environment
Energy consumption and the environment
Environmentalists and the economists have often been at loggerheads. For the economists, the world seems to be getting better. But for the environmentalists, the world seems to be heading for self-destruction. It all boils down to what the individual values more- the capitalist world of gargantuan energy consumption that destroys the environment or the seemingly more paradisiacal clean and green world that will hinder economic progress. However while a decision remains to be made, energy consumption and its effects of the world today remain one of the main aggressor for the dying earth.
Energy is used to run the machines, the computers, electronic gadgets of all forms and even the transportation vehicles of today. All of these are supposedly a necessity for people need to work to make money, earn a living and hence result in a better economy for the country. But human beings have grown so used to energy consumption that it has even become a prominent feature of our leisure time (the supposedly less important component of our lives) as we waste many hours gaming and surfing the internet in front of the computer, idling and humoring ourselves in front of the television and even using our non environmentally-friendly cars to even go to a nearby shop. These are not just random examples; they highlight the extent of energy consumption that is so intrinsically entwined into our daily lives for all of these activities require electricity that comes from energy from the non-renewable resources such as coal, natural gas and oil (fossil fuels). This is worrisome for approximately 90% of the world’s electricity demand is generated from the use of these non-renewable fossil fuels.
Considering the fact that electricity is used to such a large extent by the billions of people on earth, the effects of the use of fossil fuels are even more detrimental. “Combustion of these fossil fuels is considered to be the largest contributing factor to the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In fact it is believed that energy providers are the largest source of atmospheric pollution today. There are many types of harmful outcomes which result from the process of converting fossil fuels to energy. Some of these include air pollution, water pollution, accumulation of solid waste, not to mention the land degradation and human illness”, cited essortment.com.
But economists sing to a different tune. The argument they set forth is that the limited amount of natural resources are not limited due to natural scarcity. Its limitation is instead pointed to the fact that natural resources have to be located, a process that costs money. This process of locating the natural resources limits its availability for it is difficult and expensive to invest in. They argue further that there are now more known natural reserves of these fossil fuels that could be extracted for energy conversion into the valuable electricity. All that we need to do now is to inculcate the willingness to pump in more money to locate and extract these resources that are believed to be in abundance. According to The Economist, “reserves of oil could still be extracted at reasonably competitive prices and it is enough to keep the world economy going for another 150 years”. To further substantiate their argument, they cited that “the price of solar energy has fallen by half in every decade”, implying that even if fossil fuels do run out, we can always turn to the now cheaper solar energy to produce our electricity. In their eyes, “energy shortages do not look like a serious threat either to the economy or the environment”.
The economists seem to have forgotten the unreliability of solar energy for it is dependent on the weather and time. What would happen then, during the night? And even if the price of solar energy is now cheaper and will be cheaper, there is no denying that fossil fuels are still the number one resources in demand when electricity is needed. Its producers will not stop production as long as demand is still present. By then, how much of the earth would there be left? I would say I am not one who will agree with the economists.
Nur Aisyah Bte Gersali
T2
technology
Hs 103 Technology essay
30th October 2008
Technology can be both a boon and a bane. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of technology and how it has changed our lives.
Mortality rates have increased over the years with people nowadays living much longer than before with an average lifespan of seventy years compared to the fifty years during the Victorian era. More people can stay healthy as they turn to technology which has created medical science that is trying to extent human life and is succeeding brilliantly. Although our world has become extremely polluted, and we live in cities with a fast paced lifestyle, we surprisingly live longer than before. An example of how technology has allowed this is how it has able to aid in the development of drugs and medicine that could cure terminal diseases such as AIDS. The newer and better drugs available for consumers allow the illnesses to be treated more effectively. If one has a headache, he doesn’t have to visit the doctor. A simple pop of the Panadol- Panadol Extra to be exact – is readily available at any pharmacies or void deck shops. Precision of self medication is only possible due to technology.
However, it is one of life’s great ironies that the longer we live, the less there is to look forward to. This can also be blamed on technology. We’ve all heard about global warming and most have already seen Al Gore’s famous ascending ladder to show the alarming increase in pollutants in the world. Technology has brought about the innovation of cars, busses and other vehicles that emit harmful carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air. Sure that there is now newer forms of innovation that could reduce the harmful gasses such as the fuel cells that will be used in cars that can provide energy without emitting carbon dioxide or pollutants. But we have to bear in mind that the harm is already done, the world is already filled with pollutants and there is even an ever growing hole in the ozone layer!
Technology had even created machines such as the steam engines that had encouraged traveling. Machines had replaced manual labor to produce more goods. It had hence sparked the Industrial Revolution and the technology-ridden world that we live in today. While it is true that people could now be travelling from one place to another at a faster speed and could produce more products, it had resulted in efficiency so grand that people are no longer able to take their own sweet time to do anything. For example, career-minded women older women who have no time to live healthy and hence be beautiful can now Botox their faces to eliminate wrinkles and achieve “beauty” in mere hours. Even when one wishes to have a break from work and go on a holiday, the mobile phones allows colleagues and bosses to contact him or her easily and hence burden them with the thought of impending workload back at home.
But the darkest side to technology it seems, is the invention of nuclear weapons. It may have shortened the duration of WWII but it had also resulted in the Cold War, the fragile period of time where the whole world had held their breath as the US and the then USSR threatened to drop nuclear bombs on each other; the very nuclear bombs that could destroy the world. Even today, the fear lives on as many countries such as the US, Russia and China continues to possess these nuclear weapons.
My stand would be to say that technology is, on a whole, a negative phenomenon. While I do not discredit all its many positive effects of having supplied us with better medical facilities and better quality of life, it has also morphed the world into one that is so very dependent on technology- from simple communication to being a medium to conduct potential nuclear wars. No matter how much we have benefitted from technology, the fact that it can kill us all and destroy the world, that is enough to overwrite its positive points.
IDENTITY, URBANISATION, HEALTH
Population and Health
One of the main concerns of the state would be the health of its population. This can be implied from the many public health policies and schemes available along with the provision of healthcare facilities and billions of dollars already invested to research and discover more vaccines and medicines against diseases.
Even as people are muttering that too much money has been pumped into the weapon industry, a large amount of money is also being injected into the discovery of newer and better vaccines that could save lives today and in the future. Just recently on 4th September 2008, a new vaccine was discovered to prevent meningitis, a medical condition caused by the inflammation of the protective membrane covering the brain and spinal cord. It causes headache and neck stiffness and inability to tolerate bright light or loud noises. “Several hundred million people are at risk of meningitis in 25 African countries. Many generations have suffered” said Professor Djona, Minister of Public Health, Chad. Such a breakthrough in the medical field comes with a price. “Our initial US$55 million towards a meningitis stock pile will greatly help stave off additional outbreaks of this disease,” said Dr Jullian, Executive Secretary of the GAVI Alliance. The US$55 million isn’t the only cost; more money had to be extracted from the WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, developing countries and donor government, research and technological agencies in the vaccine industry, civil societies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This US$55 million and perhaps more is just an example of money invested to find a cure for one disease. Imagine the amount that had been spent over the years for the many, many diseases in the world to date and its production and transportation costs to get the vaccines to the ailing population!
While it is undeniable that medical facilities in rural areas is lacking in several ways, the ones available in the cities and the economically driven countries like Singapore prides itself on its excellent medical team of doctors and nurses and the stae of the art medical equipments. Many have even admitted of coming to Singapore with the sole intention of being on the receiving end of the excellent and reliable medical facilities available here. It seems like Singapore has a wide range of organization specializes in its own medical field. All of these private and public organizations follow the strict regulations and targets set by the Ministry of Health (MOH). Examples include the National Heart Centre (NHC) and the National Cancer Centre (NCC) as the two new speciality centers for cancer and heart disease, the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) which is tasked with leading, coordinating and funding of medical research and several programmes have even been designed to attract top scientists, clinicians and students to engage in biomedical sciences research. Apart from all these, private clinics and polyclinics are also situated at every neighborhood area to allow residents accessibility to medical attention. Its hospitals are littered in an organized manner around Singapore, again for the convenience of its citizens.
But the main question is to ask why so much effort, time and money are put into the maintenance of the public health. This is because the state needs its people to ensure that the economy is table. Like Singapore, human resources are the force behind the economic growth for it is the people who are the brains and the labor to keep everything going. The health of its people is hence the determinant to well a job is done.
Urbanization
Urbanization is the physical evidence of human development through modernization. It’s an indicator of how human beings have evolved into economic-minded money making individuals with the most advanced of cities that is the most urbanized having the latest technology and ability to exercise power.
When one is asked to be ambitious, people would usually look to the city as the place to materialize their dreams. This is because it is in the cities where all the businesses take place and communication is at its peak. It allows opportunity to benefit those in the rural areas to expose themselves to jobs that are much more lucrative than the ones at home.
While urbanization may have brought economic prosperity to many countries, it too has its downside. With urbanization, vices as well as alienation comes a knocking.
People from all around the world come to the city. People from many different ethnicity and cultures. They bring along with them a whole new set of cultural practices and ideas and these practices and ideas are exchanged with others in the city during their interaction. This may cause either a) a more multiracial, multicultural society that come together with a common goal in search of better opportunities to increase their social status by earning more money or b) people who do not understand now wish to understand other cultural practices and ideas so much so that alienation comes about.
Vices are in a sense, are the effects of alienation. People who do not feel contented or being a part of a group will tend to deviate away from what is expected from them. This is especially so as not everyone who arrives in the city will be able to find high-paying jobs. As such, being alienated with people who do not share the same cultures or practices and not being able to make ends meet will result in increased crime rates. Some will even turn to drugs, alcohol, more smoking etc as a way of preventing themselves from thinking about their problems in the city.
I think urbanization has been too hyped abpout by many societies. It is much better to be living in the rural areas. We are forced to accept the rigid system of being as resourceful as possible.
Identity
One of the things that make us who we are is our identity. This identity may be socially constructed and enforced upon us, something which we are born into or even something which we choose to be. In many cases, the identity that we eventually have would be a mixture all of these components.
Though many do not realize it, the state actively participates in the creation of our identity. This is done through the process of nationalism. In Singapore, nationalism and the focus of nation-building have created the ideology of “multiracialism”. In a sense, it enforces the need for the different races to cooperate and be tolerant of others to prevent ethnic discrimination. This ideology was very important for Singapore needed an ideology that could bring the diverse ethnic and religious groups together in the name of nation-building. While this brought the nation together in one way or another, it heightened the differences between one ethnic groups from another. With the birth of the concept of multiracialism, comes intrinsically the notion of Race. Henceforth, many begun to identify themselves to be in one of the racial groups- Chinese, Malay, Indian or Others. This is the identity given by the state. It is a socially constructed identity.
Some identities gained are those beyond our control or born into. One cannot choose to be an elder sister or a younger brother. Such roles or identity are beyond our choice. Of course, given the technology today, some would argue that the identity that we have as a sister or brother to another can be changed. This is because sex change is possible these days. But with a different gender also comes a whole new identity. A man who undergoes a sex change does not simply now identify himself as a woman. He now, is also identified as a transvestite by many others. The term transvestite and how others now identify him / her to be something not in his / her hands. The culture that we are born into also reflects our identity. From an early age, we are socialized to accept and conduct practices from our own culture i.e.: the culture of our parents and ancestors. This socialization prevents most from questioning the identity and roles given for example, the identity of a child as Muslim. Parents, teachers, friends etc will teach that child from a young age that Muslims must eat with their right hand, that they celebrate Hari Raya and must never ever disrespect the elderly. This socialization process, though simple in essence, it participates actively in making us accept and grow into the identity set for us at birth. The identity that we have or receive here is not a matter of choice.
It is important to note that the first point of the state creation of our identity and the second point that certain identities are not for us to choose may overlap. While some Singaporeans may resent the fact that she is a Singaporean Malay (an identity both state constructed and not a matter of choice), many others would embrace it.
Identities that we do have a say in choosing are the ones that we take on in our leisure. These identities are usually frivolous as how one would identify themselves as a soccer fanatic or even as a romantic. These identities are chosen, in tandem with one’s interests, strength and weaknesses. Usually, these identities will be what that will essentially make us different from the rest. About half of the world population may be men, but even lesser would be a man who is a romantic. And even lesser still are the men who is a romantic, a gentleman, an animal lover, a fitness buff and a handsome face all at the same time. We add more and more of our own personalized identity to that and we would create the person that we are.
In conclusion, I would say that no one person would have only one identity. One’s name is not the end of who we are. And who we are today is created by the state and its many policies, by society and its many cultural norms and practices. These two factors will in turn influence our interests, strengths and weaknesses which eventually leads to an identity that we have a say in.
human rights
Some countries would rather not have the term ‘Human Rights’, which essentially refers to the “basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled” as cited by Wikipedia, to be enforced on them. Such countries view human rights regulations as impeding on their own private national agenda. Many have used national security as the main reason for their human rights violation.
The US was once a strong advocator of Human Rights, going as far as making the promotion of human rights a “central goal to US Foreign Policy”. But in recent years, no doubt due to its current “War on Terror” campaigns, even the USA has cast human rights issues aside in favour of pursuing its current ideology of “War on terror” which according to them, is in coherent with their national interest. There are reports making its round on the inhumane way the US currently detains its suspects involved in terrorism. The US has even resorted to “floating prisons” to interrogate these suspects. As many as 15 ships have been speculated to be used for such a purpose and those retained are suspected to be badly abused and later deported to certain areas for further interrogation. Some have even been reported missing. “By its own admission, the US government is currently detaining at least 26,000 people without trial in secret prisons, and information suggests up to 80,000 have been ‘through the system’ since 2001. The US government must show a commitment to rights and basic humanity by immediately revealing who these people are, where they are, and what has been done to them,” reported by The Guardian. Such interrogation methods of its terrorist suspects prevent these suspects from exercising their basic right to clear their own name for many convicted do not even know the charges against them.
So what caused this change in policy of the US from being a fierce advocator of the human rights issue to a policy that is less concerned with human rights?
As mentioned earlier on, countries would pursue human rights if and if it doesn’t clash with their national interest / sovereignty. This idea might be linked to the reason behind China’s opposition to the globalization of human rights. The reason behind their opposition would be the notion of national sovereignty. To quote Sernau, “China has adamantly contended that pressure based on international human rights is politically motivated, violates its sovereignty, and does not take into account it’s unique culture and history”. The US’s change could be due to like China, the issue of national sovereignty. With the 911 attacks, there was a sudden need to ‘protect’ its citizens and hence do whatever it takes to curb the ‘terror issue’, even if this means treating the terror suspects as animals. But even some animals receive better treatment.
Infanticide was not a crime during the Confucianist China. Not because the Chinese were cruel by nature, but it was due to the fact that “the Confucianist state would condone the power and rights of fathers over children, who are theirs to do as they please, in return for which the state could do the adults as it pleases” as stated by Vivienne Wee in the article Children, Population Policy and the State in Singapore. Confucionist China was very patriarchal and has had a culture that treasures the male more than the female. Given this historical importance, the state was hence agreeable to the “rationality” of infanticide as it rids the females from its society early which were also deemed as a sex which was less productive than the male. If human rights or human rights of children had been advocated during this period of time, the Confucionist China would definitely not be able to practice infanticide.
International human rights may also be politically motivated. In normal circumstances, a country would only interfere into a country’s affairs only if they see a potential gain in doing so. In the case of the US, fellow supporters of the “War on Terror”, namely Britain had initially been very supportive of the US’s plight. But as time went by, realising that its support for the US was causing it be equally unpopular, it has now slowly taken steps to not condone the US method of capturing its terror suspects on board ships in degrading conditions. This is especially so “if the Bush administration is using British territories to aid and abet illegal state abduction, it would amount to a huge breach of trust with the British government” as stated again in The Guardian.
Given the above train of thoughts, I would say that human rights supporters are only doing not because of its noble believe in human life and equality but rather as a form of political maneuver to ensure its acceptance by the world.
war
War: States of Terror
Despite the many causalities that die in the name of war for centuries and centuries and the despicable destruction it does to the physical surrounding, men still look to war as an answer to the conflicts their nation-state may have.
Calls for peace over the past few years have been limitedly successful as we look to the current on-going wars in the world as evidence of their failure. But why do men resort to such violence?
Men go to war because they can. Over the past few centuries, there will always be men who are opportunists by nature. One of the factors leading to World War I (WWI) was due to the many alliances that were created in Europe between 1879 and 1914. This created the illusion that these countries had support from those in their ally and this was especially true for the smaller countries such as Austria-Hungary and Serbia. This created the belief that the destruction from a war created would not be as pronounced if they were a country alone as an entity due to the now larger reserve of human army on their side. Another factor that led to the interest to wage war back then was due to the presence of weapons. In WWI, the arms race and militarism were given a high profile by their respective governments. This led the countries to have a increasing supply of weapons available for use. Even before WWI, empires were stocked with weapons (though less sophisticated) and knights in formidable armor. As such, with an army human reserve of millions, weapons that countries have invested heavily in and an ambition for more power that intricately intertwined with greed, this led to the rise of countries that are not afraid to strike the pre-emptive strike to begin a war.
To me, the causes of war are inherently due to human nature itself. Men are mortals who put their hearts on their sleeves. Shameless beings that we are, we desire for so many things, hope for many other things but only the lucky or the privilege have their voices heard. Many others fall through as evidence of inequality and unfairness are seen in those who have been marginalized for years and years. These people are now mere puppets to their fate. We look to Palestinian Arabs and the Jews for deeper understanding. The Palestinian felt that Palestine was their land, likewise did the Jews who came to Palestine after much horrific incidents that they had suffered on other land. But for the Palestinian who had been on the land for years before the Jews, the marginalization that they felt were more pronounced as the Jews were the ones that had higher ranking jobs and were infiltrating their land more and more. This eventually led to the Arab-Israeli Wars.
Otherwise, other reason men go to war is to fight in the name of their religion. Recently, with the much media attention given to the USA’s ‘fight against terrorism’, the Al-Qaeda group has been given much publicity as an Islamic terrorist organization. The religion-orientated name has spurred many Muslims to join their organization from all over the world thanks to the internet that has helped to spread their agenda. But while their agenda seem to be violent in nature with the destruction of the World Trade Centre in 2003, it is important to note this ‘terrorist’ group has a political agenda as well and may have twisted some Islamic context in favor of their demands. In any case, as seen here, religion can be used by some to influence other to wage war or Jihad. Religion, with its promise of a reward in the afterlife if we stand up for it, is very much appealing to those who do not see the happiness in their current life. Hence, war is the only viable option.
However, we have to bear in mind that none of these reasons can work alone and all the reasons must be looked at in context of the country that is waging the war.
crime
Nur Aisyah Bte Gersali, T2
Crime
Crime as a sense of belonging
Crime rates around the world are soaring. The crime committed has also taken on a new dimension. A dimension which does not merely involves committing crime for personal reasons but also committing crime as a show of their sense of belonging to a certain subculture.
Like as if the world culture does not already hold enough meanings, the modernized society have formed or rather, caused a subculture focused on committing crime. Those involved in these subcultures are those that feel that they do not belong in the mainstream culture or social circle in which they live in. These people feel marginalized. In today’s modern context, these people can be anyone who do not benefit from the promise of capitalism.
There was an issue brought up in lecture about rural and urban poverty. Crime thrives more in places where urban poverty reigns than in places with rural poverty. Those who are poor in the city do not feel like a part of the city (urban poverty) while those who are poor in rural villages can still feel like a part of the village for everyone else is also poor (rural poverty). As human beings, there would always be the tendency for the need to be part of a group. Hence, as desperation for survival in the city combines with intense alienation, organized crime becomes the solution for their physical livelihood as well as emotional support.
Many of those involved in these groups that perform crime are willing to die for the group itself. Such loyalty is a show of their knowledge and gratitude at having been accepted as part of the gang. Furthermore, such courage is necessary for many of the crimes committed are dangerous. One of the groups that have already been discussed in lecture is the MS 13 whose criminal activities include assaults on law enforcement officials and contract killing. Such acts requires bravery and an intense faith in the group MS 13 itself for surely, no sane man would feel the need to commit murder so ruthlessly unless they feel that they are justified in doing so or are desperate enough to kill. One could argue that the many murders committed were probably because these men have been desensitized to the concept of killing. But this just bring home to the point that only reason violence is so normal to them is because they are from a marginalized group or the disadvantaged few in the world such as those from war-torn countries. Angry, poor and alienated, benefits from the crime committed sounds very much more delightful than their current predicament. Another sign of their loyalty to the group itself besides the willingness to die in the name of their group would be the similar tattoos drawn on their bodies as a sign of their commitment to the gang. Even local Singaporean gangs have adopted this mentality, don’t you agree?
Another reason for the desire to be part of an organized crime group is due to the fact that some of these organized crime groups are seen as a form of protection against the state that had overlooked of their existence. Some of the states would be Sicily in Italy and the Sao Paulo in Brazil for they offer no help to the poor and the weak. In Sicily, one significant organized crime group that has emerged would be the Cosa Nostra, more commonly known as the Mafia. The men from this group were seen as role models and protectors despite of their criminal activities of illicit drug trading, extorting big companies and even earning up to to US$120bn a year from many other similar crime activities. This is partly due to the Mafia’s infamous Ten Commandments (source by BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7086716.stm) listed below:
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The Mafia’s “Ten Commandments” |
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1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it. |
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2. Never look at the wives of friends. |
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3. Never be seen with cops. |
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4. Don’t go to pubs and clubs. |
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5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty – even if your wife’s about to give birth. |
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6. Appointments must absolutely be respected. |
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7. Wives must be treated with respect. |
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8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth. |
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9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families. |
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10. People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values. |
The Ten Commandments shows that the members of the Mafia treasures “moral values” in order to be seen as gentlemanly and not hooligan-like. This image set up allows them to be seen as only doing their criminal activities to benefit in the only way they can because the state do not seem to have ensured their place to benefit. This encourages those who feel continuous marginalisation from the state to look at the Mafia as the protector of their kind from the evil state.
In conclusion, my point would be that there are many different reasons why crimes are committed by different individuals. While some do so in the name of survival because they are poor or in need of cash, some others do so to fulfils certain desires that cannot be obtained in their daily lives (rape, vandalism, fraud etc). But such crimes are not as worrisome as those who commit crime as part of an organised crime group to be part of a subculture.
gender and family
So the lesson is learnt. As the society evolves in accordance to global events, the roles than men and women play are also changing. But whether the roles that are played are due to social expectations or due to survival necessity differs from country to country.
Immigration, due to the need for outsourcing or to fulfill certain roles or jobs that a country lacks, is also changing due to the evolution of gender roles. Immigration has always been rampant as we can see from the move of people from rural to urban areas during the industrialization period and also increasingly today as people all around the world fall prey to the concept of globalization and travel in the name of business transaction or to acquire jobs that supposedly pays more than the jobs available back in their homeland. Immigration and changing gender roles are interconnected in the sense that more women are travelling abroad to earn a living for the family- a role that was thought to be predominantly male.
Looking at the pictures above, one may conclude that these pictures seem to have nothing in common. But upon closer inspection, one may realize that both pictures show immigrants on foreign land to earn income for their families at home. The obvious difference between the two is that while the first picture is of men, the second shows of women. This is a very significant difference and it hints of the change in gender roles today. Men were the ones that travel to foreign land in search of income despite of the uncertain future. This was the common trend as men were needed to perform hard labor as countries embark on their development process during the beginning of the nineteenth century. But today, as the picture of the right serves as evidence, more women are increasingly searching for jobs on foreign land as domestic workers as more and more countries become more developed and in need of such services.
But why the sudden need for female immigrants in these developed countries? And why are these women so willing to be a minority in a developed country working so far away from home and family and their womanly/ motherly roles?
Many of these women work as domestic workers in countries such as Singapore. The reason why many decided to come despite the report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) that about half of Singapore’s 170,000 foreign maids do not have a rest day is because a majority of these women are poor and they can obtain a higher income working in Singapore than back at home. In Hong Kong, another equally developed country, many of its domestic workers are from the Philippines. Do not be mistaken that these women are uneducated. A Hong Kong work visa requires some amount of higher education; and in some cases Filipino women with college degrees and perfect command of English are willing to work as maids and nannies for the higher salary they will receive in Hong Kong than they could make at home.
The reason behind this interesting phenomenon is that a majority of the women in these developed countries are no longer willing to perform these domestic activities. Women from developed countries are essentially the sort of women that do not fit into the cultural ideal of mere nurturers. Apart from having to attend to the family, these women also have to work to help their husbands in obtaining a good enough income that can ensure the material wealth that people from developed countries can never have enough of. Child-bearing has also become more of a liability than an asset these days as rearing children requires not only a substantial amount of money, but also a complex form of nurturing to inculcate the correct set of values to combat the vices that comes with modernity. As such, many of these working women turn to the domestic helpers to cook, to clean the house and to perform any other domestic affairs.
These two different groups of women- the domestic workers and the career women from developed countries highlight the growing responsibilities that women carry today. This brings to mind the concept of the ‘overburdened women’. But from my point of view, for the entire world’s intelligence and many ways to increase efficiency (so much so that it makes use of people in the name of cheap labor), it sure is very dumb to separate human beings into man or women when it comes to working affairs. I say, whatever the gender, allow he or she to work where he or she has the most comparative advantage. If it is the woman who can bring home a higher wage, by all means, it should be the man who attends to more of the domestic affairs. After all, shouldn’t a family be about cooperation and not competition? The statements about male deserters because of inability to support the family are utter nonsense to me. Be a man; support your family, even if that means changing your child’s diapers.
work and trade
Work and Trade
The truth that children in richer countries could enjoy the luxury of having products that their heart desires while children in poorer countries have to pain-stakingly create those products creates a clear constrast on the inequality on this world. What I would like to discuss in this entry is the presence of child labour in the world and the mortifying reasons behind it.
Many countries today practice capitalism and while this economic system has its merits, it has also resulted in a material-driven society that will go all out to compete with other production companies and meet the expectations of the consumers. As such, we have constant supply of newer and better products in so many different brands and quality that will meet each and everyone’s preferences. But to create all of these products in such huge countities, a lot of revenue is needed. As such, to ensure that such products remain affordable for consumers and yet profitable for the producers, the concept of cutting cost applies to most of the prodution companies. To cut cost, low-cost labor is needed. One of cheapest form of labor available however, is child labor. But of course, as the world improves, regulations has been implemented to monitor production companies in ensuring that children are not abused and over-worked and only paid a meagre amount of money. Even with current efforts, competition for the companies resulted in some companies resiting these international law against child labor. For example, the huge production company, FirestoneTire and Rubber Company was recently convicted for forcing its workers to work for long hours to fulfil a high production quota or risked having their wages halved. They even allowed the workers to bring along their children so that this production qouta could be met. Another example would be the illegal child labor in New Delhi where it was discovered that 480 children from over 100 illegal embriodery factories were operating in the crowded slum area of Seelampur.
1st picture: the ugly side of child labor 2nd picture: production companies’s point of view
Most of children involved come from Third World Countries where poverty is high and access to education is limited. “It is Asia (excluding Japan), as the most densely populated region of the world, that has the most child workers (approximately 61% of the world’s total as compared with 32 % in Africa, 7% in Latin America, and one-fifth of one per cent in Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand)”, as qouted by a report entitled STATISTICS ON WORKING CHILDREN AND HAZARDOUS CHILD LABOUR IN BRIEF by Kebebew Ashagrie, International Labour Office, Geneva. When poverty combines with poverty, these children are driven to the point of desperation to make ends meet. This was the key problem back then. But nowadays, there is an increased effort for the elimination child labor. As such, many countries have tried to infuse education to these children in the Third World Countries. But the problem it seems, as quoted in the UNICEF’s website, “It is too often rigid and uninspiring in approach, with a curriculum that is irrelevant to and remote from children’s lives.” Such a motive needs to be inculcated by a good and sound government that is willing to explain the benefits of education and yet pass on the message in such a way that will reach out to the parents of the children. Often, parents of these poor children need the children to make earn more income for the family. As such, education must not merely be provided, but it must also be wanted and appreciated.
What worries me is that despite the many international government bodies that are putting in efforts to eliminate child labor, I wonder if their efforts will pay off considering the fact that current process of trade works in such a way that production always takes place in poor countries to increase the company’s profit. The fact that child labour occurs in sectors that is hard to monitor such as selling on the street, in agriculture or hidden away in houses makes it harder for the regulations to be implemented and followed vigorously. Furtherrmore, people in these poor countries seem to accept their fate as workers in the ever-growing industries. With such a mentality, it may be even harder to help these people.
class and inequalities
Class and Inequality.
One of the leading problems in the world today is of social inequality in the community. There is no denying the fact that as we observe the community that we live in, there will always be those who are richer than us, and also those who are much poorer than us no matter where our social standing is. But this issue of the growing gap between the rich and the poor within a country has also evolved into one where there is also a larger gap between the rich countries in the world and the poor countries in the world. The reason behind this unequal spread of wealth has been discussed in both Adam Smith’s and Karl Marx’s theories where each endorsed that if their theories are followed carefully enough, equality could be achieved. Adam Smith believed that capitalism would bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people while on the other extreme, Karl Marx, believed in communism where there would be common ownership for the common good. Though the both of them may have been right in certain instances and their hearts may have been in the right place, I would like to point out that no country can fully and rigidly follow either of these two extremist points of view and therefore achieve equal distribution of wealth for all as what these theories have promised.
If we look at Russia, one of the more popular example of a country which had practiced communism, communism had failed and have consequently been said to be have been defeated by capitalism. Though there may have been many reasons behind the fall of USSR per se and therefore communism, my intent is to focus on the fact that even with the practice for a classless communist society, social stratification had besotted Russia. Russia had kept true to its faith in communism and manual labor was glorified and skilled workers were often paid higher wages. However, those who worked as professionals or the white-collar workers still enjoyed social prestige. Because Russia had intrinsically overlapped their economy with politics back when communism was practiced, those who were members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) were given privileges that everyone else did not. They easily earned four times more than the average Russian. Again, this was a form of inequality that split the Russians into two.
Now we shall look at another country which practiced the other extreme (capitalism), the USA. Even in a country where the market forces is at full force, there exists the situation of the urban poverty amidst the whole image of modernity and wealth that the USA seems to portray as the leading superpower in the world. According to the Census Bureau which released its annual report on poverty in the United States, “There were nearly 35 million poor persons living in this country in 2002, a small increase from the preceding year.” These people can be found begging on the streets as the majority of others that come from social classes above theirs walk on by unaware of their predicament. The reason for this is because even within capitalism, free trade cannot exist peacefully. Once a corporation has garnered enough consumers under their wings, they have the ability to prevent smaller companies from succeeding and causing those employed in that smaller companies to be jobless and earning their fair share of wealth. Such were the disadvantages of the growth of monopolies. We have to bear in mind that the xample given above is only a small-scale situation where wealth could not always be attained fairly therefore resulting in the existence of people who will always be richer than the majority such as Bill Gates and the monopoly of his Microsoft corporation.
Finally, having noted that these two theories do not solve or pre vent poverty, than perhaps, if the two could be combined together in a economic system, than perhaps poverty could be solved? One country that pracrice the hybrid between the two systems would be Singapore. While the country encourages private enterprises, it also intervenes time to time to prevent the exploitation of the bigger companies on the smaller ones and also to redistribute wealth to the masses to help those who are poorer. One system in place in Singapore would be taxing its residence. The richer counterparts would be taxed more while those with a smaller income would only have to pay a smaller amount of tax. The tax received would then be used to help those to needed the money through systems such as the bursaries given to help the poor pay for their education, the Medisave to help the poorer ones pay for their medical bills etc. while this system seems more rational and promising than that of total capitalism and communism, it can only be successful if the government at hand is one that is just and not corrupt.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that for an economy to fully succeed; other issues have to be looked into. For example, in the case of Russia mentioned above, the country had allowed political issues to cloud their aim for a classless society. And for a hybrid economy to fully be successful, the people in charge in its government must be one that can foresee the correct situation for government intervention and not succumb to corruption.
Nur Aisyah Binte Gersali
Tutorial two
the social problem of globalization yo.
Globalization and Social Problem
Globalization, the process where local and regional ideas or situations are made global, can be both a boon and a bane. Its origin, though unclear, its impact is tremendous as the world tries to keep up with the ever changing problems and merits that come with globalization.
Over the years, globalization has increased in speed with the birth of global telecommunication, infrastructure that is equipped with the latest technology for easy immigration and even with the rise of the media. All of these help to spread information and knowledge rapidly, hence enveloping the world as just one giant society unit.
As such, it is now common to find people in rural areas of Indonesia communicating with people in countries such as Singapore. I am not saying that this example of cross-border communication was not possible before. Rather, Im only implying that this communication can be received and sent faster with modern-day technology as compared to previous decades ago where the only form of communication was by hand-writing a letter, which would only be received by the intended party several months later. This just goes to show that globalization has indeed became more efficient. Its efficiency is aided by the fact that people can move about much easily now. Gone are the days where the only mode of transportation is by simply walking from one place to another or by sea where even then, only few people (more daring ones would be Marco Polo) would even bother venturing beyond their continent. Now, every kind of transportation to be imagined is already invented with examples of air planes, cars, trains and ships etc. Not only is the mode of transportation much varied and faster, people can now be persuaded to travel with the incentive of better services. Ever heard of the first-class services in the air plane complete with the friendly and professional services of the air stewards? Or even the numerous bus services available in Singapore such as the SBS or the TIBS if you want an example of good service to encourage travel closer to home. These improved communication allows people from anywhere in the world to be in any other or every part of the world hence playing their part in the process of globalization.
Like as if globalization still needed to make its presence known and felt, its implication of making the world into one giant social unit can be seen in the creation of world governments such as the United Nations, World Bank and the World Health Organization to name a few. Because all the countries are now interdependent, these organizations are present to ensure international security and well-being. The setting-up of these organizations are a sign that the world is indeed an integrated unit with continual communication and exchange programs.
As such, society as a whole are now bombarded with bigger problems or social problems. When an issue affects (as it most definitely will, due to our interconnected communication ties) a large group of an individual up to a point where community progress is impeded, that issue becomes a social problem. The more amount of people it affects, the larger the intensity of the social problem. Such massive social stigma would be the creation of atomic bombs during the Cold War or even the rise of oil prices today. A less critical problem would be losing in the Olympic Games in Beijing as only the individual and the people of his/ her country would feel the shame and disappointment of the lost.
My conclusion is simple; globalization may have simplified the world into one social unit, but it has also complicates social problems into global international ones. As far I am concerned, no one has yet to solve the problem of Americanization of the world due to the globalization. Because its complicated shiznit, no?
