Critical analysis of minimum wage Research Paper

Critical analysis of minimum wage - Research Paper Example Definition of Minimum Wage The minimum wage is the lowest level of pay that an employer can pay to the employees as stipulated by law. It is defined by the International Labor Organization as â€Å"the lowest level of remuneration †¦ which each country has the force of law and which is enforceable under threat of penal and other appropriate sanctions. Minimum wages fixed by collective agreements made binding by public authorities are included in this definition†1. This indicates that the minimum wage is the level of pay or compensation given by employers to their employees as stipulated by the laws of the land. The minimum wage is included in the laws of a given nation and it has the force of law. Hence, if an employer decides to pay his employees below the lowest minimum wage level, the government and law enforcement authorities can take action against the employer and subject him to prosecution. The minimum wage include wages that are fixed by collective agreements. Thi s include various interest groups and stakeholders who come together to fix the minimum wage through various agreements. Once the government gives it the assent, it becomes law and no employer can pay a salary below the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the price floor that sets the minimum hourly rate for employees2. The minimum wage is meant to promote equal opportunities in a country and help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. There are two main implications of the minimum wage3. First of all, it is a way of fighting poverty because it guarantees the price floor, below which it would be illegal to pay an employee. In other words, it prevents employers from exploiting the extremely poor people in society. This is because such persons are vulnerable and are willing to do almost anything to get paid and to survive. Hence, they are susceptible to manipulation and exploitation by the rich employers. Due to this, the minimum wage is seen as a tool that is used by the gove rnment to prevent the poor and the less skilled from being exploited by the rich capitalists and business owners. On the other hand, it can reduce employment amongst the low-skilled since there is the tendency that businesses would fold up when they are forced to pay a minimum wage. In effect, there is the risk that more low-skilled persons could get out of work due to the minimum wage. Thus, a government would need to blend the two implications and come up with an appropriate minimum wage that would protect the rights of the extremely poor in society and also prevent job losses in the economy. History of the Minimum Wage The minimum wage was established in the laws of the United States through the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 19384. This law is described as the basis and the bedrock of labor protection regulations and social welfare provisions for the less skilled workers. This is because it came into force to protect the American people who were less skilled and stood the gr eatest risk of being exploited by their employers. In effect, the Act was issued to protect the least powerful section of the United States' society. This protected them from exploitation by their respective employers. The FISA was meant to cover full time and part time workers in private sector, federal, state and local government positions throughout America. This means that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 was designed to have a universal application and it

Case Vignettes in Acid-Base Balance Essay Example for Free

Case Vignettes in Acid-Base Balance Essay Choose three of the four vignettes and BRIEFLY answer the questions that follow. Normal Levels of Substances in the Arterial Blood: pH 7.40 + 0.05 pCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) 40 mm Hg pO2 (partial pressure of oxygen) 90 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin O2 saturation 94 100 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Vignette #1: A 14-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis has complained of an increased cough productive of green sputum over the last week. She also complained of being increasingly short of breath, and she is noticeably wheezing on physical examination. Arterial blood was drawn and sampled, revealing the following values: pH 7.30 pCO2 50 mm Hg pO2 55 mm Hg Hemoglobin O2 saturation 45 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 1. How would you classify this girls acid-base status? 2. How does cystic fibrosis cause this acid-base imbalance? 3. How would the kidneys try to compensate for the girls acid-base imbalance? 4. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #2:  A 76-year-old man complained to his wife of severe sub-sternal chest pains that radiated down the inside of his left arm. Shortly afterward, he collapsed on the living room floor. Paramedics arriving at his house just minutes later found him unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. CPR and electroconvulsive shock were required to start his heart beating  again. Upon arrival at the Emergency Room, the man started to regain consciousness, complaining of severe shortness of breath (dyspnea) and continued chest pain. On physical examination, his vital signs were as follows: Systemic blood 85 mm Hg / 50 mm pressure Hg Heart rate 175 beats / minute Respiratory rate 32 breaths / minute Temperature 99.2o F His breathing was labored, his pulses were rapid and weak everywhere, and his skin was cold and clammy. An ECG was done, revealing significant Q waves in most of the leads. Blood testing revealed markedly elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels of cardiac muscle origin. Arterial blood was sampled and revealed the following: pH 7.22 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 70 mm Hg Hemoglobin O2 saturation 88 % [HCO3-] 2 meq / liter Questions: 5. What is the diagnosis? What evidence supports your diagnosis? 6. How would you classify his acid-base status? What specifically caused this acidbase disturbance? 7. How has his body started to compensate for this acid-base disturbance? 8. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #3: An elderly gentleman is in a coma after suffering a severe stroke. He is in the intensive care unit and has been placed on a ventilator. Arterial blood gas measurements from the patient reveal the following: pH 7.50 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin O2 saturation 98% [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 9. How would you classify this patients acid-base status? 10. How does this patients hyperventilation pattern raise the pH of the blood? 11. How might the kidneys respond to this acid-base disturbance? 12. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance.

Measuring Happiness Levels in Mumbai: Methodology

Measuring Happiness Levels in Mumbai: Methodology Methodology Happiness has been defined either as a broad notion of how one feels about their life in general or as an emotional or affective state. Depending on the way researchers define the concept, there have been variable attempts at measurement. With decades of research, we have a better understanding of how to measure the happiness of others. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods appears to be most productive. (Helm, 2000) This chapter illustrates the methodology followed, tools used and ethical guidelines followed during the study. The following are the research objectives of the study. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To determine the level of happiness among the residents of Mumbai To assess the mental healthcare facilities in the city To find out If there is any correlation between mental health and happiness among the residents of Mumbai On the basis of these research objectives, the following methodology was formulated. Quantitative measurement of happiness Over the past two decades there have been an increasing number of quantitative studies of happiness and well-being. In particular, there have been ongoing debates on whether happiness can be measured, whether it should be measured, how it should be measured and what are the factors affecting it (Ballas Tranmer, 2012).Psychologists and sociologists have used subjective questions regarding individuals’ happiness for over three decades. Cantril (1965) developed a question for life satisfaction. Similar question modules include the Likert (1932)-scale and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). See also Bradburn (1969). The answer to these subjective questions has been indiscriminately termed ‘happiness’, ‘general satisfaction’ and ‘subjective well-being’. In the GSOEP the satisfaction question is: Please answer by using the following scale in which 0 means totally  unhappy, and 10 means totally happy. How happy are you at present with your life as a whole? Here, we call the response to this question the General Satisfaction (GS) level of the respondent. In this case, there are 11 numerical categories, but the question has also been posed with 7 or 5 categories or with verbal labels, such as ‘very happy/happy/so-so/somewhat unhappy/very unhappy’. The end result is invariably an ordered categorical evaluation of the quality of life of the individual.(Ferrer-i-Carbonell Frijters, 2004).The survey context, such as question order, introductory text and the survey source, can influence respondents’ understanding of individual questions within a survey, as well as the information that they draw on in order to answer those questions. In quantitative measurement, we measure the overall subjective well begin by quantifying certain constructs and concepts given below. Measurement of subjective well being Eudemonic questions like show happy are you with your life and how satisfied are you with your life have been asked to be rated on a cantril ladder. Subjective wellbeing is a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s emotional responses, domain satisfactions and global judgements of life satisfaction. Each of the specific constructs need to be understood in their own right ,yet the components often correlate substantially suggesting the need for the higher order factor.(Diener, Suh, Lucas, Smith, 2013). Quality of life is a broad term covering those aspects of overall well-being that are not captured only by material conditions(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). 12 different constructs were identified and worked upon to generate questions. The constructs namely are: education, employment, family, gender, health/lifestyle, personality/self-efficacy, relationships, work-life balance, communal living housing/income. Employment status – employment status is known to have a large influence on subjective  Well-being, with unemployment in particular associated with a strong negative impact on  measures of life satisfaction.(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). Hence 9 questions have been formulated on employment. Both physical and mental health are correlated with measures of subjective well-being (Dolan, Peasgood and White, 2008), and there is evidence that changes in disability status cause changes in life satisfaction (Lucas, 2007). Although health status is complex to measure in household surveys, there is a large pool of well-developed measures available, such as the health state descriptions from the World Health Survey (WHO, 2012), or more specialised question modules, such as the GHQ-12 for mental health (Goldberg et al., 1978). Environmental quality is inherently a geographic phenomenon, and integrating datasets on environmental quality with household level data on life satisfaction is costly. Nonetheless, there is some evidence that noise pollution (Weinhold, 2008) and air pollution (Dolan, Peasgood and White, 2008) have a significant negative impact on life satisfaction(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). Hence by merging both, 14 questions have been formulated beneath the heading Health/Lifestyle. There is significant evidence that aspects of work/life balance impact on subjective well-being, in particular commuting (Frey and Stutzer, 2008; Kahneman and Kruger, 2006), and time spent caring for others(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). To gauge its effect, 4 questions have been formulated on it. Education and skills have obvious interest both as variables for cross-classification and because there is good evidence that education is associated with subjective well-being at a bivariate level(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). To understand the effect and views of the respondent on education, 7 questions have been formulated. Generalised trust in others as well as more domain specific measures of neighbourhood and workplace trust are crucial factors when accounting for variation in subjective well-being(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013).Social contact is one of the most important drivers of subjective well-being, as it has a large impact both on life evaluations and on affect(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). 5 questions have been formulated under communal living. One of the most consistent and robust findings in the field of subjective well-being (SWB) is that the components of SWB are moderately related to personality. Like personality traits, SWB is consistent across situations and is stable across the life span, even after the occurrence of intervening life events(Diener Lucas, 1999). 7 questions have been formulated on personality. Subjective sexual well-being refers to the perceived quality of an individual’s sexuality, sexual life, and sexual relationships. We focus primarily on evaluations of sexuality in terms of satisfaction judgments, which have been central for studying the concept of overall wellbeing(Laumann et al., 2006). Some of these questions have been asked under relationships (4). The relationship and effect of familial relations, housing and income has also been captured by asking 8 questions on it. Satisfaction with life scale The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was originally developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin (1985), and was intended as a brief assessment of an individual’s general sense of satisfaction with their life as a whole. Although the SWLS includes only five items, it has demonstrated good psychometric characteristics.(Pavot Diener, 2008) The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, Griffin,  1985) is a widely used measure of life satisfaction. The SWLS consists of five items  which are rated on a seven-point Likert-type response scale? Scores on the SWLS vary  from 5 to 35 and can be compared with the scores of an international norm group (see  Pavot Diener, 2008). According to Pavot and Diener (2008), various studies confirmed  the internal consistency of the SWLS (with alpha coefficients varying from .79  to .89) (Rothmann, 2013) The authors began the development of the SWLS by generating a pool of 48 items intended to reflect life satisfaction and well-being. From this original pool of items, factor analysis was used to identify 10 items with high loadings (0.60 or above) on a common factor interpreted as global evaluations of a person’s life. After the elimination of redundancies, this group of items was then further reduced to five items, with minimal effect on the alpha reliability of the scale. A 7-point Likert style response scale (ranging from 1 ¼strongly disagree to 7 ¼strongly agree) was utilized in order to afford respondents an array of response options. The five items are all keyed in a positive direction, so the five responses can simply be added to arrive at a total score for the scale. The possible range of scores is therefore 5 to 35, with a score of 20 representing the neutral point on the scale. Scores between 5 and 9 indicate that the respondent is extremely dissatisfied with lif e, whereas scores ranging between 31 and 35 indicate that the respondent is extremely satisfied with life. Scores between 21 and 25 represent slightly satisfied, and scores from 15 to 19 are interpreted as falling in the slightly dissatisfied range(Pavot Diener, 2008). Quality of life has become a primary concern in the evaluation of both the quality and outcome of health care (Moons, Budts, De Geest, 2006). In a review of different conceptual approaches of quality of life, Moons et al. (2006) found life satisfaction to be the most adequate and appropriate conceptualization, as it successfully addresses all of the conceptual problems they examined with regard to health-related quality of life.(Pavot Diener, 2008). In most ways my life is close to my ideal 1. Strongly disagree. 2. Disagree. 3. Slightly agree. 4. Neither agrees nor disagrees. 5. Slightly agree. 6. Agree. 7. Strongly agree. The conditions of my life are excellent 1. Strongly disagree. 2. Disagree. 3. Slightly agree. 4. Neither agrees nor disagrees. 5. Slightly agree. 6. Agree. 7. Strongly agree. I am satisfied with my life. 1. Strongly disagree. 2. Disagree. 3. Slightly agree. 4. Neither agrees nor disagrees. 5. Slightly agree. 6. Agree. 7. Strongly agree. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life. 1. Strongly disagree. 2. Disagree. 3. Slightly agree. 4. Neither agrees nor disagrees. 5. Slightly agree. 6. Agree. 7. Strongly agree. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. 1. Strongly disagree. 2. Disagree. 3. Slightly agree. 4. Neither agrees nor disagrees. 5. Slightly agree. 6. Agree. 7. Strongly agree. Rating scale There are multiple scales, questionnaires and inventories of happiness. The following tools are mere examples: the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the Depression-Happiness Scale and the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale Of Happiness. These scales and other contain multiple items, most frequently from 10-130 items. A plethora of studies on happiness have used single item self-rating scales with different options , mainly the Likert scale which offers 5 or 7 choice point.(Abdel-Khalek, 2006). Much quantitative research within psychology relies upon the use of numerical scales and in the main Likert scales have emerged as the dominant measurement tool(Ogden Lo, 2012). Although providing respondents with a rating scale may seem straightforward, there  are many ways in which response formats can vary. There may be differences in the response formats that may be optimal for evaluative, eudemonic and affective measures. Evaluative and eudemonic measures are similar to attitude measures in that it may be preferable for the response format to contain information about both the direction of feeling (positive/neutral/negative or agree/disagree), as well as its intensity (strong-weak). In the case of affect measures, it is often desirable to measure positive and negative affective states separately. Thus, rather than asking about the direction (positive-neutral-negative) of affect, respondents are often given a single adjective (e.g. happy) and asked to describe either the intensity or the frequency with which they felt  that way within a given time period. This may in turn have implications for the optimal  number of response options, as well as response scale labelling and anchoring. There is, however, considerable debate around the optimal number of response  categories – and a very wide range of opinions is available in the literature (Weng, 2004,  for a brief summary). This number will depend on respondents’ information-processing  capacities and preferences, survey mode, scale labelling, and, to some extent, presentational  concerns and questionnaire length. Increasing the number of response categories beyond  the optimal length could result in loss of information, increased error and decreased  reliability, because the individual scale points will mean less to respondents. The increased  response burden associated with longer scales may also lead respondents to become less  motivated to optimise and more likely to satisfice in their answers, thus also increasing the  risk of response biases and error Bradburn et al. (2004) argue that, due to the burden on memory and attention, five categories is the maximum number that a respondent can process in a verbal interview setting (telephone or face-to-face) without visual prompts. Furthermore, when the response categories are qualitatively different from one another (rather than being imagined on a sliding scale), these authors suggest that four categories should be the upper maximum. On the other hand, Alwin and Krosnick (1991) indicate that respondents may prefer to have response options denoting weak, moderate and strong negative and positive evaluations (i.e. a 7-point scale) in part because these are the categories that people often use to describe attitudes and opinions in everyday life. For evaluative measures with numerical response scales, longer scales (up to around  11 scale points) often appear to perform better. Using a multi-trait-multi-method  design, Alwin found that across all 17 domains of life satisfaction measured, the 11-point scales had higher reliabilities than the 7-point scales. In 14 out of 17 cases, the 11-point scales also had higher validity coefficients; and in 12 of 17 cases, 11-point scales had lower invalidity coefficients, indicating they were affected less, rather than more, by method variance – I.e. systematic response biases or styles. This overall finding is supported by Saris et al. (1998) who used a similar multi-trait-multi-method analysis to compare 100-point, 4 or 5-point and 10-point satisfaction measures, and found that the 10-point scale demonstrated the best reliability. For affect measures, one might be interested in measuring either the intensity of feeling  or the frequency with which that feeling occurred. Measures of recently-experienced affect  are less like attitude measures, in that one is effectively asking respondents to remember a  specific experience or to sum experiences over a specific time period. The method adopted for this study due to paucity of time and level of research expected from us at master’s level is using a 7 point scale for affect measures and using cantril ladder for eudemonic measures. The 7 point scale ranged from strongly disagrees to strongly agree. Background characteristics Questions on the respondent’s background characteristics were collected in the beginning of the questionnaire. Information such as the following was collected. Age Gender Marital status Religion Education Work status Family income Number of years residing in Mumbai Native state Number of family members Number of earning members in family No of rooms in house Ownership of house Qualitative measurement of happiness One open ended question was asked in the beginning of the questionnaire i.e. what does happiness means to you? The aim was to explore what people equate happiness with and how does it affect their overall living. The use of qualitative assessment methods, such as open- ended questions, provides information about the participants’ perceptions, views and beliefs in their own terms, in contrast to using outside researchers’ definitions and categories, which is typical of quantitative inquiries (Denzin and Lincoln 2000). Qualitative data show an additional crucial feature: it is possible to convert them into quantitative scales for purposes of statistical analyses(Fave, Brdar, Freire, Vella-Brodrick, Wissing, 2010). The entire questionnaire was formulated in the following way Data collection sampling Some surveys with the household as the unit of measure rely on a single respondent (such  as the head of household) to provide responses for the household as a whole. This cannot be  used for measures of subjective well-being, since the cognitive process of evaluating and  responding with respect to one’s own subjective well-being is very different to that of providing an estimate of another householder’s state of mind. Responses to questions on subjective wellbeing are inherently personal, and consequently the unit of measure for subjective well-being must be the individual. While this will typically not be an issue for surveys where the individual is the primary unit of analysis(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013). The two modes most commonly used to collect information on subjective well-being are Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), conducted by an interview over the telephone, and Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), where the interviewer is personally present when recording the data.(OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013) Due to paucity of time, the mode was data collection was paper and pen method. The respondents were allowed to take the questionnaire home for a day and could be collected later based on their discretion. The sampling universe was people who had lived in Mumbai for more than 5 years and was targeted at literate working population. The sampling method chose was convenience sampling and the sample size is 200. Confidentiality and ethics Initially the respondents were informed about the purpose of the study and the collector’s identity and her affiliation to the institute. The confidentiality of the participants was not disclosed at any point during the course of the research. Furthermore, the respondents were assured that their responses would be used for academic purposes only.

Queen Isabella I Essay -- Biography

She was born into a family of a long line of royal decedents. She became Queen at the age of twenty four. She was the first women to be on an US commutative coin. Who is this very accomplished person? Queen Isabella. Bold and daring, Queen Isabella accomplished many things in her thirty years of rein as Queen of Castile and Aragon. Queen Isabella was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrigal, Old Castile. Her mother was Isabella of Portugal and her dad was John the II of Castile. Her mom and dad were King and Queen of Castile. She had two brothers, Alfonzo and Henry (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par13). At the age of three Isabella’s father died. After his death He4nry became King of Castile. A few years after he was crowned King he sent Alfonzo and Isabella to Segovia to be safe (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par13). While they were in Segovia Henry got married twice, and finally had a baby. After the baby was born the people of Castile believed they needed a new king, so they summoned Isabella and Alfonzo back. The people of Castile decided that Alfonzo will be the heir to the throne. But while there was a war going on in Castile Alfonzo was killed. Now Isabella was the heir to the throne (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par16). Henry believed that Isabella should get married if she wanted the crown. With that in mind he thought she should marry Don Carlos Prince of Vienna. But Isabella had other thoughts in mind. She wished to marry Ferdinand Prince of Aragon. Her brother would not fight with her so he allowed her to marry him. But she would have to wait until she got back from her trip. Isabella did not listen and married him during her trip. Therefore they got married in 1469 in Juan de Vivero (â€Å"Queen Isabella I† par3-5). When they ... ...w country of Spain. She mostly impacted religions. When she was alive she always taught people that everyone in this world is equal (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par 5). She made huge sacrifices when she was young. She even turned down an offer to be Queen. She believed that unless both her brothers died it was not her right to be Queen (â€Å"Queen Isabella’ par 4). Being an educated Catholic girl, Isabella was mostly influenced by god. Her parents taught her to always follow the word of god (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par43). Isabella wanted to be remembered as someone to look up to. Today she has accomplished that. Many people in Spain wish to make Isabella a Saint. But fro right now she is called a servant of god (â€Å"Isabella of Castile† par 39). â€Å"The distance is great beyond firm belief to the realization from concrete experiences.† Queen Isabella.

The Definition of Statehood

Before diving into the question of this essay, one that looks simple on the surface but reveals itself to be as complicated as it is deep, I found myself asking how we define â€Å"statehood†. It’s all good and well to say that the state is a contested organisation, but when the idea of what exactly a state is comes into it, that statement becomes all the less clear. By definition a nation state is a state/country that possesses clear borders and land, and contains mostly the same type of people by either race or cultural background. ttp://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/467746/political-system/36702/National-political-systems? anchor=ref416908 Yet some states have numerous ethnicities, Nigeria for example has been calculated to have over two hundred culturally distinct groups, even Gambia, whose population numbers about half a million people, has eight distinct ethnic groups (Hughes 1981: 122). Then again, these are both countries that are considered as â€Å"fai led states†, something I will return to later on.According to Philip Cerny, statehood is the capacity to guard the social, economic and political life of its people and also to protect them from external threats and predators. He then goes on to say that states regularly fail at one of these tasks, often not doing well at both at the same time. Statehood, according to Cerny, is the â€Å"problematique of the modern world system itself†. Why? Why are nation states so bad at doing what they say on the tin? Surely it can’t be that hard to defend one’s people and at the same time give them basic needs such as employment, welfare and education.Of course, the world isn’t a perfect place, and we have yet to reach the utopia dreamt of by our grandparents, but really does everything have to be so terrible? To be fair Cerny does give a good argument against that, and provides much evidence to show that the state is indeed a contested organisation. He argues t hat â€Å"future structural organisational developments will depend on the kinds of political coalitions that can be built to confront and deal with those challenges†, especially those involving cross-border networks.In that case the result is likely to be a more complex form of world politics that is not only multi-level but also multi-nodal. Cerny makes a clear statement that the ideal states are â€Å"organisationally distinct from families, churches, classes, races, economic institutions† and also non-state political organisations. He then simplifies that claim that the state is a contested organisation by breaking it down into 3 sections: economically, socially and politically. First we will look at each of these individually and examine that statement.Of the three, the most interesting to me was his ascertain that the state is an economically contested organisation. Cerny says that states are organised through relationships of power, but they are also bound to th e ideals of fairness and justice. Economic groups such as corporations and markets however, are not. They revolve around a principle of profit and aren’t shackled by the same need to be ‘nice’ that states are. One can go so far as to say that Cerny is nearly directly addressing the issue of globalisation without ever saying the word.Take big companies such as Coca Cola or McDonalds, while they give a consumer-friendly image and do help communities with various projects, at the end of the day they are 100% profit driven and if circumstances dictated that they must drop half their workforce to save costs, you can be sure that they would. Globalisation has meant that corporations no longer operate within borders, and for the most part are free to trade as they please. That some of these firms make more money than the Irish state is a very scary thought indeed. It is an invasive and destabilizing phenomenon that states must contest with.Not only does it signal height ened interconnectedness, but it encroaches into those formal-legal aspects of sovereignty that secure or tie down authority in the first instance, and benefit from it in the second. In other words, â€Å"the transnational connections inherent in globalisation are significant on a qualitative as well as a quantitative level. But what new patterns of authority are emerging here? † (Williams 1996: 118) It is said of sovereignty that there is plenty of it around, but that as a result of globalisation â€Å"the sites for its concentration have changed. According to this argument states are being forced to concede certain of their sovereign powers to regional, transnational or world bodies on one hand, and to local and other sub-national institutions on the other. On a side note while on the point of globalisation, though Cerny doesn’t explore the idea it is also worth mentioning the globalisation of military power as it contests with every state organisation. Advanced nucl ear weapons systems can now operate worldwide, for they can deliver their payloads to any place at all on the planet, and do so within a very short time.They are thus capable of making the whole earth uninhabitable, and of threatening the very survival of the all states, whether they wish it or not (Poggi 1990: 177). You really can’t get much more global than that. The next area we will examine is Cerny’s claim that the state is a socially contested organisation. According to him states â€Å"are not natural, spontaneous emanations† from a â€Å"taken for granted, pre-existing society, people, or public†, they are made up from real people who base them on a range of often divided groups such as class, ethnicity, religion and ideology to name a few.People who are born in to this nation state may not always agree with or like the way things are and can find themselves caught in conflicts of identity, and the state finds itself constantly at odds with those who feel socially indoctrinated with the rules, power structures and policies of that state. As Cerny says, â€Å"citizens are made, not born†. Another big social contender is the internet, any one person can simply log on to Facebook (or other social networking sites) and instantly connect with people all over the world, again ignoring state boundaries.The final point that is discussed is that the state is a politically contested organisation. This can nearly go without saying, as there isn’t a state in the world that hasn’t been challenged politically at one stage or another. This happens on all ends of the scale, from as Cerny puts it: â€Å"absolutist monarchs and national revolutionaries to various bureaucrats, officials, patrons and clients†. He even goes on to mention religious movements and criminal gangs.It is important to note that the organisational strengths that Cerny mentions, whether they be rooted in widely accepted social identities or bo nds, or that they have power internationally, need not only apply to Westphalian states (and indeed many of those ‘official’ states are weak on those levels). Take certain groups such as Hezbollah or the IRA for example, upon looking past the fact that they are viewed by some as terrorist organisations (although most European countries have refused to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation [http://www. digitalnpq. org/archive/2009_summer/03_qassem. tml]), these groups often take on the state roles for the people they claim to serve. Hezbollah is a major provider of social services, operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands and playing a significant part in Lebanese politics. [http://www. cfr. org/publication/9155/hezbollah_aka_hizbollah_hizbullah. html? breadcrumb=/]. Likewise the IRA are renowned for looking after their own, be it ensuring the well being of prisoner families or upholding the law (or at least a version of it), in area s where traditional state politics have failed.Going back now to the other two headings for the contested state, economically and politically, and applying them to the state â€Å"alternatives† I mentioned above, it is hard to understand why Cerny didn’t do the same. One can not simply draw a line in the sand and say that all the ones over here (those of the Westphalia type) are states, and those over there are not. There are many similarities to be found on both sides. These groups also find themselves to be contested organisations.Yes it can be argued that economically, Hezbollah only functions because the nation states of Iran and Syria support them, but the same was also said of the peripheral state of Cuba when it was funded by the USSR (Giddens 1985: 269). In the north the IRA have succeeded in many social areas that the government have not, giving identity, protection and services to a select group of people who otherwise feel abandoned by a system that is suppo sed to do the same. The downfall of these groups is that their (occasional) focus on fighting and violence only serves to detract from the other areas.Yet returning to Cerny, he raises the point that some find the cost of the US’s war in Iraq (estimated at 2-3 trillion dollars), has prevented it from addressing issues both domestically (health care and employment for example) and abroad (development aid, fighting disease ect). This shows that even the largest of official states can do itself damage by focusing too much on military operations. But what happens when a state can do no more for its people? When it becomes such a contested organisation that it loses physical control of its

Surviving the elements Essay Example

Surviving the elements Essay Example Surviving the elements Essay Surviving the elements Essay White-hot sun searing innocent flesh, furious blizzards freezing the earth over, intense storms and hammering rain making us shiver. The restless wailing winds blowing against our weary faces. Spine chilling darkness scratching at our subconscious minds reminding us the unknown is alive and on the hunt, natural elements of our planet have set humans out to find safe havens since the dawn of time. We need shelters to survive. Humans are a fragile race; and a shelter is our only protection against the cruel environment. In the fictional novel, Lord of the Flies, Ritter by William Gilding shows Just how important shelters and homes are to our survival. He also shows that not only is our world cruel but also those who inhabit it. Inside us all there is a beast put down to slumber by the mere idea of civilization. We all have the logic in us to do whatever we have to, in order to survive. We know the importance of survival; it is our most primal instinct. But to live in, and build a community where civilization is intact there has to be equality, or else it will come to a devastating end. When building a shelter people have to keep in mind all of these tactics in order to have a successful team. Everything and everyone on this planet has fears. It can be something as small as spiders, or something our imaginations conjure up, but then there is something bigger that we all dread. Some of us do not even admit it is there. Most will simply say it is a divine power that we are right to fear. Someday we shall find ourselves looking into a vast mouth scared out of our wits, we will see blackness within, a blackness that spreads(Gilding 144). We will witness the horrid dark. This blackness is the night of the human soul, an unnatural, dark night. It engulfs us and figuratively follows us everywhere we go. Sometimes, it is like Mimi catch yourself feeling as if, there is something behind you all the time (Gilding 53). But it is truly inside, not behind. Even if you are within the protection of your home. It is Just an uneasy feeling that we all have experienced, the feeling of being watched And hunted. Frequently for us the houses we build block out a great amount of our fear. We need protection from the outside world, each other, and ourselves. People know of course that we cannot escape the evil within us, yet we try. Sometimes we can elude this evil; though once we realize what we really are we weep, for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart(Gilding). We are the biggest threats in the world, and a shelter, a place where we are surrounded by walls somehow contains our humanity. Our mindset is, if we have something containing and protecting us from what is outside, than we are also protected from what is inside. Though deep in our minds we know that is not the case. If we are put out into the world unprotected we snap. This is why when stranded on an island humans will loose all self control. In a way Shelters contain civilization. But why, if we have this physical form of comfort, are we still afraid; is it Just the fact of knowing what we are capable of, knowing what and who we truly are? Our natural instinct to survive has evolved miraculously over the centuries. If it meaner surviving we are willing to crouch down in a thicket for hours, with a spear ready to Jab any wreath(Gilding 191). We will find a way to survive, though without the protection of our homes we are vulnerable, timid creatures. There are few things that are as outside world, it protects our minds from going utterly insane at the thought of our evil twins coming out to cause destruction. If lost one goal comes to our minds an acute need to get home, to get out, there comes an incredible ability to adapt and preserve. Our nature demands it(Petersen). If we are placed in a life threatening situation we know to Stay alive, thats what its all about(Petersen). Most people would do anything to keep breathing, saw off an arm to escape Revert to cannibalism to fend off starvation Kill to stay alive. We become so extremely vulnerable, we will do absolutely anything to stay alive. Longing for our homes while we are away, people tend to tie themselves to their material items and places of protection. While homesick one might dream of rescue; but when faced by the brute obtuseness of the ocean, one was clamped down, one was helpless, one is condemned(Soldiering). We have created such a civilization where our homes are seed purely for our protection and minds comfort. When away we go a little bit batty. Because we cannot protect ourselves, from ourselves though we try to; and we cannot even to begin to protect without our material comforts. We tell ourselves that we are good-natured human beings and we are civilized, but deep inside us we all know that our instinct to survive is stronger than any other force. All we have to keep our way of life safe and stable is our humanity, and sometimes in the midst of struggles our learned civilized behavior slips away. Because of the primal instinct we eve to solely survive. We have been imprinted with one statement. Do whatever you have to, in order to survive. Our entire planets history shows that without equality our communities will fail. From the very beginning people will turn on those who are weaker than them, calling them mean names and bark shut up fatty'(Gilding). In order to shut the person down when people are Judged and are considered unequal it sparks something inside of us. Our primal instincts come out and fight back to become equal. After all we are the same. Why should some of us be considered less Han others? The most important aspect of civilization is having equality. Not meaning that we all would have to be good at the same things, but all Jobs in a community should be considered equally important. Once we put effort into equalizing people and their positions, our communities thrive. It is impossible to be at the head of the table when you are sitting in a circle(Hunt). Surviving by your self is a challenge but with the help of a community it becomes quite simple. Everyone has to feel welcome, comfortable being themselves, and equal. With this our civilized action is born. We have prevailed through the intense heat of the sun, we have made sturdy walls to sway the wind away from our chilled bodies, and we have put roofs over our heads to protect us from the horrific thunderstorms and pounding rains. We have hidden our fears deep within the labyrinth of our minds, to amplify the comfort that our shelter provides. Our society has adapted and adjusted itself for centuries, so that we can better enjoy our time on this planet. As a people we have invented a nation where we all feel connected and equalized by something bigger than us all. But we do not realize this thing that connects us, this invisible powerful force is the beast inside us. It truly does terrify us but it is one thing that we all have in common. Take away our man made shelters and you take away our humanity, our civilized nature. Without this little protection, our imaginations run wild with fear. We become them tranquil thoughts. From that point on what has been put to sleep awakens. From that point on we will do what we have to in order to survive. Shelter is essential to our survival, without it we are animals. Shelter tames the beast within.