Decade of Corporate Greed Essay Example for Free

Decade of Corporate Greed Essay Ascended in the 1980’s he reinvented Republican policies that favored deregulation and the growth of business in America. These Ideas markedly opposed the views of the governmental interventionist policies of the 1960’s and 70’s with these ideas Reagan hoped to decrease government Involvement and heavy taxes. With these tax cuts Reagan’s thinking was that many new businesses would spawn and that it would have a trickledown effect by not only empowering businesses to grow and hire more people which in the end would benefit all from those on top in the corporate world all the way down to the lowest person in the company in which everyone benefits. This was welcome news not only to the Republicans but also the â€Å"lunch bucket democrats† who were working class democrats who predecessor Jimmy Carter of whom they thought they were ignored by. As a result of this many government services were slashed and created ideas of the government being the problem. With this many republicans encouraged individuals to do good for themselves for the government would not do this for them. With this encouragement of business growth and economic prosperity for as many people as possible individualism became a way of life in the 1980’s. The acquisition of wealth and indicators of it really helped to drive this decade in the 1980’s where it seemed most important to acquire as much â€Å"material† goods as possible. These ideas were also shown in the pop culture world as the artist Madonna made a hit song in the 80’s called â€Å"material girl† a song of the times basically about greed and gaining as material things as you possibly could with no shame of this greed. Also Gordon Gekko the fictional business tycoon in the film â€Å"Wall Street† stands up at board meeting to stress and states â€Å"Greed is good†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Greed will not only fix this malfunctioning corporation called Teldar paper, but also the other malfunctioning corporation called the U. S. of A. † There were even excesses being taken in sports, as Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds had greed of singles, doubles and stolen bases, also greed in gambling cost him his spot in Major League Baseball. It was also in this decade baseball experienced â€Å"free agency† destroying loyalties and players selling themselves to the highest bidder as player contracts doubled from just the decade before. Once these Republican policies had trickled down to popular culture it almost seemed to validate this style of politics, it seemed as if the Republicans ascendance to power had spawned this culture and decade of greed that was so actively embraced by the American public. With this these politicians simply stated that they were just acting in accordance to what the public’s wishes were. With this success that Reagan had in the 80’s America had once again began to reassert itself on the world stage after a challenging decade of struggling in the 1970’s. Reagan is thought to be responsible also for the victory in the cold war that had lasted for decades before his term. The new thinking in the 80’s was not that this was greed but more of what the Republicans called prosperity and success. Some of the negatives of these changes were Reagan deregulated everything which in effect destroyed competition and this created oligopolies. Some examples of these are in the airline industry he deregulated the industry causing every airline in the country, except 2 to become bankrupt, as the deregulation in the broadcast industry resulted in just a few major players like Disney and Clear Channel dominating the playing field. As for under the Reagan administration money in politics became more strong then ever and that still holds true today in the world of politics for it seems like we no longer have elections, we more like have auctions for where it seems the candidate who has the most money to spend on getting their name out is usually the one who wins in these political battles, especially for the Presidency. What this does now and back then in the 80’s where it started is a corporation who might want certain laws or tax breaks passed to better help their needs funds that candidate to get elected and then in turn expects them favors to be returned when that candidate is elected. This new concentration of wealth created a whole new class of millionaires, however on the downside for every millionaire there were several hundred homeless people. With this came more negativity that came with the corporate greed of the 80’s. For these people who became homeless and poor due to these millionaires greed were blamed for dragging down the economy by Republican politicians and their mouthpieces in the media, while the truth we found out later is that indeed it was these rich people who were ripping us off and actually were responsible for dragging down the economy. Going as far to blaming the poor the city of Los Angeles installed a fingerprint system to guard against welfare fraud that cost the city and hardworking tax payers 30 million dollars, and for all of this it caught one cheater. While at the same time â€Å"White collar† crime was rising and costing us more than street crime cost, also doing more damage and arguably causing more deaths. Reagan also had a deregulation of the savings and loans industry which was a total debacle and ended up costing Americans 500 billion dollars which is part of the still current banking problem that is going on today. Unfortunately Reagan also began the practice of sending American manufacturing jobs overseas, another move that made the rich even more rich and greedy and made the poor have even less than they did before. Despite all these negatives it can be argued that Ronald Reagan was the most important and influential President of the last 60 years, loved by the Republicans and loathed by the liberals. Reagan turned half a century of political and economic orthodoxy and turned it on its head. It can be argued that he turned those who were Roosevelt democrats. So whether you loved or hated Reagan there is no doubt that administration and the greed of 80’s is still alive today. My though would be if your rich, you like the corporate greed and excessiveness that took place in the 80’s, however if you are poor you are wondering why this turned out like it did.

Child Trafficking In Nigeria Social Work Essay

Child Trafficking In Nigeria Social Work Essay Human trafficking in Nigeria has been one of the greatest problem in Nigerian history. Human trafficking can be traced to the period colonialism when human beings are been traded for mere commodities to the Europeans, to help them in their plantations in their own country. Due to the abolishment of slave trade in Nigeria by 1885-1950, the act of human trafficking was reduced and some few years later they started child trafficking since the children are more vulnerable. Child trafficking is a form of human trafficking that involves the transportation, harbouring, receiving ,recruitment of children in the purpose of exploitation. The issue of child domestic labour is very complex and problematic. Domestic child labourers are among the most invisible child labourers. The number of children exploited in private households is unknown because of the hidden nature of the work. Many of these children are girls and in many countries domestic service is seen as the only employment option a girl might have. Children exploited in domestic service are paid little or nothing, are malnourished, are very vulnerable to further abuse and exploitation, and do not go to school. However, because child domestic workers are employed within an informal family environment, they cannot be integrated as a professional group within conventional working systems because such integration would presuppose an acceptance of the idea of child domestic labour. At the same time, without legal initiatives, it is difficult to combat child domestic labour. Furthermore, the terms, norms and standards to regulate the employment of children are lack ing because children work in a largely invisible domain outside law and the public sphere and their domestic labour cannot be integrated under normal labour laws. Although the final goal of all laws should be the prevention and elimination of child domestic labour, it is acknowledged right at the outset that this is a long term goal. In the interim, there is a need to accept that children do, and will continue, to work until effective alternatives make it unnecessary for them to work. In the meantime, the best interest of the child principle together with the notion of the child as a rights holder should guide any lawmaking on child domestic work. Law and policy reform can play a powerful constitutive and transformative role in improving and changing the lives of both the girl child and male child domestic worker; however, in envisioning workplace and domestic arrangements it is important to see that sex stereotypes are not reinforced. Just as much as law has the profound power to p revent and regulate domestic labour, it has the power to reinforce it by creating loopholes through which employers can continue to hire child domestic workers. Laws can often spark social change only if they are translated into action. In drafting new laws or revising existing laws, child domestic labour should be seen in the context of historic sex discrimination. There is an apparent tension when laws and policies are blind to the differences between the girl child domestic worker and the male child domestic worker such as the girl childs weak bargaining position and low status, which increases her vulnerability to coercion by her family and employer. Child trafficking in Nigeria is something the government has not really put enough effort to ensure that child trafficking is reduced or eradicated this is due to the lapse (corruption) of the whole government system because most of the child traffickers are top government officials and this makes it very difficult to investigate any problem that has to do with child trafficking. According to a research carried out by United nation children fund (unicef) say the average age of children been trafficked in Nigeria is around 15years but the age varies, especially with girls and also it says 60-80% of girls in the sex trade outside the country are in Italy (over 700 in Italy while Belgium and Holland is experiencing an upsurge in the number of Nigerian girls. On the average About 10 children pass Nigerian borders daily originating from fostering and extended family system. Children that are been trafficked has so many reasons which include domestic help, prostitution these are especially for girls while boys are used as scavengers, car washing, bus conducting, drug peddling and farming. Child trafficking has so many effects on both the child and the country. Trafficking of migrant children has unquestionably affected individual children and their communities in various immediate and long term ways. It sometimes endangers the childrens lives. The obvious impacts of child trafficking often mentioned is on deteriorating their education, physical and mental development. Moreover, the trafficked migrant children are disempowered in many ways. They are in the foreign country with foreign customs and foreign language. They are transported and sold or deceived as bonded labour, treated like property, and work under slavery-like conditions. Whenever they feel depressed, or suffering, or face difficulties, or are tortured, commonly they have no one they can turn to as they tend to live in isolated areas. Even if they have a chance to seek help, they often do not know where to go or what to do or whom to ask because they are illegal migrants and are afraid of police. In some c ircumstances, they may encounter racism from the police, authorities, and general people among whom may be their own employers. A major result of child trafficking can be loss of lives, increasing prevalence of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) including HIV/AIDS, increase in violence and crime rate, increased school drop-out, impaired child development, poor national image and massive deportation of Nigerians especially girls. And also, There are diverse reasons why many Nigerian children are vulnerable to trafficking, including widespread poverty, large family size, rapid urbanization with deteriorating public services, low literacy levels and high school-drop out rates The demand for cheap commercial sex workers in countries of destination strongly contributes to the growth of this phenomenon and the success of this criminal network. Parents with a large family, often overburdened with the care of too many children, are prone to the traffickers deceit in giving away some of their children to city residents or even strangers promising a better life for them. Traffickers exploit the trust of people rooted in a widespread, culturally accepted common practice in West Africa of placement and fostering as part of the extended family safety net. In some instances, desperately poor and uninformed parents willingly co-operate with the traffickers, giving away their children in exchange for a small fee. In the hands of unscrupulous guardians, these children are increasingly trafficked and exploited for money. But All hope is not lost as every problem has a solution. The government can still curb this evil practice in order to save children and the good name of the country. Firstly, government should provide free education in every government owned school in the country from the nursery to the secondary level so that parents will have no excuse of giving out their children to strangers in the pretext of taking them to learn new sill in new environment. Secondly, government should pay workers salaries at the end of each month because they have personal bills to foot; children to cater for and they depend solely on their salaries. Thirdly, the parliamentary arm of the government should make and amend law that all Nigerian families should not have more than 3 children and any found to go against the law would be punished because one of the causes of child trafficking in Nigeria is the inability of parents to cater for so many children. Also, government should make laws for children against child abuse and intimidation which should be strictly adhered to. Last but not the least, government should come to an agreement with leaders of other countries that any Nigerian child suspected to be abused or trafficked should be rescued and the trafficker, punished. In an effort   aimed at battling child trafficking within Nigeria and the sub-region, Nigeria and the government of Benin Republic have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate in the   area of prevention of child trafficking as well as the repatriation of offenders to countries of origin for prosecution. Executive Secretary of National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters(NAPTIP), Mrs. Carol Ndaguba disclosed this at a one-day workshop on Anti Child Trafficking Network Project in Nigeria held at the UN House Abuja. According to her, Nigeria and the government of Italy, United Kingdom and Spain also have understandings on joint initiative on modalities for prevention of child trafficking and slavery, adding that the Italian government as well as UNICEF have been providing huge financial and capacity building support to the agency in carrying out its task. On the issue of house-help or domestic servants in the country, NAPTIP Executive Secretary regretted that the phenomenon had been exploited by traffickers to batter, sexually or emotionally traumatize victims, adding that the so called syndrome must now come to an end. She identified the challenges faced by the network project to include   expansion of the network from 22 states to 36, sustaining awareness campaign at the state and community levels, and capacity building of the state working groups. In her remark, Deputy Country Representative of UNICEF, Barbara Reynold said that although the anti-trafficking agency was already doing a lot to put an end to the menace of human trafficking, more needs to be done in the area of conscientisation and increased awareness by   a broader section of society.

The sociological theory of social constructionism

The sociological theory of social constructionism Social Constructionism essentially represents a sociological theory of knowledge that studies the development of various sociological phenomena in social contexts. A social construct, the anchor of this theory, refers to a concept that is the artefact of a specific group. Social constructs, to elaborate, dispense with take away from commonly accepted inherent qualities of items, concepts, or issues, and instead focus on their dependence upon, and the contingent and conditional rationale of, our social sense. They describe such issues and things are more easily described as the result of numerous human choices, rather than of natural laws or divine intention. The origins of present day social constructionist theories go back to the writings of Immanuel Kant. Kant argued for the existence of a world that was independent of human minds, thus implying that humans should not assert that they created the world. This world, he said, is without structure and is not divided into things and facts. Structure is imposed on the world by perceiving it and thinking of it in specific ways, as also and by the adoption of particular sets of beliefs, (rather than instead of others) about it. Vivine Burr (2003, p 2) argues that social constructionism enables individuals to adopt critical attitudes towards their conventional and traditional methods of perceiving and understanding the world and their own selves. It provides humans us with fresh ways on perceiving ideas and things that are considered to be commonplace and are unquestioningly accepted. Numerous things like for example money, newspapers or citizenship are socially constructed and. All of these t hings would not obviously have existed in the absence of society. Each of them furthermore could have well been constructed differently. Social constructionism encourages people to question the widely held perception that conventional and accepted knowledge has sprung has come about from objective and impartial examination of the world. It is as such opposed to the positivist epistemology of traditional science and spurs thinking individuals to constantly question their assumptions about the appearance of their environment and its various components. This short study deals with the implications of social constructionism for social workers and how its use can help them social workers to understand human behaviour. Specific emphasis has been given to the use of social constructionism in understanding commonly held perceptions and attitudes towards mental disorders. The Use of Social Constructionism by Social Workers to Understand Human Behaviour Social workers have two fundamental objectives, namely the strengthening of the ability of individuals and groups to cope with and overcome the many difficulties and challenges they confront in life, and the bringing about of improvements in various social and environmental circumstances areas, in order to improve the satisfaction of human needs; especially of people from underprivileged and oppressed social segments. Social workers plan and attempt their various interventions through their understanding of environmental circumstances, the various reasons for such these conditions, and the client system. Such understanding and knowledge and the consequent adoption of theoretic approaches significantly influence the point, the tool, and the nature of social work intervention. It becomes evident that adoption of theoretic preferences, based upon an understanding of the reality of the client environment, is crucial, both to social work theory and its practice. Theories of classical empiricism assert that the truth about the world is established and is independent of the individual. Social constructionism conversely puts forth argues that such truth is certainly not independent of individuals but is actually depends upon their thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. Social workers, by using social constructionism, will be able to understand the various dimensions of reality within such individual thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. Constructionists state that reality cannot be known separately from our elucidation of it. Social constructionism works on the principle that reality is constructed socially and places emphasis on language as a critical route for interpretation of experience. Whilst objectivists state that individuals make discoveries and find out about the reality of the world through the construction and testing of hypotheses via the actions of neutral observers, constructionists debunk such assumptions arguing that the interests and values of observers can never be separated from their observations and are thus bound to influence the final construction of common perceptions about world realities. Gergen (1985, p 270), states that generation of ideas of reality is initiated by social, rather than individual, processes and that the touted objective reality of the positivist approach is actually the result of various social construction processes that are influenced by historical, political, cultural and economic conditions. With such knowledge being essentially constructed, it can change over time and diverge across cultural groups that embrace different perceptions and beliefs about human nature and development. Considering that the norms, beliefs, valu es, traditions, attitudes and practices of different cultural groups vary from each other, the social construction of their knowledge is also likely to differ significantly. An understanding of this fundamental principle can help social workers in their realisation of the different perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of different individuals towards similar social phenomena or stimuli. Social constructionism helps social workers in adopting critical stances towards established assumptions on regarding the social world that reinforce the interests of powerful and dominant social groups and assists them in realising that the world has come about because of historical processes of communication and negotiation between groups and individuals. Gergen (1985, p 266), states that people see the world through the eyes of their particular communities and cultures and respond accordingly. Established assumptions, understandings and behaviours of people are sustained by social, political, economic and moral institutions. Payne (1997), states that reality, according to social constructionism, can be stated to be the guidance of behaviour by individual perceptions of knowledge and reality. Individuals arrive at shared perceptions of reality through the sharing of their knowledge via different social processes that first organise such knowledge and thereafter establish it by making it objective. Social and individual activity thus becomes habitual with individuals sharing their assumptions about their perceptions of reality. People behave in line with social conventions that are based on such shared knowledge. These conventions are furthermore institutionalised because of the agreement of many people on such understandings on different aspects of society. Such realisations and accords become legitimised by processes that integrate these ideas about reality into ordered and believable systems. Social workers need to realise that social understanding is finally the combined result of various human understandings through the operation of circular processes, wherein individuals contribute to the construction of social meaning within social structures of societies through processes of institutionalisation and legitimisation. Societies consequently create conventions through the participation of individuals in their structures, which, in turn influences the behaviours of people. Spirals of constantly moving influences build and rebuild the conventions that people adopt and by which they live. Berger and Luckmann, (1966), state that individuals experience the world to be an objective reality, comprising of persons and events that exist separately of individuals perceptions. Language provides the means through which individuals make sense of their environment, classify persons and events, and interpret new experiences. The shared reality of everyday life by different individuals distinguishes it from individual realities, (like dreams). Language helps individuals in sharing their experiences and making it available to others. Such sharing of reality leads to institutionalisation and thereafter to habitual ways of working. Habitualism makes the behaviour of different individuals predictable, facilitates joint activity and perpetuates social control mechanisms. Knowledge is as such institutionalised within sub-groups, or at social levels, and significantly influences the behaviour of people. Social constructionism allows social workers to question dominant structures of knowledge and understand the impact of culture and history. Social workers by and large understand the requirements of humans through the interplay of different ideological, ethical, political and economic factors. An understanding of social constructionism can help them in understanding the responses behind the actions of both dominant and vulnerable groups of society and decide upon the adoption of the best suited routes for bringing about social change. Social Constructionism and Mental Illness Much of modern day societys perceptions about mental ailments are influenced by the medical and psychological models, which state that medical illnesses are real; they concern disturbances in thoughts, experiences, and emotions and can be serious enough to cause functional impairment in individuals. Such ailments make it difficult for individuals to sustain interpersonal relationships and conduct their jobs. They can also sometimes result in self destructive actions, including suicides. The more serious of such illnesses, like extreme depression and schizophrenia, can often be chronic and lead to serious disability. The social constructionist approach states that such much of modern day perceptions about mental ailments are caused by the specifically constructed vocabularies of medical and psychological models, replete with their elaborate terminologies for mental disorders and focused their focus on deficits. Social constructionism can help social workers in understanding the socially constructive and destructive illusions that have been created put up by existing medical and psychological models and deficit based language. Walker (2006), states that vocabularies of medical and psychological models, including the concept of mental illness itself, are essentially social constructions. They are made up of vocabularies that describe deficits and diseases and perceive human beings as things that can be examined, diagnosed and treated, much in the manner of machines. Such perceptions (a) lead to obsessions with compliance, (b) distinguish between normal and pathological states, and (c) position prac titioners as experts, even as clients are represented built up determined as passive and obedient recipients of treatment. Recommended treatments focus on elimination of symptoms, support established paternalistic roles, and are not focused on actual client needs. Examined from the perspective of linguistics, reified categories like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia appear to be defined by clusters termed as symptoms; schizophrenia for example is concerned with the occurrence of audio hallucinations. Such terms, it is evident exists only because of the creation of consensus among the dominant groups of doctors and psychologists and persist because of convention. Mental illnesses are often described akin to physical ailments like diabetes, where individuals are required to manage their lives with specific medications. Such comparisons are used to explain the working of medications and to make the diagnosis and recommended treatment for mental ailments acceptable to clients. Such analogies however breakdown completely considering if it is realised that discussions about thoughts and feelings of individuals concern their identities and not their bodies. Social workers need to understand that the vocabularies of medical and psychological models essentially position clinicians as the most suitable interpreters of client experiences. Even apparently harmless terms like clinical or treatment plans establish contexts where clients are perceived to be abnormal or having pathologies, even as clinicians are established as authorities with abilities to perform interventions for assisting clients in overcoming their pathologies. With the power of definition lying with clinicians, the labelling of people as mentally ill pushes them to the borders of society and takes away from them their intrinsic rights and privileges. Social constructionism helps social workers in understanding that whilst political and human pressure has helped in eliminating the incarceration of the mentally ill in mental hospitals, the distinction created by vocabulary on mental illness leads to the movement of centres of power to clinicians and undermines efforts for self determination and community integration. Such medical and psychological vocabularies constitute obstacles to more inclusive mental health programmes and undermine social understanding of people with mental disorders.

Applying the Hot Stove Rule of Discipline in the Workplace Essay

Applying the Hot Stove Rule of Discipline in the Workplace "Spare the rod and spoil the child". This is the moral to Aesop's fable The Thief and his Mother. He proves that discipline is imperative. It emphasizes that if we do not take action in our children's wrong doings we will hurt them in the longer run. Children need discipline in their lives. It is their only way of learning the difference between right and wrong. As parents, it is our duty to mold our children in the right direction. The rewards of implementing discipline are endless, for knowing that they will make the right decision even when you are not there is comforting, and it pleases you. Discipline is fair, and open disciplinary procedures are essential to maintain harmony. Therefore, discipline is an important action taken to encourage compliance with organizational standards and regulations; whether in the home or at the work place. A popular and effective disciplinary rule used today by many managers is known as the "Hot Stove Rule of Discipline." This rule can be defined as the concept that disciplinary action should have the same characteristics as the penalty a person receives from touching a hot stove; that is, the discipline should be immediate, consistent, and impersonal (Gardner 1). Before any disciplinary action can be implemented, a manager must first give advanced warning. Employees must be informed clearly that certain actions will result in disciplinary actions. This is a very important step. It is not the employee's fault if he is not informed of the company's rules, ethics and standards. It is management's responsibility to educate and inform all employees. It is easier to accept discipline if the rules and standards are clearly stated befo... ...equence that follows a rule infraction. The hot stove provides warning. Disciplinary rules should inform employees of the consequences of breaking the rules. A hot stove is consistent in administering pain. In conclusion, a Hot Stove is a vital instrument in taking management action. It assists in encouraging compliance with organizational standards and regulations. The Hot Stove Rule of Discipline is effective and continues to prove efficiency. Bibliography Sixth Edition, Stephen Robbins and Mary Coulter. Upper Saddle River New Jersey, 1996. www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists-k-o/management-history/1998-02/0001.html http://business.clayton.edu/jbogert/mgmt3101/robbin20.txt http://www.siu.edu/departments/coe/ras1/474/discipline/sld001.htm http://www.acad.polyu.edu.hk/~mstpoon/discipli.htm http://ost.wc.edu/On-Line%20Courses/Hrpo2301/asgns/asgn11.htm

My Teaching Style Essay -- Education Teaching Teachers Classroom Essay

My Teaching Style Pragmatist teaching style is the best way to describe my style of teaching. I will involve the kids in hands on learning. I want to be an educator because I want to make learning more fun for the children. I also love to work with children. I really like to work with children, and I would like to work with the children to help better them in school. Working with children in helping them learn makes me feel great. I am more of a progressive when it comes to my philosophy of education. I think you should have children based activities in the classroom. Children should have more hand-on activities to help them learn. I think the teacher should deal with the small problems there in the classroom, and not involve the office. Involving the office too much could result in losing control of your classroom. In my classroom I will have the seats arrange in a semi-circle because all the students can see you and the chalk-board easier. It also prevents the children that like to sit in the back of the classroom. It will involve everybody in the learning process. I will have bulletin boards up according to the time of the year it is. In the fall, I will put up leaves on the bulletin board to show the leaves are changing, and they are falling off the trees. For winter, I will put snowflakes on the board to show it is cold outside. For spring time, I will have the leaves coming onto the trees, and showing how the things outside are changing back to green. I will have projects going on throughout the year. I will have children play games to help them study for upcoming test. I will have items on a bulletin board to show how well the children are behaving. I will give ... ...elp me out in a lot of ways. I am planning to continue my education by going onto graduate school. I am hoping that furthering my education will have a positive effect on my teaching style. My mentor teacher will help me further my education in ways of them teaching me the ways of teaching in that school system. I will be willing to take in information from outside the classroom, and use it in my everyday teaching style. My development in the future will be helped out through my mentor teacher, and the efforts of the other teachers. I will bring my own ideas into how I teach in the classroom. I will bring in new stuff to teach the students of how or not how to do things. I will always explain to my students, like the 9/11 tragedy, of the importance of what just happened in the world. I will make everything clear that is happening in the world.

Is the Survival of a society dependent on Fate or Human Choice?

There is no doubt that some societies are more fragile than others. The subjective observation of a societies ability to succeed or fail can sometimes be misleading when not all possible factors leading toward a societies outcome, are considered. When an observer does not scrutinize a societies success or lack there of, chances are, the observer will endlessly grapple over whether the outcome of a society was a result of fate, or human choice. Needless to say, through resources such as, Jared Diamonds book Collapse, and his movie Guns, Germs, and Steel as well as, Jeffery Sachs' book The End of Poverty, it is inevitable that both authors are confident in their revolutionary theories on a society's ability to succeed or fail. There is no question that the environment is the foundation for a societies future; however, it is the human choices of how and what should be built on that foundation, which determine whether it will be stable and succeed or not. Jeffrey Sachs and Jared Diamond have contrasting ideas on the significance of the environment and how it affects societies. While Jeffery Sachs seems to underestimate its significance, Diamond gives it too much credit. Jeffery Sachs gives six reasons in his book, The End of Poverty as to why societies â€Å"takeoff† and develop, or, lag on and remain in their poorly developed state. Some of the reasons mentioned by Sachs include: social mobility, political factors and fertility rates. Sachs did include physical geography as one of the factors as well; although, wouldn't one say that geography is at the root of all six of those revelations? At least, Diamond might agree. When faced with harsh environmental conditions solely based on where you live in globe, poses a question. Does ones survival purely depend on where they are born in the world? Sachs does address geography as an important factor in a societies success; however, he states that you can still have societal changes even if the geography does not allow for it. This is evident in chapter three of Sachs book as he discusses eight points that determine whether a society will thrive or not, and the role that humans are playing in failing societies. Some of these points include technology, trade, natural resource decline and population growth. When people die from extreme poverty, it is because they literally had nothing. They don't need a lot to survive, but they do need a lot to start a process of economic development; and that's where Sachs and I would differ. There's a reason societies who are under extreme poverty, have not been able to rise and be successful; environmental barriers. The environment can easily wipe out humans basic needs, which is the first step to survival in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is evident that environmental determinism does play an important role in a societies ability to thrive or not based on where you are on the globe? However, does is it location and the environment that comes with it purely determine whether a society will last? Easter Island is a society that virtually collapsed in isolation due to environmental damage. A perfect example of whether the success of a society depends on lack of human choices or environmental barriers. Jared captures his insight of the phenomenon in his book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed with concrete evidence. Jared mostly recognizes the geographical and environmental barriers that support the analogy that Easter was doomed from the beginning. From his reading, it seems that even if the people of Easter Island had made the most suitable and sensible human choices as far as working with the environment to obtain their basic needs, they soon would have been doomed to failure. Jared gives an example of how something so vital for survival such as water, would immediately seep into the island when their only water resource, rainfall, would come. Although I strongly believe that the environment plays a large role in a societies ability to thrive or not, Jared overlooked and underestimated the severity of human choices, (culture) and its impact on Easter Islands failure. Deforestation was unfortunately one of the main contributing factors in Easter Islands failure. Jared states that Easter Island is covered with an abundance of substantial statues due to an aggressive competition between chiefs of the island that were built to honor them. This way of culture proved to work against its society because many trees were deforested in order to transport the massive statues. The history of Easter Island helps to reconfirm my opinion that a society is destined to failure or success through mostly geographical and environmental state and a pinch of a societies ability to make wise decisions. Jared Diamond believes that there are three things that determine the outcome of a society: Guns, Germs and Steel. The main conclusion I gathered from watching this film was that societies developed in different parts of the world because of differences in environments. Jared struggles to answer a provocative question to a Papua New Guinean, â€Å"why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own? Jared sets geography as the dominant factor, emphasizing, that, it is not the biological aspect of people that determine human history but rather the environmental context, which we have no control over. Diamond discusses his opinion on whether he believes in the old presumption that the reason European civilizations were able develop and come up with advanced economies so fast, was because of their innate superiority. Jared believes we all moderately have the same intelligence in every society, and that it is not based on genes or race. He was unable to accept the possibility that New Guineans are inferior intellectually to Europeans. I agree with Jared. I believe that the reason European society became more technologically and politically advanced was the fertile environment that these people were born into to. This environment would allow them to have food production, tamed animals, and all other advantages that the New Guinea people did not have. Once basic needs are met in a society, it is easier for a society to climb up the ladder of success. It is therefore evident that the survival of a person is pure luck, based on whether you were born in an area where the environment works for you, and some human choices that are made to work with tte environment effectively. In conclusion, I wonder if developing counties in the world are doomed to failure and whether it is hopeless trying to make a sustainable society in those regions, and whether they should just be abandoned. The only advantage of having a co-operative environment is that it allows you to have all your basic needs, but will not necessarily help a society to advance further. Once the foundation of a good environment is laid out, only then can human choice help a society climb up the ladder towards success.

DBQ Reconstruction Essay

The union victory in the Civil War gave four million slaves their freedom, but reuniting the South with the North introduced a new set of significant challenges. The Congress’ Reconstruction were the efforts to establish and protect citizens’ rights of freedom. Democrats led to the failure of the Congress’ Reconstruction by forgiving those who participated in the Civil War who were still in favor of slavery and inequality. This act of Amnesty led to three major obstacles for reconstruction: the emergence of the Ku Kux Klan, the development of black codes, and the Compromise f 1877. The emergence of the Ku Kux Klan was one of the main contributors to the failure of the Congress’ Reconstruction, leaving open spots for other major events that brought completely down the reconstruction. On November 23, 1868, in Tennessee, General George Thomas explained that the purpose of the Ku Kux Klan was to allow the Southern people that participated in the Civil War to come in union with those who had abandoned the thought of inequality. This gave them the advantage to bring back inequality and kill black men. (Document 2). By forgiving these Southern people, illing freedmen became easy. These people that were being forgiven had the same mentality from before the war, which was involved with the approval of slavery and the inequality there should be because black men weren’t like white men. Kenneth Stampp, a history professor form the University of California at Berkeley, expressed himself in The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 about how in May 1872, the Congress developed an Amnesty act to reestablish the right to vote for the majority of those Southerners that had been forgiven. (Document 3). Giving the right to vote to these eople, put the reconstruction in danger. The right of voting allowed Southerners to vote for someone that would still want slavery. Voting for someone with a mentality like that would Just allow slavery back, and that’s why The Congress’ Reconstruction started to fail. Even though the black codes were created with the purpose of giving freedmen equal rights like white men, the codes werent followed correctly and black men were still being discriminated. The black codes were supposed to follow the 13, 14, and 15th amendment, but they weren’t quite followed the way it was supposed to. Both black and white men were given the same rights, but everything was separated between races, one was for black men and one for white men, showing discrimination. When the black codes were established, black men became freedmen, but even though these men could start living as freedmen, many decided to stay as slaves. In a compilation of these interviews published by Benjamin Botkin in 1945, John McCoy is quoted as saying, â€Å"†¦ l works for Marse John†¦ he says one morning†John, you can go†¦ the government say you is free†¦ † †¦ l didn’t know nothing what money was, nohow, but I knows I’ll git plenty victuals to eat, so I stays†¦ â€Å"(Document 7). The majority of slaves had been slaves through their entire life. These people didn’t know how to live themselves. Black men were ignorants on how to live without being a slave, so many, just like McCoy, decided to stay where they were working so their owners would provide them an easier way of surviving even though they were still working as slaves. In 1935, an African-American historian, Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, published a book of the history of Reconstruction where he wrote, â€Å"†¦ Negros who wanted to work must not dabble in politics. Negroes who wanted to increase their income must not agitate the Negro problem†¦ in order to earn living, the American Negro was compelled to give up his political power†¦ â€Å"(Document 6). This excerpt of the book shows how black men where not only being discriminated, but being left out politically too. If black men wanted work being freedmen, then they would have to stay out of the political power. White men were powerful and this is why giving up political power wasn’t an option, but a forceful act from the white. Black codes were not being followed, white men always managed to find a way to obtain what they wanted. The reconstruction was failing because nobody was respecting laws anymore, and black men couldn’t do anything about it besides remaining quiet and following white men’s instructions, which became their only real guarantee of surviving. The Compromise of 1877 was created to decide which candidate should be taken as a winner, either Hayes or Tilden, leading towards a decision that helped the Congress’ Reconstruction fail. As can be seen in the electoral distribution map from the election of 1876, Hayes won by only one electoral vote and lost the popular vote by 254,235. Document 8). The 1877 Compromise was an agreement to take away Northern troops from the South. This agreement was made due to Tilden’s request so he would let Hayes win. The removal of Northern troops left freedmen without protection, and became easy targets for Southerners to attack. If Hayes wanted to win, he had to accept the request, so he took away the troops because if not, Tilden would have stayed in the power and done worse acts. In November 4 and 5, 1874, the front-page of New York Times published two headlines that announced how Democrats entered he House of Representatives and convert the Congress to be Democratic as well. (Document 5). These Democratic victories helped undermine Congress’ efforts to help freedmen by creating laws and acts that followed racism ideas. There was no more hope for the reconstruction at this point. Democrats were taking all the power and black men could not do anything anymore. Being free was not an option anymore, but a far away dream instead. Even though black people were given the opportunity to have some rights and equality, the Congress’ Reconstruction failed because events such as the creation of he Ku Kux Klan, the construction of the black codes, and the Compromise of 1877, kept their old beliefs of slavery and inequality.