The Armistice of 1850

The Armistice of 1850 With the belief of their young country’s â€Å"manifest destiny†, and victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War, the United States of America conquered most of the western portion of their continent. While obtaining large territories of land through victories from warfare and at the cost of bargained prices, this proud nation found itself with an immense crisis sitting within the palms of their hands. As the improvement of the United States came through territorial gains, their triumphant progress was met with digression.Although new territories were under the possession of the United States, many leaders of this powerful nation were unsure whether their newly acquired land was fit to be a territory of free soil or slavery. While many proposed arguments for pro-slavery land, many counter acted with free soil proposals and arguments. During the year of 1850, the United States of America managed to ease the tension between those at opposite spe ctrums of this confrontation through the Compromise of 1850.Before the passage of the Compromise of 1850, many of the United States’ leaders found themselves at odds with one another. John C. Calhoun, a publically known pro-slavery Congressman, believed that slavery should not have been excluded from territories prior to admission to state hood. Calhoun thought that Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the nation’s newly acquired territories.In Calhoun’s Speech on the Admission of California- and the General State of the Union, he assesses the nature of the Union and the needs for its overall preservation. In the beginning of Calhoun’s speech, he clearly believed that the state of the Union was at harm due to its division, and was at the verge of great disaster and disunion. Although Calhoun did not provide a solution for the unity of the country, he did on the other hand argue that the power of the Union rested upon the Northern majorit y. At that time there was nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression,† wrote Calhoun. Calhoun justified his opinion on the North oppressing the South through the South’s deprivation of territory in the Northwest Ordinance, the Missouri Compromise, and the Oregon Territory.Calhoun, like the other representatives of the southern states, realized that the institution of slavery would either have to be fought for or the Union would eventually abolish it. â€Å"It will be found in the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are, consistently with honor and safety, in the Union,† stated the Congress man. Calhoun believed that the South had no compromise to offer to the North, but only that of the Constitution.The Congressman placed the burden and the responsibility of the preservation of the nation within the Northerners hands. Opposed to Calhoun’s view, Congressman David Wilmot believed that the institution of slavery should have been banned from all the newly acquired territory of the west. He was adamant that Congress possessed the power to regulate slavery in these new territories. David Wilmot’s Wilmot Proviso urged the banning of slavery within any territory acquired from  Mexico from the  Mexican American War  or any territory acquired in the future. Provided,  That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted,† wrote Wilmot. Although the Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful amendment, Wilmot’s view of free soil became a rallying point for opponents of slavery.Wilmot was adamant that all land gained within the United States of America should be free of slavery. While Calhoun and Wilmot demonstrated the extreme views of the pro-slavery South and the free soil North, the Compromise of 1850 managed to settle the sectional divided views of Congress for the short term. The  Compromise of 1850  was an amalgamation of eight distinct orders which managed to ease the confrontation between the  free states of the North and the slave states  of the  South  in regards to the newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War.The compromise was drafted by  Kentucky Congressman,  Henry Clay, in which avoided  Southern secession, reduced sectional conflict, and prevented civil war. The Compromise of 1850 allowed for California to be admitted as one of the States of the Union, as long as it was a free state. It also banned slavery in Washington D. C. â€Å"Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. † This compromise also made Texas surrender its border to the Rio del Norte to New Mexico, and allowed Texas to transfer its debt to that the national government.The Compromise of1850 also prohibited Congress from introducing or excluding slavery from the nation’s newly acquired territory, and ordered that the territorial governments were to decide upon the issue of slavery. In other words, the new territories’ actions on the institution of slavery came from popular sovereignty. Although slave trade was prohibited from Washington D. C. , the compromise managed to preserve slavery, while demanding â€Å"for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor i n any State, who may escape into any other State or Territory in the Union†.Northerners became infuriated of the idea that runaway slaves, upon capture, were to be returned to their masters of the South. This precedent became known as The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This act became the sole prize of the South for their compromise in allowing the admission of California to be a free state. Not only did the South manage to keep their traditional ways of enslaving Africans, or African Americans, but they also managed to gain more power over their slaves.While many viewed the Compromise of 1850 with pleasure, William Seward opposed Clay’s compromise which managed to cause momentary peace within the Union. Seward found discontent with the compromise because it was founded on many unconstitutional grounds. Seward believed that the states were unequal due to slavery, and that slavery should not exist. He thought that slavery was unconstitutional whether classified as property or not, because â€Å"it is (was) repugnant to the law of nature and of nations†. In no way did Seward find the compromise constitutional because he felt slavery was unconstitutional.On the flip side, Henry Clay believed that the Compromise of 1850 was a chance for his nation to become reunited. He demonstrated this by addressing the president in A General Review of the debate on the Compromise Bills by stating, â€Å"I believe from the bottom of my soul, that the measure is the re-union of this Union. I believe that it is the dove of peace, which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the capitol, carries the glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all the remotest extremities of this distracted land. It’s clear that Clay believed the compromise was drawn out for the betterment of his young nation, in hopes that it would reconcile their sectional differences, and become one whole nation again. In 1850, many believed that the Compromise of 1850 had s olved the sectional conflicts between the Northern free-soilers and the Southern slave holders. Although there were those who opposed the compromise, for the time being it managed to ease the tension between a divided nation.Although the Compromise of 1850 was an act in which all parties had to give up important ground, it allowed the nation to momentarily fade into bliss for a couple of years. It’s hard to believe that the expansionists of our country would have predicted these problems while trying to improve our country. Our nation’s â€Å"manifest destiny† at the time seemed to be the answer to improve upon a young nation, but the newly acquired territories from Mexico only stirred up intense emotions and caused for greater division within the nation. Although the Compromise of 1850 managed to ease tension, it ultimately did not cease sectional conflict.

Meaning of Life and Jeremy Fink Essay

A) MEANING OF LIFE – BY JEREMY FINK. B) CHARACTERS: JEREMY FINK, LIZZY MULDOON, MRS. FINK, MR. MULDOON, MR. OSWALD, SAMANTHA AND RICK, JAMES AND MR. FINK. CONFLICT: THE CONFLICT IS ABOUT JEREMY TRYING TO FIND FOUR KEY’S THAT WOULD OPEN THE BOX WHICH HIS DAD LEFT IT FOR HIM FOR HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY PRESENT WHEN HE DIED AND JEREMY IS TO FIND THE KEY THAT WOULD FIT ALL FOUR SPOTS IN THE BOX BEFORE HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY. SETTING: HAPPENS IN MODERN DAYS IN NEW YORK CITY. BASIC SITUATION: JEREMY AND LIZZY TRY TO FIND THE KEY BEFORE JEREMY’S THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY. C) PLOT: JEREMY SEE’S THE POSTMAN WITH A BOX ADDRESSED TO HIS MOM. JEREMY TAKES THE BOX AND OPENS IT TO SEE A BOX. WHEN HIS MOM COMES AND SEES HIM WITH THE BOX HIS MOM TELLS HIM HOW THE BOX WAS HIS PRESENT HIS DAD LEFT HIM FOR HIS THIRTEEN BIRTHDAY AND HAD TO FIND ALL FOUR OF THE KEYS THAT WOULD OPEN IT BEFORE HIS BIRTHDAY COMES. LIZZY AND JEREMY GET IN TROUBLE AND THEY HAVE TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE. THEN THEY MEET MR. OSWALD WHO TRIES TO HELP THEM. THEIR COMMUNITY SERVICE WAS TO DELIVER STAFF TWO NEW PEOPLE WHICH THEN THEY GET TO MEET NEW PEOPLE. D) CLIMAX: IS WHEN LIZZY AND JEREMY OPENED THE BOX AND DISCOVERED HIS FATHER’S MEANING OF LIFE. E) FALLING ACTION: IS WHEN JEREMY OPENS THE BOX AND FINDS IT FULL OF STONES. JEREMY THEN REMEMBERS HIS FATHER HAD COLLECTED EACH STONE AT EACH IMPORTANT EVENT OF HIS LIFE. F) RESOLUTION: IS WHEN JEREMY FIND OUT THAT MR. OSWALD, JEREMY’S MOM, THE MAILMAN, AND LARRY FROM LARRY’S LOCKS WERE ALL IN JEREMY’S DAD’S PLAN TO GIVE JEREMY THE BOX AT THE RIGHT TIME AND SO THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK FOR ALL FOUR OF THE KEYS, ALTHOUGH MR. OSWALD HAD THEM ALL ALONG. BY HAVING THIS PLAN HIS DAD KNEW THAT JEREMY WOULD MEET NEW PEOPLE AND GET TO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT THINGS HE WOULD NEVER DO. G) POINT OF VIEW: FIRST PERSON BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH FEELINGS AND EMOTION IN THE BOOK. H) PERSON VS PERSON- JEREMY AND LIZZY AS THEY TRY TO FIND THE KEYS TO THE BOX. PERSON VS SOCIETY- JEREMY AND THE SOCIETY MEETING NEW PEOPLE TO TRY TO FIND THE KEY TO THE FOUR HOLES. I) THEME: A LESSON THIS STORY TEACHES ABOUT LIFE IS TO NEVER GIVE UP, AND ALWAYS BE MOTIVATED TO DO SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU REALLY WANT TO DO. J) SIMILE- AS HARD AS IT CAN BE WITH HOPE ON THE WAY. SIMILE- LIFE IS AS EVENTFUL AS A JOURNEY. METAPHOR- NO PAIN, NO GAIN.

Transformation of Work

Bachelor of Science (Hons) In Marketing BMME1 1142A Type of Assignment: Module: Lecturer: Member: UOB ID No. : Date of Submission: INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATION OF WORK (BAFW4) MR JOHN NEO BOON LEONG KAM YONG KUAT 10038891 27th JUNE 2012 Page 1 of 4 BMME1 1142A Transformation of Work (BAFW4), Individual Assignment, 27th June 2012 Kam Yong Kuat (UB: 10038891) A critical review of an academic article concerned with certain aspects of new issues of work Cross, S. and Bagilhole, B. (2002) Girls’ Jobs for the boys?Men, Masculinity and NonTraditional Occupations. Gender, Work and Organization, Vol 9, No. 2 pp204-226 Introduction of Gender segregation of the labour market By nature, there has always been occupational segregation through gender in all countries. This is the case, despite the differences in economy or political situation in the different areas. Even though it has been a long while since women have participated in the working force, women and men still tend to work in diffe rent industries, for one reason or another.Research conducted by Simon Cross and Barbara Bagilhole (2002) has shown that men dominated industries like drivers of road goods vehicles, production works, maintenance managers, warehouse and storekeepers, technical and wholesale representatives. And on the other end of the spectrum, only two occupational groups are wholl y female dominance (more than 90%); nurses and care assistants. Other female dominated industries including counter clerks, cashiers, catering assistants, primary and nursery school teachers and cleaners or domestic helpers.Unfortunately, gender segregation operates both horizontally and vertically in the working force. Not only are men and women allocated qualitatively in different field or work, women happened to make up the vast majority of the lower levels of the occupational hierarchy. Taking example from the nursing industry in the US, men makes up only the clear minority, yet, most are strongly encouraged to apply for promotions into managerial positions.William (1992) has highlighted on a very interesting metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ to that of ‘glass escalator’ in order to reflect the men’s smooth and inexorable rise to senior management. Many theories have been put forward to explain the persistence of gender divisions in employment, and it has mainly focused on women’s inability to compete on equal terms to men in the labour market. (Cross and Bagilhole, 2002) Men, masculinity and ‘non-traditional work’According to research conducted by Hearn (1992), masculinity has been found to be far from uniform and it is seen not as ‘the essence of men’, but rather as a product of cultural and historical forces. There have been other theories that highlight that man who worked in nontraditional occupations tended to present a less masculine gender-type compared with men in traditional male-dominant occupations (Chusmir, 1990). Judg ing from the entertainment and media scene in Singapore, it seems to further prove what Chusmir (1990) has argued. 0% of make-up artist, hairstylist and fashion designers tend to portray a more feminine persona, moving away from the traditional male masculinity. Some have even been regarded as a ‘fairy godmother’ (David Gan – Asiaone News, 2010). It may be due to the fact that clienteles from these industries are mainly female, thus the feminine persona, and eventually, homosexuality. But these also further clarify the point that Collinson and Hearn (1996) made, that masculinities are ‘socially produced, reproduced and indeed changeable’.There are also arguments that suggests men adopted a ‘transformed’ masculinity in nontraditional occupations such as teaching (Galbraith 1992) and men who reject stereotyped gender roles, and who performed non-traditional work, reported little or no gender role conflict (Luhaorg and Zivian, 1995) Page 2 of 4 BMME1 1142A Transformation of Work (BAFW4), Individual Assignment, 27th June 2012 Kam Yong Kuat (UB: 10038891) Cross and Bagihole (2002) however maintain that masculinity is the shorthand for ‘gender identity’.And therefore, through this study of the various subjects, it looked at ways in which masculinities are defined, ‘transformed’, (re)constructed, and maintained by men working in non-traditional jobs. Findings of the study of masculinity in non-traditional work One of the subject interviewed mention that ‘caring is seen as a predominantly female job because people see carers as being female, and aspects of caring like being empathic and sensitive to people’s needs are seen as something that men can’t do’.This has initiated the subject to challenge traditional ideas of appropriate gender behaviour in the work of a caring job. Another participant also highlighted the need to challenge the traditional culture of getting inv olved in the caring scene, even though he has been introduced to traditional masculine values since young, through the doings of his father and brother. He would be deemed as different from being a ‘real men’ if he would to pursue in caring work.One younger participant also noted that he have received adverse reactions when he mentioned to girls he met during a party, that he was a male nurse. He has to resort to lying about his occupation as women were not interested if he’s a nurse. The vast majority of women will start to question his sexual orientation or start to share their problems with him. These are just a few of the challenges that the participants have shared with regard to their sexuality and masculine identity. Nonetheless, the participants also have their fair share of attempts in challenging the challenges.A male gynaecologist who was also part of the study highlighted that he often felt otherwise when he observed his female counterparts treating f ellow female patients, and thought it was a bit shoddy. And because of that, he strives to ensure that he handles his patients with more tact and effort to ensure that his patients felt comfortable. This has gone down with well with his patients and he has been duly recognised for the efforts. One of the other participants, a male nurse, views his work as a lifelong career, something that he will be doing for the rest of his life.With this attitude and approach, he tend to take the job more seriously and look to strive better than his female counterparts, whom many a times, enters the industry, viewing it just as a second job or something to do until something better comes along. (Re)constructing a different masculinity There are also the few that look to (re)construct a different masculinity, by identifying with their work as being better indications of their true self (Cross and Bagilhole, 2002). The participants see their job as something that genuinely brings out their true natu re as a caring person.One of the male nurse involved in the study commented that he used not be able to express his emotions in public, due to the stereotypical views of the general public. But after joining the nursing industry, it has helped him to better express himself in a more liberating manner. He now has no problem sharing his emotions with people around him. This could also be the reason why based on recent reports, it has shown that more male nurses have been reported to enter the industry (More male nurse entering the industry – Asiaone, Page 3 of 4 BMME1 1142ATransformation of Work (BAFW4), Individual Assignment, 27th June 2012 Kam Yong Kuat (UB: 10038891) 2010). It could also be largely due to that fact that people have grown to understand and empathise that the work one does, is not a direct reflection of your sexual orientation or personality. Conclusion Based on the studies of the various subjects, Simon and Bagilhole (2002) was able to establish that the male s either attempted to maintain a traditional masculinity by distancing themselves from female colleagues, and/or partially (re)constructed a different masculinity by identifying with their non-traditional occupations.The men involved in the study have also shown to be actively maintaining traditional male values, and not challenging their gender identity. When challenged about their masculinity, some of the subjects have maintained themselves as the dominant gender by reformulating the perception of their work as being more men’s work, for example, by denying that a care-taker’s job involves caring only. It has a certain element of planning and management involved that will make the male dominance stands out. Just as how Segal (1999) argued, ‘men have remained the dominant sex by constantly refashioning masculinity’.Through this study, it is apparent that men have been able to successfully maintain their traditional advantages even in female-dominated work places. Even in female-dominated workplaces such as nursing, it does not naturally set the change or biasness in the women’s favour. The men’s behaviour and practices contributes to their dominance in the industry. WORKS CITED Feminine Males within Entertainment Industry Yoshio; http://www. whatshappening. sg/events/index. php? com=detail&eID=51825 David Gan; http://news. asiaone. com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20101110 -246661. tml More male nurses entering the industry http://www. asiaone. com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100712-226496. html Cross, S. and Bagilhole, B. (2002) Girls’ Jobs for the boys? Men, Masculinity and Non -Traditional Occupations. Gender, Work and Organization, Vol 9, No. 2 pp204-226 Chusmir, L. H. (1990) Men who make non-traditional career choices. Journal of Counselling and Development, 69 (September-October), 11-16 Galbraith, M. (1992) Understanding career choices of men in elementary education. ‘Journal of Educational R esearch. 85,4 (March-April), 246-53 Hearn, J. 1992) Men in the Public Eye; The Construction and Deconstruction of Public Men and Public Patriarchies. London: Routledge Luhaorg, L. and Zivian, M. T. (1995) Gender role conflict: the interaction of gender, gender role, and occupation . Sex Roles, 33,9/10, 607-20 Segal, L. (1999) Why Feminism? Cambridge: Polity Press Williams, C. L. (1992) The glass escalator: hidden advantages for men in the ‘female’ professions. Social Problems 39,3, 253-67 Page 4 of 4 BMME1 1142A Transformation of Work (BAFW4), Individual Assignment, 27th June 2012 Kam Yong Kuat (UB: 10038891)

One-child Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

One-child Policy - Essay Example The advantages and disadvantages of one-child policy could, however, be argued in the light of the results obtained over the years. Thesis Statement The one-child policy is an effective way of controlling the birth rate and to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems in the long term. Arguments on the policy of one-child The one-child policy was first proposed and introduced by the government in China from the year of 1979 by looking at the huge population base and possible population explosion in future (Newbold 35). The government was concerned about the social, economic and the environmental issues that could pose adverse consequences due to the rising population of the country. This is true for the other large democracies in the world like the US, India, Indonesia, etc. The one-child policy is aimed to bring about stability in the social and economic environment of the country. With the ever increasing population, the income level of the people is likely to suffer (D SCPG 67). The limitations in the employment opportunities and the distribution of limited opportunities among a large number of common people are supposed to pull down the standard of living and gross capital formation in the economy. The discrimination between the members of the society is likely to create situations of conflict among the common masses. Thus the increasing population with no control on the child birth rate is likely to bring about social imbalance and degradation of the national environment. The one-child policy was believed to be effective in addressing these social and economic problems (Fong 39). The one-child policy, however, has not been able to achieve the desired goals of attaining social and economic stability to the extent it desired. This has been due to the fact that the Population and Family planning Commission has implemented it in provincial levels and has been a matter of unequal enforcement. The relaxation of the policy in areas of the country which is densely populated has resulted in cancelling out the benefits of the policy achieved from other parts of the country. The families have been fined on the aspect of non-adherence to one child policy depending on their income levels. This led to the rise of hidden income and illegal money in the economy. The one-child policy has also been viewed a steps leading to human rights violation. The couples in the civilized societies have, however, started to realize the need of one-child with the rising expenditure from time to time and the decreasing gap between the income level and the cost of livelihood. It has been estimated that 33% of the US families had one child or kid thirty years back. Now, the number has been raised to 43%. This reflected a rise in awareness of the people in resorting to one child so that the household expenses could be met with the prevailing income level. The implementation of one-child policy and rise in awareness among the masses has helped to prevent mill ions of birth over the last thirty years. The family planning measures have helped to create a social and economic balance by reducing the level of poverty in the countries, increasing the standard of living with the available resources. The demand and supply equilibrium in the economies were maintained as good effects of the one-child

Cigaretes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cigaretes - Research Paper Example Aside from the price, the other factors that determine demand have well established and these are: the consumer’s taste or preference, the number of buyers in the market, the consumer’s income, the prices of related goods, and lastly, consumer expectations (McConnell, 2008, p. 47). The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act received the Royal Assent on Dec. 1, 2011 and the Executive Council of Australia released the Tobacco Plain packaging Regulations 2011 by the 7th of the same month. this statute primarily requires that all tobacco products in the Australian market be sold in plain packaging by the 1st of December 2012. The distinguishing marks between brands will only be the product name in standard color, position, font size and style (Department of Health and Ageing, 2012). Suppose that due to this plain packaging, the consumer’s preference for cigarettes considerably lessens, let us analyze how this will affect the demand for cigarettes in the Australian market. 2. The plain packaging of cigarettes together with the blatant health warnings were less appealing to the consumers, such that they bought lesser quantity of cigarettes. The demand curve shifts to the left. As the law of supply dictates, as price rises, the quantity supplied rises also just as when the price decreases, so does the quantity supplied. Aside from the price there are other factors that affect the supply and these are the following: the resource prices, technology, taxes and subsidies, prices of other goods, producer expectations, and the number of sellers in the market (McConnell, 2008, p. 51). A study by June, Hammond, Sjà ¶din, Li, Romanoff, and OConnor (2011) found out that cigarette fires are also among the leading causes of death related fires. Suppose that this finding also alarmed the Department of Health and Ageing that it passes a statute that requires cigarettes to be self-extinguishing when not being smoked by consumers.

Government grants for alternative energy research Proposal

Government grants for alternative energy - Research Proposal Example Moreover, in case of a successful research, state can export the resources to gain wealth and improve relations with other countries. It will also provide the country with a more self-sufficient structure of its own and external facilitation in terms of loans and aids will be significantly reduced (Gibilisco, 234). The alternative energy is a vast range of possibilities and so this research will only focus the energy derived from hydropower i.e. water. An important reason for this selection is the surplus availability of water due to the presence of the coastline. Once the literature review is complete, further narrowing of the topic can take place. For instance what sort of water etc. Nevertheless, by what is thoroughly known presently, it is safe to say that the research will analyze the efficiency of seawater from the south shore as an energy source. It will also extend to observing the hazards faced by the sea life and the civilians in case of execution and measures that could be performed to lessen the hazardous effects. Works Cited Gibilisco, S. Alternative energy demystified, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. Simon C. A.

American War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American War - Essay Example The people of South Korea were under extreme scrutiny by North Korea with numerous cases of violations of human rights. The United States used the Just War Theory to explain their reason for entering the conflict. The United States intervened in order to prevent the flow of Communism (that was commonly associated with human oppression) along with the defense of South Korea and their people. Due to the United States’ intervention, the people of South Korea experienced a decrease in human rights violations and their quality of life increased. The United States also exemplified their theory of humane treatment with their actions towards prisoners of war by treating them fairly. However, some critics believe that the United States used the Just War Theory to mask the main reason why they became involved: to grow as an imperialist power. This may be true but fortunately, the efforts of the United States did positively affect the people of South

Rewrite Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Rewrite - Essay Example It is sponsored by the Pegem Akademi YayÄ ±ncÄ ±lÄ ±k EÄŸitim DanÄ ±Ã…ŸmanlÄ ±k Hizmetleri Tic. Ltd., located in Ankara, Turkey. Its stated aim is â€Å"to serve the needs of researchers and experts in educational sciences and specifically in educational administration, policy, planning, supervision and economics of education† (EÄŸitim Yà ¶netimine, 2012). The source is therefore credible. The second source selected for the topic of Social Media is an article by Rebecca Walker Naylor, Cait Poynor Lamberton and Patricia M. West. It is titled Beyond the "Like" Button: The Impact of Mere Virtual Presence on Brand Evaluations and Purchase Intentions in Social Media Settings, and it was published in the Journal of Marketing in 2012. This source is credible because the journal is long established (for more than 7 decades); it is stated to be a recognized leader in the field, and it is a â€Å"premier, broad-based, scholarly journal of the marketing discipline that focuses on substantive issues in marketing and marketing management† (AMA, 2012). The third source selected for the topic of Work Shop is an article by Haiyan Huang and Zheng Wang. It is titled Solving coupled task assignment and capacity planning problems for a job shop by using a concurrent genetic algorithm, and it was published in the International Journal of Production Research in 2010. This journal is published for researchers around the world interested in production systems and processes (IFPR, 2012). The organisation behind it is The International Foundation for Production Research (IFPR), which has been holding conferences every two years since 1971, and which was founded by a former head of the Production Engineering Department at the University of Birmingham in England. The source is therefore credible. The use of credible sources is very important for academic and professional research because it determines its likelihood of reliability, validity, reputability, and

Power integrations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Power integrations - Research Paper Example Identify and discuss the marketing and distribution channels used to communicate and deliver value to their business customers 8 8.What is the industrial network developed by the company to support their business customers? 9 Part 4 9 9.Describe the marketing strategy used by the suppliers to reach the different segment of customers 9 10.How does the company segment their business customers and create value for each segment? 10 11.Describe each segment and the relevant relationship type and communication activities for each segment. 10 Part 5 11 12.Describe the types of relationships that can be developed with business customers and identify the key communication strategies that are relevant to each relationship approach 11 13.Describe the sales management approach used by the company to build relationship 12 14.Analyse the channel and sales management the company uses to deliver services and value 12 Part 6 13 15.How business customer does perceive cost, benefits and price in evalua ting a product/services offer from a supplier? 13 Part 7 14 17.Discuss how the company uses the business marketing mix to create a competitive advantage and deliver value 14 Reference 16 Part 1 1. Analyze the buying process used by different segments of business customers. ... mpanies accounted for more than 62% of the global power supply revenues, while the captive manufacturers accounted for the remaining 38% of the revenue of the company. While the total number of manufacturers of power supplies exceeded 1000, there were only 30 power supply companies whose yearly revenues exceeded $100 million, while another three quarters yielded less than $5 million of revenue every year. The manufacturer sales of the AC/DC converter power supplies accounted for a total of $11.2 billion in the year 2001. The yearly shipment of new internal and external AC/DC power supplies totalled around 1 billion units in the same year. The custom power supplies were designed for specific applications and the standard power supplies were designed for meeting multiple applications. 2. Discuss the key factors that will affect the buying process and decisions for a business customer One of the important characteristic of business customers is the buying process and the decision making process. The organisational buying decision or the behaviour is often termed as the â€Å"decision making process† through which formal organisation tends to establish the required needs for the required products as well as services and in addition identify and evaluate and finally choose from the desired brand and suppliers. Thus two key factors of buying behaviour include the actors of exchange and the nature of exchange. The actors are the formal organisations and as a result the buying process is very complex. The number of members in the buying decision centre often varies and the role of the manger shift which depends on the buying decision and various stages of the buying decisions. Secondly the exchange volume and power in the B2B exchange differs from the individual buying decision

The Influence of Hybrid Warriors in Future Wars Research Paper

The Influence of Hybrid Warriors in Future Wars - Research Paper Example One can see that the US soldiers deployed in different missions face a number of problems like lack of skills, cultural insensitivity, failure in collecting information, and reconstruction of war-torn areas. In addition, the rapid change from counterinsurgency measures to traditional warfare leads to a number of problems. But the claim that the enemies are well equipped to withstand large scale operations/conventional warfare and the example of Israeli defeat in Lebanon in the year 2000 (Hezbollah rocket attack), does not prove that conventional warfare is outdated. Cordesman stated that â€Å"Israel’s problems in the security zone were legion and were sharply influenced by its lack of any real political support in Lebanon† (411). At the same time, the claim that the US failure in Falluja, Iraq (2004) was due to the lack of systematic warfare is wrong because the reason behind the failure is that the US Forces underestimated the insurgents. The claim that the internatio nal terrorist groups like Al Qaeda follow conventional and irregular warfare (say, in Iraq, in the year 2007) is a little bit confusing because most of the terrorist groups always follow conventional warfare. But the main problem faced by the US Forces during the Vietnam War was the lack of information on the combination of guerrilla warfare (Viet Cong) and systematic warfare (North Vietnam Army). The claim that the wars in Lebanon (in the year 2006), Falluja (in the year 2004) and Vietnam War prove that combination of regular and irregular warfare can influence the end result, but this does not prove that regular warfare is totally outdated.

Continental Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Continental Philosophy Essay When beginning the study of philosophy it is hard to believe that there are so many components involved with one subject. But in reality philosophy is really a broad term for many subtopics; as is the case when discussing continental philosophy, which is the philosophical tradition of continental Europe including phenomenology and existentialism. It all began with Absolute Idealism supported by such philosophers as Fichte and Hegel. It was during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that immense amounts of historical changes taking place in the world were showing in the philosophical movements of that time period. George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel begins the historical analysis of continental philosophy since it all begins with his theories. Though Hegel’s philosophies have been described as difficult his theories form the foundation for what is now known as Hegelian idealism. His theory has four main themes. The first is dependant on the â€Å"Absolute† and states that the â€Å"Absolute† is that which is most real and true and which can also think for itself. The second is based on idealism and he speaks of the objective world being an â€Å"expression of infinite thought† (Moore Bruder 2005) and that each individuals mind thought processes actually are reflections on themselves. The third theory is based on reality. For Hegel this was not an easy concept. To try to make it easier to understand our book tries to describe it as being similar to mathematics in that everything is coherently connected to another. So in order for something to be completely true it is dependant on all its parts to make it so. Then the forth theory is known as â€Å"The Absolute† and is the â€Å"sum total of reality; is a system of conceptual triads . . . the entire system of thought and reality . . . is an integrated whole in which each proposition is logically interconnected with the rest† (2005). As the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth century what seemed to transpire in philosophy was a direct result of Hegel himself. The response to Hegelian idealism in Europe became known as Continental philosophy which includes the two branches of thought that will be explored, existentialism and phenomenology. Existentialism is a philosophical movement with its main emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice. Existentialism became popularized in the 1900’s. Mainly due to what was happening during World War II, many of the popular existentialists were affected by the traumatic world events of that time period. Albert Camus was profoundly affected by World War II and this was depicted throughout his many writings. According to our reading he saw much suffering and despair prior to the war even starting. He eventually became active in social reform and was a member of the communist party for a brief period of time. Even though he will forever be connected to the world of existentialism, he never accepted that to be true. Regardless of his beliefs to whether or not he was an existentialist his thought process has been forever linked. Considered to be a literary genius of his time he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. During the war, Camus published a number of works which have become associated with his principle thought processes on the â€Å"absurd†: his idea is mainly that it is impossible to make rational sense of ones experience, and human life is made meaningless by mortality. World War II brought Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre together. Sartre is arguably the most famous existentialist. Unlike Camus, Sartre was an atheist. His main beliefs revolve around the fact that there is in fact no God. For Existentialists like Sartre, the absence of God has a much larger significance than the metaphysics of creation: Without God there is no purpose, no value, and no meaning in the world. Phenomenology is the second branch of Continental philosophy that has historical connections to Hegelian idealism and thus existentialism. Phenomenology is the direct result of Edmund Husserl’s philosophies. According to Husserl, the goal of philosophy was to describe the data of consciousness without bias or prejudice, ignoring all metaphysical and scientific theories in order to accurately describe and analyze the data gathered by human senses and the mind. â€Å"Phenomenology, in theory, simply explores conscious experience without making any metaphysical assumptions† (2005). Martin Heidegger was another popular phenomenologist of the twentieth century. He was inspired by Husserl’s works. â€Å"Heidegger, too, was convinced that it was necessary to look at things with fresh eyes, unshrouded by the presuppositions of the present and past† (2005). According to him humans are actually â€Å"ignorant† to everything, what he called the â€Å"true nature of Being† (2005). It all goes back to Socrates and our inner search for something. In reality however Heidegger and Socrates philosophies are not similar in anyway. To define humans as animals capable of rational thinking is for Heidegger a distorted anthropology. He is not concerned with destroying logic, the ability to formulate analogies, or to display ratios. His mission is to preserve the fragile tendencies of spontaneous thought processes. By so doing Heidegger sees himself as presenting the phenomenal world. Continental philosophy is a form of philosophy that broadens the gap across the continents. It was the form of philosophy that took place in continental Europe during the twentieth century. It was during that time that the main philosophers of that time were being influenced by the terror and violence that was surrounding them thanks in part due to World War II. This influential time saw the rise in existentialism and phenomenology. References Moore, B. N. Bruder, K. (2005). Philosophy: The power of ideas (6th ed. ). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Human Physical Appearance Essay Example for Free

Human Physical Appearance Essay The appearances of people is like their cover, that? s why it? s so important, because it? s what can be seen, the first thing you note in a person, and like it or not, it tells a lot. It? s like a book, most of the time it? s judged by it? s front page, the right thing would be to read the review where you can know the details of it? s content, but what do you notice first? That why I compare the human appearance with a book, and I affirm that you can? t know a person only by the way they look, because it?  s not always what it seems, wearing designers clothes not necessarily shows your economic status and you can? t know a person only by their physical appearance, because this can be modified by a very important factor, self-esteem According to the Pequeno Larousse Ilustrado (1976), Appearance is â€Å" the outside look of a person or thing†. In another words is peoples physics, but there are situations in which the person can be criticized by this, specially during the teenage, that are the years of physical and mental development, but the physical part is commonly judged. Are we really conscious of what we say about other people? , I? m not saying it? s wrong, because the physical appearance is important, but is it all?. The appearance are not always what they look like, and even more in the teenage, the psychiatrist Felix Loracca says that we are modeling are personality in function of what others expect from us. For example, psychologists say that women tend to want to be accepted, not so much for their personality but for them to feel prettier. Young men present a similar case, now that they pay a lot of attention to their physical appearance, without neglecting their clothes, their hair, etc. The way each and every one of the teenagers practice their personal care for their appearance changes from one to another, but basically the aim is the same one, â€Å"try to look good†. Teenagers not only change their clothes, but their response, their expressions, their vocabulary and recreative activities. The way they dress and the physical appearance become very important, it can be a way to express solidarity with their friends, or as a way to declare their growing independence from their families. Another important aspect to consider is that clothing not necessarily proves your economical status, and this is more discussable nowadays, because material things don’t tell who you really are, a good example of this is Mahatma Gandhi, who despite of everything he owned economically speaking, acted like the most humble person in the world. People use to go for others clothing. Physical appearance influence, but is not determinant when we meet someone, and you can’t determine their economy, or their education by this, because everybody can have any kind of clothes or material objects without mattering the cost of these, there is who say â€Å"fashion, what suits you† and people can dress according with what they feel comfortable with without caring what other people think about them. Elton Mayo says that human relationships are majorly based in ties that exist between the members of society, thanks to communication, that can have many ways: principally visual, linguistically, affective and by specially created languages for the development of complex societies, that’s why he affirms that there is some importance in the physical appearance. One of the human needs is to relate with other living creatures, like Maslow shows in his hierarchical pyramid, in the affiliation is the friendship, or the creation of relations with other people. But in any moment he affirms the importance of the physical appearance. The changes in how we look to others are related with our self-esteem and not to our auto-perception, that’s why any change in our physical appearance can affect our present ME status, if we don’t have the ability to accept and adapt to these changes, in the same way this affects directly in our emotional status. In conclusion, physical appearances are an important part of people presence, but they are not determinant in the way to judge them, for what we saw previously. They exist an infinity of questions that we can make as thinking beings, that we lead us to much more questions, but it all ends in ourselves, the answer is in each one of us, you decide what to base in, how to act with others and how you want them to see you, but without losing your own personality.

Muhammad A Revolutionary Prophet Theology Religion Essay

Muhammad A Revolutionary Prophet Theology Religion Essay To both the Muslim faithful, the name Prophet Muhammad is not alien. Previous to his birth, many kinds of religious beliefs and practices reigned supreme but he came with another definition of what faith in Allah truly is. His beliefs can be truly referred to as revolutionary. According to general school of thought, revolutionary refers to the overthrow of an established government by those formerly under its authority (The Harcourt Brace School Dictionary: 628). It could also mean great change in a condition (The Harcourt Brace School Dictionary: 628). The transition of America from the monarchical political system to new governmental foundation for the colonial states was as a result of values gathered from years of being enlightened due to deep thoughtful period is correctly referred to as revolution whereas a revolutionary refers to an individual who is involved in effecting the radical change. The prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, was truly a revolutionary. Major spheres of life such as religious, social and political received a new meaning due to the philosophies Prophet Muhammad brought into these areas of life. Many events concerning him were penned down by some scholars: many shared belief in some of these writings while so many people were also in doubt of these. Some even called him Apostle of Allah Ibn Ishaq -(Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 767 or 761) (justislam). Prior to Islamizing Mecca, there were many tribes which was headed by the tribe known as Quraysh and accumulated much of its wealth from the tribes that would make pilgrimage to Mecca which was an important holy site for the polytheistic religions of the nomadic Arabs. As at then, The Arabs worshipped spirits associated with natural features such as stones and trees (William: 26). When the Prophet Muhammad brought one of the most important part of Islam, Tawhid which is translated as (Uniqueness and Unity of God), this message principle coded in this message immediately challenged the existing religious beliefs because it completely disapprove the worship of other tribal idols. Tawhid is contained in the 112th chapter of the Quran. It is to be noted that Quran is the holy book of the Muslims and contains divine message to the people (sufibooks). Prophet Muhammads messages really did not go down well with many people. These people were already entrenched in theory local beliefs that they (the Meccan elite) saw him as a revolutionary leader espousing an ideological message that threatened their social, economic, and political dominance. (Mir Zohair Husain : 45). The theological tenets of Muhammad was so strong that he left no stone unturned when he purify it by smashing the polytheistic idols (Frederick: 66) when he entered Mecca and approached Kaba. All his messages are already contained in the holy book (Darultawhid). Considering the fact that Islam is a holistic way of life its religious tenets present quite a number of social repercussions. The Prophets message of Islam was revolutionary on this front as well. Muhammad made it know to them that the Arabs pre-Islamic social life was referred to as the period of jahiliyya or the period of ignorance. Because of this ignorance, Peoples allegiances were absolutely to their tribe and family irrespective of whether the tribe was right or wrong. A kind of anarchy reigned among tribes because each of them was fighting his own course and that of his tribesmen. (William: 26). Another noticeable thing was that there was also an increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor (William : 27). This was causing strains in the society and made some individuals to be exploited by the elite which is considered wrong by the prophet. In addition to other things, Muhammads first followers were amongst the poor and were at times tortured because they were seen as expendable. The Prophet of Islam strongly countered this with the Islamic injunctions of social justice. Muhammad frequently stated that all are equal before God (Mir Zohair Husain : 46) which effectively eliminated tribal-elder status, socio-economic status and any superiority based on race or physical traits. This was a revolution in the social and political history of Arabia (Frederick: 66) which started with the bloodless victory of Mecca by the Prophet Mohammed (May peace be upon him) in 628. This political change was not simply a reform in the Arabs political life but was a radical shift from self-inte rested tribes made up of families and clans to a more unified nation based on religious orientation. No doubt, in today world, the revolution of Muhammad is still alive since .Islamic revivalism is an explicit illustration of this. The modern movement of Islamism is the re-emergence of Islam as a social and political force to be reckoned with in a world that is dominated by religious, social and political systems that are not in accordance with an Islamic message. Movements based upon the Prophet Muhammads teachings are taking place and are attempting to replace non-Islamic entities. Modern Islamism is also global in scope (Mir Zohair Husain : 55) and targets religious, social and political entities that may have little or no Islamic influence just as pre-Islamic Arabias values were founded on principles which Islamic values challenged. The shift in Arabia is an after effect of Prophet Muhammads message. The Prophets message and cultivation of his way of life in his community would not be such a distinguished force in the world today if it didnt espouse a new, fundamentally different, social milieu. In conclusion, as a true fundamentalist, Prophet Mohammed has proved beyond doubt that his mission is not just humane but divine. From the time of his birth to the situations that surrounded his birth, Mohammed, no doubt has proved that he was a courier of a greater knowledge than the society and environment he met himself. Although the ancient Arabs worshiped their own gods in their own way but Mohammed made it a point of duty to preach divine truth to these people. Quite expectedly, many od these Arabs took it as an insult while so of them understood the thesis of the message Mohammed was preaching but a true revolutionary, he was unshaken and pursued his objectives with vigor. His vigor further gave him the badge of true revolutionary and when he challenged the religious practice as this was true to his nature; fighting a just course. From which angle this great revolutionary is viewed from, he may be not be everything to everybody but he is a true revolutionary to everyone.

Internet Censorship Essay - Internet Spamming and Censorship

Internet Spamming and Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Not long ago, a manager of a giant Texas-based company wanted to sell his boat. In the old days, he would have posted a notice and a snapshot on the bulletin board in the employee lounge. This being the Nineties, he e-mailed everyone in the company a description of his boat's features and attached, of course, a few full-color images of the boat. As a result, his company's e-mail network crashed.    Incidents like this occur because massive e-mailings, especially with high-quality graphics, employ more bandwidth than the network allows. The fact is that a 15-second transmission of a high-quality video on the web (the multimedia aspect of the Internet) takes as much bandwidth as it would take to transmit the text of War and Peace.    The boat-marketing disaster is an example of what is known as internal spamming. The etymology of this new verb, to spam, is unclear. Most experts say its namesake is the canned lunchmeat. Others attribute it to the Monty Python routine about mindless offerings. In either case, spamming is the act of sending unsolicited, mass-distributed junk e-mail.    Spamming has arisen spontaneously as an outgrowth of the fact that transmission costs on the web have been reduced to almost zero. When spammers hit users with thousands of copies of the same message, havoc is wreaked. When massive e-mailing clogs users' incoming mail, the affected ones are not only the targeted users but also everyone else on their network. Frequent delays can cause deadlines to be missed, and businesses to go under.    Within an organization, abuse of technology is controllable by establishing explicit company policy and enforcing it with strict sanctions. How... ...a) introduced a complex bill called The Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Choice Act, and Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) has proposed a simple amendment to the existing law pertaining to junk faxes. The problem is that legislation only addresses the symptoms; it does not cure the disease. The observance of rules of conduct is effective only when there is common agreement in a society.    The Internet business has the unique characteristic of having no resource monopoly power; hence, it poses no threat to users' choices and freedom. Any attempt to regulate the Internet market through censorship of its pornographic tendencies will be met with considerable anti-christian sentiment, and it faces an uphill fight.    WORKS CITED: "C.N. Enterprises"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/cases/flowers1.html "Communications Decency Act"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.epic.org/cda/

What Is Truth? Essay examples -- Definition Philosophical Philosophy E

What is Truth? Truth exists and is an absolute. Contrary to the mush-minded meanderings of modern educators, truth is not relative. If my truth differs from your truth that can only be because either one or both of us is unaware of the truth and has called something true which is not. Truth must have not the slightest touch of maybe to it. Maybe is dishonesty to truth and if it touches truth, then truth becomes maybe. Truth is more and beyond that which is true. Truth is a concept in philosophy that treats the meaning of true and the criteria by which we judge the truth or falsity in written and spoken statements. For thousands of years, Philosophers have attempted to answer the question â€Å"What is Truth?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is the quality of being true, and anything that is true is a truth, the concept of truth is uncommonly complex and variable. Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and opinions are said to be true or false. An idea makes a truth claim and is true when the character of what is thought about upholds its claim. Forms of words or statements are also said to be true or false. This can be explained by saying a set of words is true when it expresses a true thought. â€Å"Truth† should be replaced by the â€Å"facts†, â€Å"reality† or the â€Å"way things are.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is often imagined as consisting in a speaker’s honesty with respect to what he believes. Occasionally truth is rehashed, as in the doctrines of the German philosopher Gottlob Frege. Mohandas Gandhi spoke of â€Å"The Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God† and said, â€Å" I worship God as Truth only.† Jesus said, â€Å" I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God is truth and the essence of it. All of his ways are truth and all truth stands or falls as it is measured against Him. If we love truth and seek after it, we cannot help but run into the outstretched arms of God. He wants us to know the truth, which is to know him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God places the truth before us and gives us complete freedom to choose how to respond to the truth. If we turn to God and ask him to instruct us in the truth and to lead us to salvation, we will surely receive that which we ask because our prayer will be in line with God’s desire for us. The word truth is mentioned in the bible 235 times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philosopher’s proposed four main theories to answer the â€Å"What is Truth?† question. They are correspondence, pragmatic,... ...he environment, nature, ethnical duties and ideas, or the relation to the divine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been doubted whether knowledge, or known truth, is humanly attainable. The truth is often disagreeable, because it fails to support prejudice or myth. The pursuit of truth tends to be suppressed as a dangerously revolutionary force.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some philosophers reject the question â€Å"What is truth?† with the observation that attaching the claim â€Å"it is true that† to a sentence adds no meaning. The use of the word true is essential when making a general claim about everything, nothing, or something, as in the statement â€Å"most of what he says is true.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is a very simple and handy concept. It is correspondence of a pictorial or symbolic representation to the thing being represented. In the case of a symbolic representation, the correspondence may be massively complicated, but it is nonetheless similar in kind to a simple pictorial representation. Works Cited â€Å"Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 98† on disk. 1993-1997 â€Å"Encyclopedia Americana†, 1986 by Grolier Incorporated â€Å"Philosophy: History and Problems. Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Fifth Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1994

The Mystery of What is Normal Essay -- Normality Family Essays

The Mystery of What is â€Å"Normal† In order to think about whether someone’s family is â€Å"normal† or not, you would have to consider many factors.â€Å"Normal† in what sense of the word?What aspect of the family are we considering the normality?Are we talking about the family’s culture, quality of living, habits, the way that the present themselves, or are we just comparing them to the people next door?Are we talking about the normality of the family at face value or are we asking about the normality of that family which only members of that family have experienced?There are so many definitions of the word â€Å"normal.†Finding a definition of the word â€Å"normal† depends on the person’s definition of what he or she thinks â€Å"normal† means. In the dictionary, it states that the definition of â€Å"normal† is â€Å"Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical.†But the word itself has a wide range of meanings.It can mean: â€Å"what’s accepted,† â€Å"average,† â€Å"just like everyone else,† or â€Å"just not sticking out in the crowd† just to name a few. We all have different perceptions of what the word normal means, and what is considered to be different.This perception is always changing and is affected by everything around us.If you ask a person what is normal one day, and then ask him again in about a month, that person will probably give an entirely different answer.The word normal is, in the most part, has opinionated definition.It varies from person to person, and changes dramatically as each person learns, experiences and accepts new things. Now that that has all been said, how can I consider if my family is normal or not?If the definition of the word normal varies from person to person, my answer to the ... ...â€Å"devil cat?†How many people have a father with an explosive temper?How many people have a mother who is a supervisor in a party plan?I’m sure that every person has a family that has differences that ranges from beliefs to habits to any experience of even the smallest significance. The strongest word that I would use to compare anyone’s family is the word â€Å"similar.†No family is â€Å"normal.†I myself have a hard time using the word â€Å"normal.†The only way that a family could be considered as normal is if every family was exactly alike, and alike in everyway possible.There is no true definition of the word â€Å"normal† in a society where what’s frowned upon one day is commonplace the next, and vice versa. Works Cited Bass, Randal. â€Å"Borders as Barriers: Otherness and Difference.† Bordrtext: Cultural Reading for Contemporary Writers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 205-210

Make Poverty History Essay

Poverty and the related problems of unemployment, economic inequality, poor social infrastructure and inability to access basic needs and services have for long been part of the international community. In 2005, the European Union developed the slogan â€Å"make poverty history†, that was directed at uniting developed countries in formulating policies for the eradication of poverty. The policy calls for a shift of focus from massive individual industrialization to synchronized growth of wage and capital goods, from substitution for self sustained development to export led growth. The solutions to the major problems of unemployment, poverty and income inequalities for all countries lie within policies for the integration of changes in domestic production and expenditure patterns. The â€Å"make poverty history† calls for a change of attitude from the developed countries to formulate policies and establish assistance for the improvement of the economic status of the poor especially those in third world countries. The policy aims at ensuring that the real world competition fair, the mobility of labor sufficient for development purposes and the governments aware of their fiscal responsibilities to the poor within their borders. Is It Possible? Many arguments support the proposition that if all developed countries united and came under one umbrella in fight against poverty, the issues related to poverty would be eliminated in a few years. The developing countries are in need of an economic mechanism in the international world that is capable of blending the interests of economic agents with those of the state more coherently. The economic mechanism needs to recognize the prevailing growth obstacles that can be considered for economic reforms. Mawhinney (2002,p. 157)Countries that are part of an international economic order such as the international trade organization, can be thought to be a subset of the organization, with the rules and regulations implemented by the organization affecting the behavior of the nations with respect to implied international repercussions. As such the economic order consists of â€Å"explicit or implicit† principles, rules and norms around which members are expected to converge. The rules and regulations prevail on the existing practices for making and implementing policies. It follows therefore that the decisions of the umbrella body will by far have more effect on individual country policies. For this reason the â€Å"make poverty history† polices that are implemented by the economic integration bodies will have a much higher success rate and impact on individual member country policies. International trade and economic organizations have time and again prevailed upon individual governments to change their economic policies by imposing sanctions and quotas that make it difficult for the counties to trade. The economic and trade organization being one of the largest and most influential economic organization has the unique power o influence changes in the developed and developing countries. They can impose salient features and prevail upon countries to reform their economic and social policies that are enhancing and promoting the spread of poverty. There is however a growing concern among experts that questions the impact of international economic organizations such as the European Union of individual and government state policies. Although the organization may have some form of control on their members, they are not very influential when it comes to private government policies. They may therefore be unable to influence their members with economic policy changes especially if such said members are powerful within their representation in the organization. Additionally, even though the economic changes can be made by the members, economic organizations cannot influence the change by other non-member countries. This means that the impact of the policy changes will only be felt by a small percentage of the poor. The impact may in fact be so small that it does not justify the implementation of new policies. How Can It Be Achieved Improvement of the commodity market: the developing countries and low income groups are haunted by the trade policies in their countries which are characterized by duality. The main parts of such markets (e. g. in agriculture) barter forms of transactions, rather than monetary transactions take place. The â€Å"make poverty history† campaign aims at educating the government and policy makers in the states to implement policies that encourage monetary trade. The value of the products coming from these countries is often higher than the value of the products included in the barter trade. The income trickling down to the producer and his workers therefore is much smaller than would have been possible in the monetary markets. The state governments should take advantage of the quality products to demand higher prices for their individual producers and exporters. Industrialization: for more than a quarter century, the debate on industrial policy has ebbed and flowed, with it the interest and commitment of state governments. The international community has always been aware of the importance of industrialization to increase employment and per capita income of the poor. Yet even with all the evidence little has been done to improve the state of the industrial process. The focus has quickly shifted to taking advantage of the countries with not industrialization power. Industries have to be allowed the chance to develop in order for the poor countries to be able to compete effectively in the international markets. Premised on the notion of strategic trade policies, proponents of this policy argue that it is possible for governments and the international community to intervene effectively to support local and national firms. In the developing countries policies there has been an impression that industrial policy is no longer considered part of the political agenda, and that policies of privatization and deregulation have replaced them. While the latter do reflect an increased emphasis on market force, they are not key factors to the improvement of competitiveness. Therefore a change in government policies may be necessary to redefine the industrial polices and the principle tenets of the last two decades. Unemployment and income distribution: the development designs for economies have to be structured around the objectives of maximum impact on employment. In the process of implementing policies for labor absorption, its quality and productivity have also to be enhanced so that the average level of incomes is not adversely affected. Without proper training and improvement of labor production, absorption of more people to employments will only lead to adverse effects on the income distribution patterns, (Strange and Bayley 2008, P. 42). In addition, a re-distribution of originating incomes has to be achieved simultaneously with changes in the product mix which match the altered structure of demands. This implies a much larger output of basic consumer goods and essential services like education, medical care, public transport and cheaper communication. Control population growth: the full employment and higher average income cannot be realized within a reasonable time structure if the poor populations continue to grow at the present rates. Consequently it is important for governments to pursue more effective polices of family planning and population control. The most powerful aids in this policy include the spread of general education and health facilities, more working opportunities for women and higher family incomes. Nevertheless, specific measures to promote later marriages, birth control practices, and health education have to be intensified in the low income earning groups along with programmes to alter social attitudes towards family size, male progeny and women property rights. Without a change in the total matrix, the desired benefits of income distribution and poverty alleviation cannot be achieved. Income Inequality and Bridging the Gap The probability of redistributing current incomes on any scale, while at the same time having positive welfare effects in the short run, is likely to be severely limited. There may be high cost in terms of growth in the long term from potentially damaging effect on the incentives, savings and investment of the upper income group. The policies designed for income redistribution are also likely to face strong resistance from this group. There will be less resistance and hostility from the main investors in the economy if the redistribution of income does not affect their income in any way. However this then denies the logic of the income redistribution polices, (World Bank, 2008, p. 12). On the other hand investing in the human and physical assets of poverty groups is likely to have a high pay off in welfare terms as it will lead to income growth in groups that have higher welfare weights. But it may also require some sacrifice of output in the short run in so far as returns on investment in human capital take longer to develop. To this extent it may involve a short run cost to upper income groups but these groups may also benefit in the long run as the productivity and income of the poor improve. Poverty: Problem or Affluence The main issue in economic development is the discussion on whether poverty is the problem or wealth. The problem facing the economic development is the structure of the poverty scale and not the wealth. The country’s affluent contribute significantly to the national income and growth rate, while the poverty scales make it difficult for this impact to be accounted for. Personal income is spent on purchase of consumer goods and services, while a part of the same is saved. This is only possible for the wealthy who not only by their purchasing power influence the employment of others but also invest in new industries that improve the income earning of the poor. Issues to Be Considered In Poverty: Unemployment Employment generation is a major factor in curbing poverty. The employment programmes often have more impact on the poor than temporary relief during periods of scarcity. International communities have invested heavily in local industries in order to increase the employment index. By investing in local industries, the international community hopes to increase the chances for employment in the countries, (Blakely 2002, P. 57). Locally, apart from investment in industries, the government has formulated policies that encourage employment generation. The government aims at providing equal employment opportunities especially for the country’s youth by encouraging and supporting innovative self employment plans and encouraging institutional placement. Technology and Credit By making the technology available to citizens and small scale producers, experts imply that production will increase on a large scale while at the same time reducing the costs of production. The immediate impact will be higher income generation. Technology confers a superior position for small scale producers correlated by stronger willingness and capacity to bear risks. Small scale producers are transformed to large scale employers through the implementation and use of new technology measures, (organization for economic cooperation and development 2001, P. 160). To ensure that small scale producers and entrepreneurs can access the technology available to make production less costly for them, the American government has reduced the lending rate and increased its investment in the government credit programs. This means that more and more entrepreneurs can access the credit necessary to purchase new and useful technology. Assets and Skills The low income earners form a mixed group on the criteria of economic prospects and accessibility. They are less educated and therefore possess less skill to offer to the employment market. The international community has put pressure on countries with low education indexes to improve their provision of education. Additionally, implementation of adult programmes and technical colleges has seen an improvement in the human skills and as such the employment rate of the uneducated. It is a constant struggle for the American government to impose on its population the importance of education in the employment world. While in the previous years the high school dropout rate has been a major concern to education officials, it has now become the trend for high school drop outs to return to school in an attempt to acquire the high school diploma. Government policies have made the small document so glamorous and easy to achieve that more and more American citizens are being drawn by the prestige of the diploma. Welfare Programmes Welfare programmes play two different but equally important roles in removal of poverty. First, they try to provide subsidized cost or free a wide range of amenities and services which the poor would not be able o acquire for a long time given their low and slow growing incomes. The second role is that of helping the poor invest themselves to improve the attributes important for participation in economic development processes such as orientation, reception, absorption capacity and ability to take initiatives. Although internationally and locally, the welfare policies and programs have drawn a lot of attention and increased their spread to the poor populations; careful monitoring and implementation of these programmmes is a dimension calling for priority attention . The polices need to be directed and implemented only when the poor move sufficiently beyond the subsistence level to appreciate the importance and advantage of investing in themselves European Union: Competition Policy Although the pitfalls of monopoly and anti-competitive conduct have long been recognized by economists, the application of polices to curb such behavior has only been done recently. It is the uncompetitive nature of today’s markets; where the large firms are given monopoly and control of the market forces that is enhancing the poverty scale. If the small firms lack the opportunity to compete in new industries, then it means that they will either go bankrupt and the unemployment rate will continue to increase. Like in the European markets it is necessary for the government to encourage competition by providing incentives for smaller firms wishing to enter monopolized industries and formulating integrated markets, (Pinder and Usherwood 2007, p. 67). The articles in the European Union agreement discourage and often penalize the action of firms and governments that may discourage competition and influence the market structure. This means that large and influential firms and governments are not allowed to impose unfairly high or low prices, limit production or apply specific conditions that are not related to transition of goods. Governments and firms are permitted to seek aid to improve their competitive nature and promote their contribution to the economic development. Conclusion Make poverty history proposal envisages fundamental changes in the role of governments and economic bodies in development. The shift to be considered is towards the sustainable development of the community. The make poverty history campaign has taken root in a number of countries that have committed themselves to implementing economic and social policies that will improve the lives of the low income earners. The United States is among the active players in the campaign to end poverty. Not only has the country taken part in policy changes but it has also increased its budget that is aimed at providing economic assistance to countries struggling with poverty. The success of the â€Å"make poverty history† campaign has relied heavily on the economic sanctions implemented by major trade organizations and major players in international markets. Because of its ability to draw the support of major developed countries and international organizations, together with the campaigns’ global capacity, the â€Å"make poverty history† campaign is likely to be the most successful poverty eradication program to date. References 1. Blakely. E. J. 2002. Planning Local Development, Third Edition. London. Sage Publications 2. Mawhinney. M. 2002. Sustainable Development: Understanding the Green Debates. Oxford. Blackwell Publishing 3. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2001. Sustainable Development: Critical Issues. Washington. OECD Publishing. 4. Pinder. J and Usherwood. S. 2007. The European Union: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford. Oxford University Press 5. Strange. T and Bayley. A. 2008. Sustainable Development: Linking Economy, Society, Environment. Washington. OECD Publishing 6. World Bank 2008. World Development Indicators 2008, Volume 2008. Washington. World Bank Publications

The Clouds and the History of Peloponnesian War

Breaking down traditions: The â€Å"Clouds† and the â€Å"History of Peloponnesian War† Undeniably, the ancient Greek society places a heavy emphasis on values and traditions. The two texts of the â€Å"Clouds† by Aristophanes and â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian war† by Thucydides, although contextually divergent, are actually conceptually convergent. Both texts are built around the central theme of the collapse of conventional values. While the breakdown of traditional values in the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian war† is presented in a more metaphorical and symbolical manner, the downfall of conventional values in the â€Å"Clouds† is on a more direct basis.Although both texts essentially convey across the same solemn message that the relinquishment of traditional values leads to dire consequences, Aristophanes also implicitly challenges the authority of old values, and hopes to improve upon these traditions. The â€Å"Clouds† by Aristophanes is a satirical play primarily concerned with the idea of new and old education. A satire is a composition or prose used to lampoon individuals or society. They usually make use of ridicules and irony for the ostensible purpose of exposing and discouraging vice or folly.In the â€Å"Clouds†, viewers are presented with a breakdown of traditionally accepted moral and ethical values, especially those that are related to education. Aristophanes is a staunch defender of old values. Through the comedy, he wishes to show his support for logical reasoning that is well rounded and grounded in practical experience. Simultaneously, Aristophanes also wants to deliver a message to the theater audiences of fifth century that certain philosophers, particularly the sophists, undermine traditional values and thus pose as a threat to Greek society.However, by deliberately satirizing the traditional model of education with the new model throughout the comedy, Aristophanes subtly suggests his belief that if a traditional system were to be left unexamined, it might lose sight of the convictions and values upon which it was founded. This also shows that Aristophanes believes the importance of criticism in the Athenian society, and that with criticism, a society can be improved upon. In comparison to â€Å"The History of the Peloponnesian War,† there are distinctions between the ways in which traditional values are broken down.In the latter, the Mytilenian debate and the Melian dialogues are based on the war between Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. It is more concerned with the ethics of war and punishments rather than education in â€Å"The Clouds†. Warring sparks are ignited in the light of self-interest, as the Spartans fear the growth of the Athenian power. Many moral judgments, as dire consequences of the wars, are debated upon. There are increasing political and ethical confusions in Athens as a result of the revolt of the Mytilenians and the neutral position take up by the Melians.In the 2nd Mytilenian debate, the Athenians argue over the unprecedented brutality of their actions and some become hesitant about the hurried decision to kill and enslave the citizens of Mytileans. Democracy is an important concept for the Greeks. In Cleon’s speech, however, he begins by questioning the worth of democracy and this instigates a breakdown in the traditional values. â€Å"Personally I have had occasions often enough already to observe that a democracy is incapable of governing others, and I am all the more convinced of this when I see how you are now changing your minds about the Mytilenians. (Thuy 3. 37) Cleon believes that it is part of human nature to revere the strong and take advantage of the weak, and hence he pushes for the punishment of the Mytilenians. In his speech, Cleon also employs the art of rhetoric. He stresses that the Mytilenian are more than guilty and consequentl y deserve the punishment since they are â€Å"calculated aggressors† (Thuy 36. 13). Hence, Cleon suggests that the Mytilenians are not worthy of the Athenian’s sympathy votes. Such a way of argument is a sure fire case of guilt or innocence.Making use of rhetoric devices and compromising the ideals of democracy breach the ideals of traditions in the Greek society. Unlike that in the â€Å"Clouds†, Thucydides does not show any sign of flaws of the traditional values. Although based on different circumstances, the breakdown of traditional values in â€Å"The History of the Peloponnesian war† parallels to that in the â€Å"Clouds†. The â€Å"Clouds† also utilizes extensive use of rhetoric devices. Strepsiades decides to submit to the sophist’s way of education, so that he would be able to defend himself against his creditors.The first sign of erosion of traditional value is exposed when Strepsiades decides to enroll himself in the Thinke ry under the guidance of Socrates. The ability to manipulate language and turn everything into relativism erodes the principles of traditional Athenian beliefs. Indisputably, the new philosophy wins. Sophistry is the type of linguistic device that, in the face of the weakness of traditional beliefs, undermines the value of anything. Strepsiades opines, â€Å"Holy Earth, what a voice! How divine, how awesome, how fantastic! † (363) In which Socrates responds, â€Å"Yes, you know, these are the only real divinities, all the rest is bunkum. (365) In the new system of beliefs as advocated by the sophists, there is a rejection of the traditional religion and a belief in the new â€Å"gods†. The comical way through which ideas are portrayed may be witty, but the core issue lies at the heart of the play's moral indignation at what is happening in Athens. There are possibilities for that life is being systematically corrupted by the seductive power of words, of language itsel f. Language is now a tool of human beings, modified to accommodate human beings' desires, rather than directing those desires.The underlying basis here in the â€Å"Clouds† is a direct correspondence to the ideas as presented in the Mytilenian debate, that traditionally held values are now being gradually eroded in the light of self interest. As we progress on to the rest of the texts, the tension in breaking traditional Greek values further intensifies. This is evident in the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War† as we advance to the Melian dialogue. The true colors of human nature are exposed under desperate conditions. The Athenians have now completed the transition from democracy and are fully embracing the epitomes of imperialism.The Athenians, in a frank and matter-of-fact manner, offer the Melians an ultimatum: to surrender and pay tribute to Athens, or be destroyed. The Melian dialogue also opens up morality issues based on destruction of the Melos. Tradition al democratic ideas are fragmented as imperialistic ideas are introduced. â€Å"Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can. † (Thuy 5. 105). Abuses of traditional values are reflected throughout the dialogue as both parties act in the light of their own self-interests.The Athenians make extensive use of rhetorical speeches in an attempt to exert their points and subjugate the Melians. I quote the Athenians, â€Å"You, by giving in, would save yourselves from disaster; we, by not destroying you, would be able to profit from you† (Thuy 5. 93). The use of rhetoric embodies the concept of ethical and moral relativism. It follows the core belief of the sophists that nothing is absolute and men are the measure of everything. The breakdown of traditional values is also intensified and heightened in the â€Å"Clouds†, as presented in the fiery debate between the Right and the Wrong Arguments.The debate is a direct, head on clash of traditional values versus the new ideas. Right's arguments are centered around traditional values such as respect, justice and diligence. On the opposing end, wrong proposes the idea of moral and ethical relativism. This also symbolizes a debate between nomos and physis. Justice is now no longer an inborn characteristic of humanity (physis), but rather a convention invented by the weaker party as a defense against the stronger (nomos) counterpart. Right and wrong are now merely matters of convention. Right: â€Å"Simply by presenting the case for justice†Wrong: â€Å"It’ll crumble as soon as I open my mouth. My position is that there isn’t any such thing as justice† Right: â€Å"No such thing?! † Wrong: â€Å"Well, if there is, where is it to be found? † (901) In the debate, even the Right argument, who is supposed to follow the ideals of tradition, makes use of rhetoric devices. The fundamentals of the traditional Greek society are disintegrated. Also, Pheidippides' final decision to choose the Wrong argument also represents the younger Athenian generation's inclination to modernity and discard of tradition.Although both Aristophanes and Thucydides suggest the idea of the breakdown of traditional values, Aristophanes takes it to a higher level in the â€Å"Clouds†. He acknowledges the faults with traditional values while simultaneously criticizing the use of sophistry. He depicts the Right argument and an embarrassment that utters vacuous statements such as â€Å"Be ashamed when you ought to be ashamed,† (1013). This shows that Aristophanes feels that satire and criticism are no less important than traditions, as they allow the society to morph and flourish.This is different from the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War† as Thucydides simply portrays the breakdown of traditional values in a negative light. Nonetheless, both texts end on a similar note. The two writers present to the viewers/readers the dire consequences as results of breaching traditional values. In the context of the â€Å"History of the Peloponnesian War†, the Melians are destroyed. Also, the very next line is history begins with the decline of the Athens and the justifications of the Melos. About the same time the Argives invaded Phliasia and were ambushed by the Phliasians and the exiles from Argos, losing about eighty men. † (Thuy 5. 115) Thucydides presumably wants to show the calamitous consequences of the actions of the Athenians, as a result of going against the traditions. The Athenians are also completely defeated with the Syracusan victory. On the other hand, in the â€Å"Clouds†, we are presented with the protagonists’ (Strepsiades) frustration that leads to destruction at the end of the play. Both texts do not move us beyond their final, unsettling acts.In the case of â€Å"Clouds†, such a paradoxi cal ending to a comedy can be interpreted as an ominous warning. Divergence away from the traditional values may seem ridiculously silly, especially when it is presented in the form of a comedy. However, the consequences are far from amusing. The very fact that there is no choral closure after the burning of the Thinkery suggests that this ending is ironically serious. Despite the genre differences of the texts, they are dissimilar presentations and interpretations of the same theme—the breakdown of traditional Greek values.Both texts show the dire consequences as a result of breaking off from the tradition, and hence suggest the writers’ sense of disapproval. However, as Woody Allen once alleged, â€Å"Tradition is the illusion of permanence† As a society progresses, old traditions are bound to be challenged. Unlike in the â€Å"History of Peloponnesian war†, Aristophanes recognizes the limits of traditional values in the â€Å"Clouds†. While both texts show the grim effects of the breakdown, Aristophanes brings it to a whole new level. Works Cited Aristophanes, and Alan Sommerstein. â€Å"The Clouds† Lysistrata And Other Plays. Penguin Classics, 2002. Print. * Thucydides, and Rex Warner. History of the Peloponnesian War. London, England:Penguin Group, 1972. Print. * Schironi, Francesca. â€Å"Thucydides’ Social Theory (Athenian Plague ; Corcyra); The Melian Dialogue. † Classical Civilization 101 Lecture. Ann Arbor, Michigan. November 8, 2011 * Schironi, Francesca. â€Å"Philosophy, Scientific Enquiry and the Greek Artistic Canon† Classical Civilization 101 Lecture. Ann Arbor, Michigan. November 29, 2011

Letter of complaint Essay

This year in school my son Shem has brought to my attention that â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† will no longer be included in the school curriculum, though I feel this is a poor decision and that â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† is an important classic novel to read in school and should be included in lessons once more. Although â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† has been commonly regarded as a ‘banned book’ for explicit language and racism it is very informative and a noteworthy example of coming of age, and the wrongness of racism and stereotypes. For example Atticus, a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, who was a very respectable man in his community, represents a black man in court during a very racist era, doing all that he could to prove he was innocent despite the color of his skin; this shows that not all of the topics regarding racism in the novel are negative. The poor language is also something that unfortunately children are already exposed to in everyday life. I feel that as long as they understand the wrongness of this language and do not continue to repeat it then it shouldn’t be of much concern. This langue it is important for children to be exposed to, to fully understand what life was like in the 1930’s. This novel was set in a very important time in American history and exposes old practices that young students may not be familiar with in a more enjoyable and memorable fashion; through the narrations of the character Scout. This may help the children learn more willingly and enjoyably rather than learning from a text book that does not give them as great of an idea of what it might be like for someone to live during that time period. Teachers are also able to teach students about dialect, figures of speech, allusions and other literary devices using this novel. The characters in it are very colorful and developed well as well making a lot of material for discussions about characters. To Kill a Mocking Bird has been ranked by British librarians even before the Bible as a book that every adult must read before dying. The adaptation of the book was also made into an Oscar-winning film which was released in 1962. The novel has became popular with time and the style of writing, the plot and characterization places it in the top 10 books that everyone should read, therefore as students are maturing I believe that they should read â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† and be able to analyze and dig deeper into the book with the guidance of teachers and peers during school. In conclusion I believe that â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† should be included in school curriculum because it shows that racism and stereo types are unjust and not always true, exposes children to important times in history and is a great example of literary devices and character development. Kind Regards,

Does the Philippines Have a Chance?

â€Å"Does the Philippines have a Chance? † Book of Peter Wallace as reviewed by Nash Gibril Introduction To have a glance on the a report prepared by Mr. Peter Wallace in its book entitled â€Å"Does the Philippines have a Chance? † you can see the naked truth about Philippines negative side. The identified realities then hamper development of the country. These realities were very complex that intertwined with each reality. Once the one problem exists it bred other problem or simply called the domino effect. The interrelated detrimental realities maybe made Mr. Wallace to raise the question, â€Å"does the Philippines have a chance? The challenge now for each and everyone of us from mere tao up to the national leaders is draw a positive recommendation from the said report that could possibly be the or at least part of the solution to the embedded problems of the society and expectedly could at least lessen the problems if impossible to eliminate. In this book review, I will first present the world view of the author in per subject matter then I will try to find myself whether I am amenable to the idea or not and then offer an alternative position if not satisfied, otherwise, I will confirm the practicality or truthfulness of the author’s concept.Sad Political Environment – bred poor governance and corruption Is Mr. Wallace is right when he stated â€Å"politics is the heart of the problem? Indeed, he is right in saying so. The politicians now are the most powerful individuals along with the businessmen in the country. The political leadership controls almost everything, once Mr. Politician held in the throne, first he/she easily acquires wealth through kick-backs, red tapes and any other illegal manner, and then control follows. They [politician] controls the legislation and/or implementation of the laws – they will atify what is justifiable and directly or indirectly on their advantage to their vested interest, otherwise they will be out of the circulation. Another attitude of the political leadership is the so called dynasties – once he/she occupied the post, the tendency is he/she don’t want to vacate or leave the office as far as the constitution allows; and much worst, there were instances of strategic maneuvering, for example, the father is the mayor, the son or daughter is the vice mayor, and a son/wife/daughter is the ABC President, what a strategy.In that structure of ascendancy, the tendency is there’s no check and balance, as the ideal structure is designed for. In other words, the government is very susceptible to graft and corruption practices. And another form of dynastic attitude of the politician is as much as possible; the family can hold strategic position in the political system, let say, there is one governor, a congressman, one mayor, and so on and so forth.And once there corruption, the immediate effect is basic services like education, health and sanitation , livelihood assistance, and others, that are expected from the government were not delivered in timely manner, thus, the poor remained to be poor, and those in the position and power are reaching the sky for their personal satisfaction achievements. Moreover, the political leadership is driven by their own personal agendas and not for the common good of the general public. For instance, the villain of the contemporary administration could be the hero tomorrow and the hero for today could the villain tomorrow.There’s no such thing as solidarity of agenda and aspiration for the betterment of the country in terms of socio-economic upliftment. The poor governance also effect low collection of revenues. The businessmen and all other tax payers would always find ways to evade from paying the appropriate tax of their properties. In some cases, these tax evaders are collaborating with revenue officials in order for them to lessen the amount due from them. Lastly, the competence of s ome of the political personalities are also low evel as to some extent, the rich, regardless whether they are competent or not they can be enthroned to office as they have the money to finance electoral expenses whether legal or illegal like in the form of vote buying. The result of this reality is the formula of Mr. Wallace that a weak leadership is equal to political instability. Uncontrolled population growth The next issue is the question of uncontrollable population growth. The question now is population growth detrimental to the society? Or the huge population could be utilized by the government in attaining its desired goal of development? If to rely on the assumption of Mr.Wallace, definitely, population growth hampers economic development of the country in a sense that the population shares the national wealth of the country. To elaborate further, when fewer people shares the national wealth of the country, the government can spend more high value-added products that can he lp drive the economy. On the query if it is possible that the huge population can be the resources of the government in accomplishing its goal, I don’t think so. It could be possible if the government have the funds in equipping its citizens with necessary skills and expertise like of the case of China.As context, Philippine is very limited on agricultural skills that are sometimes antiquated knowledge are pass from the parents to the siblings, that’s why we cannot expect enhanced agricultural production output from it. The issue on population control is further hindered by the position of the church [Catholic] that does not allow the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill. The church opposes the law as accordingly, to engage in artificial contraceptive is against the tenet of the Catholism. However, as presented by the author, many western countries that predominantly Catholic are practicing the desired method of birth control.Why do the church leaders oppose the alt ernative solution to the problem? On the other hand, the Philippine president is in off-hand in the issue, why? Is it because once he/she insist or at least influence the passage of law, he/she would be condemned by the majority Catholic believers? Lastly, being the highest position in the government must not look back his career and must take a risk to ensure the confirmation of something that would benefit majority of the country citizens. In addition, as suggested by Mr.Wallace, the government shall provide option for family planning along with intensive information dissemination and advocacy through educating of the parents. Education The enrollment rate in the country is used to be at the forefront in Asia in terms of secondary education (77%) and tertiary level (31%) ratios. And accordingly, the figure is continued to improve, however, the other Asian countries improve much faster, the tendency now is there will be times that Philippines will be overtaken. But is the great num ber of enrollment is sufficient enough for the education sector of the country?What about the quality? Why is it that huge number of college graduate can land a job? Is it because of lack of job opportunity or less knowledge acquired or both? What about the curriculum? To start with, let’s check the quality of the education. Philippine universities now seldom got international recognition in terms of efficiency of curriculums – only few were internationally recognized as prominent institution, among to the recently published universities are University of the Philippines, De Salla University, Ateneo University, and University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.If the government could implement the free education for primary, elementary up to secondary, the better, however, I can’t support the idea of privatizing the tertiary education, it only add to the problem of the parents in sending their siblings to universities. Once the tertiary education is priva tize, the government no longer can impose regulation in terms of tuition fees and all other fees for very common ground, the school is business that is aimed at profit. Rather, I’m in full support to the idea of curriculum enhancement along with method of teaching improvement.But the most important is the accountability of the education sector officials in their expenditures. There must be no corruption in the education/academe as this institution is the molders of future leaders and officials. Infrastructure The inability of the government to provide necessary infrastructures like paved roads, bridges, dikes, irrigation canals, solar driers, warehouse and others, add the hardship blocks of its citizens. The productions of agricultural products are somehow affected by the roads, bridges, driers and warehouses.The infrastrucres are stock capital of the government that attracts more produce of agricultural products, and it also invites investors to come in and have business in our localities, when there is infrastructures, there will be more businesses thus income comes. However, this infrastructure constructions/provisions are attached to various issues, like prolonged bidding procedures, palakasan system/kumpare system of winning the bidding, breaching of contracts, contractors/sub-contractors incapacities, kick-backs to some government officials, and poor quality outputs.Now with these circumstances, what could be the common tao expect from its government. These sad realities must be changed by the government officials as well as the contractors, to have a sense of responsibility and credibility for the benefits of common public must be considered. On the other hand, self-centeredness shall be minimized if not erased in the blood of the Filipinos, otherwise, decade hardship will commence in the coming future. Antiquated agricultureIn terms of agriculture sector, no doubt that we have the wide arable and fertile lands ideal for many types of agriculture products like rice, corn, banana, coconut, coffee, cacao, pineapples, and a lot more. But the problem in this sector are also wide as the lands of the country, for example, the appropriate farming technologies, capital of small farmers, inequitable distribution land ownership, the pro-hybrid and anti-GMO, and lack of necessary infrastructures to support the produce of the farmers.These interlinked realities can only be addressed if the government and farmers will work hand in hand for the resolution of the issues attached to the sector, otherwise we will be of great dependence in terms of food consumption from other neighboring countries. Lastly, in my opinion, the government shall gradually shift to the sustainable agriculture to evade possible environmental impact of the extreme usage of chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers in farming. Job creation In the statement of Mr. Wallace â€Å"give the poor a job, and they no longer poor† is absolutely right.In community orga nizing work for example, the intervention must be attitudinal change with the given technological skills/knowledge and not by just providing temporary solutions to the circumstances. For the case of humanitarian relief, there must be a timeframe of when to stop giving relief goods, as it will create a culture of dependency. And for the issue of providing skills, the TESDA must intensify its campaign in providing necessary skills training as this will propel individual income. The Court System The Supreme Court being the highest court of the land shall perform its mandated and expected functions as well.While the integrity and competence of the justices are unquestionable, in some way or another, their knowledge on technical, economic and technological matters are somehow limited, thus, I support the call of Mr. Wallace that the justices before having a final verdict on issues pertaining to technical, economic and social consequences must have to consult to experts on the particular field where decision will have to be made. My statement however, does not pertain to mining as my personal judgment that mining exploration must be deferred awaiting political maturity and integrity of the public officials.Security Frankly speaking, I am not convinced with the formula of Mr. Wallace that â€Å"Security and Development = Peace + stability. In my own opinion though it could be bias for other as I am Moro, holistically seeing the matter, the only cure for the Moro rebellion is the granting of self-determination. Aside from that, there will no sustainable solution to the problem as the Moro are just retracting their decade’s stolen sovereignty and freedom that their fore parents enjoyed for centuries long ahead of the Philippine republic.My inclination to the self-determination is further backed by the experiences of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as the failure of the government to impose the desired development. My position, is why not let the Mor o people chart their own destiny through Federal State and/or any other from? The notion is, you cannot impose development to the discontented and untrusting people, they [Moros] has the discretion to develop themselves. However, I support the statement of Mr. Wallace that government cannot win by fighting the rebels, and cannot negotiate peace in isolation.For me, the statement is suggesting for more peaceful solution and not by fighting as in war, everyone is a loser. Conclusion What is my personal assessment on the statements and/or arguments of Mr. Peter Wallace? In a fair and square answer, I agree to most of the notions of Mr. Wallace, whether it is the negative aspect about Philippines and it’s leaders/citizens and the suggestions and recommendations he offered, except for two aspects: (1. ) the promotion of the mining industry, and (2. the formula of resolving Moro insurgency in Mindanao [but no comment on the NDF/NPA]. My stand is influenced by my belief that as long as the Philippine political environment including the judicial system would not be changed, then one cannot expect that the ideal regulations of extracting earth minerals will be followed by the mining companies. The foreign countries he referred were all successful in that endeavor [mining industry] considering that there government are in good status unlike in us which corruption is becoming a phenomenal culture.While we know that development could positive and/or negative effect on the environment, what I suspect is more on negative side effects considering the attitude of the government officials and the mining companies as well. And for the solution for the insurgency, I am not convinced with the formula as I support self-determination is the foundation of any peace and development in the concern areas. Now, to answer the question, does the Philippines have a chance? I am optimistic that there could be chance for the Philippines to develop socio-economically, as long as the re commendations of Mr.Wallace and all other development planners must be considered by the government and by every one of us. The political leaders cannot solve the problem alone, so the cooperation and participation of its citizens is required, otherwise we cannot expect any change. The change we dreamed of must start in ourselves, by being vigilant, law abiding individuals. Indeed, development is a great challenge for each Filipino. No one but Filipinos only can develop its own country.