Marshall Berman; the Contradictions of Modernity Essay

Marshall Berman; the Contradictions of Modernity - Essay Example As the research declares in describing the modern human, Berman says â€Å"they are moved at once by a will to change – to transform both themselves and their world – and by a terror of disorientation and disintegration, of life falling apart†. Through this statement, it is easy to see the conflicting emotions of an individual undergoing change of any kind. Relating it to everyday life, an individual might strive to pursue a dream career by quitting their job and launching a business of their own, but at the same time be paralyzed by the fear of this new venture failing, or worse, succeeding. Either way, it represents a change in the way things have been. â€Å"To be modern is to live a life of paradox and contradiction. This paper stresses that in the capitalistic society, it is greatly argued that man has control of the market, the customer is always right and the consumer is the master by reason of making the choice to purchase or not purchase. Berman points out that often this is not really the case. Although we might have our choice of traveling by plane, train or automobile, sometimes that ‘choice’ boils down to just one option based on the availability of flights, trains or roads. Idealistically speaking, we have free choice in which doctors to see for various complaints, however, it is actually the insurance companies that dictate to whom we can go and how much can be charged based on the conditions listed.

The power of a world view Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The power of a world view - Essay Example The 4 horsemen are the same as the four myths as described above. Colson explains how the first horseman rails against heaven with the presumptuous question: why do bad things happen to good people He multiplies evil by denying its existence. The second horseman comes with sword and slaughter in the false hope of creating the perfect man. The third horseman sows chaos and confusion by questioning absolute morality. The fourth horseman brings excess and isolation by putting the individual over the society. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has transformed lives in ways which are beyond what can be experimentally evaluated. Only those impacted can truly understand the change in their lives. Third parties only get an external glimpse, and yet even this glimpse is glorious. Following are examples of this transformation which come out of the address of Charles Colson. Colson claims to be one who is himself transformed by Jesus Christ, this transformation being evident in his life over a period of twenty years. Jesus is credited by Colson as the reason for the excellence in his work as well as the award itself. Colson quotes the study of social scientist James Q Wilson who searched for a correlation between crime and social forces According to him, when America was rapidly industrializing in the late nineteenth century, conditions should have caused crime to increase, but it actually declined. He explained this phenomenon by crediting it to a powerful spiritual awakening that was sweeping the nation, inspiring moral revival and social renewal. This could be compared to the 1920s when affluence should have curbed crime, but it actually increased. The explanation was the wake of the theories of Darwin and Freud in this period when religion was no longer accepted universally as a good thing. Eg 3: The fall of the iron curtain. Colson describes a symbolic moment in May 1990 when a bearded monk thrust a huge crucifix into the air in the Red square and shouted above the crowd under the reviewing stand where Gorbachev and other Soviet leaders stood, "Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is risen!" Gorbachev turned and walked off the platform. The signal went across the continent and ultimately led to the collapse of communism. Eg 4: The Humaita prison in San Jose dos Campos Brazil. The prison mentioned above was turned over to two Christian laymen twenty years before Colson visited it. These men planned to run it on Christian principles. This they did. When Colson visited the prison he was greeted by a smiling murderer who was trusted with the keys to the prison and let Colson in. Inside Colson noted men at peace, clean living areas, inmates involved in industrious output, and walls decorated with Bible verses. Humaita's recidivism rate was 4% as compared to 75% in the rest of Brazil and the US. Colson says the reason was the realization among the inmates that Jesus died for their sins and crimes - this was symbolized by a crucifix beautifully