The Human Breath is a Dangerous Weapon :: essays papers

The Human Breath is a Dangerous mechanismA Look at the Economic Conditions of Jamaica and the Lyrics of Reggae Music and Poetry The championship for this paper is a quote taken from the poem, Listen Mr. Oxford DonRastafarians theatrical role Reggae music and poetry to express themselves one of their major themes for expression is stintingal oppression. Jamaica and the Rastafarians suffer more than than their fair share of oppression, or as they would fitly say, downpression, and p all overty, yet they are still raising awareness, happiness, and hopefulness. The past and current struggles of the res publica give way to many powerful words either verbalise or sung to the rhythm of Reggae. The General Economic Conditions of Jamaica Compared to Those of AmericaThe economic conditions of Jamaica lead to a hard life for many of its citizens. The percentage of the Jamaican population below the poverty line was 34% in 1997 ( 1999 demesne Development Indicators CD-Rom, World Bank). Li ke poor people all over the world, the poor people of Jamaica are oppressed, unhealthy, and worried. They do however know what is firing on. They know who their oppressors are, who is in control, who has money, and who has power. Economic numbers, ratios, and statistics can be hard to take care on their own if they dont bore you to death first, merely once compared to something similar they start to make sense and become interesting. I decided to compare Jamaicas economic and social indicators with the United States, for 2 reasons 1. We are all familiar with the U.S., and the numbers will have more resonance, and 2. Most tourists to Jamaica arrive from the U.S, which is also Jamaicas principle supplier of imports and drumhead market for exports. ( 1999 ABC - CLIO, Inc. Kaleidoscope(Lexus-Nexus)) Some key economic ratios are the gain domestic product and the gross national product, these are a measure of income. The GNP(Gross National Product) measures the total domestic and unlike income claimed by a certain economy. It includes the GDP and the money spent in Jamaica by visitors, subtraction the payments Jamaicans made in different countries. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) measures the total output of goods and services it is the sum of gross value added by all resident and non-resident producers in the economy, plus taxes, minus subsidies not included in the value of the products. (1999 World Bank CD-Rom). The GNP for Jamaica was four billion dollars in 1997.