The Morality of Competition – Frederick. M. Gordon
Competition, is it good or bad for us? Frederick. M. Gordon’s article pertains to this concept of competition and how it affects us in daily life. The question is answered in the first paragraph as a definite ‘bad’ as many factors hamper us due to competition while competition is still not always bad, or so the article says. In this short review, I will summarise the main points and key words from the article while also writing my application and implementation of the article’s moral ideas.
Competition is everywhere, and the article first highlights this with a married couple; the man is a, just made unemployed, carpenter. The bills need paying and his wife knows she has to help, although she is just the housewife. She decides to become a carpenter herself. The competition has started; she has not only become the breadwinner but also a rival to her husband’s wood skills to which her skills thus surpass by the end of her carpentry course at college. The husband has to only grudgingly accept it, but he does not accept it well, as he becomes a drinker and starts getting angry and eventually moves out.
The reader is asked what they think of the story. Many factors are working for the lady while the man has lost. She has shown talent and determination. She has become the one who may be taking over the role to protect her family. The sad aspect is that she was competing against him. The husband did not take it kindly and felt his superior position was being challenged.
The author then takes us on a moral path to show the opposing views that have arisen. From reading the story you may side with the lady, but as the author mentions the man may well commit suicide. So, who side would you be on then? This man dragged down to the depths where he felt so worthless. This now gets deeper into the moral dilemma of competition.
The question now turns to rivalry and how it affects each person. The example the author gives involves Shakespeare and Marlowe. Shakespeare weary of Marlowe’s writing wrote his own comparable style of writing to challenge his rival. This example shows one can raise his level of competition to exceed the other, but what if he never did that? The article mentions that this may fill anyone with anger.
The morality the author mentions is, is competition won by doing or making the other do worse?
So, here lies the answer, or so the author tries to explain, that research shows that ‘egalitarian cooperation’ is a superior system to ‘competiveness’. Competitiveness is seen in the gap that is created. For example, countries have so much to lose, the loss is huge, so friendly rivalries disappear. The threat to their identity creates a huge state of arousal. The author states that research shows that there should be ‘appropriate competition’ which is a good as cooperation.
Cooperation is highlighted next by the ‘Hawthorne Effect’. It is a simple idea that alleviates competitiveness by rewarding staff, as the article states. It was noticed that once the bosses recognised their workers and rewarded them for their work, the competition was less thought about and more was thought about cooperation. This would then lead to a ‘mutual concern’. The egalitarian reward system gave high morale and group identity. This is how the researchers felt as their findings led to a radical egalitarianism and concluded competition was bad.
The author sums up to state that competition is not on the whole bad. It can change where talent is shown which highlights someone’s weakness. The American system is mentioned as it serves to allow those people who have more skill and competition to succeed and not just in positions of tyranny and power.
Here is the warning and the moral dilemma the author highlights, and it involves socialism as a system that tried to make all people equal. Did it work? But, also has competitiveness stopped corruption, social problems? The author says he thinks that the research completed so far still has not answered these questions.
As a moral exercise that highlights competition and cooperation, we only need to look at schools. In all aspects of a school, they are organised in order for the development of relationships between and among students, staff, and the community. This is where cooperation and collaboration with the students are emphasized over competition. They have to learn values such as fairness, respect, and honesty which are part of everyday lessons in and out of the classroom. Any school is a caring community of learners in which there is a bond connecting the students, the staff, and the school while not forgetting the local community. Social, moral, and emotional learning is emphasized as much as academic learning. Students should be given ample opportunities to practice moral behavior through activities that show cooperation. Hopefully, this essay goes some way to demonstrate these facts.
(828 Words)
Functional Skills (Literacy and Numeracy) in 14-19 (Vocational) Education
(Written 2012)
Teenagers can be ill equipped for challenges in life because they lack skills in English and maths. Young students’ well being and their future prospects are made from them achieving required skills to help them to push forward in their chosen career. As of October 2011 the Functional Skills component, including literacy and numeracy, of vocational courses started to include these vital skills in the new model to take over from the old Key Skills qualification. Equipping students with these vital skills highlighted the Government’s measure for success of five GCSEs for any student which means GCSEs at least at grade A*-C – including Maths and English. Therefore, the provision of functional skills in young students’ vocational subjects is the route to achieving literacy and numeracy; being essential for the Government’s reforms of 14-19 education. Thus, what follows is this written report that will discuss literacy and numeracy which in vocational courses were, as mentioned, called Key Skills and their modern equivalent Functional Skills. The development, difficulties and the future of these skills for students will be discussed showing it to be a pressing problem under debate by past and present governments (and the opposition) with their policies and initiatives. Focus will be put on vocational/technical courses. Mentioned also is a time frame from 2001 to present day. Moreover, I will show that for the future of any student with skills in English and Maths including technical knowledge gained from their vocational course will develop each student to a better future; not only in education but also their career path. Additionally, a key underlying theme throughout this report acknowledges students ‘achieving economic well-being, making a positive contribution and enjoying and achieving’ that encapsulates Every Citizen Matters initiative to show the value of achieving functional skills. I will also take into account my own role in teaching functional skills that stresses the implementation of English language.
To begin with, looking over a period from 2001, the British Government has tried to instil literacy and numeracy into students. In 2001, for the Labour Government’s ‘Skills For Life’ strategy, there was an impetus at improving literacy and numeracy. In 2007 and having had an expenditure of £5 billion results still showed a large demographic with an inability to read or write simple sentences or a basic knowledge of mathematics (House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2008, pg. 3). For example, in 2006–07, 51,000 school leavers left without Level 1 Maths and 39,000 without level 1 English (House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2008, pg. 5). Targets have now been set for the Government’s World skills in literacy and numeracy for 2020 which were agreed in July, 2007 to make the UK a world leader. The value of acquiring these skills cannot be underestimated. The advancement beyond the basic measure of success in literacy and numeracy skills can be shown to be strategic for students. For example, Alison Wolf reported that advanced level 3 is a valuable qualification and helps in the progression of work while she described the level 2 (minimum measure of 4-5 CSE grade A* to C) as “the staple offer for between a quarter and a third of the post-16 cohort is a diet of low-level vocational qualifications, most of which have little to no labour market value” (Wolf, 2011, pg. 7). From the Wolf Report these are contradictory goals for future students. The major goal of any student is that he or she wants a job after their two years when completing an equivalence of at least 5 GCSE A* – C (Level 2) in their vocational course of choosing. The Wolf Report states that level 1 and 2 vocational awards offers poor or even negative returns (Alison Wolf, 2011, pg. 31). Furthermore, the Wolf Report worryingly recognised that less than 50% of school leaving sixteen year old students failed to achieve English and Maths GCSEs grade A* to C (Alison Wolf, 2011, pg. 8). This is where the need for functional skills is that it is for those who do not possess those GCSEs at grade A* – C. There has to be hope that students have the initiative to get these required (literacy and numeracy) skills and pass their vocational course and subsequently go further in education.
Although having better qualifications, level 3, is imperative and those cohorts do bode supposedly better, it should not be forgotten there is also a need for experience. For example, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers stated that it is much easier to find apprenticeships for those over 18 than under (Wolf, 2011. pg. 78). Moreover, in 2009 6% of employers recruited sixteen-year-olds and 11% of 17 or 18 years old compared to 1958 where a quarter acquired apprenticeships (Wolf, 2011. pg. 78). There is now a lack of work history and experience that students need. As mentioned, qualifications such as level 3 are seen to be more valuable and better in progression terms which mean functional skills have to be administered to bring those skills up that may be lacking through loss of impetus from employers and of full apprenticeships. So, from the Wolf report, there is a recognition that the integration of functional skills embedded into the students’ apprenticeships/vocational education gives them chance to develop and further use (all) their acquired skills in ways that represent meaningful context in the workplace. This, in turn, should help to improve the students in the long run with their chances in their chosen career and show prospective employers that students have more employability. Functional skills in vocational education give learners the opportunity to develop those skills that are lacking or have been ignored before. This predominantly helps build a skilled workforce that fits the needs of business and is better qualified.
Those skills needed for performing in the work arena, which are not there or have not been used, are predominant in my occupation as a teacher trainer. So, to highlight literacy, I noticed the stresses and strains from those on the course I administered; be they recent graduates or mature students, as I delivered English language teacher training to these people. I taught them for 20 hours per week which was broken down into modules. These modules focused on all aspects of second language teaching with lesson planning, teaching techniques, grammar, foreign language and classroom management. The students were from various background and ages. There could be young university graduates to people semi-retiring who wanted to teach English abroad. There was a consensus that was always mentioned in my classes that they never really learnt English at school: such as going into detail with parts of speech, context, inferring, implying, intonation etc. Moreover, during their course, they had to develop their writing and note taking skills so they could reach their goal of completing the work/tasks by the end of the course. However, the biggest challenge was the use of grammar and the realisation that they, as English teachers, actually have to explain this not only for themselves but also to their forthcoming students. On the whole, the problem is that students come on to the course expecting to just meet the course requirements, but they had to show that their performance on the course meets, or on the whole goes beyond, the standards in both assessment components: teaching practice and written assignments. Using these skills hit them hard and frustration was shown. In my position, as the trainer, I came up against a barrier of ignorance to English grammar, language and learning styles that it seemed like I was starting anew with some students. I ended up teaching them from scratch when I should have been teaching them to be teachers. This was exacerbated by me then having to embed these factors into my teaching methods such as communicative language teaching or task-based language teaching that I used. These method-based pedagogies brought critical discourse and discussion to the fore. Students did only see the end product of performing in the classroom before unearthing or learning and realising the fundamentals of English language before the start of the course. This hindered my actual work. Initially, having only been in this job for a short time I had to make inroads into the problem. My employer and I discussed having a grammar/language module before the students started on the course. Unfortunately, they completed this after the twenty hours of classroom study with their eight other written essay modules. I advised him that when I did my TESOL certificate, the school sent me a learner’s pack and within that I had grammar and language assignments; not far reaching exercises, but just as a refresher pack to get me ready for the course which definitely highlighted the skills I would need. My employer gave me good feedback, and it was hoped this could be introduced. Hopefully, our company could prepare them for better for the course and make them aware of an English teacher’s basic knowledge.
The question that now arises is: what is being done to cease this lack of literacy together with numeracy? In respect to this, as a way to not only avoid a (functional) skills shortage but also youth unemployment, back in 2007 the Labour government laid down plans for raising the school leaving age to 18. These plans were that by 2013 students would stay in education or training until they are 17 and come 2015 it will be 18 (Education and Skills Act 2008). The Wolf Report made this recommendation that ‘students who are under 19 and do not have GCSE A*-C in English and/or Maths should be required, as part of their programme, to pursue a course which either leads directly to these qualifications, or which provide significant progress towards future GCSE entry and success’ (Wolf, 2011, pg. 15). For example, this recommendation mirrors one fact that only 15 percent of students carry on with maths beyond compulsory education (Clark, 2012). All these factors work to solidifying the curriculum to achieve Maths and English for 14-19 year olds.
Above all students still need to be better qualified, skillful, employable young adults. For example, the Department of Education data showed ‘58.6 per cent achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent including English and Mathematics GCSEs or iGCSEs’ in 2011/12 (Department of Education, Oct 2012, pg.1). Additionally, Labour Leader Ed Miliband at the Labour Party Conference talked about his idea of the TechBac for the “forgotten 50%” that do not go to university (Milliband, 2 October 2012). Students would be able to start at 14 with academic and practical courses. On this note, Lord Baker of Dorking moved in front of Labour by introducing his own Technical Baccalaureate. Lord Baker’s Technical Baccalaureate would create not only technical subjects but also practical and vocational which would include functional skills in English and Maths which is an extended project and thinking and employability skills with English and maths at levels 2 and 3. This innovative proposal for a Technical Baccalaureate it was noted still needs working on, but there will be a pilot project and could be offered as early as 2014. This hopes again a new program will change the fortunes of young teens/adults who are technically/vocationally minded where they can be furthered in all their educational and employability skills to progress forward and achieve the desired qualifications and more.
To conclude this view of functional skills (literacy and numeracy) within the 14-19 education sector, this essay has shown that there is a need for young students to achieve not only the basic skills but also progressively higher skills. It was shown how vital education is for young students to have the right training and skills given to them, so they can confidently go through college and pursue a valuable career where functional skills and also every child matters aims can be truly achieved. Then, the government will be able to say that young students are properly equipped for the challenges of life and their career path.
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References
Clark, L (2012) Michael Gove: New ‘real life’ maths curriculum for sixth formers, Mail Online. accessed 1 December 2012, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225584/Michael-Gove-New-real-life-maths-curriculum-sixth-formers.html>
Department of education, (2012) GCSE AND EQUIVALENT RESULTS IN ENGLAND 2011/12 (PROVISIONAL) http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001094/sfr25-2012.pdf
Education and Skills Act 2008. (2008). Education and Skills Act 2008. Norwich, TSO.
House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. (2008). Skills for life: progress in improving adult literacy and numeracy. London, Stationery Office.
Lee, J (2012) Lord Baker leapfrogs government with plans for his own TechBac, TES, accessed 10 November 2012, < http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6309518>.
Miliband, A (2013) BBC News – Labour conference: Ed Miliband speech in full. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19803646. [Accessed 11November 2013].
Wolf, A (2011) Review of Vocational Education: The Wolf Report, Stationery Office.
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A Larger World Opens – A Look at Imperialism and Colonialism
What made the Europeans so eager for expansion and control? Their vast empires stretched all across the world which led to trade and capitalism as we now it. As early as the 1400s Europe was aware of the high culture in China and overland trade routes to far off continents such as Asia. The only problem was that these trade routes were wholly Muslim enterprises. Not only were Chinese products being brought back but also Indian, as the trade for luxury in The West prospered. Unfortunately, at the time, the rise of the Ottoman Empire led to the curtailing of this trade, which instead of slowing down trade, led to the rise of sea travel and trade routes. European countries now wanted a slice of the profits to be made from the far away countries, not only Asia but also the Americas. Thus the first roots of Imperialism and Colonialism started to manifest.
Seas were precarious places and ships had to battle fierce waters and long distances, but the journeys were still made to be the first to conquer. In 1450, the Portuguese started to sponsor trade routes and in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias made crucial advances around the Cape of Good Hope, as he went looking for African gold and spices. Vasco De Gama sailed to the Indian Ocean and the West Indies. Also, explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral ended up in Brazil by way of winds and tides from his Portuguese base which led to their claim of the land. These were intrepid voyages but were vital in opening trade and establishing colonies. It was actually the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492 that coined the phrase the Columbian Exchange which saw the Old World marry up with the New World as all kinds of good were to be transported to the Americas. Also in 1510, the Portuguese had landed in Goa, India, and as far as Macau marking their position as the domineering country. The world was expanding and the Portuguese took the initiative to have the control of most profitable routes.
The sixteenth century was a turning phase for the Portuguese. Although they were wise in their first exchanges, they were no match for the Spanish whose strength began to grow. Many voyages in the early 1500s by the Spanish (namely Columbus who was under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and at the invitation of King Manuel I of Portugal, Amerigo Vespucci, whose name was given to the New World) emphasized Europe’s new goal to be in control of many places. Spain actually had gained control of Northern South America and Central America. By 1550 with Portugal not taking a hold on its stations, the Spanish began to incorporate themselves in Portuguese ventures. This turning point gave the Dutch and English the incentive to stake their claim on trade and control. The English had been slow to get in on the lucrative trade as they were fighting their own battles back home such as the famous War of the Roses. The Dutch also grew stronger as they had gained independence from Spain. Now, towns such as Antwerp and Amsterdam were major trade ports. The Dutch wanted to carry vast loads bought from the Far East at low prices and ship them back to Europe for vast profit. This was done by the opening up of the East India Company which would be one of the first multinational mega-corporations in trading. This company would take most of the Portuguese trade. The English, although having wars with the Dutch never really fought for this trade, having established trade with India and having acquired the seaport of Singapore as well as the colonies in North America. There was also the London East India Company which was a private entity and extremely powerful in itself. This company came to rule large parts of India with its military power and also its administrative functions. Europe was gaining control of the world.
Trade was not the only idea that was prevalent in these journeys to far off places. The motto was God, Glory, and Gold. This now begins to explain more of the suggestion that these explorers and the countries behind them were going forget all they needed. They wanted to convert the natives to their respective faith. Each of the explorers wanted the glory back in his homeland for finding new sources of income for the nation, and Gold was the income source they were looking for the most. Locals were unable to stop the European intruders with their fast weaponry and training that while this would seem total overthrow of the natives, trade was still done with locals with established trade. The Portuguese actually failed in this respect as they used their strength to try and take over all trade. The British, Dutch, and Spanish would later appease this by maintaining trade relationships but still with control. Trade continued and the Spanish crown took a vast amount of gold and silver from India to fill its coffers. The Catholic Spanish would also try to convert the locals. This was heightened by the fact that countries like England were Protestant. The Spanish took their technology, and strangely, disease to conquer most of South America, parts of the Southwestern United States, and all of Mexico and Central America. The English would make big inroads to North America along with the Dutch.
To conclude, the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were astonishing times of exploration and discovery. These European countries had enormous power and took it to all parts of the world colonising many countries and taking natural wealth from them. The Europeans also have the view that these were inferior lands but as time moved on instead of thinking that these people were just man-eaters they came to the view that they were ‘noble savages’. It could be said that European domination led to the erosion of many traditional values and destroyed many existing social relationships while taking many natural resources. Conversely, imperialism and colonialism can be said to have saved countries in a lot of ways by way trade, technology, roads, railroads, schools, hospitals and better farming.
(Words 1028)
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History of Power and How it Shapes the World
(1126 Words)
So long as people have power, so long as people under no circumstances change their attitude, history will be the same and repeat itself over and over. War will always be seen as a venture for peace, be it started through the power of religion, power of kings, or by the powers of countries. In this essay, I would like to make a comment on aspects involved in three movies I have recently seen. These are King Henry VIII, set in the 16th century, Les Miserable, set around the time of the French Revolution, and Good Morning Vietnam which was set during the Vietnam War in 1965. They all depict forces attacking each other. We identify that everyone has a motive, but only in their eyes are they right but for what good? All three films show power can work in many ways. The will of governments, royalty, and religion can not be stopped and those who try to stop them can get hurt.
Continuing our theme of power, the third film ‘Les Miserables’ although set after the French Revolution, for the purposes of this essay we can define a period around and after the revolution as the insurrection in France. We are still drawn into a time of change that had the power of the people and the power of the kings and nobles. We recognise a time when new ideas about the power of the people start to take hold. The influence of the Enlightenment which celebrated science and reason over faith and religion can not be overestimated. We know that political power in France was concentrated in very few hands. Sovereignty was no longer to rest with the monarch as a Divine Right, an appointment from God but rather with the people. Popular sovereignty now rested with the people and the idea of a Nation-State was conceived. In the movie, we are moved by the general destitution of people. France had the largest population in Europe and could not feed itself adequately. The French Revolution spawned the idea that everyone should be entitled to some principal rights. The French people were oppressed. The power of the French people has been shown throughout the world where support to revolutions that assert the right to self-determination.
To conclude, we see in all the films and aspects from them as history in the making. Why does the ‘French cause’ matter now? There are still some governments that lack the support of a majority of their people and still use the power of terrorism to control their citizens. Places like Myanmar and North Korea live under a cloud or tyranny. Burma is a poor country, but the military regime is rich enough to expand its armed forces while news from impoverished North Korea tells you about their new weapon technologies. These countries ignore the past and seem to not learn from the experience of others. It is true that the past causes the present, and so the future. Henry VIII’s break from Rome had enormous consequences on English history not only in making it possible for the transformation of England into a powerful nation but also in the seizing of economic and political power from the Church. England now enjoys a secular state. America too has changed. The Vietnam War ended American innocence. It is recognized that no foreign war can succeed without that large domestic support. America’s democratic economy is the strongest in the world. It is a light that has seen many countries push towards democracy. Communism is finished. So, history helps us understand change and how the society we live in came to be. Many people have suffered because of change. Hopefully, from this, the world will learn.
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Shame and Guilt Culture
(1266 Words)
For this essay, the aspect of culture that will be talked about is the notion of shame and guilt. In many countries, each culture and the people within it adopt a way of dealing with wrong behavior. The emphasis here is on how an individual person reacts to an action done by them which is seen as not being right in their society. The essay will show with examples how shame and guilt work in daily life. It will focus on types of behavior, attitudes, and beliefs that are installed in culture. It is actually written specifically for individuals to think about their behavior and to think if their wrong actions belong to a guilt culture or shame culture. It is also written for each person to think more about their behavior when they commit something wrong and how they should behave.
Shame and guilt sometimes are considered to be similar feelings while within different cultures and countries they become separate entities when you can look closer at people’s behavior. For example, if a person was driving along the road and they saw a red light, they should stop, but in this case they continued through that light even though they had time to stop. How would they feel? In a shame culture, the person would (not in every case) look around to see if anyone saw them. If no-one saw them and nothing happened, they would be unperturbed and drive away thus not really having a feeling of doing anything wrong. In a guilt culture, if the same action happened, the driver would still look around, but they would feel remorse that they did something wrong thus producing a feeling of guilt. The feeling of guilt then becomes an inner feeling. It is as if they know they did wrong, and they are punishing themselves for it because they know what is right. The feeling of shame in this case, there is none, because in this situation no external force (such as police) saw the driver go through the traffic lights. There is no feeling for that person because the police did not catch them, speak to them and give them a ticket/fine.
Shame comes about when someone is found out to have done something wrong and other members of society know. It is the feeling of letting down others. Japanese culture is a shame culture where if humiliation is felt, it can lead to extremes such as suicide where the person feels they have let their whole family down. The person has brought shame on the family. So, shame exists when a person’s peers, colleagues, or their family find out about that person’s misdeeds. In many ways in a shame culture, a person can do what they like, they should just not get caught. For example, a student can copy in an exam or hand in work that is copied from the internet. If they are not caught they can blissfully carry on with their studies disregarding the fact that they cheated to pass the class or exam. There is no guilt and because no one found out they feel no shame. Moreover, a strange part of this misdemeanor is that if another student mentioned their copying and complained, that student is doing wrong because they are complaining. All the same, it is actually hard for someone in a shame culture to say they did wrong because they know they will bring shame on themselves.
So, a shame culture is more on being honorable or saving face than being right or wrong. The feeling of shame actually brings on powerlessness, so in many cases there becomes an intensity to defend oneself because the accuser is making the accused feel bad. Thus, in a shame culture, there is seen a relative calm among people that no-one will stand up and protest or complain to someone face. They live in a collectivist society where you live in a group and being individual is not counted as much. It is seen that groups must always project positive images and keep up appearances, show calmness, and adhere to public politeness.
Guilt, on the other hand, is ingrained in people. In their culture, they are told that they have done something wrong and that they should feel bad for what they have done. Children are taught from a young age between right and wrong. Guilt culture has its roots in religion where truth and justice prevail. It is meant to preserve the self to know what is right and wrong and not to commit sin. If you do something wrong the transgression is between the individual and God. In shame culture, a person would not indulge in self-analysis as it may end up in a detrimental image of the self. In many cases, the guilty person will use their guilt to change something about themselves. On the whole, guilt is a form of social conscience. So, each person is aware of their surroundings and what they are doing. For example, students who feel no guilt will talk in class while not being aware that when they talk they disrupt others and stop the teacher from teaching. All the same, they will happily talk on a telephone (loudly in some cases) in a lift or on a bus. Feeling guilty helps with a person’s awareness and stops them from committing a social faux pas.
An example where shame and guilt culture can have all its attributes and deficits belongs in a story of a Chinese airline flight. The flight was to take off at 7 pm from Hong Kong to Bangkok. The flight was almost full. The pilot said they were waiting for a connecting flight from Beijing that would transfer some passengers. The pilot said the flight would be delayed. So, the passengers, who were already on the plane, had to wait for one hour for the connecting flight. The small contingent of passengers from Beijing then boarded and the flight finally left at 8.30pm. Once the flight took off, the late passengers then started shouting, laughing, taking pictures, and generally not caring about others around them. They were actually government officials. The questions for this scenario regarding shame and guilt refer to many people involved in this situation. Firstly, how would you feel if you were a passenger waiting? Also, do the government officials feel any guilt about being late? Are they not aware of others? Did the pilot not admit to the problem entirely to avoid shame from passengers getting angry? Did the pilot feel no guilt or shame? Why did the pilot stay on the ground even though the flight was mostly full? These questions and the scenario are interesting as guilt and shame could, maybe, or should have been felt by some of the people.
In this short essay, both of the cultures, shame and guilt can be seen from different angles. It can be recognised that in a shame culture no one really wants to say anything out of line even if it is true. Also, a guilt culture can prevent someone from getting on with daily life as the guilt hinders them. In a shame culture, there is a relative calmness as no one complains. With this calmness, people are less likely to get stressed out by silly things but in the guilt culture people want to show something is wrong and feel justified in saying it. To conclude, if one used Japan and America as examples of shame and guilt cultures respectively would anyone honestly say either country’s progression has been held back by their view on bad behavior as both have their positive and negative sides?
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