Long ago, arranged marriages was the norm. Now, it is frowned upon except in some cultures. To clear up the misunderstanding, arranged marriages are not forced marriages. They are simply marriages which a third party introduces two people who might or might be acquainted to each other, meanwhile avoiding the process of dating or courtship. Arranged marriages are not the kind of marriage where the bride is forced by her parents into marriages. Both the the bride and groom have the choice whether to accept the other as their partner for life. There are many pros and cons of arranged marriages and that is why some cultures still practice arranged marriages while others condemn it. First the pros:Firstly, the divorce rate of arranged marriages are lower than in the United States, where love marriages are the norm. People in arranged marriages rarely divorce in order to avoid the embarrassment of having to return the dowry even if it is not explicitly said or because it is condemned by society and family in general in those cultures. Other cultures which do not practice arranged marriages usually do not really condemn divorce. At most, it is frown upon.
Also, arranged marriages are arranged by a third party who is specially chosen for this task. The third party is usually a matchmaker of some sort, thus having much experience in this area. This makes the marriages more stable in that sense than one decided in the heat of the moment.
Finally, arranged marriages allows for individuals who have a hard time finding a mate (disabilities etc.) to find a mate and get married. Of course, the bride/groom might reject the match but at least said individual would get introduced to more people than in a love marriage society.
And now the con:
There are quite a few cons but the one that stands out is that arranged marriages are only as good as the people arranging it. IF the matchmaker is not doing the job properly, the arranged marriage has a very high chance of ending with a divorce, which should constitute of most of the arranged marriages which end with a divorce. That said, it is unlikely that the bride or groom would agree to the match if the matchmaker just randomly picked someone off the street.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Blog Prompt 11 - Should the U.S. have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan?
6 August 1945. The day a World War was decided. The day Hiroshima was destroyed and thousands were killed. The day ‘Little Boy’ was dropped. It brought about the end of World War II and the defeat of the Japanese, but should the U.S. have dropped the bomb? Yes.
Though ‘Little Boy’ killed thousands, how many more would have died if 'Little Boy' was not dropped? The war between the U.S. and Japan would have gone on for many more months, thus leading to the loss of much more soldiers. Moreover, Japan was already given an ultimatum, 'Surrender or we shall drop the atomic bomb.' They were already given a choice to surrender. They choose not to themselves. Without the usage of the atomic bomb, Japan would definitely not surrender, thus leading to further war and the loss of lives.
On the flip side, the aftereffects of 'Little Boy' were devastation. For generations, children born were born with defects or were mentally retarded. It is not fair that the children suffer for the sins on their fathers, yet that was what happened. Of course, the U.S. could not have foreseen the aftereffects of the atomic bomb since it was the first atomic bomb made and thus it is not entirely or even mostly their fault for the suffering of Japan's children.
In conclusion, it was necessary for the U.S. to drop the atomic bomb. Though many children suffered for the sins of their father, many more lives were prevented from being lost.
Though ‘Little Boy’ killed thousands, how many more would have died if 'Little Boy' was not dropped? The war between the U.S. and Japan would have gone on for many more months, thus leading to the loss of much more soldiers. Moreover, Japan was already given an ultimatum, 'Surrender or we shall drop the atomic bomb.' They were already given a choice to surrender. They choose not to themselves. Without the usage of the atomic bomb, Japan would definitely not surrender, thus leading to further war and the loss of lives.
On the flip side, the aftereffects of 'Little Boy' were devastation. For generations, children born were born with defects or were mentally retarded. It is not fair that the children suffer for the sins on their fathers, yet that was what happened. Of course, the U.S. could not have foreseen the aftereffects of the atomic bomb since it was the first atomic bomb made and thus it is not entirely or even mostly their fault for the suffering of Japan's children.
In conclusion, it was necessary for the U.S. to drop the atomic bomb. Though many children suffered for the sins of their father, many more lives were prevented from being lost.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Book Review: The Age of Zeus
Title: The Age of Zeus
Author: James Lovegrove
Publisher: Solaris
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And give humans the powers of gods? Absolute disaster. A few months ago, the Olympians popped out of nowhere. Only one thing was certain. They were more than human. They might or might not be gods, but they were better. Stronger. Faster. Yet they were inhumane. Like tyrants, these 'gods' ruled over the human race with an iron fist. Any resistance was crushed. The protagonist later meets with Zeus, the leader of the Pantheon. Sam Akehurst , the protagonist, discovers that the 'gods' came about their power by a process which anyone could take part in. They had a discussion on power the 'gods' hold and whether it should be shared among the entire human race. "How do we decide who to give these powers to? And if we give these powers to everyone on Earth, who then shall watch over them? If we have a group of people with even more powerful abilities to watch over them, then the same problem shall arise." Yet 'Zeus' has no right to decide who to give those powers to. It would be impossible to be impartial with regards to who to give those powers to and thus it is better for all of us and for mankind that such would not happen...
Hurt. Sam Akehurst joins a resistance, the TITANS, against the Pantheon. Her only reason for this was to get payback. Years ago, her husband was killed on a stampede caused by Artemis and Apollo when they decided to go to the Central Park and shot some humans. The mental trauma caused by the incident also caused Sam to lose her unborn child. Later in the story, Sam felt betrayed when her employer, Regis Landesman, took her position as leader of the TITAN strike force from her and declared himself leader of the team. Nonetheless, Sam manages to over come her inhibitions and places her trust in Mr Landesman to lead the team well. However, Mr Landesman betrays her trust by abandoning a teammate in a moment of crisis. We do not know whether it was intentional or not but it hurt Sam greatly as the teammate was her best friend on the team. As a result of Mr Landesman's actions, the mission was a rather hollow success.
The climax of the story would naturally be the final battle between the TITANS and the Pantheon. The TITANS worked by the divide and conquer strategy. They would converge on a single 'god' and take him or her down while the human troops who pledge to help them keep the others busy. All of the individual battles were dipicted and though the reader knew that the TITANS were most likely to win t the end, the results of the battles were often in doubt. The gods would miss death by a few inches while the TITANS would be save by a last minute appearance.
They story had a very satisfying ending. The Pantheon was defeated and the world resumed its normal routines again. Sam was able to put aside her past hurts and starts her life anew. She marries one of her teammates and had a baby who was named Will. The ending was full of hope and life and the reader would feel good that Sam has finally found her peace.
Author: James Lovegrove
Publisher: Solaris
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And give humans the powers of gods? Absolute disaster. A few months ago, the Olympians popped out of nowhere. Only one thing was certain. They were more than human. They might or might not be gods, but they were better. Stronger. Faster. Yet they were inhumane. Like tyrants, these 'gods' ruled over the human race with an iron fist. Any resistance was crushed. The protagonist later meets with Zeus, the leader of the Pantheon. Sam Akehurst , the protagonist, discovers that the 'gods' came about their power by a process which anyone could take part in. They had a discussion on power the 'gods' hold and whether it should be shared among the entire human race. "How do we decide who to give these powers to? And if we give these powers to everyone on Earth, who then shall watch over them? If we have a group of people with even more powerful abilities to watch over them, then the same problem shall arise." Yet 'Zeus' has no right to decide who to give those powers to. It would be impossible to be impartial with regards to who to give those powers to and thus it is better for all of us and for mankind that such would not happen...
Hurt. Sam Akehurst joins a resistance, the TITANS, against the Pantheon. Her only reason for this was to get payback. Years ago, her husband was killed on a stampede caused by Artemis and Apollo when they decided to go to the Central Park and shot some humans. The mental trauma caused by the incident also caused Sam to lose her unborn child. Later in the story, Sam felt betrayed when her employer, Regis Landesman, took her position as leader of the TITAN strike force from her and declared himself leader of the team. Nonetheless, Sam manages to over come her inhibitions and places her trust in Mr Landesman to lead the team well. However, Mr Landesman betrays her trust by abandoning a teammate in a moment of crisis. We do not know whether it was intentional or not but it hurt Sam greatly as the teammate was her best friend on the team. As a result of Mr Landesman's actions, the mission was a rather hollow success.
The climax of the story would naturally be the final battle between the TITANS and the Pantheon. The TITANS worked by the divide and conquer strategy. They would converge on a single 'god' and take him or her down while the human troops who pledge to help them keep the others busy. All of the individual battles were dipicted and though the reader knew that the TITANS were most likely to win t the end, the results of the battles were often in doubt. The gods would miss death by a few inches while the TITANS would be save by a last minute appearance.
They story had a very satisfying ending. The Pantheon was defeated and the world resumed its normal routines again. Sam was able to put aside her past hurts and starts her life anew. She marries one of her teammates and had a baby who was named Will. The ending was full of hope and life and the reader would feel good that Sam has finally found her peace.
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