Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Example for Free

Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Jealousy has always been one of the meanest quality of mankind. What is worse is that, it is almost inevitable. In one way or another, jealousy enters our lives, naturally and sometimes unconsciously, creating suffering for ourselves and others. As events from history and daily life have shown, human’s failure to stay away from this instinct has led to ruined relationships, suffering for everyone involved, and even demoralization. Let’s take Cesare Borgia as an example of how dangerous jealousy is to human. As the oldest son of the powerful Pope Alexander VI of Vatican, Cesare is said to have everything, from wealth to land and power. Compared to his brother Giovanni, however, Cesare himself felt inferior. He was sick of seeing Giovanni taking away from him beautiful women and more affection from the Pope, as well as losing more important military duties and national honor in to his brother. In situations like this, it is human nature to feel jealous, but Cesare’s extreme envy led him to kill his brother. Now having gained absolute power, it is ironic that Cesare was still not happy. His father was so upset that he imprisoned himself in a palace for a long time, and Cesare was detested by Giovanni’s wife and many family members. From the story, it is startling how jealousy can make people do crazy things and turn brotherhood into rivalry, degrading moral values and causing agony to everyone. Daily life proves to be a huge source of evidences for the negative effects of jealousy. I feel sad to see the way some of my friends at school treat each other like rivals. Because of excessive competitiveness in academics, the scene of some classmates making fun of somebody else’s low grade is not uncommon. I am astonished at the way many students turn so indifferent whenever I ask them for help with my homework, and the way they wish each other to fail exams so that they can climb to the top of the class. People may argue that being jealous of others’ success gives them extra determination. They must have not realized that friendship is more important than superficial achievements. By being jealous, they actually develop a selfish attitude, and sacrifice what may have become their lifelong friendships. Among the many ways to achieve our goals, being jealous is absolutely the worst one, for proofs from both history and daily life have shown that it can destroy friendships and creates rivalry. Unless people can avoid it and take others’ success as a model and motivation for themselves to make progress, they will never have what they want.

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Essay -- Expository Exem

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Imagine you’ve been enjoying your backyard picnic table and chairs for the past 10 years when suddenly, for no apparent reason, you are served notice from a government agency that you will be fined $6,000 a day unless you remove them. Or, imagine you would like to add a stone walkway to your garden. You begin to research the procedure and costs, only to learn that a lengthy application will be required, with multiple hearings before a state commission. You find yourself embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal battle costing tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, after years of struggle the government demands, as a condition for approving your little walkway, that you â€Å"donate† a portion of your land to the state. Do these sound like nightmarish stories out of some totalitarian regime? Shockingly, they are normal, everyday incidents for property owners across the nation. In California, for example, a state agency called the California Coastal Commission routinely tramples the property rights of coastal landowners. People residing within five miles inland of California’s 1,100 miles of coastline are subject to the commission’s power to approve or deny improvements involving â€Å"any solid structure† on their property. This can include adding a room to a home, planting trees, adding a fence or garden walkway and, yes, in one current Orange County case, a picnic table and chairs. Established in 1976, the California Coastal Commission’s mandate is to â€Å"preserve, protect . . . and restore the resources of the coastal zone for the enjoyment of the current and succeeding generations.† The Commission operates on the premise that the roughly 1.5 million acres under its jurisdiction are a... ...erty without permission from his tenant. Near San Francisco certain homes designated as â€Å"affordable† can be sold for no more than a government-controlled price. In Portland there are wide swaths of the city in which one cannot build a single-family home on one’s own land, even if it is adjacent to other suburban homes. In hundreds of U.S. cities, various laws establishing â€Å"historical districts,† â€Å"landmarks,† or â€Å"improvement zones† straightjacket owners who are consequently unable to remove trees, erect fences, add rooms, or even change rain gutters. Government boards, agencies and commissions with this kind of authority should be opposed not on a case-by-case basis, but on principle. The only proper state policy with respect to private property is: hands off! In America, no governmental agency should have the power to deprive an individual of his property rights.

Prostitution, Promiscuity and Venereal Disease

PROSTITUTION †¢Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. †¢Prostitution is one of the branches of the sex industry. The legal status of prostitution varies from country to country, from being a punishable crime to a regulated profession. †¢Prostitution is sometimes referred to as â€Å"the world's oldest profession†. Causes of Prostitution: 1) Poverty and unemployment has triggered the rapid spread of prostitution in the Philippines. It provides those involved in this profession a considerable amount of income to support their families as well as supply a steady flow of remittances from urban to rural areas or from prostitutes working overseas. 2) Women have been tricked into prostitution with guarantees of decent job opportunities in the city or abroad or have been kidnapped and then forced to work as prostitutes. 3) Family expectations and problems are common factors why many enter the prostitution business. Women in particular are pressured to pay for their sibling’s education or support a sick family member. Other aspects such as dysfunctional families or constant abuse from parents have lead adolescents to leave their homes and are attracted by the easy profits from prostitution. VENEREAL DISEASE †¢A disease that is contracted and transmitted by sexual contact, caused by microorganisms that survive on the skin or mucus membranes, or that are transmitted via semen, vaginal secretions, or blood during intercourse. Because the genital areas provide a moist, warm environment that is especially conducive to the proliferation of bacteria, viruses, and yeasts, a great many diseases can be transmitted this way. They include AIDS, Chlamydia, genital warts, gonorrhea, syphilis, yeast infections, and some forms of hepatitis. Also known as a morbus venereus or sexually transmitted disease (STD). PROMISCUITY †¢Refers to â€Å"casual sex† with multiple sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous within the mainstream social ideals of many cultures is a one night stand. †¢One scientific study found that promiscuous men and women are judged equally harshly and both genders express strong preference for sexually conservative partners.

Power Has Many Definitions - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 749 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/07/30 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: King Lear Essay William Shakespeare Essay Did you like this example? Power has many definitions, but in King Lear, power seems to be defined as ones ability or capacity too direct and influence others as well as the current course of events. Power is incredibility corruptive and this is proven many times over by the main characters of the play. King Lear serves as an excellent commentary on the nature of political power, while also showcasing a brutal portrayal of authority when it goes wrong. The play does a great deal of reflecting on how the nature of power affects individuals as well as larger groups. The play showcases time It must be noted that both King Lear and Gloucester both consistently turn away or ignore the individuals who have the best intentions for them. They are so afraid of losing their dominance that they both mistrust their most loyal children. Their power has made them increasingly blind to the people they surround themselves with; King Lears oldest two daughters clearly have no love for him and scheme to take his power, yet the two most trustworthy people in his circle, Cordelia and Kent, are treated with scorn and punished. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Power Has Many Definitions" essay for you Create order Lear has become pompous and shallow in his time as king, and obviously prefers flattery to honesty. This seems to be a common side effect of unchecked power, and this is without a doubt King Lears undoing. He is unable to understand what really matters and values the fake flattery of his bad daughters over the honesty of his daughters, which ends up causing chaos for himself, his family and the rest of Britain. King Lears fear of losing relevance and authority ironically creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, and his own actions result in his downfall. Power is shown many times throughout the play to be incredibly corruptive. Gloucesters title and power are largely responsible for the rift between him Edmund. He feels the need to distance himself from Edmund because he is a bastard, and he consistently reminds Edmund of that fact. Power makes Gloucester put his power above his family, and this results in tragedy for all. Gloucester was blind to his faults, and because of his blindness he was eventually actually blinded in an ironic, terrible twist of fate. Had Gloucester loved and treated his bastard son the same way he loved and treated his legitimate son Edgar, much of the tragedy that took place in the play could have been avoided. The play leads us to understand just how much wickedness in people power inspires. Edmund starts out as a character who inspires sympathy, but quickly becomes one of the plays leading villains in his hunt for recognition and authority. Edmund is not a villain at first, but we are clearly show how easily the hunt for power leads to betrayal, and how easily is can affect ones character. Goneril and Regans are villains from the start of the play, but their thirst for power transforms them into actual evil beings. The sisters go from simply scheming to steal parts of their fathers kingdom to planning war against other countries and actual murder. Goneril murders her own sister in her quest for dominance, and this is probably the harshest example in the play of the wickedness of power. One of the most important lessons that can be taken from the play is the finality of mistakes. King Lear sets the stage for his demise at the very beginning of the play; he banishes the only daughter that truly loves him, and gives all his power and his kingdom to his scheming evil daughters. Gloucester also has a hand in his own untimely end, as his continued alienation of his bastard son causes bitterness in his son, leading Edmund to betray his family. Even at the end of the play mistakes ring with finality, when Edmund wishes to make up for his wrongdoings and save Cordelia, but the girl has already been put to death. King Lear is a classic example of the corrupting potential of power its downfalls. The majority of the characters that come into some sort of power meet their ends, often orchestrating their own demises in their attempts to gain authority. King Lear raises many important questions about power and its nature, but one thing is clear: the definition of power is flexible, but the reality of it is not. Power is not a tangible object; it only has the weight that it is given. Power is what you make it and nothing more.