DO WE VALUE DIVERSITY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE ?Essay Outline for JC2 General Paper Revision 2014

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STEP 1 : INTERPRET• Diversity – Meaning ? In what aspects ?• Value – How do we value something ? • By seeing it as important; appreciating it; wanting to have more of it; preserving/protecting it

• More than ever before • comparison with the past & even a more distant past • Qn about CHANGE What factors transform society ? (refer to Term 1 lecture)

• Big Ideas linked to this question : • Freedom (of speech; of choice) Individuality

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STEP 2 : CRAFT POINTS

STEP 3 : ADD SUPPORT

STEP 4 : ORDER

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Some may argue that we value diversity in the economy more than ever before because we believe (or even expect) that rapidly changing technology can make a wider range of choices possible, thereby continuously improving our lives.• Transportation facilitates the transport of goods like

never before to help consumers get what they want.• Diversity encourages competitive innovation, which

means better products and services for consumers. • In addition, we expect greater customisation of

products and services to be possible.

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EXAMPLES• Internet businesses – eBay, Amazon, bookdepository.com

• Mobile phones

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Those who are sanguine about diversity may present evidence of human rights progress to show that we value diversity more than ever before.• More rights today

• More active watchdogs and international organisations• Compared to horrific episodes of persecution in Man’s

violent history

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EXAMPLES• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history

• Today : Efforts to keep authoritarianism in check & help protect diversity• Threat, or enactment, of sanctions• ICJ , war tribunals, UN peacekeeping forces• Civil rights movements – changes in laws to protect minority rights

• NGOs : Amnesty International, Reporters without borders

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HOWEVER, the fact is that even though we value diversity of opinions, lifestyles or cultures more than ever before, our governments today are no less paranoid of diversity than their predecessors.

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•New threats to national unity or social stability• & to the political status quo from within and beyond its borders•Leaders – past and present – all take a variety of actions to keep the opposition in check

EXAMPLES• Racial profiling (or any kind of profiling)

• Tracking movement, banking, communications, online activity

• The Patriot Act • http://www.bordc.org/issues/

• Naomi Wolf – 10 steps to fascism :• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment

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It is not true to say that we value diversity more than ever before because new technology, especially social media, has given us the means to express our intolerance towards others in an unprecedented way

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• Hate sites, sites to counter arguments, petitions, groups to champion specific causes• Not the same kind of scholarly debates of the past; not the same degree of decorum

EXAMPLES

•Anti-Democrat Crusaders fb page•Republicansareadisease.com•Petition against Ashley Madison in Singapore

•+ practically any online forum

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It is also not true to say that we value diversity more than ever before because cultural homogenisation has become more and more pronounced as almost all societies get plugged into the global economy

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EXAMPLES

•“McDonaldisation” – in so many aspects including junk journalism & education esp. MOOC (George Ritzer)

•Western pop culture

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STEP 5 : Thesis Statement•The messages of freedom and human rights are resounding in this day and age. While more diversity does exist in this climate of openness, I think it is not true that we actually value all kinds of diversity more than ever before.

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