Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 8

Research Paper - Essay Example They share a history and tradition with certain faiths, but over time they have evolved, added and mutating rituals and making up new ones along the way (New Advent). Can it be said that the Santeria are one of the world’s more successful syncretic religions? Perhaps, but it depends on the criteria one uses to measure success. For example, there are not many members of Santeria and it is also quite a geographically and racially limited faith (de la Torre, 12). It probably would not appeal to a broad segment of the world’s population. The practitioners of this faith have also not made much of an impact on contemporary life. But before discussing this issue further, some history about Santeria is important. The Santeria developed largely out of a mix of African tribal religions and new world spirituality that meshed together in the plantations of the Caribbean. During the 16th and 17th century many Africans were kidnapped from their homes on the East Coast of Africa and f orcibly transferred to the Caribbean to work on sugarcane plantations as slaves (Eltis, 156-7). Their journey in the Middle Passage was a truly cruel and terrifying one. Although the place they were going to was very religious—mostly Catholic—the people there had no real respect for the Africans’ traditional religions. Many new arrivals to the New World found their religion had been criminalized and that they had to be baptized into a new faith (Eltis, 78). They had the vestiges of their old life stripped from them as they were nothing more than rags. Over time, the old religion and the new religions became one and Santeria was born. Santeria has special gods and special priests and interesting ceremonies that sometimes feature animal sacrifices. Music plays a very important role in the rituals (de la Torre, 121). In these respects it is similar to many of

Argument of After Shock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Argument of After Shock - Essay Example The book Aftershock is a manual that illustrates the declining state of US economy, its consequences and after effects although the authors justly verify the purpose pf the book as stated in the text, â€Å"It ’s only bad news for your personal economy if you don ’ t do anything about it† Hence this book suggests methods and remedies through which personal economic damage can be minimized even when the economy on the whole is falling apart. As the authors say in the book, â€Å"All we can offer is realism, based on facts and logical analysis† (10) and the rest depends on the reader and his interest in benefiting from the writers’ perspective Every fact that is stated in the book is based on, â€Å"a reliable theory of economic evolution, backed up by cold, hard facts, and not random guesses† (11). So such an analysis helps in providing the readers an in depth and logical account of the current situation. The writers use the concept of a †˜Bubble’ as a metaphor to illustrate the unpredictability and the temporariness of the economic conditions of the United States. As stated in the text, â€Å"†¦economic bubbles, by nature, do not stay afloat forever. Sooner or later, economic reality, like gravity, eventually kicks in, and bubbles do fall. After they burst, they never are able to re - inflate and lift off again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4). In their point of view the US economy comprises of six bubbles, â€Å"These bubbles included: the real estate bubble, stock market bubble, discretionary spending bubble, dollar bubble, and government debt bubble† (5).... The fundamental advantage of this bubble economic system was that, â€Å"†¦these six linked economic bubbles helped co – create America ’ s booming bubble economy†¦ these bubbles helped us ignore slowing productivity growth, boost our prosperity, disregard some fundamental problems, and keep the party going† (31). However once the decline started there was no possible solution to stop the decline and this decline is explained in the following words in the text, â€Å"First, we had the fall of the U.S. housing bubble and its downward impact on the stock market bubble, the private debt bubble, and the discretionary spending bubble†¦ Next, in the Aftershock, the dollar bubble and the U.S. government debt bubbles will begin their unavoidable descents†¦ And as the final bubbles in America’s bubble economy begin to burst, so will the world’s bubble economy† (33). The real estate or the housing bubble was the first pillar of the economic system that collapsed because the price and expenditures of making a new house increased greatly and outpaced the increase in an individual’s salary and eventually its decline started in 2006 and hence resulted in the rest of the downfall of the economic system. The private debt bubble involves the bank loans and the mortgage payments. When the stock market and the housing economic system crumpled the private debt sector also suffered a severe shock that ultimately led to its decline. The discretionary spending bubble is concerned with the total sum of money spent by the consumer. However due to recession when people started losing their jobs and the rate of unemployment increased consequently people started cutting their