POLICY BRIEFS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

POLICY BRIEFS - Essay Example Tianyi Luo, Andrew Maddocks, and Betsy Otto reported that last July 2012, China’s government sought to establish 363 coal-fired power plants for construction all over China, with planned capacity of more than 557 gigawatts, a momentous 75% increase on generating capacity that can fit its rabid energy demand. The rest of the world fears that China is over-exerting itself on the global atmosphere. China asks: Why should it curb its own economic growth when first world countries before had no check and balance system on its energy use? The answer is because without global actions in reducing emission, the world is running faster toward a state of alarming global warming. Global warming is important to all of us because we all share the same atmosphere. Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, an American economist and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal, asserts: â€Å"No issue is more global than global warming: everyone shares the same at mosphere† (7). Aside from a Nobel Prize economist who is certain that global warming is our issue, several scientists are also concerned of global warming- principally, its causes and effects on people. Those who say that global warming is not human-made and not based on carbon-dioxide emissions are facing increasing evidence that prove them otherwise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body that is composed of hundred scientists that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, stated that though the rise of global temperature can be as low as 2.7 degrees, if carbon dioxide emissions double for the next few years, the rise will be higher. Justin Gillis of The New York Times reported the potential effects of higher global temperatures all over the world, based on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Warming the entire planet by 5 degrees Fahrenheit would add a stupendous amount of energy to the climate system. Scientists say the increase would be greater over land and might exceed 10 degrees at the poles. They add that such an increase would lead to widespread melting of land ice, extreme heat waves, difficulty growing food and massive changes in plant and animal life, probably including a wave of extinctions. In other words, global warming is a global issue because it will not only affect plant and animal life, it will affect human life as well. President Jim Yong Kim, you are in a unique position to help stop global warming because you hold a powerful position in one of the most dominant global institutions in the world. The World Bank has the primary functions of promoting world development, boosting productivity standards and standards of living in less developed countries, and assisting in-need countries’ reconstruction plans. You can support our proposal for financing changes that can curb global emissions. Furthermore, in your speech, â€Å"Within Our Grasp: A World Free of Poverty† delivered at Georgeto wn University last April 2, 2013, you showed awareness for the impact of global warming on poverty. You said: â€Å"The World Bank Group is now working on a revamped strategy to significantly strengthen our climate change interventions and help catalyze urgent action among global partners on the scale required.† Indeed, I agree that with the World Bank’s financial resources and global political and social power, it can do more to help address global warming. DISCUSSION OF GLOBAL WARMING AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS: Global warming is real. Richard A. Muller, a professor of

Art Experiences Essay Example for Free

Art Experiences Essay I have been doing art for as long as I can remember. From the time I was in Kindergarden to my senior year in high school Ive been doing arts and crafts. Ive had art teachers, vacation bible school leaders, and my parents teaching me how to create things my whole life. I usually only recieve art instruction when I sign up for art courses. Ive completed all sorts of art projects including paintings, clay, abstract, landscapes and all other types of activities. I had two very good art instructors in high school and they were very critical and rewarding and that probably is why I enjoy art as much as I do. Ive had a very broad range of activities from drawing with charcoal and pencils to painting and sculptings. For the most part most of my art activities werent holiday centered they were more of your own imagination and ideas. All of my art projects were graded on pretty specific grading rubrics. It measured how much you worked on it and made sure that you followed all of the necessary guidelines. I have had a great experience with art in my past and Im excited to learn more about it. My strengths in art I would say would be that I really enjoy drawing and shading pictures of things and my weakness is that I dont really know that much about the history of art and where it all came from. Art relates to society very much so. Advertising is used everywhere you go and you wouldnt have that without art skills. I am very excited to learn more about the history of art and sharpen up my old art skills.

Food Consumption in America :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

Food Consumption    Not all people eat the same food, but there are some connections between who people eat with and what types of food they eat. Throughout life, people live with different people or alone and they eat different food. Most people live with their family when they are young, then move out and live on their own, then sometimes get married and have their own family, and then live once again on their own or with their spouse.    While living at home, parents usually make food for their children. They make dinner for the family, and it is usually healthy. The children eat fairly healthy because even when they make food for themselves, the food in the house is probably fairly healthy. Not only do the children eat pretty healthy, the parent or parents do too. They make meals for the family and they mostly have all food groups included. They can prepare a lot of food and most of it will get eaten. For example, a parent can make a bag of frozen vegetables, and most of it will get eaten by the family. If a person living on their own wanted vegetables, the bag would have more servings than needed. When someoneà ­s food is prepared for them, they will be very willing to eat it and they will not need to do any work themselves.    When children move away from home and go to school, the school cafeteria makes food for them. This food is made for many people and there is a large variety. Overall it is healthy and people eat it because it is good, but mostly because it is prepared for them.    When children move away from home and do not go to school but live on their own, they do not always eat very healthy. No one makes food for them, and they do not want to take a lot of time to prepare food for just themselves. Also, they do not want to make a large amount of food for just one person and have too much food left over. This is true for anyone who lives on their own. People who live alone only need to make enough for one person, and they always need to make it themselves unless they go out to eat.

Ecological Theory and Beautification Essay

The ecological theory in criminology maintains that the physical environment where people are situated influences certain human behaviors. The theory has its scientific advantages and disadvantages when compared to the process of â€Å"beautification,† which is the process of visually improving a city or town specifically one that is situated in an urban area. For the most part, the assertions of the ecological theory are not significantly dependent on the dominant ethnic group living in a particular area, thereby suggesting that the findings of the theory do not depend on subjective human relations but rather on the physical environment where they are located. It has a scientific advantage in the sense that it avoids the problems brought about by the relative circumstances of exactly who are living within the area. On the other hand, its disadvantage is that its findings—high crime rates with respect to social disorganization—can fluctuate between being a cause or an effect. In a sense, high crime rates can result to social disorganization and, similarly, social disorganization can lead to high crime rates. Relying on the physical environment in interpreting human behaviors is also problematic because doing so does not explain why some people in such areas commit certain crimes while others in the same areas do not. Beautification, however, is a relatively more stable theory than the ecological theory because, for example, urban beautification schemes through evictions are meant to address high crime rates and not the other way around. The ecological theory puts great emphasis on the fact of living within certain zones in an area as a primary reason for certain rates of crime. An earlier study conducted by Shaw and McKay (2006) in 1942 suggests that the Zone 2 of an area contain more crime rates than any of the other zones primarily because this zone does not have a settled community to begin with which, in effect, prevents the institutionalization of clear moral guidelines. In effect, the study in particular and the theory in general indicate that, regardless of those who settled in any of these zones, the behavior of the settlers as well as the rate of crime will have to depend on the corresponding zones. This argument is particularly interesting because it leaves the interpretation of human behavior on the physical environment instead on the people under study. According to Lowman (1986), there is the tendency to make unjust selections in using â€Å"criminological theory in developing geographic perspectives on crime† (p. 81). If that is the case, ecological theory as applied to criminology faces the greatest disadvantage—the disadvantage of arriving at biased results. Worse, the distinction between the causes and the effects of criminal activities may become blurred due to the tendency to not become objective. High crime rate can become a flexible factor, becoming a cause on one hand with social disorganization as its effect and becoming an effect on one hand with social disorganization as its cause on another. In fact, a separate study finds that there is no necessary connection between social class and crime and that more is yet to be understood in these two distinct concepts (Tittle, 1983). From the perspective of ecological theory, areas are divided into zones and these zones are occupied by more or less the same people in terms of social class, hence social stratification in the physical environment. If there is no apparent connection between social class and the types of crimes committed by people in any of the prevailing social classes, there remains the difficulty of further asserting that there is an apparent link between the physical environment and the rate of crimes in the different zones. Thus, the main disadvantage of using ecological theory in interpreting human behavior within the confines of certain zones is that it uses a shaky foundation. More specifically, the theory does not address the inconsistencies between those who commit certain crimes within a specific zone from those who do not commit any crime at all. The main question is: why do some people in Zone 2 commit theft, for instance, while some others do not? It appears that the physical environment does not hold a firm solution to the task of explaining human behavior. Nevertheless, another study reaffirms the assertion of the ecological theory. In a study conducted by Tita, Cohen and Engberg (2005), it was found out that small gangs operate within select areas especially in urban slum locations, suggesting that in some cases the ecological theory may hold true. In order to address the problem, it may be argued that urban beautification be taken into consideration such as demolishing structures in slum areas and replacing them with visually pleasing structures. The advantage of adopting this measure is that it can literally remove the physical environment where these small gangs thrive. As a result, a portion of the area is altered and cleansed, in a manner of speaking, which is a faster solution than the possible solutions that can be taken from the ecological theory. A disadvantage of applying the ecological theory in providing a solution to the problem of small gangs is that it requires sufficient time and firm policies. For instance, the ecological theory may suggest that the income in these slum areas should be raised through specialized government programs and the law enforcement be made more stringent. While the solutions taken from the ecological theory are certainly needed, they call for serious implementation and consistent follow-up on their development. On the other hand, the disadvantage of adopting the beautification solution through eviction is that it raises ethical concerns. It is a quick fix that carries several moral consequences, chief of them humanitarian reasons. Both the ecological theory and the process of beautification have their corresponding advantages and disadvantages. The challenge is not to find which one is generally better than the other but to determine which one applies best to a particular instance. Certain objections may be raised against either approaches, but they nevertheless remain significant methods in understanding certain types of human behavior such as criminal activities. References Lowman, J. (1986). Conceptual Issues in the Geography of Crime: Toward a Geography of Social Control. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 76(1), 81-94. Shaw, C. R. , & McKay, H. D. (2006). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas: A Study of Rates of Delinquents in Relation to Differential Characteristics of Local Communities in American Cities. Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis. Tita, G. E. , Cohen, J. , & Engberg, J. (2005). An Ecological Study of the Location of Gang â€Å"Set Space†. Social Problems, 52(2), 272-299. Tittle, C. R. (1983). Social Class and Criminal Behavior: A Critique of the Theoretical Foundation. Social Forces, 62(2), 334-358.

John Stuart Mill Essay

British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, served many years as a member of parliament and worked diligently to bring forth liberal ideas. Amongst these ideas was the distinction of utilitarianism, or the act of doing what is right for the greatest number of people. Yet, just discussing the idea of right versus wrong for the masses was not enough, Mill’s determined there were two forms of utilitarianism; act, the direct form, or sanction, the indirect form. Much like formal logic with deductive and inductive reasoning, act and sanction utilitarianism strive for the same goal but have different ways of reaching it. Both forms of utilitarianism are seeking to find the best possible outcome for the largest number of people and using that as a measure of right versus wrong, yet by examining the differences of act utilitarianism and sanction utilitarianism, it will become clear that sanction utilitarianism is superior and more easily attainable. Focusing on act utilitarianism, this direct form works in maxims, expanding the contrast between right and wrong. â€Å"An act is right and just in its consequences for human happiness are at least good as any alternative available to the agent† (9). Thus, it is your duty to do the optimal act in a situation because anything other than the best act is a wrong act. Furthermore, Mills also comments that it is considered a â€Å"righteous† act if the consequences are just as good or better than any other action. Staying within the ideas of right or wrong, or when decisions seem to commonly be referred to as â€Å"black or white,† there is also an ideal of proportions to consider. Remember that the act is right is if brings happiness to the most people, but one is incapable of pleasing every person in every situation. Thus, Mills refers to the â€Å"Proportionality Doctrine† to tell what makes an act right or wrong. The Proportionality Doctrine states that acts are right if they promote happiness, or acts are wrong if they promote sadness. In act utilitarianism, each person is held to a duty to always make the best choices and perform the best actions. What that does though is â€Å"imply that I do wrong every time I fail to do the very best action, even when the suboptimal act that I perform is a very good deed. That may seem harsh and overly demanding† (11). Act utilitarianism is very demanding, having to always do the best thing all the time. What direct, or act utilitarianism implies is that if you fail to do the most optimal act then what you did was wrong, which is not always the case. In contrast to act utilitarianism, sanction utilitarianism allows gray space in between the black and white ultimatums. Mill’s writes: â€Å"because it makes the rightness and wrongness of conduct depend upon the utility of sanctioning that conduct in some way, we might call it sanction utilitarianism† (11). Here, Mill’s almost accepts that there are situations that will never be distinguished as exactly right and exactly wrong. Yet, Mill’s also struggles to let got of act utilitarianism since there usually are only two options. Thus, indirectly, an act is right if and only if its optimal to apply sanctions to its omission, whereas applying sanctions is right if and only if it is optimal is a direct action. â€Å"The only difference is that whereas sanction utilitarianism ties rightness and wrongness to praise and blame, act utilitarianism does not† (12). There are four kind acts that fall under sanction utilitarianism: 1. Wrong of forbidden acts are those whose performance it is optimal to blame 2. Permissible acts are those whose performance it is not optimal to blame 3. Obligatory acts are those whose omission it is optimal to blame 4. Supererogatory acts are permissible acts that are especially expedient (11) Here, these four actions seem to take on new meanings: while of course forbidden acts are optimal to blame negative reactions on (they are forbidden for a reason), it is now possible to see that the blame has a purpose behind it since the act caused proportionally the most damage. Unlike act utilitarianism, sanction utilitarianism is clear about which acts are sanctioned and which ones are not. In comparison, both forms of utilitarianism tend to seek the best possible outcome for he highest number of people, yet they have varying degrees of severity. People feel that when it comes to act utilitarianism, if you are not doing the best action each end every second, then whatever else you do is considered wrong. Living with the constant fear that your every action is scrutinized leaves those who practice act utilitarianism demoralized and deflated. It is also exhausting to have to be doing the best thing all the time and society does not naturally possess the ability to be a â€Å"hero† every waking moment. It would seem that sanction utilitarianism is more probable because it promotes a more feel good way of life. Your actions are all driven by a desire to do the right thing, but if you fail from time to time, as long as the intention was there, you are doing all right. â€Å"In arguing sanction utilitarianism, Mill’s claims that it allows him to distinguish duty and expediency and claim that not all inexpedient acts are wrong; inexpedient acts are only wrong when it is good or optimal to sanction them† (11). This means that sanction utilitarianism is more preferable and attainable than act utilitarianism when it comes to acts of duty. Therefore, a person would see this flexibility in sanction utilitarianism as a way to be seeking the righteous actions while being less demanding than act utilitarianism. Sanction utilitarianism is a superior alternative to act utilitarianism because it is flexible, forgiving and attainable. Humans are one of the most imperfect species on the planet and with highly evolved social politics; it is completely impossible to please everyone at the same time. Take into consideration the very foundation of democracy, selecting the best candidate for the job based on a populous vote. If everyone were voting under the basis of selecting the best person for the most number of people, then they would all vote for the same person. There has never been an election where a single candidate won every vote, and thus it proves that humans are incapable of behaving under complete act utilitarianism. On the other hand, it is good to hold yourself to the highest standards and expect the most out of yourself and think that you should always be doing the best thing. The flexibility of sanction utilitarianism is that individual morals and ethics come into play for each person, allowing them to wander between right and wrong finding the best outcome that may be a blend of the two. Take for instance the selection of which college to go to: your personality, likes, dislikes and more come into consideration and while the student wants to find a reputable school, they also have to find a place to call home for four years. If the student chooses the wrong location, it makes their lives miserable, their roommate’s life unbearable, and the family’s life saddened. Thus, the student had to balance every option and maybe give in on reputation for the best social fit, whereas under act utilitarianism, they would have picked a school solely on reputation alone since theoretically, that would lead them to the best possible outcome. Also, under sanction utilitarianism, if a choice is made and it turns out to be wrong, a new choice can be made to counteract the first giving sanction utilitarianism a sense of forgiveness. Combining these two ideals, flexibility and forgiveness, sanction utilitarianism reins superior over act utilitarianism because it is attainable. While both forms of utilitarianism are seeking to find the best possible outcome for the largest number of people, through examining the differences of act utilitarianism and sanction utilitarianism, it became clear that sanction utilitarianism is superior through its attainable qualities. In act utilitarianism the path for right over wrong is very demanding, requiring someone to always do the best thing all of the time. Ultimately, what direct utilitarianism implies is that you fail when what you did was wrong, which may not always be the case. Unlike act utilitarianism, sanction utilitarianism is clear about which acts are sanctioned and which ones are not, which allows someone to strive for their best but not harm them if they fail. Sanction utilitarianism is more preferable and attainable than act utilitarianism when it comes to acts of duty because a person would see the flexibility in sanction utilitarianism as a way to be seeking the righteous actions while being less demanding than act utilitarianism. While humanity is incapable of following act utilitarianism, the forgiveness built into sanction utilitarianism is preferred, since if the choice made turns out to be wrong, a new choice can be made to counteract the first. Combining these two ideals, flexibility and forgiveness, sanction utilitarianism becomes attainable for humanity and it rises in superiority over act utilitarianism.

Jacksonian Democrat DBQ essays

Jacksonian Democrat DBQ essays During the early period of independent America, many of the founding fathers and early leaders tended to be elite, aristocratic and well educated, a curse that the common man had fought hard to get away from in their revolution from Great Britain. The common man wanted to have a voice and be heard. The presidential election of 1824 had angered the people of America as the general consensus was ignored and the aristocratic House of Representatives decided the election. The peoples nominee, Andrew Jackson, had been a great general in the War of 1812; he was intelligent even without a college degree and was born in the heart of America off of the eastern seaboard. Andrew Jackson was the image of the common man. Jackson and his followers, the Jacksonian-Democrats, looked on themselves as the protectors of the constitution and strived to protect the nation as a whole. Jacksonian-Democrats defended political democracy, which brought forth individual freedoms and assisted economic opportuni ty, but their claims as the guardians of the constitution were false, as they were rather protectors of the common man. Jacksonian-Democrats didnt let the constitution get in the way of their goals, especially pertaining to economic equality. When President Jackson vetoed the Bank of the United States recharter, many spoke out against his decision, including political opponent Daniel Webster (Document C). [This message] extends the grasp of executive Heringer 2 pretension over every power of the government.... Webster believed that Jacksons veto over stepped the boundaries of the executive office, abused the constitution, and it was a scam,...to inflame the poor against the rich.... Webster was partially right. The Bank of the United States was a safe place for the government to store mon ...

Louis XIV And His Foreign Policy essays

Louis XIV And His Foreign Policy essays Louis XIV (1638-1715), was known as the 'Sun King'. By the time Louis took up the reign of the government in 1660, France had turned into the most powerful nation of Europe. At this time many of France's neighboring countries had been weakened both by revolts within their own countries and expensive wars with other lands. In Louis's mind, the natural boundaries of France were the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the river Rhine. His intentions were to push the frontiers of France out to these limits as well as win glory for himself. As a result Louis plunged France into 30 years of foreign wars trying to achieve his ambition. This paper discusses Louis' XIV's foreign policy and analyzes whether his foreign policy was successful or not. Louis XIV's notorious dictum was "I am the State". Even the late Charles De Gaulle often echoed this. Louis XIV (1638-1715) - king of France (1643-1715) - was known as the 'Sun King'. Louis, the third monarch of the Bourbon family, ruled for 72 years, the longest reign in European history. His rule typified the period of absolute monarchy in the second half of the 17th century, during which time kings ruled without the restraint of representative institutions. This epoch is widely known as the age of Louis XIV because other European monarchs imitated and competed with developments Coming to power at a young age, Louis did not have the conventional humanist education of most princes, who learned Latin, ancient history, rhetoric, and the arts. Instead his instruction focused on the practical necessities of kingship, such as the history of France and its monarchy and After Louis XIV came to the throne just before his fifth birthday, the Italian-born first minister Cardinal Mazarin guided the policies and effectively instructed Louis in affairs of state both internal as well as foreign affairs.. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis proclaimed that he would ...