40 Photo-Illustrated Questions to Refocus Your Mind Asking the right questions is the answer… It’s not the answers you get from others that will help you, but the questions you ask of yourself. Here are 40 thought-provoking questions to help you refresh and refocus your thinking: Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. if you’re interested in reading even more inspiring, thought-provoking questions.Title photo by: Helga Weber For all other photo credits please refer to ThoughtQuestions.com Related 40 Questions Everyone is Afraid to Ask Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. April 13, 2012 In "Aspirations" 40 Questions that Will Quiet Your Mind Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers … because asking the right questions is the answer. August 5, 2015 In "Happiness" 25 Photo-Illustrated Reminders to Help You Find Happiness Happiness is the highest level of success.
5. Imagining the Nation — Centre for the Study of Culture and Society What is a 'Nation'? When we cheer for a particular team and country in a cricket game, we rarely question what reasoning has gone into our idea of 'nationalism' at that point. The history of nationalism is now far enough in the past for us to take it for granted that all human beings have nations and that 'good' human beings profess a loyalty towards their own nations. Ernest Renan provided one of the earliest answers to the question, 'What is a Nation?' Though this was one of the first answers to the question and is more than a century old, this answer is far from obsolete. Memories of shared glory, great sacrifices and suffering are vital in creating a sense of solidarity. Thus, to deny the `sacred' bond of the nation then becomes almost to blaspheme against an order that is natural and higher than any that a human being has created. This is why cheering in a cricket match is an act charged with significance. • Activity: List out some of your own answers to the above question.
Social Institutions 1. Accounts of Social Institutions Any account of social institutions must begin by informally marking off social institutions from other social forms. Unfortunately, as noted above, in ordinary language the terms “institutions” and “social institutions” are used to refer to a miscellany of social forms, including conventions, rules, rituals, organisations, and systems of organisations. Social institutions need to be distinguished from less complex social forms such as conventions, rules, social norms, roles and rituals. Social institutions also need to be distinguished from more complex and more complete social entities, such as societies or cultures, of which any given institution is typically a constitutive element. Social institutions are often organisations (Scott 2001). Nevertheless, some institutions are not organisations, or systems of organisations, and do not require organisations. Thus far we have discussed atomistic and holistic accounts of social institutions. 2. 3. 4. 5.
How To Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | More… Here’s what a few folks have said about it: “Brilliant and real and true.” Read an excerpt below… Tags: steal like an artist What is a Nation? What is a Nation? (Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?)[1] is an 1882 essay by French historian Ernest Renan (1823–1892), known for the statements that a nation is "a daily referendum", and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget, as what they remember. Nationhood in antiquity and in Renan's time[edit] Renan begins his essay by noting that there is frequent confusion between the idea of nationhood and of racial or linguistic groupings, a form of confusion which he says can produce "the gravest errors". Renan noted that a unique element of the European nation-forming experience was the mixture of races, origins and religions, where conquering people often adopted the religion and manners, and married the women, of the peoples they conquered. Forgetfulness[edit] Renan then states what has become one of the most famous and enduring ideas of the essay. Now, the essence of a nation is that the people have many things in common, but have also forgotten much together.
Immigration First published Mon May 10, 2010 There are a variety of important issues surrounding the morality of immigration, including difficult questions regarding the definition and moral status of refugees, the circumstances (if any) in which it is permissible to use guest workers, what obligations a rich country incurs when it actively recruits skilled workers from a poor state, and whether there are any limitations on the selection criteria a country may use in deciding among applicants for immigration. This entry addresses each of these topics below, but first it reviews the most prominent arguments on both sides of the central debate in this area, whether states have the moral right to exclude potential immigrants. 1. 1.1 Preserving Culture The most popular argument for the permissibility and importance of closing borders to outsiders is that this exclusion is necessary in order to preserve a state's distinctive culture. 1.2 Sustaining the Economy 1.3 Distributing State Benefits 1.7 Democracy
Brain Pickings Parag Khanna: Mapping the future of countries | Talk Transcript Do we live in a borderless world?Before you answer that, have a look at this map.Contemporary political map showsthat we have over 200 countries in the world today.That's probably more than at any time in centuries.Now, many of you will object.For you this would be a more appropriate map.You could call it TEDistan.In TEDistan, there are no borders,just connected spaces and unconnected spaces.Most of you probably reside in one of the 40 dotson this screen, of the many morethat represent 90 percent of the world economy. But let's talk about the 90 percent of the world populationthat will never leave the place in which they were born.For them, nations, countries, boundaries, borders still matter a great deal,and often violently.Now here at TED, we're solving some of the greatriddles of science and mysteries of the universe.Well here is a fundamental problem we have not solved:our basic political geography.How do we distribute ourselves around the world? If you add it all up what do you get?
Democracy First published Thu Jul 27, 2006 Normative democratic theory deals with the moral foundations of democracy and democratic institutions. It is distinct from descriptive and explanatory democratic theory. This brief outline of normative democratic theory focuses attention on four distinct issues in recent work. 1. To fix ideas, the term “democracy,” as I will use it in this article, refers very generally to a method of group decision making characterized by a kind of equality among the participants at an essential stage of the collective decision making. The function of normative democratic theory is not to settle questions of definition but to determine which, if any, of the forms democracy may take are morally desirable and when and how. 2. 2.1 Instrumentalism 2.1.1 Instrumental Arguments in Favor of Democracy Two kinds of in instrumental benefits are commonly attributed to democracy: relatively good laws and policies and improvements in the characters of the participants. 2.2.1 Liberty
10 Reasons We’re Not Adults Yet It’s undeniable that, in one’s twenties, you begin to enter a time in your life where you are clearly no longer a child. But much like the demographic-straddling existential crisis that early 2000s Britney Spears went through, we are no longer quite grown-ups, either. And how do we know? Well, amongst many things, there are a chosen few that stand out as undeniable evidence that we still have some serious growing up to do. 1. At this point, it’s clear that there are definite ways to store and use our money that not only keep us from spending it recklessly, but actually might accrue some extra money on top of itself just from being kept in the right places. 2. While some things, like the ex that took twice the length of the actual relationship to break it off with, and Mountain Dew, might be errors in judgement that we’ve finally left in the past — most still need to be shaken from us once and for all. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
What is a Nation-State? What is a Nation-State? In a nutshell . . . The terms nation, state, country and nation-state are used to refer to political, economic, social and cultural actors in the international system. The modern nation-state refers to a single or multiple nationalities joined together in a formal political union. What's the difference between these concepts? A nation-state differs from a "state" or a "nation" for a couple of important reasons: A nation refers only to a socio-cultural entity, a union of people sharing who can identify culturally and linguistically. A state refers to a legal/political entity that is comprised of the following: a) a permanent population; b) a defined territory; c) a government ; and d) the capacity to enter into relations with other states. This distinction is an important one because we, as political scientists, must be able to account for both political and socio-cultural factors in a political entity. What does the growth in the number of nation-states mean?
Citizenship First published Fri Oct 13, 2006; substantive revision Mon Aug 1, 2011 A citizen is a member of a political community who enjoys the rights and assumes the duties of membership. This broad definition is discernible, with minor variations, in the works of contemporary authors as well as in the entry “citoyen” in Diderot's and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie [1753].[1] Notwithstanding this common starting-point and certain shared references,[2] the differences between 18th century discussions and contemporary debates are significant. The encyclopédiste's main preoccupation, understandable for one living in a monarchy, was the relationship between the concepts ‘citizen’ and ‘subject’. Two broad challenges have led theorists to re-examine the concept: first, the need to acknowledge the internal diversity of contemporary liberal democracies; second, the pressures wrought by globalization on the territorial, sovereign state. The entry has three principal sections. 1. 1.1 Definitions 2.
Eldon Taylor: The Rehearsal That Makes a Lifetime Difference Within every human being exists a propensity for greatness. The gifts may vary, and the greatness may live out in a vast array of alternatives -- say from carpentry to rocket science -- but the gift that gives one true self-respect, lifts the spirit from "same old, same old," resides within. It is our ability to do our very best with our talents in every thing we do. Every individual essentially has a self-representation that is rehearsed and eventually actualized. It is much more complicated than expressed here, but simply, it is also just this way. Our actual self. These categories were originally developed by P.A.D. Most of us are aware of a so-called actual self. The actual self pales by comparison to our ideal self. Then there is our "ought-to-be self." Finally, there is the desired self. The ought-to-be self, desired self, and ideal self share certain commonalities, but they also differ remarkably. Now, there's one more thing I wish to add before continuing. Bibliography:
The Formation of Modern Nation States Video - Lesson and Example Europe Prior to the 1500s In today's modern world, the idea of nations and nationalities is widely understood. For instance, I'm an American, and so are these guys. These folks are not. To begin a nation state is a defined territory with a sovereign government, made up of people sharing a common culture, history, and language. The Decline of Feudalism After the Crusades, or wars fought between the Christian West and the Muslim East over the Holy Lands, European soldiers began returning home with tales of the wealthy East. Monarchs Emerge As feudal lords were losing their grip, a number of European monarchs seized the opportunity to consolidate power by allying themselves with the growing merchant class. Perhaps one of the best examples of a monarch bringing about a strong nation state through trade is Henry VII of England's Tudor dynasty. Feudalism not only fell due to the increase of cities and towns. Church Power Declines Lesson Summary