Preview

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
255 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas We live in a world much like Omelas. Although we do not torture children, many people suffer so we can live as well as we do. Most chain stores mass-produce their products in factories overseas. These factories are mainly in China and other developing countries that do not have safety and minimum wage laws. Their workers are in dangerous conditions all day and usually get paid less than we would for an hour. However, because of how little the factory workers get paid, we are able to buy the products we want at the cheapest prices. In The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Le Guin says, “They know that they, like the child, are not free” (235). She is explaining that they have no choice but to be happy, they are expected to be happy because the child is suffering for them. The people of the US, on some level, are expected to be a happy people. We are one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and most Americans are spoiled. We take from poorer countries in order to pay less for what we want. Other countries suffer so we may live in luxury. Because of how we live, and what we have, we should always be happy. Being happy is not something that a person can be forced into. Although is seems on the surface that the people of Omelas are happy, how can they truly be happy if they are only happy out of obligation?
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Phl 320 Sweatshop Practice Research Paper
    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Phl 320 Sweatshop Practice Research Paper

    Are the items you purchase made in a sweatshop? If you shop at places like Walmart, Nike, Victoria’s Secret, or Calvin Kline then more than likely yes they are. Some common items that we buy that are made in sweatshops are shoes, clothes, coffee, and bananas. In 1992 Nike was exposed by Jeff Ballinger in his Harper article after he exposed an Indonesian employee subcontractor who made only .14 cents per hour; this is not even the required minimum wage in Indonesia as well as other documented abuses. “Many of these workers do not like…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Econ 312
    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Econ 312

    In a capitalist system such as the one in the US, everything is controlled by supply and demand. When there is a scarcity of a specific object/service, the demand for it is higher. A savvy businessperson will recognize the demand and will offer the product/service. Major chain stores are included in this system; they recognize a demand and try to fill it.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Up against Wal-Mart
    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Up against Wal-Mart

    Karen Olsson believes that Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer company, under pays their employees for the amount of work they do daily. They do not offer good working conditions for their employees or enough medical benefits to support themselves and their families. Sebastian Mallaby says that Wal-Mart is not wrong for the way that they run their business; he feels as though Wal-Mart does their consumers a favor by keeping the wages low and offering “low prices” (620). It’s just business! They have to do what it takes to remain the world’s top retailer and continue to, “enrich shareholders, and put rivals out of business” (620). Karen Olsson and Sebastian Mallaby both address the topic of big business in today’s economy, but I find Karen Olsson’s argument to be the most persuasive because she has more information and quotes to support her opinion and views of the way that Wal-Mart treats their workers, while Sebastian Mallaby’s article is quite the opposite. Their opinions are very different but they share common interests which are: Wal-Mart, their customers, and their workers.…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Small Business and Market Materialism Uber
    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Small Business and Market Materialism Uber

    Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals.Wal-Mart wields its power for just one purpose: to bring the lowest possible prices to its customers.Deenu Parmar presents the fact as people will still continue shopping at Walmart without being concerned about their policies for their employees.Wal-Mart is a success because it sells products that people want to buy at low prices, satisfying customer's wants and needs. However, Wal-Mart critics argue that Wal-Mart's lower prices draw customers away from other smaller businesses, hurting the community.Those comments momentarily make me wonder if I am hurting the economy and the society's norms in the long run by shopping at Wal-Mart.Areas of criticism include Labour wages,Relationship with unions, treatment of product suppliers. Although Wal-Mart denies doing anything wrong and maintains that low prices are the result of efficiency.I have researched few points as a consumer through which i can argued against Deenu Parmar's statement.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gentlemen, Your Verdict 'And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'
    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gentlemen, Your Verdict 'And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'

    In the short story “Gentlemen, your Verdict” written by Michael Bruce, Commander Oram makes a decision to save five married men and the other members including himself to sacrifice for them. The question is why does he choose married men? And does he have the right to decide the members who survive? These are some of the questions that arise while reading the story. Similarly, “The Lady of the Tiger” written by Frank Stockton and “The Ones who walk away from Omelas” written by Ursula Le Guin make people ponder about questions that are related to morality. All these stories have making moral decision as their common theme and ask the readers an essential question that makes them reflect on the values they hold and decisions they will make. The…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Walmart Destroying Small Communities
    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Walmart Destroying Small Communities

    In 1988 Sam Walton founder of the greatest discount store of all time was awarded a title. Walton’s name was found in Times Magazine as most influential person to have lived in the 20th century. The founder of Walmart’s goal was to achieve having a store that provided“ a one stop shopping center, with an unlimited supply of product at unbeatable prices”. What Walton failed to foresee, was the destruction and, negative effects that his business would bring all over the globe. Is it possible that the biggest company in the world could bring harm to there own employees? The answer is yes; they would and continue to do so. They come into cities affecting a large amount of members in the communities; right after settling in they do a great deal of damage. Walmart is a supermarket that changed the industry of retail, though it ended up ruining the lives of thousands of hard working citizens. These people are Americans who want to keep a job but have to endure inexcusable treatment from Walmart. Employees have been treated so poorly that lawsuits and protestors around the world have come to stand outside of the nearest Walmart in town to protest. The negative affect of these huge supermarkets led to the spiral of many great pharmacy’s, clothing, hardware stores etc. These types of stores went down the drain as soon as “Big Walmart” came into town. Since the existence of Walmart it has challenged communities big or small to stay open and keep there employee’s wages down and there cost of merchandise down, leaving the other store owners with no profit forcing them to close down. This is the only way Walmart has operated and that’s lowering cost and making sure all other surrounding competitors shut down. Some do not speak up because as a consumer, they do not see a reason to why they should complain if what they are buying is a complete bargain. That way of thinking keeps many unemployed and many Walmart workers receiving the same…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Walmart Business Ethics
    • 2244 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Walmart Business Ethics

    Wal-Mart, the big giant, the place where a lot of people usually do their shopping for the low prices and the variety of products were founded by Sam Walton. Walton was an entrepreneur with an innovative vision started his own company and made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. In fact, Wal-Mart is considered to be the biggest company in the U.S. and it has stores worldwide. According to PBS, “Wal-Mart employs more people than any other company in the United States outside of the Federal government, yet the majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line.”(www.pbs.org) In addition, Wal-Mart likes to portray itself as a seller of U.S. manufactured goods but in reality the company has products on its shelves made in foreign countries and at questionable workshops. It would seem that Wal-Mart encourages “made in the USA” but it really encourages products made outside the USA. As a result, Wal-Mart has forced many manufacturers out of business. As a matter of fact, this big giant is facing a significant amount of controversy for unethical business practices. In fact, some of these unethical business practices include the following.…

    • 2244 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Karl Marx and Walmart
    • 2109 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Karl Marx and Walmart

    ‘A specter is haunting the economy of the world-the specter of multinational conglomerates. All the powers of America have entered into a holy alliance to exercise this specter: the President, the Fed, Wall Street, CEO’s, lobbyists, government, and government regulators.’ This specter is something new that was not seen in days of mine. I did however, prophesize that events such as these could happen in the future. There is no company that earns as much revenue in the world. By giving some financial statements a mere cursory glance, Walmart is by far the largest company in the world. Is there another store that allows a customer to buy nearly everything they need or want, and have these items under one roof… for, on average, the lowest price possible? Food stuff, car audio systems, gift cards, electronics, welding caps, and furniture all sold at cut-rate prices. Today I am here to talk about how capitalist companies such as Walmart does this and the secret of their economic success. The key ingredients to this success include taking advantage of a workforce who is desperate to work due to an unhealthy division of labor caused by job specialization. Another ingredient added is the exploitation of these workers. Lastly, there needs to be some insight on how Walmart is able to keep such a wide variety of goods in one store and overload the senses of the customers and how customers see these items.…

    • 2109 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Analysis
    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Analysis

    Omelas is an idea of utopia. It is an imaginary place where everything is perfect. Utopia is something absolutely necessary to social change with a perception of something better,filled with joy so the chances of social progress is high. However, someone's utopia may cause others to lose their freedom. In the short story "The ones who walked away from Omelas" by the author Ursula K. LeGuin is based on a message that shows how society sees their happiness through someone else's misery. After building a utopia, the narrator suddenly turns it into a morality problem. The residents from Omelas put an individual in contrast to a number of people acting as a group, to justify a small evil for a greater good.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Compare and Contrast the Medieval European Society and Byzantine Empire
    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Compare and Contrast the Medieval European Society and Byzantine Empire

    In recent times, more and more Americans are immigrating to countries like Canada and Australia in a spirited search of the American Dream. Catalysts for this recent trend are tied largely to the American economic crisis which has been afflicting Americans for quite some time. The incredibly high levels of crime in the United States have also influenced Americans to pursue happiness beyond U.S. borders. Countries like Canada and Australia demonstrate lower rates of crime than the United States and that seems to resonate with most Americans. Another convincing factor towards emigration is the high cost of healthcare in the United States compared to some of the government-funded healthcare systems around the world. All of these dynamics are deeply valued in American society and are seen as worth chasing. I believe emigration towards countries that promote economic stability, low crime rates and socialized healthcare is the ideal thing to do for U.S. citizens in search of these pursuits.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Are The Ideals Of The Declaration Of Independence Dbq
    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What Are The Ideals Of The Declaration Of Independence Dbq

    Happy lives and control over their own lives was a focus of the colonists’ fight for freedom. “‘I believe in the pursuit of happiness...I believe in the journey, not the arrival…’” (document B) was another main part of Andrew Sullivan’s public radio slurb. This relates to the colonists’ will to fight for freedom because they knew all the pain, suffering and unfairness they had been through and were willing to go through the war to have a happy, self-governed life. The fight for freedom was to give themselves a new…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Informative Essay: Child Labor In Third-World Countries
    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Informative Essay: Child Labor In Third-World Countries

    In third-world countries minors are being put to work and they are losing their childhood. Child labor is happening overseas in places like Pakistan, Asia, and Bangladesh. Children at fourteen years old are being put in factories and working all day non-stop, and being bought by Americans who don’t even know where it came from. So I say it is finally time for this to stop. This is why products manufactured in third-world countries should not be sold or bought in stores.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Feinberg
    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Feinberg

    The idea of being happy when having freedom is board. We need to figure out what kind of freedom is being awarded. There is positive and negative freedom. But watch out, the names are misleading. Positive doesn’t always mean “great” or “pleasant” in this case and negative freedom doesn’t necessarily meaning “awful” or “appalling.” On top of “positive” and “negative” constraints being factors in the definition of a person’s freedom, we also have to look at the source of the constraint. It can either be external or internal meaning the source is coming from an outside source or within you. A great definition was stated in Feinberg’s article “If the distinction between internal and external is to be put to political use, perhaps the simplest way of making it is by means of merely spatial criterion: external constraints are those that come from outside a person’s body-cum-mind, and all other constraints.” (p.13)…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Why Wal-Mart Is Bad for America
    • 3172 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Why Wal-Mart Is Bad for America

    Wal-Mart is undoubtedly a global powerhouse. This powerhouse is impacting its home country. Wal-Mart affects American businesses and employees. This massive corporation affects the health of the United States. It has many affects as it spreads around the world. “A century ago, the companies that dominated the global food trade were wholesalers. Today these giants are dwarfed by the supermarkets that govern the global food system from farm to fork” (Patel, 2011). In other words, supermarkets or “superstores” have dominated and taken over the food system. Wal-Mart would be the leader and most profitable giant in this group. With the company’s rampant globalization and its negative impact on American businesses, employees, and overall health, Wal-Mart has proven time and time again that it is no good for America.…

    • 3172 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Argumentative Essay About Child Labor
    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Argumentative Essay About Child Labor

    For an example, Nike, Hanes Hersheys, coke a cola, areopostale, and American eagle. These are big businesses we go to and shop and shop at every day. Child labor has been going on to long in the united states. I feel like if we going to have child labor then it should be for good reasons with good pay to help the children including their family. Health concerns are big when it comes down to children, But more important things are once a child or any person gets sucked into one specific job, it difficult to move on so for children that’s a part of their entire childhood. Also poor quality because of cheap labor and inexperienced…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics