SUMMARY OF Indolence of the Filipinos Essay Example for Free

SUMMARY OF Indolence of the Filipinos Essay The essay itself originally appeared in the Filipino forthrightly review, La Solidaridad, of Madrid, in five installments, running from July 15 to September 15, 1890. It was a continuation of Rizals campaign of education in which he sought by blunt truths to awaken his countrymen to their own faults at the same time that he was arousing the Spaniards to the defects in Spains colonial system that caused and continued such shortcomings. (Craig, 1913) PART 1 ï‚ § indolence – misused in the sense of little love for work and lack of energy ï‚ § indolence does exist among the Filipinos ï‚ § examine the causes based on facts before proposing a remedy ï‚ § climate – factor for being indolent o â€Å"A hot, climate requires of the individual quiet and rest, just as cold incites to labor and action. † o â€Å"A man can live in any climate, if he will only adapt himself to its requirements and conditions.† ï‚ § Working hours of Filipinos (tenants) vs. Spanish Official and Landlords ï‚ § Tendency to indolence is very natural. ï‚ § Effect of misgovernment PART 2 ï‚ § analogy of physician( friars, Spanish government) , patient(Philippines), illness (indolence) ï‚ § indolence as a chronic illness o â€Å"Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but not a hereditary one† Before the arrival of Spaniards, Malayan Filipinos raised on an active trade, not only among themselves but also with other neighboring countries (evidence that Filipinos were not indolent) ï‚ § an illness will worsen if the wrong treatment is given. ï‚ § â€Å"How is it that the Filipino people, so fond of its customs as to border on routine, has given up its ancient habits of work, of trade, of navigation, etc., even to the extent of completely forgetting its past?† PART 3 ï‚ § enumerates several reasons that may have caused the Filipinos cultural and economic corruption ï‚ § wars: conflict among Spaniards, natives and Moros ï‚ § invasion of Pirates o Results: diminished number of native Filipinos ï‚ § forced labor : Filipinos were sent abroad to fight for Spain or shipyards to construct vessels ï‚ § Some Filipinos hide in the forest and mountains and abandoned their farm lands (because of fear) ï‚ § â€Å"Still they struggled a long time against indolence, yes: but their enemies were so numerous that at last they gave up! PART 4 ï‚ §Ã¯â‚¬  Ã¯â€š  Ã¯â€š  Cut-off of trading ï‚ § Monopoly ï‚ § Abuse of land lords (ecnomenderos) o Permission to labor (KASAMA System) ï‚ § Absence of encouragement from the government o no aid for poor crops o does not seek market for its products ï‚ § Wrong teaching: o Why work? If the rich man will not go to heaven. o False teaching of church o Gambling – promise of sudden wealth ï‚ § Discrimination on education ï‚ § Spaniards insisted to Filipinos: o â€Å"The Filipino is convinced that to get happiness it is necessary for him to lay aside his dignity as a rational creature, to attend mass, to believe what is told him, to pay what is demanded of him, to pay and forever to pay; to work, suffer and be silent, without aspiring to anything, without aspiring to know or even to understand Spanish,without separating himself from his carabao, as the priests shamelessly say, without protesting against any injustice, against any arbitrary action, against an assault, against an insult; that is, not to have heart, brain or spirit: a creature with arms and a purse full of gold theres the ideal native!† ï‚ § Yet Filipinos still have inspirations, he thinks and strive to rise. PART 5 ï‚ § causes of indolence can be reduced to two factors(emerged from the people) o limited training and education of Filipino native †¢ developed inferiority o lack of a national sentiment of unity among them †¢ â€Å"A man in the Philippines is only an individual; he is not a member of a nation.† ï‚ § education and liberty is the key to solve this issue. The Indolence of the Filipinos: Analysis La Indolencia de los Filipinos, more popularly known in its English version, The Indolence of the Filipinos, is a exploratory essay written by Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, to explain the alleged idleness of his people during the Spanish colonization. SUMMARY. The Indolence of the Filipinos is a study of the causes why the people did not, as was said, work hard during the Spanish regime. Rizal pointed out that long before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos were industrious and hardworking. The Spanish reign brought about a decline in economic activities because of certain causes: First, the establishment of the Galleon Trade cut off all previous associations of the Philippines with other countries in Asia and the Middle East. As a result, businesswas only conducted with Spain through Mexico. Because of this, the small businessesand handicraft industries that flourished during the pre-Spanish period gradually disappeared. Second, Spain also extinguished the natives’ love of work because of the implementation of forced labor. Because of the wars between Spain and other countries in Europe as well as the Muslims in Mindanao, the Filipinos were compelled to work in shipyards, roads, and other public works, abandoning agriculture, industry, and commerce. Third, Spain did not protect the people against foreign invaders and pirates. With no arms to defend themselves, the natives were killed, their houses burned, and their lands destroyed. As a result of this, the Filipinos were forced to become nomads, lost interest in cultivating their lands or in rebuilding the industries that were shut down, and simply became submissive to the mercy of God. Fourth, there was a crooked system of education, if it was to be considered aneducation. What was being taught in the schools were repetitive prayers and other things that could not be used by the students to lead the country to progress. There were no courses in Agriculture, Industry, etc., which were badly needed by thePhilippines during those times. Fifth, the Spanish rulers were a bad example to despise manual labor. The officials reported to work at noon and left early, all the while doing nothing in line with their duties. The women were seen constantly followed by servants who dressed them and fanned them – personal things which they ought to have done for themselves. Sixth, gambling was established and widely propagated during those times. Almost everyday there were cockfights, and during feast days, the government officials and friars were the first to engange in all sorts of bets and gambles. Seventh, there was a crooked system of religion. The friars taught the naà ¯ve Filipinos that it was easier for a poor man to enter heaven, and so they preferred not to work and remain poor so that they could easily enter heaven after they died. Lastly, the taxes were extremely high, so much so that a huge portion of what they earned went to the government or to the friars. When the object of their labor was removed and they were exploited, they were reduced to inaction. Rizal admitted that the Filipinos did not work so hard because they were wise enough to adjust themselves to the warm, tropical climate. â€Å"An hour’s work under that burning sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from nature in activity, is equal to a day’s labor in a temperate climate.† ANALYSIS It is important to note that indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but not a hereditary one. Truth is, before the Spaniards arrived on these lands, the natives were industriously conducting business with China, Japan, Arabia, Malaysia, and other countries in the Middle East. The reasons for this said indolence were clearly stated in the essay, and were not based only on presumptions, but were grounded on fact taken from history. Another thing that we might add that had caused this indolence, is the lack of unity among the Filipino people. In the absence of unity and oneness, the people did not have the power to fight the hostile attacks of the government and of the other forces of society. There would also be no voice, no leader, to sow progress and to cultivate it, so that it may be reaped in due time. In such a condition, the Philippines remained a country that was lifeless, dead, simply existing and not living. As Rizal stated in conclusion, â€Å"a man in the Philippines is an individual; he is not merely a citizen of a country.† It can clearly be deduced from the writing that the cause of the indolence attributed to our race is Spain: When the Filipinos wanted to study and learn, there were no schools, and if there were any, they lacked sufficient resources and did not present more useful knowledge; when the Filipinos wanted to establish their businesses, there wasn’t enough capital nor protection from the government; when the Filipinos tried to cultivate their lands and establish various industries, they were made to pay enormous taxes and were exploited by the foreign rulers. It is not only the Philippines, but also other countries, that may be called indolent, depending on the criteria upon which such a label is based. Man cannot work without resting, and if in doing so he is considered lazy, they we could say that all men are indolent. One cannot blame a country that was deprived of its dignity, to have lost its will to continue building its foundation upon the backs of its people, especially when the fruits of their labor do not so much as reach their lips. When we spend our entire lives worshipping such a cruel and inhumane society, forced upon us by aliens who do not even know our motherland, we are destined to tire after a while. We are not fools, we are not puppets who simply do as we are commanded – we are human beings, who are motivated by our will towards the accomplishment of our objectives, and who strive for the preservation of our race. When this fundamental aspect of our existence is denied of us, who can blame us if we turn idle?

Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Fate and

Oedipus Rex, Fate, and the Modern World  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the two thousand since â€Å"Oedipus Rex† was written, it has been analyzed and dissected innumerable times and in every possible way.   Usually the analysis has been within the context of the play itself or within the context of other Greek tragedies.   Perhaps it would be more relevant and interesting to evaluate the play within the context of the modern world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his play Sophocles brings up many questions which are not easily answered.   Does man ha free will? What responsibilities does a man have for his own actions? Should the inferior human intellect and poor human reasoning be placed above obedience to one’s God or gods?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Neither Sophocles nor the Greeks originated these questions.   Thousands of years before the time of the Greeks man worried that his life, and therefore his fate, was determined by very powerful gods.   Hence much time and energy was spent praying and asking the gods to utilize divine intervention to provide better hunting, weather, food, and other forms of good fortune.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thousands of years of superstition and spiritual worship evolved into Greeks’ religion, which was based on mythology and the belief that gods of the Olympus controlled the lives of men.   Sophocles brings to light the Greeks’ beliefs in several scenes as the gods are consulted through the oracles.   In one scene, Iokaste tells Oedipus that an oracle told Laios that his doom would be death at the hands of his own son.  Ã‚  Ã‚   His son born of his flesh and mine (II. 214-220).   Iokaste and Laios had asked an oracle about their baby’s future (Oedipus) to have better understanding of the child’s fate.   Upon receiving this information, and realizing the tragic destiny o... ...learn there, I f he can, What act or pledge of mine may save the city. (II. 72-77)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the Greeks did two thousand years ago, the Indians of Guatemala do today.   Oracles are consulted about every important event in their life.   Not only do they go to their future, they also make many futile attempts to change their destiny by offering food, money, alcohol or cigars to Maximon, Culiatlec, Kielem, or whatever god they believe to have the strongest powers.   Without access to resources or education, the Mayan Indian is destined to work his small plot of land and barely survive on a diet of beans and tortillas.   He will dye young from hard work just as his father, grand father, and every other ancestor since the beginning of time.   If he tries to change his fate by taking up arms against his oppressor, he will dye even younger.   In the same way  Ã‚     

Does ‘Pascal’s Wager’ Provide a Convincing Argument for Belief in God? Essay

Published in 1670 and named after French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal; the philosophical theory of Pascal’s Wager reasons that to believe in God is a decision made in a time of uncertainty. The Wager also explains that whether or not God exists, we can estimate the outcome; an infinite reward or an infinite punishment. This suggests that the rational choice to live as if God exists is the better of the possible choices; yet, through reason alone, one cannot come to the knowledge of God’s existence. Many people’s beliefs may be in their own interest to hold, thinking, if we plan for the future it will pay off in the long run; or in other cases, we explain why somebody holds a belief by appealing to its causes. This being said, the idea of the Wager is deciding whether or not to believe in God and to consider the expected outcome for each of these options. I think that Pascal’s Wager is supposedly meant to provide reasons which would persuade any rational person that they should believe in God. However, I don’t think it is a valid argument, although it is convincing. The argument of Pascal’s Wager can be used for any God at all, so what happens if you pick the wrong God? Who is to say this God actually rewards belief and punishes those who do not believe? If we supposedly were to pick a god and it does exist, won’t this omniscient god know that we only believe just to be safe? Would our outcome still be an infinite reward, or would we not be rew arded for our fake belief? I don’t think we can be guaranteed any specific outcome, such as an infinite reward or infinite punishment, because if you believed in a god because you wanted to have chance on your side, then the God would know this, and would know that your belief was not real. The belief in God relies on assuming that the god described is real and has those characteristics. The argument of Pascal’s Wager begins with an assumption, and then appeals the same supposition as its conclusion. You have to believe this assumption in order to believe in God and if you do not believe the primary assumption about God already, then the argument should not convince you. Therefore, if there is no God, no afterlife, no continuation and you wasted your time maiming yourself and your kids, eating a restricted diet or giving your time to faking a belief in God, you have missed a lot in the only life you have. The only certain result of Pascal’s Wager is that one will pretend to believe, which is all one can do if they do not really believe. Yet, if there is a god, he would know that you are faking it so you would go to hell anyway. The Wager gives us an option to believe in God in times of uncertainty; suppose your dog who you love dearly lay next to you close to dying, and the vet offers to try a new drug to cure the dog, however, could not guarantee treatment. The drug has a 50-50 chance of saving your adored dog’s life. Would it be sensible to try it, even if it cost a bit of money? Supposing it was free, it would be unreasonable not to try it and reasonable to try it. This is an example understanding the Wager in a time of doubt and uncertainty; to believe in God not because your reason can prove with certainty that it is true that God exists but because your will pursues happiness, and God is your only chance of attaining happiness eternally. In my opinion, the argument of Pascal’s Wager, is not a valid argument, however, it is a convincing one. When you first hear Pascal’s Wager, it sounds good, but in fact, it depends on whether an individual chooses to believe.. Most disbelievers, such as me, question the Wager purely because we know of no persuasive evidence or reasons to believe; maybe proving the argument or showing some good evidence might convince unbelievers. To say it is in someone’s ‘best interest’ to believe in God is completely unsound, especially considering someone cannot sincerely choose to believe in something, just because it is rationally logical to do so. If you said all the right prayers and attended church on a regular basis, that still would not be the same thing as truly believing, any omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God would see straight through that. . I do not think by act of will, that you can force yourself to believe that God exists. This argument is logically invalid, but people are afraid of an infinite punishment, or the final outcome of choosing to believe in god, therefore are easily convinced by rationally unsound arguments.

Definition and Examples of Postmodifiers in English

In English grammar, a postmodifier is a  modifier that follows the word or phrase it limits or qualifies. Modification by a postmodifier is called postmodification.   As discussed below, there are many different types of postmodifiers, but the most common are prepositional phrases and relative clauses. As noted by Douglas Biber et al., Premodifiers and postmodifiers are distributed in the same way across registers: rare in conversation, very common in informational writing (Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, 2002). Guerra and Insua point out that, in general, postmodifiers are longer than premodifiers, which underlines the adequacy of end-weight (Enlarging Noun Phrases Little by Little in  A Mosaic of Corpus Linguistics, 2010). Examples and Observations The woman in the window seat asked the flight attendant for two little bottles of white wine.Carter Hallam was a jolly, easy-going fellow whom everybody knew and everybody liked.In a farm-house in Sussex are preserved two skulls from Hastings Priory.I was born in a farmhouse that stood on a pretty heath in Sussex.The decision to erect a statue was made on the basis of a vote taken by a show of hands in the assembly.We needed a boat big enough to haul supplies to the campsite.Sarahs office was ransacked by persons unknown.​ Four Types of Postmodification Postmodification can be one of four types: a preposition with a further nominal group (a prepositional phrase): the boy in the garden...;a non-finite clause: the boy walking down the road...;a dependent clause which may be introduced by a relative pronoun or simply attached directly to the nominal it modifies: the who was walking...;occasionally, an adjective:...and other things interesting. (David Crystal, Prosodic Systems and Intonation in English. Cambridge University Press, 1976)Three Major Types of Non-Finite Postmodifying Clauses There are three major types of non-finite postmodifying clauses: ing-clauses, ed-clauses, and to-clauses. The first two types are also called participle clauses, and the third is also called an infinitive clause or a to-infinitive clause.Participle clauses as postmodifiers always have subject gap positions. They can often be paraphrased as a  relative clause: a letter written by a member of the public (ACAD)compare: a letter which has been written by a member of the publicyoung families attending the local clinic (NEWS)compare: families who are attending the local clinic In contrast, to-clause postmodifiers can have either subject or non-subject gaps: Subject gap:  I havent got friends to beat him up though (CONV)Compare: Friends will beat him upNon-subject gap:I had a little bit to eat (CONV) direct object: I ate a little bitIll remember which way to go (CONV) direction adverbial: I can go that wayGet angry! Weve both got a lot to be angry about. (FICT) complement of preposition: We are angry about a lotAs these examples show. most non-finite clauses do not have a stated subject. However, with to-clauses, the subject is sometimes expressed in a for- phrase:  Really now is the time for you to try and go. (Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech, Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson, 2002) Postmodification PPs and NPs In postmodification there is in principle no limit to the length of NPs. The occurrence of subordinate PPs is very common, and it is important to distinguish cases like: (25) (the girl (by the table (with the carved legs)))(26) (the girl (by the table (with the sunburnt legs))). In (25) one PP postmodifies girl, and the other PP is subordinate to it, postmodifying table. In (26), however, both PPs postmodify girl--it is the legs of the girl, not the legs of the table, that we are discussing. (Geoffrey Leech, Margaret Deuchar, and Robert Hoogenraad, English Grammar for Today: A New Introduction, 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)