The Law on Race Discrimination Has Undergone Transformation over the Essay

The Law on Race Discrimination Has Undergone Transformation over the Last 15 Years due to a Number of Significant Issues - Essay Example Thousands of people report cases of workplace discrimination by personal characteristics. Some of them are decisive enough to go to the court. Reasons why anti-discrimination laws appear to be ineffective are numerous and diverse. Basically, contemporary anti-discrimination laws are limited to negative torts against workplace discrimination; as such, they do not promote positive attitudinal changes in private business and do not provide conditions required to protect workers from unlawful discrimination. Discrimination: The current state of law Understanding why discrimination continues to persist is impossible without looking at the current state of anti-discrimination laws in Europe and America. For many years, the developed world had been concerned with the issue of workplace discrimination and possible ways to deal with it. As of today, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States run whole systems of anti-discrimination laws which, nevertheless, do not bring the desired effect. In the United States, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the central component of the country’s anti-discrimination legislation that applies widely across private and public organizations. The discussed law is followed and complemented by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The latter goes beyond the problem of racial discrimination and prohibits discrimination on grounds that are not recognized by the U.S. Constitution (Rutherglen 1995). In the United Kingdom, the Race Relations Act (1975), the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), as well as the Disability Discrimination Act (1975) create the basic trio of laws, followed by numerous amendments that currently govern the issues of workplace discrimination in the country. It should be noted, that the past decade witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of anti-discrimination amendments passed by the British government (Fredman 2002). Nevertheless, the issue of workplace discrimination remai ns extremely relevant for Britain. Even in light of the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty establishing the European Union, Great Britain and other countries of Europe have been consistently unable to fight discrimination in the workplace. Given the growing extent of globalization and unification within the European Union, it comes as no surprise that the prevailing majority of EU anti-discrimination laws apply to the issue of free movement of migrant workers across EU member-states. According to the European Court of Justice, â€Å"a provision of national law must be regarded as indirectly discriminatory if it is intrinsically liable to affect migrant workers more than national workers and if there is a consequent risk that it will place the former at a particular disadvantage† (Commission v. Greece 1998). As such there is still no consistency in how the issue of discrimination is being managed. The situation in Australia is no better: as of today, Australia’s anti-discrim ination laws include Age Discrimination Act 2004, Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Disability Discrimination Act 1975, Racial Discrimination Act 1975, and Sex Discrimination Act 1984. It is no wonder that these laws and numerous amendments create a great deal of confusion and make it difficult for public and, especially, private enterprises to avoid legal complexities and protect their employees from abuse. Discrimination in the workplace: Still an issue? With so many laws governing the issue of work

St. Augustine and Telemachus in Homers Odyssey Essay

St. Augustine and Telemachus in Homers Odyssey - Essay Example Unlike Monica to the young Augustine, Penelope did not share any knowledge or wisdom to Telemachus. Instead, there were even times that it was Telemachus that rebukes her. In Book 1 of the Odyssey, Telemachus rebukes Penelope for her bereavement which was caused by a song. In Book 23, he rebukes her for not welcoming Odysseus properly. In my observation, Telemachus' respect for Penelope rose from the fact that she was his mother but not because she was wise and Telemachus looked up to her. With respect to their father's Telemachus was closer to his father than the young Augustine was. Although Odysseus was away the whole time Telemachus was growing up, it was actually his absence that caused Telemachus to step up, take responsibility and be a man. And the little time that they spent shortly after Odysseus returned to Ithaca and during their battle against Penelope's suitors was enough to greatly influence Telemachus' maturity. On the other hand, Patrick has less influence on Augustine. He did make young Augustines' study in Carthage possible. And as a pagan, he did provide Augustine alternative principles to Catholic faith. Though I believe that this was a great reason why Augustine was so open-minded, I think it was his mother's faith and wisdom that ultimately influence Augustine's view. Augustine believed in only one God who plays passive role in people's lives. That God creates people in goodness but lets them live their own lives as they will. He even believed that God is not a separate being and it is actually within him, within everything. On the other hand, there were many Greek gods in Telemachus' life. Contrary to what Augustine believed, Greek gods are separate beings. They have names, personalities and even relationships. And they also play a very active role in people's lives. They talk to them either thru dreams or by disguising as humans. They even help them out in battles. Their Search for Knowledge All his life, he sought for knowledge. He went out to study at Carthage, Rome and Milan. He devoted his entire existence seeking for the truth in faith, sciences and philosophy. And he even had to deal with inner conflict in the process. Telemachus went on a journey as well. But unlike Augustine's quest for knowledge on greater things such as life itself, Telemachus' quest was limited only to seek for knowledge on his father's whereabouts. And despite such journey, his acquisition of any information was greatly because of the gods. Athena fed him information either by disguising as Odysseus friend or sending messages in his dreams. Conclusion In my opinion, Telemachus and Augustine's process of coming of age was very different. They differ as to how they regard their parents and who ultimately influenced their persons. For Telemachus, it was his father that greatly influenced his being. On the other hand, for Augustine, it was his mother that influenced his ideals and principles. They also differ on how the gods affects their living. For Telemachus, the gods actively participated in his activities. But for Augustine, God served only as a guiding force. However, for me, the most important difference in their maturity is this. For Telemachus, it is my opinion that maturity was imposed on him. If his father was not absent, there would not be any annoying suitors courting his mother. There would not be a need for him to take responsibility and