5. Some people say that older people should live with their adult children, while others think that they should live in homes specially built for old people. Which do you think is better practice?
These days, it is difficult to say whether the practice of living alone or with one’s adult children is more amicable for the elderly. This would depend entirely on the relationship between members within a particular family to determine which option is more suitable. However, I can say that the traditional practice of the extended family where elderly people enjoy love and respect from their family members in addition to food, clothing and shelter appears to be diminishing to a great extent.
In this essay, I will examine some of the reasons for this change in the following discussion. In recent times, several factors have created a great impact on family structuring; the replacement of extended families with nuclear families, choosing to have fewer children due to rising population and economic pressures, an increase in the umber of women who go out to work, and the migration of younger family members to cities to find better paying jobs. For those senior citizens caught up in these changing times, expectations that they may have had for their twilight years are now shifting.
Family solidarity is valued by most people in every society; therefore it is natural that caring responsibilities between generations should be brought forward for consideration. In our increasingly urbanized world, the occurrence of old people’s homes and silver towns is becoming more commonplace.
Living independently from one’s adult children and one’s extended family often requires a lot more autonomy and decision-making in later life. Many grey-haired individuals possess their full mental and physical faculties until they are very old and are quite capable of looking after themselves. Others, however, are not so fortunate and are therefore more dependent on family members and professional care-givers.
What remains true, for elderly people living alone or with their families, is that people’s attitudes towards senior citizens have to change in order to promote active citizenship for elderly people. Even in our modern industrialized societies we have to make older people feel valued so they are not looked upon as a liability by their families or their communities.
6. With the development of market economies advertising has become a dominant feature in the television industry. Despite the wealth of information that is brought to us by television, there still exists strong criticism against TV advertising. What is your opinion?
For the past several decades, advertising on TV has been at the center of heated debate from both within and outside the entertainment and advertising sectors. In no other time in history have we seen a form of entertainment that is so widely accessible to the masses. Oftentimes, television is the only type of entertainment that underprivileged families can afford and it is not unusual to find TV in some of the world’s remotest areas. Notably, children make up a major part of any television audience, a fact that TV advertisers are well aware of. In this essay, I will investigate some of the adverse effects television advertising has on viewers within market economies around the globe. Television has its benefits of which we are all conscious, and no one could deny that it is an educative tool for audiences, especially young viewers. However, television is also a form of communications mass media and is often employed as a manipulative tool by many advertisers working in industry.
In fact, TV advertisers are well aware that children are captive audiences who are vulnerable to the hard sell, the flashy images, and the recurring images that implant messages into their receptive minds. Research has shown that there is a direct association between television commercials for junk foods, snacks and candies and mounting levels of obesity among children.
Excessive consumption is the hard and fast result of television advertising in market economies all over the world, Researchers are also concerned that TV advertising places excessive pressure on men and women to center undue attention on their appearance. An overemphasis on the importance of physical attractiveness in an attempt to sell products at all costs is another feature of advertising on TV. Many men and women now fear being unattractive or old because of the information relayed to them through television advertising.
In addition to the points raised above, television advertising is intrusive into audiences, viewing time. How often have you found yourself captivated by a program on TV to be interrupted by a bombardment of unwanted commercials? Governments should therefore ensure that the amount of television advertising time is kept to a minimum, as it is more often than not an unwanted nuisance factor in our modern market-driven lives. In their hearts, I believe people just want to be able to relax in front of a television.
7. Many old buildings are protected by historic trusts and international organizations such as UNESCO. However, some people think that old buildings stand in the way of progress. How important do you think it is to protect old buildings?
Historic buildings provide a physical link to our past. This link allows us to develop a sense of orientation about our place in history. We can learn from the past, and through safeguarding our historic buildings, can continue to benefit from the accomplishments of our ancestors.
Of course, most people would be hesitant to knock down a historic building in favor of creating a new apartment complex or an office block to meet the rising needs of a growing population and a changing economy. This is where the question of what is “historic” and of value to a particular community comes into play. Age is a decisive factor for a historic resource, but it must be defined in relative terms. The definition of “old” will differ with a person’s perspective in time and the resource being considered. A convenience store that is 25 years old might be considered historic, while a university campus might not be considered historic until it is 50 or 75 years old.
All too often, we have seen and continue to see neighborhoods being bulldozed in the name of progress. Under gentrification, housing prices rise in the previously poor neighborhoods, so that renters there either have to relocate or absorb elevated rental costs. What should stand in the way of progress is not only history but practicality and a thorough assessment of what is more beneficial for everyone concerned. Only when it is more costly to keep up a building or a district should town and city planners consider redevelopment as an option.
Historic buildings are an important building block in the flow of our culture through time: a child visits a historic civic building to learn more about what it means to be a native of his or her hometown; a city resident on a historic farm learns about pride and dedication in working the land. Historic buildings are studied to tell us about the use of materials and resourceful solutions in everyday living.
Historic buildings are vital for our prospective future. These assets need protection. We cannot afford to lose the physical materials, ideas, skills and understanding of our past.
