Trouble And Her Friends :: essays research papers

'You wanted to know who I am Zero Cool? Well, let me explain the New World Order. Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai… the keyboard cowboys… and all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on, are the cattle…. Moo...'; (Hackers, 52 min). This quote emphasizes the theme of the book I've read, Trouble and Her Friends, by Melissa Scott. Sometimes in life, you don't always seem to feel in control. Well, imagine believing that you are but somehow finding out your not. India, or her alias Trouble, was one of those people who were behind the scenes, lurking in the shadows. She is a person that does not fear such things because she is the one in control...until she loses it. Can you imagine, being free as a bird, lurking around the net, experiencing it with all your senses to the ultimate limit? Then, as quickly as you were out on your own, you are tragically yanked off the net because of a law passed by Congress. Well, this is indeed what happened to Trouble. She is forced to run away from everyone and everyone she knows in order to start her life over again. SYSCOP, the actual person who prevents people that Trouble was from doing what they do. But Trouble, netwalker, no longer exists. Only India Carless, SYSCOP to SVI-four walks around living her normal life. But, when a hacker resurfaces using her former identity, it means trouble for India. Although her cover as a small commune SYSCOP is very comfortable, her chase from the minions of the law has just begun (McCormick line 14). So, these authorities believe that this new, Trouble, is indeed out there, and is indeed the same person it once was. But, India and her friends go forth in search of who this new 'Trouble' could be. As India calls forth her old 'hacker', or netwalker, friends, she runs into an old partner and lover. Consequently, she finds she has more connections, which were former netwalker, as she was, in corporate positions than she had known. And this is where a lot of her help stems from. 'When you are the authority, nothing can stop you. You need not lurk behind the shadows when the light shone upon you is your own'; (Hackers 49 min). One of the main themes in this book is that the government will attempt to control citizen's activities at all costs.

Cultural relativism Essay

Cultural relativism remains a controversial if not completely misunderstood concept in the world today. It is strange that people consider cultural relativism a problem because to do so would hint at the belief in cultural superiority or exceptionalism. It would seem that there is also a belief that variant from other cultures that are in opposition to a separate culture yield a threat. Whether the threat is real is another matter because as long as one culture perceives a threat, then there will be a militant response to such threat conceived. These days, cultural relativism has a bad reputation in many quarters. It conjures images of a world where anything goes. According to this domino theory of norms, if people open themselves to the possibility that other cultures may have valid, if different, ways of life, the next thing you know, they’ll be â€Å"doing it in the streets. † (Rosaldo) Part of the reason for such distress at the notion of cultural relativism is the fact that there is an inherent belief held by many cultures that their system of beliefs, life, etc are the â€Å"right† way to live and that any type of culture that is different or perceptually opposite of the â€Å"right† way are â€Å"wrong† and need to be contained, altered or even saved from themselves. If there is no transcendent ethical standard, then often culture becomes the ethical norm for determining whether an action is right or wrong. This ethical system is known as cultural relativism. {1} Cultural relativism is the view that all ethical truth is relative to a specific culture. Whatever a cultural group approves is considered right within that culture. Conversely, whatever a cultural group condemns is wrong. (Anderson) An example of cultural relativism gone horrible wrong can be viewed in the early clashes amidst Europeans and Native Americans during the â€Å"New World† era of the early colonization of North America. To the Native Americans, humans were considered in harmony with nature and lived among the natural world. To the European mentality, there was the belief that the natural world needed to be tamed and cities needed to be built upon the land. To the Europeans, the Native earth centrist ideology was unacceptable and needed to be removed. This was the basis of most of the early clashes that ultimately lead to massacres and genocidal campaigns. What is bizarre about this type of thought process is that it assumes there is an invisible line between cultures and that the world is not an inclusive place of a multitude of cultures. It seems to believe that culture exists only from one mindset or tradition and what is outside that tradition subscribes to chaos and disorder. First, the idea of separate but equal cultures no longer seems accurate. Cultures are not separate; they are not confined to their own individual museum cases. They exist side by side in the same space. Also, we’ve noticed that there are inequalities between cultures—relations of dominance and subordination. Take, for example, settler colonialism, the system we had in America. Relationships formed in the colonial period and after created inequalities, which a committed anthropologist would have to critique. (Rosaldo) So, from this we can infer that the concept of cultural relativism is a flawed notion and concept because it is based on a flawed premise of exclusiveness and ethnocentricity. In other words, to believe that cultural relativism exists is ridiculous because to claim it exists would mean the subdivision of humanity as opposed to looking at humanity as members as the world as a whole which is the natural order, an order only changed by human intervention designed to suit specific needs. Bibliography Anderson, Kirby. (2004) â€Å"Cultural Relativism. † Retrieved 6 February 2007. http://www. inplainsite. org/html/cultural_relativism_. html Rosaldo, Renaldo. (2000) â€Å"Of Headhunters and Soldiers: Separating Cultural and Ethical Relativism† Retrieved 6 February 2007. http://www. scu. edu/ethics/publications/ iie/v11n1/relativism. html

Women’s Inequality in the 20th Century Essay - 1194 Words

Throughout the twentieth century, American women fought for the right to vote, the right to make choices regarding their own bodies, and the right to be their own people. The disparities between men and women were often overlooked or blindly accepted, but as Gloria Steinem said, â€Å"history is herstory too.† After nearly 200 years of struggling, women made up only 10% of Congress, received wages less than 75% of their male counter parts, and are stigmatized based on their class and race. By the end of the century, female citizens were still treated unfairly in every aspect of American society. Women did not achieve equality in America in the 20th century, based on their roles in politics, the widespread views of female sexuality, and the†¦show more content†¦The English word for being devoted to your country is patriotic, which literally translates from Latin to â€Å"loyal to a country ruled by men.† In America during the 20th century â€Å"patriotic† was still the accurate word, as men overwhelmingly ruled the United States. Because of this fact, women in the 20th century did not reach political equality with men. In terms of sexuality, women in the 20th century were not considered equal to men because they were overwhelmingly abashed and judged due to the personal decisions they made regarding sex. While men’s sexual conquests were disregarded or even praised, women were often shamed or called derogatory names for choosing to have sex. That the same decisions made by two different genders could have such opposite results proves that there wasn’t sexual equality in America in the 20th century. Sexual assault is another place where 14.78% of women in America are victims of rape at some point in their lifetimes as of 2000. Yet the 60% of rape cases are never reported, and the vast majority of rapists investigated are never charged. That such a horrendous crime can affect so many women and yet have such a small penal ty is appalling and a testimony to the sexual inequality of women. Another issueShow MoreRelatedA Marxist Evaluation Of Feminism And Gender Equality Essay1572 Words   |  7 Pagesbecome a subjective and distorted version of what it was meant to be—a system that sought to raise the rights of women out of the home (as domestic servants) and into the workplace. 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