MORE THAN A BAG!

More Than A Bag

Plastic could be anywhere; in the air, in the water, in the landfill, in your food, and in your stomach. If you think fish and the small animals are the only organisms that get affected by all the plastic we produce, then you are wrong. When you go out to eat lunch, you might think that what you ate are fish and chips, but maybe the fish is contaminated with BPA, a dangerous substance that are in fish, who consume small plastic particles. Can you imagine if you are eating plastic? We are eating plastic!

Eating plastic and BPA might not cause you trouble now, but I am a hundred percent sure that by the time you reach 60 years old, you will regret it. At this rate, we are using a lot of plastic wastefully. Imagine, where can we keep it? Plastic lasts for a lifetime or even more. By “ a lifetime”, I literally really mean it! Imagine, from when you were born until the day you die, plastic will never disappear. It is quite possible that maybe the plastic you see in the ocean are actually older than you are. JUST A FACT.

GENIE - NATURE VS NURTURE

What is Nature? What is Nurture? What is the impact of these two on our lives?

Nature is something that you born or inherited with. Nurture is environmental factors that influence you.  The debate is whether your behavior is in your genes or if it is caused by your experiences in life.

Genie is a female feral child who lived in isolation. From the age of 20 months, Genie’s father locked her into a room. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? A little girl, who cannot even walk on her own, was locked inside a room. PLUS, she was strapped with a small potty toilet. She was rarely fed and became malnourished. I was so shocked when I heard about this girl. I pitied the girl, and was somehow angry as I wondered what kind of person could’ve done this to their own daughter.

From the case study of Genie, scientists were most interested in resolving the nature versus nurture debate. If personality traits were to be nature-based, then scientists would not bother with educating Genie at all, because she would remain that way forever, or they would argue that Genie shouldn’t have appeared the way she did because she should be functioning as her parents are. Meanwhile, if personality traits were to be nurture-based, then how Genie was raised would clearly explain why she is unable to communicate and move effectively. That would, in addition, create hopes for scientists in that they would be able to improve Genie’s social skills and teach her. In conclusion, the field of education in our society would be changed. If it is nature, no one would bother to change a children’s behavior, because they would think that teaching him/her is a waste. Nothing would be able to change the person’s personality because they are born with it. If it is nurture, the hope is created for those without discipline and lacking essential knowledge. Anyone’s personality trait would be able to change if they are changed to live in a different environment and receive proper lessons.

In the end, scientists decided to educate Genie, or in other words, did “experiments” on her. She became attached with some scientists, who she trusted and wasn’t afraid to approached. At the end, due to financial instability, the experiment was declined. Genie was put into a foster home. She was left with alone. We never thought before that there will be a person with such a tolerance life. This was very disheartened. What do you think? We think that everyone deserves their own freedom to live.

- Porsche and PingPing

Child Soldier

Child Soldier

According to child-soldier.org, over the last ten years, two million children have been killed in conflicts. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled, and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma. About 40% of child soldiers in the world happened to be girls. The risk of sexual abuses, rape, and even becoming sex slaves for the adults soldiers are remarkably high for these girls child soldiers. This is really cruel and unacceptable. War had affected every aspect of a child's development.

Child soldiers are children under the age of 18 who fight in conflicts. Most of the children who are involved in conflicts are forced by adults or members of non-state actors that will threaten them if they refused to join. The heartbreaking part is that they are brainwashed, or even drugged, so that they want to fight for the groups.

Children are pressured to economic and cultural pressures. Many of them join the group in order to receive daily food to survive because they live in extreme poverty. Many children believed that they will be offered income, food, and security. Many children think violence is something normal because they have been exposed to terrible things that occur in warzones everyday. It is sad that they did everything without knowing the consequences and dangers that they are going to face in these war zones.

In conclusion, child soldiers is really cruel and unacceptable practice. Most of the children are forced to be involved in heart wrenching conditions. Some of them join the group just to receive daily food for survival. Moreover, they are brainwashed or even drugged, which affects every aspect of the children’s development. Therefore, we need to take action in order to stop the use of child soldiers.

Women Work More, But are Still Paid Less!

“The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became “Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.”— Richard H. Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism,

(Allyn and Bacon, 1999), p. 354   

In every country in the world, women continue to be paid less than men even though they do the same amount of work. Over the past 10 years, women have accomplished as much as men. Women earn an average of ⅔ of men’s  wages, and sometimes, they are denied opportunities that lead to better jobs. It’s like the world does not trust women to do top jobs because they think less of women than of men. More women work outside the home, and when they look for jobs, they are only offered ones that are in the lower echelons of the workforce. Despite the fact that they have the capability to work in these positions, they are often denied executive positions due to their gender. Just because of their gender, they are treated differently, and it is not right. If the person is suitable for a job, then they should get it regardless of what gender they are or what religion they believe in.

An example is the employers in Bangladesh. They believe that women are willing and able to work longer hours for less pay. They make up to 85% of the workforce, but are earning the minimum wage of $37 USD a month, which is $0.22 an hour. Bangladesh women are the lowest underpaid laborers in the world.  

The capability of women to work in important jobs should be recognized. For example, like the current Thai president Ying-lak wasn’t turned down for running in the election for president. People believed in what Ying-Lak is capable of, so that’s why the people voted for her to lead the country.

Women need equal pay for equal work. Many of them faint from exhaustion during the work day and some are poor and suffer. This applies to women all over the world, no matter what job or the level of the job. Women should be treated the same as men and be payed as much as men, and should permitted to work in the same jobs as men.

Sexism, Feminism, and Man-Hating

Lately, incorrect notions about feminism seem to be going around quite a bit. I don’t know how or why it happened, but the word “feminism” has been given a negative connotation- it’s somehow become synonymous to “man-hating”. It makes men uncomfortable, if not intimidated or disgusted, and it makes women hesitant to use it. But it shouldn’t be that way. Feminists aren’t beating men to the ground or stealing every man’s job or trying to run the world. In fact, all we’re doing is working against stereotypes and old traditions that label us as “weak” and “incapable”. We’re fighting so that women and men can stand on the same ground.

My friend once asked, “Why are feminists making everything such a big deal? I’m a girl and I don’t feel oppressed or mistreated. Aren’t men and women already equal?” Now, this is the product of ignorance. Don’t get me wrong, she’s my friend and I love her, but thoughts like this can drive me crazy sometimes, because the answer is a big huge NO. NO, men and women are not already equal. And NO, just because you don’t feel oppressed, does not mean other women are not. My friends and I, we’re lucky because we are part of the small percentage of women who are able to receive proper education and live in a mostly non-discriminating society. But still, sexism exists. It may not be very noticeable, but it’s there, weaved into our daily lives.

Sexism is when women are expected to do all the cooking and house chores because “men aren’t as good at it” and “it’s the wife’s job”. It’s not. We can’t just generalize and say that all men can’t cook and all women are good at doing chores; it depends on the individual. Sexism is when a guy is called a “girl” or “the p- word” for displaying emotion or fear. What’s wrong with crying or feeling scared? Is it weak? No it’s human nature. Does it have anything to do with being a girl? No it doesn’t. Sexism is when a woman is raped and the first question asked is “what was she wearing?” Instead of telling the girl how to dress, tell the man that rape is not okay no matter under what circumstances. If he’s strong enough to force a woman into sex, he’s definitely strong enough to control himself. Sexism is when a girl, somewhere in the world, is being denied of her rights to education because of her gender. Sexism is when a boy who sleeps with many girls is praised by his friends but a girl who does the same is labeled “slut”, “hoe”, “bitch”.

But sexism is not solely men’s fault. Women participate in all these things too, and some even have the belief inscribed into their minds that they are the weaker one. And that’s why we need to educate people and raise awareness. Eliminating sexism is not something that can be done only by women or men, it’s something that everyone has to take part in.

Child labor

“To fight against child labor is to fight against global poverty.”

According to the ILO, the benefits of eradicating child labor would outweigh the costs by nearly six to one. There are about 168 million children that are engaged in the child labor during the year of 2013. Only one out of five gets paid for his or her work, and most of them perform unpaid family work. Many of these children work in the mining industry, which is also an industry that has the most dangerous for child laborers. Many of the parents in impoverished countries let their children work out of necessity, just because they were unable to sustain their families on their own incomes.  Therefore, the parents thought that they have no other choice but to turn their children into laborers.

Child labor is wrong, and would never be condoned by anyone with a decent moral compass. It should never be done AT ALL. We think that even if the parents couldn’t support their families with the incomes they have, they should find out a way to support their families, not just send their children and turn them into child laborers. There must be other ways to solve these kinds of problems. Children, to us, are supposed to have a happy childhood, even if they’re poor. They shouldn’t be working at such a young age. One of the best ways to stop child labor is to provide fair wages and safe working conditions for parents so that they can provide for and support their families with the incomes they have earned.

Taiwan Gutter Oil

Taiwan Gutter Oil

Taiwan gutter oil, as heard worldwide, is currently in almost everything we eat. The companies that are involved are Chang-Guan and Da-Tung. They recycle the waste oil from the restaurant and animal byproducts, then turn them into the oil we use to cook. All 645 tons of adulterated oil has been distributed to more than 1,200 restaurants, schools, and processors. Gutter oil contains high concentration of carcinogens, which cause cancer. We trusted these companies on producing our food safely, and this is what they did to us. It’s like spending money to eat, but then unpredictably it is killing us. The most ridiculous thing is that these companies didn’t admit to their crime at first. They admitted after the food inspection report came out. For punishment, those responsible should be in jailed for the rest of their lives. Gutter oil contains toxic chemicals, harms your liver, and causes skin cancer .  Don’t you think that the members of these companies should be jailed for the rest of their lives? The companies are harming many people with his gutter oil, of which 203 tons was already sold. The company getting richer by harming other people is simply unfair ? The government should penalize the companies with crucial outcomes that will make them suffer and make them remember it for the rest of their worthless lives. We should make the people that were involved in this incident take gutter oil instead of food in jail. If they refuse to take it properly, they shall lose their fingers, toes, ears, and eyes; slowly, one by one. There shall be no water or other liquid available for their use. Let them use their gutter oil instead. Lastly, if they’re sick, we shall provide gutter oil intravenous drip. The conclusion for our blog is that we want to stop this fake oil and make those responsible for peddling it suffer.

Article 12: Right to Marry

“What?” is my first reaction when I read the title of this article titled, “Police raid human trafficking ring suspected of selling pregnant women for £15,000 each and forcing them to have babies with sham marriage husbands”.  To clarify, a pregnant woman was sold and forced into fake marriage. The woman was 25 weeks pregnant when she was taken to a man. He tricked her, making her believe that he was her sister’s friend. She thought she was going to see her sister in the UK. When the arrangements were finalized, she was sold to an Asian family and forced to marry SOMEONE SHE DIDN’T KNOW! The man in charge was paid around £15,000 for arranging the marriage. Can you believe it? I’m stunned.

Why is human society getting worse and worse? Right now, in our society, are we living in a fantasy or is it just a bunch of nightmares? I feel really terrible for the woman in this article. My feelings might not be completely conveyed to you readers, but as one human living on the same Earth, I’m confused, terrified, and shocked. How can a human being treat another human being this way? “Inhumane” is the word I would describe those who are in charge of this. Wild animals take care of each other  despite not having a complex brain. But we humans, having the ability to reason, chose to not take care of the same species.

Not to mention, that woman is PREGNANT! She’s frail and she’s weak. In that state, people chose to take advantage of her freedom. Is this right? Taking freedom away from weak people for their own benefit is not right. How would you feel if you were put into that position? Do you want to marry someone you don’t even know? Do you want to be sold for 15,000 pounds? Do other people have the right to judge how much you’re worth? A person’s life is worth infinity, we cannot set a price for a human’s life. We must think how other feel before we act.

Every human has rights. We must not “force” anyone into doing anything they don’t want to. Forcing someone to do something means that we don’t acknowledge their “rights” and presence, because every human deserves to have a choice.

                                                                                                             - PingPing and Porsche