Photoessay

     

A BIg FIsh

      It was when I was 4^th grade in elementary school. My father and I woke up very early around 2 am to go fishing. The night before, my father told me that he was going fishing with his co workers and asked me to come with him. Of course, I said yes. We were going to the West Sea, and we arrived at the port around 4am. My father introduced me to his co-workers and bought some bait, hooks, and everything we need. The boat set off around 6am. While moving to the destination, I saw beautiful sunrise over the horizon. I was very excited.

When the boat arrived at the spot, we started fishing and waited for the fish to take the bait. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch much fish contrary to our expectations. However, as I vaguely remember, I wasn’t disappointed or felt boring because I was really excited that I was actually fishing, and I was spending time with my father. We thought we weren't very lucky that day because we caught relatively few compare to other days. After we waited several hours, my father got a bite. He carefully pulled the rod and finally got the fish onto the boat. He was glad that it was pretty big, and I was glad too. He told me to hold the fish and took a photo with me.

   

     We went several more fishing after that day. To me, my father is like a friend. Although he was strict when he had to, he tried to be my companion, rather than a supervisor. My father loved to travel with me and my sister and he showed the world as much as possible. We traveled many places on almost every weekends and experienced many things. One day in the winter, he drove me three hours all the way to Cherwon, Gangwon province to show me migratory birds

Through these experiences I was able to broaden my sight and develop my mind. I guess it wasn’t easy for him to travel on weekends after working very hard on weekdays, and when he really needs some rest. Some teenagers of my age have difficulty discussing their problems with parents because they are uncomfortable with their parents. Since my father always tried to get close to me, I had no problems communicating with my father and able to discuss my problems freely with him. 

     As I grew up., my father and I got busy with our own businesses and we rarely had a chance to be together. Naturally, we couldn’t travel together or spend time on weekends together. Now, we can’t even meet often since I moved into dormitory. However, memories of great times spent with my father never fade away. These memories are very precious to me and make me smile when I try to recall those memories. When I see my father, I learn a lot about fatherliness and remind myself that I would become a good father and do just like my father when I have a son.

Walmart Synthesis Essay : Shopping at Walmart is Unethica

    Nobody hates low prices, and pursuing low prices is not a bad thing at all. Especially during recent economic recessions, lower and middle class consumers are eager to save money by purchasing cheaper products. We all learn in our economics class that it is very natural for rational people to buy products that are cheaper than the other. Thus, many people view the prosperity of Walmart as an inevitable consequence of capitalism. However, Walmart has grown so powerful and influential that its obsession with lower price is harming the global society as a whole. Despite the fact that we can’t blame people for pursuing low prices, it is unethical to shop at Walmart. In this essay, I want to explore reasons with solid evidences why the shopping at Walmart is unethical.

     To begin, by pursuing low prices society is not benefited economically. In most cases, pursuing low price results in positive consequence by expediting competitions between the firms. Some people bring similar logic to the case of Walmart. For instance, Tom Van Riper wrote in his article “Wal-Mart Is Good for You” that an exchange of goods at low prices benefits everyone and also in the case of Walmart, it seems evident that its model of low prices brings more choice to consumers. But since Walmart is so powerful that it’s almost in the state of monopoly, the low price of Walmart is harmful to the economy. The more ordinary people shop at Walmart, the more local businesses shrink and close down. Thus, it breaks local communities and, as a result, reduces the purchasing power of ordinary consumers. The economic status of a nation depends largely on the household’s ability to buy and consume products. Walmart is making a negative impact on the economy of a nation by destroying the economy of households. As John Lanchester mentioned in his article “The Price of Pickles,” the poverty rate was higher in the counties with Walmart compare to counties without Walmart. Walmart creates and destroys jobs at the same time, and it seems that it’s destroying more jobs than it is creating. To add, Walmart is abusing their monopolistic position to distort the market and expand their business. They are now so powerful that they can even control the price in a market. For instance, as also demonstrated in “The Price of Pickles,” Walmart is selling products like pickles and salmon at such a ridiculously low price to the point that it’s excluding its competitors out of business and creating their own market. The pursuit of short term benefits of consumers is gradually harming the economy in a long term.

     Accordingly, shopping at Walmart is currently creating social problems that are not only limited to economic aspects. The biggest issue is violation of human rights. Walmart is so obsessed with price that it is paying less attention (or intentionally ignoring) the basic rights of its employees. Especially, the workers in developing nations who are not under the protection of law are exploited.As “The price of Pickles” mentions, workers in Bangladesh work 14 hours a day and earn only 13 cents per hour. Consumers are deliberately supporting these violations of Walmart by buying their products. Workers in the US are also receiving low wages and not getting any benefit from health insurance.

Furthermore, I want to point out the relationship of Walmart with its subcontractors. Just like many gigantic corporation, many small corporations rely on Walmart. Essentially, five to ten million people worldwide are involved in a deal with Walmart. As stated in Nathan Newman’s “Taking on Walmart and Its Subcontractors,” Walmart is exploiting 20,000 of its subcontractors and creating a global sweatshop.  All these problems are rooted on Wal-Mart’s irresponsible obsession with low prices. Any act that sacrifices other people’s happiness for the sake of their own happiness can be blamed as unethical. Buying products at Walmart is not an exception.

     To conclude, consumers must realize there are several reasons why buying products at Walmart is not ethical. Shopping at Walmart is surely convenient and practical, but it is selfish and irresponsible at the same time. In order to stop the side effects that Walmart is making, consumers can either wait for Walmart to change their price-centered policy or actively take part in the movement by avoiding unethical consumption. Considering the fact that the company’s tradition and management philosophy is very firm since its foundation, it is highly unlikely that Walmart would change its policy. No matter how powerful Walmart is, their success and policy depends on its consumers. By avoiding unethical consumptions, we can be responsible consumers.

Works Cited

Lanchester, John. "The Price of Pickles." London Review of Books 22 June 2006. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

Riper, Tom V. "Wal-Mart Is Good For You." Forbes.com 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

Newman, Nathan. "TAKING ON WAL-MART AND ITS SUBCONTRACTORS." NATHAN NEWMAN 1 June 2004. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

Hyperlinks :
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n12/john-lanchester/the-price-of-pickles
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/09/walmart-retail-economy-biz-commerce-cx_tvr_0110walmart.html?partner=moreover
http://www.nathannewman.org/archives/003174.shtml

Three sides to every story.

1^st person - Junsu

I came back into my room around 5:30, and it was a terrible day. I missed my morning exercise today. Because of this, I was in a terrible mood for the entire day. I asked my roommate Minho to wake me up this morning but he didn’t. Was he so apathetic to forget my request, or did he ignore me on purpose? It would probably be the latter. I feel that all he cares about is studying and his grades. As I walk through the door, I see another roommate, Han. He is doing something with his computer. He is so pathetic. How can he be so lethargic and stupid? Then I see Minho. He is studying. I am really amazed. He is like a studying machine, and he doesn’t need to rest. I feel a little disgusted.  Minho sees me and asks, “Did you check Mr. Kim’s essay grades? It’s posted on the Internet” “Why do you ask?” I reply abruptly. “I just let you know” He answers. Then I speculate that he is asking because he got a good grade, and he wants to show off.

Originally I planned to take a little nap before I eat dinner, but animosity and jealousy against Minho makes me sit in front of the desk. Ok. I determined to study, but what should I do? Suddenly, I remembered like a week ago, our math teacher Mr. Hickson has announced that he would be collecting our math notebooks to check our homework tomorrow. I studied for a while, and left the notebook on the desk and when to the cafeteria for dinner. After I returned from cafeteria, I tried to work on the homework again. However, to my surprise, my math notebook was not on the desk! I looked around to find it, but I couldn’t find it. Then, the person immediately came up in my mind was Minho.

*             *             *

3^rd person – Minho’s point of view

      Minho skipped his lunch and stayed in the room. As Minho is studying, Junsu comes in and searches for something. After a while, Junsu turns to him and accuses him with a very excited face. “Where is my math notebook?” Minho replies, “I don’t know.” “Oh, really? You don’t know?” Junsu is very persistent and makes a sarcastic comment. Minho’s face is turning red and he reacts with irritated voice “Are you suspecting me? “ Finally, Junsu is very angry and shouts at Minho. “I know that you are selfish and have a strong sense of rivalry, but you shouldn’t ruin other people’s work!”

Minho doesn’t reply to that. He seems like he has something to say but he does not say anything.  Minho opens the door and gets out. After a while, Junsu gets out of the room too.

*             *             *

2^nd person - Han’s point of view

     You are surprised watching them fight. Yesterday, you asked Junsu to borrow his math notebook, but he rejected you. You were very humiliated. Even before that moment, you felt alone and ignored by your roommates. You are not good at studying then your roommates were, so they implicitly ignored and belittled you. When they were talking about grades or academic things they naturally excluded you because your grades were bad. So you decided to put him in a trouble. You stole Junsu’s math notebook when he was eating dinner and hid it in your secret place. You were so careful that Minho didn’t even realize that you were stealing Junsu’s notebook.

You didn’t expect that this was going to get this big. You are surprised with Junsu’s reactions and how Minho responds to it. Junsu immediately speculates that Minho stole his notebook.

*             *             *

1^st person – Junsu

The next day, the math class began. I couldn’t find my math notebook. Minho must have stolen it.  I still can’t forgive Minho. Mr. Hickson came in and began talking about the homework. I began to sweat, and I feel so nervous that I can barely listen to what Mr. Hickson is saying. Then I see Minho’s face in front of me, and I swear to god that I will revenge him. Thinking of Minho, I was filled with anger again.

Then he realized that the whole class began to cheer. They were so happy that they were even shouting. “What happened? What are you cheering about?” I asked. Somebody answered, “He won’t be collecting our homework anymore. He said he would just leave it to us”. I am so relieved. Suddenly, I felt sorry for Minho. Maybe I was too harsh on Minho. When I return to my room, I will say that I’m sorry to Minho

*             *             *

2^nd person - Han

Junsu could never find his notebook. I never gave his notebook back. However, they soon made up and became friends again. Didn’t they fight because of the notebook? I wonder what happened. 

Outline for the "Three Sides Story".

1st person :  A boy watching Kony 2012 video. Next he watches the video of Jason Russel running around naked. After watching Kony 2012 he was convinced by the program, but after watching the Jason Russel video, he is dissuaded to participate in the program. He suspects the true intention of the program. Moreover, he decides to actively criticize the program and the organization of Jason Russel.

2nd person : Jason Russel's wife. Everybody thinks Jason Russel went crazy but she knows the true reason behind his action. She tries to protect Russel and worries that the good program might me affected by Russel's irrational behavior. 

3rd person :  African girl who was once kidnapped by Joseph Kony. She was extremely excited that Kony will meet his destiny. However, she is worried by the controversial video of Jason Russel running around naked. So she decides to support Jason Russel.

Catfish : How cyberspace and social networking services have affected our lives.

     Facebook has grown huge in a short period of time.  I remember that like a year ago, only few people were on facebook. However, almost everyone has their facebook account nowadays. The development in social networking services has entirely changed the pattern of human relations, and now people make so much more relationship through the internet than in reality. I think there are definitely some positive aspects of social networking services. We are never alone and always connected to other people. However, there are also very dangerous sides to these services too. The movie Catfish criticizes the act of getting happiness and compensation from the cyberspace

    After watching this film for the first time, I thought that this woman is pathetic and considering her unfortunate situation, her actions could be understood. However, after a while, I began to think that Angela’s actions should be blamed. Not for the sake of Nev, the one who was deceived by her false identity, but for the sake of Angela herself. In this movie, Angela tries to compensate the misfortunes in her life through her false identity on the social networking services. She pretends to be young woman, young boy and many other people. But can virtual reality compensate misfortunes in real life? I think it is limited to some degree. Well, we can get some consolation from the virtual reality, but it’s only running away from the reality. During the time she spent on making her false identity on the Internet, she could have spent that time differently on reality to make some real friends and really see some dance performances that she loved.

This is not only the special case of Angela, but instead it’s the story of all of us nowadays. Many people are trying to get happiness and satisfaction from the virtual reality, and not in the real life.   

When there was no facebook, the thing that only mattered was whether people were really happy or not. However, nowadays people are more concerned with how they are seen by others through Social networking service and whether they are seen to be happy or not. We are letting other people decide our own happiness. For instance, when there was no facebook, when we go to delicious restaurant what it only mattered was whether I enjoyed the food or not. However people nowadays are more concerned with taking the photo of the food and posting it on their facebook wall to display that they went to the restaurant to other people. Although the case of the movie Catfish was little extreme, we sometimes also fake ourselves just to look good.

     To sum up my point of view, I want to say that the attitude of trying to escape from reality is undesirable. The happiness or satisfaction that virtual reality can provide is limited. It would be waste of time and our life if we try to run away from the reality, even though we can concentrate on real life and really can change some things. 
     It is true that the film deserves some criticism for making the situation seem dramatic through editing techniques. However, I think it was necessary to make people awake themselves and realize what is truly important in life. 

An Ode - 2nd draft.

Ode to My Glasses

I think it was my fate that we were destined to meet. As I get older, my eyesight failed little by little and I needed you. Nobody forced me to use you, but I had to. When we first met, I was surprised and amused that I was able to see all the details about objects which I was never able to do. However, I realized that wearing you made me dizzy. You helped me see things clearer, but you make me feel dizzy at the same time. I guess too much detail through a distorted view is the main cause. I couldn’t comprehend things freely when I was wearing you.

Now I want to tell you my story. When I was young, I had no problem getting along with people and friends. But as I got older, I began to see and concentrate on people’s little foibles rather than trying to understand a person as a whole. This attitude gradually grew inside my mind, causing me to be alone since I began to hate most of the people inside my mind. At first, I couldn’t understand why I was losing my friends at first. When I was having a hard time, you came up in my mind. I thought that the situation was similar to seeing the world through you, my glasses. I realized that I was wearing glasses in my mind. I just considered too much detail, including faults, and thus distorted my mind to assume that most people are bad. I learned that I had to take off my glasses to see and judge people properly. Even a very nice person has some defects. In fact, everyone’s got weaknesses. However, these few defects don’t make a person bad. Soon, I was able to realize that almost every person is nice, when I try to understand them in a broad picture.

Not only limited to relationships with other people, I try to take off the glasses in my mind when I see my life in a pessimistic point of view. I often think that I’m unhappy because of worries and problems that I have. However, our mind sometimes distorts our situation to make the situation seem worse than it really is. Thus, I try to look at my life in a broad and undetailed perspective by ignoring minor troubles that I have, and it helps me regain my will and motivation.

                             

So, I want to thank you for teaching me a very important lesson. Because I don’t use you often, please don’t think that I think less of you. Although you failed to help me with your original purpose, the lesson you gave me about how to deal with people and life is helping me every day. You helped me take off one more pair of glasses that I was wearing in my mind. 

Wal-Mart Controversies : Pros of Walmart

Pro Wal-Mart Article

Wal-Mart Is Good For You

Tom Van Riper, 01.10.08, 6:00 AM ET

In Pictures: Wal-Mart Is Good For You

It may surprise--or even infuriate--critics, but a new study finds Wal-Mart benefits rather than harms the American economy.

That's the conclusion of a report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which studied the "Wal-Mart(nyse: WMT - news - people ) effect" for 89 counties in its region over the past two decades. The study shows that between 1985 and 2003, personal income, overall employment and retail employment grew faster in counties with a Wal-Mart than in those without one.

In Pictures: Ten Wal-Mart Myths

Surprised? Don't be. Just acknowledge that Adam Smith was probably right: An exchange of goods at low prices benefits everyone. In the case of Wal-Mart, it seems evident that its lmodel of low prices brings more choice to consumers, which is why so many choose to shop there.

While it is widely (or maybe not so widely) believed that Wal-Mart wipes out local jobs and depresses wages, "the findings suggest the opposite: Firm growth, employment and total earnings were somewhat stronger in Wal-Mart counties," the report says. Still, according to a Pew study cited by the report, 24% of Americans think the company is bad for the economy, and 31% had an unfavorable view of it.

Yet Wal-Mart accounts for almost 6% of retail and food sales in the U.S.--7.5% if you include car sales, according to the report. Among those living near a Wal-Mart, the Pew study found 81% said it was a good place to shop. Five out of six Americans shopped at the stores in 2005. Nearly 90% of the U.S. population lives within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart store, and two-thirds of all retailers are located within five miles of one, the Fed's report says.

The retail behemoth, which grew to dominance through a strategy of serving lower- to middle-income customers, is one of the greatest success stories in American business history. Some economists give more credit to the company than to Alan Greenspan for the low inflation of the past 20 years, given how greatly its low-cost model has rippled through the industry and the economy.

"Wal-Mart has been at the forefront of the productivity boom," says Ohio University professor Richard Vedder, author of the book The Wal-Mart Revolution. Retail, historically a sleepy industry that has lagged the productivity curve, was basically slapped into shape during Wal-Mart's march to dominance in the 1980s. The result: an awakened industry that's had to work harder than ever to serve consumers at lower prices.

In his book, Vedder cites Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that Wal-Mart's wages lag the retail-industry average by just a small margin, an expected result given that the bulk of its stores are located in low-income areas. There's also no proof that company managers have discriminated against employees at a greater rate than anywhere else. And about 90% of Wal-Mart workers are covered by a health plan, either through the company or a spouse's plan. Again, that's in line with the industry average.

The Minneapolis Fed doesn't claim that Wal-Mart is a boon to every local economy it touches, just that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. By now, at least that much should have been obvious.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/09/walmart-retail-economy-biz-commerce-cx_tvr_0110walmart.html