A Crisis Of Character By Jody Williams - 1254 Words

A Crisis of Character American political activist Jody Williams once said â€Å"There’s a mythology that if you want to change the world, you have to be sainted like Mother Teresa or Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But ordinary people with lives that go up and down and around in circles can still contribute to change.† In an excerpt from his essay â€Å"Why Bother?† published in the New York Times Magazine, American public intellectual Michael Pollan reveals his goal to convince ordinary American citizens that they are capable of changing their behavior in order to reduce America’s carbon footprint. Through the use of the four rhetorical elements situation, purpose, claim, and audience, Pollan aspires to have his readers gain a greater understanding that the environmental crisis is â€Å"at heart a crisis of character† (Pollan 766). However, although Pollan targets the correct audience to carry out his purpose, he fails to provide proper evidence to suppor t his claim that individual contribution matters. Pollan states that the situation that first motivated him to write about his distress over the state of the environment came from a televised lecture made by American politician and environmentalist Al Gore, entitled An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary was intended to raise awareness about the dangers of global warming and encourage people to take appropriate action to successfully reverse climate change. Pollan recalls that the â€Å"really dark moment [of the lecture] came during the closingShow MoreRelatedExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagestropical diseases, sell low-priced essential drugs and provide technology transfer. Questions around the purpose and ethics of the global pharmaceutical industry gained a high public proï ¬ le as disputes over access to modern AIDS therapies reached crisis point. When the South African government proposed legislation to allow generic imports of branded drugs, a coalition of 39 ï ¬ rms took legal action. Giv en the tragic AIDS epidemic and the saintly ï ¬ gure of Nelson Mandela, this was not the best exampleRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesSelf-Assessment Library How Creative Am I? 190 Point/Counterpoint Checklists Lead to Better Decisions 191 CONTENTS xi Questions for Review 192 Experiential Exercise Biases in Decision Making 193 Ethical Dilemma Do Unethical Decisions Come from Bad Character? 193 Case Incident 1 Computerized Decision Making 194 Case Incident 2 Predictions That Didn’t Quite Pan Out 195 7 Motivation Concepts 201 Defining Motivation 202 Early Theories of Motivation 203 Hierarchy of Needs Theory 203 †¢ TheoryRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagespractices most clearly when they are illustrated through Preface xvii examples, so we’ve used a wealth of examples to clarify ideas and build interest. The last year has provided unusual challenges to providing current examples. The financial crisis and recession that descended on the United States in the fall of 2008 saw the failure or bankruptcy of companies that were formerly considered to be well run and highly admired. Human Resource professionals worried about attracting enough qualified