Influential Materialism on Cambodian Society Essay

One of the remarkable transitions in Cambodia began in 1993. It was the economic reform switching from planned-economic to open-free economic market. Since ever, Cambodia gradually boosts the national economy by allowing private possessions and foreign investment. This is a signal of democracy in the nation. To be a democratic country, such rights and freedom must be given to the masses. It is well-known that people want to be equal before the laws and live in a happy life. However, one barrier to newly democratic country—Cambodia—is the citizens. More than half of the Cambodian population is under a poverty line, meaning they are insufficient not only in property but also in education. This situation is not good enough for Cambodians to get influence from the world. Being connected with globalization, Cambodia demands a higher standard and a good quality of production. Among those marketing competition, the most attractive and popular product is high-tech materials. Again, the other half of population might be able to afford such materials in order to live in the society. The society is affected by materialism, which considers possessions more important than values, and its effects range from psychological to economic. Materialism is sometimes used as a status symbol, causing people to purchase items they cannot afford, simply to fit in with an affluent crowd, or to keep up with the people around them. Materialism, although a motivating force in today’s world economy, can erode value systems and affect a person’s overall happiness. Perhaps nobody knows exactly when materialism persists in Cambodian society. And not many Cambodians switch their attention on it. Materialism which is the new tendency can lead the society to face many possible negative consequences. That is, youths must understand what they are doing and decide whether or not stick with it. In today society, we have no doubt an emerging demographic of eager young adults flocking towards new motorbikes, mobile phones, and the newest in tech trends. But is there a lurking danger tacked on to this eagerness? This paper will take a closer look at the Cambodian youth’s tendency toward the new and modern materials, the reasons why youths want to possess the materials, the impact of the material challenges, and some solutions to modify the tendency. Definition Before going further, one key word in the paper will be illustrated. Materialism comes from the word material, so the first word to be explained is: According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, there are four main meaning of material. First, material means a physical substance which things can be made from. Second, it means information used when writing something such as a book, or information produced in various forms to help people or to advertise products. Third, material means cloth which can be used to make things such as clothes. Finally, material means equipment that you need for a particular activity. The last definition seems the most appropriate meaning for the scope of the paper. In addition, materialism is defined as the belief that having money and possessions is the most important thing in life. Plus, materialism is a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. These are the definitions of the word â€Å"materialism† on which the paper will focus. Objective Writing is a fun thing but without any specific purpose, the writing seems nothing. Meanwhile, the paper has a few important objectives that might be helpful for other students and readers to find out about the current trend of Cambodian youths. The main purposes of the writing are: ïÆ' ¼Providing the historic background of Cambodian economy Offering the key definition of the term materialism Illustrating the current prominent issues in the society Showing the current trend of the youths toward modern high-price materials Elaborating the plausible causes of the new tendency Explaining probably bad and good impacts on the society Showcasing one effective solution The Presence of Materialism Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia and has an old history in the region. Since the industrialized revolution, Cambodia had become one of the countries affected from modern industrialized countries. Perhaps, nobody knows when materialism started its presence in the souls of Cambodians. However, Cambodia had its own industries in the King Sihanouk era, the time materialism might affect the society. The neutralized country had its first coup d’à ©tat backed by the US in 1970. The general Lon Nol became the first Kampuchea’s president. At that time, there was no progress in economic development. Afterward in 1975, the Khmer Rouge ousted the President and took control over the country, leaving estimated 1.7 million Cambodian died from starvation, overwork, and unlawful killing. Actually, it was the most devastating regime in Cambodian history. On January 07, 1979 the capital city—Phnom Penh—was rescued from the socialist regime. Between 1979 and 1992, there was not any noticeable progress in building the country’s economy. Not until the first democratic election took place in 1993, was the Cambodia’s new chapter opened. Again, it was the transition from planned market to free-opened market. At that time, Cambodia welcomed all types of foreign investments from all over the world. As a result, Cambodia has become the Cambodia today which is the country that needs change. Relatively writing, people do not pay much attention on what they are possessing. They start to work and earn for their daily lives. The celebrating of the new millennium, Cambodia’s economy has gradually been boosted. About five or six years later, the real estate companies came into play. The price of the land was extremely expensive and the owners of the land had sold their land to foreign companies and indeed for local as well. That was the time the phrase â€Å"How much for the ‘ten New Dream motorbikes’ is?† became the amusing and criticized words in every day conversation. Indeed, perhaps that was the time materialism prevailed in the society especially the Phnom Penh city. Nowadays, the most popular materials which attract much of the youth’s attention are high-tech mobile phones such as iphone4, Samsung GalaxyS3, automatic transmission motorbike like Scoopy 2012, big motorbikes such as SL, XR, GS 330, modern sport cars, high-tech tablets, jewelry, etc. Because of those materials, teenagers and adults will do everything to own one of them or even all of them. They think in a short-sighted way because of the compulsion. They, in fact, do not give value for people but the materials the people own. If the current tendency is being applied to the society, the inescapably bad repercussions will be dominated in the society. Progression of Materialism As a matter of fact, materialism happens in the Cambodian society due to many reasons. First, movie via television greatly involves in the progress of the tendency. This means that the influence of materialism to Cambodian comes from movies that are showed on the TV shows or their private computers. Whenever they got some information from the movie for example like they saw something some actors have worn on the TV show, they would probable copy the style and try to act themselves as the actors. â€Å"MY TV† is a very good example to claim about that. Before MYTV television station was established, people in Cambodia seemed to be so simple (comparing to the clothes they have worn). However, people started to dream about the Korean style such as clothes or jewelry. Another example to support this claim is that the advertisement on the TV showing that when Cambodian have saw advertisement of Dream 2012 on the TV, they would probably like that kind of motorbike even it looks idio t. Thus, they try to find money to buy the motorbike. Apart from movie TV shows, jealousy of one individual really spurs the motivation on materialism. This means some people they don’t care about the benefit of the product that they will buy. The most important thing is that they just want to be as modern and elegant as their surrounding friends who already have modern motorbikes, automobiles, iPhones or iPads. One PUC student majoring in TESOL said, â€Å"I would spend some times with my friends—elegant ones—because I want and have modern things like my phone I am suing today, iPhone4. I don’t care about anything because I have the phone like my friends.† By this expression, it implies that the TESOL student does not want any mocking or teasing regarding modern materials. He would probably feel upset and jealous if he does not own his iPhone4. Furthermore, some students want to challenge their reputations with their friends. For example, they want only to be the highest in their groups. Therefore, they try to manage themselves to be the most powerful by having more fantastic equipment in their hands in order to show that they are better than other people. Owning luxury car—Luxus Rx 350—has already given the owner the influence on the surrounding people especially their friends. Moreover, while some foreigners are doing business in Cambodia, they are transferring some new positions on materialism into Cambodia by chance. When Cambodians see all those things such as iPhone, iPad, or other things else, all Cambodian feel that all of those materials would probably help their standards of living becoming higher. Since, they would buy all of the things and start using all the things. In a student survey, 10 out of 13 students wanted a new motorbike of car. They shared the opinion that own ¬ing a vehicle had in fact, very little to do with their studies. Peer pressure is another factor to own a vehicle. 18-year-old high school student, said, â€Å"When they see my friends drive new motorbikes, they want one too. However, their mother re ¬fused to buy for them.† Regarding to migration, some students in Cambodia are very strong enough to study abroad. As the result, some of those could get scholarship to study abroad, while some could not get any scholarship. However, most of them are leaving Cambodia to study abroad. As they are being abroad, they would meet much equipment that some foreigners are using. When the students see all the things, they would advertise their families in Cambodia to use all the equipment as well. By now, the progressing of the materialistic tendency in Cambodian society is gradually escalated due to the above reasons. On the other hands, it is becoming more interesting if the paper also mentions about the purposes of owning materialistic things before discussing any further on the topic. The purposes of owning modern materials With the overall interviews, the data shows that there are two main purposes—meaningful and meaningless. These two terms are used because of many interviewees’ preference. To begin with, there are many meaningful usages of modern, expensive products. First, it has something to do with learning progress. This means that people in Cambodia use some materialistic tools in order to do research and update their knowledge by spending time with some equipment such as computer, iPhone, or iPad. For example, some people use iPhone or iPad for doing research because this kind of thing is really small, easy to keep with, the internet work very fast; plus, it looks really cool. Also they could use all of this instruction to capture photograph, read books, play games, record something, or even call to friends or anybody that they want to ask for help such as homework or assignments. Second, Cambodians own elegant things because they want to make their standards of living better (Ou & Khiev, 2011). This means that people in Cambodia use modern equipment in order just want to have a good standard of living. For example, the construction in Cambodia is really popular now. Many people want to live in a villa to have a comfortable living. In fact, if this idea is hold by almost Cambodians, the country will be difficult to get developed because they think in the wrong ways. Improving living standard is not about owning up-to-date property but to be educated and get promoted. Asides from this, spending less time, saving time, is another meaningful thing to do with modern technology. This means that Cambodia can use the modern materials in order to save their valuable time. For example, they use mobile phone in case they want to communication with their relatives who might be living far away from them. Thus, they don’t have to spend time to travel between places to places that their relatives are living. In addition, the world is running fast by globalization that is Cambodians are competing with the world’s technology. Actually, some people buy some modern equipment in order to show that they are being update people, meaning Cambodians are being civilized citizens. They do not want to live in the traditional way which needs to be updated to balance and equalize like other countries around the world now. On the other hands, there are some meaningless usages of modern, expensive materials. First, some Cambodians do not use their equipment in their hands with appropriate purposes. Some use for only entertainment but they can’t see many more exploitations from the equipment. For example, some Cambodians bought iPhones in order to play game or using Facebook only, but they don’t use the phone in order to do research to increase and learn new things. Another important point of view, materialism shows power and authority, meaning that some Cambodians need modern equipment just want to show their powers in order to threat other people. For instance, some authorities in Cambodia are using modern luxury automobiles such as Range Roll World, Lexus 570, or other branch-new, fancy cars in order to threat some polices or the lower-standard people. When the people see all of those things, they fell inferior to the rich. Thus, the authorities who have modern automobiles can do as many things as they wish. More interesting, some Cambodians would like to buy some materials because they want only to woo girls, or ladies. However, they could not use the material appropriately. For instance, some men buy an iPhone, iPad, a nice motorbike or a car just to woo some ladies while they could now how to use all of the material affectively. This mean that some Cambodians buy good things to use is because they want to show that they are really rich, intelligent to others. For instance, some pupils buy new automobile to show that their family are rich to all their friends. The Possible Drawbacks of Materialism Within this paper, the scope of outcomes is categories into three main fields: self, family, and society. Now the drawbacks will firstly be discussed in the following sentences. The first outcome is dropping out of schools. Some students are skipping school because materialism makes them blind and persuade them to forget their studying. For instance, some students do not want to go to the school because they got a new motorbike or other modern equipment. They would like to make parties or go out with their friends rather than stay in their school to learn from the lecturers. At the end, they could not have a good future or bright future in order to feed themselves as well as their whole family. One sophomore majoring Laws at RULE said, â€Å"I used to drop out my high school because I did have any modern and expensive phone—at that time it was Nokia N95 8GB. I was very upset and jealous when I saw my friends hanging out with those staffs. Then I decided to drop out because I can avoid being teased and annoyed.† Second disadvantage is looking like a gangster. Due to materialism, it can make a person similar to some gangers if we look for a few seconds. For example, some men now are wearing ear rings. As the result, they look really similar to some gangsters. Thus, it could make their reputation down. Plus, the surrounding people will not want to get involved or communicate with because there might be some argument or fighting. Next, bad health is another one drawback. Some people use some materials in wrong condition. Finally, they could face health problems. For example, some people they use their time spending on their phones too much in order to speak for fun with their friends. Hence, they could face many health problems such as brain cancer because of the ratio activity that came out from the mobile phone. Some people also use some materials which risk their lives. For example some people use their motorbikes flying to show that they are handsome and cool. On the other hands, while they are trying to do that, it could have an accident such as breaking their knees or they could die every minute. Regarding to family category, there are a few disadvantages. Some sons in Cambodia got modern motorbikes; they would go out with their friends really often specially, at mid-night. Even that their parents tried to advise them, but they do not want to follow their parents. They tend to go out and have some fun with their friends. Because the sons are being lost in the passion of the materialism, it can lead the family fall isolated. Next, monetary problems are also very common. Some Cambodians never look at their incomes to see how much they would get per month or per year. Even that their incomes are still low, but they wish to get as good equipment as some family’s members who already have high incomes. Thus, sometimes it could link to family financial crises. For example, because of materialism some children ask their parents to buy them nice motorbikes; otherwise, they would not go to school. Normally, parents always want their children to be good students, so they decide to buy the motorbikes for their children even thought that they already know their incomes are still low. To solve the problems they normally sell their cows in order to fulfill their children’s needs. Later on, they could not have the cow to help for growing rise. Thus, it can make the family will face financial crises. Then materialism can cause them to have some arguments in a family, that is, domestic violence. For example, some family’s members want to use as good equipment as the others, in case they don’t have enough money to support. In other to get all the things they need, they generally threat their parents to complete their dream and sometimes conflict can happen any times. Perhaps, children murder their parents for money. The third category is society. Traffic jam, actually, is one of the results of materialism. This means that many people are really love materialism. They do not want to use motorbike or bicycle. They need only good and large car in order to show out their power. As the result, in Cambodia in present, there are too many cars on the streets. Some people drive their car to some coffee shops even though the places are nearby their house. At the end, there is a lot of traffic jam on the road nowadays. Because of new technology, transportation is being updated recently. Cars seem to be very fast. However, some people are not good at driving car and some we re drunk before driving the cars. At the end, the drunk can cause problem such as accident to other people on the street in Cambodia. Besides, Cambodian are destroying environment as well while they are focusing on materialism. For example, in order to create clothes, many clothes industries are being increase to serve the demand of the people. The industries are producing much smoke to the sky. As the result they could pollute the air. Many machined vehicles are also a good example of the materialism that can impact badly the environment. In fact, the smoke from the vehicles is polluting the environment which Cambodians are living as well. Furthermore, materialism can affect badly the state security as well. It means some poor also need to be cool as well as the rich. They do not have money now, so they try to steal the things from street or any place which provide them any opportunity to commit crime in order to get some kinds of materialistic things such as motorbikes, jewelry, iPhones, or iPads. More noticeably, culture destruction is gradually happening. Some people in Cambodia are being crazy because of materialism. Most of them forget about Khmer traditional culture which their ancestors have made for them. For example, some young men in Cambodia are wearing earing on their ear in order to receive admired word from their friends. If we compare to the past, it is really unique because man never wear earing. Women are destroying the culture of Khmer as well. Nowadays, they seem to be too thoughtless. We notice that most of them are wearing short skirts. This is very strange from the past in which all the lady wore long clothes to cover their skins in order not to allow the others to see their skins. When women wear shortly, it can attract men to look at them. Some men could rape the women once the men could get any opportunity. Thus it can lead to criminal cases. Finally, when Cambodians need too many meaningless things, many businessmen would import the products into Cambodia. The GPA of the Cambodians is still low. Most of the Cambodians are farmers. Thus, we could not produce many kind of equipment besides importing them from oversea. As the result, the countries spend a lot of money importing some products such as iPhones, vehicles, and iPads to the countries while we are not able to produce by ourselves. However, materialism has few benefits for the society as well if and only if Cambodians know how to use it, when to own it, and what to possess. The plausible advantages of Materialism Like disadvantage categories, the advantages of materialism is discussed in three main categories: self, family, and society. For individual Cambodia, materialism brings easiness. This means that materialism can make them to get high standards of living. They could feel comfortable because of their materialism. Another point, materialism can increase knowledge. This means that individual can increase their intellectuality such as general knowledge. For example, individual can use a computer, iPad, iPhone in order to do research. All this equipment is really helpful to Cambodian. Spending less time is another advantage. It means that many products in their hands already. Thus, some can use their product affectively while some are not. Cambodian youths use their materialistic things to shorten the time and the distance. For instance some youths prefer modern motorbikes or cars rather than bicycles. Thus, they could spend less time for traveling form one place to another. Mobile phone c an also help them to spend less time as well. Now youth, who have many relatives in provinces when they want to meet their relatives, they don’t have to go to their homeland. They just call to the relatives that are enough. Similarly, materialism can help individual to pack up many things into smaller. For instance, people in Cambodia nowadays, do not have to take a lot of things in their hands. They just need an iPhone which contains many things inside it such as camera, recorder, music, video player, note books, books, and many other things in their pocket. Therefore, they could use all the functions without taking real equipment with such as camera or TV. The next category—Family—that materialism positively affect is discussed by the following sentences. First, it brings closed relationship. This means that materialism can cause the members in most of the family feel closed to each other. For example, when some province family members would come to Phnom Penh to study, they would feel isolated and lonely. However, mobile phone could help them to feel closer to each other. All of them can communicate via mobile phone in order to fell that they are staying together and to know each other information. Next, increasing reputation is another advantage. This means that materialism can help a family to be admired from another family. For instance, if a family was living in a villa, using modern technology such as iPhone and driving modern automobile such as Hummer, the family generally would be admired from the others. Thus, it can make the family to get more reputation by their materialism they got. The next and final category is society. Cambodia is a developing country. As we can see in general, most of the people in Phnom Penh are able to use modern technology such as iPhone, iPad, and computers. Moreover, there are sky-high apartments as well. Furthermore, most of the Cambodian youths are using fantasy automobile. Thus, due to materialism, it could show that Cambodia is a developing country. Moreover, materialism can bring more investment to the country, meaning that due to materialism, it can make other foreign factories or industries come to invest in Cambodia. By seeing the youths are similar to the youths in some investing countries, the investors normally feel more comfortable that Cambodia is secure. Thus, it could also attract the investors come in to do small business as well. Some investors can see the youths in Cambodia are loving materialism such as using clothes. As the result, they would like to invest more garment industries in Cambodia. Relatively, the investment will increase employment rate. As the garment industries are being built from days to days in order to complete some youths’ trend in Cambodia, it can provide some job opportunities for Cambodians inside Cambodia. Economic Effects It is a nice thing to hear and see people are buying products from the markets. This activity shows the progress of higher standard of living in the society. Meanwhile, many people buy things that are not essential to them, leaving people tend to save less. Actually, materialistic people tend to be attracted to â€Å"Conspicuous Consumption,† which is purchasing in order to flaunt wealth (Drake, 2012). In order to get the new and expensive materials, many people go to the bank and get loans. Comparing with their salary, people can comfort their buying with their community. That is a good sign for the banks in Cambodia because their services are running smoothly. However, what will happen if those people are not able to compensate? Most of the banks said, â€Å"It is OK. We lend them our money in return their compensation. If they are not able to give back, we have to do accordingly to the laws of the country. That is seizing the property as collateral for bid. Banks never lose to such cases. Furthermore, a new kind of buying technology is buying using credit cards. This new service also leads to huge debts for adults. Because credit cards make them able to purchase things without cash and let them compensate a little amount of debts, many and many youths are happy with them. Some people do not think about the consequences that they will face after owning things that are not important for their daily lives. Plus, they have ignored the value in people while showing off what they are actually in debts. Interestingly, the country might turn out to be outside economic development but in fact most of its people are in debts of other foreign banks. Spiritual Effects In order to live in peace and harmony, the spirituality of Cambodian must be strong and wise. They have to make a good decision and giving value to people from all walks of life. While materialism offers much value on material, people do not understanding owning things that are important and just for comforting the surrounding people are a waste of time and money. Then it will lead to discrimination and segregation—a group of rich and extravagant people and a group of poor and humble people (Drake, 2012). When a country is about to divide such groups, the consolidation and solidarity will not exist. Thus, the country will not thoroughly make its way toward a well economic, politic, cultural development. Moreover, materialism promotes selfishness and a sense of accumulation as being equivalent to happiness and success. It is said materialism is a form of brainwashing and removes any personal responsibility. For example, when people want an iphone4s, they will not think about any responsibilities that they hold like studying, feeding children, managing the company, and more. They will let the responsibilities go as floating water. Furthermore, it is currently true that most of Cambodian youth are not happy when they see their friend owning expensive mobile phones and riding elegant motorbikes. They will do everything to at least get appropriate materials to go along with their elite friends. This is the most regretful thing that Cambodian society is facing. It has nothing to do now but the future will tell. Effects on Teenagers Teenagers, the most vulnerable, are directly affected by materialism, which often has psychological effects, as they are driven to trendy and expensive items (Drake, 2012). Going to schools and getting involved in the community are what good teenagers have to do. Among these activities, rich and poor teenagers gather together, talk with each other, and tell what they are possessing. Once the topic has been raised, the effect starts to spread. Poor teenagers feel like they are useless because they do not own any technological items to work in their community. They lack of self-esteem. When they return home, they would ask their parents for something that their parents cannot afford. Thus, the discouragement will stay inside the teenagers. Their progress will lose and their team spirit will be reduced as well. Actually, it is because they cannot control their eagerness towards those materials. If they just spend some time thoroughly think about the effect and the current of their family status, they would not face this kind of social illness. More precisely, it is popular that some teenagers will be taunted if they do not own the trendy phones, laptops, and more. Normally, people not just teenagers are not happy when someone is about to laugh at what they lack or weak. Materialism and Crime â€Å"What should you do when you want to possess this?† is a common question asked from one friend to another friend. It is not an easy question for those who are poor. If their parents cannot afford for them, they have to find the way to have it themselves. Teenagers with short-sighted thought will do what is called crime (Drake, 2012). From a criminal philosophy view points, crimes can exist everywhere, happen every time, be committed by anyone. That is in the pursuit of material possessions, turning to crime is not unheard of. People will do corruption and manipulate other people’s energy to get more money just in returning owning luxury car and well-decorated villa. Another simple way is to steal the materials from people around them. Moreover, marketing is believed to glamorize crime with images of criminals living extravagant lifestyles. Some people might be looked elegant but in fact they are criminals whom one day the judges will punish. In addition, this will hinder Cambodia in finding its way toward developed country. Youths have to think in details before doing something; otherwise, they will end up in prison, which will destroy their whole lives and the society they are part of. Optimal Solution In fact, there is no ideal solution since it is the most difficult thing to modify or get someone adapted to what he or she does not want to do. However, this paper shows one solution that might the most optimal one, that is, parents’ advice. According to the research, if you know at least one teenager, you are likely familiar with teen materialism. Many adolescents are driven to acquire trendy and expensive items including high-end handbags, cell phones and MP3 players. Teenage materialism itself is not new, but it has steadily accelerated over the last few decades and something has to deal with (John, 2011). The research originally found a connection between self-esteem and materialism. As a teen’s self-worth declines, he or she looks to purchase expensive items for a boost. Material goods compensate for all those negative feelings people have about themselves. This link yielded another important finding about how materialism develops from childhood to adolescence. Materialism increases from childhood to the early teen years, but then drops as they move into the later years of high school. This mirrors the ups and downs of self-esteem as children and teens grow older. The next question to tackle was how parents and peers contribute to materialism in teens. To answer this, parents and peers is asked whether they can influence materialism by affecting self-esteem. Peers are often blamed for pressuring contemporaries to buy the coolest brands of clothes or electronic gadgets. Parents are often blamed for setting a bad example for their teens–putting too much emphasis on having more and better possessions. However, the evidence suggests that parents and peers can also have a positive effect. These two groups are the most important sources of emotional support, psychological well-being, and feelings of self-worth in the lives of teens. Teenagers with supportive parents and friends have higher self-esteem, which makes them less materialistic. The outcome is clear–being supportive not only makes for happier teenage years, it can also reduce the unrelenting requests for expensive items during adolescence. With this research strong supporting from parents is very crucial and effective in reducing the Cambodian tendency toward materialism because as the rest of the paper, materialism does not develop Cambodian society. Conclusion Even though Cambodia opens market for every foreign product, there are risks for the people when they cannot control their eagerness and compulsion. With the above long discussion, materialism does exist in Cambodian society, and it is now getting into Cambodian youths. Materialism spreads itself via technology and every day communication. Because so many youths cannot control their compulsion, they will imitate what they see on the televisions. Plus, it evolves from days to days if there is not any precaution against it. Interestingly, materialism is occurred in the society by not only the technology but also the people themselves who do it and face it. Regarding to its effects, materialism brings both disadvantages and advantages. And it leads to three categories: self, family, and society. Nobody focuses on the consequences brought by materialism because they are being happy and feel elegant of owing such modern materials. However, it does negatively affect Cambodia, a developing country, needing so much human resource. Thus, if this trend continues to be practiced and be pervasive among Cambodians, the country is likely to be the most difficult country to be a developed one. Therefore we, as Khmer generations, must face these problems courageously, for only by that can our country be glorious as when we were at the Angkor Era. This is no longer the time to mourn over the past agony; this is the time that we all get up and be true Khmer people, the people of the Kingdom of Wonder! With the last point of view in this conclusion, the main conclusion to be drawn is that undertaking reforms by reducing institutional weaknesses offers the best hope to overcome materialism. Corruption will not disappear because of reforms. But reforms will bring it under control and minimize its adverse consequences so that the country can proceed with its efforts to become a modern, developed nation with a good chance of attaining the goal. Therefore, if Cambodia really can fight against materialism and succeeds in the suggested solution, it is time for Cambodia to be the developed country. However, we would say today is very hard for everyone to overcome materialism but tomorrow will be much easier if we do something now.

Mr. William Bryant And His Romantic Antics Essay

Romanticism is a style of writing based in the late 19th century. It is characterized by nature, individual expression, emotion and imagination. Many writers in his time were part of the Romantic Movement and William Cullen Bryant was one of them. His poems are full of Romantic ideals such as the benevolence of Nature and the emphasis on emotion. Bryant is clearly a Romantic poet and his poems â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl† are clearly illustrations of this. Nature is a big part of both â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl†. In â€Å"Thanatopsis†, Nature actually has a speaking part. The personified Nature teaches the reader to not fear death, but accept it as a part of life. Nature in this poem is very comforting. She is described in detail and is portrayed as calm and compassionate in her way of speaking. In â€Å"To a Waterfowl†, nature is also important and in this poem, it is more concrete than the Nature in â€Å"Thanatopsis†. Bryant is talking about a lone waterfowl that is flying through the air. The waterfowl is part of nature and he questions it as if it would answer. In Romantic poetry, it would answer, as in Thanatopsis, where nature actually speaks to the reader. This also shows the freedom and the mystical aspect in his writing. Idealism is also a big romantic characteristic in these poems. In Thanatopsis, realism would consider death a dark and horrible thing. However, the idealistic Bryant portrayed it as a part of life and that dying would bring you back to the divine Nature. In â€Å"To a Waterfowl†, the bird is solitary because he is a freethinking spirit and is flying free from other’s conventional ideas. This appeals to the radical and the idealistic Romantic in him. This poetry by William Cullen Bryant is clearly of the Romantic style. He uses nature in his poetry in an aesthetic way, stating it as a kind being. Idealism is used in a romantic manner, glorifying death and showing the freedom of life in its natural form. His poetry is full of content and emotion with forgiveness and love. Bryant’s â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl† are two excellent examples of Romantic poetry because they use  Romantic ideas of freedom, idealism, and benevolence of nature.

March Madness Essay

March is one of the craziest, fun-filled, exciting months of the year, especially for people who love basketball. St. Patrick’s Day arrives, the warmth is just starting to come back; but that is not the best part, it’s all the March Madness. The NCAA Basketball Tournament brings happiness, laughter and upsets to some people and teams. Every Division 1 Basketball team in the country plays to eventually make it to the Sweet Sixteen on the bracket, in hopes of being the new NCAA Basketball Champions. Some teams struggle, while others come out on top. â€Å"The Game That Saved March Madness† written by Sean Gregory, Time staff writer who has been writing about sports for about a decade, and Alexander Wolff, a writer for Sports Illustrated, talks about the legendary game between the Georgetown and Princeton Men’s basketball teams in 1989 that saved the tradition of what is known as March Madness today. This game meant so much to the NCAA and fans who love the game of basketball because it was somewhat of a rebirth for college basketball. They talk about how Princeton, who was a number 16 seed in their division, played extremely well and almost won the game against the number 1 seed, Georgetown. Even though they fell one point short in the last few seconds, they made history and brought this tournament back to life because never has a seed that low in a division ever put up that great of a game against a top team in the country. People who like basketball should read this article because Gregory and Wolff give the history of March Madness and they interest the reader with intricate details of this event. History is an important part of everything in this world, whether it be culture, religion, or even sports. Gregory and Wolff incorporate a lot of history in this article, which makes it worth reading. They talk about the background of the tournament. In 1939, the National Association of Basketball Coaches founded March Madness, which is the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. For the first twelve years, there were only 8 active teams. The tournament started to increase in popularity and gained over 60 teams within  3 decades (Gregory and Wolff). They also explain how in 1989, the game between Georgetown and Princeton â€Å"saved† March Madness, and slowly but surely became the most popular sporting event, right behind the Super Bowl. Before 1989, the March Madness tournament was starting to become predictable, and there was a real controversy concerning teams with low rankings being involved in the tournament because they would have â€Å"no chance† of winning a title. Gregory and Wolff say â€Å"A St. Patrick’s Day audience, then the largest ever for a college basketball game on a young network called ESPN, was going to see a 16th seed–the lowest in the tournament–beat a No. 1 for the first time†. Before this game, no one in college basketball had witnessed this happen. Bob Scrabis, the senior captain of the Princeton Tigers basically changed the game forever. Princeton, being the lowest ranked team in tournament, gave Georgetown a run for their money. With one second left in the game and down one point, Scrabis took the shot of lifetime, but missed. Even though the Tigers did not beat the number one seeded Georgetown Hoyas, they proved that any team, ranked low or high, could provide the entertainment of a good game and possibly future upsets. When basketball fans read this, they learn the background of one the most notorious sporting events that caused an uproar in college basketball and opened the eyes to many. They would also realize how March Madness as a tournament has changed and has become as big as it is now. Although the history of the game is very important, Gregory and Wolff are so knowledgable in the game of basketball that the way they describe this game makes readers feel like they could close their eyes and see the action happen. Details can make or break a story, and in this case they made it. One way they showed details were by describing the conversation of the sports analysts Dick Vitale and John Saunders, who were calling the game. Dick Vitale said â€Å"that if Princeton won, he would hitchhike from ESPN’s offices in Bristol, Conn., to Providence and lead the Tigers’ cheerleaders for the second-round game† (Gregory and Wolff). This was a While comparing the two teams, Gregory and Wolff say: The teams also had contrasting styles. The Hoyas pushed the tempo and  pressured the ball full-court. â€Å"We had a very nasty disposition about us,† says Mourning. â€Å"We played hard-nosed, rough, very defensive-minded, in-your-face basketball.† The Tigers slowed the pace in an attempt to neutralize the physical gap with other teams. â€Å"You had to do something to take some minutes off the clock,† says Carril. â€Å"To shorten the game.† Carril’s squad ran an intricate offense designed to lull defenses to sleep. The moment they conked out, the Tigers deployed their signature play: a backdoor cut behind an unsuspecting opponent, often for an easy layup. They include details to show readers how the teams have played, which helps readers understand why and how this was such an important game to not just these two teams, but the whole college basketball community, as well. Another way they went into great detail is when they spoke about the outc ome of the game. Some people are impatient and want to just get to the point. Others, actually want to know every little detail to help them really understand why and what is going on. Gregory and Wolff said: But Georgetown didn’t wilt. Behind Mourning, the Hoyas clawed back until they were up by a point with one second remaining. Princeton in-bounder Matt Lapin passed to teammate Kit Mueller, who quickly put up a shot before time ran out. Mourning got a piece–of what, we don’t know. Something blew †¦ but it wasn’t a whistle to send Mueller to the foul line. It was the horn, to officially end the game. Georgetown 50, Princeton 49. This part of the article makes readers feel at the edge of their seats, waiting for the outcome of the game, just like they were watching it on TV. When authors like Wolff and Gregory include details like that, it brings life to the story that makes basketball fans want to keep reading more because it is just so intense and interesting to see how far college basketball has become. In spite of the fact that this game is a big part of college basketball history and it includes many details not everyone would want to read this article. People that do not like basketball would not read this because they would just simply not understand the content. If someone has never watched or have been around basketball before, they would not understand what the authors were talking about and why it matter in the society of basketball.  They would probably think this is just another â€Å"game† that was blown out of proportion and made to seem like a big deal. You cant understand something if you do no pay it any attention. Whether it be golf, tennis, volleyball or even football, if you have not watched that sport, you just would not comprehend what Sean and Alexander were talking about. Also, some people choose other hobbies rather than sports. They could be into other things like video games, art and music. Even though those people might not actually like basketball or any other sports at that, they could enjoy watching underdogs come up and beat predicted teams and they could also have a very high level of school spirit, so they would still support their school. March Madness as a tournament has come a long way. Gregory and Wolff do a great job of explaining the history of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, making it easy to understand how the game unfolded, and putting in details that bring the article to life. Basketball fans should definitely read â€Å"The Game That Saved March Madness† by Sean Gregory and Alexander Wolff because they will gain knowledge about one of the most popular sporting events of this time and understand why it was so important. Works Cited Gregory, Sean, and Alexander Wolff. â€Å"The Game That Saved March Madness.† Time 183.11 (2014): 50. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

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