Diversity

In recent years, especially in America, diversity has been encouraged in our society. Most would agree that this is a good thing. However, this diversity--if simply forced upon governments and associations with the use of "token" representatives--is virtually meaningless, and diversity should not be forced where it does not happen naturally.
For example, a police force may recognize that its demographic is predominantly male. Should it then hire more women and turn away more men in the interest of diversity? In this case, women who may not be as adequate for the job-not because they are women but because they are not as qualified-will be accepted as tokens simply because they are women, and the quality of the police force will decline. In this case, this forced sense of diversity favors the minority rather than promoting equality.
In another case, artificial diversity could cause a minority to be a forced part of an organization or government, there as a token but with no real voice. If only a few minority individuals are included, their voice may simply be overpowered by the collective voice of the majority. The only way for this promotion of diversity to work properly is if all members cooperate, agreeing to open their minds to different views.
However, if every government did this, the individual cultures and traditions would eventually be lost. This is not to say that minorities should not be represented, only that they should be represented (in the case if a government) in proportion to their population within the country.
--CZ

How Diversity affects Society

I agree that the key to diversity is not just an increase in the number of Latinos, African Americans, or other different nations, but instead a difference in opinions, moral values, perspective, and thoughts. When everyone brings there own different thoughts, and present their ideas to others, a sense of individuality is shown. The more people with different opinions, the more diversity there is. And the more diverse a society is, the more we realize how unique each one of us is.

I believe that the more different kinds of people there are in a society then the more we get to understand and comprehend each others beliefs, thoughts, and values. For example if the majority of people are all different, then it would be easier for that group of people to relate to each other. However if only the majority is diverse then tensions will be the most likely thing to be present in the situation. That's why I think it is important to have people of different thoughts and beliefs.

Diversity

No matter what the ethnic makeup of a group is, everyone has their own individual thoughts and views, which makes  the group diverse. A person can be the only racially different one in a group, and yet share the same thoughts as the rest of the people. I think there are different aspects of diversity depending on the situation. For example, when schools say that they are diverse, I think that they are most likely referring to ethnicity or culture so that students from around the world can feel more comfortable. I think the way people think comes form how they were raised and the environment that they were raised in along with many other components. Although people might be raised in the same place and in the same way, each person has their own individual thoughts that they come up with for themselves.

Caherine

Thoughts on Diversity

       I agree with that diversity is not only existed between people from different nations, but also happened between different thoughts; religions or values. People may have same culture backgroud but have diiferent point views on one thing, them they have diversity between each other.
       Connect to myself, I am Chinese, and I believe in Buddhism. Some of my friends in China believe in Christianity. When we have a discussion on believe or God, we always have a huge argument. The argument between us is the diversity between us.
       No one has the same identity, we are all different between each other. The differences creates the diversities. So even people all from the same nation, all have the same education, all have the same religion, there still some diversities in between, that is what ourselves a unique person.
                                                                                           likezekeem

What is Diversity?

I agree with the quote. Diversity is to have many different cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Just because you have 50 Jews and 70 Muslims doesn't mean you have a diverse group of people. On the other hand, if you had 20 Mexicans, 30 African Americans, 10 atheists, 50 Jews, and 20 Roman Catholics; Then you have a diverse group. When you have a large number of people with the same views as yourself, you will get nowhere. When you have a mixed group of people, you can debate about whether or not there is a God, or if Jesus was truly the son of God. If you have all Catholics in a room, obviously they will all agree there is a god. But if you throw in some Jews, they may disagree with the existence of Jesus as the son of God. But, if you have a group of people that are from the same region in the world, or share the same religion, that does not mean they will have the same way of thinking as the other people with shared characteristics. I think to be diverse is always better than having a large group of people with one culture, religion, or ethnicity.

-Vicki 2013

Diversity

I half agree with this quote. I believe that you don't need to have different backrounds to have a diversity of opinions, but usually if people are from one backround they usually have the similar opinions, which can sever potentially useful ideas that someone with different experience can offer. For example, during the times when America was segregated based on skin color, only the white people consulted one another whether it was right for this segregation to occur. They all had more or less the same opinions, so they continued their unfair seperation of races. But once the African American peoples protested and were allowed to express their opinions to the White house, things quickly changed, and segregation more or less ended. I also think that there should be equal amounts of different ideas, so one doesn't overwhelm the others by sheer numbers.

I think people have different opinions because everyone is raised in different areas where customs and the enviornment is different. Suppose someone was born in a place where water was scarce, and they learn to value water and many other aspects of their life. Now someone born in a place like New York, where all the resources this person needs are readily availble to him. He won't value things like food and water as much as the person who grew up in a place where they were luxuries. So if they were to discuss about the importance of Earth's resources, the New Yorker would probably more ready to use vasts amounts of them, while the person who grew up in the deserts would be a lot more frugal, and would probably try to ration them.

-Samar

Discussion on diversity

"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."
                                                                                                                                  - Maya Angelou

“The key to diversity is not just an increase in the numbers of Latinos, African Americans, or others from different nations, but the increased variety of perspectives, values, and thoughts they bring with them." Discuss.

Aesop's Fables

Apollonius of Tyana, a 1st century CE philosopher, is recorded as having said about Aesop:... like those who dine well off the plainest dishes, he made use of humble incidents to teach great truths, and after serving up a story he adds to it the advice to do a thing or not to do it. Then, too, he was really more attached to truth than the poets are; for the latter do violence to their own stories in order to make them probable; but he by announcing a story which everyone knows not to be true, told the truth by the very fact that he did not claim to be relating real events.

Remy and the Cow

There once was a little chicken named Remy. There was also a cow named Leah. Leah challenged Remy to a race across the barn. Both Leah and Remy wer in poor condition but Leah had already won every other race, so she felt very confident. Remy worked hard all week preparing for the race. He ate healthy foods, and worked out. Finally the day of the race came. Remy began to run and won! Leah came up from behind, angry as ever, and asked Remy how he did it. He was proud to share his secret with everyone: When you really want something, you need to work hard to get it.
-Vicki 2013

Ralphie the TIger

Somewhere deep in the jungle lived a 2 groups. The tigers and the leopards. They had been in the jungle for their entire lives and did not know what was in the outside world. The tigers had a king, who they respected, and were loyal to no matter what. The king had complete control over the rest of the tigers and always got what he wanted from his minions. One day, a group of young tigers were playing with their friends, the leopards. Suddenly, all the tigers were summoned to the king's palace for a community meeting. The tiger king announced that has has gotten into a feud with the leopard king and that all the tigers must ignore the leopards. All the tiger civilians did as they were told and ended their relationships with the leopards. The leopards did not understand why their friends were acting this way. One noble young tiger, ralphie did not like this new rule. He spotted a leopard that was in trouble with a lion. He knew that it would be wrong to just walk away, so he helped the leopard escape. 

The moral of the story is that don't do what everyone else does if you know it's wrong. 

Catherine

The Last Standing Guppy

One day a group of little guppies were swimming around there home. At one point in time, one of the group members announces to the rest that he wants to explore the ocean. Amazed by this sudden desire of exploration,  a few other guppies joined him. But the rest of the guppies were all hesitant in this new idea. After all the ocean was a vast and dangerous place for a few little fishes to be roaming around. When the guppies who decided to explore the ocean realized that some of their friends looked hesitant in joining them, they started to mock them and  name them cowards for not wanting to go on the adventure. One brave, intelligent guppy gathered his wits and confronted the ones who were making fun of him, and told them they were fools for wanting to explore the ocean. The guppies deeply insulted by this kicked him out of their group, and threatened to kick any one else out, if they had a complaint about exploring the ocean. Finally, they left their homes and went to explore the ocean, leaving only the one guppy who stood up to the rest of them. After awhile of exploring the guppies soon encountered a shark. The shark had not eaten in days and looked at the small group of guppies as a nice snack. And so he ate them. The small guppy who had been left behind saw this happen from his home. He then did a small prayer to God, thanking him for the fact that the other guppies had kicked him out of the group. For if they hadn't he would have also have become a tasty snack.

-RS

Once upon a time there was a group of wolves. They mostly hunted wild animals and were happy. But one day they came across a farm with tons of livestock just standing around. The alpha wolf wanted to raid the farm. He told all the wolves to follow him and hunt some livestock. But a few wolves refused to, and were cast out. They went together and hunted wild animals for the rest of their days, living happily. The other wolves went on to attack the farm and were shot by the farmer.

The end.

-Samar

The Frogs, The Village, & Circumstance

There was once a small village of frogs. They all stayed in the same swamp and followed the same rules because the Elder Frog told them to, and no one ever questioned his authority. But one day, three young frogs decided that they wanted to break away from their Village. After much resistance from their peers, only two still wanted to leave; the third, who decided to stay, was bothered for a while by thoughts of other places. But as time wore on, he eventually fell back into the group routine and learned not to ask such silly questions. He was relatively happy living in this way.
One of the other two young frogs traveled to a swamp directly to the west of the Village. The journey was rough and dangerous, but once there he found that the water was cooler and there was much more space and food. He met a beautiful girl frog and started a new, happier life.
The second frog journeyed instead to the east and also had a rough trip. When he arrived, he saw that food was abundant. But unlike his old friend, he did not find any other frogs in his new swamp. Overcome by a terrible loneliness, he was swallowed up by an alligator.

--CZ

Road less taken

One time I on the road less taken was when there was a party. It the day before a major test for math, but it was going to be an awesome party.  Instead of going to the party like everyone else I studied and got a good grade on the test. Everyone else went to the party and failed.

-Samar...