Poverty In Africa Essay Example For Students

Poverty In Africa Essay SENEGALThe current discourse on Africas political corruption, poverty andenvironment has emerged from a convergence of international and regionalcritiques about the future of African trade and economic prospects. Recent yearshave witnessed a considerable resurgence of interest in African Development,although it is difficult to impose any precise link, much of the attention hasbeen generated by the events surrounding the transition and transformation ofMandrels South Africa. There doesnt seem to be any consensus on the best way to deal with the manyproblems that are affecting development in certain African countries. However,most scholars agree that the primary underlying causes that affect internationalpolitical will to invest in Africas future must be controlled before thisglorious continent can reach its full potential. I want to argue that thecorruption, poverty, environment nexus is what went wrong after Africa wasdecolonalized; I will focus on Senegal in particular. Senegal is located on the West Coast of Africa. The French gained possessionof Senegal in 1840 and made it part of French West Africa. In 1946, togetherwith other parts of French West Africa Senegal became an overseas territory ofFrance. In 1956 Senegal gained internal self-government from France and in 1959the country joined the Federation of Mali. On August 20 1960 Senegal withdrewfrom the federation and became the independent Republic of Senegal with LeopoldSenghor as President. In 1970 President Senghor appointed Abdou Diouf as PrimeMinister and in 1976 a new constitution was introduced which committed thecountry to a multiparty democratic system of government but also limited thenumber of parties to three. This parliamentary style democracy with socialistleanings offers the right to vote to anyone over 18 years old and aconstitutional guarantee of equality before the law, which is based on theFrench civil law system. In January 1981 Senghor retired and Diouf was appointedPreside nt, in 1983, 1988 and 1993 Diouf was re-elected with 58% of the votegoing to his Socialist Party or PS (atlapedia.com). The ethnic composition ofSenegal is diverse with the principal ethnic group the Wolof who account for 44%of the 9,723,149 population (1998). The official language is French, althoughonly about 12% of the population can speak it. Around 94% of the population areSunni Muslims, while 5% are Roman Catholic. As of 1970, 95% of the people overthe age of 6 had no formal schooling, however as of 1995, 33% of the populationage 15 and over could read and write. Senegal is about the size of South Dakota and has a tropical climate with awet season from May to November and dry season from December to April. Whilesevere droughts during the late 1960s and 1970s seriously damaged the economyand caused widespread famine the 1993 Gross National Product was $5,867,000,000with public debt registering around $3,011,000,000, however debt decreasedslightly in 1996 to $3.7 billion. Only 2.4% of the Gross National Productaccount for military expenditure. The main exports ($968 million, 1995) to theU.S., Western European countries, African neighbors, Japan, China, and India arecotton, fish nuts, oil and petroleum. Imports of consumer goods, foodstuffs, transport equipment and petroleumaccount for $1.22 billion dollars. Less than 35% of the population areeconomically active in the major industries of agriculture, fishing, fertilizerproduction and mining. Category: History

The Red Scare Essays - Industrial Workers Of The World,

The Red Scare The tumult and the shouting dies, The captains and the kings depart. -Kipling, The Recessional Mr. Kipling was wrong. War does not always end with the last cry on the battlefield. World War I certainly did not. After the war formally ended on November 18, 1918, there was an ideological war still going on in the US. An ideological war which prompted mass paranoia and caused, among many other things, what would be known as the Red Scare, which began in 1919 and ended in 1921. Red Scare was the label given to the actions of legislation, the race riots, and the hatred and persecution of "subversives" and conscientious objectors during that period of time. It is this hysteria which would find itself repeated several decades later in history when Senator Joeseph R. Macarthy accused high government officials and high standing military officers of being communist. Undoubtedly the most important topic of an investigation into a historical occurrence is its inception. What caused the Red Scare? At the heart of the Red Scare was the conscription law of May 18, 1917, which was put in place during World War I for the armed forces to be able to conscript more Americans. This law caused many problems for the conscientious objector to WWI, because for one to claim that status, one had to be a member of a "well-recognized" religious organization which forbade their members to participation in war. As a result of such unyeilding legislation, 20,000 conscientious objectors were inducted into the armed forces. Out of these 20,000, 16,000 changed their minds when they reached military camps, 1300 went to non-combat units, 1200 gained furloughs to do farm work, and 100 did Quaker relief work in Europe. 500 suffered court-martial, and out of these, 450 went to prison. However, these numbers are small in comparison with the 170,000 draft dodgers and 2,810,296 men who were inducted into the armed forces. Nevertheless, the conscientious objectors were targeted in the Red Scare after the w ar. They were condemned as cowards, pro-German socialists, although that was not everything. They were also accused of spreading propaganda throughout the United States. Very few conscientious objectors stood up for themselves. Roderick Siedenberg, who was a conscientious objector, wrote that "to steal, rape, or murder" are standard peacetime causes for imprisonment, but in time of war "too firm a belief in the words of Christ", and "too ardent a faith in the brotherhood of man" are more acceptable. Some organizations such as the National Civil Liberties Bureau, which would later be renamed the American Civil Liberties Union, took up the task of standing up for the rights of conscientious objectors. Before the war, the NCLB-ACLU opposed American involvement, and afterward defended the rights of the objectors. Later, the ACLU would gain a reputation for helping people with liberal cases who were too poor to pay for their own representation in court. After the real war ended in 1918, the ideological war, which was gaining speed at home, turned against conscientious objectors and other radical minorities such as Wobblies, who were members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and Socialists as well. These Wobblies and Socialists were damned as being subversives who were trying to overthrow the United States government. Wobblies, in particular, were persecuted against for speaking out against the capitalist system. Although most of what they said was only to attract attention to their cause, their rhetoric was taken seriously by the government and its officials. From the very beginning of the Red Scare, the Wobblies were the subject of attack by the government, because they were a symbol of radicalism. The government put in place legislation, not only against the Wobblies, but also against Socialists and Communists, due to the fact that the government did not distinguish one of its enemies from another. One such action taken by the government prevented Wobblies who were not yet citizens from naturalization, even if they quit their organization. In 1917, the US government made a law which gave the Secretary of Labor the power to arrest or deport any alien "advocating or teaching" destruction of property or the "overthrow of government by force." Words such

Fiscal Stimulus - Three Key Ingredients

Fiscal Stimulus - Three Key Ingredients In late 2008 and early 2009, you could not turn on a TV or open a newspaper without hearing the term fiscal stimulus over and over again. The idea behind fiscal stimulus is a rather simple one - a reduction in consumer demand has resulted in an unusually high number of idle resources such as unemployed workers and closed factories. Because the private sector will not spend, the government can take the place of the private sector by increasing spending, thus putting these idle resources back to work. With their newly found income, these workers will be able to spend again, increase consumer demand. As well, workers who already have jobs will have increased confidence in the state of the economy and will increase their spending as well. Once consumer spending rises enough, the government can slow their spending, as they are no longer needed to pick up the slack.The theory behind fiscal stimulus depends on three basic factors. As we will see, in practice it is difficult to have more tha n two of these met at any one time. Fiscal Stimulus Factor 1 - Provide Stimulus Through Use of Idle Resources Fiscal stimulus only works if it uses idle resources - resources that would not otherwise be used by the private sector. Using employees and equipment that would otherwise be used by the private sector is of no use; in fact, it is detrimental if the private sector projects are of more value than government ones. This crowding out of private spending by public spending must be avoided.To avoid crowding out, great care needs to be taken in a fiscal stimulus package to target industries and geographic areas that contain idle resources. Re-opening a closed automotive plant and rehiring the laid off workers is an obvious way to do so, though in the real world it is difficult to target a stimulus plan so precisely.We cannot forget that the choice of what type of fiscal stimulus is chosen by politicians, and thus is a political issue as much as it is an economic one. There is a great likelihood that a politically popular but non-stimulating package will be chosen over one that is politicall y less popular but more beneficial to the economy. Fiscal Stimulus Factor 2 - Started Quickly A recession is not a particularly long-lived phenomenon (though it often feels like one). Since World War II recessions have lasted between 6 and 18 months, with an average duration of 11 months (source). Suppose we are in a long recession of 18 months, with another 6 months of slow growth afterward. This gives us a 24-month window in which to provide fiscal stimulus. During this period a number of things have to happen: The government has to recognize that the economy is in recession. This takes longer than one might imagine - the National Bureau of Economic Research did not recognize that the United States was in a recession until 12 months after it started.The government needs to develop a stimulus package.The stimulus bill needs to be made law and pass all the necessary checks and balances.The projects involved in the stimulus package need to be started. There may be delays in this step, particularly if the project involves the building of physical infrastructure. Environmental assessments need to be completed, private sector contractors need to bid on the project, workers need to be hired. All of this takes time.The projects, ideally, need to be completed. If they are not completed before the economy fully recovers, then we will certainly have crowding out as these employees and equipment would be of use to the private sector. All of these items need to happen in the window of, at best, 24 months. Meeting this task seems quite difficult, if not impossible. Fiscal Stimulus Factor 3 - Perform Reasonably Well on a Benefit-Cost Test Ideally, we should get good value for our money - the government should spend taxpayer dollars on items of real value to the taxpayer. Government spending will necessarily raise GDP because in the calculation of GDP the value of any government project is determined by its cost, not its value. But building roads to nowhere does nothing to increase our true standard of living.There is also the political issue here - that projects may be chosen on their political popularity or value to special interests, rather than on their merits.   Fiscal Stimulus - Meeting One Factor Is Hard; Three Is Impossible In Fiscal Stimulus - Unlikely To Work in the Real World we will see that not only are some of these factors hard enough to meet on their own, it is nearly impossible to meet more than two of them at any one time.

5 Cases of Faulty Parallelism

5 Cases of Faulty Parallelism 5 Cases of Faulty Parallelism 5 Cases of Faulty Parallelism By Mark Nichol Sentence construction is often compromised by simple errors involving a gratuitous comma or a missing conjunction, and often both. Here are five faultily constructed sentences shored up by correcting minor problems such as these. 1. â€Å"As a consequence, he said, he lost his job, his family, and has scraped by from one low-wage job to the next to make ends meet.† In this sentence, the listed results of a previously referenced misfortune are not parallel in construction, as you can see by attaching he to each item: â€Å"he lost his job,† â€Å"he his family,† and â€Å"he has scraped by . . . .† The simple solution is to provide a verb for the second item, but better yet, merge the closely related first two items so that they share a verb: â€Å"As a consequence, he said, he lost his job and his family and has scraped by from one low-wage job to the next to make ends meet.† 2. â€Å"During the peak of the grove’s early popularity, presidents Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, and many other prominent people had visited it.† Here, presidents is intended to be shared between â€Å"Benjamin Harrison† and â€Å"Theodore Roosevelt,† but the comma after the first name cuts the term off from the second name. As with the previous example, delete the comma and add and to enable sharing of the word: â€Å"During the peak of the grove’s early popularity, presidents Benjamin Harrison and Theodore Roosevelt and many other prominent people had visited it.† 3. â€Å"Females must produce an egg, carry, and nourish the embryo.† Once again, an obstructive comma (in this case, two such commas, actually) prevents the sharing of a part of speech. Carry must be allowed access to embryo, but using the previous solution renders the sentence â€Å"Females must produce an egg, carry and nourish the embryo.† To smooth the sentence out, the remaining comma must also be replaced with and: â€Å"Females must produce an egg and carry and nourish the embryo.† 4. â€Å"It enables individuals and groups to meet online to collaborate, share presentations, applications, or their entire desktop while increasing reliability and security, and reducing costs.† In this example, there are two levels of organization: First, individuals and groups collaborate and share, and second, they share in one of three ways. This hierarchy should be represented by distinguishing the simple element of collaboration and the more complex counterpart of sharing by preceding each with its own infinitive (to): â€Å"It enables individuals and groups to meet online to collaborate, and to share presentations, applications, or their entire desktop, while increasing reliability and security and reducing costs.† The commas framing â€Å"and to share . . . their entire desktop,† rendering that phrase parenthetical, are essential to clarify that while refers to additional benefits, rather than simultaneous ones. Also, the comma that precedes â€Å"and reducing costs† in the original sentence exemplifies the case of punctuation problematically used as a â€Å"breath here† marker, confusing the issue; I’ve deleted it from the revised version. 5. â€Å"They stretch across our cities by the dozens, those drooping threads that connect houses to power plants, telephone, cable television, and broadband companies.† Here, again, there are two categories: power plants and companies (of which three types are mentioned). To distinguish them, â€Å"power plants† must be set off from the list of types of companies by and: â€Å"They stretch across our cities by the dozens, those drooping threads that connect houses to power plants and to telephone, cable television, and broadband companies.† I’ve also inserted to before the list of types of companies to discourage the implication of a close relationship between â€Å"power plants† and telephone. 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 Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and ExpressionsHomonyms, Homophones, Homographs and HeteronymsRite, Write, Right, Wright

Individual assignmentnew rules of globalization Essay

Individual assignmentnew rules of globalization - Essay Example n reasons for guarded globalisation is the fact that policy makers in various markets create policies as well as international laws that put the local businesses at an advantage while creating more hurdles for international companies. Cases where the government regulates the wealth of the markets as well as the economic development of the country through some form of State capitalism in the emerging markets and recently in the developed markets have brought changes to the free markets and consequently changed globalization. Business that originate in the western world and operate in the emerging market progressively need to compete with the local business that have financial and political support while at the same time having to prove their strategic value in the host market. Regardless of this bleak picture, foreign corporations still have a chance of succeeding in local markets (Freinkman, 2002, p. 79). For instance, in the new phase of globalization, the industries that were initially out-of-bounds may be the best source of strategically important opportunities. In the process of this new phase of globalisation, the foreign businesses can stay at home and increase their strategies at home, get and increase the support of the host as well as the home government, foster alliances with the host countrys businesses and develop more diversity. International economic rules symbolise the standards of behaviours associated with governments, organizations as well as citizens, and they represent a type of self-commitment in such a system (Peil and Staveren, 2009, p. 186). Thus in relation to any system of rules, a negative index can be detected in the form of a sequence of limitations on the behaviour of countrywide governments. These constraints are aimed at a safeguarding international division of labour against conflicting interests from various national governments and the self-commitment of the states also acts as a shelter against the power of protectionist groups

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Law - Essay Example It also gets distributed through e-mails, text messages through a mobile phone and from other electronic devices. However, this law was named after a nine year old girl namely Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and assassinated in 1996, Texas. It all started in January 13, 1996 when Amber Hagerman got kidnapped, raped and than was killed by the kidnapper. She was riding her bicycle in Arlington, and was abducted soon afterwards. A neighbor saw and called up the police officials, presented them the description of the suspected car and also described the kidnapper. Police of Arlington, including the FBI, investigated around the neighborhood and searched for the vehicle which was suspected. However, her body was found after four days by a resident who was walking his dog. The body was laid on the bottom of the creek bed, in north Arlington. Unfortunately, she was dead as her throat had been slit. (Siegel, Larry J., 2006). The people of her community discovered that the local officials had the information about it and it might have helped to trace her after she was kidnapped, but they didn’t had any way to spread this information around the city. However, the plan was directed mainly on the radio, which was used to distribute information about the abductions. Throughout the alert, the police authorities got orders to fax the information about the kidnapping to two other radio stations. Those two radio stations than in turn verified the faxed information and then alert other radio stations through the following fax shows. It was an effective way to spread the news, but was very time consuming. Amber alert was first implemented by the Child Alert Foundation in 1998. This charity organization established an automatic Alert Notification System or ANS to spread the news in the near-by communities where the child was reported to be missing. Moreover, alerts were sent to the radio stations and were in cluded to the

Modern Society Essay Example for Free

Modern Society Essay Modern society which is very complex and often contradictory has its origin in the ancient times as far back as 4000 years ago. Deeply rooted in spirituality, yet having equal attraction towards materialism, sometimes leading to unethical behaviour, inclination and commitment towards science, logic and reason, yet superstitious practices are rampant. Untouchability has been constitutionally abolished and caste and community based discrimination banned, its practice is common and it is a major tool of vote-bank politics in India. Thus, Indian society presents a contradictory picture and can be seen in the perspective of a society in the process of continued change or flux. Social change is a broader term which implies change in infrastructure, facilities and their distribution, change in thought, attitude and behaviour of the people, change in faith, culture, tradition and living styles, etc. Change is a natural inevitable process which continues in every age and will continue to happen even in future. Social infrastructure, cultural, attitudinal and behavioural changes do not remain static. They continuously change with the passage of time. It is the result of this natural process of change that life underwent sea change from the Stone Age to the Computer Age. Social change basically constitutes a transformation at all level of thought, behaviour and action that does not presuppose either a strict positive or negative impact. In fact, the impact cannot be confined to one direction only. Indeed the change has both positive and negative impact which may lead the society towards progress or regression. Social change is not a sudden process. It is a gradual process which takes lots of time to happen. Neither is it the result of any single factor. It is the result of so many factors which include demographic, technological, political, economic, cultural and legal. Generally, social conflict, growth and expansion and knowledge and scientific and technological advancement lead to social change. Indeed, the research and advancement in the field of science and technology bring about a change in the outlook of society. Besides, the demographic factors also contribute to social change. Rising population, rampant illiteracy, housing and health problems, large-scale migration, etc. all have a bearing on social climate. Rapid industrialisation resulting in economic development and urbanisation has brought about the growth of slums in urban areas as well as a great disparity in the standard of living. After independence, the country with the help of fundamental rights tried to bridge the social gap by providing right to equality to all its citizens and abolished untouchability. No doubt, it has a positive effect on society. It has brought about a decline in social discrimination and reduced the exploitation of the poor. Cultural factors like Sanskritisation, i. e. the process explaining the upward mobility of a sub-caste group in a caste hierarchy, traditional attitudes and customs of the people. Law is also an important tool to bring about social change. In the post-independence era, the Indian Government has taken numerous measures that concern society. The Constitution refuses to recognise the distinctions of religion, sect, caste, sex, etc. in the matter of the opportunities of civil life. It has largely mitigated a number of social evils resulting from the pluralisitc nature of Indian society with regard to religion and caste. Freedom of belief as a Fundamental Right has made religion a personal choice rather than its earlier compulsive and all- pervasive nature for a family or a group. Endogamous nature of casteism is now on the wane as intermarriage, and even inter- religious ones have been legalised. Reservations in jobs and freedom in the choice of vocations have encouraged vertical mobility of many families, irrespective of their caste and class affiliations. In short, laws play prominent role in social changes. Family, which has been almost universally considered the ideal and perfect living arrangement, and the backbone of social structure has undergone a transformation under the impact of industrialisation, urbanisation, spread of education, large-scale migration and other changes taking place in different spheres of life. Nuclear families have taken the place of joint family system. Common residence and property are being substituted by functional joint families, who fulfil their social obligations towards each other and come to help each other in their hours of need. Now old age is perceived with fear. This is rather recent phenomena. The old are now taken as a liability. Old age is viewed as an unavoidable, undesirable and problem-ridden phase of life. This is one of the gifts of modern life. In recent times, economic development and technological advancements have been rapid. They have an inevitable impact on social attitudes and values. This progress has led to the loss of cherished values. With enhanced earning, power and growing consumerism, the parents and children have altered their response to family life. The nature of parenting nd role of spouses have undergone sea change. Family bonds are eroding fast in society, it is particularly frequent in urban society where youngsters, in large numbers, migrate for studies or jobs, their parents, left alone, are faced with the problem of emotional loss and a fear of future. Economic independence has brought in its wake, individualism. In an economically independent society everybody wants to asse rt himself. A man wants his prominence in various spheres of life. He no longer likes to be ignored or undervalued. It has tremendously affected the woman. Now she wants her role in family and society as well. This is, in fact, a challenge to the traditional view of society that women as a class are inferior to men. However, her role in decision-making is assuming significance. Modern women are quite aware of their rights and privileges. At the same time social attitude towards women is also changing, though the process is slow. Today’s society is one of freedom and inquiry. In this age of individualism, authority is no longer unquestionably accepted by children. In this age of Information Technology, children are often more informal and aware than their parents. They no longer stand in awe of parents or any elderly persons. Human values and ethics have taken a backseat. Relations today are increasingly based on mercenary considerations. As a consequence, warmth and obligations have been lost in society. This, in a way, leads to conflict and confusion, adversely affecting family bonds or ties. Age old values of tolerance, hospitality, warmth of attachments, politeness and patience are fast fading out. However, some changes in society are pleasant and encouraging. Technological innovations have changed even the common people’s way of life. This change can be felt even at the village levels. The prevalence of superstitions and evil practices are no longer as frequent and common in society as they were during the pre-independence era. The accessibility of mass media has changed the village life also. The thinking behaviour and lifestyle of the villagers have tremendously changed. This exposure, though not always beneficial, has served to open Indian minds to receive new ideas and views. As a whole, the change on the mental level, has been slow, however, it is encouraging. Thus, at every level and in every sphere, Indian society is experiencing changes. The changes are more pronounced and noticeable in terms of dress, behaviour and egalitarianism while traditional beliefs, even if they are outdated and redundant, are practised and refuse to give up their hold on Indian society. Thus, the contradictory situations create confusion and sometimes lead to conflict. The prevailing anger and frustration arising out of inequality in development, loss of values accompanied by a greedy, grasping mercenary attitude, growing corruption on the part of authorities and the ‘elite’ find expression in the form of violent responses from the oppressed and the downtrodden. Several secessionist movements in different parts of the country are attributed to this retrogressive changes taking place in society. The change is inevitable in a dynamic society but it must be guided by some principles so as to ensure a better future and a progressive society in which everybody can enjoy his share in peace and prosperity. Besides people must be educated and enlightened enough to take its positive impact while ignoring the negatives for the betterment of individual as well as society.