Internet Censorship Essays (3424 words) - Content-control Software

Internet Censorship The Internet is a wonderful place of entertainment and education but like all places used by millions of people, it has some murky corners people would prefer children not to explore. In the physical world society as a whole conspires to protect children, but there are no social or physical constraints to Internet surfing. The Internet Censorship Bill of 1995, also known as the Exon/Coats Communications Decency Act, has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. It would make it a criminal offense to make available to children anything that is indecent, or to send anything indecent with "intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass" ("Stop the Communications ..." n.p.). The goal of this bill as written(though not as stated by its proponents) is to try to make all public discourse on the Internet suitable for young children. The issue of whether is it necessary to have censorship on the Internet is being argued all over the world. There are numerous homepages on the World Wide Web discussing this issue, or asking people to sign the petition to stop government censorship. The Internet was originally a place for people to freely express their ideas worldwide. It is also one of America's most valuable types of technology; scientists use email for quick and easy communication. They post their current scientific discoveries on the Usenet newsgroups so other scientists in the same field of study all over the world can know in minutes. Ordinary people use the Net for communication, expressing their opinions in the newsgroups, obtaining up-to-date information from the WWW, acquiring files by using FTP, etc. Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship. In the Internet community, there is a large volume of technical terms. For this reason, it is first necessary to examine the terminology specific to Internet. The Internet is a world wide computer network. The "Net" is frequently used in place of Internet. In the words of Allison and Baxter, two experts on Internet Censorship at the Monash University, "the Internet is comprised of various digital media subsuming many of the distinct roles of traditional media" (Allison and Baxter 3). Electronic mail (email), which is one component of the Internet, approximates person to person letters, memoranda, notes and even phone calls. Sound and pictures are sometimes sent along with text. Email is mainly for private communication. Electronic mailing lists are rather like club newsletters and readers have to contract-in or subscribe to a list. Another term that is often used is electronic news (enews/Usenet), enews is a broadcast, free to the Internet medium. It has some properties of radio or television, particularly talk-back radio or television, in that the destination is indiscriminate. The term FTP is also frequently used. File transfer protocol (FTP) started as an Internet archival and retrieval medium, somewhat analogous to traditional libraries. Files can be retrieved from distant computers using a traditional text-based interface. The world-wide web (WWW), which is another component of the Net, can be used to "publish" material that would traditionally appear in journals, magazines, posters, books, television and even on film. The term UNIX, "a widely heard computer term, is a multi-user, multitasking operating system originally developed by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, at AT&T Bell Laboratories, in 1969 for use on minicomputers" ("UNIX" n.p.). To understand the background of the controversy, it is also necessary to give a brief history on the Internet. The Internet was created about twenty years ago in an attempt to connect a U.S. Defense Department network called the ARPAnet and various other radio and satellite networks. The ARPAnet was an experimental network designed to support military research; in particular, research about how to build networks that could withstand partial outages (such as bomb attacks) and still function. At about the same time the Internet was coming into being, Ethernet local area networks ("LANs") were developed. Most of these workstations came with Berkeley UNIX, which included IP (Internet Protocol) networking software. This created a new demand: rather than connecting to a single large timesharing computer per site, organizations wanted to connect the ARPAnet to their entire local network. The demand keeps growing today. Now that most four-year colleges are connected to the Net, people are trying to get secondary and primary schools connected. People who have graduated from college where they have used the resources of the Net in classes, know what the Internet is good for, and talk their employers into connecting different corporations. All this activity points to continued growth, networking problems to

Women Judges essays

Women Judges essays The article, Will Women Judges Really Make a Difference?, is an analysis on a major characteristic of the judging profession. Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, Madame Justice Bertha Wilson investigates the validity of the claim that judges must be unbiased when deciding cases before the court. Madame Wilson states that change in the law comes slowly and incrementally; that is its nature. Describing that she has began an era being a woman appointed to the SCC, Madame Wilson begins to examine the fact that the biases presented by courts world-wide may be significantly different from hers. The article points out that it is the values, experiences, and assumptions imbedded in the courts which create the jurisprudence that affect the decisions, further altering society. Wilson continues in her analysis by stating that the belief that the justice system is fundamentally neutral may be slightly skewed. Though the principals at the root of the justice system are inherently neutral, many beliefs and viewpoints of women are excluded, creating biased in the laws. She continues to develop the concept that with women in judiciary office, their concepts will only offset those of their male counterparts if biases are apparent in the courts. To solve the problem of gender bias gaps, Mad ame Justice states that education programs will be held to help reach an understanding and vanquish any problems before they arise. Madame Justice Wilson also says that many feminists feel that women are connected to each other, thus, with female judges, the courts will more effectively manage disputes, and promote gender neutrality. Madame Wilson concludes her argument by posing statements that with duality in courts, the law system may finally achieve the neutral duality which it attempts to maintain. The only problems with the article are those that Madame Justice Wilson posed, being that the judicial system may not be neutral....

Risk Management Position in Healthcare Designated Record Set HIPAA Research Paper

Risk Management Position in Healthcare Designated Record Set HIPAA Privacy Laws - Research Paper Example The paper provides supporting work for the risk management plan as well as the counterarguments to it. In the end, the conclusion establishes the need for a risk management plan. The rights of the people seeking health care have been the subject of much debate over the past decades. One of the rights of the patients is to access their health information and to modify it if it is deemed to have any discrepancy. Several legislations have been passed to grant the patients their due rights and to protect the abuse of medical information and health records of the patients. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 was enacted by President Clinton. The Act has two aspects: it provides confidentiality to the records of the patients and prevents fraud and abuse and it makes sure that insurance and health care is portable. Health information refers to the information, either stored in any form or oral; it is given to a health care provider and is related to the p ast, present and future state of health of an individual. The Privacy rules and the Act regulate what information regarding the health of an individual can be used and disclosed. This information is known as the protected health information (PHI), and organizations which are liable to conform to the Privacy rules are called covered entities. The Designated Record Set (DRS) refers to the group of health records that have been maintained by the covered entities, including the medical and billing information of the patients, enrollment, claims adjudication, as well as the medical record management systems, used for health plans. Its utility is for decision making about individuals. All hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers are required to comply with the HIPAA. Failing to do so can have dire consequences for the individuals involved.

FEMA Incident Command Systems and National Incident Management Systems Research Paper

FEMA Incident Command Systems and National Incident Management Systems Related to Law Enforcement Personnel - Research Paper Example As a law enforcement officer involved in special operations you have to be able to effectively respond to such operations using certain established guidelines and principles to protect property, live and the environment and restore normalcy. The Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) is one such body under the US Department of Homeland Security tasked with handling emergency situations. Given that emergencies are unpredictable events that require cross functional approaches, as more than one agency may be involved, hence the need for a standardized approach and guidelines that are not specific to one agency. The FEMA has a system called the Incident Command System (ICS) that employs methods and standards that have been verified for efficiency and success in the business world and applied to emergency situations using a standard command, control and coordination system to achieve the aims of emergency responses and management. The ICS system enables proper cooperation and coord ination among different agencies since there are emergency occasions when as a special operations officer you may come under the command of someone from a different agency such as fire fighting whose methods and command structures could be different from special operations. This paper will therefore examine the beginnings of ICS, the development of new rules and guidelines with emphasis to the presidential order to the Department for Homeland Security in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks and then look at the guidelines from various sources, discuss them and draw conclusions. ICS can be traced to the 1970s when wildfires became a big problem in California when the state, federal, county and local fire departments, recognizing that no one agency can handle a fire emergency all alone, joined together to form a platform called the Firefighting Resources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies (FIRESCOPE) that pinpointed certain problems common to emergencies and hindering inter agency cooperation, including non uniform terms and commands, non-aligned communication, a missing scope for increasing or reducing the size of the joint response team depending on the situation, deficient combined plans of action plans and a lack of a command system to oversee inter agency operations (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2011). The ICS is a model tactic built on best practice standards for managing emergencies and incidents that allow for a synchronized response from different agencies that creates a shared approach to scheduling and managing resources and enhances the incorporation of equipment, facilities, staff, systems within a unified organizational framework (â€Å"Introduction to the ICS†, 2009). The ICS has however evolved into an all inclusive emergency response and coordination approach for emergencies that utilizes a unified structure of organization and management system. The ICS is based on five main premises: Command, Logistics, Operatio ns, Planning, Finance/Administration (â€Å"What is the ICS?† 2010) During an emergency the law enforcement agencies leadership is organized into the above units with each having a jurisdiction over all the different agencies involved in the emergency. After the September 11t

Feminist Perspective in Sociology Essay Example for Free

Feminist Perspective in Sociology Essay â€Å"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place. † — Margaret Mead I. Prologue At present, it is quite difficult to imagine how there was a time when women were not afforded the same rights and opportunities as men. Some of these rights and opportunities include the right and opportunity to pursue a college diploma and a career, and the right to vote. At present, it is quite revolting to think how women were tagged and branded to remain at home and pursue the best interests of her family members, but not hers. It is quite difficult to imagine, but the truth of the matter is that there was such a time that all these unimaginable things and revolting things were happening, when women were to take the backseat to the men and when they were not regarded as equals. The goal of the first wave feminism was to correct all these notions and to try to achieve a position for the women when they do not take the backseat to the men, but stay beside the men as their equals. Slowly, this was achieved. Hence, women were then are given the right and opportunity to pursue a college diploma and a career, and the right to vote, among all others. All of these things are remarkable achievements and should in and by themselves, be commended. However, it cannot be denied once again, that the struggle of women does not end with the first wave feminism, after all its not apt to call it the first wave if there is no second wave. The second wave devolved around the problems that the achievements of the first wave put to fore. The sum of all these goals is ultimately for society treat woman not just as an object but as a subject — who has her own thoughts and who can speak through her own mind and with her own voice (Delmar, 2005, p. 32). The ultimate goal was to liberate woman from her reification. Thus, MacKinnon remarked: I say, give women equal power in social life. Let what we say matter, then we will discourse on questions of morality. Take your foot off our necks, then we will hear in what tongue women speak. So long as sex equality is limited by â€Å"sex difference† whether you like it or don’t like it, whether you value it or seek to negate it, whether you stake it out as a grounds for feminism or occupy it as the terrain of misogyny, women will be born, degraded and die. We would still settle for that equal protection of the laws under which one would be born, live and die, in a country where protection is not a dirty word and equality is not a special privilege (1987, p. 45). The issues and problems created by the first wave as manifested in the second wave led Bell Hooks to assert that [a]ll women are oppressed, and being oppressed means the absence of choices. The goal of this Paper then is to try to explain in a simplified but not in a simplistic manner what Bell Hooks meant when she cited the above-mentioned assertion through an exposition of some the writings during the second wave feminism. The Paper shall be divided into four parts. The first part is the Prologue, where these paragraphs fall under, which shall discuss in general the background and the goal of the Paper. The second part shall discuss in general what Bell Hooks asserted through the reference materials. The third part shall discuss in specific detail how all women are oppressed, once again through the reading materials. The fourth part is the epilogue, which shall present the conclusion and personal thoughts of the writer of this Paper. II. The New Face of Oppression Oppression presupposes two parties, one is the oppressor and the other is the object of the oppression, or oppressee, so to speak. During the first wave it is quite apparent that the oppressor is the patriarchal and machismo characteristic of society, or men in short, and the object of the oppression are women. In the second wave, one wonders how Hooks made this assertion given the fact that the men and women dichotomy and oppression were no longer as manifest. The answer is simple, while the first wave may have achieved equal rights and opportunities for women and men, there is still oppression. It is only that the faces of the oppressor and the oppressee have changed. With the second wave, other women became the oppressors. According to most critics, this was an inevitable consequence of setting equality with males as the primary goal of feminism (Jhappan, 1996, p. 25). Jhappan expounds: [i]n reality, the positions of power and privileges enjoyed by white men have only been made possible by racism and sexism, they require hierarchy, skewed power relations, inequality and the subjugation of the majority (white women and people of colour). It seems to me that white women’s â€Å"equality† with white men would only be possible of the race hierarchy were kept substantially intact since the privileges that white men enjoy depend upon a racially satisfied social system (p. 25). Simply, this means that with the goal of equality with men, women aimed for an equally oppressing position, where they are now the oppressors. While men were no longer tagged as the oppressors of all women, within the circle of women rose other oppressors in the face of fellow women who are of a different color. This is what Angela P. Harrris discusses in her article, in relation to what Catharine MacKinnon discusses in hers. Generally, the idea of the latter is that there is a universal concept of a woman so to speak. This universal concept of a woman is what was oppressed by society through male domination and supremacy before. For MacKinnon, there is just one experience, culture, heritage, needs for all women, thus, their needs are all alike. As most feminists then were white women, most of what was pushed for were for the needs of the white women. This is also known as the notion of a monolithic women experience (Harris, 2002, p. 384). Through this gender essentialism and worse, racial essentialism was likewise furthered (Harris, 2002, p. 384). Thus according to Harris, they reduce the lives of people who experience multiple forms of oppression to additional problems: â€Å"racism + sexism = straight black woman’s experience† or â€Å"racism + sexism + homophobia = black lesbian experience. † Thus, in an essentialist world, black women’s experience is always forcibly fragmented before being subjected to analysis, as those who are â€Å"only interested in race† and those who are â€Å"only interested in gender† take their separate slices of our lives (p. 384). An example for Harris is what MacKinnon does when she reduces Black women to just worse forms of white women, and not as a separate and diverse woman apart from the white woman, but not an aggravation. MacKinnon imparts: [b]lack is not merely a color of skin pigmentation, but a heritage, an experience, a cultural and personal identity, the meaning of which becomes specifically†¦ and glorious and/or ordinary under specific social conditions. It is as much socially created as, and at least in the American context no less specifically meaningful or defective than any linguistic, tribal, or religious ethnicity, all of whom are conventionally recognized by capitalization. While women on paper, were liberated from their reification, what happened really was that white women were liberated from reification. White women were no longer considered as objects —they became subjects. Black women, though they were women but because they were black, were not similarly liberated. This is because [w]hite feminists have exposed male essentialism only to replace it with another essentialism based on the notion of an essential woman. However, as it turns out, this generic â€Å"woman† is not only white, but middle class, and also able-bodied†¦Over the last couple of decades people of color have highlighted the silences of racists Eurocentric history and discourses which render all â€Å"others† invisible (Jhappan, 1996, p. 22). By virtue of the monolithic experience of women, women who did not fit the mold of the monolithic experience were oppressed in the sense that they were left with no choice. The choice was already made for them by the systems that were built in place respecting such monolithic experience. They were left with no choices as their needs were not addressed. The needs that were addressed were the needs of those who fit the monolithic experience of women. III. The Specific Instances of Oppression The specific instances of oppression that are discussed in the reference materials are enumerated below. a. Oppression in Relation to the Family Through the idea of the family wage, women were oppressed with the fact that they were made dependent on the wage of their husbands. They were made dependent with the notion that â€Å"a working man should earn enough to support his family† (Gavigan, 1996, p. 237), and consequently, the place of the woman or the wife is at home (Gavigan, 1996, p. 237). As the husband already earns enough to support the family, there is no more need for the woman to earn and augment the budget for the family. Thus, she is tasked by society to stay at home and address the needs of her family members. Such admittedly, does not require professional and personal growth. Thus, while the members of the family pursue different goals in their lives, the woman is stuck at home looking after the family members, sending them off to reach their dreams, while she stays in her place. In addition, if and when a woman earns, she is given minimum wage. The notion of minimum wage was put in place to accommodate individuals who were single and who did not have dependents to support (Gavigan, 1996, p. 238). In this wise, women were oppressed with the fact that when they earn, what they earn is not even enough to provide for their dependents, if any. b. Oppression under the Law Under the law, heterosexual relationships are afforded more advantages and privileges, in terms of â€Å"tax benefits, standing to recover damages for certain torts committed against spouses, and rights to succession and insurance benefits† (Gavigan, 1996, p. 263). The same are not afforded to homosexual relationships; thus women are oppressed. Oppression of women under the law is manifested explicitly in Welfare Law. When women seek assistance under the welfare law, especially the solo parents, they have a hard time obtaining the assistance that the law provides because of the very stiff and stringent definition of â€Å"spouse† under the laws such as the Family Law Act, RSO 1990 and Canada Pension Plan Act : â€Å"spouse† means either of a man and a woman who (a) are married to each other or (b) have together entered into, a marriage that is voidable or void, in good faith on the part of the person asserting a right under the Act x x x â€Å"spouses† means a spouse as defined in subsection 1 (1), and in addition includes either of a man and woman who are not married to each other and have cohabited (a) continuously or (b) in relationship of some permanence, if they are natural or adoptive parents if a child x x x â€Å"spouses: in relation to a contributor means’ (i) if there is no person described in subparagraph (ii), a person who is married to the contributor at the relevant time or (ii) a person of the opposite sex who is cohabiting with the contributor in a conjugal relationship at the relevant time, having so cohabited with the contributor for a continuous period of at least one year (Gavigan, 1996, p. 266) When solo parents seek social welfare assistance, there were always resort to the courts in order to determine whether or not a particular relationship was sufficiently conjugal to warrant the characteristic as spousal and consequently to warrant the benefits provided by the social services (Gavigan, 1996, p. 266). Also, the definition of the term â€Å"spouse† was too technical such that even in heterosexual relationships, there were always doubt as to whether a relationship is sufficiently conjugal to warrant the benefits granted by social services (Gavigan, 1996, p. 267). An example of the ill-effect of this law is the requirement that the spouse who should support the spouse (wife) and the children, must not live in a certain proximity; otherwise the latter cannot receive the benefits under the Welfare Law (Gavigan, 1996, p. 269). c. Oppression by Virtue of Race or Color This form was already discussed in part two. However, in addition Jhappan tells us that for colored women, race rather gender has been the primary source of oppression. †¦while white feminists have theorized the male breadwinner dependent-female, post-Industrial Revolution family form of the West as a source of women’s oppression, different family forms persist in other culture even among those living in the diasporas, For many women of colour, in fact, state actions such as iimmigration and labour policies that have separated and distorted families have oppressed them more than gender relations (p. 23). d. Oppression of Oneself by Oneself Women also admit that in and by themselves, they are oppressed. As there are women who are of different cultures, there are certain aspects of their identity that is rejected by another aspect, but which they ultimately have to deal with. For instance a woman who has both black and Caucasian heritage, the black heritage forsakes slavery while the Caucasian heritage promoted the same. There may be instances in the life of such person when decisions have to be made favoring one aspect over the other, and in such instance, the woman is the oppressor of her own self as she is left with no choice but to decide in such manner, although contrary to an aspect of her identity. IV. Epilogue Delmar has pointed out that the problem of oppression within the circle of feminism is rooted on the fact that the very definition of feminism is monolithic and abstracted. The very definition of feminism forgets or averts from the reality that there exists a multiple consciousness of women. With the realization that a multiple consciousness of women exists, then there may be the realization that there are various facets of oppression. Consequently, solutions may be afforded to these various facets in order to abolish, if not minimize the same. This is why at the beginning of this Paper a quote from Margaret Mead was stated. â€Å"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place. † With the realization that women are rich in culture, in contrasting values, then we can realize that there is a whole gamut of potentialities. With such variety, a less arbitrary social fabric may be established, and through such less arbitrary social fabric, each and every individual may find his or her own place without necessarily fitting into a monolithic mold. References Delmar, Rosalind. (2005). What is Feminism? Feminist Theory: A reader, 27-36. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gavigan, Shelley. (1996). Familial Ideology the Limits of Difference. Women and Canadian Public Policy, 225-78. Toronto: Harcourt Brace. Harris, Angela. (2002). Race and Essentialism in Legal Theory. Women, Law and Social Change, 4th ed. , 383-92. Concord, ON: Captus Press. Jhappan, Raddha. (1996). Post-Modern Race and Gender Essentialism or a Post-Mortem of Scholarship. Studies in Political Economy 51:15-58. MacKinnon, Catharine. (1987). Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination. Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, 32-45, 240-45. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Privatizing the Public Sphere Essay -- Industrialization Fragmentation

Privatizing the Public Sphere The privatization and fragmentation of space in post-industrial urban America is a widespread social problem. As society becomes even more globalized as a result of technological advances, the rampant spread of a privatized public realm is ever-increasing. Public space is needed as a center in which to bring people together to share a common place. It is within public spaces that public life unfolds and without public spaces such as parks, streets, and buildings, the mixing of classes will become increasingly uncommon. Society is made up of two sectors: the private and public, and it is essential that both remain separate entities. However, through the use of fear tactics especially the threat of violent crimes, privatized settings are spreading throughout the public sphere. In this analysis, it is my intent to explore the various tactics being used to impede upon the public sphere. In doing so, I will explore the causal factors that contribute to the increased privatization of urban public life. Historically, the city was an all-encompassing entity. At the dawn of industrialization, large masses of people flocked to the city in hopes of a better economic life for themselves and their families. It was within the city limits, particularly closest to the areas of commerce and exchange that people took up residence, worked, and pursued various social activities. The city served the needs of all its citizens. However, as industrialization moved further along, there was a major shift in urban economics. While many businesses flourished, so did wealth and as this increased, society faced an evolving class system. Three notable classes emerged: the lower/working class, the middle class, and the upper/elite class. While these class divisions grew, a large amount of money was being invested in the creation of public venues. Public institutions were designed to bring education, culture, and in many ways, a sense of community to modern city life. A public park or library was a plac e that people of various classes could come together and share space. However, by the end of the Twentieth century and into the Twenty-First, true public space is becoming almost extinct, as is the middle class. Privatized public space has become the new trend across many American cities. There are many interrelated factors that contribut... ...for the poor into the public realm. The decline of a middle class is affecting the structure of society because cities and public venues were once designed to serve the middle class. However, without such a class, cities are now being designed to service an elite class and it is this class that has the power and control over public life. With the widening division between classes, services to the non-elite members of society will continue to diminish. The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another. Privatizing the Public Sphere Essay -- Industrialization Fragmentation Privatizing the Public Sphere The privatization and fragmentation of space in post-industrial urban America is a widespread social problem. As society becomes even more globalized as a result of technological advances, the rampant spread of a privatized public realm is ever-increasing. Public space is needed as a center in which to bring people together to share a common place. It is within public spaces that public life unfolds and without public spaces such as parks, streets, and buildings, the mixing of classes will become increasingly uncommon. Society is made up of two sectors: the private and public, and it is essential that both remain separate entities. However, through the use of fear tactics especially the threat of violent crimes, privatized settings are spreading throughout the public sphere. In this analysis, it is my intent to explore the various tactics being used to impede upon the public sphere. In doing so, I will explore the causal factors that contribute to the increased privatization of urban public life. Historically, the city was an all-encompassing entity. At the dawn of industrialization, large masses of people flocked to the city in hopes of a better economic life for themselves and their families. It was within the city limits, particularly closest to the areas of commerce and exchange that people took up residence, worked, and pursued various social activities. The city served the needs of all its citizens. However, as industrialization moved further along, there was a major shift in urban economics. While many businesses flourished, so did wealth and as this increased, society faced an evolving class system. Three notable classes emerged: the lower/working class, the middle class, and the upper/elite class. While these class divisions grew, a large amount of money was being invested in the creation of public venues. Public institutions were designed to bring education, culture, and in many ways, a sense of community to modern city life. A public park or library was a plac e that people of various classes could come together and share space. However, by the end of the Twentieth century and into the Twenty-First, true public space is becoming almost extinct, as is the middle class. Privatized public space has become the new trend across many American cities. There are many interrelated factors that contribut... ...for the poor into the public realm. The decline of a middle class is affecting the structure of society because cities and public venues were once designed to serve the middle class. However, without such a class, cities are now being designed to service an elite class and it is this class that has the power and control over public life. With the widening division between classes, services to the non-elite members of society will continue to diminish. The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another.

Research Papers

E. W. Clay’s Life in Philadelphia Series During the 1830’s, among the antislavery protest, freeborn blacks of Philadelphia represented the wealthiest and most educated group of African Americans in the country. They established their own schools, churches, and even a social order. Associated to the cultural and social economic status, African American clubwomen of Philadelphia were greatly ridiculed in racially prejudiced cartoons such as E. W. Clay’s popular â€Å"Life in Philadelphia† series. E. W.Clay was inspired to make these series by George and Robert Cruikshank who had published a â€Å"Life in London† series. His late 1820s feature series â€Å"Life in Philadelphia† fight with who African Americans could be in the social world; a world that relied on race and slavery as powerful signs of inequity. His response was brutally racist: in Philadelphia, those African Americans who took on the frills of urban life were strained and out of p lace. Clay’s analysis came in the form of fourteen engraved plates, a series that was one part observation, one part artistry, and one part imagination.Clay’s series presented American spectators a cruel portrayal of black figures that offered an exaggeration in overdressed clothing and proportions, awkward poses, and thus failed to measure up to the demands of freedom and citizenship. In Clay’s cartoons, not only was their style being ridicule but their language as well. In his 1828 â€Å"Is Miss Dina at home? † cartoon he mocks the person by declaring that an African American with a business card is simply a laughable concept. Blackness, as illustrated by Clay, provided his free black subjects mistaken aspirants, were always controlled by incomparable distinction.Clay’s varieties of drawings were inspired by the way some of the African American women had started to carry themselves out. They added a touch of certain things, that perhaps were not permissible by their society, and it made them give the impression trying to be different. They might have imitated their middle-class etiquette and their ways of life, but they always overreached, or as one of Clay’s characters put it, â€Å"aspire too much†. This series of cartoons were an observation that everything they did was taken as a joke.Clay was not the only American caricaturist active during the Jacksonian era, but he was the first American artist to specialize in political caricature. His work was pointed towards African Americans; therefore in the south it was pointless for southern whites to purchase these images. The south already had slavery and was establishing social perimeters. Nevertheless, many people still bought his cartoons. The early success of Clay’s images is example to his ability to tap into the nations fears and appeal with the dilemma on slavery and in abolition.His â€Å"Life in Philadelphia† etchings mocked the fancy dre sses, their manners, and dialects of Philadelphians, white and black. Today these images are often used as basic examples of discrimination against blacks. However, an inspection shows humorous, theatrical pictorial satire, grounded in Philadelphia culture just before the rise of the Abolition Movement. Clay’s work shows that he reserved that right to comment on events and personalities regardless of political affiliation as well as the right to change his mind on issues. Although Clay’s point of view varies from topic to topic, he did not always follow a party line in his caricatures.