Sunday, April 29, 2007 @ 3:52 PM

“Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of.”

The definition of prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. I agree with the statement that it is something harmful which we can never eradicate.

One example of prejudice is the racism in United States. In the aftermath of the Civil War, black people who no sooner were granted their freedom, experienced harsher prejudice then they had ever felt before as slaves. They were not allowed to dine in the same place as whites, go to school in the same place as whites, and even to vote for elected officials. Actually, the first merchants who entered the slave trade weren’t doing so because they were prejudiced against Africans – they did it to make money. However, once that foundation of economic profit had been laid, it became very useful to think of black people as inferior. It hence became a set of beliefs that ‘justified’ slavery. However, this discrimination against the black people is unreasonable and definitely not justified; it is just like a harmful and contagious diesease which is being passed on for centuries. This makes it so deeply ingrained in the culture of the country, that causes it to be almost impossible to eradicate.

Hence, I feel that prejudice is something damaging which we can never completely wipe out.

http://www.dictionary.com
http://www.sdnp.org.gy/varqa/YCMTW/manual/prej_disc.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00846/race_prejudice_conflicts.html

@ 9:46 AM

“YouTube has no ethics; it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.”

YouTube is a popular video-sharing website where users can upload, view, and share an unlimited number of video clips. The company was launched in February 2005, and I believe that it was not created solely for entertainment and money (though they may play a part).

According to a 16th July 2006 survey, 100 million clips are viewed daily on YouTube, with an additional 65,000 new videos uploaded per 24 hour, and the site has almost 20 million visitors each month. With this viewership which is extremely high, advertisers would want to be on YouTube, and this in turn leads to profit-making for the company.

YouTube also provides entertainment for people. On YouTube, not only can you find millions of home-made videos which are interesting and amusing (such as a video of a girl snorting a strand of cooked spaghetti and then choking it out her mouth), you can even watch music videos and dramas. The only concern is just that some of the videos may constitute copyright infringement.

However, putting entertainment and profit-making aside, YouTube was also utilized for other useful purposes. It was used to provide healthcare information through the health-related videos which are uploaded by either doctors or laypeople. For instance, a government funded clinic in Builth in Wales, UK, has posted videos on YouTube with nurses demonstrating how to sample blood sugar levels and use an inhaler.Furthermore, even the political candidates for the 2008 US Presidential election have been using YouTube as an outlet for advertising their candidacy.

Hence, the purpose of creating YouTube is not solely for entertainment and money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube

Sunday, April 29, 2007 @ 3:52 PM

@ 9:46 AM

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