Kenya contributions of foreign aid to economic development

Kenya contributions of foreign aid to economic development Foreign aid is the transfer of capital, goods and services from one country to another. This aid may be given or transferred in form of capital transfers or technical assistance and training for either military or civilian purposes. Foreign aid is often given with conditions attached such as requirement that all or part of it maybe capital be used goods from the donor country or company given as a grant with no repayment obligation or a loan with a condition that the recipient country or nation purchase goods or services with the aid from the donor nation or company. These aids can be classified in to two: Bilateral aid Multilateral aid Bilateral aid is aid transferred from one single state or one country to another. Multilateral aid is aid transferred from alliances of multiple states e.g. international monetary fund. Development on the other side is a social phenomenon and it describes sources that are associated with human beings. It is the extension of the theoretical or practical aspects of a concept, design, discovery, or invention. A process of economic and social transformation which is based on complex cultural and environmental factors and their interactions. It can also be defined as a process of adding improvements to a parcel of land, such as grading, subdivisions, drainage, access, roads, utilities. All these can be used to describe development as the transition from a state of poor livelihood to an improved better state. A multinational corporation is a corporation that has its production facilities or other fixed assets in at least one foreign country and makes its major decision of management in a global context. In production, marketing, research and development and labour relations the multinational corporation makes its decision in terms of the host countrys customs and traditions. In finance many of its problems such as the need to shelter working capital from the risk of devaluation , or the choices between owning or licensing have no domestic counterpart. In addition to foreign exchange risks and the special business risk of operating in unfamiliar environments, there is an issue of political risk that sovereign governments may interfere with operations or even terminate the operations. Corporations invest in other countries for a number of reasons that include opening new markets or holding into the existing ones, to get new sources of raw materials and agricultural production, to take advan tage of cheap resources like labour and others. Some critics argue that these transnational corporations work solely in their own best of interest and exhibit no loyalty to the countries in which they are incorporated. CONTRIBUTIONS: Foreign aid had a lot of contribution to the economy of Kenya some that are positive and others negative. The use of foreign aid in the modern era began in the 18th century this was when Prussia subsided some of its allies. It then developed in to more sophisticated instrument of foreign policy after World War II. International organizations such as United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administrations were created to provide aid to countries affected by war and newly freed colonies. About 15% of foreign aid is provided by international bodies while the rest by various non-governmental organizations, Inter national Development association, multinational corporations and the International Finance Corporation: regional development Banks, the UN Development program, the European Development Fund and special agencies of the United Nations such as Food and Agriculture Organization. U.S. Corporations have various motives for establishing a corporate presence in other countries. The main possible motive is the desire of growth. In this case a corporation may have reached plateaus in meeting domestic demands and anticipate little additional growth and so a new foreign market might provide opportunities for new growth. Also through direct foreign investment a corporation may bypass high tariffs that prevent its goods from being competitively priced this is all done because of some corporations desire to escape protectionists policies of an importing country. Other motives include preventing competition and reducing cost. Preventing actual or potential competition from foreign nations is by acquiring their businesses and on the other side reducing cost can be attained through the use of cheap foreign resources like labour in developing countries. Some corporations can lower their costs by shifting some or all of its production facilities to other countries. This can also be done as they have the ability to use foreign subsidiaries to minimize their tax liability. The rise of multinationals which is a relatively recent occurrence has resulted to a great deal of legal ambiguity as they can operate in many area codes. Multinational corporations (MNCs) engage in useful and morally defensible activities in Third World countries Kenya being one of the countries and they have been receiving credits for the activities. Some of the significant activities that these MNCs did was extending of opportunities for earning higher incomes and also opportunity of consuming improved quality of goods and services by people living in areas below the poverty line. Although the MNCs came to Kenya with good intentions, they have misrepresented by fearful and ugly images of Marxists and the Dependency Theory advocates. Because many of these MNCs firms originate from industrialized countries including the U.S., the U.K., Canada Germany France and Italy, they have been viewed as instruments for the imposition of western cultural values on third world countries rather than allies in their economic development. Thus some proponents of these views urge for the expulsion of this firms while others less hostile have argued for their close monitoring or regulation by Third World governments. Close observation or supervision of the nature and activities of the MNCs in the Third World countries reveal a positive image of the firms as the allies in development process of these countries inclusive of Kenya. For the greater wellbeing of the majority of Kenyas poor, it is important that the positive contributions of these firms to the economies become more diversely understood. Even though MNCs may be primarily motivated by profits and low cost to invest in Kenya, the morality of their activities in improving the living standards of Kenyan families, Kenyans should not be obscured through misperceptions or misrepresentations. In Kenya, the firms might have been acknowledged through their high wages to local employees than what they would have earned elsewhere. Also higher rents for land and buildings contributed to their acknowledgement. As much as Kenyans believed they were earning higher wages and rents, the MNCs argued that the wages were still low as compared to wages and rents paid to employees and owners of land and buildings in the developed countries. The above explanation on how wages are paid to employees in Kenya and the developed countries but on the other hand unless workers find it most profitable to work for MNCs at the wages they offer, they would choose employment elsewhere . Similarly unless MNCs can make as much profit as they can make at home as well as compensation for the additional risks taken to invest in Kenya or Third World countries, including the risk of asset satisfaction by a hostile future government they would not venture into those parts of the world. Thus, there has to be net benefits for al parties in transaction that is multi national corporations and the workers or foreign employees for the transactions to exist. However the comparison misses several key points. For example the working conditions of developing countries e.g. Kenya and the working conditions of developed countries were not the same standard. The skills or educational levels of workers in Kenya and those of developed countries are different. The amount of machinery and equipment handled by workers in developed countries are different as compared to the ones that are used in Kenya or in the developing countries. In short the output generated by developed countries is higher than the output generated in the developing countries. The company, who is a major contributor of foreign aid in the world which Kenya is one of the beneficiaries, is SMART Company. There exists a number of smart aid programs achieving results across Kenya in different ways such as fighting disease, boosting agriculture, promoting literacy, helping in trading and attracting investments, giving power or encouraging Kenyans to fight corruption and hold their own governments to account. The smart company has aid in putting Kenyans in school or educating them and has helped in reducing malarial deaths rate. Most of the people living in Kenya are at high risk areas of malaria. A number of people have been dying of the dreaded disease but the aid programs established in Kenya together with the Kenyan government unveiled their ambitious strategy to deliver mosquito nets in in the ratio of two nets per family at risk. Within three years of the start of the program by the donors, case of malaria and death rate had been halved. This success was also brought about by delivering effective malaria treatment at lower costs to Kenyans. Kenya is working to expand access to primary health services particularly through the training of two health extension workers per village with the help of MNCs donors thirty thousand young women have been mobilized to transfer health skills to communities, a vital initiative towards a country where health services often fail to reach those in isolated rural areas. The training of these workers and the provision of disease test kits as well as drugs are all paid for by The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, all these leads to development. In Kenya as in many places in Africa, opening a bank account requires a minimum deposit which is often beyond the reach of poor families. In rural areas, banks can be far away and inconvenient to reach. M-PESA is money is a money transfer system which allows people to deposit, withdraw, and send money by mobile phone without a bank account. The model was piloted by Vodafone with assistance from U.K. department for international development (DFID). it was implemented in early 2007 by Safaricom, Kenyas largest mobile provider at the time. It now has approximately five million users. A worker in Nairobi can open an account at any M-PESA agent, in a local shop, a Safaricom dealer or a petrol station. He or she can deposit earnings into an M-PESA account and transfer money to family members via SMS. The recipients can then go to a local store in their village and cash the SMS using a secret code contained in the short message, and their identification card. Considering that mobile phone subscriptions in sub Saharan Africa grows by more than sixty percent annually. The investment climate facility (ICF) is an initiative that grew from the 2005 commission of Africa and started operations in July 2007. Its aim is to work with receptive African governments to make the continent an even better place to do business. It is currently active in ten African countries and working on four pan-regional projects and two other initiatives. The CIF is funded by eight donor agencies Germany, Ireland , the Netherlands, South Africa, the U.K., the African Development Bank and International Finance Corporation and nine companies Anglo American, the coca cola company, Microsoft, SABMiller, Sasol, Shell Foundation , Standard Bank, Unilever and Zain. The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an initiative funded by international donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. AGRA works to enhance agricultural productivity in Africa, Kenya included by training small holder farmers supporting the development of high yielding seed varieties, and ensuring that farmers have access to good quality seeds, tools, and fertilizer. AGRAs Program for Africas Seed Systems (PASS) provides grants and scholarships to agricultural scientists who then take their knowledge to local communities, working with farmers to see which seed variety best suit their land. AGRA works on innovative ways to make these seeds and their supplies widely available to rural farmers. Since 2006, AGRA has trained and certified over 5000 new agro-dealers, and aims to reach 9000 by 2011. This is having a real impact to farmers: in 2006 in Western Kenya, for example a farmer had to travel a distance of about 17 km to an agro dealer to purchase seeds and fertilizer; today that distance is an average of 5 km. AGRA has also provided loan guarantees through which farmers can access credit to purchase supplies that0 will boost their yields and in this case encouraging development. Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya is of east Africa largest slums and the setting for the recent film, The Constant Gardener, which presents images of grinding poverty tempered by peoples spirit of endurance. It is because of this film that the MNC offers to train the local individuals business skills that will enable them to be self sufficient. This past summer, a six-person team that included two Cornell university graduates and one alumna worked alongside residents of Kibera and Nyota, about three and a half hours North West of Nairobi as part of a project called the Base of Pyramid (BoP) protocol. Headed by Johnson graduate school of managements center for sustainable global enterprise, the project seeks to design and test a new process by which large corporations can work closely with poor communities to create new business opportunity for themselves and the community. Kenya, which is home to a subsidiary of SC Johnson was the firs site chosen to test the protocol. As much as it hasnt been attempted anywhere before, this protocol leaves no doubt about the goodwill of multinational corporations in Kenya. This is related to aid as the company seeks to help those willing poor individuals in the country. This has brought development in Kibera residence. One of the team members, Erik simanis, a doctoral candidate at the Johnson school who co-directs the BoP protocol project said: we think that business partnership between corporations and poor communities, when undertaken in a spirit of mutual respect, can be a powerful way to serve the needs of these communities while creating new opportunities for growth and innovation in the company. Multinational companies in Kenya work hand in hand with the government during or when national disasters occur. For instance, during the 2008 drought season which saw many poor living Kenyan citizens who depended on agriculture as their main source of living get highly affected. This forced the government to seek foreign aid and assistance from donors and weel wishers. Varriour governments across the world donated and participated in the contributions, however, major multinational companies in Kenya took the drivers seat.; this corporationa donated various things varying from food to livestock. The Nokia mobile company, a major phone manufacturing company, donated many containers of maize flour and cooking oil to distribute to affected communities. Other companies such as Barclays Bank, Coca Cola, Nakumatt also participated. Nakumatt supermarket which has many branches across east Africa started a campaign to encourage it customers to donate o the needy. The company thus helped Kenyans assist other Kenyans. Realizing that building healthy communities involve more than just donating dollars, Toyota manufacturing companies runs Volunteers in Place Program (VIP). This program was developed to encourage and recognize team members in the company who volunteer to work in foreign aid while supporting the companies operating principle and firm belief to be a good corporate citizen. Through the years, Toyotas program has become an important volunteer network to respond to needs in the communities where the various Toyota company team members live. For many of Toyotas motor company team members, volunteering is a way of life. For others the desire to volunteer is there but help is needed to get them involved. Thats where the VIP program is most helpful to team members. In addition to volunteering to individual selected charities, team members are given the opportunity to support group volunteer activities and project sponsored by the Toyota Company. This has helped in development of Kenyas economy. TechnoServe is a leader in a movement that empowers people in the developing world to build businesses that break the cycle of poverty. Growing enterprises generate jobs and other income opportunities for poor people, enabling them to improve their lives and secure better future for their families. Since its founding in 1968 the U.S. Based non profit organization has helped to create or expand thousands of businesses benefiting millions of people in more that 30 countries. The Financial Times has rated TechnoServe one of the top 5 NGOs for corporate partnerships. TechnoServes corporate partners include Cagill, Kraft, Nestle-Nespresso, Olam International, Peets Coffee and Tea and Unilever among others. Charity Navigator has also awarded his highest foster ranking to TechnoServe. since it was founded in 2000, GM Global Aid has facilitated millions of dollars in donations for disaster relief worldwide. Through this program, GM and it national and international business units and the GM Foundation can quickly direct vehicles, services, or supplies as well as monitory contributions to charitable organization assisting in local disaster relief efforts. An essential component of our disaster relief efforts are that which allows GM employees and others worldwide to contributes funds to disaster relief. On an occasion, contributions from our employees are matched by GM Foundation and their contributions helped in development. The company who knows that no one can effectively tackle child hunger alone, the challenges are too large and complex. Partnerships with other businesses, governmental and non governmental organizations and communities around the world are the best way to achieve our objectives. Together for child vitality builds on Unilevers long tradition of responsible corporate behavior, delivered through businesses firmly rooted in local communities all round the world. World food program brings to partnership more than 40 years experience in providing food assistance to people mostly mothers and children, in worlds poorest countries. The agency has unique knowledge of their nutritional needs and food habits, coupled with logistical expertise and extensive government and health authority relationships. World food program is the worlds larges humanitarian organizations, fighting hunger worldwide and has become the worlds largest provider for school meals and take-home rations for poor children: school meals attract children too school and boost primary school enrolment, attendance, performance and completion as education contributes to development. CONCLUSION This among other contributions of multinational corporations in Kenya and other third world countries has enabled them make tremendous step in development. The government with little assistance from these corporations has been able to efficiently serve its most needy and poor people and thus their contributions are highly relevant and may be credited to most of Kenyas achievement in development. Foreign aid can bring a lot of development if implemented in the right way. It has a lot of positive contributions to economic development.

The Verbal and Physical Comic Devices

The Verbal and Physical Comic Devices MacDonald employs both verbal and physical comic devices in this scene. The two verbal devices she has used are sexual innuendo and parody and the two physical devices which have been used are the rise of friendly brutality and persistence of Romeo and Juliet in getting physical with Constance and her constant struggle to avoid them. Use of sexual innuendo is seen throughout the scene: Id quench myself at thy Priapic font, O that I were a fountain pen within thy hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3. 4. P63), For years Ive sought to penetrate your source (3.4. P64). The following conversation shows the use of parody: JULIET for with each new lust, thou creepeth close unto the aged day when soft moist lip and dewy eye convert to senile rheum. ROMEO Thinkst thou to leave a lovely corpse my dear, when even now the crows have footed it in merry measure all about thine eyes? (3. 4. P66) Both these types of verbal comic devices add to the effect of lightening the mood and help to change the monotonicity in progression of the drama. They also help in making the audience feel witty for catching the main intent in the use of these devices. The use of physical device is seen when Romeo places his hand on Tybalts bottom (3. 4. P60), and Tybalt smacks Romeos butt in return [Tybalt gives ROMEO a macho slap on the ass and laughs] (3. 4. P60). Another use of this device is seen when Romeo constantly tries to kiss Constance, and [Juliet takes Constances hand and does not release it] (3. 4. P63). Thus, we see that both the verbal and the physical comic devices serve to lighten the mood and engage the attention of the audience. Part B Drama (relates to Othello and/or Goodnight Desdemona) How does Constance use Desdemona and Juliet for the alchemical process of turning base metals into gold? Discuss with specific references to the play. Effect of Desdemona and Juliet on Constance The concept of Alchemy literally refers to the theory of turning a base metal into gold. Thus, if this same concept is applied to the very essence of human existence, it can be interrelated in the form that a human can attain the zenith of perfection and become divine and flawless. Constance Ledbelly, the central character of this play, does not believe in this concept of a human perfection, and bases her entire thesis on her lack of belief on the academic fact that Shakespeare was the original author of his work. Instead she considers that Romeo and Juliet and Othello were originally written by an unknown author and that her judgment can be proved by deciphering a manuscript written by a character named Gustav. The original Shakespeares tragedy Othello projects Desdemona as a victim of love and trust, and she is shown being devoted to her husband and obeying his commands. Constance however perceives her as a strong-headed, gullible and violent (3. 9. P86) character, and finds her similar to the original Othello character, who although, was valiant and respectful, he was also responsible for his own downfall, due to the lack of trust he had for his wife [Desdemona]. Desdemonas explosiveness is also projected when she declares that the allegations made by academia about her being a helpless victim, is baseless, and calls this Bullshit!! (2. 2. P38). Constance respects Desdemona for her truthfulness and hails her magnificent (2. 2. P38), and being capable of greatness (2. 2. P38). One of the bad qualities Constance finds in Desdemona is her inclination towards tragedy. The other bad quality she has is her being easily exploited, because of her angry and jealous nature. In the end, however, Des demona promises Constance that she would amend herself and change her ways. This acknowledgement also affects Constance and inspires her to discover her own confidence and strength. In a similar way, Shakespeares original Romeo and Juliet, projects Juliet as the embodiment of love, and this is even reflected by Constance who initially calls Juliet the essence of first love / of beauty that will never fade, / of passion that will never die (3. 4. P64). As we get further into the play, we find Juliet obsessed with sexual love. Her attitude also reflects her being immature Ill tell my father! (3. 2. P56). Juliets strong love for Constance and her views about love at first-sight inspire Constance to love her, but at the same time, she feels skeptical about her, due to her [Juliets] obsession with killing herself. In the end of the play, however, Constance makes Juliet promise her that she would reform herself and look at life in a more positive way. Thus, Juliet also inspires Constance to discover her maturity. After the warp, Connie finds herself back in her office at Queens. She tentatively touches herself as if to confirm her reality (3. 9. P88). On removing the feathered pen from behind her ear she notices that it has turned to solid gold (3. 9. P88). This can be directly interrelated to how she discovered her own confidence with the help of Desdemona and Juliet. Thus, even though we see that Constance had low self-esteem initially, by the end of the play we see her as a totally different person. Hence her life has surely undergone an alchemical transformation.

The Epic Poem, Beowulf - Beowulf and Heroic Virtues :: Epic of Beowulf Essay

Beowulf and Heroic Virtues      Ã‚   Although the main character in Beowulf is Beowulf himself, I believe that the single section which most concisely illustrates the heroic values in this poem occurs on pages 61 through 64 of the text, and is illustrated not by Beowulf's actions, but by Wiglaf's. Although Wiglaf is by nationality Swedish, he identifies himself as Beowulf's kinsman when he says "I did begin to help my kinsman." (Chickering 64)    Wiglaf, in coming to Beowulf's aid in the fight against the dragon, typifies several important heroic virtues. The most obvious of these is the importance of the relationship between lord and thane. In trying to persuade the other thanes to assist Beowulf, Wiglaf says, "Now the day has come that our liege lord has need of the strength of good fighters. Let us go to him, help our war-chief while the grime terrible fire persists." (Chickering 61) In stating this, Wiglaf reminds the other thanes of the necessity of holding up their end of the bargain in the lord-thane relationship. Beowulf is a good lord, who protects his thanes and dispenses treasure to them, and it is their turn to support him in battle in his time of need.    When Wiglaf comes to aid Beowulf against the dragon, he also illustrates the importance of the kinship bond. Beowulf states that "Fate has swept away all my kinsmen" immediately before he dies. (Chickering 63) As one of Beowulf's last surviving kinsmen, Wiglaf's aid would be especially valuable to Beowulf. As the editors of The Norton Anthology of English Literature point out in the introduction to Beowulf in their introduction to this text, relationships between kinsmen were extremely important to this society. (Introduction 23)    Wiglaf also exemplifies the heroic virtue of courage. He give no thought to his own safety or to the odds against him when he fights the dragon, but goes to help his thane and kinsman. In the fight he conducts himself courageously; the author of the poem says that, in attacking the dragon, "he took no heed for that head" -- that is, the dragon's head, which breathed fire -- but that "that hand of the brave man was burned as he helped his kinsman." (Chickering 62).    Finally, Wiglaf's action demonstrates the heroic virtue of living up to a promise made. "I remember that time we drank mead, when we promised our lord in the beer-hall -- him who gave us these rings -- that we would repay him for the war-arms if a need like this befell him," says Wiglaf of an earlier promise made by the thanes. The Epic Poem, Beowulf - Beowulf and Heroic Virtues :: Epic of Beowulf Essay Beowulf and Heroic Virtues      Ã‚   Although the main character in Beowulf is Beowulf himself, I believe that the single section which most concisely illustrates the heroic values in this poem occurs on pages 61 through 64 of the text, and is illustrated not by Beowulf's actions, but by Wiglaf's. Although Wiglaf is by nationality Swedish, he identifies himself as Beowulf's kinsman when he says "I did begin to help my kinsman." (Chickering 64)    Wiglaf, in coming to Beowulf's aid in the fight against the dragon, typifies several important heroic virtues. The most obvious of these is the importance of the relationship between lord and thane. In trying to persuade the other thanes to assist Beowulf, Wiglaf says, "Now the day has come that our liege lord has need of the strength of good fighters. Let us go to him, help our war-chief while the grime terrible fire persists." (Chickering 61) In stating this, Wiglaf reminds the other thanes of the necessity of holding up their end of the bargain in the lord-thane relationship. Beowulf is a good lord, who protects his thanes and dispenses treasure to them, and it is their turn to support him in battle in his time of need.    When Wiglaf comes to aid Beowulf against the dragon, he also illustrates the importance of the kinship bond. Beowulf states that "Fate has swept away all my kinsmen" immediately before he dies. (Chickering 63) As one of Beowulf's last surviving kinsmen, Wiglaf's aid would be especially valuable to Beowulf. As the editors of The Norton Anthology of English Literature point out in the introduction to Beowulf in their introduction to this text, relationships between kinsmen were extremely important to this society. (Introduction 23)    Wiglaf also exemplifies the heroic virtue of courage. He give no thought to his own safety or to the odds against him when he fights the dragon, but goes to help his thane and kinsman. In the fight he conducts himself courageously; the author of the poem says that, in attacking the dragon, "he took no heed for that head" -- that is, the dragon's head, which breathed fire -- but that "that hand of the brave man was burned as he helped his kinsman." (Chickering 62).    Finally, Wiglaf's action demonstrates the heroic virtue of living up to a promise made. "I remember that time we drank mead, when we promised our lord in the beer-hall -- him who gave us these rings -- that we would repay him for the war-arms if a need like this befell him," says Wiglaf of an earlier promise made by the thanes.

Shakespeare in Love :: English Literature Essays

Shakespeare in Love How true is my love? William Shakespeare creates the readers world of wonder. His own marriage was a world of wonder. Shakespeare’s wife was young and beautiful. Her name was Anne Hathaway. She was eight years older than Shakespeare. Shakespeare was eighteen when he married Anne. They were joined in a â€Å"hand fast marriage.† This is a contract to marry before witnesses, marked by a kiss and a ring. It is followed by sexual intercourse forming a binding marriage. Romeo and Juliet had a delightful marriage. Shakespeare wrote about happy marriages. Romeo loved Juliet so much that he was willing to die for her. He never did her any wrong and cherished her love. Shakespeare is a woman worshiper. In Elizabeth I, Viola is a young witty girl who dresses as a man to work with Shakespeare. Viola falls in love with him. Viola is portrayed as vibrant and bright. Accusations of Shakespeare’s affairs are published in the novel, No Bed for Bacon. Shakespeare was said to write about love from his own experience. A Midsummer Night’s dream describes love the best. Is love predictable? Hermia and Lysander, in a Midsummer Night’s dream, have an altered love. Hermia’s father chose whom she would love, but Hermia already loves Lysander. She elopes with her love. Then a spell is cast upon her to fall in love with Helena, her fathers best friend. Love is so strong Hermia can’t be forced to love someone besides Lysander, there is a spell. Shakespeare portrays love to be the strongest emotion. It is said that love was the reason he stayed with Anne even though she was so far away. Romeo and Juliet were not supposed to love each other because of family quarrels. They felt so strongly toward each other that they refused to let anything get in the way of their love. Romeo and Juliet are a tragedy. The love they shared brought them to death. Romeo and Juliet tried to be together. They married without telling their family. Juliet’s father had a plan for her to marry someone he favored. Juliet refused, her father insisted, so Juliet faked her death. Romeo was supposed to get a letter telling of the plan. The letter was not received. Romeo found Juliet, supposedly dead, he killed himself at her side. Juliet awakened to her lover dead and committed suicide. Is love this strong?

Blind Faith in Raymond Carvers Cathedral Essay -- Carver Cathedral Es

Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral      Ã‚   In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation.   At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice.   Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes.   Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice.   During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind. The speaker's prejudice was nearly overwhelming at the opening of the story.   "His being blind bothered me," he said.   "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to."   He had never really come in personal contact with anyone before who was blind, and seemed to have no idea of what to expect.   He admittedly gathered a stereotypical mind set about blind people from movies, assuming they "moved slowly and never laughed."   The character's prejudice was also evident when he asked about Robert's deceased wife.   Upon hearing her name Beulah, he asked, "Was his wife a Negro?"   Immediately, his wife seemed offended at the question.   The paragraphs that follow are important to the story. The speaker informs the readers that his wife told him the story of Robert and Beulah.   H... ...interracial relationships.   However because of the way he acts when he hears about the two of them, it is obvious that he has led a sheltered life.   But even after his entire life of not understanding what was going on in the world around him, one night with Robert enlightened him and changed his view on people and his surrounding environment.    Works Cited and Consulted Bethea, Arthur F. "Carver's Cathedral" The Explicator. Spring 1998: 132-134. Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062. Nesset, Kirk. "Insularity and Self-Enlargement in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral.'" Essays in Literature. March 22, 1994: 116. Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral Essay -- Carver Cathedral Es Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral      Ã‚   In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation.   At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice.   Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes.   Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice.   During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind. The speaker's prejudice was nearly overwhelming at the opening of the story.   "His being blind bothered me," he said.   "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to."   He had never really come in personal contact with anyone before who was blind, and seemed to have no idea of what to expect.   He admittedly gathered a stereotypical mind set about blind people from movies, assuming they "moved slowly and never laughed."   The character's prejudice was also evident when he asked about Robert's deceased wife.   Upon hearing her name Beulah, he asked, "Was his wife a Negro?"   Immediately, his wife seemed offended at the question.   The paragraphs that follow are important to the story. The speaker informs the readers that his wife told him the story of Robert and Beulah.   H... ...interracial relationships.   However because of the way he acts when he hears about the two of them, it is obvious that he has led a sheltered life.   But even after his entire life of not understanding what was going on in the world around him, one night with Robert enlightened him and changed his view on people and his surrounding environment.    Works Cited and Consulted Bethea, Arthur F. "Carver's Cathedral" The Explicator. Spring 1998: 132-134. Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062. Nesset, Kirk. "Insularity and Self-Enlargement in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral.'" Essays in Literature. March 22, 1994: 116.

How does television cause violent behavior? Essay

How does television cause violent behavior? Good question. All people watch TV but only some of them use violent behavior. Television is an idol of the modern days. Watching television is an experience shared by the vast majority of children and adults, men and women, wealthy and poor people. It is convenient, inexpensive, available and attractive. Television can entertain us and can teach us some useful or useless things. Too frequently it is used even as a substitute for other activities. Activities like violence. For the most the violence is ugly, unattractive and †¦ forbidden thing. We can see it in the streets, back alleys, school, and even at home. But the main source of violence in our life is television. Children are the most vulnerable group for influence of the television violence. Seeing a lot of violence on television can lead them to behave aggressively. I read story about a 16-year-old boy who broke into a cellar in the city of New York. When the police caught him and asked him why he was wearing gloves he replied that he had learned to do so to not leave fingerprints and that he discovered this on television. But television violence does not affect only child’s youth; it can also affect his or her adulthood. This can force the child into a kind of premature maturity. As the child matures into an adult, he can become bewildered; have a greater distrust towards others, a superficial approach to adult problems, and even an unwillingness to become an adult. In Alabama, a nine-year-old boy received a bad report card from his teacher. He suggested sending the teacher poisoned candy as revenge as he had seen on television the night before. This young Borja probable will have problems with conflict management in the future. It will be easier for him to think about poisonous candy or another Kunststueck than to face the conflict and find wise solution (e.g. learn subject better). I am wondered why people find the violence that they can see on television more attractive than the violence on the streets. Probably when we sit near the television screen, in safety and comfort, our curiosity make us to look to the unattractive features of human relationship? We know that those lakes of blood, explosions, masculine domination or brutal words are far from our sweat home. But children don’t always realize that this is not the way thing are handled in real life. They come to expect it, and when they don’t see it the world becomes bland and in need of violence. The children then can create the violence that their mind craves. A seven-year-old Californian boy sprinkled ground-up glass into the lamb stew the family was to eat for dinner. When asked why he did it he replied that he wanted to see if the results would be the same in real life as they were on television.Television sends not only messages about exciting world of adventures and violence. It offers role model which child can try to put on. Children find the violent characters on television fun to imitate. This could be a problem for children in the big cities, where aggressive behavior is more acceptable. I do not feel sure that there are no gender peculiarities of television violence impact on the youth. Probably, boys are more sensitive to this impact. They see heroes who become their role models. They accept that it is cool to carry an automatic weapon and use it to knock off the bad guys. I never had Kalashnikov or M-16 automatic rifle but I saw awesome movie – Bowling for Colombine†¦Fortunately, there were developed programs for parents’ and children education to prevent unfavorable effects of watching violence television. We advise to limit television viewing time to 1 to 2 hours each day, to control content of TV shows and movies watching by children, to discuss with children issues of violent behavior and ways how to solve problems without violence. I propose not palliative but more radical preventive measure – do not watch TV at all. Today American children spend near television more time than they spend in school. They watch cartoons, movies and shows with the violence. Children should stop it and read more books. Without violence, of course.

Genetically Modifying Crops Essay

Summary: What are the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modifying food crops? Can developing countries or countries struggling with famine profit from these techniques?Does it affect the surrounding environment? These are all questions that have kept scientist biologist and ethicists busy. Religious groups would also like to have there say in it. Can genetic engineering help society, or will it be a burden for our future generations, because it has disastrous effects on our environment. Approximately 10,000 years ago the first crops were consciously planted. In the Middle East, wheat and barley were planted, the early farmers in Peru cultivated potatoes and beans and in the Indus valley the ancient civilization there started sowing their fields with rice. How they figured this out we don’t know it was probably a long process of trial and error and a fair bit of luck. This early agriculture consisted out of four stages: sowing the seeds, caring for the plants, harvesting, selecting and keeping back some of the seeds for the next generation. Although these people that had settled down to farm had improved their life styles considerably, they still wanted a higher crop yield and a bigger variety of crops. This lead to certain techniques. Some that they understood like crop rotation, but others that have only been recently been explained by modern DNA research. These early farmers unconsciously crossed for example certain types of walnuts together, so that they w ere not poisonous anymore. Wild walnuts contain cyanide and the concentration in wild walnuts is enough to kill a human. These early farmers also tried to get bigger seeds and fruits of their crops and make them more resistant to diseases. Of course they booked some progress, but not a lot. Nowadays scientists are still trying to genetically modify crops using new techniques which involves cutting and pasting the DNA with enzymes. So is it only good that, because of the work of these scientists we will have stronger and healthier crops or are there also disadvantages to genetically modifying crops?One of the obvious arguments against genetically modifying crops comes from religious groups. They think that experimenting with DNA and genes is messing with the natural order. They believe that â€Å"God† created everything and meant it to be created that  way. These religious groups can not prove that â€Å"God† meant it to be like this, so it is not valid evidence. Never the less they still make a point. If you genetically modify a crop in Area A these crops will of course also pollinate. When they pollinate there seeds will be carried by animals and the wind to the areas lying around them, Areas B, C, D and E. So if the grass in Area A was genetically modified than the seeds may carry and affect the grass in Areas B, C, and D and E which have normal natural grown grass. This of course could affect the ecological system that was in place in Areas B, C and D and E. There are certain genetically modified crops that yield infertile seeds, but these have not yet been approved and been given free. An advantage of genetically modifying crops is obviously that farmers, who are in most countries struggling financially, can get a higher crop yield. Not only by making crops resistant for certain diseases or pests, but also by making them resistant to the herbicides which are used to kill the weeds. The first reason stated has already been used. The European corn borer used to destroy about 7% of the annual yield of corn on the world. Since they added the gene that produces the Bt protein, which causes the corn borers to die of hunger, the annual yield in the USA has risen 5-10% in all areas. More interesting though is if scientists could make the crops resistant to herbicides. This would especially be financially attractive for farmers, since they don’t have to hire in people to do the weeding and they don’t have to pay all kinds of environmental taxes. The farmers sometimes have to pay these taxes, especially in Western countries, because of the biodegradability of t hese herbicides. Biodegradability, which I mentioned in the last paragraph, is one of the most important arguments of the group for using the special herbicides and modifying crops. They believe that the herbicides that are used now affect the ecosystem in a disastrous way. The term biodegradability means how good the environment is able to digest the herbicides. Some herbicides that are used now also affect the animals in the area. This is bad for the ecosystem, because the natural balance will be affected. So if through genetic engineering they can modify the crops so that they are resistant to these herbicides this might contribute to raising the biodegradability in the  ecosystem. This is because the products they use to make these specific herbicides are general better for the environment. Also farmers can use less herbicide if the crops are resistant to them. They can spray a rough coat of their fields without having to worry that it will also hit their crops. For the consumers it would also be a good move, because of the higher crop yield the food prices would go down. The water supplies would also benefit, because there would be less toxic groundwater, which is caused by the herbicides seeping into the soil, pumped into them. Biologists are very worried about the loss of bio diversity, because of the genetic engineering of foods. Also medicine developers are worried that certain types of crops will be lost, because scientists are changing the genes of these crops. Medicine developers would like to keep and preserve as many different types of crops, because in the future they might be able to make medicine out of them. They would like to do this through using the genes of plants that are resistant to a disease and putting it in a human virus cell. By injecting these cells into humans these humans would become immune to it. So in principle the medicine developers are not against genetically modifying products but they would not like to lose any plants that might be of value for them in the future. Biologists are less interested in the healing qualities of these plants, but purely in the bio diversity. They would like to retain as much different species and types of plants to keep the natural order in balance. What, however, is more important is that if crops are genetically modified the original crops can not cross pollinate with other species of the same plant. This might lead to just one type of from example corn crop. This in the future could become a big problem, because if the climate changes the crop will not be able to cross pollinate with another crop and thus not adapt to the changing climate. This is a big issue, because with the global warming getting worse each year a climate change in the future could be disastrous. Biologist and ecologists have though started creating vaults in which all different types of plants are being preserved to maintain the bio diversity. An advantage of genetically modifying crops is that people in developing countries can get a higher crop yield and maybe even have two harvests per  year. With this advantage though comes a big advantage. The companies that develop the techniques and sell them are all Western companies and there are only a few. So if African countries want to get these genetically crops they have to pay these companies. This will give these companies indirect access to the food supplies of Africa and other developing countries. If the companies also consider the poor companies in the way they handle genetically modifying these crops and selling them would contribute to making the world a better place. It is, however, more likely that they might unconsciously handle in favour of their own companies and profit. Another important issue is if crops that have been genetically modified should be labelled or not. Most people prefer to know what has been done to the food they’re eating. It is the same with organic eggs. People would like to know if the chickens that laid the eggs are having or had a good life. Most people are not against the fact that the crop is modified, they would just like to know it. There are many advantages, but also many disadvantages with genetically modified crops. There are ethical ones which come from religious groups. They believe you should not mess with â€Å"God’s† creations. A disadvantage is that genetically modified crops can cross pollinate with other normal crops in the areas around them. An advantage is that farmers and especially farmers in poor countries can get a higher crop yield and maybe have more than one harvest a year. A disadvantage though is that the companies that modify the crops could handle unfairly and would have control over their food supply. There might also be a loss of bio diversity. I think that genetically modifying crops is a good idea. It does have to be controlled properly though. There should only be certain areas where it should be allowed and foods that are made with it should be labelled. I also believe that the companies that produce these modifications should share the technology with other less rich companies to prevent a monopoly. Plants could also hold many products that could produce medicines in the future. So overall I think that crops should and can be genetically modified, but there should be strict regulations and the bio diversity should be preserved. Sources: Department of Agriculture, South AfricaISAAAhttp://www.geocities.com/gm_crops/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_crops#Genetic_modification_of_plantshttp://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/gm-foodGuns, Germs and Steel by Jared DiamondANW course bookhttp://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0111sp.htmhttp://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml