Getting Older Essay

Introduction Math and numbers are used in every aspect and in every part of our daily lives. Everything is numbers. This is no different with people. Humans start as newborns and, if they are blessed, become elders. Numerical order is also used in determining our ages. The longer you live the older you become and the more things change. Aging is a part of life that should be embraced gracefully. There are three parts of old age. There are young old, middle aged old, and elderly old ages. Each part of being a senior citizen has its advantages and disadvantages. We still have to acknowledge the fact that the increase in living elders is making a major impact on the political aspects of being an old person. It seems to be and so we will explore why that the more seniors that survive each year seems to correspond with the lowering amount of funds available to them and more. We will attempt to cover the mark this senior citizen boom is making in the world for elders and those others it may affect. â€Å"Aging—a process that begins at birth and ends at death—has implications not only for our own lives but also for every aspect of society.† There are several problems being brought on by the indefinite increase in the aging population in America as well as other places. Not only does it affect the capital that supports many of our elders but it also weighs on what happens with their retirement and if and how they should continue to work. Now more than ever elders find themselves having to work out of obligation to stay financi ally stable and be able to be taken care of by their own finances. Elders from a while back worked because they had the ability and strength to. They were not as out of shape or out of tune with life. They did not  consume as much and many processed foods as our generations have either which would explain the longevity. Depending on what your beliefs are the reason for the ever so shortening or longing of years could have something to do with spirituality as well as environmental conditions. The demographic transition theory shows how the population is changed throughout time.It is based on the study and documentation of changes in birth/death rates. These significant transitions Result from low-high birth/death rates to high-low birth/death rates. When the aging population begins to rapidly increase, it usually is because of less new-birth but also less death. Low birth rates are as a result of access to contraception, preference to smaller families, urbanization and education of women. What a person prefers is often their business and left to their discretion, but with less youth, there are less younger adults that are able to take care of the older generation that may be needing help. Again we discuss nursing homes and health care. This is to say†¦ Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with the elders surviving. However, we should remember that we have to keep an attitude and a balance of the population and the resources available to supply the population.. There are upsides to the increase in the aging population but there are also downsides. The pros could include the fact that elders need to be attended to more could open the door for young adults to find jobs, also being guided by successful elders who hold secrets to prospering is something no one can deny is very helpful, also elders hold to a sense of familiarity meaning that just when all the fads and trends calm down, elders are there to stabilize the air. As for the downsides of the aging population, the economy is not as able to grow properly because the work field is going down, also health care has increased costs as it relates to treatments and medical care that is always needed for old people, and to add with more machinated tasks being carried out by machines as we ll as younger workers those skilled to work in a trade or a craft are not needed. Elders are having to make a choice between personal care from loved ones or the impersonal care that comes from nursing homes, home health nurses, or extended care facilities. Sadly, because of the lack of wanting to burden family members and the like, elders usually choose care from the list of impersonal care and internalize the neglect felt from having to do so. Advantages and disadvantages of implications of an aging population must be examined so that plans of implementation can be properly executed and adopted to fix or balance the situation.  The impact the older population is making does not have to be the be-all end-all factor of what is to happen as predicted by many. Increased dependency is believed to be one of the heaviest burdens that will cause the elderly to cripple the economy but it does not have to be so. We will also use the aforementioned to discuss the actions that must be taken to address the issue of the aging population. As well as having to rely on the government to make sure that this problem that seems to have arisen is taken care of there are things that we can do to be effective as well. We can definitely make sure our elders don’t feel like burdens. When I was younger we were able to adopt a grandparent. They could have kids or grandkids but many did not have any that would visit often or at all. We  would be allowed to spend time with them every weekend and it would just brighten their day to hear about what we are allowed to do and what we would discuss with them. Something as simple as this wakes the elders mind up in the nursing homes, it gets them excited again about life and their mind off where they are. Of course more financial and secure measures need to be taken but with just a simple economical start we could very well being on the road to the discovery of what works. References Demography Is Not Destiny: The Challenges and Opportunities of Global Population Aging. Full Text Available Academic Journal Uhlenberg, Peter; Generations, 2013 Spring; 37 (1): 12-8. (journal article – case study) ISSN: 0738-7806, Database: CINAHL with Full Text Subjects: Demography; Aging; World Health; Forecasting Academic Journal By: Thomas, Kali S.; Mor, Vincent. Health Services Research. Jun2013, Vol. 48 Issue 3, p1215-1226. 12p. 2 Charts, 1 Graph. DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.12015. The demographic transition: causes and consequences. Detail Only Available Academic Journal By: Galor, Oded. Cliometrica. Jan2012, Vol. 6 Issue 1, p1-28. 28p. DOI: 10.1007/s11698-011-0062-7. , Database: Business Source Elite Subjects: STAGNATION (Economics); ECONOMIC development; HUMAN capital; DEMAND (Economic theory); DEMOGRAPHIC transition; FERTILITY; MORTALITY The Implications of Increased Survivorship for Mortality Variation in Aging Populations Full Text Available Engelman, Michal; Canudas-Romo, Vladimir; Agree, Emily M.; Population and Development Review, September 2010, v. 36, iss. 3, pp. 511-39, Database: EconLit with Full Text Subjects: Health Production ; Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts ; Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination . The Relationship between Older Americans Act Title III State Expenditures and Prevalence of Low-Care Nursing Home Residents. Full Text Available Academic Journal By: Thomas, Kali S.; Mor, Vincent. Health Services Research. Jun2013, Vol. 48 Issue 3, p1215-1226. 12p. 2 Charts, 1 Graph. DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.12015. Subjects: NURSING home patients; NURSING care facilities — Finance; MEDICAID — Finance; STATE Agencies On Aging; CAREGIVERS; UNITED States. Older Americans Act of 1965; Administration of Human Resource Programs (except Education, Public Health, and Veterans’ Affairs Programs); Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities); Community care facilities for the elderly Markson, E. W. & Stein, P. J. (2012). Social gerontology: Issues & prospects. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Pride and Prejudice Analysis on the Theme of Love Essay

* Ultimately, Pride and Prejudice is a love story in that the way Darcy/Elizabeth and Bingley/Jane finally come together forms the basis of the plot. * True love, as it is represented in the novel, can overcome the odds such as the interference of well-meaning friends as well as pride and prejudice. It lasts over time and is not based on a few weeks’ acquaintance. Austen seems to believe in love based on mutual gratitude, esteem and respect. Being intellectually and characteristically equal also seems to be important. This is demonstrated in the characters and relationships mentioned above. The power of love to change people is also explored with Elizabeth and Darcy becoming better people as a result of their relationship. * Some other marriages such as Wickham/Lydia, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins/Charlotte are looked upon disapprovingly because they are not marriages of true love, but marriages based on desire or financial convenience. Marriage * Marriage is seen as necessary for social respectability and material comfort. The sole aim of Mrs. Bennet’s life is get her daughters married, hence showing its importance. * There are different aims and kinds of marriages. Marriages for convenience, financial security, desire and of course, love are the most common ones. * There is the question of where to draw the line between the prudent and mercenary motive in marriage. * The novel reflects the real societal problem of the lack of availability of suitable partners, reflected in Charlotte’s desire to grasp at anything. * Austen shows that marriage can be motivated by love and not money through the main characters. Darcy and Bingley both marry socially and financially inferior women. * â€Å"She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man, who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was a union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved, and from his judgement, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance. But no such happy marriage could now teach the admiring multitude what connubial felicity really was.† (P.295-6) Wealth * In the novel, wealth is seen as beneficial commodity but not necessarily guaranteeing happiness, morality and good sense. Bingley and Darcy choose their wives for their character and beauty probably because they have a better chance of happiness. Miss Bingley is rich but lacking in good morals and kindness. Lady Catherine is also rich but lacking in good sense. * Solely marrying for money is frowned upon, i.e. Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bennet’s vulgar desire to have her daughters marry rich men * Austen places character above material wealth in terms of choosing a marriage partner, as Elizabeth initially refuses Darcy despite his great fortune. * Austen shows that worth is not based on wealth or social, that personal qualities are important too, such as morality and intelligence. First impressions * Linked to prejudice, Austen shows that first impressions are not always a true reflection of the way things really are. This is shown best through the characters of Wickham and Darcy. * Darcy also has to overcome his first impression of Elizabeth, especially her less than friendly attitude towards him. * Austen endorses the value of not judging a person immediately but taking time to see their true character. Pride * Austen disapproves of excessive pride through the depictions of Lady Catherine, Darcy and Mr. Collins. Lady Catherine thinks she has a right to interfere in all aspects people’s lives, Mr. Collins is arrogant because of his association with Lady Catherine and his moral rightness and Darcy’s pride provokes the dislike of people, in particular, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is also proud in that she stubbornly believes she is right about Darcy and persists in disliking him. * â€Å"Pride is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality, real or imaginary.† * Mary also says, â€Å"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.† (P.21) Pride is about what we think of ourselves, while vanity is about the opinions of others. Ignorance * Austen disapproves of ignorance, demonstrated in the way that certain characters are mocked for their stupidity, in particular, Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine. Their ignorance is often a source of humour. * Austen endorses intelligence – both Darcy and Elizabeth are intelligent, and seems to promote reading for the getting of knowledge and understanding. * To some extent, Elizabeth is ignorant too because of her prejudice towards Wickham and Darcy. â€Å"Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away.† (P.202) Therefore, prejudice is linked with ignorance. Similarly, people dislike Darcy because of ignorance; they don’t who he really is. Courtship * The novel explores different methods of courtship. Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy both have interesting methods. Mr. Darcy apologises for being in love and insults Elizabeth. Mr. Collins lists all the practical benefits of marriage for himself and is totally unconvincing in his expressions of love. They sound like the complements he likes to create and prepare. * Jane conceals her affection too much. â€Å"If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark.† (P.22) Characters Elizabeth Bennet * Lively, attractive, spirited, articulate, well-mannered, affectionate, genteel * intelligent, perceptive, well-read, independent, rational * Easily prejudiced positively and negatively; determined to dislike Darcy and like Wickham * High moral standards; high ideals about marriage and love * Cheerful disposition; able to laugh at her misfortunes * Realises her mistakes and follies when she sees Darcy’s nature * Ashamed of the oddities of her family, yet devoted to their wellbeing * Displays strength and intelligence when confronted by Lady Catherine; sees through her wealth and status Fitzwilliam Darcy * Handsome, refined, discreet, intelligent, articulate * Morally upright, devoted to his sister, honest, honourable, loving, highly praised by housekeeper, accepts blame * conscious of his pedigree, arrogant, shy, uncomfortable around strangers, reserved * Becomes more modest, humble and well-mannered after Elizabeth reprimands him Jane Bennet * Attractive, genteel, kind, inclined to think the best of people, sensitive, modest, patient, a little bit too perfect to be true Charles Bingley * Sociable, lively, unreserved, keen on pleasing others, relies on Darcy for guidance, kind, loved by everyone, gentleman-like, lacks resolution and his own opinion Mr. Bennet * Quick, reserved, sarcastic, humorous, capricious, has philosophic composure * Is content to laugh at the oddities of his family without endeavouring to fix them * Irresponsible towards his family; realises this after the Lydia/Wickham affair * Favours Elizabeth because they are similar in intellectualism and character * Well-read, likes the country, shuts himself in his library away from his family * Regrets marrying a woman he can’t respect, enjoys teasing his wife Mrs. Bennet * Comic figure, foolish, talkative, snobbish, ignorant, uncertain temper, small-minded, naive * Business of life was to get her daughters married; nothing matters more to her, hypocritical Caroline Bingley * Shallow, materialistic, snobbish, unkind, lacks integrity, wants Darcy, hypocritical Mr. Collins * Comic figure, absurd, complements everything, thinks he is serious, apologises excessively * Feels proud because of his association with Lady Catherine and because of his moral uprightness * Marries solely for practical reasons, not for love * Other people generally can’t stand him except for Charlotte who seems to be willing to tolerate him Lady Catherine de Bourgh * Comic figure; associated with author’s satire of appearances and good breeding * Arrogant, authoritative, thinks she has a right to dictate every aspect of people’s lives * Patronising, condescending; perhaps this is suits her role as a patroness * Lacks wisdom and gentility, forthright, conscious of her rank and pedigree Mr. Wickham * Uses his good looks and charm to attract wealthy women for their money, seems to have no morals, has all the appearance of goodness, lives wildly, squanders all his money, takes advantage of other people’s kindness, initially loved by everyone, stands in contrast to Darcy Charlotte Lucas * Pragmatic in terms of marriage, seems to eager to grasp at any offer of marriage Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner * Like-minded to Jane and Elizabeth, one of the few relatives Elizabeth isn’t ashamed of. Lydia Bennet * High-spirited, similar to her mother, obsessed with officers, wild and unrestrained, uncivil, boisterous, talkative, unashamed, fearless, noisy Mary Bennet * Studious, well-read, intellectual, prides herself on morality and sense, works hard for accomplishments, has a conceited and pedantic air Style * Use of exaggeration * Formal, refined language; elegant dialogue * Subtle, light touch, not vicious or forceful * Irony – â€Å"In a fortnight they (the officers) were to go, and once gone, she (Elizabeth) hoped there could be nothing more to plague her on his (Wickham) account.† (P.215). This is irony in setting up for Lydia’s elopement with Wickham. * Caricature – Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine are all examples of what Jane Austen thinks people should not be. Setting * Small country town – gossip, ignorance, small-mindedness. â€Å"Mr. Darcy†¦drew†¦attention†¦by his fine, tall person†¦and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year.† (P.12) In a small town, all they do visit each other and gossip, especially people like Mrs. Bennet. Also reflected in Mrs. Bennet is the small-mindedness and ignorance. * 18th century England – reflected in social conventions, social rank, class system, marriage. > Social conventions – The Bennet girls couldn’t visit Bingley until Mr. Bennet went first. Husbands and wives rarely referred to each other by first names in front of servants. > Social rank and class system – Darcy, Bingley and Lady Catherine are higher in rank than the Bennets, the Lucases and the Collins’. Therefore the Bennet girls were advancing in their status by marrying Darcy and Bingley. There is hardly any mention of the lower classes > Marriage – the general opinion was that marriage equalled happiness, social security and financial convenience especially for women. Context * Much social upheaval in other parts of Europe; however, this is not evident in this novel. England was still very much a class-ridden society. Austen only focuses on the comfortable lives of the middle and upper classes. It was fashionable for young ladies of the middle class to do as little domestic work as possible. This is why the Bennet girls seem to have nothing to do except visit officers, shop, go to balls, socialise, play music and read.

Life Alone

â€Å"No one is ever born into Life alone. Everyone has shared the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many people it is a bond that will follow them throughout life†. For many people it is the most important bond of all†. I chose this topic because I thought that it would be cool to take a look at my life story. At first, I thought that this project would be easy but when I thought that I had finished but I had to start it over because it was too short and I didn't have enough information on the topic. Before I did this project I knew that my parents were born in Poland but I didn't know specifically where they were born in Poland. Another thing that I learned, was that a family can be defined in many ways, but the common definition of family is love and being with one another. Lastly, I learned that people want others to rely on, talk to if they need help, do things with, share love, and be part of. The story of my search was very easy because every time I tired to search something on the web then it gave me the answers right away. Also, the story of my search was very easy because for example when I wanted to draw a Polish flag on my tri-fold board or get an image of the national animal or flower, then I just had to search it up on the web and it appeared right away. During the course of this project, I learned that my mom was born in Dabrowa-Tarnowska, Poland and my dad was born in Tarnobrzeg, Poland. Furthermore, while I was doing my project, I learned that Poland has a lot of traditions like, the Marzanna-Burning, the Wet Monday that happens after Easter, the Christmas-Straw under the tablecloth, and many more.

Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Melchert, and Hum's Theories Essay - 1

Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Melchert, and Hum's Theories - Essay Example When we speak that there is particularly good in existence, for example, then â€Å"good† can be referred to as proper universal form (Melchert, 28). However, Aristotle challenged Plato’s argument that the nature of universals is instantiated.   He argued that all universals are attached to existing things. Aristotle believed that the nature of universal can be predicted. This is because universal only exist its relation must have occurred, is occurring or must occur in the future. Hence if a universal cannot be predicted to an object that occurred in a certain period, it cannot exist. He also maintained universal location exist within each thing on which it existed. So, according to him, the form of an orange exists within each orange, rather in the world of oranges (Melchert, 35).Teleology is a philosophical explanation that explains the fact that the final causes do exist in nature. This theory put across the assumption that human action and is existing factors in the nature of the environment (Melchert, 123).   Generally, this theory explains the purpose, end, aim, and goal of the existence of something. Aristotle explained this theory by arguing that without artificial interference, action will happen as stipulated by the natural forces affecting it. An example put across by Aristotle states that a seedling reaches to a level of the adult plant as its final cause.While explaining his metaphysics, Aristotle always argued that the final cause of an action or an object is already stipulated by nature and no force can change this outcome. Through teleology, his argument on final causes was further explained. Additionally, Aristotle has argued against many philosophers claims that all things revolve around the necessity. By this statement, Aristotle believed that the philosophers were against the purpose, end, aim and goal policy of teleology (Melchert, 112).

Post World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Post World War II - Essay Example The Killing Zone" (Grunt Space, 2004). From this list emerged another long list of Vietnam-inspired war movies and television series. And then, there's "We Were Soldiers Once and Young." This book inspired the movie directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. The book and the movie present unadulterated details about war, not from the point of view of historians, politicians, and wide-viewed bestselling authors but from the individuals who were there. Ferguson (2003) presented a detailed military and national background about the events that surrounded the la Drang memoir of Moore. The war in Vietnam was considered a "boil" during America's Cold War with the former USSR and China. While Vietnam was fresh from its independence from colonial France, a revolution erupted as the communists controlled northern Vietnam. The 1956 Geneva Accord paved for a national election which was marred by communist rebels called the Viet Cong. America per se was under turmoil at that time as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, with a non-interventionist new president Lyndon Johnson. Nevertheless, Johnson sent troops, using airmobile warfare initiated with the 11th Air Assault Division renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, 7th Battalion with the mission: to find and kill the enemy. Discussion: "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" is a book written by retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, battalion commander of the 1/7 Cavalry during the la Drang campaign, together with UPI war reporter Joseph L. Galloway. It was produced with intensive interviews among Vietnam war soldiers (survivors) and their families, loved ones, and all those who were directly involved and affected by the war. Moore wrote that every Hollywood movie had shown it the wrong way, which inspired him to write the book, "to make it right this time." While it is necessary to indicate political and global trends in presenting a part of history such as the United States' war with Vietnam, Gilbert (2004) acknowledged that "Light of another kind can be found in the examinations of the wars in Viet Nam provided by world literature and the world cinema," (p 14). This is indicative of the presence and essence of other details which are all contributory to historical facts that cannot be ignored altogether. Gilbert (2004) aptly placed it when he wrote "Viet Nam has greatly contributed to the human record of the strife-torn and oppressed. From the Western-influenced individualist style that emphasized the alienation of the self to the triumph of social realism that identified death on the battlefield as the highest form of self-realization, Vietnamese prose and poetry reflects the transition from a traditional to a colonial to a modern society that many people have made in the modern era." While the book

Is charity sufficient in an age of capitalism Essay

Is charity sufficient in an age of capitalism - Essay Example As such, organizations will only venture into CSR as charity and when it suits them, and therefore rendering charity unsustainable. In the article, Friedman’s main idea or central argument is that since CSR has never been defined, it has always been taken for organizational charity. Not only is the noun phrase CSR to vague to instill meaningful obligations on the side of organizations, but the same is also wrongfully through its assumptions assigns organizations the roles of a natural person. An organization cannot decide on its own to engage in CSR, outside the will of its executives, stakeholders and owners. What is at stake here is that organizations are using the vagueness in the definition of CSR to exploit the environment without giving back (Friedman, 3). Friedman is advancing his argument on the basis of his authority in academics, since he served as an economist, statistician and lecturer. It is obvious that his argument is also informed with personal experience and history from which he had made observations as a scholar and an employee. There European Commission’s insight on CSR seems to contradict Friedman’s perspective, since it sees CSR as a strong catalyst for social development. Nevertheless, despite EU’s insight appearing to be antithetical to my thesis statement, yet it does not sufficiently annihilate my standpoint since the EU has regulations on CSR that organizations and enterprises have to adhere to. This still indirectly supports my statement that CSR is too vague a concept to bring positive change. This vagueness has underpinnings in the fact that CSR is inadequately defined. Because of this inadequate definition, organizations through their executives and stakeholders are left to surmise for themselves, the optionality of engaging in the same, and the extent to which CSR should be pursued. Thus, even an organization which contributes only 200 US dollars to the society can still brag about having participated in

Resolution To Childhood Obesity Through Exercise and Diet Research Paper

Resolution To Childhood Obesity Through Exercise and Diet - Research Paper Example According to the American Psychological Association, around one in six children are obese and â€Å"only 30% of children (aged 6 to 17) participated in 20 minutes plus of vigorous physical activity on a daily basis† (Changing diet and exercise for kids, 2012), whereas the prescribed amount of physical activity is sixty minutes. This clearly indicates flaws in the lifestyle that people follow as the reason for the persistence of the problem of obesity in children. An increasingly sedentary lifestyle that arises from various factors such as pressure of studies and addiction to certain forms of technology leads children to abandon the forms of physical activity that they are supposed to engage in. Most children and even their parents do not consider physical exercise as a priority area that needs to be taken care of for the overall health of the child. There are problems associated with this formulation too. Children with disabilities and chronic illnesses were found to have a mu ch higher incidence of obesity. The table given below bears out this statement. Prevalences of overweight and obesity in disabled children and adolescents a) Compared with healthy children and adolescents Disability Percentage of overweight/obesity Healthy comparison group Country Functionally restricted mobility 30% overweight 16% overweight USA (11) Developmental delay 24% overweight 17% overweight Australia (12) 15% obese 6% obese Learning disability 35% overweight 31% overweight USA (11) 21.9% obese 15.7% obese Learning disability 19.3% obese 12.2% obese USA (13) Hearing or visual impairment 18.4% obese Autism 23.4% obese Attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder 18.9% obese Asthma 19.7% obese Asthma 24.6% overweight 14.2 % overweight Denmark (Reinehr, Dobe, Winkel and Hoffmann, 2010 [the table is directly from the essay]) In such cases the underlying disease is complicated by the problem of obesity and an inability to walk and perform other physical exercises is compounded by the excessive weight of the body. This may lead to pain at the joints as well since the weight of the body becomes too much for the bones to bear. There are other medical problems too that accompany obesity when it occurs in addition to another disease or disability. These compound the misery that the child experiences and the social isolation that results may lead to depression in the child. This would then further diminish the chances of the child taking part in any leisure activities. This heightens the problem of obesity and the cycle is complete. One method of alleviating this problem is through dietary changes that can be introduced for the patient who is obese. This has the ability to cause enormous changes in the weight of the patient. Diet in these cases needs to be closely monitored since eating as an activity may be used by the patient to alleviate the feelings of loneliness and sorrow. The quality that certain foods have, to cause a temporary suppression of depressing th oughts may be the reason behind this. This again feeds into the earlier mentioned cycle, thus worsening the entire situation. The importance of diet, thus, needs to be stressed when one is dealing with a person who is obese. Children who are obese are more likely to develop other diseases early on

Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Plan - Essay Example Wedding photography is an important commercial undertaking that provides jobs for many people. Many wedding ceremonies are all about spending money; therefore, many couples are willing to spend an extra amount just to have a great event. Conducting a wedding in a beautiful unique place might cost a bit more but would sit in well with the idea of a great wedding. The photographs taken on beautiful sceneries will serve as great memories for couples throughout their entire lives (Etienne 2011). Photos taken in a different location, for example a foreign country can bring unforgettable memories to the couple. For this case, having some wedding photographs taken in Miami for Chinese couples, would bring out a different view to their wedding photos due to the change in location. An individual has to analyze and evaluate the market before entering into a new venture. In order to sell this new idea to different couples, several steps can be taken. A wide range of promotions and advertising s trategies can be used. These include use of yellow pages to advertise the business where interested clients can call a designated business number for the wedding photography services. Placing advertisements for the business in the Public press such as, newspapers and magazines can also be utilized. Internet marketing can be used, where the advertisements can be placed in various websites to be viewed by those browsing the global network. Social media can be used, where a page on Facebook or Twitter is created to involve friends and their acquaintances to view the business. Preparing business cards and setting an office could also help attract customer who may require wedding photography services. To ensure that customers are drawn by the services provided, there is need to showcase the different photography work that has previously been completed (Das). For a couple to go along with the idea of having some of their wedding photography in a foreign country, one has to provide adequat e merits that will capture their attention, making them buy into the idea. Firstly, one can sell the idea on grounds of being unique. In this case, Miami has beautiful beaches and the tropical feel would be unforgettable. This would be deemed as a unique experience. The photography services are supposed to be of the highest quality. Secondly, one has to prove that the idea is viable and explain all the procedures to be followed. Travelling to a different country comes with procedures and rules that have to be followed. Thirdly, the price should be favourable since exorbitant prices would render them disinterested. The prices should be customer friendly depending on the photography services provided. However, all this depends on the couple’s preference and the customers should always get what they paid for (Etienne 2011). Obtaining the first customer is usually a big challenge to overcome. An individual should come up with a strategy that will enable the business to attract mo re customers by itself, after providing quality services for the first one. Potential clients consider obtaining a service from individuals who have a great reputation. This can only come from giving the first client a memorable service. After extensive promotion of the idea, it becomes easier to obtain the first client (Etienne 2011). Networking with the first clients can prove to be a great idea since

Sensory evaluation of food Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sensory evaluation of food - Assignment Example Sensory evaluation is sometimes done to label a product as acceptable or unacceptable. Sensory evaluation gives information about the typical characteristics of the food product or any of its ingredients so that any necessary change can be made to the food item or any ingredient can be avoided or replaced. A sensory analysis on a final product or newly introduced product would judge whether the food item is in line with its original specification. Feedback is collected after sensory evaluation so that any small or big amendment may be made to improve the product. Further evaluation would include the analysis of the food properties. Properties of the food and its ingredients are scientifically measured. These measured scientific properties are analyzed and interpreted to get the results. Sensory analysis would tell how the assessed food item is perceived through the five senses. Appearance, taste, smell, touch and hearing are the five factors that are used as parameters to analyze the food item. The color of the food item, its smell, its taste, its physical nature and sound would grade it. The color of a food item would reveal some of its properties. For example, deep fried items and those with artificial color would reveal its nature through its color. The smell of gravy will reveal the presence of absence of spices in it. Taste of a food item would disclose majority of its ingredients. Taste would reveal what is included and what is missing. As we touch a cake we will understand how much cream is used for making it. If you want to test a piece of banana or potato chips you just need to bite it once. Sensory evaluation would thus give complete analysis of a food item. Sensory evaluation is very much required for newly developed products. Sensory analysis would check whether a newly developed product is unique or comparable to another product of same range. Some products may be complete imitations of another product which is already established. Some may

Enlightening English Language Learners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Enlightening English Language Learners - Essay Example As the study stresses  lack of resources is a constant challenge cited especially in the midst of budget cuts and the current financial recession we are recovering from. In practice, English Language Learners need additional funding in order to make it possible to provide a numerous facilities to ensure students are successful in learning the English Language. To this end, it has been observed that additional funding has been allocated. The funding formula is complex and is based on composite calculations. Simplistically, every English Language Learner receives, approximately, an additional allocation of $3,300 per year.From this paper it is clear that  some important factors seldom discussed in educational programs for English Language Learners are the lack of knowledge about how to educate them effectively, lack of teachers licensed for the teaching of ESL, lack of content that teachers prepared to educate newcomers, and the lack of understanding of how a second language is lea rnt. The educators are a product of educational institutions that fail to prepare teachers to educate urban students and in particular, English Language Learners. This becomes the root cause of ineffective current program implementation within our schools.  This could be interpreted as a knowledge gap ranging from the teacher to the administrator, resulting in the inability to successfully teach the English Language Learners.

Project Shakti Essay Example for Free

Project Shakti Essay The project was started to explore the business opportunity of the rural market, where the competition will be less than the urban market. The first challenge faced by the Shakti was the low margin to its entrepreneurs and lack of owner ship. Its initial plan was, federations purchase products from HLL and then sell them to SHGs and then to outlets in village. In this model no one took responsibility. This challenge was overcome by changing the business model as follows: A member of the SHG appointed as entrepreneur, who borrow money from respective SHG and buy products directly from HLL. By this model responsibility is only for entrepreneur and no need to share profit as well. HLLs pilot model was with women because they are the bulk consumer for the HLL products and they have access to home of potential consumers. Easy part of the project was the selection of the entrepreneurs. Problem starts once the stock started piling up, which was almost equal to their annual income. To add on to this, loan repayment schedule was also started which was threaten the feasibility of the project. These entrepreneurs did not have any previous experience in undertaking independent economic activity added up failure of this task. HLL had overcome this with following initiatives: 1. They had introduced RSP, to control stock. To reduce the cost they hired the trainers to train entrepreneurs and outsourced the administration to third party 2. Offered incentive for visiting specific number of homes and offered additional incentive for selling specific brands 3. Negotiated with bank to get more time to start initial payment. To scale up the project, implementation team has to undergo following tasks: 1. Arrange government permissions and secure the support of the district administration 2. Identify and seal partnerships with NGOs well established in the region 3. Interact with mainstream HLL sales to identify market for PS 4. Locate SHG and convince them that the project shakti was a reliable, sustainable source of income for their members 5. Appoint a right women as entrepreneurs 6. Ensure a steady supply of products In many placed HLL was not able get support from government, presuming that these attempts are an explosive attempt of a large multinational. This was overcome by the appointing MART and helped them to expand to 50405 villages across 310 districts in 12 states. To scale up they have addressed the requirement of the small income group by introducing low price packs Introduced Vani programme to educate personals and communities on their health and hygiene. Next challenge faced was to change the focus of the buyers from local retailers to Shakti entrepreneur. It has been overcome by doing the following: 1. Personalized service 2. Door step delivery 3. Assurance of quality 4. Credit to regular patrons 5. Creating a network for sale and passing a percentage of the profit to them as well

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market in Southeast Asia Essay Example for Free

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market in Southeast Asia Essay An electric vehicle charging station, also called an electric recharging point, or charging point, supplies electric energy to charge PEVs, including all-electric cars, neighborhood EVs, and plug-in hybrids. Two technologies are used in charging stations, wired AC charging and DC charging. Depending on the type of charging station, these are segmented into Level 1 Charging Station, Level 2 Charging Station, and Level 3 Charging Station. The performance of the equipment is measured in terms of the charging time, input power supply, voltage, and maximum operating current. Covered in this Report. This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Electric Vehicle Charging Station market in Southeast Asia for the period 2014-2018. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated through the sales of level 1, level 2, and level 3 charging stations. The   report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the five key market vendors. In addition, it discusses the major drivers that influence the growth of the market and the challenges faced by the vendors and the market at large. The report also outlines the key trends emerging in the market that will contribute to the growth of the Electric Vehicle Charging Station market in Southeast Asia during the forecast period.

Feminist Critique of Classical Criminology

Feminist Critique of Classical Criminology The feminist critique of classical criminology has focused first on the marginalization of women in its studies and secondly on the contention that when women are studied, it is in a particularly limited and distorting fashion. Attempts to construct a distinctly feminist criminology have been made with use of methodologies including empiricism and standpoint theory. However, these theories have received criticism for their essentialist assumptions and universal claims. The feminist criminological theories detailed in this opinion have resulted from these criticisms and focus on postmodern ideas which consider more carefully how categories of identity are constituted and how power relates to knowledge. Particular attention will be given to the impact of Foucauldian notions of normalisation and disciplining power on the explanations of female conformity and deviance. Discourses on hegemonic masculinity which have grown from feminist epistemologies and methodologies will also be address ed. For every one hundred males convicted of serious offences there are only 18 females so convicted. Age and sex remain the best predictors for crime and delinquency better than class, race or employment status.(heidensohn, 1995, p143)  [1]. The discipline of criminology has been increasingly criticised by feminists and pro-feminist writers for its lack of gender analysis. As Ngaire Naffine has asserted, the costs to criminology of its failure to deal with feminist scholarship are perhaps more severe than they would be in any other discipline.(Naffine, p6)  [2]  The reason being that the most consistent and prominent fact about crime is the sex of the offender. As a rule, crime is something that men do, not women, so the denial of the gender question and the dismissal of feminists who wish to tease it out seems particularly perverse.(Naffine. 1996, p6)  [3]   The field of literature on criminology would suggest that it is a discipline of academic men studying criminal men and, at best, it would appear that women represent only a specialism, not the standard fare. .(Naffine. 1996, p1)  [4]  Similarly feminism as a substantial body of social, political and philosophical thought, does not feature prominently in conventional criminological writing. Feminism in its more ambitious and influential mode is not employed in the study of men, which is the central business of criminology. The message to the reader is thus that feminism is about women, while criminology is about men. (Naffine. 1996, p2)  [5]  Naffine has stated, the neglect of women in much mainstream criminology has, therefore, skewed criminological thinking in a quite particular way. It has stopped criminologists seeing the sex of their subjects, precisely because men have occupied and colonised all of the terrain. (Naffine. 1996, p8)  [6]   Traditional criminology which has sought to explain female criminality has been almost summarily rejected by feminists. The feminist critique of classical criminology was inaugurated by Carol Smart who rejected the biological positivist account of criminality propounded by Lombroso and Ferrero. Smart contended that the common stance, which unites classical theorists, is based upon a particular misconception of the innate character and nature of women, which is in turn founded upon a biological determinist position.(Smart. 1977, p27)  [7]  The emphasis on the determined nature of human behaviour, asserted Smart, is not peculiar to the discipline of criminology, or to the study of women, but is particularly pertinent to the study of female criminality because of the widely-held and popular belief in the non-cognitive, physiological basis of criminal actions by women.  [8]   Feminist criminologists sought to rectify the inadequacies of traditional criminology through new methodologies and research. Two of the earliest and most prominent schools of thought were feminist empiricism and standpoint feminism. Much of the early writing of feminists in criminology assumed the methods and assumptions of empiricist criminology. The concern of these early feminists was that women had been left out of the research of scientists and the result was a necessarily skewed and distorted science.  [9]  It accounted for men and explained their behaviour in a rigorous and scientific way, but it did not account for women, though it purported to do so. Feminist criminologists pointed out the blatant sexism of this double standard and argued that women and men should receive the same scientific treatment. Harding labels this method of thought feminist empiricism.  [10]  To feminist empiricists, scientific claims are thought to be realisable, but have not yet been realised in relation to women. Feminist empiricists alleged that classical criminologists had not considered the effects of their own biases and preconceptions on their work: on what they chose to do, how they did it, and what they made of it.  [11]  Thus feminist empiricists endeavour to develop a scientific understanding of women as the missing subjects of criminology, to document their lives both as offenders and as victims. They raise objections to the empirical claims made about women, when those claims are based on meagre evidence, with a good sprinkling of prejudice.  [12]   Naffine has suggested that the principle shortcoming of feminist empiricism is its tendency to leave the rest of the discipline in place, unanalysed and unchallenged.  [13]  The underlying assumption is that criminology is somehow competent and impartial when it is not dealing with women and so the gendered nature of criminal law and the criminal justice system remains unexamined. The empirical methods and the epistemological assumptions of traditional criminology are generally allowed to stand, as are its understandings of men. Feminist empiricism, therefore, fails to ask about the significance of institutions which have been organised around men.  [14]   Another feminist criminology which was constructed from the critique of classical theory was standpoint feminism. Standpoint feminism contended that criminologys continuing preoccupation with the viewpoint of men was a function of power. For standpoint feminists, the solution to criminologys ignorance of womens experiences was to turn to women themselves and seek their own accounts of the criminal experience. As Carol Smart has observed: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the epistemological basis of this form of feminist knowledge is experienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦feminist experience is achieved through a struggle against oppression; it is, therefore, argued to be more complete and less distorted than the perspective of the ruling group of men. A feminist standpoint then is not just the experience of women, but of women reflexively engaged in struggle. In this process it is argued that a more accurate or fuller version of reality is achieved. This stance does not divide knowledge from values and politics but sees knowledge arising from engagement.  [15]   Thus the adoption of the standpoint of women is fundamentally a moral and political act of commitment to understanding the world from the perspective of the socially subjugated. It assumes that the identity of the subject matters; the epistemological site of the woman from below provides better insights into her condition. Thus, standpoint theorists attempt to close the gap between the knower and the known.  [16]   Pat Carlen has made use of standpoint theory in her research seeking to invest the female offender with the sort of rationality and purpose which had previously only been found in the male offender.  [17]  Carlen took an unusual step by literally making the criminal women who formed the subject of her study the authors of their own stories.  [18]  One of Carlens stated purposes was to make us realise that the criminality of women is serious and intentional.  [19]  Other standpoint theorists have suggested that the viewpoint of women provides a more secure grasp of certain aspects of reality, particularly the realities of disadvantages and political oppression than the standpoint of men. Standpoint theory can also be used effectively to highlight the injuries done to women as victims of crime. Standpoint feminism is by its nature democratic, its subversive potential does not depend on the academic credentials of the author.  [20]   Despite the contribution of standpoint theory to feminist criminology critics of this methodology have not failed to highlight its manifest inadequacies. These inadequacies include a lack of constituency and the tendency of standpoint feminism to universalise the category woman. These are the questions which standpoint feminism has no clear answer to. The notion of a womans standpoint, the suggestion that women as a category possess a particular and superior view of the world, is necessarily to select just one of the many viewing points from which women look on the world, and then to impose that one view on all.  [21]  These criticisms and others have been highlighted most eloquently by black and Third World feminists. Marcia Rice has taken issue with mainstream feminist criminology accusing it of being blind to its own essentialising tendencies. Given the history and theoretical objectives of feminist criminology, one might have assumed that the monolithic, unidimensional perspectives employed by traditional theorists would have been abandoned for a more dynamic approach.  [22]   However, Rice contends, almost without exception, feminist criminological research from 1960 to the present has focused on white female offenders. Sexist images of women have been challenged, but racist stereotypes have largely been ignored.  [23]  While there has been some acknowledgement that black women are not dealt with in the same way as white women, no research has been carried out which compares the sentences of black and white women.  [24]  This is an important point as a failure to consider the potentially different experiences of black women may invalidate the research findings. Race may be as important as gender, if not more so.  [25]   Rice has also criticised the perceived assumption in much feminist criminological writing that all women are equally disadvantaged. For example ODwyer, Wilson and Carlen write: Women in prison suffer all the same deprivation, indignities and degradations as male prisoners. Additionally they suffer other problems that are specific to them as imprisoned women.  [26]  Rice contends that this statement is inadequate as it stands. It fails to acknowledge the added problems of the isolation of and discrimination against black women. Bryan et al, for example, point to the fact that a higher percentage of black than white women in prison are on prescribed psychotropic drugs.  [27]  This requires explanation. Furthermore, many black women serving long sentences are not indigenous but are from West Africa and are serving sentences for drug offences. These groups of female prisoners in Britain are often awaiting deportation and have special needs; for example, contact is usually severed with their families and there are problems of communication.  [28]   Thus, asserts Rice, feminist criminologists have developed a theoretical approach which emphasises the significance of patriarchal oppression and sexist ideological practices. The main problem with this is that, in assuming a universal dimension of mens power, this approach has ignored the fact that race significantly affects black womens experiences in the home, in the labour market, and of the criminal justice system.  [29]   Criminologists have responded in many ways to the concerns of standpoint theorists. The responses focused on in this essay are those which pursue the intellectual problems generated by standpoint theory, and so consider more carefully how categories of identity are constituted and how power relates to knowledge. An examination of female criminality and unofficial deviance suggests that we need to move away from studying infractions and look at conformity instead, because the most striking thing about female criminal behaviour on the basis of all the evidence is how notably conformist to social mores women are.  [30]   Increasingly feminist criminologists have turned to postmodern (and poststructuralist) explanations of the way power and knowledge intersect to interrogate normalisation techniques and womens social and legal conformity. Many of these theories and methodologies have been based on the work of influential French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault has argued that disciplinary power acts on the individual body in order to render it more powerful, productive, useful and docile. Foucaults genealogies seek to give an account of how our ways of thinking and doing dominate and control us.  [31]  In modern society disciplinary power has spread through the production of certain forms of knowledge, such as the positivistic human sciences, and through the emergence of disciplinary techniques of surveillance, and examination which facilitates the process of obtaining knowledge about individuals. Disciplinary practices create the divisions healthy/ill, sane/mad which by virtue of their autho ritative statuses can be used as effective means of normalisation.  [32]  Disciplinary power secures its hold by created desires, attaching individuals and their behaviour to specific identities, and establishing norms against which individuals and their behaviours and bodies are judged and against which they police themselves.  [33]  Prevailing notions of identity and subjectivity are maintained and created not through violence or active coercion but by individual self-surveillance. Thus, There is no need for arms, physical violence, material constraints. Just a gaze. An inspecting gaze, a gaze which each individual under its weight will end up by interiorising to the point that he is his own overseer, each individual this exercising their surveillance over, and against himself  [34]   Forms of knowledge such as criminology, psychiatry and philanthropy are directly related to the exercise of power, while power itself creates new objects of knowledge and accumulates new bodies of information. Foucaults interpretation of disciplinary power has allowed feminist criminologists to exact a resounding critique on feminisms which have utilised structural accounts of patriarchal power. It has also prompted these criminologists to interrogate the diverse relationships that women occupy in relation to the social field consisting of multiple sites of power and resistance. Feminists have used Foucaults analytics of power to show how the various strategies of oppression around the female body from ideological representations of femininity to concrete procedures of confinement and bodily control are central to the maintenance of hierarchical social relations.  [35]  A pertinent example of feminist criminological research which has uncovered the use of panoptic techniques on women has been done by Pat Carlen who interviewed 15 Scottish sheriffs on their handling of women who were charged and imprisoned for criminal offences.  [36]  Carlen observed the considerable degree of embarrassment in the sheriffs feelings when a woman appeared in court as accused. They seemed to feel uneasy first because they knew that the women were being dealt with in a highly inappropriate penal tariff system to which they could not respond and second because of the womens role as mothers. The conflict was resolved by the sheriffs differentiating between good and bad m others. The sheriffs then redefine the prison to which the women are sent with all the appropriate paraphernalia of security and restraint, as a comfortable place, suitable for a spot of kindly paternal discipline (emphasis added).  [37]  Thus disciplinary power works to examine, diagnose and reform criminal women whilst the sheriff fulfills the role of normalising judge. Colin Sumner has provided an insightful exposition of Foucauldian normalisation in his work on gender and the censure of deviance.  [38]  Normalising power works through the norm, which is a mixture of legality and nature, prescription and constitution,  [39]  to produce a physics of a relational and multiple power, which has its maximum intensity not in the person of the King, but in the bodies that can be individualised by these relations.  [40]  It does not replace law, rather law is subsumed: the law operates more and more as a norm, the judicial institution is increasingly incorporated into a continuum or apparatuses whose functions are for the most part regulatory.  [41]  Discipline supports law, by its system of micro power and neutralises counter-power or resistance with the principle of mildness-production-profit rather than the levy of violence. Normalisation involves, then, a combination and generalisation of panoptic techniques subsuming other forms of pow er.  [42]  Examples of the practical implications for women who transgress the norms of sex-role expectations can be found in research which details the excessive harshness of the courts when dealing with women offenders.  [43]  Women defendants seem strange and less comprehensible than men: they offend both against societys behavioural rules about property, drinking, or violence and also against the more fundamental norms which govern sex-role behaviour. The differentiation between the sexes is scaled to protect girls from themselves, but it allows boys to be boys.  [44]   Thus through techniques of normalisation, a complex composition of hegemonic, and therefore social, censures emerged and, eventually, became the foundation of positivist and administrative forms of criminology.  [45]  Normalisation is presented as a strategy which produces a disciplined individual who is normally so unaware of the place of individualisation in the general strategies of domination that s/he operates within the illusion of a rationalistic voluntarism, while performing the economic, political, sexual and ideological roles required by sustained capital accumulation and bourgeois hegemony.  [46]   Despite its appeal to and appropriation by many feminists, Sumner has criticised Foucaults concept of normalisation for glossing over the role of the censure of women and femininity in the hegemonic ideologies constituting the political and economic role of the state.  [47]  Indeed, Sumner contends, the formation of the modern subject is a profoundly gendered process, as indeed is the formation of the modern state. Modern social censures and forms of social regulation are fundamentally gendered.  [48]  As Catherine MacKinnon has said: The state is male in a feminist senseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The liberal state coercively and authoritively constitutes the social order in the interests of men as a gender, through its legitimising norms, relation to society, and substantive policies.  [49]   Sumner criticises the lack of analysis of mens domination, patriarchy and hegemonic masculinist ideologies in Foucaults understanding of the concepts of right, justice, contract and agency.  [50]  The state form itself is profoundly masculine in that its fundamental organising concepts, institutions, procedures and strategies are historically imbued with, and are themselves descriptive of, an ideological notion of masculinity that is hegemonic; and that this hegemonic masculinity which contributes to the very form of state power, is not so much an effect of mens economic power as an overdetermined historical condensation of the economic, political and ideological power of ruling-class men.  [51]  Thus, it must be observed that the normalisation process concomitant with capitalist development contains with it the censure of the feminine and of deviant masculinities. This censure is part of the dominant ideological knowledge that the powerful try to invest in the practices and thus the bodies of subjects.  [52]   This notion of hegemonic masculinity which Sumner highlights in his critique of Foucault is a growing area of criminological research which draws on feminist theory and postmodern critique and it seeks to interrogate the gender question behind the criminality of men. The study of masculinities in a criminological context was inaugurated by Australian criminologist Bob Connell.  [53]   one very important new topic is already on the agenda: masculinityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..If emphasis on gender is a key aspect of feminist work, then the further study of masculinity must be vital. Without it there will be no progress.  [54]   Criminologists seeking to realign the gender question within criminology have sought an understanding of the crimes of men through reference to a rather different conceptualisation of masculinity; not just that the crimes of individual men might be explained through reference to their masculinity, but rather the idea that society itself is presently experiencing what has been termed a crisis of masculinity, a crisis made manifest in both the changing nature and extent of mens criminality.  [55]  Criminology for so long the target of feminist critique as the apotheosis of a masculinist discipline in terms of its epistemological assumptions, methodology and institutional practices, might at last appear to be addressing its very own sex question by seeking to engage with the sexed specificity of its object of study the fact that crime is, overwhelming, an activity engaged in by men.  [56]  The target of feminist critiques of the discipline which have emerged during the past 20 years has been with the nature of this recognition, the way in which the sex-specificity of crime has been conceptualised. How is it possible to recognise the diversity of mens lives whilst also recognising the existence of a culturally exalted form of masculinity? For Bob Connell the answer lies in the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which is always constructed in relation to various subordinated masculinities as well as in relation to women.  [57]  Central to hegemonic masculinity is the idea that a variety of masculinities can be ordered hierarchically. Gender relations, Connell argues, are constituted through three interrelated structures: labour, power and cathexis. What orderliness exists between them is not that of a system but, rather, a unity or historical composition. What is produced is a gender order, a historically constructed pattern of power relation between men and women and definitions of femininity and masculinity.  [58]  The politics of masculinity cannot be confined to the level of the personal. They are also embedded in the gender regime, part of the organisational sexualit y of institutions and society generally.  [59]  The construction of hegemonic masculinity as a unifying and all-encompassing ideology of the masculine envisages an image of mens beliefs and interests which is then seen as somehow intruding into the sacred realm of theoretical or institutional practices.  [60]   Criminology largely remains bifurcated around a man/woman axis in which general universal theories of crime causation have been taken to apply to men whilst the crimes of women are assessed from, or in relation to, the male norm.  [61]  Women have been seen as an aberration to this norm, to be as other, somehow less than fully male. However, crucially, one result of this simultaneous focus on a) the individual offender and b) the constitution of men as the norm has been that the sex-class of men have themselves been separated out into two groups: the offending criminal man and the non-offending man. It has been feminist work, especially in the area of mens violences, which has challenged the subsequent pathologising of the crimes of men that results from such a division, by seeking to explore instead what men may share, as opposed to the attributes of the individual criminal man.  [62]  Within mainstream criminology men considered to be deviant or pathological have been contr asted with the normal and the law-abiding. Whilst some criminologists may have sought to blur this distinction, it is a bifurcation between different types or categories of men which nonetheless remains the norm of criminological discourse. It has been in seeking to understand this issue of what men may share that, in the work of the second phase criminologists writing from feminist and pro-feminist perspectives, the concept of masculinity has been seen to have had a particular, and rather different, heuristic purchase.  [63]   Despite the potential of the theory of a hegemonic masculinity to be an explanatory variable of crimes by men, there are conceptual limits to its appeal. Collier asserts that the concept of hegemonic masculinity is of limited use in seeking to engage with such a complex male subject.  [64]  What we are dealing with is really a description or a list of masculine traits, each conjuring up powerful images about men and crime. In theory, each of the characteristics associated with hegemonic masculinity could apply equally to women as to men. Not all crime is to be explained by reference to hegemonic masculinity.  [65]  The concept of hegemonic masculinity has been used both as a primary and underlying cause of particular social effects and, simultaneously, as something which is seen as resulting from or which is accomplished through, recourse to crime.  [66]  Not only does this reflect a failure to resolve fully the tendency towards universalism, it can also be read as tautol ogical.  [67]  Thus, it is alleged, what is actually being discussed in accounts of hegemonic masculinity and crime is, in effect, a range of popular ideologies of what constitute ideal or actual characteristics of being a man. Hegemonic masculinity does not afford a handle on the conflicts generated between material and ideological networks of power. Nor, importantly, does it address the complexity and multi-layered nature of the social subject.  [68]   Thus it would appear that despite the breakthroughs promised by research into masculinities they have been seen to face some of the same problems associated with early feminism: totalising discourse and essentialist claims. An adequate theory of masculinity which does not resort to totalising discourse and essentialist claims would be a welcome addition to criminological discussions of gender. Feminist criminologists have long sought to highlight the manifest inadequacies of classical criminologys ignorance and distortion of women and crime. Smart has contended that the biological determinist position propounded by Lombroso and Ferrero has promulgated a misconception of the innate character and nature of women.  [69]  Attempts to rectify this distortion were made through the use of feminist empiricism and standpoint feminism which endeavoured to garner womens perspectives by turning to women themselves and seeking their own accounts of the criminal experience. However, these theories could not escape accusations of universalism and lack of constituency leveled by black feminists and postmodernists alike. Michel Foucaults theory of disciplinary power has been used by feminist criminologists to explain both the social conformity of women and the constitution of deviant womens identities in a social field consisting of multiple sites of power and knowledge. Feminist crimi nologists have used Foucaults analytics of power to show how the various strategies of oppression around the female body from ideological representations of femininity in classical criminology to concrete procedures of confinement and bodily control are central to the maintenance of hierarchical social relations. A relatively new development in criminological theory which concerns the issues of gender has been the idea of hegemonic masculinity. Connell has characterised hegemonic masculinity as a gender regime of sorts which is part of the organisational sexuality of institutions and society generally.  [70]  Hegemonic masculinity captures the ideology of masculinity pervading theoretical and established practices. The critique of hegemonic masculinity has focused on its tautological implications, and the contention that it is merely descriptive of masculine traits and cannot be used to engage with a complex male subject. Despite these criticisms, discourse on masculinity is a step forward for feminists who have long lobbied for adequate analysis of the role of gender in the criminological discipline.

Awake the Irish to the Physical Existence of Their Diabolic Environment

A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift as a way to express the horrific conditions Irish people underwent throughout the 1700’s (McNeil, 2010). Swift describes the evil, unjust and cruel treatment Ireland experienced due to its tyrant the forceful England. He develops a persona, the fictional character, with the intention of leading the Irish towards the truth and reality of their deprivation. The persona alone is insufficient in making the narrator seem reasonable. Thus, the persona utilizes irony that serves the purpose of attacking, exposing and scorning the Irish people. Yet, in order to make cannibalism sound like a practical ironic solution the author wisely uses his wit to imply that cannibalism cannot be more savagely cruel and unethical than what the Irish are permitting their oppressor to do to them. Swift’s use of the persona, irony and wit awakens the Irish to the physical existence of their diabolic environment and convinces them that they should take action in order to cease the circumstances. Fictional persona conceals Swift’s true identity helping him portray to the readers the significance of Ireland’s problems and allowing them to see the truth and reality. The persona identifies a very intelligent, serious and concerned Irishman. He seems to be monstrous for proposing something cruel and evil very calmly as if it is a typical thing to consume the flesh of an infant. In general, the proposition to eat infants makes his proposal diabolic. He proposes: â€Å"at exactly one year old that I propose to provide for them, in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the contrary, contribu... ... and wit in order to influence the readers to approach his essay and his proposal with sincerity. However, all he really wanted the Irish to do is buy Irish goods, tax their absentees, become wiser and economical with money and be less indolent. Upon closing, his essay Swift asks the property owners to be more lenient on their people. Swift’s essay presents the Irish with a fanatical solution in order to make them realize the horrible and inhumane circumstances they underwent throughout the 1700’s. Works Cited McNeil Bertrand, Jennifer. "The Ireland of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal." Suite101.com. 14 Nov. 2010. Web. Jan. 2012. . Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal." Masters of British Literature, Vol. A. New York: Longman, 2008. 1288-294. Print.

The Benefits of Web Publishing :: Internet Online Communication Essays

The Benefits of Web Publishing Before the advent of the World Wide Web, the means to share opinions and ideas with others easily and inexpensively was limited to classroom, work, or social environments. Generating an advertisement or publication required a lot of expense. Today, businesses and individuals can convey information to millions of people by using Web pages. Web publishing is the process of developing and maintaining, and posting Web pages. With the proper hardware and software, Web publishing is fairly easy to accomplish. For example, clip galleries offer a variety of images, videos, and sounds.1[1] A sound card allows users to incorporate sounds into Web pages. With a microphone, a Web page can include voice. A digital camera provides a means to capture digital photographs. A scanner can convert existing photographs and other graphics into a digital format. A video capture card and a video camera can incorporate videos into Web pages. A video digitizer can capture still images from a video (Thrall and Winters 46-68). HTML (hypertext markup language) is a set of special codes used to format a file for use as a Web page. These codes, called tags, specify how the text and other elements on the Web page display in a Web browser and where the links on the page lead. A Web browser translates the document with the HTML tags into a functional Web page. Developing, or authoring, a Web page does not require the expertise of a computer programmer. Many work processing and other application software packages include Web page authoring features that assist in the development of basic Web pages. Microsoft Office 2000 products, for example, provide easy-to-use tools that enable users to create Web pages and incorporate items such as bullets, frames, backgrounds, lines, database tables, worksheets, and graphics into the Web pages (Shelly Cashman Series ® Microsoft Word 2000 Project 2). Web page authoring software packages enable the development of more sophisticated Web pages that might include video, sound, animation, and other special effects. Both new and experienced users can create fascinating Web sites with Web page authoring software.

Cinematic Techniques in Strictly Ballroom Essays -- Baz Luhrman Film M

Extended Film Response How the film techniques used by Baz Luhrman to influence the portrayal and development of characters in the film Strictly Ballroom? In the film Strictly Ballroom, the director Baz Luhrman uses many different film techniques to influence the portrayal and development of characters. Costume and makeup is used as a vital technique to show the audience the characters’ personalities and also the development of some characters. Camera angles and lighting is another technique that is used to exaggerate the characters’ personalities and the scenes they are in. Luhrman also uses character behaviors as an effective technique in portraying each characters’ personality. In the film Luhrman uses costume and makeup to portray characters’ personalities. Such as Shirley Hastings. Shirley’s costume and makeup shows the audience a great deal about her personality. Shirley always wears pink, puts ‘over the top’ makeup on and wears a lot of jewellery. This tells the audience that she is ‘over the top’ and maybe insecure about herself or her past. Liz Holt is another character whose personality could not have been portrayed if it wasn’t for the costume and makeup used. Liz is a drama queen and exaggerates everything including her costume and makeup. She nearly always wears yellow and also exaggerates her makeup with bright colours even when she’s not dancing. Luhrman also used costume and makeup to show the development of one of the main characters, Fran. At the start of the film, Fran is introduced with acne, glasses and baggy clothes, which shows the audience that she is not comfortable with herself and not confident. But when Fran starts dancing she slowly becomes more confident and her costume and makeup changes. Fr... ...eally talks and is presented as someone who is quite awkward. Doug also gets pushed around by everyone, until at the end of the film when he yells at his son Scott to listen to him, giving the audience the impression that he is tired of getting pushed around and no one listening to him and also because he didn’t want his son to make a mistake. Film techniques are used extremely effectively in Strictly Ballroom by the director Baz Luhrman. Costume and makeup, camera angles and lighting and also character behaviours were used to influence the portrayal and development of all of the main characters. Without these film techniques, Strictly Ballroom could not have been made into a film as entertaining as it is and the characters personalities and development would not have been portrayed. Bibliography Baz Luhrman, 1992, Strictly Ballroom, Motion Picture, Bazmark.

Analysis of The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher In The Rye Essay Throughout the book, The Catcher In the Rye, the theme that I saw reoccurring in the novel was the painfulness of growing up. In the book there are many cases of Holden Caulfield trying to resist growing. He does not want to grow up because he’s afraid of the unknown, or what’s coming next in his life. In fact his main goal is to resist maturing. He is scared of the unknown and cannot handle things that are very complicated. He likes it when things are very simple and easily understandable.In the book there are many examples of the theme of the painfulness of growing up in the book. â€Å"I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another â€Å"Fuck you† on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn’t come off. Its hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the â€Å"Fuck you† signs in t he world. Its impossible. † (Salinger 201). This quote shows that Holden wants to protect kids.He is mad that he is not able to stop the kids from getting their innocence taken away. He is also mad because he knows that it is impossible to keep from kids getting their innocence taken away. â€Å"What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if theyre running and they don’t look where theyre going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all id do all day. Id just be the catcher in the rye and all†(Salinger 98). This shows that Holden wants to save him and other people from growing up one day.Holden is scared of growing up, and also scared of the unknown. He feels like he has a duty to save other people from growing up and maturing. â€Å"Mothers are all slightly insane†(Salinger 176), this shows Holdens belief that all adults are in one way or another phony. This is why he is scared to grow up . He does not want to grow up and become phony like all the adults. The quote also shows his viepoint on all adults. He believes that once you mature you are phony, and he does his best to make sure that he does not become phony.As you can see the theme of the painfulness of growing up is very prevalent throughout The Catcher In The Rye. Holden is very afraid of growing up and is also afraid of the unknown. He also feels that it is his duty to protect others and himself from growing up. Holden believes that every adult is phony and his goal to keep everyone from growing up and becoming phony. The theme of the painfulness of growing up is very important in the book. Works Cited Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Little Brown Books, New York: 1945

Development and Social Change Essay

â€Å"Although globalization made earlier appearances, the trend has unfolded with unprecedented speeds, and to unprecedented extents since the 1960s. † (SCHOLTE. 2000) This essay will explain how the forces of globalisation have shaped and will continue to shape, the financial, demographic, and political societies we see around us today. It will identify the extent to which sustained Globalization has â€Å"†¦ the crevice between poverty, comparative poverty, and luxury. † Such positive and negative attributes affect society on a number of different levels, â€Å"†¦ the individual, the household, the firm, the town, the region, the sector, the nation. † (Kaplinsky) This essay will provide and in-depth analysis and examples of how such global processes have worked to erode the fortunes of so many (Sierra Leone); whilst also being the catalyst for success in other areas (Mexico). (HELD. 2007) ‘The Race to the Bottom,’ is a term describing the intra-national contest for the most favourable environment for business trading, manufacture and investment. Following its successful application to join the World Trading Organisation (WTO) in November 2001, China has experienced a vast influx of foreign investment. This has – as expected – empowered the Chinese economy to the detriment of its former South-east Asian exporting partners. Hong Kong and Taiwan had nurtured the Chinese economy for a decade previously, and now find that their economies are being â€Å"†¦ hollowed out, as China sucks away jobs. † (CHAN. 2009) How did this happen? In the early 1990s China introduced its first minimum wage system with the intention of protecting its workforce. Due to the great versatility of China, the government came up with a formula (based upon local living costs; inflation etc. ) with which each city or region would publish and enforce its own minimum wage. The benchmark for all minimum wages set is between 40% and 60% of the average wage in that locality. Since 1993, according to a study by the Bureau of International Labour Affairs, almost all of the provincial governments have failed to maintain these standards – [see table 2]. Their desire to attract investment has forced the minimum wage : average wage percentage further down. Shenzhen, a model Chinese exports city, paid, on average, 10% less that the absolute minimum wage required by the government and international labour standards. Conversely, the city of Chongqing, which is not export-led or globally integrated, consistently achieves almost 10% more than its minimum required standards (49. 86% in 2000). Chan concludes a â€Å"worrying trend. † She suggests that; â€Å"†¦ as a region or province becomes more prosperous, it violates the national guidelines and seeks to maintain its attractiveness to foreign capital by keeping its minimum wage level low†¦ the benefits of globalisation with this competitive logic have not, and will not, trickle down to those who make the products. † (CHAN. 2009) The Human Development Report 2006-2008 uses Corrado Gini’s coefficient to highlight an increase in overall inequality from 0. 31 to 0. 45 during the initial years of reform. [Coefficient measures between 0 and 1 where 0 is complete equality]. (FACTSHEET. 2008) However, the benefits of neo-liberal economic reform in China seem to have had a positive effect on ‘Poverty. ’ Between 1990 and 2005 the influx of industry and trade bought a per capita growth averaging 8. 7%. Using the World Bank poverty line, (measured at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)) household surveys suggest that post 1981, 54% (500,000,000 people) of the population of China scrambled over the poverty line. (CHAN. 2009) In this sense, we must conclude that global economic integration in China has seen a significant reduction in poverty, but an increase in income inequality has come from overwhelming national development due to increasingly capitalist structures stemming from trade liberalization. What advocates of globalization emit is that two thirds of Chinese industry relies on coal, and just 7% of their energy sources are renewable. A report from the Financial Times found that air pollution in China caused by heavy industry and chemical production has led to the annual premature deaths of 400,000 (air quality); 300,000 (indoor air quality); and a further 60,000 due to poor water quality. (BBC. 2007) There is 1 country in the world where economic growth rate has consistently outpaced that of the Asian Tigers: Botswana (9% average annual growth). Botswana had a GDP per capita of just US$ 77 at independence from Britain (1966). It now stands at US$ 7,554 (GLOBAL PROPERTY. 2010). Kraay notes that; â€Å"A sustainable future in Africa rests on its ability to develop and maximise natural resources. Diamonds play a major role in these efforts. † Diamond extraction and production requires a large investment of initial capital. In the case of Botswana, DeBeers and the Government of Botswana invested 50:50 US$40 million in the Damtshaa mine. FDI in diamonds around Botswana accounts for 33% of GDP growth. Global trading and distribution of diamonds and other minerals accounted for 55% of total government revenues in the late 1990s. (MBENDI. 2009) â€Å"Botswana’s history of sound management, good governance [Botswana has an accountable parliament and holds regular democratic elections] and an emerging focus on enhancing regional competitiveness should serve it well as it continues efforts to diversify. † (WORLD BANK. 2009) So, to what extent can we propose Botswana as a model of how ‘Sustained Globalization’ can ‘Eliminate World Poverty? ’ Firstly it is important to note the income elasticity of diamonds and other such minerals. They are a luxury product and due to the current economic downturn, as real wages decrease, demand is likely to proportionally decrease also. Growth estimates for 2009-2010 predict a contraction of 10. 2%. It seems that over reliance on the global export market has forged vulnerabilities in an otherwise stable nation. However the non-mining private sector of Botswana has proved to have deep foundations, recording a 9. 4% market increase this year. Either way, prudent fiscal and taxation policy, and low level of public debt (3% of GDP) resulting from huge capital influx over the years, mean that national reserves are likely to hold out for the recession period. (MBENDI. 2009) Secondly, it is important to note (as was the case in China), that increase in GDP is not directly proportional to poverty decrease. The most deprived quintile share just 1% of GDP, whilst the second quintile accounts for 5. 9% (Gini coefficient 0. 6). This means that 47% of the population still live below the poverty line. Perhaps the capital gains still need more time to filter down through infrastructure development and reform? In 1966 there were just 3 miles of roads; now there are 4,000 miles, a public transportation system and a nation-wide telephone grid. (WORKMAN. 2006) Perhaps the figures are being distorted by the unstoppable force of HIV/AIDs and malaria that has hit Botswana so hard recently? It is impossible to say. What we can say, however, is that in order to reap the benefits of global trade in the long-term, Botswana must recognise the fragilities of basing their economy on an exhaustible and export-orientated resource. In 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under Froday Sankoh, launched assaults against the Government of Sierra Leone. Their goal was to combat ‘crime and corruption. ’ The ensuing 11-year conflict was funded throughout by revenues generated by the diamond trade (an estimated initial worth of US$ 125 million). A median estimate suggests the murder of 75,000 (USA Today and The Times). A less conservative opinion from the Agence France Presse believe the figure was nearer to 200,000. (WORLD BANK. 2009) Either way, the drain on capital, natural resources, labour demographic and widespread looting was funded by the global financial market and African integration with it. Capital obtained from ‘conflict diamonds’ was notably from consumerism in the global North. Following the end of the war in 2000, the country was exposed to anarchy and complete economic collapse. Drugs and arms trafficking in cocaine and ex-soviet weaponry was rife, and corrupt feudal political structures further intensified income inequality – Gini coefficient over 0. 6. In 2004 its trade deficit totalled $US 350 million. (FACTSHEET. 2005) In the same year the UN named Sierra Leone the poorest country in the world (based on PPP/capita); and â€Å"†¦ the worlds ‘least livable’ country, based on its poverty and the poor Quality of Life its citizens must endure. † (WORKMAN. 2006) Whose fault is it? Is it the greediness of the conflicting armies? Is it the presence of such a store of wealth in a poverty-stricken country with few other natural resources? Is it the emergence of a global market that has created cosmic demand for such commodities? Time will tell. What we can see is that again, (as was the case in China and Botswana) global financial demand caused a sharp increase in GDP of the country. In 1965 GPD in Sierra Leone was US$ 246; in 2000 it was US$1,330,429 – see Table. 3. We can also say that this does not in any way correlate to an increase in living standards or reduction in poverty. It represents a huge crack in the neo-liberal ideology and Shah’s suggestion that; â€Å"Sustained economic growth is the way to human progress. Economic globalisation in the form of freer circulation of capital would be beneficial to everyone. † (SHAH. 2009) This essay suggests that however trade and political systems are constructed, without complete socialism, conflict can, has, and will continue to peak at the emergence of valuable natural resources. We can also conclude that whilst globalization could â€Å"offer the best prospects for eliminating world poverty,† African history stands in the way of such an ideology. (Table 6) It is not, however, all doom and gloom for the globalization and poverty argument. Mexico in many ways lost the ‘Race to the bottom’ to China, but neo-liberal reform has played a vital role in the successful integration of the Mexican economy into the global manufacture and export market. Prior to the 1980s (and economic downturn), Mexican economics was characterised by protectionist policies, high tariffs and quotas, and restrictions to FDI. By 1981 choking fiscal profligacy and vulnerability to external conditions (notably the 1973 oil shock) caused an imbalance of payments and massive capital flight. This caused huge inflation and the worst recession since the 1930s, forcing devaluation of the Peso on numerous occasions and further recession. (SOMMER. 2008) The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) eliminated the almost all import and export taxes and infused a gradual fade-out of the majority of tariffs between Mexico, the US and Canada. Following initial success, (Table. 4) the government then furthered economic liberalization by implementing 11 free trade agreements with the EU, Japan, and countries in South and Central America. Table. 4 shows how Mexican commodities exported to the United States increases from US$39. 9 billion in 1993; to US$ 210. 8 billion in 2007 (437% increase). Over the same period GDP grew 46%. (SOMMER. 2008) The success of the Mexican model is based largely on efficiency and proximity. Maquiladoras are large manufacturing and export plants, the majority of which are located just south of the US border. There are around one million workers employed in any of the 3,000 clothing, furniture and electronic equipment factories. Their proximity to the US gains them a significant advantage in terms of lower indirect costs (90% of production is transported ‘North’ straightaway) than those of Asian Tigers and the Pacific Ring countries. (BORRAZ. 2007) In contrast to Sierra Leone and Botswana, GDP increase seems to have direct correlation with improvements in real wages; a negative correlation with income inequality; and an overall reduction in poverty. Evidence of its success is shown by a net decrease in Gini coefficient between 1992 and 2002 (Table 5). (FACTSHEET. 2005) Borraz shows that income is less concentrated and has a lower Gini coefficient in states that are more closely linked to the global economy. He suggests that states with stronger links to the world economy might offer proportionately higher wages to the unskilled workforce – in this case (young) women. Unskilled women in Mexico earn between 7% and 16% more than their counterparts in non-globalized or exporting states. Overall, in 2002, 7 out of 9 states in Mexico have seen a decrease in income inequality. (BORRAZ. 2007) Why then, has Mexico succeeded in reducing poverty, whilst Sierra Leone has not? According to Borraz there are two main reasons for Mexican success; 1. Commitment to universal education in the 1940s realized a significant increase in skilled labour and higher overall productivity – sustained GDP growth of 3-4% from 1940. Governmental organizations like PROGRESA have hugely enhanced school attendance rates and decreased child labour. In November 1999 PROGRESA strategies accounted for 82% of the 25% of boys who left work to choose basic or higher education. Thus it was inward looking development strategies prior to neo-liberal reform meant the basic infrastructures for rapid growth were already there. 2. Luck. On the verge of complete inward economic collapse, the discovery of the Cantarell oil fields in 1976 sustained an otherwise weakened and fluctuating Mexican economy. (BORRAZ. 2007) However, it is true that NAFTA and other trade liberalization schemes in the Americas have reduced income inequalities and increased real wages in Mexico – but at what cost? ; The violation of human rights of a million of underpaid (US$ 3. 40/day); overworked (up to 60 hours/week); underage (girls often start at 12 or 13) workers with minimum knowledge of their rights. â€Å"In 1987 a worker had to work 8 hours and 47 minutes to buy the basic food basket for a family of four. Today it takes 34 hours. † (CORPWATCH. 2009) The pollution of New River in Mexicali Valley [which runs into the Rio Grande] is now dumped with 130 million gallons of industrial waste each day. â€Å"According to the Texas Department of Health, since NAFTA went into effect the Hepatitis A rate for Cameron County shot up from 17. 8 per 100,000 residents to 87. 4 per 100,000 an increase of almost 400%. † (CORPWATCH. 2009) The Zapatistas have also suffered hugely from opening the agricultural market to mass produced US market-garden exports. Their anti-globalization ideology highlights that their inability to compete with mechanically harvested, artificially fertilized and genetically modified imports from the US. NAFTA also eliminated crop subsidies for Mexico while US farmers still receive them. The agrarian based society has directly suffered from a decrease in real wages and an increase in comparative poverty due to open trade. Further, â€Å"China [Page 2 & Table 1] has weakened the allure of Maquiladoras in recent years and some report that more than 500 plants have been closed since the beginning of the decade. † (SOMMER. 2009) Currently, the future of the Mexican economy is unknown. Sharp decreases in PEMEX oil production and the current financial crisis in the U. S. is revealing more weaknesses in the Mexican export strategy. (RANDEWICH. 2008) Conclusion Does â€Å"Sustained globalisation offers the best prospects for eliminating world poverty. † ? Firstly there is no confirmed method of effectively measuring either ‘Globalization’ or ‘Poverty. ’ One can not accurately judge the benefits/detrimental effects of globalization without a baseline measure for poverty. QOL indicators, the Gini coefficient, and GDP are subject to variations and outside influences that cannot be measured or corrected (E. g. measuring GDP in Kerala; or measuring the Gini coefficient of China). The Neo-liberal argument – that increased density of economic integration between countries will increase overall efficiency due to the specialization of resource use – is likely to be correct. The majority of trade liberalization cases show an overall increase in GDP. This cannot be taken further to suggest that it directly benefits those living in poverty. Further, in the case of Mexico and China, evidence suggests trade liberalization pits global forces against each other and with no weight divisions and no handicaps, smaller regions, towns, industries and households cannot be expected to win. â€Å"The eradication of global inequality requires much more than simply repeating the tired rhetoric of anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism or, even worse, marking globalization work for the poor. † (HELD. 2007) Claire Short’s White Paper (Title) fails to recognise this, suggesting 5 common elements to successful poverty reduction based around a neo-liberal framework: 1. Openness to trade and eagerness to attract FDI. 2. Political stability and competent governments committed to economic growth. 3. Savings and investment of at least 25% of national income. 4. Economic stability: controlled inflation and government budgeting; avoiding production collapse. 5. Market allocation of resources: minimal necessary government intervention. (DFID. 2006) Such claims can be considered naive. The DFID paper reads like a propaganda policy designed to gain electoral support. This essay suggests that there are only three conclusions that can be drawn. 1. That trade liberalization generally incurs an increase in international trade and GDP. 2. â€Å"Every international institution throughout history has been hierarchical and composed of dominant and subordinate states; there has never been, and in the future is never likely to be, an egalitarian and democratic international system. † (HELD. 2007) 3. â€Å"Globalization is in fast forward, and the world’s ability to understand and react to it is in slow motion. † (TURNER. 2003) Table 1 (WORLD BANK. 2009) (CHAN. 2009) Table 3. Estimated GDP Sierra Leone (WORLD BANK. 2009) TABLE. 4 (SOMMER. 2009) Table. 5 (CHAN. 2007) Table 6. (DFID. 2006) ABOUT. 2009. The History of Transportation [online] [Accessed 28th December 2009] Available from: http://inventors. about. com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation. htm. ADELZADEH, A. 2008. Simulation Models of 5 African Economies. Designing Africa’s Poverty Strategies: Creating the Capacity for Policy Simulation. [online] [Accessed 3rd January 2010] Available from: http://models. wider. unu. edu/africa_web/input_login. php? class=bw_quickies&instance=quickies&country=bw