BONDED LABOUR

Slavery was abolished in the mid-19^th century all over the world, but now it has gotten a new name, modern slavery. One sort is bonded labo(u)r which is most widespread in South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, but it can even appear in Britain. Any country can encounter this serious threat any time whether one is the west or not. It flourishes year by year due to the world’s poverty and discrimination in society. Especially limited access to education, justice and jobs for discriminated groups makes it difficult to get out of poverty. The need for cash for their survival forces people to work more in exchange for a loan.

Laws against bonded labor are not implemented properly, specifically in the poor countries. Indeed, there are several significant gaps in the protection of domestic workers. For instance, when people who are in debt want to leave the system, landlords or employers use /resort to  some coercion, violence or intimidation. Domestic workers are not safe  from this mistreatment.  In addition, it is also necessary to make a new rule  in order to  eradicate the new modern slavery. Since a person is forced to work to pay off a debt and a man who is the owner of the company deceives the person to work for little or no pay, with no control over their debt. New laws should enable them not to be  dependent on the owner and instead of  the government. Also, a controllable repayment system is necessary  for such people. By doing this, several problems would be solved easily.

Women and children are most vulnerable parts of the society. If the government encouraged children to enroll, regularly attend and remain at  school, they would learn about their social rights and achieve their own economic stability earlier. Thus, they could even work on their own to repay their debt and so wouldn’t have to be under the control of another person. Education is most important, if the government convinced women to know and use their legal employment rights, that would help break the cycle of bonded labor.

All in all, people are still facing this sort of slavery, bonded labor. To eradicate this problem, the government should undertake responsibility for  ruling and implementing new labo(u)r laws. In addition, people who suffer from this problem should learn about labo(u)r rights and educate themselves well to protect themselves from being controlled by anyone.

                                                                                  Raziye Yağız                                                                                                      

                                                             

THE DAMAGE DONE BY HEADPHONES

       There are many technologies and devices which can be dangerous as well if not properly used. In the modern world, many of us are wearing headphones all day, every day. Headphones and earbuds are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they are safe for our ears. Using earbuds and headphones can cause damage to our hearing, if we aren’t careful and don’t learn how to keep ourselves safe.

     People usually have a smartphone in their pocket and a pair of headphones that connect it directly to their ears, unfortunately those same devices that make listening or talking on the phone so direct damage our ears.  According to a 2011 study published in the journal of the American Medical Association; the use of headphones and earbuds has led to a major increase in the prevalence off hearing loss in adolescents and young adults. As a result  of the study, it was also seen, the prevalence of hearing loss among a sample of US adolescents aged 12 to 19 years was greater in 2005-2006 compared with 1988-1994.  For this reason; hearing loss is a common sensory disorder, affecting 20 million  individuals, especially adolescents and of all ages, in Turkey.

       It is obvious  that headphones can lead to some adverse effects. When we wear the headphones, strong vibrations reach our ear, the problem deep inside the cochlea is the fragile hairs and they turn vibrations into sound messages and send them to the brain. But the loud sound damages the hair cells and the cochlea can’t relay the sound messages to the brain and also unlike the damage to other parts of the body, it can’t be cured. The world Health Organization estimates more than 1 billion young people are in danger of hearing loss from portable audio devices, including smartphones. For this reason, when the damage  starts, then we are really on an irreversible journey, we should protect our life from these devices.

       There are also some preventative measures  against the damage done by  headphones. Firstly, avoid using headphones when alone and choose the right headphones or select the one with good sound  allowing you to hear a clear audio, which leads you to listen at low volume because the right volume is  probably not going to damage the hearing process. Doctor Foy also said  follow the %60 rule in regards to percentage of maximum volume and duration of time. There are also some advertisements and companies claiming/ which claim that you need expensive headphones to protect your hearing. This is obviously a wrong idea; the price doesn’t really correlate with the sound quality or the protection.

     Technology is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it can make your life easier and more convenient. But on the other hand, it comes with a lot of side effects and drawbacks. Especially headphones are great, when we are traveling, working out and just want to relax, but there are some harmful effects we are likely going to experience, if we don’t use them correctly.

FIRAT AKKUŞ

REPAIR VERSUS REPLACE

    My mother's generation had many skills that young people lack today.In the past,people could mend clothes, sew on buttons and fix a broken tap but this is not true of current generations who learnt  to replace rather than repair. This essay will discuss why these changes have occured and what effects this is having.

    Today fashion changes quickly but in the past it changed slowly. Clothing and furniture,for example,would last for many years; even generations. However, these days with pervasive advertising  and communication via social media, information about new items travels quickly and we tend to throw out the old to buy the new. Another reason why fashions change is that manufacturerers  are motivated to make goods that do not last very long. For example,cars today are built to last five to ten years, whereas in the past, cars would last much longer. By having early obsolescence, manufacturers can sell more goods.

      This change in attitude has deskilled the public and is damaging our environment. We have lost both the skills and will to maintain our possessions. In fact often we see it as exciting to make new purchases.Another change is that we now create more negative environmental impacts because many of the goods we buy and throw out are not biodegradable. We have become a generation of consumers and we are damaging the environment. This is a huge change from the past.

       In conclusion, today we tend to buy new items rather than repair older possessions.In the process,most of us have lost the skills and desire to repair older items and a further consequence is that we are damaging our environment due to excess waste products.

MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

        Throughout history, the fallibility of justice has harmed some innocent people. There is an important concept concerning the issue; it is called ‘’miscarriage of justice’’. Miscarriage of justice can be defined as a failure of justice. Due to miscarriage of justice, an innocent person is found guilty and a wrongful conviction is not overturned for several years, until after the innocent person has been executed, released from custody, or has died. Therefore, there remains some disagreement as to whether the current judicial systems in the world are enough. It is an undeniable fact that miscarriage of justice has disastrous effects on people’s lives. As regards the causes of this, it can be said that it is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that confirmation bias on the part of the investigators is important in this issue. It is obvious that man is a mortal entity and people can make a wrong decision but this decision affects other people’s life adversely. Some events concerning miscarriage of justice in the well-known documentaries can be shown as the best instance of this; although some people are not guilty, they had stayed in  the prison for a long time. It is clear that time is indispensable for humanity due to the fact that it is impossible to compensate. It is clear that acting regardless of/ disregarding the criminal standard of proof is not right but confirmation bias leads to some negative consequences such as wrongful conviction.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: the withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or the prosecution causes miscarriage of justice. It is obvious that forensic science is an important factor during the prosecution process so forensic evidence is important to prove somebody’s innocence. Therefore, governments or officials should take precautions to prevent these situations, otherwise, some innocent people are found guilty and they can pass away or waste the best years of their life behind bars before their innocence is proved. Due to these reasons, these improper/negative situations cause miscarriage of justice.

                To summarize, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that miscarriage of justice is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

KUBİLAY ESER

 

THE POWER OF A BROADER PERSPECTIVE

                                              

                The power of perspective has brought significant changes to human life throughout history. It is obvious that having a broader perspective is indispensable for people and numerous developments or inventions happened/ took place thanks to the power of a broader perspective. There is one proverb about this issue: ‘’ what we see depends on what we look for’’. It is an undeniable fact that the viewpoints of people shape their thoughts, decisions, actions, and ultimately their feeling of success. There are a lot of advantages of having a broader perspective.

                In the first place, a broader perspective increases tolerance and understanding. It is clear that people who have a broader perspective refrain from making ignorant assumptions that can be destructive, so the perspective contributes to increasing tolerance. Similarly, one of the greatest benefits of travel is broadening of people’s perspective. Spending time in another culture gives a chance to find an alternative way of living to live well, that is to say, the perspective increases understanding. 

Likewise, when it comes to business relations and relationships, a broader perspective strengthen business relations and relationships. In order to have a successful business, sellers need to know what customers need and what they are looking for. Therefore, sellers have to think and see life from their customer’s perspective. A broader perspective strengthens business relations by providing with seeing from the customer’s perspective. In addition, people who have a broader perspective refrain from entering into a potentially contentious situation and find a middle ground, so having a broader perspective helps people to strengthen relationships.

                In the second place, people having a broader perspective are  the best candidates to hire and the better problem-solvers because they  are not subject to  unnecessary stress and stereotypes. Increasingly in the global economy, being aware of many different cultures has become important, in other words, to put it differently, having a broader perspective has become important. So, a person who has a broader perspective becomes the best candidate to hire. At the same time, a broader perspective provides a person with a skill to solve myriad problems or conundrums by analytical thinking, that is, people become  better problem-solvers. Besides, people may become a bit stressed because of uncontrollable events, a broader perspective can ease this angst, similarly, stereotypes are incorrect, oversimplified and fixed. Each of us, as individuals, is always evolving, growing and changing. Having a broader perspective contributes to the elimination of stereotypes of this kind.

                All that has been said  raises the issue of whether having a broader perspective is favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are lots of advantages of having a broader perspective. Increasing tolerance and understanding, strengthening business relations and relationships, becoming the best candidate to hire and a better problem-solver by eliminating unnecessary stress and stereotypes can be listed as the advantages of having a broader perspective. It should not be forgotten that having a broader perspective is indispensable for people who have global aims and targets.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

                                         

           
 The industrial revolution is defined as the period between the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The period started with the first cotton mill in 1733 in England. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret. Samuel Slater was a famous and important name in these years. Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution and the father of the American Factory System. In the UK, he was called ‘’Slater the Traitor’’ because he brought British textile technology to America.Although the industrial revolution is seen as appealing to many people, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

The industrial revolution marked a major turning point in the Earth’s ecology and people’s relationship with their environment. The industrial revolution dramatically changed every aspect of human life and lifestyles when machinery began to replace manual labor. Fossil fuels replaced wind, water and wood and were used for the manufacture of textiles and the development of the iron making process. The full impact of the industrial revolution would not begin to be realized until about 100 years later in the 1800s when the use of machines to replace human labor spread throughout Europe and North America. This transformation is referred to as the industrialization of the world. This process gave  rise to sweeping increases in production capacity and would affect all basic human needs, including food production, medicine, housing, and clothing. Not only did society develop the ability to have more things faster, but also it would be able to develop better things. That process of industrialization  continues today. There have been movements and periods in history which have proved to be important milestones leaving their mark on the years to come and forever changing the social, economic and cultural landscape. Some were religious in nature like The Reformation; some were artistic and philosophical like The Renaissance; yet others were economic like The Industrial Revolution. The former two movements have been widely studied but the latter is often overlooked. In fact, this movement which started with the invention of the spinning jenny and continued to impact all areas of business and social life throughout the 18^th and the 19^th centuries had some far reaching consequences.

There is a wide discussion in many parts of the world as to the effects of the Industrial Revolution. It is clear that working conditions, living conditions, urbanization, public health, and life expectancy, child labor, working-class families and the role of women, the emerging middle class, wealth and income are important effects in this period. Actually, there remains some disagreement as to how life for the average industrial worker was forever changed by bringing wealth and power to Great Britain throughout the 19^th century. Therefore,  the effects of industrialization on society and on daily living in a new industrial city should be explored.

            Firstly, in terms of working conditions, workers made up 80% of society and landowners were enclosing common village lands since the population was increasing in Great Britain. Besides, having no bargaining power to demand higher wages, fairer work hours, or better working conditions meant that working life was very tough for the workers of that period. In addition, there is a big problem: lack of medical attention due to the fact that injured workers would typically lose their jobs and  receive no financial compensation for their injury to pay for much-needed health care. It is clear that the government should have intervened in the free market to improve working conditions and workers should  not have been forced to work. That is to say, the government should have established a commission to investigate working conditions in the new factories and mills. If there are unsafe conditions, it is the government’s responsibility to look out for the safety of its citizens and set minimum safety standards.

            Secondly, in terms of living conditions, working in new industrial cities had an effect on people’s lives outsides of the factories as well. But it is an undeniable fact that during the first sixty years of the Industrial Revolution, living conditions were, by far, the worst for the poorest of the poor. Obviously, cities should have become places with opportunities for sport and entertainment.  It is the duty of the government in any welfare state to provide legislation to ensure that the living conditions of the working class are improved. This was not done during the 19^th century as the modern welfare state had yet to be established. Instead it was believed that the  government should intervene as little as possible to improve living conditions for the working class. After all, if the government gave handouts to the poor, there would be no incentive for them to find work on their own.

            Thirdly, in terms of urbanization, this period witnessed  the rise of cities. In pre-industrial society, over 80% of people lived in rural areas. As migrants moved from the countryside, small towns became large cities. As a result, working-class neighborhoods were formed and they were  bleak, crowded, dirty, and polluted. It was believed at the time that the government should not intervene in the free market to regulate industrial pollution or the filth in working-class neighborhoods. In fact, the government should have established a commission to investigate the negative effects of industrialization on urban life.

            Fourthly, in terms of public health and life expectancy, in the first half of the 19^th century, urban overcrowding, poor diets, poor sanitation, and essentially medieval medical remedies all contributed to very poor public health for the majority of British people. In addition, drinking water resources, such as wells, were frequently contaminated with diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, typhus, typhoid, and influenza. Unfortunately, it is true that in 1849, ten thousand people died of cholera in three months in London alone. Poor nutrition, disease, lack of sanitation, and harmful medical care in these urban areas had a devastating effect on the average life expectancy of British people in the first half of the 19^th century. It was believed that, the government should not intervene in the free market to improve public health. Citizens, it was felt, should be  free to hire a doctor, go to a hospital, or seek their own medical remedies, as they had been doing for centuries. The government, it was thought, had not been and should not be in the business of building houses for poor people.

            Fifthly, in terms of child labor, unfortunately, child labor was integral to the first factories, mines, and mills in England. The tedious and dangerous factory work had negative effects on the health of children. There is one fundamental question: Why was child labor used? Generally, as regards the causes of this, it is claimed that child employees are better than adults due to the fact that they are more obedient and child labor is cheap. What is more, most people believed that these impacts were expected to intensify in the following decades and unfortunately they were right because child labor is still a big problem in the modern world, in the twenty-first century, according to research carried out by international survey companies, especially in Southeastern Asia.

            Sixthly, in terms of classes, it is an undeniable fact that middle classes or ‘’ middling sort’’ emerged in industrial cities, mostly toward the end of 19^th century. The society consisted of aristocrats born into their lives of wealth and privilege, and low-income people born into the working classes. Besides, ‘’white collar’’ workers  such as business people, shopkeepers, bank clerks, insurance agents, merchants, accountants, managers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers emerged. However, it was believed that the government should not intervene in the private family lives of its citizens. The middle class it was felt, was doing fine. In fact the government should invest in the public school system to educate its citizens and encourage the continued rise of the middle class.

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all of these points that have been explained so far is that the industrial revolution has had lots of detrimental effects, what is more, the detrimental effects of the industrial revolution are still going on constantly. Due to this reason, precautions should be taken to minimize them. No matter what happens, nothing is more important than human life so it should be given due importance and it should not be endangered, that is to say, living properly is the most important thing for people in the world. In other words, to put it differently, the revolution led to negative results i.e. the social impacts of the industrial revolution in cities brought poverty and harsh living conditions. There is one proverb about this issue: ‘’stood on the shoulders of giants’’. It is not wrong to say that the revolution played an important role in rapid urbanization.

KUBİLAY ESER

THE SOCRATIC METHOD AND PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY​

      Education has become one of the main themes of philosophy due to its common points and correlations. Education can be defined as a process of learning and teaching which can be actualized on one’s own or with a teacher using various materials and methods. In its simplest form, philosophy is the search for knowledge and truth by judging and critical thinking. In the history of Greek Philosophy, philosophers used different methods to teach their students philosophy and educate them with their own techniques. Socrates, who known as the founder of Philosophy, constituted a method whose name is the dialectic method or the Socratic method and it was based on making dialogues. Other than this, his well-known student Plato justified a different method, which is almost the opposite of the Socratic method, for effective education in society. He also mentioned his and Socrates's method in The Republic. Throughout the history of philosophy, it is debated by philosophers to decide which one is more productive and applicable in society.

       The Socratic method or the dialectic method is based on the dialogue technique which requires consistently asking and criticizing. Socrates believed that argumentative dialogue between individuals and asking question after question stimulate critical thinking and good reasoning. With that, he also asserted that it helps to solidify students’ knowledge of the case by thinking critically under pressure. But the disputed part of his method was about the belief that claims it can be applied and succeed with everyone. According to Plato’s book whose name is Menon,ın order to prove that, he asked a geometry problem to an illiterate peasant and helped him to find the correct answer by regularly asking questions and criticizing.He believed that through this method the individual can find his own mistakes and think again until he finds the correct answer. Because of that reason, having knowledge about something is not a necessary factor or in other words, it isn’t a priority to achieve the right answer.

        The reason for emphasizing critical thinking and giving less importance to having knowledge in the Socratic method was his thought that asserts knowledge is the only tool to find answers; The fundamental way to learn something is thinking and making criticizes about information by using your mind effectively.His explanation for this idea was knowledge can only take you to a particular place, in order to proceed and to be aware of other options, you have to review and make criticisms about your argument. That may explain to us why most of the education systems don't use ‘Essentialism’ which teaches just by giving information and use ‘Progressivizm’ which provides a contrast with essentialism due to learning by experiencing and thinking for effective learning.  

       As an illustration to the usage of the Socratic method in the classroom, we can exemplify a teacher who randomly picks a student and ask her/him questions continuously. Today, some colleges use this technique due to its efficiency. In Harvard Law School, the professor starts asking question to dozens of students during a class session and then, some of the other students oppose his/her idea or specify the wrong points. In that way, students can see the unobserved parts of the case and represent different solutions. Furthermore, the student may become a more accountable person and join the discussion by reading before lectures. With this in mind, it might be a disturbing situation for a student who couldn't answer the professor’s question at the first time and also it may condition the student to join next lecture because of this experience. In this wise, her/his confidence might be affected badly and this way causes unwillingness to attend the professor’s lectures. In order to prevent this harm, teachers can start to use this technique in elementary school and students can become habituated.

       Plato’s method for education can be contrasted with Socrates’s even though he was educated by him.First of all, Platon believed that education should be used as a tool to protect public order by society.In order do that properly, education should be institutional instead of being individualist and learning must be a process of transferring information which is the opposite of learning by criticizing and experiencing like in the Socratic method.He mentioned his ideas about social structure in the ideal state that is shaped by education in his famous book ‘The Republic’. In the book, he wrote that every individual should be educated according to his nature, capability, and skills. In order to ensure the accordance between capability and education, he classified the society in three groups which are rulers, soldiers or in other words protectors and workers. He thought that the people who have a tendency to work in a job which requires physical ability should be in the group of workers.In the same way, the people who are innate courageous and brave should be in the group of protectors. But, when it comes to the rulers, he believed there must be more specific elimination.Plato thought that rulers should be chosen from among protectors’ group with an examination. In that way, the purpose of education for Plato was defining the appropriate social status of individuals according to their capacity. In that way, every person can devote his life to what is the best fit for him.

       He believed in teaching math, philosophy or geometry to the people who are just in the group of rulers because intellectual aristocracy is the rule of the intellectual elite. He believed that knowledge should be given to the people who can evaluate, criticize, and use it widely.With this in mind, he was against compulsory education and explained it in The Republic with this sentence; Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Forcing someone to learn something without considering his abilities won’t be beneficial for the person or the state. Therefore, education has to be individualistic and done by the correct person.

     Socrates’s philosophy and method in education are different from Plato’s philosophy in many ways. Primarily, Socrates interpreted education as an active process that individuals took part in themselves. In contrast, Plato asserted it was a passive process because the people get all information and acquire knowledge from a teacher and don’t try to find the right answer by criticizing. Secondly, Socrates believed that education has to be non-dogmatic while Plato argued the opposite one ‘dogmatic education’.As a result of reasoning in the Socratic method, he used induction in the learning process.On the contrary, Plato used deduction while teaching something. Socrates taught a lesson by talking and discussing the issue with his students and his philosophy was based on having argumentative conversations. But Plato interpreted philosophy as a whole of truths and taught it by writing and reading.

     As another difference between Plato’s and Socrates’s philosophy in education is the possibility of having an education. Plato thought education has to be individualistic while Socrates asserts it has to be institutional. The reason for this and other clashes of ideas might be their approach to the regime; Socrates justifies democracy, on the other hand, Plato takes the side of autocracy. Because Socrates was justifying democracy, he asserted that everyone should be educated in equal standards and take part in education.For Plato, he considers education as an individualistic process on account of autocracy.He believed that education should be given to the elite which he defined as the rulers. It may seem unfair and hierarchical at first but, if we think about today’s education and the people who work in jobs that they are not fit to do because the job wasn't given to them considering their capacities and  abilities, the idea of hierarchical education might seem right and feasible.

                                  SUEDA DİNÇ