Reflection Summary Essays

Reflection Summary Essays Reflection Summary Essay Reflection Summary Essay Essay Topic: The Outsiders Reflection Summary Name: Course: Date: Question 1 Reflection How is â€Å"the local† valued (or not valued) in a community that you are familiar with? The locals in the Willow Glen Community in San Jose, in the United States of America, are valued on various but fundamental aspects that constitute the community. This is mainly attributed by the acknowledgement of the local aspects by outsiders who do not understand how the local community functions. Such aspects comprise the knowledge of the locals, the culture, resources, skills and processes. By acknowledging such aspects, the outsiders and the local people are able to interact positively and work together in harmony and concord. On the subject of local knowledge, it is correct to assert that the locals know most about their respective communities than the outsiders. However, most people tend to rely on external expertise in order to provide solutions for problems affecting the community. Utilizing the knowledge of external expertise devalues the local people’s knowledge since such experts are mostly outsiders. For instance, the Willow Glen community works with local groups such as Martha’s Kitchen and the Sacred Heart Community Service to provide basic needs for the homeless in the community. This enables the community to cater for its inhabitants without relying on outside groups. Both locals and outsiders need to have confidence in the local knowledge available. It is also noteworthy for outsiders to know and learn about the local culture. Since local culture refers to the practices and customs of the community, outsiders often are precarious about the local culture. For instance, every December on Christmas Day, the residents of the Willow Glen community decorate Christmas trees on the residents’ front yards. The event is an annual event comprising culture of the San Jose Community and is a common tradition among the residents. Therefore, learning about the culture enables the outsiders to value the local customs and practices as well as be cautious regarding rare occurrences of harmful practices. Outsiders require taking advantage of the local resources in the community. Local resources comprise the products and services a community locally creates. For instance, the Willow Glen Community Center relies on local produce in order to provide healthy and nutritious food for the visitors such as children and aged adults. Hence, by investing in local products, the community benefits since it becomes developed. Furthermore, investing in the local products and services enables the capacity of the local people. Additionally, the community will be able to rely on itself for the provision of communal amenities and even fund its own community projects. The local people also need to utilize their own resources to further their own community. Both the outsider and local person should value the local skills. Community workers are skilful workers in the community, and they work around their respective communities in order to improve the locals’ welfare. However, for a community to develop, the local people require to involve themselves in learning about the workers’ skills and participate in the community work. The outsiders are not an exception. For instance, The Willow Glen Community works together with the Willow Glen Business Action to incorporate a benefit improvement program that will transform the business district of the community. Hence, by working together with the community workers, the outsiders and the local people will be able to build relationships and work in solidarity. Outsiders should learn about the processes in the community. The processes dictate how the community works. For instance, locals at the Willow Glen community have specific times set for local meetings in order to discuss the welfare of their community. Hence, it is necessary for outsiders to learn about such processes because some of the processes can be easily ignored leading to disruption of the event. Furthermore, ignoring the community’s processes can make the outsiders change the event leading to discord leading to a negative perception of the developers by the local people since such processes should be respected. Therefore, taking an interest in the community processes induces the locals to perceive the outsiders in a positive way and appreciate them. In retrospect, the local community is knowledgeable on the fundamental aspects that constitute the community in which they live and they should portray this knowledge to outsiders. In addition, outsiders should know and learn the local culture and through its appreciation, they should enhance the local resources in the community. Question 2 Summary The chapter, the Development Hoax, discusses the paradox nature of development. Using the region of Ladakh, the chapter defines the irony associated with development by using the region as an illustration to outline the absurdity of development in the modern context. Ladakh was once a region that adopted conventional practices and the locals were able to be self-reliant and emphasize on contentment rather than material comfort. However, with the influence of the common paradigm known as modernization or westernization, the region immediately besmirched because of the increase in environmental degradation, greed and material gain: aspects that define the notion termed as development. The agents of development are perceived to be associated with technological advancements and economic growth. To incorporate such objectives, labor and capital intensive methods are required to inculcate the Westernized from of development, which comprises heavy infrastructure. However, the unfavorable as pect of such activities is never realized. The characteristics of development are not different around the world: hence, it is valid to enhance a broad generalization of development since it comprises the creation of a single economic and culture system and elimination of diversity and autonomy. The introduction of cash to a system assumes an improvement in development. Hence, the more finances a country possesses, the more developed it is. This defines the economic growth of the country while disregarding the ethical practices of acquiring the money. The money is used to fund high resource-consuming projects neglecting projects that can actually assist people. Moreover, such a notion eliminates self-reliance and contentment. Development is also attributed to environmental degradation due to the production of chemicals, such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers and energy intensive farming methods, for commercial gain. The negative attributes are because of the self-serving intere sts of industrialized countries and multinational enterprises who want to create a single and similar economic system. Furthermore, development is associated with tracing the paths of developed countries for underdeveloped nations to become developed. The influence to follow the developed countries is characterized by abstract low poverty and population rates and the reduction in environmental pollution. However, that concept is no more than a hoax since most developed nations consume essential industrial resources in a way that the resources cannot be replenished and enable the underdeveloped countries to develop. Development is, therefore, a term that characterized by the exploitation of resources of the underdeveloped countries by the developed to further themselves and ensure dependence of the underdeveloped countries. Despite the argument that poverty and overpopulation represent significant problems globally and that economic development is the viable solution, the truth is th at such problems are an attribute of conventional development. This is because of advocacy for urbanization, industrialization and negligence of agriculture and the bucolic economy, which has led to the creation for destitution on a grand scale. Hence, the notion of development has only created a biased system that disregards self-reliance and diversity and advocates for dominance and exploitation of underdeveloped countries, maintaining the same status quo for immeasurable time without alleviating the affected who are the majority of the world.