ICT Educational Tour Narrative Report Essay

Learning is not only gained in school but also from the exposure outside the school premises, according to the tour committee on its rationale. Through this, they convince us to join the tour, The B.S. Information Technology Educational Tour 2013 in Manila. With the effort of everybody especially the faculty it happened last December 2-5, 2013.The purpose of it is not just for self-satisfaction but for the improvement of one’s mind in terms of learning knowledge, actual experience both in IT and form good camaraderie between fourth and third year students. Furthermore, it let the students to have an actual observation on how the different technological industries operate. Topics Learned As we visited different industries, somehow we learned from them. Like in TOEI Animation and Cutting Edge Productions, they taught us step by step processes on how to make an animation from lay outing to finishing .Although, there’s no multimedia subject in our curriculum but atleast they gave us an idea on how it works. In addition in UP-Diliman, we also benefited in the seminar in Android Apps, using Ubuntu an open source operating system and their students guided us to their different IT laboratories. Ma’am Christy told us the projects of their students focus in security problem to address, enterprise network and some information about AI or the Artificial Intelligence. Though, it is not already reach beyond my knowledge. Then on our third day, I learned from one of our tour how technology works in a factory. Imagine a fully automated and computer controlled manufacturing facility untouched by human hands. Industry Visited Our first destination is the Makati City Traffic Management System which is located at the Makati City Hall. This command control and communication  center was started in 2007.It is composed of 8 big and 48 small monitor screens that is open 24/7.They have installed CCTV’s in different streets and vicinity along Makati. In addition, each camera has a 30 times zooming capacity and can capture objects within 800 through this; they can monitor accidents or the flow of traffic in Makati. We’ve also tour around the Makati City Hall itself including the conference room, Mayor’s Office and session hall etc. After this, we continued to Sir Boy’s Republic for our lunch. Exactly 2:31 pm, we are now in TOEI Animation located in Eastwood.They are behind the famous animes like One Piece, Sailormoon, Digimon and etc†¦ This Company was started in 1986 and a 100% subsidiary Japan Animation and the first 2D animation to use system. After TOEI Animation, our next stop was the Cutting Edge Productions. Just like TOEI, it is also an Animation company. Some of their works are Dayo, shampoo commercials and etc.. We’ve ended our day by eating our dinner at Star City. Eventually, after eating breakfast in Wendy’s, we proceeded to ABS-CBN for studio tour. The acronym stands for Auto Broadcasting Network-Chronicle Broadcasting Network, one of the largest TV stations in the country. Then again eat our lunch at Sir Boy’s Republic. In the afternoon, we attended a seminar in UP-Diliman Campus. After that, we transferred to Engineering Building to make rounds. We had seen their highly modernized library and IT laboratories. On the third day of our tour, we dropped by at Somethin’ Fishy at Eastwood to take or breakfast. Then our instructors let us took a walk. After that, we continued to our next destination. The Gardenia Bakeries Phil which is located in Gardenia Centre, Star Avenue LIPP, Mamplasan Laguna. They gave us free sample of their products then we took our lunch in Tagaytay City. Then, we continued our tour to Enchanted Kingdom. There we enjoyed the different rides and returned to Hotel happy and satisfied. According to our tour guide being a tourist in Metro Manila, we need to visit Intramuros so we dropped by and took a long walk. After this, we ended  to University of Sto. Tomas which is located in Espaà ±a.Then for the last time, we returned to Sir Boy’s for our lunch. As follows, we proceeded to MOA, owned by Henry Sy.Some of the students met their relatives while others bought Pasalubong and the rest took window shopping. And the saddest part was to say goodbye and we continued to our last bus stop, the NAIA. Application on your Course After the tour, I have acquired new realizations, knowledge that I may use in my course. I can apply that self-realization in my motivation to pursue my degree. Though I can’t say that I can be an App developer or Animator someday but I was unable to realize the importance of technology, the possible jobs,the importance of being a skilled IT worker and many more. Therefore ,the educational tour is not only for the enhancement of theoretical learning but rather giving a student a complete idea of what the course may offer to his or her life and for the preparation in the future job. Personal Experience Most of my first times happened during our tour. It may be terrifying or death-defying experiences but I don’t have any regrets in joining the said tour. Although my aunt wasted a huge amount of money just to send me to this tour. It’s okay at least we learned, we experienced and feel motivated. It’s my first time to ride in a plane. I feel a little bit of nervous at first because I have a fear in height but I’m happy that I’ve conquered my fear. Then after going back to Manila it’s a De javu feeling. I was there not for any reason but to enjoy all the proceedings and being a tourist. It is a privilege because all you have to do was to eat, listen, learn, observe, unwind and sleep. I have been there a long time ago but it’s my first time to go to ABS-CBN which is one of my dreams. Eversince, I have been an avid fan of Kapamilya Stars. Although I feel disappointed because I hadn’t seen my favorite stars but knowing that they also reside there it’s a pleasure to me. The Eastwood City was also amazing because of its high structured buildings, it is also considered as one of the business center of  Metro Manila. Opportunities can be seen anywhere since that there’s a lot of jobs. They say there’s a lot of job but the question is the skills of applicants. I’ve realized that in order to succeed you need to strive hard ,be patient and the most important is study hard to acquired proper skills that may use in the future. Next first time is going to Tagaytay City; it’s a relaxing ambiance with cool weather. After that was the Enchanted Kingdom experience. The fun really never stops. Aside from bonding with my classmates and friend it’s a full package experience. The ride on Space shuttle and Rio Grande was all my first time and according to Christian if he will be given a chance he’ll go back there or shall I say we will if there’s a chance. On our last day, the Intramuros and UST experiences are also amazing. Intramuros being one of the most important historical place and unique events in the country happened there. While UST is also nice because of its place which is awesome. Aside from the cute faces of their students, they are also kind and hospitable and they entertained and answered all our questions in mind. I’m so blessed and thankful that I was able to join the tour. My deepest gratitude to the tour committee for their patience in asking for our balances and letting this to happened. And also to Sir Nemz, our tour guide for guiding us during the tour. Though, he is not a certified teacher but he is more than that. He told a lot of trivia’s, knowledge about the place and he made us laugh.

Mozambique Flooding

Mozambique’s worst flooding in 50 years led to impacts and effects that devastated the country and the people not only socially but also physically and economically too. In the table below I have separated the floods’ effects into Short term and long term effects: Short term effectsLong term effects Electricity Cut-off- Electricity was cut off due to the torrential water’s force that swept away the electricity transmission towers. Death and severe injuries- 100s died as a result of the floods, thousands suffered from water-borne diseases and dysentery.Transport – Transport is a major struggle in LEDCs like Mozambique and the floods made that worse by wrecking 620 miles of roads and railways and also damaging vehicles, moreover this made rescuing, distributing food, drinks and aid even harder. Cleaning up the mess- All the debris and rubble left by the floodwaters which it gained through Hydraulic action and then traction or were ramshackle parts from build ings, took a lot of effort to manage and clear up, especially for Mozambique, being a LEDC country.Communication links broken- The communication links weren’t available everywhere in Mozambique in the first place so the residents didn’t get a warning. And by not being able to warn the people, more damages were made certain. Agriculture disrupted- Much of the land in Mozambique is dedicated to agriculture (62%) as it is a common job for Mozambicans. However, most of the crops were destroyed by the floodwaters, devastating the land owners and the country’s economic status further.Shortage of food and water- Lack of food and water was a temporary problem. The water most people drank was contaminated, thus people became ill by diseases such as; Dysentery, Typhoid, Cholera, etc. Homes and Buildings destroyed- Buildings in urban areas (Maputo, Beira) were entirely destroyed by the flood and the cyclone. Rebuilding them could take years and a lot of money.

a night to remember Essays - English-language Films, Films, Mikey

And listened to a band play a pretty good impression of la-bam-ba and a lot of other good early hits. I hadn?t had supper or dinner yet so my friends and I head to the whispering winds and I?m in the mood for some breakfast and I get to the side of the casino where the whispering winds are at and I see that there is a line the size of one at a carnival. We all decide to head to super pumper for some kind of munchies instead of waiting in line for 2 hours. We get there walk in I go to the bathroom, when I get out I grab some a bag of dill pickle chips and a bottle of sprite, Mikey gets a bag of flaming out cheetos and a power-aid, Brandon gets a beacon cheese burger a bag of chips and a cherry coke. Go back out to the parking lot and go chill in Mikey?s hot rod red colored Cammaro and ate our food and suddenly mike gets a phone call, I can hear bits and pieces of the conversation. What I hear is ?common Mikey come pick us up? I had only one guess who it was. We are on E for gas so I d ecide to put 15$ and that gets us to about half a tank. So we head out to Waubun and go pick up Tori and raven the ones I had in mind. We tell them to hurry up before their parents see us pick them up so it?s Mikey driving me in the passenger Tori behind Mikey and raven behind me. It?s now the five of us in his small spaced Camarro so Mikey get back on the phone and tries to find out where the party is at. He gets hold of Kyle and he says it?s at his house Allison?s birthday party. Now we are driving to Kyle?s house and Tori gets a call it her friend Amy and she wants us to go pick her up as well, but the thing is we are only on 3/8s tank of gas and no one has no money so Tori talk to Amy again and asks ?if she has any money she says ?yes 10$? Mikey says ?yah ok we can go get her? well we drop Brandon off because we need the space and I drive to Naytahwaush because Mikey has his driver licenses suspended from all the driving violations he has got so he makes me drive so I?m fine wit h that because he wanted to drink and I was going to be the DD so I figured id drive the rest of the night. We get to Naytahwaush and pick up Amy. its so dark u cant see nothing out side of the lights so we could hardly find her. We head back to the party we get there and everyone is hammered drunk already so the people with me all decide to try and catch up. I?m sitting there at the fire laughing at everyone how they are falling over, stumbling, being the drunk people that they are, and I see Amy so drunk she cant walk so being the nice guy I am I go and pick her up and try and make her sober up but she is being snaky and wont listen so she?s trying to push me away while she?s falling down and I?m trying to catch her all in the same process and then Kyle?s sisters boyfriend comes up to us and he asks ?what the problem? I tell him the situation he agrees with me and decides to try and help me then his girl friend see this all go down, she decides to try and help up and thinks that A my is trying to fight and she wants her out of there. Some how Amy gets away from me and walks away and Kyle?s sister heather walks right behind her and asks ?what?s your problem? and Amy does this spinning back hand looked like a UFC fighter throwing one, hits heather along her stomach and chest area. Heather gets mad grabs her by the throat and puts

Brazilian Drought and Coffee Harvest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Brazilian Drought and Coffee Harvest - Essay Example This occurrence immediately became major news to the market economy and the consumers, because of the change that would occur in the marketing system. What actually occurred during this circumstance was a surge of heavy rains which lashed Brazil for several days, causing a major drought, and isolating hundreds of people and destroying crops. "Farmers reported that 40 percent of their tobacco, bean and corn crops had been destroyed by the floodwaters that inundated fields in the western half of the state." (Associated Press, 2000). The October 2000 drought was an incredibly serious and devastating event in many different ways for Brazil. In order to understand these reasons and to come to a clearer and more knowledgeable viewpoint on the subject matter, certain matters in regards to the drought itself, how it affected Brazil, and what plans are for the future must all be thoroughly discussed. The aim of this paper is to focus on all of these elements, while answering questions such as why, how, when, and will come in the future due to this situation. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Coffee is the second most commonly traded commodity in the world, trailing second only to petroleum. The first coffee plantation in the world was in fact established in Brazil in 1727, and Brazil cultivates coffee as a commercial commodity. They relied heavily on slave labor from Africa for its viability until abolition in 1888. For many decades in the 19th and 20th centuries, Brazil was the biggest producer and virtual monopolist in the coffee trade, and remained that way, until a policy of maintaining high prices soon opened opportunities to other growers, like Colombia, Guatemala and Indonesia. Brazil is located in East Central North America and occupies approximately 50% of the South American continent. Brazil is bound by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana to the north, Colombia to the northwest, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay to the west, Argentina to the southwest, Uruguay to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Brazil has a tropical and subtropical climate characterized by high temperatures and anywhere from moderate to heavy rainfall. Rainfall is usually evenly distributed throughout the year, and the nationwide average annual precipitation varies between 1,010 mm (40 inches) and 2,030 mm (80 inches). There is an interior of Brazil's northeastern region which is known as the 'Drought Polygon'. It is "an irregular shaped region where people live under recurring threat of severe drought." ("Brazil", n.d.). This drought polygon is the driest part of the country, and it encompasses roughly 10 percent of the entire country's territory. "In this region, rainfall is undependable and the evaporation rate is very high, making it difficult to raise crops." ("Land", n.d.). Brazil is the world's biggest producer of green coffee beans with an approximate market share of 30 percent. Depending highly on weather conditions, Brazil produces and exports about 30 million bags of coffee beans annually. Approximately 85% of Brazilian coffee exports are Arabica coffee, which is also considered to be one of the highest quality; even more so than Robusta coffee - which demands higher prices. Brazilian coffee is characterized by the diversity in tastes depending upon geographic regions of the coffee's origin. The United States and Germany are the world's largest

The Creative Innovation and Vast Influence of Merce Cunningham Essay

The Creative Innovation and Vast Influence of Merce Cunningham - Essay Example If I was one who did not know his background, I would just see him as an old, shriveled, slow-speaking senior citizen dispensing wisdom on dance and life from his wheelchair and regaling his glory days when he had his share of the limelight as the star of the show. Yet, upon listening to his words, one can be enamored by his passion for the arts, notwithstanding his age and disability. In his advanced age, when most of his contemporaries are long dead or shoved in nursing homes rendering them useless to society, Cunningham remained vigilant in his post as guard of the dance, issuing instructions for his company of dancers as he envisions the dance in his still brilliant mind. He may sit immobile in his wheelchair, but his spirit and ideas joined the nubile movements of his dancers on the floor. That vision alone encapsulates how innovative and influential he was in the world of dance. This paper will explore how he came to be such. Travelling back in time to his origins as a young da ncer, Merce Cunningham started training in all-round theatrical dance at the tender age of twelve under the supervision of Mrs. J.W. Barrett. He went on to further his studies at the Cornish School in Seattle, Washington and became a mentee of the eminent dance diva, Martha Graham. This grand dame had a great influence on the young Cunningham, as she prodded him to pursue professional dancing and choreography as a career. In 1944, he first collaborated with long-time art and life partner, John Cage in a dance concert where he choreographed his dances as the dance soloist to the original music composed and performed by John Cage. The resulting performance was something new for everyone to see and it elicited a gamut of reactions from all sectors. The resounding critique was made by Edwin Denby who noted that he had ‘never seen a first recital that combined such taste, such technical finish, such originality of dance material, and so sure a manner of presentation’ (Gresko vic, 1999, p. 72). Indeed, Cunningham has lived up to that compliment all throughout his dance career. In 1953, Cunningham had his own company of 5 dancers, including himself. He preferred to maintain a small group that even in 1994, there were only 17 including the choreographer. His fortunate dancer-trainees eventually went on to develop their own careers as dancer-choreographers and made names for themselves. Some of these were Paul Taylor, Remy Charlip, Viola Farber, Margaret Jenkins, Douglas Dunn, Gus Solomons, Jr., Karole Armitage and Ulysses Dove (Greskovic, 1999). The prominence these mentees of Cunningham gained was a reflection of his great influence in their dance philosophies. Cunningham’s dance innovations never ceased to amaze the audience. Asked if he was out to shock people with his dances, he claimed he was not, but was out to bring poetry in their lives. He brought a twist to ballet, which was so much part of the modern dance innovations but somehow put an e dge to the classic dance. He combined what he learned from ballet such as the pronounced use of the legs, with the strong emphasis on the upper body in modern dance methods. Greskovic (1999) identifies one of Cunningham’s technical advancement in relation to ballet’s five positions of the feet that he referred to as the Five Positions of the Back – upright, curve, arch, twist and tilt. A meticulous artist, Cunningham did not stop at designing details of his choreography but also dabbled with the music that accompanied the dance. The unconventional sound elements used may be disturbing to the audience simply because it is unfamiliar and therefore, uncomfortable.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning(fom) Dissertation

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning(fom) - Dissertation Example Instead by segmenting the market, the company divides its market and devises marketing strategies only to the market it is going to cater to. This saves valuable resources of a company which can be spent on CSR activities and other activations that are beneficial for the entire society. The marketing strategies are devised once a company decides which segment it is going to target, hence first step of the ladder is segmentation and second is targeting and being part of the same ladder they are equally beneficial for the society as whole. Many companies like P&G, Unilever, Reckitt and Nestle have been success stories of the fact that marketing segmentation, division and targeting is not only important for the society, but it is also very important for the company. Since company is operating in the society, the profits it earns lead to improvement in standard of living and more taxes being paid and all these changes lead to betterment of the society. (Armstrong and Kotler, 2011) Refere nces: Armstrong, Gary and Kotler, Philip 2011, Marketing: an introduction, 10th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, USA.

Rhetorical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rhetorical - Essay Example In the course of this paper I will examine the rhetoric employed by Nathan Comp in his article entitled â€Å"An End to the War on Weed?† This article suggests that recent changes indicate the status quo with regards to the criminalization of marijuana may soon be at an end. Logos is an important aspect of Comp's argument. He wants to present his argument as eminently reasonable and the alternative to it as foolish. He presents many facts about the status quo which suggest that it is not working. He argues that there is a â€Å"growing sense that America’s marijuana policy is more harmful than the plant itself . . .† However, his reasoning is a bit simplistic. If the status quo is defective, simply remove the laws creating it, he says, and everything will be solved. This argument is a bit childish. As suggested below, legalizing marijuana does not solve the crime problems relating to other drugs. He argues that voters no longer seem to care that presidents have a dmitted to using marijuana. That is an important fact, but all presidents have said it is a negative thing and none support its legalization. If voters were to elect a stoner as president that might be more definitive. The suggestion is frequently made that marijuana is safer than alcohol, but again little evidence is used to support this claim. Experts are quoted saying: â€Å"The problem is that people still have a perception of harm that’s been built up over many years . . . If marijuana were legalized tomorrow, in 10 years these perceptions would be very, very different.† This is pure supposition and not logic. The evidence is divided on this issue. Nevertheless, this effort to appeal to authority sounds convincing and is useful logos. A great example of Comp employing ethos to recommend his argument is when he speaks about the Obama administration's potential backtracking on a liberalized regime towards marijuana. Comp does not believe these actions mean much. He writes, â€Å"to paraphrase Victor Hugo, not even the strongest government in the world can stop an idea whose time has apparently come.† This is a useful quote as it appeals to idealism and faith. It suggests that the people are opposed to the government and that the people have right on their side. By quoting Hugo, Comp sounds more credible, more classical, and more authoritative. This is a good example of using rhetorical ethos to make a point. The paraphrase is slipped into the argument but helps set a persuasive tone. The ethos Comp wants to communicate through this paper is one in which those who support legalization are pragmatists and progressives, and those who oppose it are retrograde and careless. This is a moral issue for Comp. The two sides are divided between good and bad. Pathos is as much a part of Comp's argument as any other rhetorical technique. He tries to frighten the reader into believing in his view on legalizing marijuana. Describing the situation in M exico, he writes that arguments for legalization â€Å"have taken on unusual gravity over the last year, as drug-fueled violence along the Mexican side of border has excited fears that the carnage and mayhem will spill over into American cities. Testifying before a House panel in March, a top Homeland Security official warned that the cartels now represent America’s largest organized-crime threat, having infiltrated at least 230 American cities.† He presumes that these facts support the argument for legalization,

Feminist View In Nuclear Discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Feminist View In Nuclear Discourse - Essay Example This paper tresses that the use of the feminist perspective and feminist view implies that the discussions of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass discussions has normalised and presented nuclear weapons in the daily vocabulary and discussion of nuclear weapons in the general and everyday sense. The research indicates that gender is a fundamental matter and situation in discussions about nuclear discourse. This is because the role of feminist views and feminist discourse is steeped in the need to break down male domination in the society in order to create a system in which women and children are fairly included. The use of nuclear weapons emerged at a time where men dominated the military terrain and hence, most of the views and ideas relating to nuclear weapons are fundamentally masculine rather than feminist. Therefore, the growth and expansion of nuclear weapons and the nuclear discourse has encompassed numerous conflicts relating to masculine and feminist views. Through the masculinist and feminist discourse, there have been numerous modifications and changes in the systems and processes of viewing and conceiving nuclear weapons. The first aspect is that feminist perspective acts as a general check to views and opinions presented on nuclear weapons. Secondly, feminist consideration for the impact of nuclear weapons on women and children as well as future generations plays a central role in the definition of women in society. Thirdly, the sacredness of military usage for nuclear weapons have been replaced by viewing nuclear weapons from a lighter, entertainment-based method and approach of viewing nuclear weapons.

Infection Prevention and Control in Defence Healthcare Essay

Infection Prevention and Control in Defence Healthcare - Essay Example Present and important theories on infection control and prevention will be discussed, as well as the best practices in vogue today. II. What Is an Infection? An infection in medical terms may be defined as the susceptibility of the human body or an area of the human body to be vulnerable to germs (www.cqc.org.uk). These germs enter the body and multiply, causing disease and subsequent discomfort. Infection may be caused by a debilitating disease such as cancer or diabetes, or even be the side effects of treatments being provided to cure or lessen other impacts of life threatening diseases and maladies. In fact, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and other such conditions in the elderly may cause them to fall and thus result in wounds and infections that if not cared for properly and effectively lead to partial or even permanent immobility. An infection may also be defined as the invasion of foreign cells that cause harm to the host organism. Bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites can invade the human body at a susceptible location and cause harm to it. Engaging in combat as defense personnel do put them in the front lines of battle and can easily lead to injuries and wounds which can get infected as well. That is why it is important that persons dealing with infection prevention and control such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and surgeons not only have first hand knowledge of the most common types of infections but also how to prevent them or control their spread in the human body. They must not only know the best practices but also take proper and adequate measures when dealing with injured patients who have already contracted infections to prevent them from causing further harm to themselves or the patients (RCN, 2005). III. Kinds of Infections & Their Causes As stated above, there may be many causes of infections. An infection may be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi or any other kind of parasite. Strep throat infections, urinary tract infectio ns, E.coli and tuberculosis are caused by infections of the lungs and other parts of the body. Bacterial infections include strep throat and impetigo, a skin condition that can be treated with antibiotics that have been created to combat and destroy the specific bacteria causing the infection. Viruses are typically smaller than bacteria and often work by infecting a specific part of a healthy cell, preventing it from doing its work and causing sickness. Influenza and the common cold are two types of common infections caused by bacteria. Sometimes it is worth remembering that bacterial infections occur in coordination or secondary to viral infections, in which case the antibiotic prescribed works to prevent the infection from spreading, while the body is healed through its natural mechanism. The most common types of fungal infection include nail infections, ringworm, athlete’s foot and vaginal yeast infections. Fungal infections are caused either by certain conditions in the b ody or as a result of coming into contact with a person who is so infected. The usual treatment prescribed in this case is oral medication or the application of anti-fungal creams. IV. The Need and Importance of Infection Control We have looked at the different causes of infections and also how they may be spread. The usual method of spreading disease or infection is either

Monetary Policy and the Behavior of the MPC Essay

Monetary Policy and the Behavior of the MPC - Essay Example The present policy mandate of the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank is dictated by the twin economic objectives of maintaining a high level of employment or low involuntary employment with promoting a high level of production of goods and services with rapid growth. Meanwhile, the latest available Inflation Report dated February 2011 shows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose between 4 to 5 percent as against a target inflation rate of 2 percent. The main reasons for this were the increase in VAT since December 2010, an unprecedented rise of 15 percent in energy prices and 20 percent in food prices, and a fall of 25 percent in the value of UK Sterling. Meanwhile, unemployment remains at 8 percent and even the unexpected cold wave we have seen last winter has negatively affected productivity and the rate of output in the UK. The most realistic estimates by the Bank of England are that inflation will continue to remain at the 4 percent level till the end of 2011 and the n come back to the target of 2 percent being more realistic in the long run. In the process it is expected that exports will grow to the level that it supports monetary policy and exchange rates, bringing the economy back on track and at least out of the present crisis, which by the Governor of the Bank of England’s own admission is the worst we have faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. (BOE, Q&A). The Importance of Central Bank Credibility The central bank of any nation has a key role in setting and controlling the money supply and controlling the rate of inflation in the country (Rosen,2004). The role of Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England is just that and he does it with the help of a nine member Monetary Policy Committee. Of course, the estimates made by the MPC are hardly ever on target explicitly, but at least they give a sense of direction in which the economy is going. The inflation rate is not known to change rapidly- there is a lag between pri ce and output changes and the inflation rate, but at least we have an indication of whether it is going to be higher or lower than previously. What is worrying at present is how to stimulate the economy without raising the rate of inflation. At the same time, the rate of inflation is largely in control in Germany and USA, to name two of the UK’s best trading partners. It has been fortunate for them that their exchange rates have stabilized and had not been so adversely affected as in the UK. The Bank of England and the MPC wait and evaluate the events in the economy before making a decision on increase in Bank Rates, for example. They have to wait for shocks to be absorbed by the economy and allow for these in their estimates (McConnell & Brue, 2005). Being consistently wrong and off the target for key estimates

Hearing Loss Attributed to the 21st Century use of Personal Music Player Essay Example for Free

Hearing Loss Attributed to the 21st Century use of Personal Music Player Essay In the recent few years leisure noise has become one of the threats to the hearing as it can reach high volumes and an increasing number of people are exposed. The danger is not only exposed by the music from the clubs but also it has been extended to the new generation of music players which are known to produce sounds at high volumes. Across Europe it is estimated that millions of people are using personal music players on a daily basis and in most of the cases these gadgets are being used inappropriately putting the user at a great risk of ear damage. This is a serious concern as the emerging technology may cause numerous problems to the people who are fond of using these entertainment gadgets. To add salt into the injury the users are exposing themselves to this particular danger for a long time as they are spending substantial time listening to music using ear phones. The amount of time one exposes to the sound of loud music from the personal music players increases the chances of hearing loss. The children and the youth are at risk as they have been noted to constitute the highest proportion of users. In this paper I will discuss the dangers involved in the use of personal music player and at the same time bring into the understanding who should be blamed for the hearing loss as a result of the constant use of these gadgets. Is it the makers of the personal music players or should we blame the users for putting their life at risk? A scientific study that was carried out for the European Union revealed that noise from the personal music players is a routine pollution for many people. It threatens permanent damage of the ear to as many as hundred million people in Europe and other parts of the world. The report indicated that those people who listened to the music for a continuous five hours per week on high volume were exposing themselves to high noise than it is allowed in the factory work places. This means that users of the personal music player who prefer to listen to their music on high volume are at a worse position than workers who are located in a noisy factory in an industrial hub. (Linkov,I and Steevens,J 2009 359) Experts argue that the maximum volume from these equipments can generate as much noise as an aero plane that is taking off. That kind of noise is enough to make a person have a quick and permanent hearing loss. The worst thing according to this report is that the users do not realize the problem until very late. This is the time when the damage has already been caused and nothing can be done about it. It is a very sad situation where a young person with bright future prospects losses his or her ability to hear at such an early age, it can be a very devastating experience but whom do we blame? Do we pass the buck to the manufacturer of these gadgets fro their neglect or do we blame the users for sometimes knowingly exposing themselves to dangers through their constant use of the music players. (Jameson,P and Romer,D 2008 347) The MP3 generation is headed for permanent hearing impairment in the cause of their lives. The youth are at the greatest risk as well as the older people too, in twenty seven countries across Europe it is estimated that fifty to a hundred million people out of five hundred people may be listening to a portable personal music player at any given time. Equivalents of five percent listeners who expose themselves to these new generation entertainment gadgets for more than one hour are at the greatest risk. These statistics have raised fears among some people prompting them to take some actions so as to avoid a future generation which has numerous problems which has been caused by things which can only be described as luxurious. In the year 2006 a man in Louisiana sued one of the manufacturing firms, The Apple claiming that this company had failed to take enough steps to prevent the problem of hearing loss among the users of one its popular product, the iPod. The suit which was filed in a federal district court in California city of San Jose claimed that iPod produces a sound which is as loud as one hundred and fifteen decibels when the maximum sound that is considered safe for listening is eighty five decibels. To this man the Apple Company was to blame for the problem that is threatening to have millions of deaf people in some years to come. I tend to disagree with his sentiments as it is clearly evident that the ipods sold by this company and many other manufacturer comes with a warning in the manual where the users are warned about the dangers they expose themselves into through playing the music in high volumes from their personal music players. It is blatantly clear that the users expose themselves to the risk of hearing loss through ignoring the warnings given by the manufacturers. The companies can not escape blame too, such warnings are printed using very tiny fonts such that not all the users might get a chance to read the small inscriptions which are usually placed on a page where the user might not even see. (Kirk,R and Mayshork,C 2007 73) The risk involved do not only come from ipods, the portable phones and personal stereos pose a similar problem as their earphones leads to a high sound exposure than any other type of a listening device. It has been stressed that young people who continue to expose themselves through listening to the high volume music from their music devices usually run into the risk of developing some hearing complications by the time they hit their twenties. Problems such as persistent tinnitus which is induced by high volume music has been reported common among the people in their youth and are constant users of the personal music devices. Despite this problem the same people continue using these devices. Therefore the problem squarely lies with the users, they are clearly aware of the risks involved, they have gone through numerous problems which have been as a result of their insatiable appetite for entertainment but they still continue to expose themselves to the risk. This can only be termed as deliberate move by these users to harm themselves and it is for this reason we can not blame the companies for the problems that are being experienced by the MP3 generation. The manufacturing firms only came to fill the gap that existed; they offer satisfaction to the people who are keen on entertainment especially when they are on move. They have clearly indicated the dangers one can expose him or herself to if the device is not used properly, that is if it is put on high volumes but the users choose to ignore such information for their personal reasons. (Tulchinsky,T and Varavikova,N 2000 285) The choices we make in life determine the direction we head, if we make the right ones we will always be on the right direction, if we happen to take the wrong choices as we mostly do then we are bound to blame others for the trouble we may get ourselves into later in our lives. It is extremely important for us to make the right decision as pertaining what we do as the opposite can lead to devastating effects. People have a choice of either buying a personal music player or any other similar device, they make a choice as to whether they will listen to the music high or low, it is basically a matter of choice. There is nothing about MP3 technology that can directly lead to hearing loss. It is the choice we make. For those users who choose to always put their devices at manageable and recommended sounds the problem of hearing impairment might not affect them but for those who choose to ignore the warnings given by the manufacturers, this problem will affect the rest of their lives. They just make a mistake of listening to the music on loud volumes for too long therefore exposing themselves to al manner of dangers associated with the noise. (Chan,S and Kwok,S 2003 34) The European Union is planning to regulate the volumes on personal music players and other stereos due to the fears that usage of these devices is causing the damage to the ears. This action has been precipitated by the findings of the scientific commission which was given a task of coming out with ways in to which this problem that is threatening the ability of million to hear can be tackled. In normal circumstances the personal music players are allowed to go up to one hundred decibels but when it used with an inbuilt headphones the sound can go up to one hundred and twenty. This is way above the recommended safe sound volumes which are close to eighty five. The recommended sound levels by the European Union committee are eighty, a figure which has been pointed out as safe enough to warrant any fears. This clearly points out that it is only a matter of educating the users on how they are supposed to go about listening to music using their sophisticated technology. If someone decided to ignore the message, he or she can not blame the manufacturing company for the problems that hearing problems which might occur later in life due to inappropriate use of the device (Linkov,I and Steevens,J 2009 359) For the sake of those who ignore the information given by the manufacturers, the makers of these devices should be advised to limit the volume levels so that they do not exceed the recommended limits. Though this might affect their sales it is the right thing to do as it will save those who have a problem following the given instructions. The company will in the short term suffer minimal losses but in the long term they will have more users as they will have expanded the markets as the effects of these devices to the ears will be minimal. The users will have won the confident of the music players as they have been set according to the standards which are considered safe for average use. (Davis,G 2004 40) The government can not limit the time a given person will spend on the personal music player. This is an individual choice; we spend as much time as we can get on these entertainment gadgets. Therefore it is up to the users to limit themselves as to how long they are going to be exposed . The user should ensure that they spend less time listening to the music through their devices to minimise the risk involved. All these points indicate that the manufacturing companies have no role to play as far as the usage of the personal music player is concerned. Their duty is to inform the users of the dangers involved through playing it loud and continuos exposure over a long period. The rest lies with the person using the gadget to decide how much time he or she is going to spend listening and on what volume they will get their music. If one decides to put his or her health at risk you can not turn at the company and blame it for the presonal problems which were as aresult of own volition. The government has the responsibility of ensuring that the manufacturing company follow the standards as far as making of the personal music players is concerned. This will go a long way in saving the users who are conscious about their health. The recommeded standards should include limiting the volume settings to a particular level which can not harm the user even if the decide to ignore the warnings. People need to take a responsibility as far as their actions are concerned. There is a need for every user to take precautiosn as far as usage of these devices is concerned. Inappropriate use can lead to devastatiting health effects which would have been prevented if the user was careful. Technology advancement has come to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. This can only be achieved if we use this technology appropriately,use of personal music player beyond the recommended sound volume can lead to seroius effects which are not related to the manufacturing. The user have all the responsibility to ensure that this piece of sophistication does not harm him or her rather it serves the right purpose which is entertainment. (Markel,G 2007 25) The manufacturing company should carry a warning on the users who violate the instructions which comes along with the product. They have a responsibility to save the end users from their own ignorance. They can do this through offering and sponsoring sessions where users get to be taught on the proper methods of handling these entertainment equipement. This can help save some people but the biggest part should be played by the end user,they must use the device responsbly so as to avoid complications that might be brought by high sound volumes besides the time spent listening to the music at the expense of other important actiivities such as studying. The sole responsbility of the hearing loss as a result of inappropriate use of the personal music player and other related devices lies squarely on the user. He or she has the ability to control its use and therefore ealding a healthy life. (Anderson,B 2004 103) Work Cited Tulchinsky,T and Varavikova,N The New Public Health:An Introduction for the 21st Century,Academic Press (2000) Linkov,I and Steevens,J Nanomaterials ,Spring Publishers (2009) Davis,G How to do Everything with your iPod and iPod Mini,Mac Graw Hill Professionals (2004) Chan,S and Kwok,S Culture and Humanity in the new Millenium:the Future of Human Value Chinese University Press (2003) Kirk,R and Mayshork,C Personal Health in Ecological Perspective,Mosby (2007) Markel,G Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction,Geraldine Markel (2007) Jameson,P and Romer,D The Changing Portrayal of the Adloescents on the Media Since 1950,Oxford University Press (2008) Anderson,B Bringing Business to Life:Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility,ASQ Quality Publishers (2004)

Highly effective people Essay Example for Free

Highly effective people Essay In most of the management literature materials and sources that focus on success, emphasis is made on how solutions can be achieved for a given set of problems. In such situations, the solution suggestions for such problems may turn out to be effective for that given period of time, though in the future they may not be relevant to problems which may arise. In most occasions, success of an individual has been attributed to the persons personality as well as skills and techniques amongst other many aspects like positive attitude. In reality success in a person is attributed to the personality as well as the character ethics. Thus, the assessment of the habits displayed by individuals who can be termed as highly effective in the society is considered to be an inside out approach, whereby change in a person has to begin from within then it transforms to the outside. Effective people Individuals characters are said to be a collection of a number of habits, and in that respect habits tend to have a strong impact in various aspects of our lives. In reality habits are made up of knowledge, desire as well as skills. Knowledge is that capability that a person has that enables him or her determine what to do, as for skills it is the ability to determine how to do something, and finally desire is the force from within that drives a person to do something. In considering the seven habits that are displayed in highly effective people, the following three stages can be assessed; dependence a time at which a person relies on others for survival, independence a time in life a person is able to make his or her own personal decisions as well as take charge of his or her life (Covey, 1990). Finally there is a stage of interdependence, whereby an individual will try to coordinate with others to achieve things in life that he or she cannot achieve independently. In most of the research materials on success, independence tends to take a top position but in the actual sense human beings are interdependent persons, and success in life can only be derived from interdependence. It is thus a stage that has to flow from dependence to independence, and finally interdependence (Covey, 1990). The seven habits Effective people are said to be proactive, whereby such persons are said to be aware of themselves, and can be able to make a choice on how they can respond to different forms of stimuli in the environment. Proactive as a habit is a unique element in a person that creates a difference between persons. Even though conditioning can have an influence on a persons life, in the actual sense individuals cannot be determined by conditioning (Covey, 1990). Some of the theories that have been presented to explain the concept of proactivity include genetic and environmental as well as physic determinism. In genetic physic, it is discussed that a persons nature is determined by the nature of DNA, and in that respect a persons personality traits are acquired from his or her grandparents. As for the physic determinism, it is discussed that the way in which a person has been brought up will influence the habits. In addition to that, the painful childhood experiences have an influence on the persons adult life. Finally, environmental determinism demonstrates that the current environmental factors have an influence on a persons behaviors (Covey, 1990). Proactivity in individuals can thus be described as that ability of individuals to carry out their activities while driven by the value proposition, which is said to be independent of the general environmental forces. Effective people in most occasions use the difficult life encounters to establish their character as well as develop their potential to deal with such difficulties in the future if they occur. In that way, such persons are able utilize their resourcefulness and ability to devise possible solutions, other than relying on other people to solve their personal problems. Therefore effective persons are those that are able to make life decisions, which have the potential of improving their personal lives. In such situations, decisions are made on the things that influence their person lives other than just acting to the general environmental forces (Covey, 1990). The second habit that highly effective people will tend to display is that the start with the end in mind. In such situations, such kind of effective people are able to establish their personal principles in terms of a mission statement, and then the mission statement is carried forward to the persons long term goals which will always be founded on the persons principles (Covey, 1990). The habit of first things first is displayed in highly effective people, whereby an individual takes valuable time carrying out activities that go in line with his or her personal mission. Effective people thus manage to make an appropriate balance between the production activities, as well as in establishing the production capacity. In order to create that balance in their lives, effective people will determine the key roles that they carry out in life, and then allocate appropriate time for each of those roles (Covey, 1990). Effective people think win, whereby they seek to do things like agreements as well as relationships in life will be mutually beneficial to their lives. In circumstances where such people are able to establish that win cannot be attained by taking a certain deal, they will accept such a situation and then establish alternative ways in which they can be able to attain success. In cases of effective leaders in an organization, they are able to establish a culture in the organization which will be focused at giving positive rewards to employee who manages to attain positive results, and negative rewards to those that fail to attain the required performance results. In doing so the leaders demonstrates that they value winning situations as compared to the failures (Covey, 1990). Effective persons will always seek to understand other people first before they make the other people surrounding them understand them. This is considered to be crucial aspect in effective people that will be a base for establishing effective interpersonal relations. The ability of a person to listen to others involves the person assuming the place of the other in either his or her feeling as well as meaning. In that way the person will be able to comprehend the actual situation of that person, as it is easy for a person to handle a situation that he or she has an idea of other that situations that carry no influence on the person (Covey, 1990). Effective persons always synergize, whereby they will always establish a kind of trustful communication which will enable the person to devise ways in which they will leverage the differences that exist between him or her and the others in the society. This is done with an intention of establishing a whole which will be of great benefit as compared to additions of the different contributions of the parts. In establishing such kind of mutual trust as well as understanding, a person will be able to solve problem situations, and come up with appropriate solutions for the conflicts which arise in the process of the relationships with others, as compared to when the person would have taken his or her own personal initiative to deal with the situation (Covey, 1990). Finally, effective people are able to sharpen the saw. This implies that such kind of persons are able to take time out from their busy schedules in production so as to build on their production capability in terms of personal renewal of their physical, spiritual and emotional as well as mental dimensions among other human dimensions like the social aspect. In doing so, effective persons will at all times seek to create a balance in the different human dimensions, given that they recognize the importance of coordination of all those dimensions in the success of a persons life. This is because they recognize the fact that effectiveness is achieved from the production practices, which are coupled up with the capacity to produce (Covey, 1990). Conclusion From the above analysis of the seven habits, that highly effective people tend to display, it can be concluded that effectiveness in a person is a reality which can be realized as long as that person is able to control his or her personality, as well as the characters which are influenced by the environment. High effectiveness can only be achieved when the persons personality and characters are based on ethical principles, which will enable that individual to derive value in their lives. For other persons to be able to achieve high levels effectiveness in the day to day operations, this research paper will be more effective as it clearly illustrates what the effective people do an given that the paper has illustrated the habits in a more clear way it is easy for the determined people to use these habits as a criteria that will guide their action. Word count 1440 References Covey, S, (1990). The 7 habits of highly effective people. Free Press publishers.

Moral Influences on Historians

Moral Influences on Historians Malthus was criticised of ‘confusing moral and scientific categories, of allowing the former to influence his understanding of the latter’. Should the historian’s work be free of moral influence? ‘Population was [for Malthus] the great Devil, the untamed Beelzebub that was only kept chained down by vice and misery, and which, if it were once let loose from these restraints, would go forth, and ravage the earth.’ (Hazlitt 1994, p.182) This contemporary response to Malthus’s work by William Hazlitt echoes the main corpus of rejoinders raising the charge against Malthus that his work reflected uncorroborated ethical assumptions that ultimately would prove counterintuitive and fly in the face of common sense. Although frequently articulated by his opponents, this essay will argue that this charge is mainly misguided. The question requires to explore three distinct but interrelated issues: first, whether Malthus’s work suffers from a confusion of moral and scientific categories. Second, whether the scientific aspects of his work have been subject to distortion on account of the moral principles he held to be true and valid. And third, whether history as a scholarly enterprise should be free from moral maxims. The implications of all three issues are complex and reach far beyond the confines of this essay. Malthus’s work itself is easily straddling several domains of academic inquiry and part of the answer to whether his work suffers from the conflation of moral and scientific categories lies in the heterogeneous character of his work. It seems appropriate to elaborate all three issues mentioned above through an investigation of his main arguments. Malthus’s work disrespects neatly drawn boundaries of academic disciplines. The essay will proceed as follows. In a first section it will outline what I believe the wider issue is that informs the debate surrounding the veracity and validity of Malthus’s historiographical work. The second part of the essay will sketch the primary arguments by Malthus and, eventually, relate these as we go along to the issues of objectivity and neutrality. Malthus wrote at the intersection of three domains of intellectual engagement. At the time of the publication of his work, none of these fields had emerged as scholarly disciplines in themselves, although one (history) was in the process of methodological standardisation. Malthus’s main thesis on the consequences and logic of population growth drew on one side from historical evidence and articulated a particular historical narrative. On the other hand, it advocated distinct measures to prevent unchecked population growth and therefore engaged with what we would now call social policy. On a meta-level, however, his historical narrative as well as his conclusions about the nature of population control and its desirability rested on assumptions about the nature of man and the role of reason in determining the common good of English society. In a wider sense then Malthus offered his readers a dense and complex philosophical framework that informed his analytical and interpretativ e project. The issue of scientific objectivity or moral influence of his work however does not extend equally into these three fields. And it is this disciplinary distinction which will allow us to clarify some of the challenges and accusations that were levelled against his work. Interestingly the question whether Malthus confuses moral and scientific categories in his work only pertains to one dimension: that of history and historical evidence. Social policy is per se generated by ethical viewpoints about what society ought to look like and about the permissibility of human suffering or desirability of human happiness. Philosophy as an enquiry about the moral resources for social agency of individuals possesses equally qua definitionem a moral impetus. Neither of the two are therefore even in their ideal form free of ethical considerations, nor should they be. To deprive them of any normative content is to strip them of their essence. This is not the case with history, or so at least some philosophers of history claim. The relevant debate is mainly cast in the issue of objectivity in historiography. Historical evidence so the main claim goes, can somehow be void of ethical judgement and so should be the end product of historical work, histories that purport to be an accurate portrayal of things past. Insofar as Malthus presented us in the Essay (Malthus 1970) with an example of historical writing, he would have to abide by strict guidelines of what constitutes objective historiography. There are several confusions here at work that, once clarified, instantly defuse the charge of subjectivity against Malthus. If we understand objectivity in historical writing as absence of undue personal bias then little of historiography would pass this test. McCullagh has convincingly argued that such a stringent standard makes little sense (McCullagh 2000). If we probe our convictions further we may find it utterly reasonable that some types of political, ideological or moral bias find their way into our narratives. What we do find deplorable however is if historians try either to conceal their possible interests in giving a particular narrative a specific slant, or pretending to present to us in their narratives the epitome of objectivity in historical work. Furthermore, we can, as sensitive observers, detect biases and criticise them. All we need for that purpose is to be able to follow up the historical evidence and check that it corroborates the particular historical narrative under scrutiny. This way it is fairly easy for historians to distinguish a work written to robust methodological standards from a fanciful account of past events. The thesis that objectivity is a standpoint universally shared and that therefore historical opinion ultimately must converge upon an indisputable singular truth is erroneous and distorts the nature of history as an intellectual endeavour. Objectivity in historiography can only amount to absence of obvious personal bias which still leaves us as historians with questions of contested interpretations and the problematic nature of evidence selection. History therefore is by nature a field of contestation, a conversation on things past (Oakeshott 1999) rather than the presentation of an ultimate irrefutable portrayal of events. If that is the case, moral maxims may play a role in the instruments of selection and interpretation in historical work, but that should not bother us as long as they are transparently articulated and remain susceptible to criticism. Haskell has formulated a persuasive critique of those notions of history that assume historical writing be ethically neutral (Haskell 1990). We have, he writes, as much chances to prevent our moral convictions to colour our historical work as we have to detach us from our social lives and commitments. In fact it is at the heart of the philosophical project of scepticism to suggest that the search for an Archimedian point of view, which would expose to us the world as it is in some transcendent reality, is riddled with problems bordering on conceptual nonsense. It is this scepticism that informs Malthus’s work on population control and his critique of social policy and social reform. Consequently this critical project is formulated from an ethical standpoint which is clearly expressed and made transparent in his writings. The historical evidence he produces is equally open to scrutiny and he did abide by all common standards of methodological stringency endorsed at that time. H ence to claim that his historical account of population growth is unduly influenced by moral, political or ideological commitments which are immune from analytical scrutiny is to misunderstand the capacity of history for rigorous methodological discipline and professional standards. Let us now turn to a brief outline of the various themes and arguments which Malthus presents in his work. As already mentioned his work is a multifaceted and richly textured argument which straddles at least three domains of intellectual inquiry: history, philosophy and social policy. To contend that Malthus’s essay is exclusively an example of history proper is to fail to recognise the multiplicity of his intentions as well as the depth of his argument. As I have argued above, it should cause us no trouble to accept that Malthus the historian has in fact worked from ethical assumptions that may not be universally shared and that these assumptions have influenced his selection of historical evidence as well as the interpretations of it. The standards of historical work stipulate simply that these assumptions can be revealed, scrutinised and criticised by evaluating the validity of his interpretations of historical evidence as well as the impartiality of his selection. This in essence is the nature of historical work and does not jeopardise any reasonable claim of the discipline as a whole to engage in an enterprise that can lay claim to be objective as different from morally neutral (Haskell 2000). It is however a quite different story if we take Malthus to be an advocate of particular policies of public health or social reform. The question then does not seem to be whether or not Malthus was guided by his moral convictions in formulating his views on these matters, as he inevitably was, but whether his view of history should justifiably tell us anything about the way in which we should organise our society. The question resonates deeply with contemporary philosophical debates of which Malthus must have been keenly aware. Only some years before David Hume took issue with the view that we can infer the future from things past. There can be no doubt that to a certain degree Malthus is guilty of committing the mistake of extrapolating from past developments a picture of a desirable future state of British society. But let us in all fairness look at his claims in detail. In outlining his main arguments I will use a distinction made by Hamlin which I believe structures the field of interpretation in a helpful way and separates the contentious issues from the non-contentious ones. Hamlin focuses first of all on Malthus’s core argument which is of descriptive nature in his statement of the population principle. As a purely descriptive proposition it must fail to invite criticism of ethical subterfuge. (Hamlin 2000, p.117). The principle of population can be summarised in three aspects. Firstly, Malthus believes to have shown that the ‘population cannot increase without the means of subsistence, second, that population invariably increases when the means of subsistence are available, and third that ‘the superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice’ (Winch 1987, p.19) Here Malthus works with two (mainly speculative) assumptions: first, that man’s drive to procreation is infinitely greater than the earth’s potential to produce subsistence. And second, that the sexual impulses of man are stable over history. Malthus illustrates the first postulate by contrasting the arithmetic power of subsistence to the geometric growth in population. The disparity between the two had been pointed out previously by other commentators, and critics have accordingly accused Malthus of plagiarism (Hazlitt 1994a, p.171). But it would only be fair to Malthus to mention that he never claimed to be the discoverer of this relation between the two different ratios (Hazlitt 1994a, p.171). Although Malthus attempts to support his calculations about the necessary divergence of the two ratios with some available figures on population growth and grain production in the past, his argument which links the two remains speculative. This is not so much the case because he may use only a highly selective range of historical evidence (it can be disputed how much was available to him at the time), but rather because the disparity between the two hinges upon certain assumptions about the nature of population growth and food supply as well as their interaction. Malthus thinks that procreation is the natural outcome of the sexual impulse and does not reckon with the proliferation of already available means of prevention. Equally, his notion of food supply is one dimensional and consequently fails to take into account the possible variations of food produce. He notes that pasture necessarily makes less effective use of land than grain production, yet fails to see the different outcomes in nutritional value for humans. The speculative character of his writings therefore reside in the lack of depth of his calculations not in his moral convictions that may have come to bear upon his selection of historical evidence and hi s interpretation of it. The second domain of his work relates to social policy and the potential of society to prevent misery. This introduces a first normative element into the picture but, contrary to many critics, Malthus’s ethical convictions do not confound the entire issue but only aspects of it. The fist aspect is whether or not it is true as a historiographical assertion that poverty exerts an influence upon the ability of population to grow. Here Malthus is still on descriptive ground. He once again may lack the empirical resources to reach a sufficiently informed judgement on the issue but nothing points to the possibility that Malthus follows in his interpretation of the available evidence a personal bias and subsequently tries to conceal it. His prose is not driven by ideological or moral convictions. The second aspect however deals with the chances of success for a proactive policy of public health and welfare. Here he extrapolates from a mixture of historical evidence and some theories about social and economic agency. It is this mixture which opens him up to the charge of propagating the abolition of any reform agenda on the grounds of ideological beliefs. His position is informed by certain theories of socio-economic behaviour that are at best speculative, at worst simply false. His core argument rests on an analysis of the effects of resource scarcity in society. He notes that the provision of additional money to the poor, if not mirrored by an increase in food supply, only results in the increase of prizes. The overall effect comes to nought. As the income of the poor rises, so do the prizes since the demand exceeds now the supply of food. The intended effect is the continuation of misery for the poor (Malthus 1970, pp.94-95). While this hints at an economic relationship that may or may not pan out in the predicted way, and overall may still prove to be overly simplistic, it can hardly be considered to be unduly influenced by moral beliefs. It is prima facie an economic theory which features (still) in many run of the mill explanations of prize development. Malthus however supports this idea with the notion that any kind of monetary assistance transforms the capacity of human agency for self-reliance negatively. He writes: ‘The poor laws are strongly calculated to eradicate this spirit [of independence]. †¦ Hard as it may appear in individual instances, dependent poverty ought to be held disgraceful. Such a stimulus seems to be absolutely necessary to promote the happiness of the great mass of mankind, and every attempt to weaken this stimulus, however benevolent its apparent intention, will always defeat its purpose.’ (Malthus 1970, p.98) Here he presents us with what John Rawls would have called a background social theory that informs our interpretation of social activity and structures our notion of socio-economic agency (Rawls 1993). The difficulty is that these theories require justification in order to shed their ideological drift (Daniels 1996). Malthus seems to think that all sorts of dependence are deplorable, while all kinds of independence are laudable. What he fails to realise it that independence exists in social contexts which crucially shape the capacity to act as an economic or social agent. Clientelistic relationships for example may to some degree offset lack of money. On the other hand, the absence of either deprives any individual to enter the stage of economic co-operation in the first place, hence the chance to perpetuate personal independence and transform it into participation in social and economic schemes of co-operation. Malthus’s theory about the stimulus of independence abstracts from the conditions that need to be fulfilled for active and effective socio-economic agency. This clearly reflects an ideological bias although, arguably, it may echo the beliefs and attitudes prevalent at the time. Here Malthus’s work lacks the sceptical sting that it exhibits in other parts. The further one reads his essay the more he gets bogged down in speculations about the perfectibility of man and the conditions for moral excellence. These are regrettable deviations from his main argument and deflect from the validity of his historiographical reflections. Once again however, these are strictly speaking not confusions of historical evidence and moral convictions but attempts to defend the conclusions he drew from population development in the past for social policy. He may have committed a category mistake by drawing on descriptive data to formulate prescriptive and substantial policy and support this with views on human nature and the role of reason in society, but his historical credentials remain intact. Although his policy recommendations drew fire, it would be unfair to say that his selection of historical evidence was driven by personal interest or moral convictions. Bibliography Primary Sources Malthus, Thomas Robert (1970), An Essay on the Principle of Population and a Summary view of the Principle of Population, New York: Penguin Books [1798 and 1830] Hazlitt, William (1994a), An Examination of Mr. Malthus’s Doctrines, in Population. Contemporary Responses to Thomas Malthus, ed. By Andrew Pyle, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, pp. 170-175 Hazlitt, William (1994b), On the Principle of Population as Affecting the Schemes of Utopian Improvement, in Population. Contemporary Responses to Thomas Malthus, ed. By Andrew Pyle, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, pp. 176-183 Secondary Sources Daniels, Norman (1996), Justice and Justification. Reflective Equilibrium in theory and practice, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press Hamlin, Christopher and Gallagher-Kamper, Kathleen (2000), Malthus and the Doctors: Political Economy, Medicine, and the State in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1800-1840, in Malthus, Medicine, and Morality: ‘Malthusianism’ after 1798, ed. By Brian Dolan, Amsterdam Atlanta: Rodopi, pp.115-140 Haskell, Thomas L. (1990), Objectivity is not Neutrality: Rhetoric vs. Practice in Peter Novick’s That Noble Dream, in History and Theory, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp.129-157 Mccullagh, Behan C. (2000), Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation, in History and Theory, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp.39-66 Oakeshott, Michael (1999), On History and other essays, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Rawls, John (1993), Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press Winch, Donald (1987), Malthus, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press

The Truman Show And Hierophonic Visions :: essays research papers

"The Truman Show" and Hierophonic Visions The Truman Show depicts the life of a human that was adopted by a company and filmed all his life. His life had been broadcast all around the world and people everywhere have lived his life with him. The story starts with the main character, Truman, an adult and married now, leaving for work. It follows his day by day routine and the viewer quickly realizes how boring and mundane this man's life is. The hierophonic vision in the movie was the smile of the young woman Truman saw while he was in high school. It stood out because of the sincerity of her smile. Truman hadn't seen the behavior of someone making their own decisions, in this case her decision to smile at him, so when it occurred his normal life of pretend emotions faded away and lost all importance. What took its place was a dream of this other world that, through her smile, he saw a glimpse of. Throughout the rest of his life, Truman longed for so much more than his mediocre life, cutting out pictures of models in hopes of recreating the look that he received from the girl. He also showed his discontentment through what he said to his friend when he told him that he wanted to go to Fiji. This desire built up and Truman became less and less trusting of his world until the day came that he decided to sail away from his reality, where everything evolved around him. I see this movie as an analogy of the story of the Garden of Eden in the Bible. Truman, playing Adam, is tempted to desire more than this perfect life he was given. Christof, the "creator" gave Truman a life without hurt, without pain, without most of the troubles that humans deal with throughout their lives and even though everyone Truman encountered were merely scripted acquaintances, he still had the ability to make his own decisions. So when the smile of the woman caught his attention, he desired for more, he, in a way, desired for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He controlled the members of his society, like Adam controlled the beasts of the garden, but Christof controlled both the actors and Truman by his ability to change weather, time of day, what people said, and other means. So when the serpant, the woman from outside of Truman's world, tempted him with a new reality, his curiosity took over and all he could think about was this idea of something diff erent, something he was unable to have.

BLOOD AND BELONGING :: essays research papers fc

This is a critique of the book, Blood and Belonging, by Michael Ignatieff. This paper will explain the subject of the book and its relevance, discuss Michael Ignatieff's methods and conclusions on the subject and finally include a personal critique of the book by the author of this paper. The author of the book travels on what he terms "the six journeys." On these "journeys" he encounters different cultures, as he travels to six different coinciding areas of the world. He examines the unique expression of nationalism that each populace displays by interviewing various members of that particular society. The six areas that he travels to are specifically chosen for the clarity which nationalism is expressed in society. Nationalism is a factor contributing toward both present possible future instability in these areas. These areas are former Yugoslavia (specifically Croatia and Serbia), Germany, Ukraine, Quebec, Kurdistan and Northern Ireland. According to Ignatieff, in Croatia and Serbia there is a desire for a separate identity between the two nations. The fear of losing one's national identity has caused ethnic hatred. A terror so strong and historically persistent, it has driven people to a desperate state to do anything. This is a large contributor to the reasons for the extreme violence present there today. The author states, "A Croat, thus, is someone who is not a Serb. A Serb is someone who is not a Croat." This quotation profoundly expresses the short-sighted mentality present in their conflict. In his travels in Germany, the author points out an important question. Does the nation make the state, or the state the nation? This question by far does not stop here, especially when Germany is the subject. The essence of the German people is seen by some as aggressive and offensive, thus the existence of the German problem. If the nation makes the state then Germany will always be a threat. If the state makes the nation, then the aggressive nature of the German nation, which lead the world into two global wars, can be harnessed and redirected. The question has its roots and answers in the recent reunification of Germany. The Ukraine is concerned with not being Russian. It is here Ignatieff receives a complete vision of what nationalism is. He states, "I understand what nationalism really is: the dream that a whole nation could be like a congregation; singing the same hymns, listening to the

Unity and Diversity of Indonesia :: Conflict History Bond Papers

Unity and Diversity of Indonesia From "Sabang ‘till Merauke" is the name of a song dedicated to Indonesia’s many islands and it’s diversity. It’s numerous chain of islands contained in the thirty-two thousand miles dividing two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Sabang is a small island just off the coast of Sumatra; Merauke is a small village near the border of Papua New Guinea. Indonesia’s 13,677 islands inhabited by 350 different ethnic groups, and more than 200 different languages. Consequently this part of the world gave many different cultures, traditions, and way of lives (1). Despite this diversity, Indonesia today has a common bond that united them all into one nation, one language, and one people. Due to this diversity, conflicts are unavoidable. However, the people of Indonesia have been able to overcome their differences. The spirit of musyawarah (to deliberate or confer), mufakat (to agree), and gotong-royong (mutual assistance) that have been instilled by their fore-father have helped in achieving peace between the people's groups. We have yet find this quality in any other nations of the world. I. INTRODUCTION I have been away from this country for almost two decades. Being born and raised in this country, I felt a longing to return to my birth place and become a part of the people once more. My desire to contribute my experience, knowledge, and the skill, that I acquired in my life time is the dream that fuels my motivation to return to Indonesia. In relation to the globalization that are taking place today, I am confident that Indonesia will be a nation that able to contribute to the world for the good of all people. Relating to the National Standard for Geography, this writer is very interested in knowing and understanding the followings;  · The physical and human characteristic of the place.  · The people perceptions of the changing complexity that are influence by culture and experience.  · The characteristics, distributions and migrations of human populations  · The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.  · The changes in meaning, distribution, and importance resources. II. THE COUNTRY The largest country, both in area and population, in Southeast Asia is the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of 13,677 islands that cover 741,101 square miles (1,919,443 square kilometers) of land along the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Steven Jhonson Syndrome

STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME: PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, ETIOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT. Roberto Carmona Florida International University Abstract: Steven Johnson Syndrome is an inmune disease charactherized by a detachment of the epidermis from dermis. It could be fatal and the pathophysilogy involves a complex hypersensitivity reaction with the participation of T lymphocytes that induce keratinocyte’s apoptosis. The syndrome can be cause by drigs, infections and malignancies. The diagnosis is difficlut due to the abscense of specific manifestations and laboratory tests.There is a genetic predisposition in individuals with certain HLA types. The disease Overview: Stevens-Jonhson Syndrome (SJS)is an immune disease. The disorder was described as a delay hypersensitivity reaction with epidermal necrosis and the participation of infections, drugs and genetic factors. The clinical expression varies from a slight form to a serious systemic process that may implicate life-threatening complica tions and death. In spite of the differences in the severity of the manifestations, the etiology, pathophysiology and genetic influence remain the same (Hazim, 200).The disorder was reported for the first time by Stevens and Chambers in 1922, after observing a couple of boys with fever, diffuse rash and sores in the mouth and ocular mucosa. It was confused with measles. At the beginning of the 90’s after several investigations, the difference between Erythema Multiforme Major SJS was proposed. Further research revealed there were dissimilarities on the cutaneous lesion's pattern, whereas EMM referred to target raised edematous papules. SJS was characterized by blisters on top of an erythematous or purpuric base ( Mockenhaupt et al. 2011). Pathophysiology and Etiology: The development of a hypersensitivity reaction type 4 has been involved in the pathophysiology of the disease. There are groups of patients with certain conditions that lead to a higher risk of SJS: Slow acetyla tors, immunocompromised, and patients with cerebral neoplasia undergoing radiotherapy with antiepileptic medications. Slow acetylators cannot detoxify drug residues, resulting in a build-up of drug metabolites that may trigger an immune response at the tissue level. This mechanism has been shown in SJS associated with sulfas.The metabolite can also cause toxic effects per se. Other mechanisms included the production of Tumor Necrosis Factor that boosts the production of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CD8+). The mature CD8+ lymphocytes cause tissular damage inducing epidermic necrosis through the discharge of granzyme and perforin. The perforin kills the keratinocytes by forming complex insoluble arrangements. The activation of the cell surface's receptor (Fas), and the subsequent induction of the caspase system, lead to DNA instability and cell destruction.In SJS, Fas ligand has been found with high levels, and it promotes Fas expression by epidermal cells. Finally, the apoptosis of the k eratinocytes leads to a detachment of the epidermis from the dermis, and the inflammatory process will turn more intense and the progressive necrolysis of the epidermis will be extended ( Mockenhaupt et al. , 2011). Several causal agents have been related with SJS. These factors have been grouped in four categories: Drug induced, infections, Malignancies and Idiopathic.Medications have been established as the most common cause of SJS overall. Among the different groups, antibiotics predominate followed by analgesics, anticonvulsants and gout treatment drugs respectively. Sulfas, penicillins, ciprofloxacin, carbamazepine and antiretroviral drugs have been described by researchers as the most important agents related with the onset of the toxic epidermal necrolysis (Hazim et al. , 2008). Viral infections have been reported to be associated with SJS: Herpes virus, AIDS, Mumps, coxsackie, Influenza and Mumps.Other agents linked with the reaction have been: Streptococci, Mycoplasma Pneum oniae, Mycobacterium, Coccidium, Histoplasma and Plasmodium (Finkelstein et al . , 2011). Genetic predisposition constituted an important aspect in the occurrence of the disease. It has been established the role of the Human Leukocyte Antigen with the possibility of developing a drug-induced SJS. For example, HLA-B 1502 has been associated with carbamazepine reactions, and it has been used as a pre-therapy test. Toxic Epydermal Necrolysis induced by sulfonamides has been linked with HLAB7 and HLA-D7 (Phillips et al. , 2011).Ko Tai-Ming et al. (2011) carried out a research where they could demonstrate the role of the T-cell receptor in the pathophysiology of the SJS induced by Carbamazepine in patients with HLA-B1502. The results of the investigation showed an 84 percent of the patients that developed carbamazepine induced SJS were HLA-B1502 positive in the antigen presenting cells that will activate the TCR of CD8 lymphocytes. Diagnosis and treatment: The disease is often misdiagnos ed. The onset of symptoms like fever, sorethorat, and malaise may be interpreted as an infection and treated with antibiotic, which can aggravate the course.The laboratory tests are not specific and do not confirm the disorder. The skin biopsy shows the epidermal detachment and the presence of bullas. The high mobility group one protein (HMGB1) has turned recently in an important instrument for the diagnosis (Nakajima et al. , 2011). The management is focused to treat the skin lesions as burns with the correspondent supportive treatment, infection precautions and fluid's therapy. Antibiotics and immunosuppressive agents should be considered as well as cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine and immunotherapy (Hazim et al. 2008). Conclusions: Steven Jonhson Syndrome is a life-threatening condition characterized by a detachment of the epidermis from the dermis. The pathophysiology involves a complex immunologic mechanism consistent in a hypersensitivity reaction with the proliferation of cytot oxic lymphocytes and the subsequent stimulation of the apoptosis mechanism. Medications and infection constitute the most common factors associated with the etiology of the disease and there is a predisposition in certain HLA genotypes. REFERENCES Finkelstein, Y. Y. , Soon, G. S.G. S. , Acuna, P. P. , George, M. M. , Pope, E. E. , Ito, S. S. , . . . Garcia-Bournissen, F. (2011). Recurrence and outcomes of stevens-johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in children. Pediatrics,  128(4), 723-728. Retrieved from http://ezproxy. fiu. edu/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview/896205631? accountid=10901 Hazim, R. , Ibrahim, O. , ; Hazim, M. (2008). Stevens-Johnson syndrome: pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management. Annals of Medicine,  40(2), 129-138. Retrieved June 7, 2012 from http://www. cbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/18293143 Ko, T. , Chung, W. , Wei, C. , Shih, H. , Chen, J. et al. (2011, December). Shared and restricted T- cell receptor use is crucial for carbamazepi ne-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 128. 6,  128(6), 1266-1276. Retrieved July 3, 2012 from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/21924464? dopt=AbstractPlus Mockenhaupt, M. M. (2011). The current understanding of stevens-johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.Expert Review of Clinical Immunology,  7(6), 803-13; quiz 814-5. Retrieved June 2 from http://ezproxy. fiu. edu/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview/900631464? accountid=10901 Nakajima, S. S. , Watanabe, H. H. , Tohyama, M. M. , Sugita, K. K. , Iijima, M. M. , Hashimoto, K. K. , . . . Kabashima, K. K. (2011). High-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) as a novel diagnostic tool for toxic epidermal necrolysis and stevens-johnson syndrome. United States: Retrieved from http://ezproxy. fiu. edu/login? url=http://search. proquest. om/docview/893270838? accountid=10901 Paiz, J. M. , Angeli, E. , Wagner, J. , Lawrick, E. , Moore, K. , Anderson, M. , ; Soderlund, L. (2012, May 30). General Format. InThe Purdue Online Writing Lab. Retrieved July 12, 2012, from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Phillips, E. J. E. J. , ; Mallal, S. A. S. A. (2011). HLA-B*1502 screening and toxic effects of carbamazepine. United States: Retrieved from http://ezproxy. fiu. edu/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview/884423149? accountid=10901

Outline the New Right View of the Role of the Education Essay

The New Right is a conservative political perspective. However, its ideas have influenced both labour and conservative policies. A central principle of New Right thinking is the belief that the state cannot meet people’s needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market. A number of the principles of the New Right are based on the theories of market forces. They felt that the British economy was in decline and something needed to be done to change the situation. People had to take the responsibility for their own future rather than depend on the state. They said that there should be competition amongst schools in the same way as private companies compete against each other. The New Right are similar in many ways to functionalists: They believe that some people are naturally more talented than others. They believe that education should socialise pupils into shared values, such as competition, and instil a sense of national identity They broadly favour an education system run on meritocratic principles of open competition, and one that serves the needs of the economy by preparing young people for work. However, unlike functionalists, New Right do not believe that the current education system is achieving these goals. According to New Right, the reason for their failure is that its run by state. The New Right argue that in all state education systems, politicians and educational bureaucrats use the power of the state to impose their view of what kind of schools we should have. The state takes a ‘one size fits all’ approach, imposing uniformity and disregarding local needs. The local consumers who use the schools have no say. State education systems are therefore unresponsive and breed inefficiency. Schools that waste money or get poor results are not answerable to their consumers. This means lower standards of achievement for pupils; a less qualified workforce and a less prosperous economy. The New Rights solution to these problems is the marketisation of education creating an ‘education market’. They believe that competition between schools and the laws of supply and demand will empower the consumers, bringing greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools and increasing their ability to meet the needs of pupils, parents and employers. Chubb and Moe are a good example of the New Right perspective on education. They argue that American state education has failed and they make the case for opening it up to market forces of supply and demand. They make a number of complains: The low classes, ethnic and religious minorities and rural communities have been badly served by state education. State education has failed to create equal opportunity State education is inefficient because it fails to produce pupils with the skills needed by the economy. Private schools deliver higher quality education because, unlike state schools, they answerable to paying consumers. Chubb and Moe base call for the introduction of a market system in a state education that would put control in the hands of the customers. They argue that this would allow consumers to shape schools to meet their own needs and would improve quality and efficiency.

Essay on “Rape, Racism, and the Law” Essay

Jennifer Wriggins analyzes the significance how race, ethnicity, and class influence a woman’s vulnerability to rape, the meaning and impact of the rape, and the response of family, of community, and of social institutions. Her article, â€Å"Rape, Racism, and the Law,† specifically focuses on the history of rape in the United States between the rapes of White women by Black men. As a feminist, she specifically focuses on two very damaging consequences of this selective blindness: the denials that Black women are raped; and all women are subject to pervasive and harmful sexual coercion of all kinds. Thorough this powerful essay, she examine the legal system’s treatment of rape and how racism plays a major part in denying the rights of African Americans, as well as, deny the veracity of women’s sexual subordination by creating a social meaning of rape which implies that the only type of sexual abuse is â€Å"illegal rape† and the only form of illegal rape is Black offender/White victim. I was exasperated after reading this article. This article highly irritated and annoyed me because of the interconnectedness of rape and racism. As a woman, it is hard not to get heated about this particular subject. Presently, there are now many struggles against rape. And, in acknowledging the struggles against rape one must also acknowledge the difference among women and the different ways that groups other than women are disempowered. In one of the many examples in this essay, racism and justice collide when in 1859 the Mississippi Supreme court dismissed the indictment of a male slave for the rape of a female slave less than 10 years old. â€Å"This indictment cannot be sustained, either at common law or under our statutes. It charges no offense known to either system. Slavery was unknown to the common law†¦ and hence its provisions are inapplicable†¦ There is no act which embraces either the attempted or actual commission of a rape by a slave on a female slave†¦ Master and slaves cannot be governed by the same system or laws; so different are their position, right and duties.† This ruling is disheartening in a few ways: Black men are held to lesser standards of restraint with Black women that are white men with White women; second, white men are held to lesser standards of restraint with black women that are Black men with white women. However, neither white nor black men were expected to show sexual restraint with black women. This is truly upsetting,  to me, because no man no matter what color should have the right to exercise rape or sexual coercion of any kind with any woman of any color without her consent. This reading is important to social work practice because it reflects and expansive and integrated approach to understanding rape, racism, and the law. By exploring the interconnectedness of rape and racism, I learned to analyze the assumptions implanted in and surrounding rape, racism, and social institutions. Finally, it develops understanding of the narrow focus of the black offender and the white rape victim, and the denial of the rape of black women, which engages within the cultural assumption of American society that is important to understand in the field of social work. This reading also teaches up to be receptive social work professionals able to work respectfully and competently with diverse population groups, with at the same time to understand and develop a sensitivity and respect for human rights. Through this reading, it is easy to see how stereotypes of racial and ethnic differences can have impact on a person’s life in regards to consequences, rewards, and punishments. It has not fit in because examining substantive justice arguably requires that human rights to life, well-being, and the commodities essential to life and well-being, be given priority whenever a societal decision is made. Societal conditions and institutional arrangements should be recognized as grounds for justification because they may impose limits and constraints on the choices available to an individual that are as unavoidable and compelling as those imposed by chance or by another human being. It is a scary thought that your skin color or sex could work against you in the legal system, but it does happen. For this reason, it is easy to understand why many women are not reporting these incidents. Reference: â€Å"Rape, Racism, and the Law† by Jennifer Wriggins

Strong Centralized Government

There is no doubt that Iraq needs a strong centralized government. This assertion is based on the following factors: 1) the rise of radical Islam, 2) the heterogeneity of the Iraqi population (ethnic groups), and 3) resistance to the growing phenomenon of ‘hollowing of the state. ’ It may be misleading to assume that the existence of these factors would necessarily lead to the establishment of a strong centralized government. But in Iraq, this is the case.The rise of radical Islam engulfed the politics of Muslim countries in the Middle East. Muslim extremists used the name of Islam to destroy the basic institutions of health, education, and welfare; replacing them with institutions that outrightly promote political anarchy, social stratification, and international terrorism. Iraq was able to resist the waves of radical Islam because of its highly centralized government. The government’s grip on the local population prevented dissidents from fully articulating thei r radical ideology.According to Huntington, the suppression of radical Islam can only be achieved through the establishment of strong authoritarian institutions; institutions which overtly rejects the fallacies of Islamic extremism (Huntington, 429). Huntington held that Islamic extremism is, in general, a stumbling block to self-determination and development (Huntington, 431). Iraq’s war with Iran simply illustrates the former’s need to defend itself from the waves of radical Islam. Kuznetsov argued that the Iraq-Iran war was a contest between orthodox Islam and radical Islam (Kuznetsov, 219).This was not the case. Iran’s ambition to dominate the Middle East was based on two factors: the need to propagate radical Islam, and security. Iraq successfully contained the Iranian threat because of the authoritarian nature of the Iraqi government. Efficiency, effectiveness, and brutality were the main qualities that enabled Iraq to resist Iran. Glazer and Moynihan argu ed, â€Å"Whenever a democracy has a large number of ethnic groups, it is likely to fall into political anarchy† (Glazer and Moynihan, 374).This statement makes sense. In many democratic countries with heterogeneous populations, there is the constant threat of civil war and political instability. This is obvious. Ethnic groups vie for power through the electoral system to control other ethnic groups (as in the case of Yugoslavia). Ethnic groups who lost in elections had no choice but to confront the dominant group through armed struggle. In Communist and authoritarian states, this was not possible.Communist and authoritarian states disregarded ethnicity as a factor of solidarity. Iraq was able to contain its heterogeneous population through systematic government control on all aspects of the society. Political instability could not exist because the government served as the unifying factor of the country. The establishment of a strong central government in Iraq may be regarde d as a measure to ensure the dignity and integrity of the state. Today, the phenomenon of ‘hollowing of the state’ is apparent in many democracies.This phenomenon is characterized by the weakening of the state as an institution, reduced economic sovereignty, and group power politics (Toynbee, 728). Only a strong and highly centralized government could effectively preserve the power and sovereignty of the state. Works Cited Glazer, N and D. P. Moynihan. Race and Ethnicity. American Sociological Review, 43(17), Oct. 2001. Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Toynbee, Arnold. A History of the World. London: London Publishing House, 1975.