in cost of crude oil, change the OPEC. They cover unsuccessful to assemble the conformity on production curves. The cost of oil is completely depends on demand and supply of the product, and economic action influence the demand of force. The demand of force is high in northern hemisphere. In several regions, its price is high in summer due to use of air condition. Weather conditions and geopolitical factor change the supply of oil (Wakeford, n.d.).

During, recent economy of world, the price of oil is affect due to some reason. The recent economic movement is weak. As per the outcome demand of product is declining. Secondly, misunderstanding is Iraq and Libya. These two countries are well recognized for oil production. They manufacture collectively almost four million containers per day. But here is no result on production of them. The market is mostly artificial by geopolitical threat. According to statement, America is the main production of oil. But America had no export services and import of their oil in fewer manners. It creates a bunch of extra supply. The last reason is that Saudis and their Gulf partners are not attracted to give up their own market share to renovate the price. Saudi Arabia can carry on with the low price since its oil production is very high and the cost of production is very low (Simmons, n.d.).

As per the recruitment, the report includes the impact of OPEC member, and state’s combined force policies on the global energy security vis-à-vis both the oil industry and nationwide economics due to decrease in oil prices. It is also emphasize on the considerable procedures that non OPEC members can take to moderate the impact of OPEC’s current trends as an international oil producer association.

Impact of decline in oil prices:

In OPEC, there are five members it was found in 1960. OPEC also joined up with another six countries. There production cost is declining and the demand of their product is also declining due to numerous factors together with world recession.

 OPEC set quotas of production for stabilizes the price from 1982 to 1985. In this only some members are producing oil above the quotas, due to this they fail in production process. In 2008- 2009 the price of the product is diminish by 70%, and in 2001, is was double and in 2014, they decline by over 40%. As the similar moment, the exports of OPEC have declined 1 million containers in a day. The combine of export has also distorted during that time for different factor (Lopez-Murphy, Lopez-Murphy and Villafuerte, 2010).

Figure: (Lopez-Murphy, Lopez-Murphy and Villafuerte, 2010)

Algeria:

Algeria overall income is depending on the export and imports of their oil production and natural gas. Hydrocarbon export was 97% of total income earned from export and this income was also 50% of total fiscal revenues. Due to the rise in price the, the income ongoing declines. It suffers income loss of $560 by declining price of $1 per container. Thus, export level decline by 4.3% and GDP decline by 0.8%. This country has faced numerous reasonable and societal problems due to decline in income of oil (Cashin, 2012).

Iran:

In Iran, exported income is about 36% and it contributes 80-85% to the whole wages from exports. In Iran, it was predicted by central bank which govern the foreign requirement of liability is $ 26.4 billion. Due to decline in income of Iran’ oil, it is complicated to repay the debt, due to this Iran will features high quantity of budget shortage. Iran faces inflation that is rise in price and jobless. It endure income loss in oil export $ 1 in value of falling $1 in oil price. Thus, loss in income, country will endure cash calamity (Deutch, Schlesinger and Victor, 2006).

Iraq:

Iraq majorly depends on the export of oil and authorize of united nation. Other than that export of oil is rising gradually. Thus, it is predicted that it will produce more income. There is major role on decrease in global oil price due to rise in export of oil.

Indonesia:

In 1998, the income of Indonesia, decline with 32% ($3.5 billion) and in 1997 ($5.1 billion).Thus, it fall in economic calamity. It was probable to fall 13.5-20% in real (Appel, 2007).

Kuwait:

The income of Kuwait is concerning 90% of government revenue. It contributes more or less half to the GDP of the countryside (Darwish, 2007).

Saudi Arabia:

The main creator of OPEC is Saudi Arabia. It is measured as manager in quota decision. Saudi Arabia faces difficulties, due to the economic disaster of Asian financial system. The deal of 60% of Saudi occurs in Asia. The contact of declining oil price is both optimistic and unenthusiastic in Saudi Arabia.

The lesser price may be helpful for positive reasons. The cost of produce oil is extremely fewer and it has high store. There are some remuneration which may be proficient such as prevent in use of substitute energy capital, capture the own market distribute, prevent the asset in non-OPEC oil.

On the other side, the income regularly depends on oil export. It contributes 88% to the total income. It has share of 75% in satisfy revenues and contribute to 40% in GDP. Thus, reducing revenues, the expansion rate of GDP will decline and Saudi Arabia may features budget shortage.

Qatar:

The income of Qatar from oil export is on 70% of total supervision income. While the oil price is declining, the country is immobile to improve the production ability.

Nigeria:

It is experiential that the wages of Nigeria starting, crude oil export have payment of 90% in foreign exchange salary; the income of Nigeria has declined due to decrease in worldwide oil price. It create a large result on the economy and the financial development of Nigeria.

Libya:

It is experiential that here is 36% reject in wages of Libya ($9 billion). The income of oil donates 95% to the firm exchange income. Due to refuse in oil prices, the expansion of economy was very rear. The country is bounce to relate more traditional financial strategy and to decrease in expenses of public transportation.

UAE:

The increase of financial system of UAE becomes very measured, due to decrease in global price. The result is not so much like extra Gulf States. It earn various part of income from other industry and trade. As declining of income, the country has full exploit to decrease its government expenses.

Venezuela:

The income of Venezuela has also decrease by falling of global oil price and it has huge negative force on its economy.

Mexico:

Falling in global oil price has better force on supply market of Mexico. The supply is declining.

Russia:

The income of Russian has also concentrated due to decline in global oil cost although there is export of high volume.

The past say that OPEC has support the high oil market price for global crude oil by declining the equipment. The delivery of oil has not condensed due to fall in global oil cost by a quantity of members of OPEC. But a few members have exposed their indifference to export in low down price. It has practical in most of case; member that export of oil has summarized from 2008-2014 and currently is opposite high income deficit (Hassan, 2011).

The Saudi Arabia has good quality, of financial situation and good construction capability. Although of that, the country has chosen the low down price strategy. It might generate negative result on utmost members of OPEC. Negative result may damage the revenues and economy of the highest members which might guide to steady the Cartel.

As reduce in oil price, the manufacture cost of goods and services will be elevated in the economy and income boundary will diminish. Price stage and price rises of an economy can be partial by the global oil price turn down as well as the monetary market of an economy can also be precious.

The globe customers will helpful and gainful for overwhelming the energy at a lower price. But it is danger for the producer. It will decrease the income and resources spending.

Measures that can be taken by non OPEC member States:

Non OPEC countries, recent invention is about 60% of total production of oil. Non OPEC member consist of production in USA, Mexico, North Sea etc and the Non OPEC is completely different from the OPEC actions. Non OPEC, oil sector are restricted by the private company, and their price of lifting is advanced than the OPEC. It is see that the share market of the OPEC is rising, and also generate problems to the Non OPEC. While 1993, the production of Non OPEC has been rising and the worldwide price of is falling day by day (Al-Rashed and León, 2015).

Producer is normally the price takers instated of price maker in Non OPEC countries. They are bounce to believe the market price is somewhat to manage the prices, by running the production. Lesser affect can also put in force and it can guide to refuse in price (Zhang, Fan and Wei, 2009).

Policy 1: The impact of OPEC’s recent tendency as an international oil producer stage is helpful to moderate. The member of OPEC countries have liable that non-OPEC countries are not proposed to collaborate with them. Collaboration is one of the reasons for, global price is decreasing. But it is not easy to handle them. The global market is majorly subjective by geo-political factor. It is simply achievable, when the limitation of geo-political can be solved. It is forecasted that the demand of oil will rise in upcoming years. Although, there are many sources that accomplish the demand, it will not easy to receive income by oil producer (Energy security challenges for the 21st century: a reference handbook, 2010). If the OPEC and non-OPEC does not take help of each other, then it will be extremely difficult to handle the recent tendency of oil industry. The recent tendency of oil market will be impacted in their wealth of future market. So, it is necessary to stabilize the market, for their future benefits. Other than, there are some areas of ambiguity, which are connected with the oil industry in current market.  Suspicions are linked with the stage of demand in future, strategy development and development of innovative technology. These doubts can simply be eliminated, when OPEC and Non OPEC will take the action together (Prebilič and Juvan, 2014).

Policy 2: The impact of OPEC’s recent tendency can be moderate, if the domestic product is increased. While, if the domestic production of oil is increasing, then automatically reduces the imports and make it self-determining. Due to increasing in oil creation, the tendency of reserving oil will be elevated. Due to this cause, the Non OPEC countries, their economy rate may not be affect by OPEC. From 2008, US production of crude oil will better constantly and in 2011, the net of import has exceeded. Currently, it is rising at significant charge (Winzer, 2012).

Policy 3: It can be moderate if the supply is rising. In International market, if they seek to export more oil, then it resolves more profits as well the market share of Non OPEC countries will also raise. The supply can be enlarged by high production of domestic oil. If the production and supply of non-OPEC countries increases then, on the other, hand decreased in the OPEC country production (Knetsch, 2007).

Policy 4: Under these policy Non OPEC countries, will focus on petroleum oil. Due to this, petroleum oil expenditure will diminish, and the demand and supply of petroleum oil can be unbiased. Fuel is the major thing, due to this transport system in the world are running. There are few types of oil like battery, bio-fuels etc are used then the demand of original oil will be decreased (Balat, 2007).

Conclusion:

It is tricky to state that, how the global prices of oil will reject. However, policy of Saudi Arabia will concern more than the others members of OPEC. The other country keep on trying to export the oil at lesser pricing policy and help to sustain market share for them, then the economy of other members will be precious. Due to this, they will endure some economical problem such as revenue loss, price rises etc (The US gasoline situation and crude oil prices, 2004).

References

Al-Rashed, Y. and León, J. (2015). Energy efficiency in OPEC member countries: analysis of historical trends through the energy coefficient approach. OPEC Energy Review, 39(1), pp.77-102.

Appel, G. (2007). Opportunity investing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Press.

Balat, M. (2007). The Role of Nuclear Power in Global Electricity Generation. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 2(4), pp.381-390.

Cashin, P. (2012). The differential effects of oil demand and supply shocks on the global economy. [Washington, D.C.]: International Monetary Fund.

Darwish, M. (2007). Desalting fuel energy cost in Kuwait in view of $75/barrel oil price. Desalination, 208(1-3), pp.306-320.

Deutch, J., Schlesinger, J. and Victor, D. (2006). National security consequences of U.S. oil dependency. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.

Energy security challenges for the 21st century: a reference handbook. (2010). Choice Reviews Online, 47(06), pp.47-2929-47-2929.

Hassan, F. (2011). Effects of environmental agreements on OPEC exports of oil. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic Pub.

Knetsch, T. (2007). Forecasting the price of crude oil via convenience yield predictions. Journal of Forecasting, 26(7), pp.527-549.

Lopez-Murphy, P., Lopez-Murphy, P. and Villafuerte, M. (2010). Fiscal Policy in Oil Producing Countries During the Recent Oil Price Cycle. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.

Prebilič, V. and Juvan, J. (2014). New energy security paradigm. Dela, 0(41), p.41.

Simmons, E. (n.d.). Oil and gas transportation.

The US gasoline situation and crude oil prices. (2004). OPEC Review, 28(2), pp.149-153.

Wakeford, J. (n.d.). Preparing for peak oil in South Africa.

Winzer, C. (2012). Conceptualizing energy security. Energy Policy, 46, pp.36-48.

Zhang, X., Fan, Y. and Wei, Y. (2009). A model based on stochastic dynamic programming for determining China’s optimal strategic petroleum reserve policy. Energy Policy, 37(11), pp.4397-4406.

Decline In Oil Price And Its Impact

Place this order or similar order and get an amazing discount.

Simple Steps to get your Paper Done
For Quality Papers

Decline Of Civility In Society Philosophy Essay

Posted on | by KN Simon

Decline Of Civility In Society Philosophy Essay.

What do we consider “civilized” nowadays? Civilized by definition is having advanced cultural and social development or refined in tastes. Does society today look or act like that? Research shows that society most definitely does not, at least not anymore. What causes people to be so rude? First off, part of the problem is that in this day and age when people choose to be rude they pretty much go for broke. There is no subtlety to their unruly conduct; instead, it is right there in your face.

Secondly, sometimes people ignore certain rudeness and simply shrug their collective shoulders and sigh that is the way of the world, no bothering to utter any word of displeasure or disgust at such a display. Such a situation would be far worse because at that point, people not only have learned to accept uncivilized behavior as being par for the course, but they have also lost the drive and will to take a stand and say “Sorry, but I refuse to accept that kind of behavior.

”

Finally, the problem could, in fact, be society itself. Think about it, is not peer pressure not one of today’s leading causes of people to act like one another in their behaviors? Not to mention the fact that society is becoming more reliable on technology to do everything for them and when it does not people get mad and assert their aggression on others instead on fixing the problem.

One cause of the lack of civility is that people these days just do not care anymore about other’s feelings, at all. Let’s not be nice about this, people do have a choice and control how they conduct themselves around others. What could cause such inconsiderate behavior? “Our behavior toward people tends to be the catalyst — the motivation for how they relate to us. Consequently, treating others with courtesy usually causes them to be courteous to us. Patience and kindness promotes patience and kindness, etc. Ask yourself how you wish to be treated? Would you like to be shown encouragement? Do you want your shortcomings to be treated with tolerance and forgiveness? Do you desire to be shown love and acceptance? (Robbins 1)”

Therefore, concluding from Dr. Robbins article, we should treat other we the same attitude and thoughtfulness that we wish to be shown. People have reasons for being inconsiderate, even if they do not realize it. Opening up communication and finding out the cause for the behavior can help the situation. Don’t, however, expect the situation to change. In recovery, we learn that we can’t change people; the other person must decide whether to change inconsiderate behavior.

Another problem of incivility is society accepting such inconsiderate behavior rather than doing something about it. Since when is rudeness justifiable? Apparently as stated in ‘A Decline in Civility or just a selfish request 4 respect?’ “…to live life in a permanent revolution is taxing and we get tired eventually. We transition to old age and start complaining that nobody gives us the respect we deserve, forgetting, most of the time to dispense it ourselves onto others. Our increasing alienation and reliance of cold, impersonal technology for interpersonal communication seems to push us into a downward spiral, where the decreasing human contact makes us feel more stressed, we feel we’re getting less sympathy and respect from others and in return we start to give out less ourselves. (Edutarian 1)”

This means that we need to interact with one another more often or otherwise everyone become insensitive towards each other because no one cares to even talk to them. Personally this sounds stupid because if someone wants to talk, they will find someone to talk to, just saying. Unfortunately, aging could be a factor in rude behavior. How so? Well diseases like Alzheimer’s or being senile can cause older folks to be uncivilized or irritable, but in most cases it is more of the person’s mentality and psyche.

Lastly, the main problem with rudeness could be society itself or the advance technology that we are compiling to make life easier but yet complex at the same time. Rudeness was originally associated with Northern citizens of America, as stated in Stephen Carter’s “The Etiquette of Democracy”, which says “the old bromide that people who live in cities are not as polite as people in the country. New Yorkers, we think, epitomize rudeness, whereas folks in the South, say, are just as friendly as they can be. The bromide, however, turns out not to be a bromide: more and more experimental evidence confirms it. Something seems to happen to the psyche, to the personality, maybe even to the soul, when people live together in vast numbers.

We find ourselves avoiding each other if only to keep from tripping over each other. We demand what has come to be called our space. (Carter 366)” He furthers this by quoting Stanley Milgram, psychologist, who overstates the urban incivility “in the city, traditional courtesies are violated; rather, the cities develop new norms of noninvolvement.” Thus, when visitors arrive from rural areas with very different rules of conduct and complain that they seem to have landed in a foreign country, they are, in a sense, absolutely right. The city, like any other community, creates its own standards of behavior, along with its own pressures to obey them. The only trouble is, the standards are often morally inferior to the ones they replace. (Carter 366)” Instincts tells us that Milgram is right. People do not want to get involved in each other’s affairs or problems, so instead they steer away from each other or just become out right selfish.

Technology like television, the Internet, and cell phones are a possible and refutable cause of disrespect. Television is a big reason why people act so rude. Patricia Crowley, author of “Causes of Today’s Incivility”, states that the “children think that whatever they see on TV is true and that how everyone on TV acts is the way they are supposed to act. They also think that if they want to be tough like the boy they just saw on TV that they have to act like he does, which is without manners. The girls think if they want to be popular and beautiful they have to dress and act just as rudely as the girl they just saw on the sitcom they were watching. (Patricia 1)” Television is not the only one though. The Internet brings a mighty bunch of uncivilized declamation to the ring. Social networks, blogs, and so on, cause others to acquire a rude behavior due to certain situations. What makes matters worse is when technology fails and the human temper elevates, because we are society of instantaneous service which drives us to be angry and rude towards the “infernal contraption” because it will not dispense the coffee or something.

So, what is the cause of the decline of civility in society? Frankly, society itself is the problem and the solution. Society causes us to be rude due to the fact that people are rude to one another without any remorse or consideration of the significant other. The only we can combat against this epidemic is by acknowledging the person’s rude behavior and stand up against, also not to let the little things get to us. Only way an attitude can be fixed is with a new attitude.

Decline Of Civility In Society Philosophy Essay

Place this order or similar order and get an amazing discount.

Simple Steps to get your Paper Done
For Quality Papers