Steady- State Economics and Environmental Philosophy Research Paper

Steady- State Economics and Environmental Philosophy - Research Paper Example Here Mill postulated for a future where an informed human community could reign in the increasing population to achieve a comfortable standard of living and then look outwardly toward realign social issues. John Maynard Keynes, an influential economist of the twentieth century, also referred to a society that could focus on ends (happiness and well-being) rather than means (economic growth and individual pursuit of profit). Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen recognized the connection between physical laws and economic activity and wrote about it in 1971 in The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. His insight was that the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy law, determines what is possible in the economy. Georgescu-Roegen explained that useful, low-entropy energy and materials are dissipated in transformations that occur in economic processes, and they return to the environment as high-entropy wastes. The economy, then, functions as a conduit for converting natural resources into goods, services, human satisfaction, and waste products. Increasing entropy in the economy sets the limit on the scale it can achieve and maintain. Increase in environmental problems witnessed in the early sixties and their documentation by scientists in books such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle (1971), and The Limits to Growth (Donnella Meadows et al. 1972) led to concerns of ecology and natural resource depletion and pollution.Out of this arose the in the final decades of the 20th century the discipline of ecological economics that envisaged the combining of environmental protection and economic sustainability. Environmental philosophy now started to become an integral factor in all growth and development strategies. The concept of a steady state or equilibrium as defined in ecological science refers to a state of a system which interacts within its multiple trophic levels such that there is a flow of energy and cycling of matt er. This steady state equilibrium has over the centuries assumed to have encompassed the entire planet such that the fluctuations in one trophic level resonated into the next and so on until an excited system vibrated within its amplitude of disturbance releasing and absorbing its energy flow within predetermined sinks to once again attain its equilibrium. Therefore it may be said that the earth has been in a steady state for centuries. The natural resources that took years to build in the form of fossil fuels, soil systems, the water and the mineral cycles, the biodiversity all remained within the limits of regeneration, replenishment and revival. With the advent of industrialization in the last century and the so called development within the cost benefit ratios of unlimited growth,a cycle of natural resource exploitation commenced..Global economic output surged some 18-fold between 1900 and 2000 and reached $66 trillion in 2006(Gardner and Prugh, 2008). An annual assessment of th e most significant risks to the world’s economies commissioned by the business-sponsored World Economic Forum found that many of the 23 diverse risks did not exist at the global level twenty five years ago. These included environmental risks such as climate change, the strain on freshwater

The Atomic Bomb Essay Example for Free

The Atomic Bomb Essay In 1939 World War II broke out in Europe. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was by then the President of the United States of America. Because of their previous experience in World War I, isolationist ideas had led to the approval of Neutrality Acts in American Congress. These Neutrality Acts were laws which prevented American citizens from selling military equipment or lending money to any country at war. As for non-military supplies, they could only be sold to warring countries if they paid cash for them and took care of their transportation. Japan had turned into Germans strongest ally and their power frightened America, sandwiched between the two countries. Because of this, Roosevelt succeeded in persuading Americans to send both non-military goods and military equipment either to Britain or to any country whose defence he considered necessary to the safety of the USA. In July 1941 the USA stopped all shipments of oil to Japan hoping to weaken the Japanese who imported 80 per cent of their oil from America. On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed the American Pacific battle fleet in Pearl Harbor. The fleet was totally damaged and over 2,000 men were killed. Japan aimed at seizing the Southeast Asia oil and this attack took place to prevent Americans from stopping them. Therefore, on December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and, since Japan was Hitlers ally, Hitler declared war on the US. The United States was now fighting on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union (the Allies) against Germany and Japan (the Axis). America entered the war to win it. To achieve this goal, some measures had to be taken: First of all, the American government implemented a complete reorganization of American economy. Factories started producing tanks, bombers and other war supplies instead of cars and washing machines. Wages and prices were seriously controlled and income taxes were introduced. To gain the war, more powerful weapons were needed. Thus, scientists started working on a top-secret research scheme, code-named the Manhattan Project. As the White House press release on Hiroshima states, this project was carried on in the United States with British agreement since the USA territories were out of reach of enemy bombing. The director of the laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where this project developed, was J. Robert Oppenheimer. The aim of the project was to make a nuclear weapon, the atomic bomb, and as soon as possible. First, because the Germans were already working on it, and secondly because it seemed the only means to stop Hitler and the Japanese from destroying the free world, to end the war quickly and to save many human lives. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died and Harry Truman, his vice-president, took over as President of The United States. On July 16, 1945, an atomic bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert. On August 6, 1945 an America bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima (a military base in the words of H. Truman). On August 9, 1945, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese surrender put an end to World War II. Was Harry Trumans decision to drop the bomb, the most destructive weapon ever seen, aright decision? Some people say yes, others answer is no. Even the scientists involved didnt agree about the issue. Most really hoped that the mere possession of such a weapon could be enough to frighten the enemy and stop the war. Before its use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a group of them clearly showed their disagreement signing petitions and warning both of the bombs unusual destructive force and of the radioactive fallout which followed the bomb test. After the damage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, different opinions could still be heard: We were afraid that Hitler had the bomb first, and we made this bomb, which shortened the war and saved a lot of American and Japanese lives in the Japanese war (Victor Weiskopf, physicist). If I had known that the Germans would not succeed in constructing the atomic bomb, I would have never lifted a finger (Albert Einstein, physicist). I think it was necessary to drop one, but the second one could have easily been avoided. I think Japan would have capitulated anyway (Hans Bethe, physicist).

Marxist Framework of Poverty in the UK

Marxist Framework of Poverty in the UK Poverty is generally understood to mean a condition in which people are deprived in some way, such that they lack the basic requirements for sustaining well-being, and ultimately, life. These basic requirements are understood as such things as food, water, shelter (as may be understood, for example, in a developing country context) or access to education or political power (as might be understood, for example, in the context of a developed nation). Poverty is an absolute within itself, as people are termed to be in poverty, but poverty can also be understood in relative terms, when, for example, poverty of different resources is considered: poverty of education is obviously not as fundamental a level of poverty as poverty of food, for example, as, obviously, without food, a person would die, but a person can manage to live without education, even if this would mean a life of continuing poverty, through lack of opportunity. Poverty can be measured in many different ways, and indeed, there are many indicators of poverty, which are used to assess year-on-year changes in poverty. Obviously, as with definitions of poverty, measurements of poverty are relative, with different measures being used in developed vs. developing nations, for example, or between nations of the developed, or developing, world. In general, one overall measure of poverty which has gained ground in recent years is the income inequality scale, which shows that income inequality has, recently, worldwide, become less of a problem, with the world becoming more equitable in terms of income levels across the world’s nations. This does not belittle the problems of poverty, however, as poverty is still a major issue that the world has yet to deal with in a satisfactory manner. As with the definitions and measurement of poverty, the causes of poverty are many and varied, with environmental and geographical factors creating poverty in many developing countries, and with disease and lack of natural resources also causing poverty in these regions. Indeed, it is difficult to attribute one cause to poverty in any situation, especially poverty in developing countries. In developed nations, however, poverty is perhaps best understood as a product of society’s failure to act to avoid the situation, and, as such, policies are in place to prevent poverty in these situations[1]. It is a moot point, however, amongst politicians, social workers and philanthropists as to how far policies can actually prevent poverty, and, indeed, some people suggest that current policies do not go far enough to act to prevent poverty. The effects of poverty are, again, many and varied, with poverty leading, ultimately, to death, in many developing nations, and with poverty leading to lack of opportunity and social exclusion in developed nations. In developed nations, policies are in place to avoid such poverty, such as subsidised housing, education and health care[2], although these are not always effective, as we have seen, leading to undesirable effects, such as crime (Jones, 2001; Muncie, 2004). It is hypothesised, for example, that in extreme poverty situations, people turn to crime in order to provide basic necessities, and this has been supported by much original research on the subject (see Muncie, 2004). The next section of the paper will look at levels of poverty in the UK, and following this, the paper will then proceed to assess poverty in the UK from a Marxist viewpoint. Poverty in the UK is still at shockingly high levels, with the problem seeming, on the face of it, to be mainly caused by low pay levels; indeed, it is suggested by recent research that in low-income households, both members of the family need to work in order for the family to earn enough to cover basic expenses[3], and that, of these low income families, many are at a disadvantage in terms of receiving health care and the achievement of minimum educational standards. It seems, also, that this trend, rather than decreasing, is actually increasing, with the number of families claiming children’s tax credits increasing year-on-year and the proportion of workers classed as ‘low paid’ increasing year-on-year[4]. It is shocking, therefore, to see that much of the UK, and a large proportion of the children living in the UK, live in poverty. This is despite the fact that policies have been in place for many decades to try to curtail, and avoid altogether, the issue of poverty. As we have seen, however, these policies are often not effective, and can take years to come to fruition, by which time a new generation of infants have grown up in poverty, leading to what is known as ‘the poverty trap’. We have seen, therefore, how successive UK governments have attempted to deal with the issue of poverty: by creating policies to deal with each ‘strand’ of poverty individually, and not attacking the whole problem of poverty as a whole. This leads on to thinking about how Marxists understand poverty, which is essentially in a more holistic, if idealistic, manner. Marxists do not make any distinction between class, poverty and disadvantage; for Marxists, members of any class, they argue, can fall into poverty through unemployment, for example, and that, as such, ‘the poor’ can be best be viewed as part of a continuum from those in society who have a lot of material wealth to those who do not. This definition using the idea of a continuum, however, stands in direct contrast to the situation of class inequality which, obviously, Marxists attempt to fight against by their calls for equality in society, for all. Perhaps the issue of poverty can be best understood in terms of the dependency theory of Marxists: this theory suggest, essentially, that lifting the poor out of poverty is not enough, they need to be given tools to be able to sustain themselves out of poverty. True Marxists would add that this can never be achieved under a capitalist system, as this system is built to achieve successes at the expense of the failure of others; as such, poverty is a consequence of the capitalist system, and something which Marxists fight against, in their search for equality, or, rather, in terms of poverty, in their quest for a situation in which underdevelopment is not an option. Assessing poverty in terms of a purely socio-political approach as we have done, and then within the framework of Marxism as we have also attempted, provides two different frameworks with which to understand the issue of poverty. One framework aims to treat poverty as something that can be solved by implementing policies and by watching those policies take effect, the other attempts to understand poverty as a societal achievement, which can only be solved by changing the very foundations of society. Social workers are some of societies most valuable professionals, who, in concert with families, teachers, and the police can put children, and families, back on track before they reach an irreversible moment in which damage has been done which cannot be corrected. Children are valuable members of society, and it is the responsibility of all society to look after them: perhaps this is what Marx was implying when he talked of societal equality. Children deserve equality of opportunity, in terms of access to basic requirements, and, above these, to health care and education and information provision. Without these basic requirements, without basic care, children live in poverty. It is a travesty that in this day and age there are many children who live in poverty in the UK, but with the approach outlined here applied on a daily basis by social workers, it is hoped that poverty will soon be a thing of the past, at least in the UK. References Best, S. (2005) Understanding Social Divisions, London, Sage Cree, V. E. (2000) Sociology for Social Workers and Probation Officers, London, Routledge. Dominelli, L. (1997) Sociology for Social Work, London, MacMillan Glennerster, H. et al. (2004). One hundred years of poverty and policy. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Iceland, J. (2003). Poverty in America. A Handbook of the University of California Press. Jones, S. (2001) Criminology, Trowbridge, Cromwell Press Layder, D. (2005) Understanding Social Theory, London, Sage Muncie, J. (2004) Youth and Crime, 2nd edition, London, Sage, Ritzer, G. (2000) Sociological Theory, London, McGraw-Hill 1 Footnotes [1] A recent book by Glennerster et al. (2004) entitled One hundred years of poverty and policy, provides a review of the effects and ramifications of policy on poverty in the UK. [2] Although the nation that sees itself as ‘the most developed’ on Earth, the United States, offers none of these poverty-reducing schemes, and indeed, poverty in the United States is on the increase, and reaches disturbingly high levels. See Iceland (2003) for further details. [3] See the report Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK, 2006 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. [4] Again, according to the report Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK, 2006 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Complete Summary Of The Tempest Essay -- essays research papers

Act 1 Scene 1 On a ship heading back from his daughters wedding, the king of Naples and his men are swept up in a huge storm. The crew does everything they can, but the ship crashes on an apparently deserted island. Act 1 Scene 2 Stranded on the same deserted island for twelve years, the former duke of Milan tries to explain the situation to his daughter, Miranda. He tells her the story of his brother and the king, who arranged for he and Miranda to be lost at sea, so his brother can have his title. He explains also that he conjured up the storm by magic and ensured that no one was harmed. Prospero then charms Miranda and to sleep, and summons his spirit servant, Ariel, to hear about the results of the storm. Prospero awakens Miranda and decides to visit another of his slaves, Caliban. The slave tries to get out of his enslavement, but because of previous crimes he’s committed, Prospero threatens him into labor. Ariel makes sure that Ferdinand, the prince of Naples, runs into Prospero and Miranda. The young ones fall instantly in love, and in order to keep them so, Prospero enslaves Ferdinand. Act 2 Scene 1 The King and his men have reached the island safely but they are saddened by the loss of Ferdinand. The men try to encourage the king telling him that they will find his son and heir, but he won’t be easily cheered. Trying to delay their search, Ariel places a spell on everyone but Sebastien and Antonio. The spell makes the men go to sleep, and while their comrades are asleep, Antonio convinces Sebastian to kill Alanso. Sebastian is Alonso’s brother, and since the heir to the throne is missing, if the king was killed Sebastian would inherit the throne. After some deliberation, Sebastian agrees and they start to attack the sleeping men. Ariel, seeing their plan, suddenly wakes the king and his men thwarting their plan. The men decide to continue the search for the missing Prince. Act 2 scene 2 A servant of Alsono’s named Trinculo has also washed up from the boat, but separate from the other entourage. A storm comes up and Trinculo tries to find shelter from the storm. He runs into Prospero’s servant Caliban and joins him under a cape to escape from the storm. While under there he hears the voice of Alsono’s drunken butler, Stephano. The gentlemen meet up and Caliban tells them about the island in return for some of Stephano’s alcohol. Wanting to leave Pr... ...s revenge, Caliban also tries to plan his own. His revenge for being a servant is, at first, trying to take Miranda. After that, when he enlists the help of the drunkards, is to win the island for himself and kill Prospero. Greed, however, is the most powerful motive in the play. Antonio and Sebastian are shown to be the greediest characters because they are willing to kill their own brothers to inherit the power they seek. Caliban, as well, seeks to rule the island, and uses that as another incentive to attempt to kill Prospero. His cohorts, taken with the thought of being leaders and not servants, go along with him and are willing to commit heinous crimes for it. The only two characters in the play who are not greedy are the ones who fall in love. Since love is often associated with innocence, this is not surprising. Even Prospero, though often thought of as a righteous character, creates the plot in order to gain things for himself. Ariel too, helps Prospero in hopes of buying his freedom from his servitude. The tempest was one of Shakespeare’s last plays and even though it has a different style and themes than some of his other plays, it still remains a great classic today.

Symbolism in Arthur Millers A View from the Bridge Essay -- essays re

In Arthur Miller’s tragic drama, ‘A View from the Bridge’, we see that the bridge itself is a symbol of the linking of two cultures, Italian (namely Sicilian) and American (namely New York), whereby the manifestation of these two cultures dwell in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Despite this, differences between the two are distinctly evident from page 17 to 18, and it is the purpose of this essay to discuss how Miller conveys these differences in the given pages. Miller uses language effectively in this play, his use of dialogue, of which makes up the bulk of the drama is his main tool in conveying the large cultural differentiation between Red Hook and Sicily. We know only of Sicily by the way in which Marco and Rodolpho describe it, similarly we do not get to see all of Red Hook (the composite set is all the audience sees) yet we know how it is by the way players talk about it and how they interact with each other within the community. Marco is the first of the two immigrants that enter the Carbone household to shed light on the differences between Sicily and Red Hook, when asked if he had...

Sammy in A&P by John Updike Essay -- A&P John Updike Working Careers

Sammy in A&P by John Updike Is where you are in your working career where you want to be for the rest of your life? The answer to that question is simple for Sammy in the story â€Å"A&P† by John Updike. Sammy, like many others in this world, is a young man trying to make some money in a small town. But unlike some, he refuses to be stuck in the same job for many years or possibly the rest of his life. One day while working the register at a local grocery store, Sammy notices three girls walk in. The girls are wearing their bathing suits because the beach is close to the store. When the girls reach the register the manager notices the girls attire. He walks over to them and argues with them for a moment and then girls leave. Sammy didn’t understand why the manager had such a problem with what the girls were wearing. Suddenly Sammy decides to quit. He takes off his apron and walks out the door. One of the things that caught my attention the most was Updike’s use of imagery in describing Sammy’s working environment. â€Å"The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle-†(34), I thou...

System Integrity and Validation

Preface Kudler Fine Foods located in San Diego, California is a specialty food store that is continuing to grow. Due to the company’s growth, it is necessary for Kudler to make a better use of technology for all aspects of the business. Currently Kudler process a large amount of data through computer programs which is used between all three locations, but with upcoming expansions, Kudler needs the ability to track all of that information and also be confident that the information is reliable. With that being said, Kudler would benefit greatly from Computer Assisted Auditing Techniques (CAATs).It is recommended that Kudler use CAATs, because it will assist with streamlining the IT audit process. CAATs are techniques that â€Å"are used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit function† (Hunton, Bryant, & Bagranoff, 2004, pg. 178). Not only will CAATs assist with making Kudler’s audits go more smoothly, but it will also assist auditors with obtaini ng more reliable, relevant, sufficient, and useful information. There are 10 key steps of CAATs that can be implemented that will assist Kudler in creating a framework for their audits. CAATs are divided into two techniques that will be beneficial to Kudler.The first is validating application integrity. The purpose of this technique is to find whether the source code has been compromised. Verifying the overall integrity of the applications is the second CAATs technique. This technique’s objective is to ensure that the data was imported correctly and also to find any irregularities within the data. Due to the fact that the business continues to grow, the use of CAATs will only assist Kudler in its growth. If Kudler goes with the recommendation to incorporate CAATs, it will assist in streamlining the auditing process. System Integrity and Validation Recommendations were made to Kudler to implement CAATs into the auditing process. This implementation will be beneficial to the co mpany as far as validating and verifying information. The use of audit productivity software would allow an organization to streamline and automate processes. Organizations can take it a step further and use audit productivity software to assist with the design of computer software. The following brief will discuss CAATs and audit productivity software. Computer Assisted Auditing TechniquesComputer Assisted Auditing Techniques (CAATs) can be used to both validate application integrity and to verify data integrity. Data validation determines whether the source code has been compromised. The applications can be validated through test data, parallel simulation, or integrated test facilities. Test data is simply fabricated data entered into the system by the auditor to test the integrity of the system. For example, the auditor may process a payable through the system by creating a vendor and entering an amount to see the process of actually cutting a check from the system.An integrated test facility (ITF) can test applications as they are used on a daily basis. â€Å"The ITF approach integrates the auditor’s contrived test data through the client’s system along with the normal transaction processing† (Hunton, Bryant, & Bagranoff, 2004, pg. 189). During the ITF process, auditors must ensure that the client’s data is not corrupted. All information entered into the system by the auditor should be reversed. Verifying data integrity is ensuring that the data was imported properly and without any irregularities.There are a number of audit tools that can be used to assist with verify integrity such as extracting data, importing it into ACL, and stratifying. Detecting fraud is important when verifying integrity. Audit Productivity Software Functions Audit productivity software provides computerized audit solutions and allows companies to manage and keep track of audit reports. Audit productivity software has a number of functions such as measur ing productivity, resource optimization, data management, and automation. Measuring productivity is simply appraising the performance of the organizations audit reporting.By using audit productivity software, auditors and clients are able to get the best use of all of their resources. For example, each staff member’s time will be used adequately. The auditors’ time will be focused on testing the information in the system, instead of spending hours of time sorting through information deciding what to test. The clients can spend their time completing auditor requests. Data management allows auditors and clients to keep track of all of the information entered into the system by the auditors as well as original information entered by clients.Audit productivity software also allows for automation of the auditing process. Information in multiple systems can be integrated with audit productivity software. Automation can streamline the auditing process for any organization, an d as mentioned previously, it can increase productivity of not only the auditor but for the client as well. Using Audit Productivity Software for System Design Using the audit productivity software can be beneficial when designing systems for an organization.Audit productivity software can assist with minimizing discrepancies between the company software and the actual audit software. The use of audit productivity software provides functionality to the audit process. That same software could be used to help with the design of an organization’s software systems. Software such as electronic working papers, groupware, and time and billing software can all be implemented when designing software systems. If groupware is implemented these systems would have the ability to not only share files, but schedules and calendars as well.Time and billing software is implemented, auditors can better track time spent within that system according to their unique login. Implementation of electr onic working papers assists with everything from daily journal entries to financial statements. Using this software to create a framework for the design of new software would only ensure that audits went smoothly. The audit process can go with little to no incidence, if organizations and auditors would use computerized audit techniques, and audit productivity software.Both the CAATs and the productivity software assist with creating a more automated process. As audit automation increases the time and energy put into the actual audit decreases. Organizations as well as auditors can be more confident that the audit material is reliable and efficient. ? References Apollo Group, Inc. (2011). Kudler Fine Foods. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler2/internet/index. asp Bagranoff, N. A. , Simkin, M. G. , & Strand Norman, C. (2008). Core concepts of accounting information systems (10th ed). New York: Wiley & Sons.