Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China Essay Example

Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China Paper There was a case of McDonalds in Beijing who were forced out of their property by the government during the contract period (China unique, 2013). This spells an unstable working environment for newspapers. ECONOMIC FACTORS Economic factors include, Unemployment rate, exchange rate, inflation, interest rate, consumer discretionary income, labor cost. Unemployment: According to the ministry of human resources and social security of the PRE, there has been a significant decrease in unemployment rate in China from 4. 0 in the last quarter of 201 3 to 4 percent in the second quarter of 2013 (Trading economics, 2014). This will increase salaries and wages due to scarcity of labor as only few of the population are unemployed. Similarly, Chinas inflation rate as reported by National Bureau of Statistics of China was at 2. 50 percent in January 2014 (Bloomberg business week Jan. 2014). This has caused a reduction in unemployment and an increase in wages. This might mean an increase in sales for western brands like newspapers and luxurious brands. According to ban and company luxury goods purchases has slowed down by percent as Chinese shoppers now do their usury shopping abroad (Ban and company 2013). This might not be too good for foreign companies in china but it shows how passionate Chinese are for luxury brands. Chinas GAP were recorded at 7. 7 percent (9. 4 trillion USED) in the fourth quarter of 2013. (Bloomberg business week Jan. 2014) The above information shows that Chinas economic environment would promote and facilitate business activities. (Trading economies, 2014). Lower unemployment rate implies high purchasing power of customers. Inflation will affect newspapers because suppliers fall demand more. High interest rate means high return on investment. We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The higher consumers discretionary income, the higher their purchasing power especially for premium products like the newspapers brand. POLITICAL FACTORS. Factors present in the political environment include Political Stability, government involvement, trade barriers (tariff and non-tariff) Political stability: The three decades of reform in china has led to both a political and social landscape. (China daily Feb. 2014). China has a unique form of political risk which is a constant battle between the central government and local government over applicable laws. For Nosiness, this stability and a clear understanding of local law would guarantee a stable business environment in the long run. Government involvement: The purpose of this is to protect domestic firms. (Protectionism). Government may impose barriers (tariff and non-tariff) on imports or foreign investment in order to protect domestic industries and to reduce competition. Although china has continuously opened its market for foreign investors, it has also place restriction on some foreign businesses in certain industries. For instance the restriction on American producers of autos, beef and steel into its market. Therefore many firms are capitalizing on the power of the internet by doing series of online rumination. (Adage, 2013) Online retail sale according to Bloomberg, went up by percent last year (adage, 2013). The surging internet purchase indicates that Chinese consumers are moving away from bricks and mortar outlets for their shopping. Opportunities of online CRM and sales include; Wider reach. Using the internet, newspapers can keep up with a large number of its customers on a daily or weekly bases. Advertising. Newspapers can also use the internet to advertise its product to millions of customers at the same time. This could be cheaper to operate too. Segmenting purposes. The record of customers and their previous purchase can help newspapers in automatically segmenting it customers based on purchase history Feedback and adjustment. Customer feedbacks is very important as these information can be used in making services or products better. Despite the attractive and promising nature of using the internet, investors and firms should also consider the drawbacks of using the internet for sales and communication. The Chinese government recently just imposed a new law regarding e- Commerce in China. The law stipulates that real names registration of sellers n third party platforms, strict seven days return policy, and also online payment market place must safeguard users privacy. (Pace net services, 2014) Another report says the government is imposing a law where all consumer to consumer online trading would have to register for a business license and also pay taxes (China daily, 2014) Legal system. There are different legal restriction and regulation from government and regulatory bodies. Payment environment: the cash payment culture of the Chinese creates difficulties for online shopping. International credit cards are not accepted in most online hops. There is unavailability of credit card payment in most transactional websites. The online payment system in china is still at an infant stage. Logistics network environment: there is a restriction on foreign investment of logistics companies. Limited choices of delivery therefore, much more time is spent on delivery (kit, 2007). QUESTION THREE Despite the large number of internet users I personally would recommend that newspapers adopt another marketing strategy as it will be very harmful to assume that the newspapers club would work in the Chinese market. From ireful observation of the forces at work in the Chinese market environment, can say that there is high level of government protectionism and regulation on internet businesses (Commerce) that tends to favor Chinese owned firms and businesses. Report has it that not only were a lot of websites blocked in china, there were also a Chinese replacement. Sites blocked include Backbone, yahoo, Google, twitter, Youth etc. According to report, the British newspaper The Guardian along with The New York times and Bloomberg news has been blocked in china for over a year. Motives for this act remains known (Taipei Times, 2014). Newspapers use of the internet is limited as not so much can be achieved due to interference by the government therefore using the internet could hinder performance as there is too much interference from the government. Newspapers should adapt its marketing mix to overcome the current situation of internet insecurity so as to reduce reliance on the internet. Though the internet can be used to position the newspapers brand image in the minds of the consumers for sales, or advertising or customer relationship but it wont be wise business decision to apply the newspapers club concept in China because the government can decide blacklist them just like the case of Backbone. Newspapers should create more awareness about its brand to the Chinese public especially the less educated ones explaining the difference between house coffee and the newspapers brand Lastly, since there is already a tea drinking tradition amongst the Chinese population, newspapers should consider a local adaptation which involves offering other kinds of hot drinks so as to have a variety of products for it ever growing tea drinking customers.

Jack Kerouac And The Beat Movement Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Jack Kerouac And The Beat Movement Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Jack Kerouac And The Beat Movement World War II marked a wide dividing line between the old and the new in American society and the nations literature(The World Book Encyclopedia 427) . When world War II ended there was a pent up desire that had been postponed due to the war. Post war America brought about a time when it seemed that every young man was doing the same thing, getting a job, settling down and starting a family. America was becoming a nation of consumers. One group that was against conforming to this dull American lifestyle was referred to as Beatniks. The Beats or Beatniks condemned middle class American life as morally bankrupt. They praised individualism as the highest human goal(The World Book Encyclopedia 428). This perspective was present in poetry and literature through out the beat movement. One of the most important works produced during the beat movement was Jack Kerouacs On The Road. In the novel Jack Kerouacs alter ego Sal Paradise represents the American man who realizes he doesnt want to conform to societies pressures but still hasnt realized what it is exactly he wants to do. He is a man who has very little direction and is very much lost in the world as he knows it. Kerouac seems to be constantly trying to escape. In examining the novel one might wonder what is Kerouac escaping and by what means does he do so? Kerouac used two means of escape through out the novel and through out his life. His first means of escape was his constant travel. He traveled from east to west, New York to San Francisco and stopped everywhere in between. He made this trip over and over, constantly on the road. The simple title of the novel exemplifies Kerouacs ongoing need to travel. When he and his friends got tried of traveling east to west they traveled north to south, driving all the way down to Mexico City. His travels gave him the opportunity to be an outsider with no worries. He was able to witness and observe all that there was to offer throughout the country. While journeying across the states, staying in small towns for no more than a few nights, Kerouac was able to obtain a life with no commitment or responsibility. Even if he was to make some sort of commitment to one of his many girls along the way, it wasnt unlike him to just pick up and leave. After all the only thing people around seemed to know about him was that he liked to drink. This leads to the other form of escape Kerouac used, the alteration of reality. Kerouac would mentally alter his perception of reality through the use of drugs and alcohol. I was getting drunk and didnt care; everything was fine(Kerouac 35). To him everything in life was fine as long as he was drunk. He was beginning to drink heavily, and to drink whiskey and gin instead of just beer (Nicosia 96). That was only the beginning of his disillusionment. Jack began taking benzedrine and smoking marijuana(Nicosia 102). Having the means by which he escapes, the question still remains what is Kerouac trying to escape? In order to understand this we must explore some of Jacks personal issues. A issue concerning Kerouac that is very often eluded to but never really spoken about in On The Road is his possible homosexuality. While Jack never actually came out about his sexuality, his close friends would often witness Jacks participation in endless rounds of sex with both men and women(Nicosia 102). Kerouacs homosexual tendencies caused an overriding psychological conflict: Kerouac was gay but despised homosexuals. Jack talked incessantly about all the big old fags he knew(Nicosia 493). Even though Kerouac would have homosexual encounters, he felt a private guilt over his homosexual feelings. In an attempt to ease his guilt Jack would denounce homosexuality, saying that gay sex is not in my line(Nicosia 142). Jack was obviously ashamed of his homosexual experiences and fought all his life against the label queer(Nicosia 154). In 1945, he wrote a letter to Allen Ginsberg trying to resolve the issue of his possible homosexuality. He stated that the physical

Offshoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Offshoring - Essay Example The work of Robert Reich focuses on different reasons of growing poor and rich discriminations in the US. This paper identifies various reasons and discuses their further reasons and consequences. It then tries to evaluate some policies which are needed to prevent the unexpected situation of income inequality. And the last paper, Roger LeRoy Miller, Daniel K. Benjamin and Douglass Cecil Northfocuses on the various facts and figures of prevalence of poverty in the US and suggests several policies which are needed to be implemented by the government to restrict the situation. The problem of low income and income inequality mainly arises from offshoring and calls for appropriate policies from the side of the government Blinder: The main purpose of his work is to relate the concept of offshoring with the US labor market and to understand its problems and possible solutions and effects. The key question of this paper is how to prepare the future labor force of US in the face of rapid offs horing of US companies. Over the last few years the demand for labour has shifted from technologically low skilled, less educated people to high skilled and well educated people. This led to income inequalities in the US.Hence, policies were needed to be applied. In the 1990s, the United State Congress has used the policy of raising the minimum wage and has increased the Earned Income Tax Credit (Blinder, 2009, p. 9). With the combination of the tight labour market, these policies have raised disposable income of the average workers and have improved their living conditions. But the basic assumption behind this success was that there was not any labour migration during this time of policy evaluation. The major future challenge for the US is â€Å"offshoring†. In the US, service sector offshoring has not been that much significantly higher; only 1% of the total services jobs have been offshored so far (Blinder, 2009, p. 10). There can be three basic reasons for more increment in the offshoring of services jobs. First, there are more absolute numbers of services jobs compared to that of manufacturing jobs. Second, technological advancements are more related with the growth of services jobs. Hence, recent developments in technologies have caused this difference in the growth paths. And finally, the labor market of India and China are more consistent with the technologies related to services jobs.The author has distinguished between two types of facts that are responsible for offshoring – personal and impersonal reasons. This is the most important information that the author has pointed out and this is the key idea of the whole paper. In this context the author suggested few points that are needed to be considered while preparing the future labor force of the US- putting more emphasis on education of children, focusing on one link (like technology) at a time and differentiating between novel differences with the traditional differences in jobs.One of the possible implications of these policies is that there would be huge income differences, not in terms of educational level, but also in terms of the skills that workers have. But in the future education will not become constrained. For public jobs, increases in the salary scales can work well in this regard. Again, some o the jobs are lacking proper training

How useful is the Concept of Self Esteem For Supporting Students With Essay

How useful is the Concept of Self Esteem For Supporting Students With Special education Needs - Essay Example This assignment will firstly, begin by my stating my approach to learning about this topic before I joined the course, followed by what I learned about this topic during the course. These two section will be generally based upon personal self-reflection. The next section is academic, as I survey the literature surrounding the topic of self-esteem with regards to special needs students. This is followed by my observations about personal development, and how this impacts self-esteem. The last section is the conclusion, in which all these concepts are drawn together What do Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Walt Disney, Whoopi Goldberg and Tom Cruise have in common? Of course, they are all famous people. However, only a few people know that they all suffered from dyslexia, a disability associated with difficulty in reading and spelling words. Albert Einstein was known to suffer from dyslexia mainly because of his bad memory and his constant failure to memorize the simplest of things. Alexander Graham Bell had poor grades. Walt Disney suffered from reading difficulties. Whoopi Goldberg had a lot of difficulty in school and Tom Cruise suffered from abuse as a child, and was also a victim of bullying in school, both of which were partially because he suffered from dyslexia. (Disabled World, 2008). However, they all overcame their disabilities to play a major role in the area of knowledge and entertainment. They refused to let their disabilities define them. They are all examples of individuals who overcame disabilities, partially because of their reliance upon their own self-esteem. When we have a positive self-esteem, we are capable of doing more things and can serve as an inspiration to others. Though there is a feeling sadness and being down, it is just but normal, yet, we must not allow it to define ourselves. We should learn to maximize our level of confidence, because if we feel good

Achieving Sustainable Development in Developing Countries

Achieving Sustainable Development in Developing Countries Sustainable development was defined by (Brundtland, 1987) as a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need. Economists generally accepted and supported Brundtland definition of sustainable development. Pearce barbier (blueprint for Sustainable Economy, 2000) also defines sustainable development as development that last. They also said that future generations should be entitled to at least the same level of economic well-being as is currently available to the present generation. It can also be defined as meeting human fundamental needs while preserving the life-support systems of the planet Earth. This is a scientific perspective on the sustainable development relation between nature and society. The main pillars of sustainable development are: Economic development Social development and Environmental development The United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers the above pillars as the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development. There has been an indigenous controversy over the main pillars of sustainable development through various International Forums such as United Nation Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Conversion of Biological Diversity that there are four pillars of sustainable development which they called the fourth one , Cultural development. Also, The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) further detailed the concept by saying that the cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. This basically becomes one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence. The universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity stated that Cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development. Barriers to achieving sustainable development in developing countries. Sustainable development has been widely promoted as a holisticconcept which aims or targets to integrate social, economicand cultural policies to ensure high-quality growth. However, there are barriers combating the implementation of sustainable development in developing countries. These barriers are: Economic / financial barriers Social barriers Political barriers HIV and Injecting Drug use Poor monitoring and evaluation system Institutional barriers Cultural barriers Trade barriers Poverty and disease Climate change Economic and financial barriers: Economists observed that the dominating development model tends to focus on economic growth as precedence rather than peoples rights or welfare, and environmental processes and limits. Various contributors supported economic growth coming first in developing countries, especially least-developed countries (LDCs), and concluded that investment in environmental protection should be left to a later stage of development, essentially accepting environmental degradation to meet immediate needs. In other words, there was a controversy by other researchers saying that the future generations ability to enjoy an acceptable standard of living would be on shambles if due attention were not immediately paid to social and environmental aspects as well as economic. This they said requires shift in the worldview from treating the environment as part of the economy to treating the economy as part of the environment; strategically this means the economy should be adapted to ensure environmental servic es are maintained. Some contributors recommended developed capitalist societies to act quickly to become more sustainable. Other researchers underscored the imperative for developing countries not to follow the western models of unsustainable development. Three basic constraints to financing sustainable development (SD) are: Competing priorities for limited resources, particularly in LDCs Undelivered pledges made at the international conferences to finance SD. Externalities, such as increased oil prices, conflict, and natural disasters that alter the development priorities of many countries. Initiatives to overcome economic and financial barriers In other to achieve economic growth without threatening social development and environmental resources, new and different vehicles for growth must be oriented to different country situations. Governments should be responsible for market-led problems with incentive for the private sector to become problem-solvers, and not polluters. There is need to shift the incentive and motivating structure for farmers around the world. Policies makers should promote agricultural production that is based on significantly higher labor inputs per area and significantly more diverse production streams. There is need to reform the calculation of economic growth and removal of weapons-related cost from GDP would provide a strong indication of relative spending toward sustainable development to politicians. Justifying the need to abandon linear system of industrial production based on total exploitation of natural resources, over production, and waste generation in favor of a circular system of production using clean technologies and the elimination of waste resources. Social barriers Population growth, paired with unsustainable consumption and production patterns among the wealthy, are the biggest social challenges to achieving sustainable development in the world and developing countries. Absent of a significant change in human behavior, sustainability will not be potential. There are other social barriers which are: The marginalization of the poor and entrenched inequities Limited awareness about sustainable development Environmental issues among both politicians and the wider public fragmented civil society Inadequate interaction between civil society and government Insufficient incentives to for the private sector to pursue sustainable development Initiatives to overcome the social barriers Need for stronger policies to address income disparity and population growth. The introduction of programmes to create awareness and build capacity in the field of sustainable development among the general public can assist to the change in behavior and lifestyle that is needed to achieve sustainability. Efforts to increase scientific capacity will take place within a context of different funding patterns (which involves philanthropic foundations, business, and governmental and intergovernmental bodies), environmental concerns, and research orientations. Governments must foster their relationships with NGOs and other civil society organizations. Also , civil society must take on a great role in policy making and implementation. Participation of civil society in social programmes and related decision making process would ensure accountability; this will help in creating condition for receiving financial aid or UN assistance. Concrete partnership among national and local governments, the grassroots, private sector, civil society and development actors should be developed. Political barriers: Inadequate economic, social and environmental methods for policies, plans and projects are the major barrier combating the implementation of sustainable development in developing world. Researchers believed that governments are stuck in the old development paradigm ,emphasizing economic growth and believing that industrial countries have made no significant effort to change their patterns in production and consumption, thereby threatening global resources. To meet sustainable development objectives requires genuine political and institutional will at all levels of government in all countries, developed and developing. Nevertheless, Corruption, ineffective government and weak inactive law enforcement are hindrances to achieving genuine sustainability. Moreover, lack of information and relevant data availability, limited capacity of policy and decision-makers were identified as reasons for the limited cooperation of governments. The outcome of the discussion by the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held in South Africa in 2002 was that sustainable development has not been able to evolve out of its environmental roots and that greater focus on climate change may be pulling the issue towards a purer environmental direction rather than integrating sustainable development perspective. They also warned that SD is being replaced by climate change on the political agenda, leaving the rest of the sustainable development agenda forgotten. Lack of coordination to integrate the three pillars of sustainable development has been a major challenge at all levels. At the global level, the United Nations failed to join together its efforts to promote a genuinely sustainable development. Campaigns for integrating many factors are themselves not harmonized, but try to meet different purposes at different times. It was noted that the sectionalized approach to the MDGs has dissolved the broader context of development, and MDG 7 on sustainable development has been largely neglected in favor of other goals rather than being a basis for achieving the rest of the MDGs. More consistent policies to support SD are needed at the international level, including within the United Nations system. At the regional level, regional agreements on SD and mechanisms for their implementation are not stable. There was an agreement that, at national level, a multi-disciplinary approach to governance is needed rather than the persisting tendency for different line ministries, departments and agencies to act without a clear framework for coordination across sectors. Sectorial systems of governance create and perpetuate silo thinking and behavior. It was observed that there is basically no effective national forum for strategic planning on pro-poor economic growth, social development, environment and climate change for developing countries. For instance, inCentral Asia, it was noted that few countries have policies linking environment, poverty, trade and social development, that few environmental policies target equity or poverty issues, and health policies are still mainly formulated in isolation without blending to related sectors. Also at the institutional level, responsibility for the implementation of sustainable development is generally assigned to the Ministry of Environment, Environmental Protection Agency or the tantamount, which traditionally receive little attention and a insufficient budget. Environmental agency would find it difficult to take a balanced approach to economic growth, social development and environmental protection. Poor community involvement was noted as a final major political barrier to achieving sustainable development goals. A top-down approach by centralized authorities often imposes projects and programmes on local governments. Moreover, policy making and implementation does not take into consideration the grassroots need or involve the lower levels of government. Initiatives to overcome political barrier In combating political barrier, sustainable development strategies must be streamlined, but also applied with more severity. The need for environmental institutions to blend and work with other (non-environmental) institutions. Also all ministries must cooperate and work together to achieve an integrated sustainable development for their countries. Stringent efforts should be directed to encroach structural problems that deform both developmental and environmental prospects by focusing on key injustices, notably in trade, environment and climate change. There should be an analytical work on advanced financing for SD. Poverty and environment linkages must be undertaken to further incorporate economic, social and environmental factors. Basic components like sensitization of political leaders, private sector involvement, and participation of local communities need to be concrete in developmental approach. Capacity-building is also necessary across the board. Progress in sustainable developmental goals involves strong, innovation-driven science and technology policies. HIV and Injecting Drug Use Poverty and disease in relation to HIV and Drug Use frustrates the implementation of sustainable development in many developing countries. In many developing countries, HIV epidemics between injecting drug users (IDUs) are preceding larger epidemics in the broader population. Notwithstanding recent expansion of responses, within individual countries, these tend to be several years behind the pace and scale of the actual epidemic. These are factors closely linked to development. The current policy environment makes it difficult for community-based programmes to prevent HIV between injecting drug users. Deficiency in policy dialogue between sectors of government responsibility for reactions to HIV and drug use There is an economic, social and political breakdown which leads to increase in drug injecting, needle sharing and, consequently HIV. Inadequate community capacity, in terms of skills, resources and experience to respond to HIV among IDUs. Injecting drug users, especially women, being demonized for their drug use, rather than supported, placing them at particular risk of both human rights abuses and HIV infection Donor agencies and countries alike failing to recognize the long-term threat to development posed by HIV and injecting drug use. Initiatives to overcome HIV and Injecting Drug Use UNDP and partner agencies, especially UNAIDS and UNDCP, are in a unique and appropriate position to take the lead in the planning and implementation of responses in the following areas: Policy dialogue and reform Programme development and monitoring Creating awareness and understanding of the development implications of HIV and IDU Powering community capacity to respond Addressing gender considerations Responding to legal , ethical and human right issues Fig 2. This is a cartoon drawn as part of an art competition to create awareness among youths about HIV and injecting drug use. This activity was part of the UNDP regional project in Eastern Europe, CIS and Baltic States. Also there is need to implement the MDGs in all developing countries especially on reducing poverty and ensuring good health. Poor monitoring and evaluation systems A basic problem is lack of specific targets (globally, nationally and at local level), measurement and data to track progress, resulting in a lack of information available to decision-makers. It is suggested for strengthening monitoring and evaluation of sustainable development strategies in order to establish a dynamic improvement process, with an objective of increasing their effectiveness. It is recommended that governments should turn up deeper and assess the socio-economicimpacts of developmental projects, rather thanthe outcomealone. Initiatives to overcome poor monitoring and evaluation systems Co-ordination of data within which the vast amount of data can be easily accessed. Countries specific knowledge bases are needed to guide decision making. This is a comprehensive mechanism for monitoring the outcomes of interventions that feeds into subsequent planning processes. National research and development systems need to be strengthened, as well as south-south and south-north knowledge sharing and management. Institutional barriers Institutional barriers as a result of lack of institutional experience to operate all the mechanism of democratic system has been combating and frustrating sustainable development in many developing countries. Since the end of the civil war, developing countries have made a striking movement towards democratic capitalism as the operative model of governance. Moreover in making that transition, many countries discovered that they lack institutional experience to operate all the mechanism of democratic system. They discovered that they have never witness free and fair elections with a full ballot of candidates from multiple parties. In other hand, they were not prepared to run a parliament, also not prepared to have journalists and broadcasters looking at the problems of government in a very public way. Initiatives to overcome institutional barrier Generating enough scientific capacity and institutional support in developing countries is particularly urgent as they are most vulnerable to the multiple stresses arising from rapid, simultaneous changes in social and environmental system. USAID and other governmental donors have facilitated institutional building to help these countries to help these countries fix all the mechanism operating in an open democratic society. Sponsoring democratic programs, introducing new approaches to crisis management and conflicts analysis to assist opposing parties in resolving their peacefully and within the framework that a democratic system provides. Trade barriers Basically developing countries find the EUs strict food safety requirements disruptive to trade. In addition to sanitary standards, new technical product specifications and industrial norms might obstruct the exports of developing countries .The EU introduced a series of directives varying from technical specifications for cars, weighing machines and toys, to the compulsory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), eggs and voluntary eco-labels. In addition to Community standards, there are regulations at the member-state level. However the level to which this continual flow of new standards helps to restrict imports from developing countries is not properly known. It is clear, however, that WTO notification leads to protests by developing countries .Some of the developing countries expressed their concern, regarding new EU directives on discarded electronic apparatuses proposed by the Commission in 2000 Initiatives to overcome trade barriers Trade liberalization including the removal of existing distortion in international trade must be pursued to support sustainable development policies in developing countries. Sustainable development requires a dynamic international economy and an open, equitable, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable multilateral trading system to support sound domestic economic and environmental policies in both developed and developing countries. Trade and environment should be reciprocally supportive in the pursuit of sustainable development. Conclusion In achieving sustainable development, the 3pillars of SD should be integrated. Progress in sustainability will require fostering problem -driven , interdisciplinary research; building capacity for research; creating coherent system of research planning , operational monitoring , assessment , and application; and providing reliable long term financial support. The need to generate adequate scientific capacity and institutional support in developing countries is particularly urgent as they are most vulnerable to multiple stresses that arise from rapid, simultaneous changes in social and environmental systems. REFERENCES Achieving Sustainable Development, an e-journal of the U.S Department of State.April 2002, volume 1, Num 1. Barbier, E.,1987.The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development.Environmental Conservation, 14(2):101-110 Promoting trade for sustainable development by UNCTAD Secretariat (www.unctad.org/en/docs/tdxibp10_en.pdf) Pearce, D., A. Markandya and E. Barbier,1989.Blueprint for a green economy,Earthscan, London, Great Britain UNDP, 2006. Making Progress on environmental sustainability. Lessons and recommendations from a review of over 150 MDG country experiences (www.undp.org/fssd/report) Summary of e -discussion on achieving sustainable development, April 2008. (http://www.undg.org/docs/8885/eDiscussion-on-Achieving-Sustainable-Development.htm) Sustainability science , science 292.5517 (April 27 ,2001):p 641. Working together towards SD (http://www.oecdwash.org/DATA/DOCS/working_together.pdf) World Summit Outcome Document 2005,World Health Organization, 15 September 2005

Federal Poverty Lines Essay

The common issue concerning the annual Federal poverty levels that are universal for all the lower forth eight states are that the poverty level measures are limited. In other words, the poverty thresholds doesn’t represent a budget for basic necessities of life nor it addresses the supplementary amount   to allow for other basic needs such as household supplies, person care, etc(Madden, 182). Also, the federal poverty lines by family size do not use consumer expenditure data and it is not updates. It is not adjusted by family types and geographical differences in housing concepts. Problems with Absolute Federal Poverty Level Absolute federal poverty level is enumerates the numeral value of people below poverty threshold which does not depend on time and place (Madden, 183). In other words, it is constant. It is incorrect to calculate absolute federal poverty level because it is only possible because the amount of wealth essential for survival is not constant for all places and time periods.   For example, a person living Alaska requires more sources of heat because of its cold climate whereas a person living in Hawaii does not. As compared to absolute federal poverty level, relative poverty level is dependent on time and place (Madden, 183). Poverty Levels, Family Size and Cost of Living The federal government does not raise the poverty levels by family size to reflect the cost of living of a geographic area because the poverty threshold level varies from one place to another. The current poverty levels by family size are measured by comparing the individual’s family income to the essential amount necessary for standard of living (Rogers, 85). It has been used as the primary statistic by the U.S federal government to allocate mean-tested social welfare benefits. Expenses in NYC versus Other States New York City is considered to be the most expensive cities to live in. New York remains the most expensive city within United States. According to statistics, the median earnings of New York are more that sixty thousand dollars which is ten thousand dollars greater than the national median. The overall average living expenses in New York are more than one hundred and ninety dollars (Rogers, 185). Housing expenses are more than three hundred thousand dollars and secondary education is more than two thousand dollars as compared to the nation average. Other facilities are also expensive as compared to other states. For example, a person living in Pittsburg who earns fifty thousand dollars will need one hundred thousands dollars to survive in New York. Over all, living expenses in New York is twice as much as compared to other states. Juvenilization and Feminization of Poverty Juvenilization of poverty is has been derived from the word juvenile and poverty. Poverty is defined as the scarcity and deficiency assets, income, capabilities or freedoms. Juvenilization is associated with children. Hence, juvenilization of poverty means that children are deprived of basic necessities of life. According to statistics, one out of six children in United States suffers from poverty. Studies also show that more than thirty percent of children are living below poverty line although they make up more than twenty eight percent of the population. The term feminization of poverty has been originated from the definition of two words which are poverty and feminization. Feminization is the term which illustrates that gender partiality and bias in deprivation of resources, capabilities or freedoms. Hence, feminization of poverty is considered to be a concept which compares male and female and what are the differences or ratios between the two in terms of poverty levels. It represents the inability of women to meet the basic necessities of life. Personal Costs of Poverty and Problems with Federal Approach towards Poverty According to the data collected the U.S Census Bureau, the personal costs of poverty on family and children of four is $22,050 per year and for family of eight is $37010 per year and for every additional personal $ 3740 is added (Madden, 196). There are certain sets of specific policies and programs which are flawed because they cannot fight poverty. Aid to Families with Dependent Children has provided families with cash assistance but it comprises about one percent of the federal budget. AFDC polices have serious weaknesses which makes the poverty rate higher as compared to other countries. The weaknesses in the current policies can be classified into two broad categories namely, inadequate livable wage jobs and inadequate social welfare policies. The AFDC policies do not have policies which guarantee childcare for families who are living below two hundred percent of poverty. It doesn’t have policies which assist child support and low incoming individuals. Other problems include lack of workforce education and training programs, benefits and inadequate job policies. Social Work and Poverty and Modifications in Federal Policies As a social worker, I will apply my social work training in system to understand the nature of poverty and its origin. As a social worker, poverty must be combated at macro level so that poor families can afford childcare, housing, mental health treatment and education and employment opportunities (Rogers, 221). On broader scale, the first thing to help poor families would be through community organizing in poor neighborhoods. This can help in organizing the community’s asset and combine them with other resources to create and set up local structure which assist health, education and financial viability. This will empower the community residents to be active and support local initiatives. In order to reduce poverty, the federal government should recognize and produce measures to tackle issues of well being beyond the income status. The federal government should introduce a guarantee for child care for families living at or below two hundred percent of poverty in order to improve the quality of child care. It should also assist child support and fathers who have low incomes. In order to remove the future generation from poverty, the federal government should increase child support programs and adopt pragmatic policies for low income families. At the same time, workforce education and training programs should be introduced to assist low-income individuals to advance economically. The government should also improve job quality with the help of earnings, benefits and other predictable measures so that workers can meet both work and family responsibilities. Work Cited Madden, David. â€Å"RELATIVE OR ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINES: A NEW APPROACH.† Review of Income & Wealth 46 (June 2009): 181-199.   Rogers, Harrell, R.. American Poverty in a New Era of Reform. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., (2006).

Aristotle’s Theory of Poetics

Aristotle’s Theory of Poetics Research Assignment Aristotle bases his theory of poetics on greek tragedy. He defines tragedy as â€Å"the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in itself. † (Melani, 2009) He views that, â€Å"Tragedy is a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be single and complete, presenting a reversal of fortune, involving persons renowned and of superior attainments,and it should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic expression. † . (Melani, 2009) Usually the writer would present the emotions of pity and fear within tragedy which interprets catharsis. Aristotle viewed the term catharsis as the â€Å"purging† of emotions such as pity or fear which are triggered with tragic action within greek plays Aristotle draws a difference between tragedy and other genres, as the audience watches the tragedy, they feel a â€Å"tragic pleasure of pity and fear†. In order for the tragic hero to arouse these feelings in the audience, he cannot be either all good or all evil but must be someone the audience can identify with; however, if he is superior, the tragic pleasure is intensified.His disastrous end results from a mistaken action, which in turn arises from a tragic flaw or from a tragic error in judgment. â€Å"Often the tragic flaw is known as hubris, pride that causes the hero to ignore a warning. It has been suggested that because the tragic hero's suffering is greater than his offense, the audience feels pity; because the audience members perceive that they could behave similarly, they feel pity. An example of this is evident within the tragedy Oedipus Rex. (Melani, 2009) Catharsis Aristotle argues that the best tragedies and some of the best plays, since Aristotle considers tragedy to be the highest dramatic form, when the use of reversal and recognition to achieve catharsis is present during a tragedy or a play, he finds that with this aspect in perspective they are the best. Aristotle often writes reversal works with a story's spine or center in order to ensure that the hero comes full circle.An example of this is highlighted in the play Oedipus Rex, a hero who undergoes such a reversal and thus has cathartic self-recognition. Aristotle considers catharsis to be a form of redemption such that even though Oedipus' recognition is tragic it still redeems him: he no longer lives in ignorance of his tragedy but instead he decides to accept his fate. He sees that redemption is not the only result of catharsis; the audience also undergoes a catharsis in a good drama.The hero's catharsis induces both pity and fear in the audience, they pity the hero, and fear that his fate could possibly happen to us. Mimises Aristotle believes that there are two main aspects to think of art: some would consider art to be an expression of what is original and unusual in human behavious whilst Aristotle argues that ar t is â€Å"imitative†, it is a representation of life, and this idea motivated Aristotle. â€Å"He devotes much of the Poetics to exploring the methods, significance, and consequences of the imitation of life.Aristotle concludes that art's imitative tendencies are expressed in one of three ways: a poet attempts to portray our world as it is, as we think it is, or as it ought to be. † (Zuern) Aristotle believed that all poetry is an imitation or mimesis. Aristotle imagines that poetry springs from a basic human delight in mimicry. Humans learn through imitating and are fascinated by looking at imitations of the perceived world. The mimetic dimension of the poetic arts is, always representational. This was known as mimesis.During Aristotle's time, critics considered epic poetry to be the supreme art form, but Aristotle though differently, he viewed tragedy as the better of the two forms. Aristotle believes that tragedy, can entertain its written form, but also can transl ate onstage into a drama of spectacle and music. Aristotle often felt that the use of the word â€Å"unity,† was sometimes misunderstood. He considers that unity is the ability of the best dramatic plots to revolve around a central axis that ‘unites' all actions within a play.Aristotle believed that a unified drama will have a ‘spine': a main idea which motivates all the action, character, thoughts, diction and spectacle in the play. (Gradesaver, 2012) Work Cited  · â€Å"Aristotle's Poetics Study Guide. † . 4Shared, n. d. Web. 6 Sep 2012. .  ·Ã¢â‚¬ Aristotle's Poetics Themes. † GradeSaver . N. p. , n. d. Web. 6 Sep 2012. .  ·Melani, Lilia . â€Å"Tragedy. † . N. p. , 13 March 2009. Web. 5 Sep 2012. .  ·Zuern, John . â€Å"Aristotle Poetics. † CriticaLink. University of Hawai`i, 1999. Web. 6 Sep 2012. .