One section I wanted to include in the publication was about volunteering. I wanted this because several research sources suggested that volunteer work was one activity that can benefit both people and the planet's wellbeing. It is also said that volunteering brings satisfaction to those who participate because it gives us a sense of community and we thrive off helping others.
For this section I wanted to interview a friend of mine who volunteers quite often in Aberystwyth and Liverpool. I hoped I would be able to find out some insight into volunteer work, how young people can get into it and what purpose it can have to someone.
Nihilism page 1
Nihilism is the rejection or lack of belief
of life having meaning or purpose. Nihilism is most often
associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects
would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and
precipitate the greatest crisis in human history.
The skeptic has no illusions about life,
nor a vain belief in the promise of immortality. Since this life here and now
is all we can know, our most reasonable option is to live it fully. –
Paul Kurtz
Some believe that a higher force created
the universe and that we live our lives under the influence of good and evil.
They believe this world to be part of a bigger plan that is waiting to be
discovered. A humanist view is different. They believe in natural phenomenon,
rather than everything having a purpose or meaning. Instead, humanists create meaning in their own
lives, whether it is through family and friendship, ideas and goals set for the
future or to care for the natural world around us.
Faron Alex Paul
Faron Alex Paul, a knife amnesty activist
appeared in recent news for his fight against young people carrying knives.
Faron’s scheme involved meeting with knife carriers and exchanging their
weapons for gift vouchers. He explains the reason for his activism was due to
personal experiences with knife crime, having been stabbed a total of 18 times
during 2 separate incidents. Faron’s story and many like this continue to
inspire the youth as well as the communities most affected, giving young people
a chance to reconsider their opportunities and avoiding life threatening
situations.
‘If I didn’t know about him, that knife
would still be on the roads right now. Do you know what I mean? Touch wood, it
could have been used by now, so we need more people like him. People don’t want
to live this life. People are forced to live this life. That’s what people need
to understand.’ Because the police, they ain’t no good support, they’ll
probably point the finger at me. I leave my house and within two minutes
they’ll search me anyway and find it with me. Not everyone has the same
opportunities. You know, family, love, all of that stuff.
‘The way I see it, if the knife isn’t on
the street then it can’t be in someone’s hand, and if it can’t be in someone’s
hand then it can’t stab someone.’
Knife crime
Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck was just 19 years old
when he was chased into a hairdresser’s in north London and stabbed to death on
the evening of 22nd February 2019. Metropolitan police say another
man, aged 20 was shot and stabbed in the street having been involved in the
same incident. Incidents like this have in recent discussion sparked debate
about the causes of rising knife crime in the UK and particularly the capital. One
thing that has been agreed upon is at the heart of all these crimes there is a
deep nihilism relating to an unstable home life or influence at an early age.
With cuts to government funding and
policing across the UK there has been a struggle in tackling the issue,
especially among schools in England. However, national debate over recent
months has begun to pressure the government into finding a solution to the
crisis. This has inspired several activists to take action and public figures
to speak out against the violence. Through the power of social media the voice
of the affected communities has become more prominent and with this more
consideration of young people’s lives.
Discover
Located at the particle physics laboratory
CERN in Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider takes its last particle spin on
December 3rd 2018. The machine was created with the intention of
recreating conditions that were formed during the seconds after the big bang.
Since 2015, the accelerator has smashed together approximately 16 million
billion protons. For now the Large Hadron Collider remains quiet as it
undergoes improvements over the next two years, before restarting in 2021 when it
will reach its peak energy at 14 trillion electron volts.
Scientists believe that over time this
project will reveal particles that are yet to be discovered, and give us
further insight into theories of existence. Discoveries such as these could
eventually provide us with the knowledge needed to sustain our planet and push
boundaries further in an effort to understand how we arrived at this present
moment in time, as well as where we will go in the future.
Overcome
In March 2011, Anthony Joshua was pulled
over by police after speeding in Colindale, North London. He is charged with
possession with intent to supply a class B drug, after he is found with eight
ounces of cannabis in his car. The offence Joshua was charged for carries a
maximum 14-year sentence, but he is instead given a second chance by the judge.
He is suspended from boxing and was ordered to serve 100 hours’ unpaid work on
a 12-month community order.
Despite Joshua’s early years, he went on to
win gold in the 2012 London Olympics as a new comer to the international boxing
scene. Since his return to the sport, Joshua continued to impress fans after
defeating world-renowned heavyweights such as Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte
and Alexander Povetkin. To this day Anthony Joshua holds titles in IBO, WBA and
IBF world heavyweight records, with a boxing record of 22 – 0.
J.K. Rowling
In February 2018 one of the world’s best
selling book franchises of all time hits 500 million sales, with copies being
published globally, in 80 languages. In 1997 the first in the series was
released in the UK, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The
franchise quickly became a best seller in bookstores and eventually one of the
best selling book franchises of all time. Prior to the success of the books
however, author J.K. Rowling had lived a very different life.
Growing up in Gloucestershire, Rowling
always knew she wanted to be an author. She recalls times in her childhood when
she would constantly write stories and read them to her younger sister Dianne. Her
mother and father however, saw Rowling’s passion for writing as little more
than an amusing personal quirk. They believed this was not a financially stable
option to pursue and for sometime, it was not. At Age 15, she found out her
mother had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This was a difficult time
for Rowling, made worse only by the death of her mother a decade later.
"Certainly the
first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit
called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a
giant bee called Miss Bee. And ever since Rabbit and Miss Bee, I have wanted to
be a writer, though I rarely told anyone so."
After moving to Portugal to teach English
to students, Rowling met and married television journalist George Arantes.
Together, they have a daughter named Jessica in 1993, following a miscarriage
in 1992. After the couple separate at the end of 93’, Rowling moves back to the
UK with her daughter and finds herself at one of the lowest points in her life.
Living off welfare for two years as a single mother had given her experience,
which helped define her political activism in later life.
In 1998, Warner Bros. buys the film rights
to the first two “Harry Potter” books. After the first film’s release in 2001,
the franchise grew exponentially into the well-known and highly amended franchise
it is today. When she’s not creative writing, Rowling enjoys political
involvement, working with charities and donating money to greater causes. Her
books, “Quidditch Through the Ages” and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them” have given proceeds to anti-poverty charity Comic Relief. J.K. Rowling to
this day continues to write and inspire millions to never give up on their
dream, but to be humble and patient. Her story not only reflects the harsh
realities of life but also highlights the importance of perseverance,
commitment and passion.
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