Health Improvement free essay sample

To address this challenge, the world’s governments committed themselves at the United Nations Millennium Summit to the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of halving extreme poverty by the year 2015. Yet, our planet’s capacity to sustain us is eroding. The problems are well-known – degrading agricultural lands, shrinking forests, diminishing supplies of clean water, dwindling fisheries, and the threat of growing social and ecological vulnerability from climate change and loss of biological diversity. While these threats are global, their impacts are most severe in the developing world – especially among people living in poverty who have the least means to cope. Is this environmental decline inevitable in order for poverty to be reduced? We argue not. Indeed, quite the opposite is true. If we do not successfully arrest and reverse these problems, the world will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goal of halving extreme poverty. We will write a custom essay sample on Health Improvement or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As this paper demonstrates, tackling environmental degradation is an integral part of effective and lasting poverty reduction. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) provides the international community with a pivotal opportunity to redirect the global debate, and to forge a more integrated and effective global response to poverty and environmental decline. To succeed, we need to focus on the most important links between poverty, the environment and sustainable development. For many, ensuring sound environmental management means curtailment of economic opportunities and growth, rather than their expansion †¦ too often; it is viewed as a cost rather than an investment. Prepared as a contribution to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development focuses on ways to reduce poverty and sustain growth by improving management of the environment, broadly defined. It seeks to draw out the links between poverty and the environment, and to demonstrate that sound and equitable environmental management is integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, combating major diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability. Four priority areas for sustained policy and institutional change are highlighted: ?Improving governance for pro-poor and pro-environment policies, institutions and services, with particular attention to the needs of women and children; ?Enhancing the assets of the poor and reducing their vulnerability to environment-related shocks and conflict; ?Improving the quality of growth to protect the asset base of the poor and expand opportunities for sustainable livelihoods; ?Reforming international and industrialized country policies related to trade, foreign direct investment, aid and debt. Policy opportunities exist to reduce poverty and improve the environment The environment matters greatly to people living in poverty. The poor often depend directly on natural resources and ecological services for their livelihoods; they are often the most affected by unclean water, indoor air pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals; and they are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards such as floods and prolonged drought, and to environment-related conflict. Addressing these poverty-environment linkages must be at the core of national efforts to eradicate poverty. Many policy opportunities exist to reduce poverty by improving the environment – but there are significant and often deeply entrenched policy and institutional barriers to their widespread adoption. The past decade of experience since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio reveals some important lessons that help point the way forward. Three broad lessons are highlighted here: ?First and foremost, poor people must be seen as part of the solution – rather than part of the problem. Efforts to improve environmental management in ways that contribute to sustainable growth and poverty reduction must begin with the poor themselves. Given the right incentives and support – including access to information and participation in decision-making – the poor will invest in environmental improvements to enhance their livelihoods and well-being. At the same time, however, it is essential to address the activities of the non-poor since they are the source of most environmental damage. The environmental quality of growth matters to the poor. Environmental improvement is not a luxury preoccupation that can wait until growth has alleviated income poverty, nor can it be assumed that growth itself will take care of environmental problems over the longer-term as a natural by-product of increasing affluence. First, this ignores the fundamental importance of environmental goods and services to the livelihoods and well-being of the rural and urban poor. Second, there are many examples of how bad environmental management is bad for growth, and of how the poor bear a disproportionate share of the costs of environmental degradation. Ignoring the environmental soundness of growth – even if this leads to short-run economic gains – can undermine long-run growth and its effectiveness in reducing poverty. ?Environmental management cannot be treated separately from other development concerns, but requires integration into poverty reduction and sustainable development efforts in order to achieve significant and lasting results. Improving environmental management in ways that benefit the poor requires policy and institutional changes that cut across sectors and lie mostly outside the control of environmental institutions – changes in governance, domestic economic policy, and in international policies. Improving governance ?Integrate poverty-environment issues into nationally-owned poverty reduction strategies, including macroeconomic and sect oral policy reforms and action programmes, so that they can become national sustainable development strategies. Engage poor and marginalized groups in policy and planning processes to ensure that the key environmental issues that affect them are adequately addressed, to build ownership, and to enhance the prospects for achieving lasting results. Address the poverty-environment concerns of poor women and children and ensure that they are given higher priority and fully integrated into poverty reduction strategies and policy reforms – for example, the growing burden of collecting scarce water and fuelwood supplies, and the effects of long-term exposure to polluted indoor air. Implement anti-corruption measures to counter the role of corruption in the misuse of natural resources and weak enforcement of environmental regulations – for example, the destructive impacts of illegal logging and unregulated mining, or the preference for construction of new power and water investments over increasing the efficiency of existing investments. ?Improve poverty-environment indicators to document environmental change and how it affects poor people, and integrate into national poverty monitoring systems. This should be complemented by measures to improve citizens’ access to environmental information. Enhancing the assets of the poor ?Strengthen resource rights of the poor by reforming the wider range of policies and institutions that influence resource access, control and benefit-sharing, with particular attention to resource rights for women. This includes central and sub-national government, traditional authorities, the legal system, and local land boards, commissions and tribunals. Support decentralization and local environmental management – land, water and forest resource management, and provision of water supply and sanitation services – by strengthening local management capacity and supporting women’s key roles in managing natural resources. ?Expand access to environmentally-sound and pro-poor technology, such as crop production technologies that conserve soil and water and minimize the use of pesticides, or appropriate renewable energy and energy e fficient technologies that also minimize air pollution. This includes support for indigenous technologies, and the need to address the social, cultural, financial and marketing aspects of technical change. ?Promote measures that reduce the environmental vulnerability of the poor by strengthening participatory disaster preparedness and prevention capacity, supporting the formal and informal coping strategies of vulnerable groups, and expanding access to insurance and other risk management mechanisms. Reduce the vulnerability of the poor to environment-related conflict by improving conflict resolution mechanisms in the management of natural resources and addressing the underlying political issues that affect resource access. Improving the quality of growth ?Integrate poverty-environment issues in economic policy and decision-making by strengthening the use of environmental assessment and poverty social impact analysis. Improve environmental valuation at both the macro and micro level, in order to highlight the full cost of environmental deg radation for the poor in particular and the economy in general, and to improve economic decision-making. ?Expand private sector involvement in pro-poor environmental management to maximize the efficiency gains from private sector participation, while safeguarding the interests of the poor. This requires capacity within government to negotiate with the private sector – for example, to ensure that utility privatization benefits the poor – and to forge effective public-private partnerships that enhance the poor’s access to environmental services. ?Implement pro-poor environmental fiscal reform including reform of environmentally-damaging subsidies, improved use of rent taxes to better capture and more effectively allocate resource revenues, and improved use of pollution charges to better reflect environmental costs in market prices. Reforming international and industrialized country policies ?Reform trade and industrialized country subsidy policies to open up markets to developing country imports while avoiding environmental protectionism, and to reduce subsidies that lead to unsustainable exploitation – such as subsidies for large-scale commercial fishing fleets that encourage over-harvesting in developing country fisheries. . Make foreign direct investment more pro-poor and pro-environment by encouraging multinational corporations to comply with the revised OECD Code of Conduct for Multinational Enterprises, and to report on the environmental impact of their activities in line with the UN Environment Programme’s Global Reporting Initiative. ?Increase funding for the Global Environment Facility as the major source of funding for global public goods in the environment, such as a stable climate, maintenance of biodiversity, clean international waters and the protective ozone layer. These benefit the whole world as well as the poor themselves – so the rich world must pay a fair share for their maintenance. ?Enhance the contribution of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to national development objectives by strengthening developing country capacity to participate in the negotiation and implementation of MEAs (for example, to ensure that the Clean Development Mechanism promotes investments that benefit the poor). Also, improved coordination is needed between MEAs so that scarce developing country capacity is used most effectively. ?Encourage sustainable consumption and production – industrialized country consumers and producers through their trade, investment, pollution emissions and other activities affect the environmental conditions of developing countries. Making rich country consumption and production more sustainable will require a complex mix of institutional changes – addressing market and government failures as well as broad public attitudes. Enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation and debt relief with more priority for poverty-environment issues, particularly for the poorest countries where aid and debt relief continue to have a valuable role to play in helping governments to make many of the changes recommended above. Mainstream environment in donor agency operations through staff training, development and application of new skills, tools and approaches, and revisions to the way resources and budgets are allocated. Transparent monitoring of progress against stated objectives and targets is needed in order to hold development agencies accountable and to ensure that a commitment by senior management to addressing poverty-environment issues is put into practice throughout the organization. Conclusion This paper looks ahead with some degree of hope and optimism for the future – there are sometimes win-win opportunities, and there are rational ways of dealing with trade-offs. Environmental degradation is not inevitable, nor the unavoidable result of economic growth. On the contrary, sound and equitable environmental management is key to sustained poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There are significant policy opportunities to reduce poverty and improve the environment, but more integrated and pro-poor approaches are needed. The World Summit on Sustainable Development is an opportunity to focus on what is most important and to forge a coherent framework for action, with clear goals and achievable targets backed-up by adequate resources and effective and transparent monitoring mechanisms. There can be no more important goal than to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty on our planet. PART 1 Why the Environment Matters to People Living in Poverty â€Å"Water is life and because we have no water, life is miserable† (Kenya) â€Å"We think the earth is generous; but what is the incentive to produce more than the family needs if there are no access roads to get produce to a market? † (Guatemala) â€Å"In the monsoons there is no difference between the land in front of our house and the public drain. You can see for yourself† (India) In their own words, the environment matters greatly to people living in poverty. Indeed, poor people’s perceptions of well-being are strongly related to the environment in terms of their livelihoods, health, vulnerability, and sense of empowerment and ability to control their lives. Figure 1 provides a simplified framework for understanding how environmental management relates to poverty reduction, and why these poverty-environment linkages must be at the core of action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and related national poverty eradication and sustainable development objectives. Environmental management for poverty reductionDimensions of povertyDevelopment goals Part 1 of the paper focuses on the poverty-environment relationship by examining how environmental conditions in both rural and urban settings relate to three key dimensions of human poverty and well-being: ?Livelihoods – poor people tend to be most dependent upon the environment and the direct use of natural resources, and therefore are the most severely affected when the environment is degraded or their access to natural resources is limited or denied; Health – poor people suffer most when water, land and the air are polluted; ?Vulnerability – the poor are most often exposed to environmental hazards and environment-related conflict, and are least capable of coping when they occur. We also are concerned with the relationship between growth and the environment and how it affects the poor and efforts to reduce poverty. The environmental soundness of growth matters considerably to the poor, and countries with similar levels of income and growth can have quite different levels of environmental performance. While Figure 1 illustrates the main pathways between environmental conditions and dimensions of poverty, in reality these linkages are multi-dimensional, dynamic and often inter-connected: ?Poverty is now widely viewed as encompassing both income and non-income dimensions of deprivation – including lack of income and other material means; lack of access to basic social services such as education, health and safe water; lack of personal security; and lack of empowerment to participate in the political process and in decisions that influence one’s life. The dynamics of poverty also are better understood, and extreme vulnerability to external shocks is now seen as one of its major features. Environment refers to the biotic and abiotic components of the natural world that together support life on earth – as a provider of goods (natural resources) and ecosystem services utilized for food production, energy and as raw material; a recipient and partial recycler of waste products from the economy; and an important source of recreation, beauty, spiritual values and other amenities. The nature and dynamics of poverty-environment linkages are context-specific – reflecting both geographic location and economic, social and cultural characteristics of individuals, households and social groups. Different social groups can prioritize different environmental issues (Brocklesby and Hinshelwood, 2001). In rural areas, poor people are particularly concerned with their access to and the quality of natural resources, especially water, cro p and grazing land, forest products and biomass for fuel. For the urban poor, water, energy, sanitation and waste removal are key concerns. Poor women regard safe and physically close access to potable water, sanitation facilities and abundant energy supplies as crucial aspects of well-being, reflecting their primary role in managing the household. ?Environmental management, as used in this paper, extends well beyond the activities of public environmental institutions. In relation to poverty, environmental management is concerned fundamentally with sustaining the long-term capacity of the environment to provide the goods and services upon which people and economies depend. This means improving environmental conditions and ensuring equitable access to environmental assets – in particular land and biological resources, and safe and affordable water supply and sanitation – in order to expand poor people’s livelihood opportunities, protect their health and capacity to work, and reduce their vulnerability to environment-related risks. This broader conception of poverty and environment, and of environmental management, is essential to understanding the linkages between them and to identifying appropriate policy and institutional options for improving these linkages. There have been some impressive gains since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment – the first global conference devoted to environment and development issues. There has been a proliferation of environmental policies and institutions at national and sub-national levels, and environmental issues are firmly placed on the agendas of governments, civil society and the private sector. Major global environmental agreements have been forged and global environmental organizations established. Environmental sustainability has become a core concern of bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, and billions of dollars have been spent on environment-related programmes and projects. Tangible progress also has been achieved ‘on the ground’, although the picture is usually mixed. For example, in the 1990s some 900 million people gained access to improved water sources. However, this was merely enough to keep pace with population growth, and about 1. 2 billion people are still without access to improved water sources, with rural populations particularly under-served (Devarajan et al, 2002). Another example is the productivity of soil used for cereal production, which increased on average in developing countries from 1979-81 to 1998-2000. However, it fell in some 25 countries, most of them in Africa, with land degradation being one factor behind the decline (World Bank, 2002c). Despite these gains, pressure on the environment continues to mount worldwide, posing major challenges to the prospects for poverty reduction and human development in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries.

Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter

Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter By Mark Nichol A friend of mine recently posted online a humorous observation to the effect that it’s ironic that non-hyphenation is hyphenated. In true word-nerd fashion, I figuratively cleared my throat and pushed my taped-together black horn-rimmed glasses up my nose before offering the deflating response that nonhyphenation does not in fact have a hyphen. (What are friends for?) My friend’s misapprehension is a common one. Hyphenation in prefixed words remains rampant in writing ranging from social media posts to scholarly journals, though style manuals have more or less long advocated minimizing their use. Why, then, the persistence of non-profit, multi-billion (as in â€Å"multi-billion dollar budget,† which errs also in lacking a hyphen before dollar), pre-approved, post-modern, and the like? First, some history: The hyphen began as an arc-shaped symbol called the enotikon, which was marked underneath letters in Greek script to denote a connection between two words. (The Greek term means â€Å"uniter.†) During the Middle Ages, a straight line with a similar role was adopted in Latin, and Gutenberg raised the symbol to the middle of the line of text, and furthermore adopted an angled double line resembling an equal sign at the end of a line, borrowing from writing of Latin script, when insufficient room remained to set an entire word with uniformly sized metal type, allowing him to break words to fit where necessary. (Many proofreaders who proof on paper still use an equal sign to denote a hyphen; the rationale for retaining the double line when marking proofs is that it is less likely than a single line to be missed or to be mistaken for an accidental mark.) The trend in English is to phase out hyphenation when terms become more familiar. British English has also historically been more conservative than American English about retaining hyphens not only in prefixed words but also in compound nouns, as in dining-room or shop-keeper, which are now in both forms of English open and closed, respectively; many such constructions were purged from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary only in the last decade. Meanwhile, style guides strive to minimize inconsistency, but individual or regional preference and specialized occupational usage may resist progress. However, the most significant factor in the persistence of hyphens in prefixed words and in compounds may be that most people, including many professional writers, do not check dictionaries or style guides to verify or correct their assumptions, often relying on what they learned from (sometimes misinformed) teachers or from published resources- sometimes decades ago, before the hyphen became an endangered species in compounds and prefixed words. To recap (not re-cap): Hyphens in such constructions are the exception, not the rule. (They do have valid applications, as many DailyWritingTips.com posts discuss; search the site for â€Å"hyphen† or â€Å"hyphenation† for examples.) If you are inclined to hyphenate a prefixed word or a compound word, double-check a dictionary or a style guide for prevailing style before you commit yourself. There’s no hyphen, and thus no irony, in nonhyphenated. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-EfficientItalicizing Foreign Words"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?

Basic Concepts and Techniques of Human Resources Term Paper

Basic Concepts and Techniques of Human Resources - Term Paper Example KFC restaurants provide several fried and non-fried chicken foods such as sandwiches, chicken strips and several other delicious products. Besides, it also offers variety of additional items which are best fitted in terms of local food preferences of customers (Yum! Brands, 2011). In the year 1997, PepsiCo acquired KFC along with other two brands namely Taco Bell and Pizza Hut renaming the acquired group as Tricon Global Restaurants. In the year 2002, the Tricon Global Restaurants was again renamed as Yum Brands, Inc collectively (KFC, 2011). Purpose of the Paper This paper provides a brief description of the job role of a restaurant manager in KFC. The objective of the paper is to develop a training program for the recruiting the most suitable restaurant manager in KFC. In this regards, it undertakes the aspects such as major tasks, major specifications and job standards of the restaurant manager in KFC. Furthermore, each step of the training program has been described in the paper along with the requisite activities that needs to be performed. Strengths and Weaknesses of KFC The major strength of KFC is its brand identity. KFC is known all over the world and enjoy a strong brand reputation of fast food restaurant services. KFC’s other strength in the international market is its attractive menu offerings which acts as its competitive advantage. However, the major disadvantage of KFC can be identified in terms of the frequent conflicts in work culture with its parent company PepsiCo. It is in this context that the conflicting cultures of both brands tend to have a substantial impact on the performance of the employees. The cultural conflict is also considered as a hindrance while entering into other foreign markets. Besides, the company has been identified to have a record of weak performance with respect to franchisee business (Scribd Inc., 2012). Scope and Size of KFC The scope of KFC as a restaurant business is quite high as the products of the compan y are increasingly desired by numerous people globally. Data collected during the year 2006 suggests that above one billion units of ‘finger lickin’ chickens were served by KFC per annum in almost 80 nations (Yum! Brands, 2011). In the year 2010, the number of employees in KFC was almost 455,000 internationally (Yum! Brands, 2011). Furthermore, KFC has been identified to have made a tremendous progress in the developing nations including China and India. KFC is also leveraging its assets for developing additions to its menus. The sales growth figure in countries where KFC operates is also impressive indicating a significant scope of success. In the year 2010, KFC had generated almost US$ 14.7 billion excluding the United States market. With more number of outlets internationally, the sales figure of KFC is expected to increase considerably in the future (Chancey, 2012). Section 2 Job Analysis Job analysis is a vital process for determining the sole functions of a partic ular job. Job analysis is supposed to be the fundamental aspect for human resource management activities where development of training program necessitates a complete investigation of the job. It is in this context that KFC has engaged numerous managers for several tasks which can range from area managers and assistant managers to trainee managers and restaurant managers. The restaurant manager is liable for the overall operation of the allocated restaurant. The major

To what extent does the word 'violence' have meaning shared across all Essay

To what extent does the word 'violence' have meaning shared across all human cultures - Essay Example Since looking at an intercultural perspective offers a broad image of violence, this paper will examine the definition and explanation of violence in sociology, since the uniqueness of societies and its norms are the ones initiating it and are also directly affected by it. Although it takes on different forms of which it is dependent on culture, the universality of violence would refer to the reaction of humans to deal with certain deprivation and as an act of fitting to the situation. Defining ‘Violence’ The World Health Organization (WHO) (n.d., p. 3) described violence as a â€Å"part of human experience† where â€Å"its impact can be seen in various forms, in all parts of the world.† The specified ‘human experience’ is already broad in its sense, but when referring to violence, it is mostly coming from negative perception. Through this definition, the World Health Organization agrees to the claim that ‘violence’ covers varied i ssues where the definition would surely undergo revisions; yet, all of which would be considered correct. The cultural view of violence depends on the specific ‘human experience’ and is entirely unique in one aspect or another, which makes the definition of violence more complex. Steger and Lind (1999, p. 24) improvised a way on defining violence without disregarding even one cultural background by categorizing it according to three disciplines where violence might have stemmed: Philosophical, Political and Sociological. A philosophical view of violence which is also called a â€Å"wide† definition is centered on structural violence. This has been expounded by Garver (n.d., cited in Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24) wherein his definition of violence is about the unreciprocated needs of the society, or if there were alterations in the normal social process, specifically termed as ‘quiet violence.’ Quiet violence would exist if â€Å"people are deprived of choices in a systemic way by the very manner in which transactions normally take place† (Garver, n.d. cited in Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24). Somehow, Garver’s definition is congruent to Galtung’s (1969, p. 169) assertion about what violence is. According to him, violence occurs when â€Å"the potential is higher than the actual is by definition avoidable and when it is avoidable.† In other words, violence, according to Galtung is when an action is entirely preventable and yet, no one is able to stop it from happening. A firm example posed is the case of a tuberculosis patient. Years ago, when tuberculosis inflicts death among people, the severity of the disease would not be considered violence since there were no effective medications available against it. However, if it has occurred now, such situation is considered violence because treatments for the said disease are available, and therefore, such deaths would have been preventable. In addition to Steger and Lind’s (1999) classification, sociological definition of violence might have to be the most overseen among the ones mentioned, since it deals with the acceptable and unacceptable types. In one way or another, sociological violence is politically driven especially when pertaining to the â€Å"illegal or illegitimate use of force† (Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24). For example, the acts of the military men during war cannot be considered violence in this sense since they are permitted by the state to do so,

Writing Assignment on Dopamine Transporter Research Paper

Writing Assignment on Dopamine Transporter - Research Paper Example Due to these sufferings, the veterans find it hard to adjust and gain acceptability in society. Their mental condition hampers their chances of finding jobs within US and due to this, their emotional status becomes worse. They fail to provide for their family and due to ample amount of stress and feeling of alienation from society, they end up taking steps that have dire consequences such as suicide. The government and the private sector need to join hands together to solve this problematic issue. Government has plans and budget to deal with the issues experienced by veterans, but these plans and budgets are not making much of a difference (Woodhead et al., 2011). The private and public sectors need to treat these patients of war through several treatment options available. This writing will focus upon how counseling can assist in solving the problem of anxiety disorder among war veterans and how well this method performed in the past. Cocker conducted a study on the war veterans of the Gulf War in which he studied over 1,000 veterans. The outcome of his study proved that around 59% of the veterans were diagnosed with some kind of mental and physical disorder; around 387 members of the study had some kind of illness and diagnosis of whether these illnesses were mental or physical could not be concluded; and only 90 or 9% of the veterans were not diagnosed with a health condition. A total of 195 were suffering from some kind of cognitive disorder which was caused just because of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and 16% and 18% of the members suffered from some kind of respiratory issue and muscular disorder respectively (Coker, Bhatt, Blatchley, & Graham, 1999). According to Dobson’s research, when the Australian government started its community counseling services for the Australian veterans of the Vietnam War during the period of 1987, more than 5,000 veterans signed up for the program (Dobson, Grays on,

South korea was very underdeveloped

South korea was very underdeveloped Introduction In the beginning of the twentieth century, South Korea was very underdeveloped. It was a country consisting of minimal economic activity to compete in the Global markets. South Korea was still integrated with North Korea as one state under the Rulership of Japan. Agriculture played a big role in the economic progress of Korea under the communist system. It was only a matter of time before Korea would be divided into the north and south After WW2 and the Korean War. But the South would prove to be much more prosperous than the North, through opening up its markets, its affiliations with The United States of America and turning into a Democratic state. Its economic transformation pushed South Korea become a competitive country in the Global market within three decades towards the end of the twentieth century. The following essay will take a brief look at Koreas economic progress in the first half of the twentieth century, and then focus on how South Korea started to progress economical ly after WW2. It will also look at what political and economical reforms took place in order to ensure economic Liberty of South Korea. 1st Half Of 20th Century Korea Loses Independence In 1910, Korea lost its independence to Japan, Korea became a province of the Japanese state. Initially Korea had been ruled by the Yi state, Korea was known to consist of Raw materials which could be beneficial to other countries economic wealth. Other western countries such as France, US and the USSR had attempted to overthrow the Yi state even before the twentieth century, but Korea fought and resisted western domination. Japan on the other hand had surrendered to the USA and had become an Industrialized economy, it needed raw materials in order to expand its economy. This was going to happen at the expense of Korea. The Japanese had backing of the USA, and could easily occupy Korea by 1905 after signing a treaty with the USA called the Taft-Katsura Agreement, stating that the USA will acknowledge the Japanese occupation of Korea. The Japanese finally got Korea to sign the treaty of annexation with it in 1910. The Yi state had proven to be weak in terms of resistance to external forces, as it had now lost independence, it had also lost its power to influence its Korean people to fight of colonialism. Japan could now have access to raw materials and foodstuffs, Korea would now have to become a highly productive Agricultural state for the benefit of Japans economic growth. This would hinder with the growth of the Korean economy, limiting it to a more rural, underdeveloped economy until the mid twentieth century, after the Korean war and WW2. The Japanese took over most of the fertile land through their own landlords, and would increase their exports of foods to Japan, this signaled the beginning of exploitation of the Korean people through cheap agricultural and rural labour. South Korea experienced a high industrial growth, but the Capital and profits were all focused towards Japans growth. Japan invested high capital towards industries in Korea. Even though there was high exploitation of Korea, there had been attempts by the Korean people to protest against Japanese rule, in 1919 people protested against Japanese rule but were unsuccessful as 6000 people lost their lives to Japanese Forces. There was always a Government- General appointed by the Japanese government to keep control of Korea. He could lead in a dictatorial way and all Koreans who did not abide by his law could be arrested by the police, he had total control of the Korean affairs. From 1910 onwards, the Government- General implemented a survey where useful agricultural land could be determined, if land was found to be useful to the economy of Japan, the general took control of it. Many of the Korean citizens lost their land as a result. By 1930, the Government-general owned 40 percent of the total agricultural and forest lands of Korea, most of the land would be sold by the Japanese government to Japanese development companies, land could also be sold for a cheap price to Japanese individuals looking to start farming in Korea. The land policies implemented by the Director general increased poverty in Korea for the farm population which formed the majority of the Korean population. This explains why Korea experienced so much poverty and why many of its citizens turned out to be peasants, the Generals land policies took many of the Korean citizens and farmers land in the wealthy areas of Korea. The Japanese did not determine their land policies with the interest s of Korean people at heart, at the same time a lot of Korean peasants suffered as most of the money they made from harvesting on the rented land paid for the rent. Korea was known to be a major exporter of rice when it came to agriculture, most of its rice was exported to Japan at the expense of Korean cheap labour, the land allocation system seemed to be prospering. From 1912 to 1936, over half of the total rice production was being exported to Japan, this was possible because the Koreans were forced to lessen their rice consumptions. In the Mining sector, the Government-General also implemented a Mineral assessment with some major Japanese Corporations in an attempt to extract mineral resources from Korea. Korea had great resources such as gold, silver, led, iron and coal. These resources worked highly to the advantage of Japan as they could exploit them during WW1 for military armaments production, the Military armaments could be sold by the Japanese to the Allies. This proves that the Korean Mineral and Land occupation was of high importance for a country like Japan, and they were going to exploited it for as long as they could, as long as Japan kept growing and developed a strong competitive economy for itself. But this was just one of two major economic factors Japan were interested in, the manufacturing sector also became an interest in which the Japanese were focused on. They would achieve through intense industrial development and cheap labour, since many of the farmers had lost their agricultural land. Korea started to experience mass industrialization through Japan, this could be seen as the beginning of Manufacturing on a large scale for Korea. The government-General encouraged many Japanese businesses looking for cheap production to invest their Capital in Korea. He achieved this through the new policies of manufacturing, which opened doors to Japanese investors to bring in their Capital at very low costs. The Japanese had control of almost 90 percent of all manufacturing Capital in Korea, this also applied to the mining industry, The Japanese companies had almost 95 percent of the coal mining industry of Japan. These percentages were achieved by 1945. The Industrialization of Korea pushed many peasants into becoming wage workers, by 1944 600 000 Koreans were working in factories and another 350 000 working in mines. The situation for Korean workers in the factories was so bad that the wages they got paid by 1935 were 50 percent less than in 1927. Peace and comfort did not happen and the Korean people suffered a lot from discrimination and exploitation during the period 1910 to 1945. The Japanese used a military dictator ruling style and got rid of any opposition from the local people. The people of Korea had no backup and could not express their feelings or voice their opinions as to how they wanted Korea to be run, or how their lives could be transformed from impoverished to better standards of living. This probably happened because Political and social groups were banned. The Japanese, in 1930, formed a basic structure, in the decade that followed national industrial planning was implemented through the political economy. This meant that planning could be extended to Japan in order to give major industries in Japan a chance to bring in their corporations into Japan through direct investment. State policies were formed by the Japanese, in order to regulate and control the market from the use of foreign technology. This was achieved through a licensing system which would control market entry. The new state policies also introduced big banks and large companies owned by the Japanese, towards the end of the 1930s there were four major industries responsible for the occupation of the majority of the Korean population. These companies were Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and Yasuda, they dominated the Japanese economy more than any other industries. These industries belonged and originated in Japan, but because Korea and Japan were so close to each other Geographically, and Japan had direct control of Korea, it meant Japan could easily expand their economic activities into Korea and integrate them into the Japanese markets. This the Japanese managed to achieve through investments in railroad, ports, communications and massive industrialization in Korea. Because the growth of the Korean economy was pushed by the colonial state and the economic activities were undertaken by a few major Japanese corporations, the Japaneses industrialization of Korea did very little to give the Korean businessmen some sort of power or leaderships in some of the industries or politics. In terms of politics, Koreas economy might have been occupied by the Japanese, but from the time Korea was declared a colonized state, there were underground movements which planned to help Korea regain its dignity and independence. These groups consisted of former Korean politicians who were in exile and had affiliations with the Soviet Union, USA and China. The group affiliated with the USA was run by a man called Syngman Rhee, he fled to the USA with the hopes of making friends with politicians from the state and gaining their support for Koreas independence. Another group which was in China, was one led by Pak Hon-Yong which was a communist movement. Finally there was the group ruled by Kim II Sung, this group was a anti-Japanese Guerilla communist group Kim would later become the long standing ruler of North Korea. There was little influence or success in their attempts to gain the independence of Korea by these groups. But one group which proved to have greater influence later, would be the group run by Kim Koo, right after the split with Rhee due to disputes and disagreements. This group was the anti- Japanese Guerilla, it formed close links with the Japanese Nationalists. Koo became president of the organization in 1931, with the support of the of one of its branches which were in Hawai and USA. Rhee who was in the US at the time had tried several times to influence the US group but failed. By 1940, the Provisional Korean exile government, based in China which was set on fighting for Korean independence, it managed to influence the Chinese government and was given the chance to form a general staff for strategic planning against Japanese colonialism. This would lead to the famous Pacific Korean war, where the Chinese and Koreans would fight side to side against Japan in Manchuria and China. Korea would invade Manchuria and declare war on Japan, which would take two and a half years before the Koreans could finally win with the support of the US and USSR During the duration of the war, Rhee became president of the provisional Government, in which nine Korean organizations supported by 10 000 Koreans backed the government. They set up a meeting in Washington and formed allies with the USA in order to determine how they would help the US defence on strategies of attack on Japan. What Rhee was mainly concerned about was the future of Korea after the war, how would it be run and under what economic policies would it be run? In 1942, during the talks of the future of Korea with the Allies, Rhees conditions were not met and the meeting was unsuccessful. In 1943 at the Cairo conference, Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek resolved the issue stating that Korea would be declared an independent and free state. The war continued and as it progressed a trust agreement was signed by the USA and the USSR, stating that they would help Korea get back on its feet economically and politically. The USSR declared war on Japan in 1945, while the USA who had declared war on Japan earlier had now occupied the South of Korea by sending their troops to the South of Korea. The USSR would now send its troops to the North of Korea as the treaty of Cairo stated. This signaled the birth of what would become two separate worlds in Korea, the Division between North and South. The South would prosper tremendously due to its Global economic policies and affiliations and friendships with the allied powers that supported capitalism. The north on the other hand, would suffer due to their strict policies of Nationalization, independence and the support of a communist system as a way towards economic transformation. New Era, Korea Gains Back Independence By December 1945, a provisional government was set up by a joint group of allies; USA, United Kingdom and Chine. But the provisional government have to always consult with the allied powers who would have the task of being in charge of Korea for a period of five years. But right-wing parties of Korea were against the five year deal, as they did not want Russia making any decisions, as they believed it had ulterior motives towards Korea. Therefore they organized the anti-trusteeship organization. In the meantime, a more democratic committee was set up in the Southern part of Korea, it had Rhee as its permanent chairman. The USA established an assembly where elections would take place, but half of the assembly could be appointed and the other half could be voted for. Right wing groups of Korea saw it as the development of a Southern independent Korea and started to set up a separate state. Soon several elections took place, with those favouring democracy being in opposition with those who believed in Communism. The Battle between USA/ South and USSR/north would ensue within Korea. By 1948, the Dispute was resolved, where the United Nations Temporary Commission in Seoul gave the Koreans a chance to vote in the South, as the Soviets refused them occupation in the North of Korea. South Korea became declared as an independent state by 1948, but it was called the republic of Korea instead. The USA then withdrew its troops from the South in order to avoid further conflict and to prove that it was not intending on occupying South Korea. The new government under the rulership of Rhee had become an ally of America, and the best years of South Korea were to come. But in the beginning of the Souths rulership, it had lost its supply of hydro-power, and coal from the North. At the same time its population was increasing at a high rate, south Korea experienced a major shortage of food and housing, unemployment became rife in the state. After the USA and USSR withdrew their troops, the North declared war on the South through its communist leader Kim II Sung, but the USA sent troops in defence of South Korea. The war continued for several with Chinese, UN, Japan, Soviet Union and the USA involved. By 1953 the war ended and South Korea like North Korea were to reconstruct its state economically. In 1961, Park Chung Hee became the new leader of the South Korea and he intended to strengthen South Koreas relations with the USA and mainly other states which were capitalist states. A lot of attention would be put on the economic growth of South Korea. First Five-Year Plan By 1962, South Korea Introduced its first five-year plan in order to recover economically. South Korea approached Japan as a second major capital investor after the US in 1963 and Japan finally signed the agreement in 1965. Through these economic moves, South Korea would begin to prosper in terms of economic growth. The Korean economy was destroyed by the war. After the Korean War reconstruction was given support by huge amounts of foreign Capital from, in the North from Communist countries such as Russia, China and East Germany and in the South mainly from the United States and serious government economic development programs. The greatest industrial improvements were made during the 1960s. North Korea made progress in industrial growth while South Korea concentrated on feeding its people. When Park came into power there were certain obstacles he was faced with in reconstructing South Korea, his initial five-year plan started off at a very slow place for developing the economy, as he was to focused on social policy first before moving towards economic policies. From Parks economic policy changes in 1964, South Korea would now start to go through three different Democratic rulerships, each with their own plans of action towards economic transformation. Parks government, of 1963-1973 focused on a sort of limited democracy that wanted to restrict democracy to a certain extent. Park wanted to follow Japans idea of a military leadership, which had initially created a lot economic progress in Japan. Second Five-Year Plan In 1964 with the attempt at the five-year plan for the second time, Park now shifted his economic plans more to industrial growth instead of a focus on food self-sufficiency. The goals of the plan was to increase energy production, grain production and create a demand for exports. Korea had started to have a growth rate of 8.5 percent in GDP and the growth of the industry sector had been the major contributing factor to the sudden growth of the South Korea economy. Even though South Korea started to develop, it was mostly due to Americas contribution towards its economy. From the 1960s, Korea benefited from great relations with the United States. The relationship between the USA and South Korea was created because American policy-makers, saw South Korea as an important platform to confront the Soviet Union during the Cold war. American interests in South Korea allowed it to enjoy economic benefits in terms of aid, trade, capital, and technology from the U.S. It is said that South Kor ea could not have survived its economic prosperity if it wasnt for Americas assistance in the 1950s and Korean access to its export markets since the mid-1960s. America though, was not happy with Parks economic reforms in the first half of the 1960s because he had focused on agriculture in his early rulership. The United States had threatened to withdraw its financial aid to South Korea, because it was not gaining well enough due to Parks economic transformations in the early 1960s. America also had its own economic problems and couldnt handle having to back up a slow growing economy which did not follow a clear system of liberalized market and limited democracy. But the USA wasnt going to withdraw its aid that easily because, it feared that with South Koreas deficit spending due to its economic strategies, South Korea would experience a foreign debt crisis and its economy would collapse. Not prepared to let this happen, the US government started to put pressure on South Korea to start focusing on industrialization instead of agriculture and social policy. This the American government believed had to be implemented as South Korea could increase its exports and therefore lessen its foreign debt. America then put pressure on South Korea to strengthen its ties with Japan, because Japan could now become an investor in the South Korean labor raw material market. Therefore Japan would be able to provide aid and a market for exports in South Korea which could be very beneficial to the growth of its economy. The United States then began to issue more funds into the South Korean economy, US finance in South Korea paid for over 70 percent of imports, this gave the USA power to control the South Korean Government as the US expenditure on South Koreans obviously came with major conditions. As the result by 1964, the South Korean Government went into serious deals with the USA, an d the conditions meant that South Korea would follow USA orders. Over the next years after 1964 the Koreans would follow the US orders by stabilizing prices, creating more trade relations with other western countries, raising interest rates, devaluing the currency, taking down import barriers and increasing export incentives. This direction followed by South Korea would later be very beneficial to the countrys economic wealth, as it would influence rapid economic growth in space of just 30 years. Third Five-Year Plan The third five-year plan was to be introduced by Park from 1972-1976, this was and important era as South Korea aimed at job creation, and mainly the need to focus on rural development and creation of rural labour and revitalization. A very important factor by which Park did not adhere to during this time was the American conditions, which stated to him that he had to loosen the economy for open trade and rather focus on gaining economic wealth for the country. Instead, Park took his own measures would prove very successful before the fourth five-year plan. The government partly took control of over banks and controlled investment. During this period, the government imposed price controls, this they wanted to implement for a short period aimed controlling certain inequalities in industries where high profits were being made by foreign investors. These price controls were aimed at reducing inflation, but they were not imposed on all industries but a select major ones, which contributed highly to the economic wealth and the ones which were monopolistic in their markets. There were other areas in the economy were restructuring and mergers took place, where the government intervened during the rapid industrialization period which was to follow. The reason Park introduced this policy of government intervention was because by 1972, South Koreas economy had produced a high amount of industrial wealth, of which most of it lay in the hands of a select few owners and political leaders. This created an imbalance in the economic equilibrium of South Korea. At the same time, South Korea needed to solve its debts. Fourth Five-Year Plan The next step to be followed by Park would be very economic orientated, the Fourth Five-year plan. This plan was implemented from 1977-1981 more or less, it was regarded as the big push era of South Korea. Park now focused on heavy industrial policy by shifting towards electronics, machinery and shipbuilding to name a few. With this policy, Park wanted very minimal foreign borrowing of capital as his aim was to decrease the amount of debt South Korea was faced with. This five year plan would turn out to be a sort of disaster, caused by the oil crisis. Therefore the targets of this plan wouldnt be achieved to their full potential. At this point the South Korean Chemical industry boosted economic growth and was the major industry which contained the most foreign investment. South Korea had collaborated with Dow Chemicals from the USA, which was South Koreas largest business partner in industry sector, the problem now, was that Dow Chemicals was charged by the South Korean government for fixing its prices through its South Korean partner, this was aimed at creating profits which Dow chemicals used to transfer to its other plants out of South Korea. This led to the South Korean partner objecting to this plan, and the Government being in support of the South Korean partner intervened. Dow then decided to pull out of the joint business venture. This became a major knock to the states economic stability. South Korea during this period had also built a major Shipyard, probably one of the worlds largest, the problem although was that, in building the shipyard, South Korea had to export most of its expertise, machinery, engines and tools from Japan. This created an imbalance of payments for South Korea and increased her debts highly. Another major threat to the countrys growth was the oil boom of the Middle East, South Korea striked a deal with the Middle East to start a huge construction programme in the Middle East region. South Korea then sent an estimated 293 000 male workers to the Middle East region between 1977-1979 for construction. This number was equal to over half of the South Korean manufacturing labour force. It became a problem because wages went higher in the manufacturing sector of South Korea but production became slower because of the shortage of workers in the industries. While this happened, a lot of smaller companies were not making real profits, at the same time the state was spending highly on Industries for growth. Only the major foreign companies were profiting highly, causing the economy of South Korea to become unstable and unbalanced. This meant that industries could not meet the targets of the South Korean export sector, at the same time the lighter smaller manufacturing companies competition internationally. South Korea had become a country which imported a lot, which disadvantaged the economy during the rapid industrialization era. Technology and Capital goods had to be imported, causing South Korea to put itself in a position of overspending and having to borrow foreign Capital in order to increase growth. By 1979 it was clear that government growth could no longer benefit the economy, Park had devised a plan to solve the debt problem by lessening imports and increasing exports in the smaller manufacturing industries which proved to be the major hub of the economy when they were combined. This caused further inflation, pushing the country into a recession GNP fell by 6.5 percent in 1980. This was the first year of very poor growth since the Korean War, by the end of 1980 South Koreas debt increased at a very rapid rate from around $20 million to about $40 million in1983. Park died in 1979, while he was a dictatorial leader, but to many South Koreans it was seen as new era that would open doors to a more Democratic state, being able to improve the economic conditions of South Korea. Unfortunately it was not the case, another military dictatorship occurred, this time by Chu Doo Hwan, this led to major strikes in the labour force which wanted better working conditions and better wages. The workers had been promised by their labour unions that after Parks fall, things would turn out for the better and the workers would be able to get better working conditions and wages. And an end to military dictatorships would occur, which was seen as having a negative effect on the economy and lives of the working class. Strikes continued for the whole of 1980. Years Of Prosperity Through Exploitation By August 1980 Chun retired from military and announced that he would become a candidate for national presidency position. Chun came into power after the internal election and formed the Democratic Justice Party. But this was just a front, he immediately after coming into power exercised his military dictatorships in order to stop protests. Brutal force and arrests were made on protestors and a new law which destroyed worker unions was implemented. This was done by Chun, so worker exploitation could occur, but this would be to the much benefit of the South Korean economy. In doing this, wages would be at minimal but production would increase. By creating forced labour conditions were wages fell and productivity increased, became part of Chuns plan to improve the economy. The results were tremendously high, putting South Korea in the competitive Global arena as one of the leading export markets through its short term strategy of exploitative labour in the industries. By 1983 the econo my was ready for expansion. The US supported this direction and became a major technological contributor towards South Korea, with Japan also being a major financial contributor. Conclusion In less than twenty years after the Korean war tore apart the South Korean economy, economic stability became the major all South Korean leaders focused on. South Korea turned out from one of the worlds poorest nations to one of the richest in a short space of time. This it achieved through trial and error, and a open market, liberalized economy towards the rest of the world for investment and exploitation of its labour force. It became an Industrial hub of the world towards the end of the twentieth century. The rapid industrialization, as many would argue wouldnt have happened if the USA and Japan had not given financial support and guidance towards its economy. And most importantly, the rapid economic growth took place at the expense of the South Korean Peoples labour and hard work. Bibliography: M.S. Alam, Governments and Market Economic Development Strategies: Lessons from Korea, Taiwan and Japan (New York,1989) A . Amsden, Asias Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization (New York, 1989). B. Cumings, The Origins and Development of the North Eastern Political Economy, International Organisation 38, 1 (1984), pp.1-40. H. Landsberg, The Rush to Development: Economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea (New York, 1993) D.S. Lewis, Korea: Enduring Division? (United Kingdom, 1988) W.D. Reeve, The Republic of Korea: A political and Economic Study (London, 1963) J.B. Rosser, M.V. Rosser, Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy(USA, 2004) M. Tcha, C.S Suh, The Korean Economy at the Crossroads (London, 2003) M.H Landsberg, The Rush To Development: economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea p98-103 J.B Rosser M.V Rosser, Comparative Economics In a Transforming World Economy p 546-547 M.H Landsberg, The Rush To Development: economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea p104-105 W.D Reeve, The Republic of Korea: A Political and Economic Study p 19-20 M.H Landsberg, The Rush To Development: economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea p 106-107 M.H Landsberg, The Rush To Development: economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea p.109 D. Lewis, Korea:enduring division? P. 7 W.D Reeve, The Republic of Korea: A Political and Economic Study p22-23 W.D Reeve, The Republic of Korea: A Political and Economic Study p.23 W.D Reeve, The Republic of Korea: A Political and Economic Study p. 24 D. Lewis, Korea:enduring division? P. 31-33 M.S Alam, Governments and Markets in economic Development Strategies: lessons from Korea, Taiwan and Japan p.24-25 B.Cummings, The Origins and Development of the North east Asian Political Economy. International Organization p.34-36 M.S Alam, Governments and Markets in economic Development Strategies: lessons from Korea, Taiwan and Japan p. 29-30 J.B Rosser M.V Rosser, Comparative Economics In a Transforming World Economyp.558-561 M. Tcha C.S Suh, The Korean Economy at the Crossroads p.3-4 A. Amsden, Asias next Giant: South Korea and late Industrialization p. M.H Landsberg, The Rush To Development: economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea p.214-222

Ethics of Affirmative Action Essay -- Ethics Morals

Affirmative Action: Staying on the Road to Equality â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness† (Declaration of Independence, 1776). Who would imagine that in a country under the blanket such a brilliant, ethical and proud statement of equality, there could be so much dissention about equality? Our nation has interpreted this statement differently since it was written, and still, more than two hundred years later, we are on the road to a truly equal society. This is because racism has its seeds deeply sown into the history of America. Uprooting perceptions of peoples who are dominant and peoples who are inferior has been a long process, from the Emancipation Proclamation to affirmative action. It is important that we stay on this road to equality for all, and keep affirmative action up and running.Affirmative action has its roots in racism as a remedy to it , and racism has its roots all the way back in the colonial and imperial era. Europeans began discovering other continents in the fifteenth century, and with new continents came new ways of making money. Different European countries began to scramble to acquire colonies where they could sell goods, exploit labor, and export slaves and raw materials for cheap prices. Almost all of Africa became colonialized, with different European powers claiming control over sections of Africa, and soon colonialism spread to many new places that were discovered: the Americas, the Middle East, and later Asia and the Pacific Islands. In the process of colonialism, the Europeans were taking advantage of the resour... ...hat happens when we level the playing field? â€Å"No school that has scrapped its affirmative action program has seen minority enrollment return fully to affirmative action levels† (Kranz 26). The ultimate goal is to see minorities represent their population in education and in the work force, and at this point, to attain that goal, it is more ethical to retain the policy of affirmative action than to eliminate it. In the words of Peter Singer, â€Å"In the absence of more promising alternatives it seems worth a try† (51). Works Cited * Kranz, Rachel. â€Å"Affirmative Action.† Facts on File, Inc., 2002. * Murray, Charles. â€Å"Affirmative Racism.† The New Republic, 1984. * Rachels, James. â€Å"The Elements of Moral Philosophy,† Fourth Edition. McGraw Hill, New York, 2003. Singer, Peter. â€Å"Practical Ethics,† Second Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993.