Econ case study Essay

1) Why is economics central to an understanding of the problems of development? It is because that the development of a country depends on economic factors. Economics helps you to interpret how a country is developing, economic policies of a country that determine whether or not it develops and how fast it develops if it performs. In addition, economics helps you to understand how wealth and finance are distributed, and the causes and effects of borrowing and lending. Problems of development are like not having enough money, economics teaches us about problems in development and so we can better interpret these problems primarily by looking at the economic components that define the troubles. Furthermore, economics is a social science and is concerned with people and economic development problems also stemming from people so these fields are related and understanding the one helps you better understand the other because you can build up a bigger picture. 5) Why is an understanding of development crucial to policy formulation in developing nations? Do you think it is possible for a nation to agree on a rough definition of development and orient its strategies accordingly? It is important because, like I answered on question number one, development of a country rely on the economic policies of a country which decide the country is developing or not, and how fast it develops. Depends on what policy formulation the country select, it may result different ending. In my opinion, currently nations cannot agree on a rough definition of development because most of them have different approaches, measurements and standards. However, I believe in the future there might be a working definition that the nations can agree on and orient its strategies. Like the textbook  mentions there are three basic components that help understand the meaning of development which are sustenance, self-esteem and freedom. 6. Why is a strictly economic definition of development inadequate? What do you understand economic development to mean? Can you give hypothetical or real examples of situations in which a country may be developing economically but still be underdeveloped? The Strictly economic definition of development was inadequate due to not taking into account the factors other the financial or economical. I considered that economic development meant financial growth or the increment in yield of goods. An example of a country that is developed economically, but still underdeveloped would have to be India, which I selected for the group presentations, because it is producing a lot of goods and services, but many of its citizens are living in poverty and there’s still a high inequality between genders. 7. How does the concept of â€Å"capabilities to function† help us gain insight into development goals and achievements? Is money enough? Why or why not? The capacities to function help us clear insight into development goals and achievements by letting us determine how much freedom of choice a person experiences in their country which makes it a full measurement of growth. Money is not enough to gain insight of development goals and achievements because money does not help people from living long, and it does not guarantee people’s happiness. 8. What forces may be at work in giving the Millennium Development Goals such a high profile in international economic relations? In my opinion, money forces work in giving the Millennium Development Goals. If a country get high incentive of money, they can borrow money easier than the other country who does not perform well on money. 2. Brazil has special interest because its growth performance from the 1960s  through the 1980s was the best in Latin America, with at least some parallels with East Asian policy and performance (Todaro & Smith, P.28). Moreover, other indicators of development in Brazil lagged, eventually undermining growth prospects. After the civil war and gaining benefits from the other Central American countries, it seems that Brazil should have been in a much better position to fight extreme poverty trap and social equity. Rather, it has continued to insure an extremely high percentage of its population in extreme poverty in an upper middle income country, and remains one the countries with the highest degrees of inequality in the world. 3. Chapter 2 1) According to the textbook, the problems that most developing countries have in common are poverty, high levels of unemployment and underemployment, low levels of agricultural productivity and sizable imbalances between urban and rural levels of living and economic opportunities (Todaro & Smith, P. 92). The most significant problem is serious poverty because every person should at least have the most basic needs such as home, basic clothes and food. 2) According to the textbook, low levels of living is the amount of money on average a person makes in a country. (Todaro & Smith, P. 29). In my opinion, low levels of living can exist simultaneously with high levels of per capita income because there might be a few that are earning a lot with the majority of the population earning less. For instance, on 1980’s Portsmouth, Ohio and Brazil, which is an upper medium income country with nice levels of per capita with a bulk of its citizens living in poverty. 4) In my opinion, among health, labor productivity, and income levels, there are huge, and strong relationship because I think labor productivity decides the income levels, and it also affects people’s health. For instant, people can observe that people’s health is low when labor productivity is low and it comes with low productivity the income levels are lower than the normal  countries. 5) â€Å"Dominance, dependence, and vulnerability† in their relations with rich nations is that many developing countries do not have any means of their own that they come to depend on the rich nations handouts and pretty much become vulnerable and dominated. In other words, rich nations can kind of force the developing countries to do what they want, and make them poor if they refuse. For example, rich countries are forcing or suggesting Iran and North Korea to give up nuclear weapons by interrupting their economy. Moreover, a developing country is so poor that it cannot invest and that is where the rich countries come and provide financial aid to make that poor nation depend on rich countries. 6) Developed countries produce large quantities of goods, services, and in general do a lot of manufacturing. Countries such as these use science to improve technology and generally have good health care and education for their people. Compared to developed nations, developing countries practice subsistence agriculture and often suffer a miserable income, clothing, and housing. Only few people in developing countries receive proper health care or education. In addition, and life expectancy is relatively short. Most developing countries also lack the resources needed for economic growth. Also, developing countries’ primary sector of economic is the major contributor to the GDP of the country. Low GDP per capita is there. Usually exports agricultural goods or natural resources and imports value added goods from developed countries. 7) The composition of the Index reflects dissatisfaction with income as a measure of well-being: income is not the only argument in a person’s utility function. The Human Development Index is an attempt to develop a better measure of well-being. If I design the new HDI, I want to set up the standard of get information from people. Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members. It is because I think it might much better if we have a standard method to get adequate data which shows their own interest for strengthening their credibility and legitimacy. 12) According to Jan Kees van Donge, he states that in Southeast Asia, the transition to sustained growth has consistently been associated with policies aimed at macroeconomic stabilization; improving life in the rural sector, increasing agricultural productivity, and ensuring an ample supply of food. In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa initiatives in these directions have in some instances been present, but the concurrent pursuit of all three policy objectives has not. Other factors that appear to be of somewhat lesser importance, but that nevertheless deserve further study are: industrialization on the basis of foreign direct investment; systems of politics and governance; and cultural patterns as manifest in policy choices. (â€Å"Tracking Development in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa: the primacy of policy†, par.3) 13) According to the textbook, colonial legacy is described as the colonies and institutions that were created and controlled by European and other foreign powers. These colonies and institutions that were created in the developing countries had a negative effect on the development of those countries that still continues today (Todaro & Smith, P. 69). The advantage of colonial legacy is that arrangement might be exists. A disadvantage would be that in many cases, these countries or institutions will not rich by its own country’s ability. 14) According to the textbook, five characteristics of the developing world are physical and human resource endowments, per capita incomes, climate, population, and historical role of migration. It says that developed countries are more natural resources when the country started to grow were as most developing countries usually did not have a lot of natural resources (Todaro & Smith, p.71). Per capita incomes are a lot higher in developing nations than in growing nations. The growth rates of populations in developing rural areas are usually higher compared to that of a developed nation. 15) The differences between the traditional HDI compare to NHDI, HDI uses arithmetic mean. In contrast, NHDI uses geometric mean. HDI uses GDP and the  NHDI replaces that with GNI. Traditional HDI added the three components and divided by three. However, NHDI takes the cube root of the product of the three component indexes. In my opinion, NHDI is better than HDI because it gives us a realistic average and the traditional HDI gives us an arithmetic average which is not realistic. 4. a. R1=-21%, R2=42%, R3=59%, R4=9, R5=0.87% = 14.42% b. R1=-40%, R2=56%, R3=-90%, R4=0 =-44.69% c. R1=-20%, R2=78.12%, R3=91.34% =39.7% 5. Chapter 3 (page 136-137): Questions for Discussion 1-6 1) The structural change model of Chenery focus on structural changes in the stages of the process of economic change, industrial and institutional structures of emerging economies. Chenery research conducted on the transformation of production structure shows that the increased role of the industrial sector in the economy in line with the increase in income per capita is happening in a country closely linked with the accumulation of capital and improving human resources (human capital). The neo-Marxist is an indirect outgrowth of Marxist thinking. The main idea is that a disproportionate relationship between the central state which consists of the developed and the periphery is composed of the developing world. The false-paradigm model is the model that advice or suggestions may mean well but often do not have enough information about the country to be assisted, especially developing countries. For the developing nations, I think the  best explanation is related to the situation in most developing countries is the neocolonial dependence model (neo-Marxist). This model explains that economic development on developing countries depend on developed countries, especially in direct investment in the mining sector and import of goods produced. 2) Dual societies means that rich nations and poor nations at world level are exist; and a few rich complemented with a majority of poor people in the developing countries. Thus, dualism is a concept which represents the existence. I think it does not portray the development picture in developing country because it seems like a concept that divide the world into only two part. Development or developing countries. 3)  According to the text book, it says that different sets of conditions, of which some are â€Å"superior† and others â€Å"inferior,† can coexist in a given space (Todaro & Smith, p.125). Also, the interrelations between the superior and inferior elements are such that the existence of the superior elements does little or nothing to pull up the inferior element, let alone â€Å"trickle down† to it. These are reason why it is a valid conceptualization. 4)  According to text book, neoclassical economic theories designed to accelerate the growth of GDP as the principal index of development (Todaro & Smith, p.125). it is valid policy because it is all connected to the False-Paradigm Model and a policy of autarky. 5) I do not think that there is a single unified theory that explain the one country. Including the economic theory, a situation should be explained by the several theories arising from various branches. Also, we can observe that there are many factors which are put into the section of output or input. 6) Even though the free-market theory and the dependence theory indicates the opposite meaning of explaining the market, in my opinion, neoclassical, free-market theory is not necessarily incompatible with dependence theory. In case of the rich countries or the country, which is developed country yet it was developing countries at past, both free-market and dependence theory is needed to explain their economic status. 6. Chapter 4 (page 195-196): Questions for Discussion 1-10 1) Actions can be taken by one agent reinforces incentives for others to take similar actions. With Multiple Equilibria graph, there are pressure which hit equilibrium point. Also, one equilibrium to other points there are demand shock, supply shock and government interruption which indicates the metaphor of economic problems. For example, on our daily life basis we can observe the invisible hand in the market which means that government makes decision for economy and affect our life. 2) According to the PowerPoint, indivisibilities in amounts of investment imply a region of increasing returns to scale, as in the fixed costs of the big push model. Once again, increasing returns plays a key role in generating multiple equilibria. This is related to how the investment works with big push model. In case of O-ring model, investment is one of the outpour sector which effects the formula. It was hard to find the limitation in o ring model, but I would like to say and would like to ask why q is only between zero and one. It can be the limitation points of O-ring model? 3) I do not think that developing countries can escape all of the traps described in this chapter. Especially developing countries cannot escape from the poverty trap because poverty fuels move the poverty. It is happening in underdevelopment countries. Therefore, if a country is in poverty trap and try to escape, they should have positive information externality from development countries. In case of development countries, it is still hard to escape the poverty trap but it is movable than the developing countries. 4) High levels of inequality lead to lower rates of growth and development because it makes rich countries more rich and poor countries poorer. If there is a high level of inequality on growth and development rate, it supports the poverty trap, which is the most difficult thing to get out of the trap, to develop. 5) In case of central planned market, such as public ownership of resource and governing board that makes decision for economy. If government interrupt the free market and give pressure to equilibrium point, it makes new prices from government. Also, it leads to a lack of private investment. Finally, the market might have a failure results. 6) In my opinion, low level of trust of people outside one’s extended family is related to information externality. It always better to accept positive information. Also, it is connected with the Haussmann-Rodrick-Velasco Growth Diagnostic Decision Tree theory. In case of low levels of private investment and entrepreneurship, it may causes low return to economic activity and high cost of finances which cause low social returns and market failure. 7) O-ring production function is complementarity between workers’ skills. Therefore, we can find O-ring production on our daily life where the place indeed high technology or the worker’s skills. For example, if the producer of IPhone 6 has more significant skills, the price may different. 8) I think the two approaches cannot be used together to inform each other. If I assume that logically cohesive model with strong assumptions is the big push model, the other theories, such as O-ring model can supports the limit of the big push. However, in my opinion, the two approaches cannot be used together to inform the same situation at the same time. Because there might be some overlap sections and limitations between two theories. 9) As a reader of chapter 4, The Big Push model described in this chapter is useful in shedding additional light on the nature of problems considered. It shows market failures lead to a need for public policy intervention. Moreover, it is more efficient for economy because it assumes that perfect  competition with traditional firms operating, limit pricing, monopolist with a modern firm operating. If there is an intertemporal, urbanization, infrastructure and training effects, a big push may necessary. 10) According to my research, Egyptian reforms launched in 2004 appear to have focused well on the most critical constraints-reducing red tape and tax rates, and improving access to foreign exchange-thereby getting a strong growth response out of a limited set of reforms. However, inefficient bureaucracy remains an important obstacle to higher growth and reforms in this area should continue to have high payoffs. Ongoing reforms are also addressing constraints that are likely to become binding soon (or have become so already), such as inefficient financial intermediation and high public debt. Improvements in education may rapidly become a critical factor for sustaining higher growth ( Enders, Klaus-Stefan, sec.1).

Contemporary vs Society in 1984

A. P. English 12 21 March 2011 Contemporary Society vs. 1984 In his dystopian novel 1984, Orwell expresses his vision of the nearing future through a fictional plot. Within the plot, Winston Smith, the novel's protagonist, lives a life controlled entirely by a manipulative and exploitative government. He, embodies the stereotypical personality of each citizen of Oceania—a person who abides by the laws of the ruling Big Brother government. Through the developing setting and characterization of our protagonist, the reader is able to witness the numerous aspects of control, manipulation and exploitation exercised by the Party and Big Brother. As his frustrations with the Party's control of history and longing desire to meet with a female co-worker increase, Winston begins to question the society he once aimlessly conformed to and the laws he once followed. Through Winston’s ordeal, Orwell expresses his concerns with an exponentially expanding American government. Such gross violations of personal liberties have played a prominent role in America's past as well as in its present. While writing the novel, Orwell recollected his childhood experiences in an oppressed India and began to draw comparisons to the then-current state of America. During the 1940s, America experienced increased military involvement, significant expansion of the federal bureaucracy and world dominance. In turn, Orwell’s writing of 1984 seemingly serves a cautionary and educational purpose. Honest government may expand into an oppressive one if its citizens do not vigilantly monitor its activity. In contemporary society, Americans face similar circumstances to those subject to the environment portrayed in 1984. The unfortunate happenings of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11th, 2001 still affect Americans presently. Consequently, Americans knowingly placed greater trust in their government and sacrificed certain liberties for superior security. Resulting legislation, such as the Patriot Act of 2001, allows the US government to bypass certain privacy rights in order to ensure safety within the nation. During the summer of 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by congress brought the United States closer to a â€Å"Big Brother† institution than ever before. The Alien Act â€Å"authorized the president to arrest and deport aliens suspected of ‘treasonable' leanings† Davidson 219). With no clear definition as to what actually constitutes a â€Å"treasonable leaning,† the president could've forced someone out of the United States the instant they engaged in a form of anti-American protest. Surveillance cameras in most buildings and some public streets further demonstrates the constant and grim reality of governmental supervision. US troops are stationed throughout the Mi ddle East in addition to their already inhabited locations. Similar to those subject to the omniscient Big Brother government in 1984, Americans are controlled by specific qualities and principles, social constraints, manipulated by a homogenous and monopolized society and exploited by the falsified allure of the â€Å"American Dream. † â€Å"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. † (Orwell, p81). Such a simplistic definition of freedom misleads those striving for absolute freedom. In fact, American and Oceanian citizens share ultimate freedom if freedom was solely confined to its previously stated definition. However, the reader knows that those within Oceania are enslaved by their own totalitarian government. Therefore, freedom's true definition is much more complex and often contradictory. The contradictory nature of freedom and democracy proves the similarities between America and Oceania. Although not as radical of their 1984 counterparts, Americans defer to an elitist society to maintain their â€Å"freedom. † â€Å"In a paradox for democratic theory, the masses express the greatest confidence in the most elitist, nonelected branch of the government† (Dye 309). With greater confidence, comes blind trust. Since Americans allow a minority of elitists to dictate their society, true freedom and democracy cannot exist. Therefore, Americans are more like pawns that are governed by a select few, which was the reality of those subject to the Party, rather than the assumed impression that the majority controlled its own destiny. Throughout Orwell's novel, 1984, a fictional character named Big Brother exists. Throughout the town of Oceania are constant reminders of Big Brother's existence and his limitless oversight on the community. In addition to the sense of surveillance by Big Brother, telescreens within every household and microphones scattered across the town, further accentuate the lack of privacy within Oceania. Ultimately, in 1984, technology’s sole purpose was to intrude into each citizen's personal and private life. As technology further engulfs itself in modern society, aspects of 1984 are become more prominent. While telescreens are not exactly monitoring us every second of the day, many people are probably unaware of how public most of their private life really is. Between computers and security cameras, it really is not too hard for a member of some government agency to keep track of what someone does everyday. In contemporary society, human interaction and technology are becoming exceedingly intertwined. The rapid advancement of technology has allowed for the possibility of an inseparable combination of humans and technology. Upon writing his novel, Orwell extrapolated much of the detail about the technology within 1984 because of its unavailability or primitive features. The technology of modern society far exceeds that of 1984. If government could utilize lesser quality technology and control an entire population, what could amass if the technology were superior? Cell phones, computers, cameras, global positioning systems (GPSs) and other significant technological inventions in modern society have numerous benefits, but beget several drawbacks to ponder. Within each computer and cell phone are locating devices which allow the respected companies to observe the websites visited and the location of the each device. Wiretapping, legalized by the Patriot Act of 2001, permits governmental monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations to ensure safety. Surveillance cameras survey the actions of pedestrians to prevent crime. Although most of these cameras are operated by private businesses, privacy is still invaded. Realistically, the government’s use of technology as a means to intrude on American privacy is a definite possibility. In the past, and currently, the US government has used technology in order to ensure safety despite sacrificing certain liberties. With humans bearing a greater dependence on technology, the exploitation of technology by the government would prove devastating and irreversible. â€Å"War was a sure safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible† (Orwell 198). The focal point of the Oceania’s economy was its overextending military. The constant war, overshadowed by the developing plot involving Winston, provides justification and a safeguard against its citizens. The purpose in participating in a perpetual war is to consume human labor and commodities. Without commodities, Oceania is able to justify their engagement in an unwinnable and â€Å"necessary† war. In addition, constant warfare keeps the population fearful, and creates emergency conditions whereby the government can expand its powers. People, manipulated into fear, will respond more favorably to regulations in times of war. Accompanying the sacrifice of personal liberties, following the distressing events on September 11th, 2001, includes an extension of military activity. First beginning with Former President Bush, and current President Obama, the US Army is combative throughout the world, specifically the Middle East, in its attempt to curtail acts of terrorism. Seemingly, as in the case with Oceania, the United States is continuously in a warring state. When peace is made with one country, war is claimed or threatened on another nation to continue a military presence. The Department of Defense, comparable to the Minister of Peace, allocates the largest level of budgetary resources and coordinates the activity of the United States armed forces. Not counting the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Defense budget is expected to be $553 billion in 2012, up from $549 billion in 2011† (Factor 24). In addition, the Department of Defense posts useless statistics, incorrect economic predictions, and slanted opinions polls. The most infamous example of incorrect statistics and bias speech was Former President Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech. In spite of the continuing warfare, Bush stated this was the end to major combat operations in Iraq. Certain aspects of the Oceania war machine further manipulate the actions of the Oceanian citizens. The government of Oceania, orchestrated by the Party, influences its citizens into believing that they have a common enemy in the Brotherhood, specifically Goldstein. The Two Minutes of Hate, a daily period in which Party members of Oceania must watch a film depicting The Party's enemies, entices mob action and a blind expression of hate. The picture of Goldstein comes up on the screen, while the people scream in anger and horror at the image. Goldstein, they are told, is everywhere and must be destroyed. The similarities to modern society are more real than apparent and speak to what has been happening in the United States since World War II. Each significant event in history has seen evil characters that have been determined on destroying â€Å"the American way of life. † During World War 2, Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin led the rise of fascism and against democratic principles. During the Red Scare, Mao Tse-Tung of China disturbed American peace with communists influence on the American public. During the Arms Race, Lenoid Brehznev of the USSR challenged the social integrity of America. During the 1980s, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and now Bin Laden promoted use of terrorist attacks to harm Americans. Like Goldstein in Oceania, each man menaced society, striking fear and hatred into the peoples’ hearts. After their deaths, American society was not safer and soon after a replacement continued to terrorize America. Ultimately, the Party’s slogan â€Å"War is Peace† perfectly represents their exploitation of war and stronghold over their citizens. Through the expression of the slogan, the Party contends that in times of war, Oceania is at peace. Such a contradictory statement provides an example of the Party’s use of â€Å"double think† and manipulation of the people. Oceania – the Party – is able to remain at peace during times of war because of a war’s natural temperament. War acts as a means to ensure a stagnant social structure and prevent true socialism. War, specifically in 1984, guarantees a destruction of produce (Orwell 191). With a scarcity of produce, economic disparity becomes apparent and overprotection of produce becomes unlikely. Thus, the Party is â€Å"at peace† because revolution or any social change is improbable. Similarly, war has a parallel effect in modern society. In times of war, America is economically and socially stable. War creates an abundance of jobs which distills any opposition from the lower class which has an innate tendency to protest the actions of the highest class (Orwell 199). Industries rejoice as the government agrees to purchase any and all military related goods. The government expands its power by restricting several personal liberties which are voluntarily and willingly bequeathed by the people. The nation rallies around a common enemy, fueled by propaganda, and confidence in its government reaches a pinnacle. War establishes peace to authorities dictating the path of the nation: War is peace. Throughout 1984, the Party, in accordance with the Ministry of Truth manipulates its control of the past and rewrites history. In rewriting history, the Party ensures the completion of one of its slogan: â€Å"Ignorance is Strength. † The constant change of the â€Å"truth: and destruction of supporting records, allows the Party to keep its citizens ignorant of its true actions. Thus, the Party avoids confrontation with questioning and aware citizens. To address those unaffiliated with the Party, the Party ses a more indirect approach to keep the Proles ignorant. With guaranteed liberties, the Proles are content with their uncommon privileges and do not seek to interrupt their happiness and therefore do not challenge the Party. According to the Party, promoting ignorance prevents doubt and creates a powerful strength in the idea. The only way to keep an idea strong is to remove all suspicion of doubt. If one has no reason to question a belief, then that belief will remain despite its unreasonableness. And if this lack of questioning can become indefinite, then the belief is also indefinite. In American history, some events are understated, while others are overstated to glorify patriotism or conform to modern belief. Most recently, President Bush’s vacillation through several reasons to invade Iraq provide an example of understatement and deceit in politics. Initially, President Bush stated that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which would prove harmful to Americans in the near future. After no weapons of mass destruction were found, President Bush stated that then President Saddam Hussein had anthrax and other biological harmful weapons. Anthrax was found in Iraq; however, the United States did not mention that the same anthrax was sold to Iraq by America. President Bush, then, justified the military activity in Iraq by claiming to fight terrorism and spread democracy. Congressmen, who supported the War of Terrorism, eventually reversed their opinions of the war and stated that the President and the Department of Defense provided inaccurate accounts of the terrorist activity in Iraq. President Bush’s waving between his reasoning to invade Iraq demonstrates an ability to keep Americans ignorant of the true motives of US invasion in Iraq. In 1984, there was an obvious separation of wealth. The London that Winston Smith calls home is a dilapidated, rundown city in which buildings are crumbling, conveniences such as elevators never work, and necessities such as electricity and plumbing are extremely unreliable. The grimy urban decay offers insight into the Party’s priorities through its contrast to the immense technology the Party develops to spy on its citizens. The conditions O’Brien, an Inner Party member, lived with greatly differed from the livelihood of Winston. O’Brien’s home was ornately furnished and enjoyed the likeness of cigars, coffee and tea. In modern society, the trend continues. The wealthy can afford to live lavishly, while the poor can barely afford to live. The concentration of wealth significantly favors the elitists. Those poor, in America and Oceania, ignorantly misuse their money on lotteries with the false hope of becoming wealthy. Despite being regarded as a fictional novel, 1984 and its portrayal of a controlling and exploitative government are comparable to the current conditions of modern society. Through Winston’s characterization, Orwell expresses his concerns with an exponentially expanding American government and a foreseeable future. Orwell, as told through 1984, envisioned a world of constant surveillance, where the privacy of the individual was virtually extinct. Although the technology he predicted seems unsophisticated, the concept of surveillance is applicable. Naturally, as the government expands, intrusion on the personal lives of its citizens is becoming accessible and simple. The use of technology, such as computers and cell phones, is becoming greatly intertwined in human interaction and everyday life. These advances in technology can be interpreted both positively and negatively. Legislations, such as the Patriot Act (2001) and the Alien and Sedition Act, have given the government an almost limitless means to interrogate radical thinkers. With the initial reading of this polemic book, Orwell’s work was subjected to pillory of all sorts; however as society has let time take its course it seems that those who criticized this work were the most jejune of all, about our Lugubrious society.

Mediation vs litigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mediation vs litigation - Essay Example lawyers to facilitate the presentation of their evidences and often, the lawyers may handle the case in very adversarial and aggressive tones (Tiersma, 1999). As a consequence, the litigation becomes disadvantageous to both parties and those who are weak and those who have no financial capacity to sustain the litigation process fell out of the balance or loss the case (Tiersma, 1999). The court processes is very legalistic in ways. Its communication system is often complex and misunderstood. Clients, often non-lawyers, do not understand the language of the law and lawyers on the other hand, lawyers cannot comprehend well the people’s language who are not fluent on the standard language of the legal system. Many of their documents are lengthy, overwritten, repetitious, and the legal language has its own peculiarity and effects in whatever context (Tiersma, 1999). There is explicit use of the laments of legalism in thoughts and in its logical structure in its documents. It will doubly complicate when lawyers start to argue using Latin maxims (Tiersma, 1999). Legal luminaries argued that the courtroom language has certain structural complexity which could either be syntactic complexity, inter-sentence complexity, phrasal complexity, and lexical complexity (Tiersma, 1999). Syntactic complexity adds to difficulty in comprehension. Although there was a recommend ed use of plain language but when the judge provide information and guidelines about the trial and evidences and about the utilization of the framework of the law (Tiersma, 1999). Since jurors are not equipped with legal knowledge, they weigh such responsibility of determining the verdict but must do so, using their considerable power, without endangering the fairness of the trial (Tiersma, 1999). There is therefore a problem in the language intended for lay jury and the language used by legal luminaries. Hence, the discourse is ruled by grammar constructions, conventions, legal vocabularies and language

Government Programs in Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Essay

Government Programs in Cybersecurity Education and Awareness - Essay Example (Gattiker, 2009) Presently, the United States suffers a deficit in the number of professionals in cyber security; a fact that compromises predictions of America’s future needs. The demand for improved cyber security education would bolster America’s future workforce (Rudolph, 2009). Recent survey conducted by Zogby International suggests that cyber security education would be a significant contributor in the economic growth of the US. That small business owner registering high returns needs employees with cyber security skills. Another recent study by Microsoft indicates a significant demand for cyber security education in America’s K-12 classrooms (Gattiker, 2009). Therefore, the government programs, through cyber security education, would contribute in the economic growth of US and the sensitization of America’s K-12 classrooms among other contribution. a) The US government should raise the national awareness about cyber threats and associated risks. It should improve risk knowledge and cyber security vulnerabilities as well as engage in the promotion of the use of cyber security tools and resources. This can take the form of; encouragement of campaigns such as Stop.Think.Connect, Strategy promotion for cyber risk management training engagement in partnership with external stakeholders and encouragement of participation in activities, in line with cyber security. b) The cyber security workforce’s pool of individuals should be broadened by engaging in the promotion of interests in computer science and cyber security. This can be undertaken through an increase of diversity and quality of computer science programs in high schools, improvement of both undergraduate and graduate cyber security curricula and promotion of research and development on cyber security. c) The government should encourage the cultivation of globally competitive cyber security

Have the welfare reforms enacted since the 1980s been successful in Essay

Have the welfare reforms enacted since the 1980s been successful in achieving their goals - Essay Example However, some decades later, the program was blamed for creating a dependent culture. This encouraged the government to institute reforms on the welfare sector. This paper will look at major achievements and challenges of welfare reforms since the 1980s. The Need for Reforms in Welfare Sector To the beneficiaries, the financial benefits derived from public welfare programs were better than most low paying jobs. Hence, most people preferred to remain covered by the welfare program than be employed. On the contrary, many people felt that there was a need for the government to continue providing welfare assistance since most of the beneficiaries were children under the Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC) (Wax 2009). Under this program, families were living under comfort of assured of federal support. However, the new reforms on welfare have changed this situation by eliminating the guarantee. The choice of who to benefit from the welfare program in most countries depends on t he intended goal of a specific program. In basic terms, the main aim of major welfare programs is to get the target individuals out of poverty by making them self-reliant and thereby lead a better life. ... ility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PROWRA) of 1996 takes credit for helping reduce the number of people who are dependent on welfare (Grogger & Karoly 2005). Second, the reform removed the control of the welfare system from the hands of federal government and passed it to state governments. Third, the reform set some minimal requirements that a state has to meet in order to benefit from welfare services. The reforms saw the federal government give out welfare support in a flat rate on the basis of the population in the state. This succeeded in encouraging people to look for work as a way of lessening dependence on state welfare. The achievements of Personal Responsibility and Work opportunity Act reform were strengthened by the Temporary Reward for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF replaced the AFDC which gave support to all needy families with needy children (Martin 2011). TANF required state governments to encourage the people to search for employment while receiving welfare assistance. This was the first time in the history of the welfare approach for the government to impose requirements to states and beneficiaries. The assistance was also limited to five years of a family’s lifetime. As a result, there has been a 60 percent reduction in welfare dependency due to rise in employment levels. However, the perceived reduction in caseload in 1990s due to the reforms is challenged to be as a result of strong economic growth in the economy of United States. Strong economy meant people were able to find better paying jobs, and hence become less reliant on welfare funds. Increase in Employment and Income of Single Mothers Even though the critics of early reforms had predicted dire consequences primarily to the single unemployed mothers, they stood to witness

Mitigation of Earthquakes in Mega Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Mitigation of Earthquakes in Mega Cities - Essay Example Although earthquake is a natural phenomenon that cannot be averted, we can take some precautions in order to mitigate the destructive potential of its aftermath. The invention of Richter scale has enabled us for computing the magnitude of earthquakes. Today, it is possible to identify frequently earthquake occurring places and the intensity of every earthquake. Modern facilities such as earthquake alarming systems are some of the advancements in this area. However, lack of improved infrastructural deterrence techniques often affects the effectiveness of disaster prevention in mage cities. According to census reports published by Government of Maharashtra (2000) in 1991, 60% of the registered buildings in Mumbai were made up of non-engineered materials such as informal masonry. It is important to note that Mumbai is categorized under seismic zone 3, which indicates the high vulnerability to the occurrence of devastating earthquakes. The earthquake history of Mumbai reflects that large number of earthquakes occurred across different parts of the city during the last century and even in the last two years. Severe losses had not been reported until 1967 when one attacked Koyna region of Mumbai with a magnitude of 6.3. Large number of buildings was destroyed at this calamity. Damages of such sorts can be avoided to a large extent only if the city employs geotechnical guidelines for the disaster prevention. The Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI) reports that â€Å"poor governance structures, lack of awareness, and poor professional standards and ethics† are some of the major impediments for disaster prevention in mega cities (cited in Wenzel, 2006).

Patriot Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Patriot Act - Essay Example Hence, to weed out terrorism / breeding grounds of terrorism wherever it is found around the world so that such ugly situation may not engulf the United of States of America or other allies in the world. The mentioned act was approved by both the houses of peoples representatives i.e. Senate and the House of Representative on 26th October, 2001 (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The previously mentioned act empowered law enforcement agencies / intelligence agencies to track out terrorist net work aims at to gather maximum information about their activities. This enables cited agencies to deal with the terrorist with iron hands. The concerned authorities of USA taking into account the increasing terrorist activities reviewed and amended the money-laundering act accordingly to stop flow of funds to such organization who promotes terrorism to accomplish their nefarious designs. So far, the action taken by the United States of America is to ban such organization as well as freezing of their funds in connivance with the countries that are in league with America against war on terror (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The strict American Laws make it impossible for a suspected terrorist to enter in the US for sabotaging the national assets / endangering the life of common citizens. The new act enhanced the capability of law enforcement / intelligence agencies to fight terrorism in an effective manner (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The patriot act in fact provides protection to American people against domestic and foreign terrorism. It describes the official version of domestic terrorism. According to which any person who have ill intention to harm human life falls under the ambit of above act. Hence, by virtue of this act, law enforcement and intelligence agencies may obtain search warrant from federal judge wherever terror related activities are found on the surface. This is an easy way to investigate the matter by streamlining and exchanging communication between agencies (Ball, 2004). H owever, the act in question specifically focuses on the surveillance of terrorism activities in order to prevent international terrorism. In case terrorist caught red handed, an exemplary punishment should be awarded to him to deter others. He / she should be tried in a competent court of law for punishment in accordance with law. The use of modern gadgets in promoting domestic / international terrorism cannot be ignored (Doyle, 2001). The policy makers while drafting policy must take into account the rights of citizens that have conferred to them by the constitution and the bills of rights. American policy makers must respect the Constitution to protect American rights. It protects the rights of every citizen irrespective of their cost, creed and profession, whether he / she are a part timer or full time policy makers who enjoy the benefits of given rights even in the war time (Ball, 2004). After the act of terrorism on the mentioned date of the year 2001, Mr. Bush sought unbridled power as president of USA to summon reserve forces to face the war like situation. As a result of this act, liberties of American people have been taken away to meet the eventualities and to fight terrorism. By enactment of this act, power of law enforcement agencies / intelligence agencies gave unchecked powers to investigate the suspected terrorist in a brutal manner, which amounts to flagrant violation of human rights (Doyle, 2001). The