The relationship between the standard of living and the quality of life in Dominican Republic

In my country, Dominican Republic, the standard of living for the majority of the population is very low. The politics are not focused to fight the poverty and the crime rates are chasing the highest levels in years. For this reason, most people in my native country are living unhappy and insecure. Most of them are afraid to be robbed or even hurt when they go out. Additionally, there is a lack of quality on the basic services and needs, such as education and health. Consequently, people are looking for ways to migrate to other countries like United States, which offers better services and security. However, not everyone in Dominican Republic has a thought life. A few rich politicians and big business owners have impressive materially good lives. It doesn't even look like they live in the same poor country. The sad truth is, In Dominican Republic, the majority of people is poor and live picking up whatever's left from the powerful and rich.

"The Trumpet of Conscience" - Summary

     Martin Luther King Jr., moved by the discrimination and poverty of African Americans, had an important speech called "The Trumpet of Conscience." He rejected the war that United States had against Vietnam at the same time that he was fighting for the civil rights in America. People criticized that he was interested in other matters like the war, which they said had nothing to do with his rights fight. The motivation of his concerns for the war was that he thought that we cannot talk about discrimination issues if we don't have the moral to avoid a war.

A Gas Station Burns in the Forest: Illuminating Our Moral Legacy

Summary

...

Tell White Lies (Occasionally): Protecting from Unnecessary Hurt

Thesis: Telling White Lies Avoid Hurting People.

I. Telling white lies is common.

A. What motivates people to tell white lies.

1.Keeping secrets.

2.Avoiding to hurt someone.

B. Frequent situations of white lies.

II. My personal experience with white lies.

A. Brief story.

B. I learned from this situation...

III. The line between white lies and gray or black lies.

A. When to tell the truth.
IV. Telling white lies help people's feelings.
A. Knowing when someone may be hurt and telling white lies.

Courtesy: Key to a Happier World

Thesis: Life’s difficulties would be minimized if people were more courteous to each other.

I. Basic ingredients of good manners

A. Justice

B. Empathy

C. Treat all people alike

II. Three ways to improve one’s manners

A. Practice courtesy

1.  Concentrate in a specific area for a week

2. Don’t let others’ bad manners make you rude

B. To think in a courteous way

C. Be able to accept courtesy

Conclusion. Politeness is the golden rule in action.

"The Ant and the Grasshopper"

     Do you think the message in Maugham's story is the same as or different from the message in the Aesop fable of the ant and the grasshopper? Explain.

     The original "Ant and the Grasshopper" from Aesop is clearly different from the modern version. In the original story, the hardworking character was rewarded and the idle one was punished. In contrast, the newer version from W. Somerset Maugham has a quite different meaning. Both characters had the same features, but at the end of the story the winner was Tom, who represented the grasshopper. Tom didn't work as George did, but he used his charm to get a lot of things in his life, including a great fortune. He enjoyed his life while his brother George worked. This one is a more realistic story that shows the unfairness on this world. Not always the good person wins; nowadays the bad is barely punished.

The friendship bond

Questions 1-6

1- The social critics were expecting people to be unhappy with their friendship because according to research people choose to live alone. Also the lack of commitment and high mobility rate which leads to problems in the friendships.according to the survey people answered that their relationships are reciprocal, At least in America friendships appears to be in good shape.

2- The reading mention five qualities that are important in a friend: loyalty, ability to keep confidences and secrets, warmth, to show affection and supportiveness. That looks like a good order of importance since localty is what keeps a friendship alive.

3-  They mention two reasons to end a friendship: being lied by a friend and having different point of view on something significant for your friend. The one that makes more sense is being betrayed or lied, while having a different opinion on something can be more easily fixed by talking with that person.

4- The three main activities that can be found between friends are: having intimate talk, helping out a friend and turning to a friend for help. Trust is the most important thing if we want to share anything with another person. We won't tell personal things or even ask for help if we don't really trust that person.

5- The first rule on a friendship is that friends confide each other's feelings and the second one is that we have the right to ask for help. I think it depends which kind of friend we are talking about because I don't tell things to any person that comes to me. There are things also that maybe only one person in my life deserves to know.

6- The limits to a friendship is when one of the individuals commits negative actions that could put in danger the other person.