Saturday, August 31, 2019

Money Markets vs Capital Markets Essay

The market where transactions of money and financial assets are accomplished for short time is called money market. On the other end, capital market is meant that market where transactions of money and financial assets are occurred for a long period. * Institutions: Important institutions operating in the’ money market are central banks, commercial banks, acceptance houses,  non bank  financial institutions, bill brokers. Important institutions of the capital market are stock exchanges, commercial banks and non bank institutions, such as insurance companies, mortgage banks, building societies. Transactions Period: In money market transactions are accomplished for one or less than one year. While capital market transactions are for long time. * Nature of Credit Instruments: The credit instruments dealt with in the capital market are more heterogeneous than those in money market. Some homogeneity of credit instruments is needed for the operation of financial markets. Too much diversity creates problems for the investors. * Risks: Since investment of this market is for a short-term, the risk of money is low. In capital market the risk of money and loan defaulters are high. Instruments: Cash dollar, treasury bills, commercial papers are used as the instrument in money market. On the other end, Shares, debentures, long-term bonds are the instruments of capital market. * Transaction Procedures: Since fewer formalities are required in money market therefore, transactions cost is also minimum. While, many formalities are required in making capital market transaction successful and therefore its transaction cost is little bit higher than the money market. * Relation with Government Agency: The money market is closely and directly linked with central bank of the country. The capital market feels Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as central bank’s influence, but mainly indirectly and through the money market. Customer-centric Business Model| * Grow assets under management with real-time analysis of customer activity and personalized interaction * Measure and report on the state of customer relationships and profitability in real time with business analytics * Personalize customer experience across channels * Capture investment profiles to target offers and leads, while shortening sales cycles and increasing investment offers| Effective Risk Management| * Handle compliance issues, regulatory requirements, security, and other operational risks without burdening existing operations * Provide real-time and near real-time actionable customer and product profitability insight, delivered to the front office * Manage security exposure, market, and operations risk * Support centralized and consistent capture of regulatory data for MiFID and KYC requirements| Operational Effectiveness| * Streamline project management, simplify procurement, and make the most your firm’s most important asset—employees * Reduce operational risk with end-to-end financial management * Manage projects more efficiently and effectively * Transform corporate procurement with strategic sourcing capabilities| Next-generation Services| * Evolve to an agile, intelligent, and secure platform * Increase competitiveness by enabling new, intelligent services, while consolidating legacy systems * Enable new services across product silos with ser vice-enabled processes and applications * Gain real-time insight across channels with business intelligence for capital markets * Secure customer data and access for risk and compliance reporting with enterprise security and identity management * Selectively consolidate legacy systems onto an open-standard platform with enterprise grid computing and content management|

Friday, August 30, 2019

Effects of Urbanization in Jamaica

Urbanization refers to the shift of population from rural areas to cities or towns according to the Encarta Encyclopaedia. In Jamaica today, urbanization is a constant process for persons to move from one area to the next without hesitation compared to the previous generations. Urbanization has seen a significant increase over the years because of persons pursuing a better standard of living. People move because of the economic situation of the country which results in the need to find better jobs, the environmental effects and last but not least crime and violence. I think that urbanization is necessary for the improvement of one’s life. According to G. Nicolas, the financial crisis of the country plays a vital rule in urbanization, with higher demands for goods and services manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers tend to increase the cost of goods and services trying to make a profit for their business. Persons who are working sometimes tend to have a hard time of finding the money to acquire these high pricing goods and services to satisfy their needs. In spite of the high pricing of goods and services; with an increase in the population, getting a job becomes much harder especially if a person has no qualifications and applies for a job, then a more qualified person applies for the same job, the qualified persons is more than likely to get hired over the unqualified persons. In most cases rapid population growth in urban areas gives rise to poverty in such a way that when overpopulation occurs, jobs might be limited in that area and increasing social problems associated with unemployment and underemployment. According to the Encarta Encyclopaedia, urbanization also contributes to environmental issues in various ways as it relates to overpopulation. It may lead to pollution such as noise pollution in such a way that when potential health effects of noise pollution are numerous, pervasive, persistent, and medically and socially significant. Noise produces direct and cumulative adverse effects that impair health and that degrade residential, social, working, and learning environments with corresponding real and intangible losses. Air and water pollution are other environmental effects of urbanization and the most important reasons for population explosion in the cities of developing countries like Jamaica is rapid urbanization. Urbanization in Jamaica is accompanied by a number of challenges arising from population concentration in metropolitan cities; environmental degradation is occurring very rapidly and causing shortage of basic needs. The worsening water quality, air pollution and problems of disposal solid wastes and hazardous materials that is harmful to them. Health issues can arise from urbanization and cause a wide-spread epidemic of illnesses. These illnesses can be transmitted in crowded areas where airborne, respiratory and hand to hand transmission of illnesses can occur. The source, G. Nicolas, stated that deforestation is an effect of urbanization where it is a contributor to global climate change and is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Urbanization allows clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and or burning of trees in a forested area to make space available to build new houses or apartment building. Deforestation also leads to soil erosion; it decreases permeable surfaces in the soil faster forming of surface runoff, more frequent appearance of flood waves. Urbanization influences on development of erosion processes, land degradation with significant reduction of soil water capacity. In Jamaica, crime and violence also contributes to urbanization in an emerging area of concern in the increase levels of crime and violence in urban areas. Important gender differentiation exists in terms of violent response to unemployment. While men turn to crime and violence, women more frequently turn to dependency on men. It is not too hard to believe that Kingston’s reputation as a place of violence ranks third in the world. Gang violence and shootings occur regularly in inner-city areas of Kingston. Some inner-city neighbourhoods are occasionally subjected to curfews and police searches. Impromptu street protests sometimes occur, during which demonstrators often construct roadblocks or otherwise block the streets. Unemployed persons may turn to crime because they failed to acquire or keep a steady job and decide to turn to the act of stealing from the hard working and law abiding citizens in their community to earn a living for themselves. The frequent outbreak of violence between persons or rival gangs in a community may cause persons to feel unsecured and afraid of what might happen to them. This may cause families in the community to migrate to a violence free area where they might feel safer. Although urbanization has many negative and positive effects, I think that it is in the countries best interest to try and improve the negative influences that are associated with urbanization to improve the living condition of urbanized areas.

Manual vs Automatic Transmission Essay

Why are cars with manual transmissions so popular? Also, what are some of the differences and some of the advantages to driving a car with a manual transmission? They are more difficult to drive than a car with an automatic in it. They also require certain motor skills that you don’t need with an automatic. One could also choose an automatic that is easier to drive and would make your drive in rush hour traffic more comfortable. People who have driven cars with manuals in them know the differences and the advantages of driving one. The driver has more control over the car’s power than they do when driving cars with automatics in them. Cars with automatics are great to drive around because they don’t require too much driving skills. People who don’t really like to drive usually will choose a car that is automatic. They often don’t pay as much attention to the things that are happening around them while they are driving. They have improved a lot through the years with better gear ratios, and the shifting response when the driver just presses on the gas. However, they are not as much fun to drive. That is why race are drivers drive cars with manual transmissions. Cars with manual transmissions are very fuel efficient. They respond better to the driver which makes them safer. People that drive cars with manual transmissions are more focused on their driving. When the driver down shifts when they are driving to reduce their speed, they are also saving their brake pads. Other thing cars with manual transmissions have more power and tend to respond better when you accelerate. It also makes your driving more interesting. Also race car drivers drive cars with manual transmissions to take their driving skills to a higher level for maximum performance. Ones personality will make you decide on which is better for you to drive. My personal opinion is that cars with manual transmissions are a lot more fun to drive than automatics. Because, cars are made for driving and driving should be fun.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson versus Smith and Salgado Essay

Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson versus Smith and Salgado - Essay Example Salgado and Smith’s photographs seemed to always appear a little bit more obvious, like portraits. The photos are more scripted and it appears that they manipulate their subjects so that they could enhance their photographs to better tell the story. However, in the sense of journalism, it is questionable whether or not it is ethical to tell a story through photographs in methods that are ‘staged’ to be a little bit different than real life. All four photographers were able to capture a story and display a type of emotion with their subject. After evaluating the techniques, if these photographers were photojournalists, it is more ethical to capture a moment as it happens when true emotion is elicited and showing how something really is as it happens. Cartier-Bresson and Kertesz were better at this method because Salgado and Smith’s photography seemed to be too fake or staged rather than capturing a moment truly as it

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl - Essay Example Anne Frank is a mundane teenager going through the happenings, events, and feelings that all teenagers go through, yet she is going through them while Amsterdam, Holland is being involved in the Holocaust. The main concept of the journal, however, is Anne keeping track of everything that she does go through while her family is in hiding. She makes notes of the changes that she is going through as a teenager, and how she believes that these changes are separating her from her family – mentally and emotionally. As aforementioned, the journal had been intended as a release for a teenager going through everyday strife, confusion, and emotions that she does not understand. Unfortunately, as the effects of the Holocaust nears Anne’s home in Holland, her journal entries become tainted by the events of the war and of the persecution of the Jews. Anne confides into her journal the worries that she has for the people that she is close to – she knows that many of them have been taken to concentration camps, and she fears for the day that her family is taken in. She becomes overly emotional when she talks about the different rights that were taken away from her, the rights that constituted her as a teenager. She was no longer allowed to ride her bike during certain times, and she had to wear a yellow star on her clothes, so that the soldiers would know if she was breaking any of the rules laid down for the Jews. Her journal entries become more disconcerted as things worsen for her family and the other families that they are in hiding with. It is clear that Anne feels their time in hiding is coming to a close. The journal ends as they are still in hiding; when the soldiers find them, Anne is unable to take her journal with her to the concentration camp. She dies soon before her release from the camp, so she was unable to add more to her journal. Aside from the fact that the story’s content was depressing and disturbing in regards to the Holocaust

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Market Structures in Sony Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market Structures in Sony Corporation - Essay Example The organization has gained recognition throughout the world following its high awareness of products to the customers. Electronics devices manufacturers such as Sony corporation offer unique quality of various television sets, music systems, and laptops and computers that appeal the customers; hence, with the effective update in technology, management style, the market plan strategies towards existing competition and the corporate goals ensures that the organization is successful and distinguish the company from other similar competitive companies. The process of determining a market structure comprises the research on the rival companies by efficiently exploring their differences and relationships. The features of the market structure affect the routine of the business in the specific market, which has to be appealing to the customer’s needs. There are different market structures used by various organizations, which are based on the number of business participants in the ind ustry and the extent of market control of the involved participants. The market structures include monopolistic competition, perfect competition, and oligopoly and monopoly market structures (O'Connor, 2004). The choice of the market structures in an organization depends on the different characteristics of each type as explained below. The products produced by each of the business are similar to each other; hence, this gives the sellers and buyers the full liberty of joining or leaving the organization options.... The products produced by each of the business are similar to each other; hence, this gives the sellers and buyers the full liberty of joining or leaving the organization. In addition, the buyers and sellers are aware of the prices and technology in use despite the product being produced by a number of companies. Practically, perfect competition does not exist but only forms a benchmark used in the analysis of the real world market structures. The equalization of price and marginal cost through the exchange of quantity goods contributes to efficient allocation of resources (O'Connor, 2004). Monopoly Market Structure Monopoly market structure has a single seller and competitor, who control the supply side of the market. The product sold is unique with no similar substitutes. The demand of the monopoly product translates directly to the market demand hence the need of government regulation because of the insufficiency on market selling side. Monopolistic Competition The feature that dis tinguishes monopolistic market structure from others is the fact that it has a large number of relatively small competitors with each having a modest degree to control the market on the supply side. The products in the market are close for each firm but are not identical in terms of the production technology involved. Consequently, this structure diversifies the needs of the consumer. Oligopoly Market Structure A small number of comparatively large competitors with each having a considerable market control characterize the oligopoly market structure. Sellers under oligopoly have interdependent decision-making leading to high competition, which necessities the cooperation through collusion and mergers. The

Monday, August 26, 2019

Fallacy Spotting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fallacy Spotting - Assignment Example Essentially, this is a straw man argument; due to the fact that a given television show was only ever a recent reproduction and historical interpretation of fictional events – not a documentary record of the way in which individuals segued into adulthood and portended themselves. Likewise, the article itself is also indicative of what is known as a â€Å"false dilemma†. Essentially, numerous other indications why the current generation might be exhibited certain signs of â€Å"immaturity† has to do with the fact that extremely difficult economic times have acquired individuals to move in with their parents, provided them with relatively few opportunities, and restricted the level of maturity that might have otherwise developed. As such, the dilemma that has been represented is one that is seemingly of choice; namely that the adults of the current generation do not wish to be adults. However, the fact of the matter is that the adult the current generation oftentim es constrained by very real economic realities that define nearly each and every aspect of the way in which they live their

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Barriers to Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barriers to Change - Essay Example The group concurred with this view. Ineffective communication hinders change efforts. The leader needs to articulate goals clearly and give frequent feedback on the change process. Moreover, the group agreed that leaders need to communicate the reasons for change and how it will affect those involved. This eliminates fear, uncertainty and doubt about the change. Another barrier is unclear processes and procedures. If carried out in a haphazard way, change could fail. It makes people to lose direction of where they are going and what is expected of them and consequently lack of commitment and resistance. Lastly, the group cited not paying attention to people issues as significant to success of change management. Leaders need to pay attention to psychological processes that people experiences in dealing with change hence help them to overcome. The group also discussed how the leaders might provide psychological safety to individuals in times of change. They agreed that correctional leaders should have the will to share mistakes with staff to promote organisational learning. Employees also need to feel that they can air their views and give input regarding the change without fear of reprisal. Giving them rewards and recognition for achievements is vital. The role of the leader is to help create effective relationships in the organisation. By being transparent, the leader creates an environment of psychological safety which in turn leads to increased participation in decision making and greater trust in the leader. Psychological safety also entails honesty, openness and will to learn continually which in turn leads to higher degree of physical safety. The employees thus feel secure and learn more leading to positive change. People are unique hence react to change and conflict in different ways. Change management is all about ensuring

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Effects of Social Networks on Firm Performance Research Paper

The Effects of Social Networks on Firm Performance - Research Paper Example The paper tells that in the field of product development the inter organization networks can be very effective for the joint discussion about the product. Many new and small firms have lack of resources for the development, mainly due to inexperience and a lack of goodwill. Thus as a way of competing and grabbing a foothold in such a scenario involves bootstrapping, which involves activities for securing funds and resources. By using social networks such companies can gather finances, by building up strong ties in the initial stages and later on weak ties as they grow big. CEO’s of different firms have been known to have taken advice from outside through social networking. In this way they seek to get an outside opinion and an altogether different perspective regarding certain strategic issues. These enhance the performance of the firms. Another important aspect which is emerging slowly is the concept of a local social capital where an individual who values more of his local c ontacts, even though he has global contacts. This is relevant mainly in case of local entrepreneurs. Thus according to scientists, people with more and better social capital will be able to realize their goals. Ranging from contracts to building goodwill and securing finances, social capital is the priority in all types of endeavors around the globe. Social ties have been found to regulate exchanges through an informal and interpersonal way and they help to push back the limitations of a weak infrastructure, especially in the case of a financial crisis. (Sheng et al, 2011, p. 1). The study is to provide several facts and discussions in relation to social networks and social capital and their effect on firm performance based on the following

Friday, August 23, 2019

Racin way Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Racin way - Essay Example 2. Is the deputy in compliance with the use-of-force policy? Defend your answer. The answer to whether the deputy is in overall compliance with the use of force policy is highly nuanced and cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Firstly, due to the aggravating circumstances and inappropriate actions that the deputy took as a means to exacerbate the situation, the use-of force policy is further complicated with the fact that no mention of when to use the taser was referenced (Johnson 2011). Rather, the deputy has clearly abrogated the rules by using a less-than lethal device for which he was not specifically trained. However, ignoring the other wrong doings, it would appear that imminent officer harm was something that the deputy was faced with. As such, discharging his side arm as a means of firing warning shots at the ground was justified. However, due to the extenuating circumstances and the clear ignorance or disregard the deputy showed for the other use-of force policies gre atly jeopardizes the sheriff department’s case in this matter. 3. Should the lieutenant end Ripley’s pursuit? Explain. ... Due to this fact alone, a clear felony has been committed. As such, according to the departmental policies that have been enumerated upon, the deputy and the lieutenant as well as the department are justified in seeking to pursue the criminal. 4. Should the deputy have fired warning shots under these circumstances? Why or why not? With regards to whether or not the deputy should have fired shots, the answer is a resounding yes. Due to the fact that the deputies life was in danger he was well within his rights to fire shots and alert the suspect that the actions that he/she were taking were putting him/her in danger of their life and in clear violation of the law. 5. Assume that the people who were in the parked vehicle lodge a complaint because of Ripley’s actions with the dog, the warning shot, and the Taser; what kinds of policies and procedures normally cover Ripley’s actions? Would your Internal Affairs Unit find that the deputy was at fault with any of them? Which of the deputy’s actions do you as sheriff feel should result in disciplinary action against Ripley? Why or why not? The unfortunate fact of the matter is that even if the suspect/suspects are proven guilty of seeking to evade arrest, charging the officer/attempted vehicular manslaughter, they would still be able to lodge a valid complaint to the Internal Affiars Unit and find the deputy at fault for not following a litany of procedures involving use of an unauthorized dog while on patrol, over-aggressive tactics, and the unauthorized use of a taser. In this manner, the use of the unauthorized police dog and the unauthorized and untrained use of a taser should be disciplined by the department as clear abrogation of the training procedure and rules of conduct that bind every officer

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Summary 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary 7 - Essay Example This can validate the identities of culturally diverse children as well as be the role models for these children. Teachers who can understand and appreciate culturally different strengths and cultural resources of children are found to be much more effective teachers are more likely to provide enriching environments that celebrate everyone’s differences. However, since the teachers themselves are exposed to mainstream education where cultural diversity is not as celebrated as it is today, it is quite a challenge to adapt. To address this need to adapt to the culturally-heavy classes, there are professional seminars and trainings that have been offered to them. One of these is the Family Literacy Nights with Latino families and their children since the Latino population comprise the biggest chunk of the culturally diverse population. With Family Literacy Nights, the teachers have interacted with the parents and the kids themselves. This project helped quashed misconceptions about the culturally-diverse families. With family literacy nights, the teachers have firsthand information about the immigrant families. They empathized with the frustration that the parents have over language learning and their affinity to use their old language. They understood that these people can never think like the native speakers. They also learned that the parents want to help their children excel in their English-based classes but cannot help since they do not know the language. They also knew reasons why some families cannot come to school activities: location and time matter. It is not that they do not support their children’s education, it’s because they do not have the means of transportation and the time to go to events (they have to work, and they are too poor to have a car). They also knew not to prevent the children from speaking their native language as this fosters sophisticated linguistic abilities (they had English-only policies

Health Sanitation Practices Essay Example for Free

Health Sanitation Practices Essay * a protected well or a developed spring with an outlet but without a distribution system * indicated for rural areas * serves 15-25 households; its outreach is not more than 250 m from the farthest user * yields 40-140 L/ min Level II (Communal Faucet or Stand Posts) * With a source, reservoir, piped distribution network and communal faucets * Located at not more than 25 m from the farthest house * Delivers 40-80 L of water per capital per day to an average of 100 households * Fit for rural areas where houses are densely clustered Level III (Individual House Connections or Waterworks System) * With a source, reservoir, piped distributor network and household taps * Fit for densely populated urban communities * Requires minimum treatment or disinfection Proper Excreta and Sewage Disposal Program EHS sets policies on approved types of toilet facilities: Level I * Non-water carriage toilet facility – no water necessary to wash the waste into receiving space e. g. pit latrines, reed odorless earth closet. * Toilet facilities requiring small amount of water to wash the waste into the receiving space e.g. pour flush toilet aqua privies Level II * On site toilet facilities of the water carriage type with water-sealed and flush type with septic vault/tank disposal. Level III * Water carriage types of toilet facilities connected to septic tanks and/or to sewerage system to treatment plant. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine sanitation practices and preferences in sitio ganha-an.By examining differences between current practices and preferences, the study assesses if the communities are satisfied with their current sanitation options and if there is a demand for increased sanitation coverage and better facilities. Water Supply. The major problem for poor people in most countries is access to safe water in adequate quantity, with reasonable convenience, and at an affordable cost. Solutions include local grants to install household gutters and rainwater capture tanks; local wells designed to resist pollution; and small networks of water points served by a local well, borehole, or spring. The supply problems of major cities require integrated approaches that combine demand management, leak repair, backflow prevention, wastewater reuse, and the efficient, sustainable exploitation of sources. Solid Waste Disposal. The interdependence of sanitation aspects is illustrated by the need for adequate solid waste removal to prevent the blockage of rainwater drains. Collection of refuse in hot climates must be frequent since piles attract flies and rats, and it should rely more on local labor-intensive methods rather than on expensive trucks. For the operation to be successful requires close cooperation between the users and providers of the service, and financing must come either from municipal recurrent funds and/or user fees. Excreta Disposal. Large sewerage infrastructure projects tend to be too expensive for the vast majority of urban and rural people in developing countries, and it may be impossible to build a sewage network infrastructure in congested, narrow streets. On-site options include latrines, pourflush toilets, and septic tanks. There should be evaluated at each location according to needs and priorities. As water use grows in villages and towns, wastewater from washing and bathing (sullage) can be cost-effectively handled by a separate drainage system coupled to on-site excreta disposal. Garbage is a never ending cycle. Every day each household produces a significant amount of trash. The more we consume the more garbage we incur. Garbage disposal has been a monumental problem ever since. ( Yapchiongco, 2012) For a lack of historic time series of reliable nationally representative drinking water quality data, the JMP cannot report on the actual water safety aspect of the MDG drinking water target. The proxy indicator used in the global survey methodology – â€Å"use of improved drinking water sources† – does not guarantee that the quality of drinking water consumed by people meets the standards for safe drinking water as proposed in the WHO Guidelines for Drinking water Quality (WHO, 2011). Pollution from domestic and industrial sources, geogenic contamination, and poor sanitation and hygiene all threaten the safety of drinking water sources. In recognition of these threats, many drinking water supply operators and regulators are adopting an integrated risk assessment and management approach that takes risk spots and events into account along the chain of events from source to tap. Strategies include quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), sanitary inspections, the application of health-based targets and water safety plans (WSPs). The practice of household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) can help improve water quality at the point of consumption, especially when drinking water sources are distant, unreliable or unsafe. However, HWTS is a stopgap measure only and does not replace the obligation of a service provider to provide access to safe drinking water. It is intended for people who have no access to improved drinking water sources at all, for people with access to improved sources outside of their home or premises (i.e. when contamination can occur during transport and storage), for people with unreliable piped supplies who have to store water to bridge the gaps between deliveries, and for people in emergency situations. People relying on unimproved drinking water sources who apply an appropriate household water treatment method are still not considered to have sustainable access to safe drinking water. Doing so would absolve the providers of their responsibility to provide safe drinking water and in effect transfer this responsibility to consumers. http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/report_wash_low.pdf

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Contingency Of Identity In Trainspotting Philosophy Essay

The Contingency Of Identity In Trainspotting Philosophy Essay The perimeters of someones body are often thought to signify the enclosure of a stable perception of the world. For example, mainstream Western society perceives corporeal limits as the impenetrable barrier between subjectivity and external forces. This model emphasizes the subject as regulator over what external forces influence their subjectivity, and in turn implies that the subject is autonomous in choosing or being her own identity. Philosophical projects such as the Enlightenment and the American dream expound on the Cartesian Isi assertion that anyone has the agency to construct an original, autonomous identity. These philosophies have helped bind Western ontology to a concept of mind over matter. However, 20th century thinkers have challenged this notion. Philosopher and sociologist Michael Foucault posits the body is transformed into an instrument for political power, and that conceptualizing subjectivity as a stable construct is crucial to the preservation of the state For Foucault, any notion of autonomy is an articulation of political agenda. Correspondingly, Psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva shows that restricting subjectivity to an epidermal container oppresses an entire means of understanding subjectivity. Kristeva asks the reader to consider a perception of subjectivity that contingently and provisionally fluctuates in its relation to the bodys perceived borders. She claims subjectivity and the body are entwined in an ontology based on the transgression of borders, not the establishment of them. Instead of agreeing with the Wests claim that citizens conduct their selfhood within epidermal boundaries, Kristeva argues that subjectivity is unstable, fragmented, and dispersed across various relations with the body. Therefore, subjectivity has the capacity to transform and be transformed through engagement with the body. Toward this end, I will investigate the ever-fluctuating bodies and identities in Irvine Welshs multimedia text Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996; Welsh, 1996). The film and novel epitomize the permeable, fluctuating nature of subjectivity as conceived by Kristeva, and thus highlight the fact that selfhood depends on a transgression rather than an establishment of borders. Foucault and Doeile Bodies Michael Foucaults term body politics refers to the practices and policies through which powers of society regulate the human body, as well as the struggle over the degree of individual and social control of the body. Institutional power expressed in government and laws is the power at play in body politics (Body Politics). Foucault says that Western societys false ontology makes citizens think they have stable identities because of the governments regulation of the physical body through institutions and laws. In short, citizens perceive themselves as autonomous subjects because of the states emphasis on hygiene and cleanliness. Foucault says this ontology is the effect of political power, and that any selfhood a proper citizen assumes is an articulation of this power. Associate Professor Nick Mansfield, head of the cultural studies department at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, specializes in Foucaultian theory, and his book on subjectivity lends a nice segue as to how body politics and self-hood coincide: Our philosophies of science, our theories of the organization of society, our sense of morality, purpose and truth all partake of the same emphasis on the individual not only as a social quantity, but as the point where all meaning and value can be judged. This individuality is described as freedom, and we still direct our most serious political ambitions towards perfecting that freedom. It also operates as a duty, however. (60) Foucault focuses on the implicit sense of duty that is entailed with citizenship. He sees civic duty as the submission of ones body to forces of political power. Critically acclaimed Italian political philosopher Giorgio Agamben has stated that one of the most persistent features of Foucaults work is its decisive abandonment of the traditional approach to the problem of power, which is based on juridico-institutional models (the definition of sovereignty, the theory of the State), in favor of an unprejudiced analysis of the concrete ways in which power penetrates subjects very bodies and forms of life (5). Foucaults critical studies of social institutions reveal that institutional surveillance of the body-specifically in delineating what is the clean and proper body-designates citizens corporal existence as a docile state. Foucault supports this claim with his concept of processes of subjectivization, These processes under-thematize and universalize the body until it can be treated as inert or disordered; in other words, until physicality obtains a docile classification. Similarly, as cultural theorist Elizabeth Grosz argues, the body historically has been conceived of as a vehicle for the expression of an otherwise sealed and self-contained, incommunicable psyche. It is through the body that [people] _ .. can receive, code, and translate the inputs of the external world (9). Once I established how a favorable perception of the docility is impressed upon populations, I will discuss how Trainspotting characters refute this platform with their own counter-culture philosophies and behavior. The characters struggle with the implications of properness and duty that Foucault sees as essential to the function of a citizen. They are good examples of the insight that Julia Kristeva gleans from Foucaults work: a society and state that glorifies corporeal purity is thus dependent on sources of misery and degradation in order to have a standard to judge what is clean or unclean, appropriate or unfitting. But first, I will establish how body hygiene becomes such an important factor for citizens to view themselves as autonomous subjects. As mentioned, Foucault points to state institutions that enact processes of subjectivization. Processes of subjectivization refer to government programs that exemplify epidermal perimeters as impenetrable borders that contain the supposed autonomous nature of citizens These processes bring the individual to bind himself to his own identity and consciousness, and, at the same time, to an external power (Agamben 5). Mansield elucidates, in our fantasy of autonomous selfhood, we normally imagine our subjectivity to be identified with the uniqueness and separateness of our individual bodies. We draw an imaginary line around the perimeters of our bodies and define our subjectivity as the unique density of matter contained within that line. When we operate in society as voters, taxpayers, welfare recipients and consumers, our identity seems to be married to this autonomy: we front up for interviews, check ups and interrogations as the content of our bodies. (82) The tangible presence bodies provide people with is taken to be absolute and final validation of who they are. When someone appears for a doctors appointment or a cotut trial she ceases being a name on a paper and appears as herself These processes of subjectivization imply not only the notion that someones tangible borders give them a real identity, but also that that identity maintains its own agency. When analyzing state systems from Foucaults perspective, it becomes apparent that citizenship designates citizens as autonomous. Foucault insists that when institutions seek to control and know the subject, they manipulate the body, fixing it strictly in place, watching and measuring it; this in turn gives citizens the sense that they are anything but a carefully monitored, social denomination. But in reality, the state has a vested interest in its citizens health that is expressed by institutional programs emphasis on autonomy. Through subjectivization processes, an inherent notion of cleanliness is attached in the definition of citizen, and the upkeep of clean borders is expected to entail some sort of autonomy. In contrast, Foucault claims that institutions endorsing corporeal cleanliness ensures a specific type of docility in the citizenry. If citizens believe that they are the agents merely because of their hygiene, then the institutions have succeeded in transforming its citizens bodies into inert entities that can be prescribed or delineating in any way the state sees fit. The sense of autonomy is therefore revealed to preserve state power. Foucaults second example of subjectivization processes, that of policing strategies, explains this more explicitly. Foucault states that the laws of the penal system, which were once isolated in the form of a public event (e.g.: a criminal dismembered in the marketplace), have become instilled into normative ontology with the creation of prisons. Firstly, the prison does not simply incarcerate people arbitrarily. It depends on a system of proper proceedings that in turn must be justified by codes of law or legal precedent. When someone is convicted of a crime, she or he goes from being a person to being a phenomenon. As a type, the individual becomes subject to analysis according to scientific models. Questions begin to be asked, like, what personality traits make this person a criminal? What social conditions lead to his or her crime? Here, the individual is not free and autonomous, but the focal point of larger forces, analyzed by systems of knowledge in what they claim is impartial truth (Lyon 7). Foucault uses the prison model of liberal economist and social reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) to help explain the casual yet compulsory paranoid lifestyle that is instilled in prisons and reflected in society. According to Foucault, the panopticon is typical of the processes of subjectivization that govern modern life. A panopticon is a circular prison with an empty area in the middle where a guard tower is placed. All of the prisoners cell face inward, and one guard can effectively keep survelliance over all the inmates at once. Furthermore, is an opaque sheet of one-way visible glass is installed in the guard tower, the guard herself would not have to necessarily be present to enact a monitoring system. Likewise, state power organizes the population into individual units that are then subject to monitoring in a system of maximum visibility through implicit accountability. This works most effectively in institutions where schools, hospitals, banks, and departments of social security and tax all keep files on us. People forget about these records, or accept them as a necessary and inevitable part of institutions operations (Lyon 8-9). However, these files are our effective social reality, and contain truths about us that can be manipulated outside of our control. These files and the truth they contain are not our property, and they enhance the state of docility imposed on citizens bodies. Foucault believes that power and the knowledge coincide to ensure the state maintains its docile influence, and in turn preserves its efficiency. Therefore, every institution operates according to its own theories of peoples subjectivity: the unruly adolescent, the remedial reader, the hysterical patient, the credit risk-these are all types of subjectivity that people may or may not occupy, sometimes without even knowing it. Every institution has classes of persons into which everyone who deals with them is distributed. The apparently simple and necessary logic of this categorisation-it is not a conspiracy to oppress us, our common sense says, how could these institutions operate otherwise?- already separates us from one another, isolating us, opening up and closing off opportunities, destining us for certain rewards and punishments. The system of truth on which each institution depends is always already a power at work on us. (Mansfield 62) Thus, individuality is not the highest expression of human life, but the thing social institutions need people to feel they are, so that people remain vulnerable to the truths the state has contrived for its own efficiency. As a result, the self constantly problematizes its place in the world and its relationship to others and to inherited codes of behavior. Therefore, the subject does not simply rely on some unknowable of pure natural subjectivity, but rather produces itself endlessly as a response to its relationship to other and to its cultural and historical context (Mansfield 63). Foucaults ideas encourage an earnestly skeptical attitude towards subjectivity, one that is embodied in Trainspottings main character, Mark Renton. Renton can be seen as anti- subjective because he sees any statement that claims to speak the truth about human subjectivity as an imposition, a technique of power and social administration. Renton voices his reservations: Society invents spurious convoluted logic tae absorb and change people whaes behaviour is outside its mainstream. Suppose that ah knew the pros and cons, know that ahm gaunnae hav a short life, am ay sotmd mind, etcetera, etcetera, but still want tae use smack? They wont let ya dae it. They wont let ye dae it, because its seen as a sign of thair ain failure. The fact is ye jist simply choose tae reject whit they huv tae offer. Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting on a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stufting fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats yeve produced. Choose life. Well, ah choose no tae choose life. If the cunts cant handle that, its thair fuckin problem (Welsh 187-9). Renton, like Foucault, sees subjectivity as a mode of social organization and administration. For Renton, the state is inherently dependent on its citizens to cultivate a notion of sanctity regarding their lives. Upon this foundation of natural life, the State builds concepts of morality and truth that are articulations of power structures (Agamben 2). Therefore, Renton and his mates seek a subjectivity that does not privilege the sanctity of life. As actor and critic Lewis MacLeod puts it, Welshs characters are not at all interested in the rule of parasite politicians (Welsh 228). Instead they operate on a highly idiosyncratic cultural logic that frequently inverts conventional values (90). The characters experimental subjectivity prioritizes desire and addiction as the most important achievements in life, and the screenplays adaptation of the above quote l elucidates this point. ln the theatrical version, Renton explains: Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked up brats that youve spawned to replace yourselves . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when youve got heroin? Renton has lost faith in any type of subjectivity, and considers a life on heroin just as pointless as a life of gainful employment. From a Foucaultian perspective his reasoning can obtain some credence in that institutions will inevitably wrest all agency away from its citizens. It is interesting to note Welshs novels title describes a pointless exercise enacted within societys establishments. Renton can clearly see the absurdity of society and the meaninglessness of his life, yet his choice is ultimately self-defeating, for as the title of the book suggests, heroin addiction, like trainspotting grown men watching locomotives and noting their identification numbers -is effectively a pointless exercise (Bishop 221-22). Similarly, in Peter Corliss review of the cinematic adaptation of Trainspotting, Welsh and John Hodge explain the importance of the metaphor: Trainspotting, Welsh explains, is the compulsive collection of locomotive engine numbers from the British railway system. But you cant do anything with the numbers once youve collected them. Says Hodge, who culled the brilliant screenplay from Welshs anecdotal novel. Its a nice metaphor for doing something that gives your life a bit of structure but its ultimately pointless. So is the intravenous injection of drugs a palpable pleasure that wastes time, and often, life (85). In his PhD Doctorate entitled The Diminished Subject, Professor Geoffrey Bishop looks at the T rainspotting texts to see how the characters attempt to exercise a new type of subjectivity. Bishop writes, For Renton, heroin use is a determinedly philosophical decision to adopt a counter-discursive practice in order to retreat from a society that makes him an outsider, and threatens his attempts to simplify his existence (ZI9). As I shall show in the following analysis, through the selfish pleasure of drug use Renton attempts to avoid the docility that Foucault talks about In an interview with film critic Andrew OHagan, it is apparent that T rainspotting s director and screenwriter were not attempting to display Kristevas theories in their film. But, as I will discuss, the filmic adaptation of the novel lends itself very well to Kristevian philosophy. Kristeva, Posthumanist Practice, and Trainspotting Julia Kristeva argues that subjectivity depends on someones relation to outside forces. Kristevas ontology is based on a transgression, rather than an establishment, of borders. Likewise, the bodies in Trainsporting illustrate a significant alternative to traditional conceptions of the body as stable and self-contained. I propose that the film calls for a critical approach that attends to bodies as products and producers of posthuman discourses. Posthumanist practice questions the genealogy of moral norms rather than accepting and perpetuating them, and much of Kristevas theory is an enactment of posthuman discourse. In critical theory, the posthuman is a speculative being that represents or seeks to enact a re-writing of what is generally conceived of as human. Posthumanist criticism critically questions Renaissance humanism, which is a branch of humanist philosophy that claims human nature is a universal state from which the human being emerges, and it stresses that human nature is autonomous, rational, capable of free will, and unified in itself as the apex of existence. Thus, the posthuman recognizes imperfectability and disunity within him or herself Instead of a humanist perspective, a posthuman perception understands the world through context and heterogeneous perspectives while maintaining intellectual rigor and a dedication to objective observations of the world. Key to this posthuman practice is the ability to fluidly change perspectives and manifest oneself through different identities. The posthuman, for critical theorists of the subject, has an emergent ontology rather than a stable one; in other words, the posthuman is not a singular, defined individual, but rather one who can become or embody different identities and understand the world from multiple, heterogeneous perspectives (Haraway 3). In what follows, I discuss how body fluids in the film illustrate the instability of corporeal limits as conceived by Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. Through the lens of these theorists, the characters in Trainspotting can become producers of posthurnan discourses. But tirst, I will briefly discuss the critical reception of the film, inasmuch as responses to it characterize the kind of moralizing judgment that so often I denies another perception like Kristevas. _ In 1996, Danny Boyles film adaptation of Irvine Welshs bestselling novel became the highest grossing British-made film in the United Kingdom in history (Callahan 39). Although other films have addressed the subject of heroin addiction most have done so from a stance of such moral disdain that the characters became little more than exaggerations of an addicted underclass that remains safely Other to mainstream film audiences. In contrast, Trainspotting, even though it portrays the desperation and horrors of drug addiction, the film never grants its audience the privilege of certain moral judgment. It invites audiences to engage with its characters in their own world as they struggle between the desperate need and the always- temporary satisfaction that characterizes life on heroin. The cinematic release of Trainspozling came right after a controversial trend in the fashion industry known as heroin chic, a trend that earned its name by popularizing images of thin, glassy-eyed models who were apparently strung-out in dirty bathrooms or cheap, dingy motels (Craik 19). President Clinton even raised the issue in a widely reported address to magazine editors, charging that the glorification of heroin is not creative Its destructive. Its not beautiful. It is ugly. And this is not about art. Its about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society (Clinton). Cultural critic Henry Giroux describes the images associated with heroin chic as nothing more than inspiration for a type of cultural slumming that produces attitudes and actions in which well-to-do yuppies aestheticize the pain and suffering of underprivileged youths (27). Some critics have made similar claims about Trainspotting. One reviewer, for example, said the film belongs to an unoriginal, voyeuristic genre that caters to an addiction to addiction- watching (Kauffmann 38). Other critics dismiss the film and other such films as mere slumfests for the bored upper classes, virtual petting zoos they can visit anytime they want to feel like theyre down with the kids (Callahan 39). Although the films graphic portrayal of self- depravation and misery is at times difficult to watch, other critics claim that the films uncritical, even sympathetic portrayal of junkies overtly glamorizes heroin use. Despite the fact that such arguments allude to possible real world dangers of drug culture and the celebration of its images, they remain anchored in a discourse of negativity. They designate the rhetorical critic to the psychoanalytic position of searching for a lack, whether it is of morals, health, or life. In other words, such arguments can only analyze the  ¬Ã‚ lm based on its failure to do something it presumably should do: adhere to moral norms. A moral argument based on whether Trainspotting does or does not glamorize heroin useand whether or not that is good or badneglects a compelling line of analysis: how the pervasive physicality of the  ¬Ã‚ lm functions rhetorically. The  ¬Ã‚ lmmakers are careful to illustrate both the pain and the pleasure of heroin use, but this evenhandedness seems less the depiction of a moral judgment than an investigation or even a meditation on the transgression of boundaries. Indeed, in an interview, director Damiy Boyle says that the  ¬Ã‚ lm is about being a transgressor Its about doing something that everybody says will kill youyou will kill yourself And the thing that nobody understands is, its not that you dont hear that message, its just that its irrelevant. The  ¬Ã‚ lm isnt about heroin. Its about an attitude, and thats why we wanted the  ¬Ã‚ lm to pulse, to pulse like you do in your twenties (Callahan 39). This pulsing, or this incessant transgressing that Boyle refers to provides a key metaphor for this discussion of corporeality in Trainspotting. A pulse is not characterized by stability or even an interplay between opposite forces. Rather, a pulse is a constant  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuation, what William Burroughs describes as an interdependent relationship between systolic and diastolic movement (Naked Lunch iii). It is in this sense that I conceive of transgression not as an eradication or a crossing of boundaries, but as a recon ¬Ã‚ guration that occurs through continual engagement and response. Bodies connecting and expanding within an economy of bodily  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uids enact the pulse of the  ¬Ã‚ lm. Bodily Refuse and Identity Julia Kristevas theoretical work on the concept of abj ection has done much to trouble a humanist conception of the discrete, autonomous individual. According to the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, abjection means a state of misery or degradation. Kristeva develops this de ¬Ã‚ nition of the abject by arguing that the signi ¬Ã‚ cance of abj ection lies in its role as an operation through which we continually distinguish ourselves as individuals. She describes abject as a jettisoned object that is opposed to 1 and is radically excluded; the abject draws me toward the place where meaning collapses (Powers 1-2). For example, an image of the emaciated body of a person living with AIDS may evoke sympathy, or in, in some cases, fear, but it also ful ¬Ã‚ lls the role of the abject, infected Other that enables the healthy to feel clean, vital, and even morally superior. Similarly, the starving bodies of third-world countries serve as boundaries or limits that contribute to this countrys sense of nationhood. According to this logic, American identity depends on what America precisely is not (Debrix 1 158). Kristevas notion of a disorganized, abject body challenging the concept of order itself aids to an understanding of Trainspotting in which the characters experiment with a unique ontology based on the transgression of corporeal terms. Rather than quietly remaining outside of the mainstream at designated margins, the abject, as the heroin bodies exhibited in Trainspotting, breaks apart the sanctity and homogeneity of rational public space. Kristeva indicates that bodily boundaries are never  ¬Ã‚ nal and neither are the identities that depend on them. She argues that the self depends on the abject to constitute its border, to be that which lies outside, beyond the set (Powers 2). But she also notes that from its place of banishment, the abject does not cease challenging its master (Powers 2). In this sense, the abject Other never remains at the margins. The abject never remains stagnant, creating stable boundaries for the self. Kristeva thus introduces a dynamism into the concept of identity that depends on a subjects ability to recognize and reject the abject asit gets articulated and rearticulated through the selfs interaction with the Other. In other words, the Cartesian I becomes destabilized to the extent that the humanist emphasis on the mind/body split has been sufficiently troubled with regard to how we construct or acquire a sense of self. Foucault shows how someones perceived autonomy is often merely an extension of state power, and this is important when observing how the characters in Trainspotting both celebrate and struggle for the release of moral or hygienic ideologies that treat them as docile bodies. As Bishop has recently noted, Although Trainspotting was attacked for romanticising drug use, glamorising heroin chic, and over the validity of Welshs description of heroin addiction, such literalist readings not only failed to see past the subject matter, they ignored the possibility of political and philosophical content (219). Kristeva suggests an ontology that is grounded in relations to others rather than in the conscious mind, and when her theories are used in an analysis of Trainspotting they can certainly produce philosophical insight into the concept of subjectivity. Judith Butler links much of her work in Bodies that Matter to Kristevas consideration of the abject. Our self-identi ¬Ã‚ cation, Butler argues, operates within what she calls an exclusionary matrix that relates subjects and necessitates a simultaneous production of a domain of abject beings, those who are not yet subjects, but who form the constitutive outside to the domain of the subject (3 ). She agrees with Kristeva that the abject zone of uninhabitability that de ¬Ã‚ nes the boundaries of the subject will constitute that site of dreaded identi ¬Ã‚ cation against which and by virtue of whichthe domain of the subject will circumscribe its own claim to autonomy and to life (3). However, Butler builds upon Kristevas argument with a point that is essential for this discussion of the abject bodies in Trainspotting. According to Butler, the abjected through abj ection instead of inherently possessing autonomy. Therefore, Renton can be seen as existential explorer of subjectivity, and there are no guarantees in this novel, no happy endings, and no transcendence of the characters into holistic self-present subjects (Bishop 223). g Although Butlers introduction of permeability is helpful, I want to offer another important perspective before continuing. Butler posits a concept of subjectivity based on the repudiation of abj ection. As I have suggested and will explore further throughout this discussion, subjects in the  ¬Ã‚ lm do not and cannot sufficiently negate the abject. Rather, the abject is integral to pulsing-or, what William S. Burroughs might call a constant state of kicking-on which subjectivity depends (Junky xvi). Trainspotting s Alternative Subjectivity The cinematic adaptation of Trainspotting has some key scenes that should elucidate the ontological force of abjection. Depictions of body  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uids in the  ¬Ã‚ lm illustrate the  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuating, permeable corporeality that Butler describes. The  ¬Ã‚ lm seems to attack any trace of morality or cleanliness inherent in Foucaults analysis, as images abound of body  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uids contaminating spaces in the most inappropriate of manners. Film critic Andrew OHagan notes that for the young characters shi

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Comparison Of International Healthcare System Health And Social Care Essay

Comparison Of International Healthcare System Health And Social Care Essay This research paper deals with comparison between health care systems of United States and India. I chose these two countries because of my familiarity with health care system in India and interest in the U.S health care system. While U.S. and India have few things in common, there are a lot of differences. The health care systems in these two countries are an ideal example of fundamental difference in health care system of an industrialized country and a developing country as well as two different approaches to health care. I will elaborate components of health care system, performance of health care system , health care expenditures, how government in involved, health care coverage and insurance system and a little about administration and payment system. Introduction: The health care system in United States can be categorized as public-private health care system while India has a universal health care system. In US, Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector. Health insurance is primarily provided by the private sector, with the exception of programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, SCHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Program) and VA (Veterans Health Administration). Universal health care system is built around the principle of providing universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision. Over the past few years, Indian health care system is in transition. With the growth of Indian economy, more and more money is pumped into nations health care system. This infusion of money has resulted in substantial gains in health care including increased life expectancy, reduced infant mortality and the eradication of several diseases; although these gains have been uneven across subpopulations. A comparison between health care system of US and India can shed light on the challenges that are common to both and also highlight the unique challenges each faces. What is Health Care System? Health care system is made up of individuals and organizations that are involved in the delivery of health care to target population. Health care system can also be defined as the organization of people, institutions and resources to deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations. Components of Health Care System The health care system is made up of three interrelated components; providers, institutions and clients. People who deliver health care services the professionals and practitioners are health care providers. Health care providers are the ones that serve the clients and provide them treatments. The systematic arrangements for delivering health care-the public and private agencies that organize, plan, regulate, finance and coordinate services are the institutions or organizations of the health care system. The institutional component includes hospitals, clinics and home-health agencies; the insurance companies and programs that pay for services like Blue Cross and Blue Shield, managed-care plans such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs); and entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid. People in need of health care services are health care consumers or clients. Clients receive care from the healthcare provider. They also either pay the payers such as insurance companies who then pay the provider- or they pay the provider directly, or they have their bills paid on their behalf by the government. Providers receive payment from the payers. Payers are those who finance the healthcare. Payers can include the family of the client, the clients themselves, the insurance companies, or the government. Performance of health care system Performance of health care system can be measured by examining which system performs better and its ability to distribute health care to the population. While comparing health care systems of US and India, I am not going to take into account the vast difference in resources available to each country; instead I will focus on the relative measure of total resources available and resources allocated to health care. We will use traditional measure of infant mortality, life expectancy and cancer survivability rate of the target population to compare health care systems of US and India. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. This number can be used as measure of health of target population. Life expectancy in US is 78.3 years. Life expectancy in India is 64.7 years. Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births. This number is used as an indicator of the level of health care access and awareness in a country. The infant mortality rate of the world is 49.4 according to the United Nations and 42.09 according to the CIA World Fact book. Infant mortality rate in US is 6.3. Infant mortality rate in India is 55. Cancer survival rate is the percentage of people who survive a certain type of cancer for a specific amount of time, usually measured for five years. This number is good indicator of richness of health care system. In US, cancer screening tests like mammograms, Pap smear, PSA screening and colonoscopy are used more frequently. US have plenty of diagnostic equipments like Enhanced imaging equipments like LIFE (Lung Imaging Fluorescence Endoscopy), MRI machines and CT scanners. Abundance of these machines results in early screenings for cancer which in turn help in early treatment of cancer. Cancer survival rate in US is 63% in men and 66% in men Cancer survival rate in India is 30%. Health care expenditure U.S. spends more money on health care than any other nation in the world. In 2008, U.S. spent 16.2% of GDP on health care. This is around $2.3 trillion or $7681 per capita, of these 46% is financed by government. Healthcare is one of Indias largest sectors in terms of revenue and employment and the sector is expanding rapidly. But it is nowhere near US health care sector in terms of size. During the 1990s, Indian health care grew at annual rate of 16%. Currently, the total value of the sector is more than $34 billion. This is around $34 per capita, or roughly 6% of GDP (private expenditure of 5.0% and public expenditure of 0.9%), of these 19% is financed by government. Naturally, the overall standard of health care available to the majority of population is poor. The problems of care surrounding childbirth and maternal health, malnutrition in children, all kinds of infectious diseases and infestations are rampant mostly among rural and urban poor who constitute the majority of the population. Government Involvement in health care In the U.S., direct government funds health care through Medicare, Medicaid that covers senior citizens over 65, poor and disabled, nursing home care and women with low income and State Childrens Health Insurance Program which covers children in families below 200% of poverty level. The federal government also runs the Veterans Administration, which provides medical care to veterans, their families and survivors. Some 59% of U.S. residents have employer health care coverage although this figure is decreasing Workers contribution varies widely in this coverage. People who are self employed or unemployed have to purchase their own insurance. U.S. federal and state governments is more and more involved in U.S. health care spending regardless of large private business. In 2004, governments spent 45% of the $2.2 trillion spent on medical care in 2004. The U.S. government spends more on health care than on Social Security and national defense combined. Beyond direct spending, the U.S. government is also involved in health care through regulation. For example, the 1973 HMO Act provides for HMO by giving grants and loans. The health care system in India is characterized by multiple systems of medicine, mixed ownership patterns and different kinds of delivery structures. Public sector ownership is divided between central and state governments, municipal and Panchayat local governments. Public health facilities include teaching hospitals, secondary level hospitals, first-level referral hospitals (CHCs or rural hospitals), dispensaries; primary health centers (PHCs), sub-centers and health posts. Also included are public facilities for selected occupational groups like organized work force (ESI), defense, government employees, (CGHS), railways, post and telegraph and mines among others. Health care in India is universal health care system run by the constituent states and territories of India. The private sector is the dominant sector in India. In India, already 80% of the curative care is being sought by people from the private sector. Hospitals are run by government, charitable trusts and private organizations. The government hospitals in rural areas are called Primary Health Center. These provide basic health care. If there are patients such as snake bite or heart attack, such patients are given basic drug treatment and then sent to a hospital nearby. Hospitals are located in major cities. Along with modern system of medicine, traditional and indigenous medicinal systems like Ayurvedic and Homeopathy systems are in practice throughout the country. Indian health care system is run by the state governments. Government hospitals provide preliminary treatment at the expense of taxpayers. Primary care is focused on immunization, malnutrition prevention, pre and postnatal care and treatment of common ailments. Necessary drugs are offered for free in government hospitals. In these hospitals, charges for basic in-hospital check-up and treatment are much less compared to the private sector. But the private sector also is not expensive when compared to western countries. The cost for these subsidies comes from central and state governments. But government hospitals are not financed enough and have less staff. Since they do not face competition, government hospitals do not maintain basic standards of treatment. Because of these factors, many people are either forced to or prefer to visit private medical practitioners. The majority of the Indian population is unable to access high quality healthcare provided by private entities as a result of high costs. Many are now looking towards insurance companies for providing alternative financing options so that they too can afford better quality healthcare. 75% of expenditure on healthcare in India is still being met by out-of-pocket consumers. Only 10% of the Indian population today has health insurance coverage. The opportunity remains huge for insurance providers entering into the Indian healthcare market since Health insurance has a way of increasing accessibility to quality healthcare delivery for private healthcare providers for whom high cost remains a barrier. Health Care Coverage and Access About 16% of US population is uninsured. Also, about 24% of the U.S. population was under-insured and have insurance that barely covers their medical needs. This leaves them unprepared for major medical expenses. According to some studies, about 40% of U.S. citizens do not have sufficient health insurance to cover their health needs. 59% of U.S. citizens have health insurance related to employment, 27% have government-provided health-insurance while nearly 9% purchase health insurance directly (there is some overlap in these figures). Medical debt is the one of the major cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Thus, the cost of health care not the availability of resources is major impedance to health care access in US. The US federal government does not offer universal health care to all its citizens. But there are some publicly funded health care programs to help elderly, disabled, poor and children. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or EMTALA ensures public access to emergency services. The EMTALA law forces emergency health care providers to stabilize an emergency health crisis and cannot withhold treatment for lack of evidence of insurance coverage or other evidence of the ability to pay. But person receiving health care under EMTALA still has to pay the hospital. Hospital can pursue any defaulter for the cost of emergency services they provided. When it comes to healthcare, there are two faces of India: a country that provides high-quality medical care to middle-class Indians and medical tourists and a country whose residents have limited or no access to quality health care. Today only 25% of the Indian population has access to Western (allopathic) medicine, which is practiced mainly in urban areas, where two-thirds of Indias hospitals and health centers are located. Many of the rural poor must rely on alternative forms of treatment, such as Ayurvedic and Homeopathy. A widespread lack of health insurance compounds the healthcare challenges India is facing. Although some form of health protection is provided by government and major private employers, health insurance schemes available to the Indian public are generally basic and inaccessible to most people. Only 11% of the population has any form of health insurance coverage. For the small percentage of Indians who do have some insurance, the main providers are all government run insurance companies. Only 1% of the population was covered by private health insurance in 2004-05. Because so little insurance is available to the population of India, out-of-pocket payments for medical care amounted to 98.4% of total health expenditures by households, as of the most recent (2001-02) census. Without insurance, the poor must resort to taking on debt or selling assets to meet the costs of health care. It is estimated that 20 million people in India fall below the poverty line each year because of indebtedness due to healthcare needs. Availability of health care resources There is a greater availability of health care equipments and facilities for tests such as mammograms and PAP smears (for women), PSA screenings (for men) and colonoscopies in US. Consequently, the use of these tests is more frequent in the U.S. for example, 86 percent of U.S. women ages 40 to 69 have had a mammogram. The U.S. also is endowed with many MRI machines and CT scanners per capita. Higher levels of screening and equipment helps in early detection and treatment of diseases like cancer. While no such statistics is available for India, low cancer survivability rate can be attributed to scarcity of diagnostic facilities in India. In the United States, access to health care is primarily determined by whether a person can pay for the treatment, by the availability of services in the area and by willingness of the provider to deliver service at the price set by the insurer. Wait time Waiting time determines how fast a patient is able to get medical attention. Waiting time illustrates efficiency of health care system. In US, the average wait time was 17 days for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. One of my friend had to wait 27 days to see a female surgeon. In India, according to one survey, waiting time is a chronic problem affecting hospitals run by Indian government. 44% patients wait in the hospital for more than two weeks before seeing doctor for preliminary diagnosis. They cannot start treatment before knowing cause of their illness. Although this is not the case in private hospitals. In some government hospitals, patient has to wait for couple of weeks for X-ray or USG exams. Waiting time for surgery could stretch up to 2 months. In India, it is not mandatory to reach a government hospital in times of emergency. You can go to your physicians private hospital or a multi-facility hospital run by a panel of doctors. Also you have an easy access to your Primary care physician in case you need to talk to him. This does not happen in U.S. You have to communicate with the nursing staff before talking to your physician. India faces a huge need gap in terms of availability of number of hospital beds per 1000 population. India stands just a little over 0.7 hospital beds per 1000 population whereas U.S. has 2.5 beds per 1000 population. Administrative overheads Administration accounts for 31% of health care spending in the United States. Some of that money goes to doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. Private insurance in US has administrative overhead of about 12%, Medicare has administrative overhead of about 4% while Medicaid has administrative overhead of about 7%. United States have a program to provide prescription drugs to the poor but it is limited. The introduction of Medicare Part D in US has extended partial coverage for drugs to Medicare recipients. Most important difference between health care systems of US and India is the much higher cost of prescription drugs in the United States. It is very expensive to get a treatment in United States as compared to India. For instance: cost of normal delivery in Indian private hospitals is approximately Rs 6,000 ($120). It is free of charge in government hospitals for everyone. Caesarean section costs about Rs 20,000 ($400) inclusive of anesthesia charges and drug expense but you pay everything out of pocket. In U.S. cost of normal delivery is approximately $20,000. Insurance plan covers most of the cost but depending on the plan, patients usually receive separate bills for anesthesiology and other expenses. U.S. disallows Medicare or Medicaid from negotiating drug prices. Therefore, they cannot buy medicines in bulk and lower prices. In US, the cost of malpractice lawsuits is 0.46% of health care spending which comes to $16 per person each year for the total cost of settlements, legal fees, and insurance. The total cost of defending and settling malpractice lawsuits in the U.S. in 2001 was approximately $6.5 billion, or 0.46% of total health spending. According to some, defensive medicine consumes up to 9% of American healthcare expenses. India has fewer doctors per capita than the United States. US have 2.3 doctors per 1,000 people in 2005 while India has 0.6 doctors per 1000 people. Physicians are paid fee for service. Now multi-facility clinics have a panel of doctors who work as hospital employees. There are a number of additional costs that are significantly higher in the U.S. Government orders on keeping the records of insured people which results in greater administrative effort. Higher marketing costs by insurance companies and health care providers contribute to higher health care costs. Conclusion Overall health care system in India and U.S has their own drawback and benefits. U.S. health care system is better in terms of cost coverage and quality health care but it is more expensive than that in India and lack of universal care affect the poor people in U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed on 23rd March, 2010 mandates universal coverage for all. This will certainly benefit the poor. So, by expanding resources and making health care more affordable and accessible to many Americans through premium tax credits, individual mandates, the expansion of Medicaid, new employer benefits and responsibilities, and state-based Exchanges, the United States has taken a step in the right direction.   Health care reform will absolutely grant many millions of Americans with what we feel is a basic human right: access to health care.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Essay --

Citizens of the United States are traditionally given unlimited freedom of speech, press, and assembly. These American privileges allow interest groups to express their perspectives by using the media and other sources that are accessible to the public. In definition, an interest group is a group of individuals who organize to influence the government’s programs and policies. The main goal of these groups is to have the government both listen and respond to their interests (Shin 243). Historically interest groups have and continue to play a crucial role in American politics; especially since it is an effective form for citizens to interfere with government decision making. Two current interest groups in the United States are the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the National Council of La Raza. These particular interest groups demonstrate how interest groups directly and indirectly influence public opinion and the political process. Interest groups representation is based on attitude and not the United States population geography. I chose to investigate national immigration interest groups that focus on Hispanic individuals that are living in the United States. According to the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) website, it was established in 1991 as an unbiased association of major Hispanic national organizations that distinguishes Hispanic Leaders all over the nation. Their mission is to unite Latinos around the country and encourage the Hispanic community to become more involved with our country’s affairs. Hispanic leaders of NHLA raise public awareness of major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole (â€Å"NHLA†). In other words this group centralizes its ideas around Hispanic civil rights a... ...as run on money and unfortunately the less money an interest group has then the less likely it will be addressed to either the public or the government. But since both NHLA and NCLR have multiple members and offices then they get their voices herd. In conclusion, the missions of these two groups clearly want to see the government taking action when it comes to their concerns and they know that by informing the public could possibly help gain more supporters for their issues; more supporters means more successful outcomes for the NHLA and NCLR. I decided to research the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the National Council of La Raza because I was interested in learning about interest groups that could possibly influence me and people of my race or ethnicity. I am not part of an interest group but this research has influenced me to want to participate in one.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace: Post-Apartheid South Africa Essay -- South Afr

Through the perspective of an unconventional college professor, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace addresses the transition into post-apartheid South Africa, societal acceptance and rape through David Lurie and Lucy Lurie’s complex father-daughter relationship. While living in his daughter’s countryside home, David Lurie’s experiences reveal that despite the powerful political reform, crime continues to dominate the African people. Aspects of South African history are used to emphasize racial tension and the shift from a white to a black dominated South Africa. Coetzee also suggests the instability of the African society through constantly depicting his characters as emotionally unable to adapt to adverse situations. Although David and Lucy were initially introduced as polar opposites, their value of privacy and refusal to endure public humiliation and shame draw a parallel between the predator and prey of the novel. David Lurie ultimately evolves from his sexual en counters with Soraya, Melanie and Bev Shaw by realizing the traumatizing implications of his actions after the Lucy’s rape. J.M. Coetzee, a white South African writer, was strongly influenced by his personal experiences while he witnessed the social barriers during the apartheid. As the novel begins, Coetzee describes the sexual relationship between the protagonist David Lurie and Soraya, a prostitute that David routinely indulged in every Thursday. â€Å"For a man of his age, fifty- two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well† (Coetzee 1). In his mind, however, he did not put into perspective the thoughts of Soraya. He satisfied his desires at the expense of another’s emotional wellbeing. Despite Soraya’s acceptance of prostitution, her reaction towar... ...Originally, David uses his status as a white male in South Africa as his leverage and source of power, however, this tactic quickly fails and causes him to seek a new lifestyle. Lucy’s farm life introduces David not only to natural beauties but the strength people have to provide the services that they do such as managing a last resort animal aid center. By the end of his experiences, he learns that he does not belong in the environment that he used to surround himself with in the city, but that he enjoys himself when he has the company of animals and his daughter. His shift in standards of living and customs demonstrates the racial impacts of the apartheid. The connection between Lucy’s disgrace as the victim and David’s shame as the rapist demonstrates hardships both flaws. Each aspect of these flaws represents the difficulties of the apartheid in South Africa.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Fahrenheit 451 and Salamander Reading Comprehension

Fahrenheit 451 The Hearth and the Salamander Reading Comprehension Questions 1) The country is not at peace. The country defends itself no matter what. Jets fly across the sky, meaning there is a war. 2) Captain Beatty seems to be directing Montag’s remarks at the fire station. Montag’s comments make the other firemen suspicious because he talks about how all firemen resembles a mirror image of him, and asks why don’t they prevent fires instead of burning the books. 3) The alarm at the old woman’s house is so â€Å"inconvenient† because usually before the firemen arrived at the house and the occupants had already been arrested and taken away.However, in this call, she was still at home. 4) Beatty says that none of the books agree with each other, many are lies about people who never actually lived, and it’s against the law for people to have books. 5) Montag is sick to his stomach because Mildred tells him that Clarrise’s family had mo ved away and she had got it by a car. Mildred had forgotten to tell Montag four days ago, but she couldn’t tell him if she was sure or not. 6) The ever-increasing speed of society affected books according to Beatty by people watching things on the television, short version of books, and the advancement of technology. ) The advancement in technology over books was the most important thing in society. Such as classics cut to fifteen or twenty minute shows, politics being two sentence headliner, and books being cut right to the information. 8) The objections of minority groups affected books by minority groups being offensive by certain types of literature, leading to censorship. 9) Comics, confessions, and trade journals are left for people to read. 10) Beatty made a unspoken â€Å"deal† that if Montag had handed over the books, the whole incident would be looked over.

Sequential Analysis of Airline Industry in Nigeria

Many wonder about the influence of product /service contents or features on business function. Why do people prefer certain airlines and not others? Some insist on KLM, while others prefer emirates  . Some choose virgin atlantic airways, while some others go for british airways. Yet many people contend that there are no significant differences among well – known airlines. The passengers’ choice may be influenced by the quality of services offered or the attractive price package, or value for money programme. Frequency, the ticket price, in-flight services, punctuality, time schedule, seat comfort and other characteristics combine to project an image to the prospective passenger. Consequently, these features are input element in a marketing programme. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing choice and the extent to which customers are likely to exhibit loyalty in the face of severe price competition. This study explores the change in airline passengers’ preferences in situations where service quality improves. This study is informed by the influx of foreign airlines into Nigeria and the attendant issue of how a prospective buyer takes a decision on which airline to fly. This investigation is conceived with the objective of measuring the effect on airlines the decision variable per passenger’s preferences. The aim is to ascertain how the effect of factors influencing the choice of airline significantly improves the marketing strategies employed by these airlines. This research problem is undertaken by utilizing an approach which involves a literature review to identify key construct and a survey. The information gathered are then used in the development of a questionnaire. The key issues influencing the choice of airline are identified. In other to test the hypothesis, that ‘value for money’ acts a s key decision variable, a survey of customers is conducted using a convenient sample of respondents who have been responsible for purchasing airline tickets for themselves to undertake international travel in the prior twelve months. Respondents rate the importance of a variety of issues relating to airlines choice. A factor analysis of these items is then carried out using a varimax rotation. Under the advance exploratory analysis, a multivariate analysis of variance is therefore undertaken to analyze the impact of some of these determining factors on likelihood to fly on an airline. The analysis shows that the two top factors affecting passengers’ choice of airline are â€Å"schedule of the time† and â€Å"safety†. The actor of seat comfort is ranked fourth by the total number of passengers. The analysis of pasenger’s satisfaction tells us the quality of airline services that passengers actually received. The result shows that â€Å"seat comfort† is ranked far behind the other eight factors, indicating that the service quality that passengers received is below average. Under the choice model, the sign of price is negative implying that the passengers prefer the airline with lower ticket to that with the higher ticket fare which is identical with normal expectation. The sign of seat type is positive which indicate passengers’ actually view seat comfort as an important factor in their choice decision. The above findings show that this market segment currently lacks loyalty and is driven solely by price related features. It may therefore be necessary for airlines to undertake further investigation that allows them to develop strategies and packages that particularly target the need of this group.

Friday, August 16, 2019

People who make decisions based on emotion and justify those decisions with logic afterwards are poor decision makers Essay

The debate of whether to follow emotions or logic is a complex one. As the given statement seems too strong in suggesting that all those who make decisions based on emotion are poor decision-makers, it may be warranted to discuss both the positive and negative role emotions and logic play in our decision making process. In certain cases, decisions based on emotion can result in undesirable consequences. There exist several examples of impulsive shoppers who get consumed by the emotion to acquire and buy something, and consequently, end up with a purchase they later realize wasn’t required at all. Advertisers and sales personnel, aware of this tendency, often play with this emotion to their advantage. A more severe example could be of substance abusers and addicts, who, in a moment of high emotion and drama, triggered by an adrenaline rush, make decisions they might need to regret later. Gamblers, guided (or, misguided, rather) by the emotion of avarice and the â€Å"high† of winning could end up impoverishing themselves and their dependents. One also comes across people who make the wrong dietary choices, to satiate their taste buds, thereby posing a danger to long-term health. The examples discussed above present the seamier side of decisions based on emotion; however, it should be recognized that certain situations require that decisions be guided not by logic, but by impulse. The adage â€Å"sieze the day† suggests that one should let the heart rule over the head, and grab an opportunity with both hands. In other words, instinct and intuition can aid in better decision-making sometimes, rather than mere dependence on logic. There are several examples of business honchos who claim to have taken risks, guided by their hearts, and reaped benefits of such decisions. In contrast, there are others who lament the loss of opportunity because they â€Å"thought too much† and were hesitant to follow their heart. In short, decisions based on emotion may not always lead to wrong choices. Just as the brain and the heart work in tandem to keep the body functioning smoothly, one may assert that both emotion and logic are complements to each other, and facilitate the decision making process. Decisions made on the basis of logic alone may not work out always, while choices guided by emotion and instinct could very often work wonders, and hence shouldnt be disregarded all the time.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Russia & Economy

Since attaining her independence in the early 1990’s Russia can pride herself in emerging as a middle economy which has registered an average annual economic growth rate of 6. 5%. This is largely attributed to her embracing a free market economy to replace the earlier central command approach. The World Bank notes that this economic growth has seen the number of people living in extreme poverty reduced. Trade especially exports of natural resources for instance oil and gas blended with stability in the macroeconomic policies adopted can be blamed economic achievement.However, there are major challenges that threaten this success story. The need for diversification of the economy, adoption of environmental conservative measures like the fight against deforestation has intensified in the increasingly globalized economy. Various non governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as international institutions have played a significant role in ensuring that this goal is attained. In the process, losers as well as winners have emerged. Many NGOs have been at the forefront to chip in their devoted efforts to resolve the deforestation problem in Russia.World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia, an environmental based organization advocates for sustainable forestry in Russia. In the recent times global warming issues have intensified and are a cause of concern due to the effects on climate change. (WWF, 2009). WWF Russia has intensively ensured that this information is disseminated across Russia. It adopts collaborative measures with the owners of the forests as she works to realize this goal. The objective is to ensure that CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming are reduced.WWF highlights the effects of deforestation on wildlife as well as on human beings. It advocates for responsible forestry especially in the timber trade. WWF Russia is also committed to ensuring that the Russian artic and the wildlife there are also conserved. The biodiversity of th e Northern Caucasus region must be protected from deforestation, wild fires and poaching if the wildlife contained there is to remain unharmed. In this regard, WWF Russia ensures that companies control their spillage or observe safe or responsible waste management practices.It also encourages responsible fishing. Joint efforts are vital if this goal is to be attained. WWF Russia advocates for ‘the protection of water sheds as well as the limited soil disturbances to ensure positive effects on the timber harvested’. (WWF, 2009). Another important environmental NGO is Green Peace which also advocates for conservation of forests. Green Peace has registered success by reducing the felling of trees especially in the North Western parts as well as the Russian Far East regions. (Greenpeace)In addition to the environmental organizations, there are human rights organizations like Indem foundation which have been committed towards promoting democracy in Russia. This is done throu gh collaborative efforts with the civil societies, public officials as well as government organizations. Major issues addressed by Indem include anti corruption, issues of international cooperation, reforms in the government and the political arena as well as justice assistance. This NGO tries to ensure that people know their rights and follow the right procedures to have them respected. (Indem Foundation, 2005).International institutions like the EU and the World Bank have also played a significant role in influencing Russia. The World Bank highlighted the need to ensure diversification of the economy to allow equitable growth while reducing the poverty levels. In an effort to ensure that Russia moved with the modern times where globalization is enhanced the World Bank created a 3 year strategy. The main objective in the strategy adopted would be to ensure sustained growth, improved management especially in public led institutions, increased social services as well as increased rol e of the nation at a global level.Russia was expected to participate in global activities like assisting the less developed countries. (World Bank, 2009). Among the ways in which Russia can diversify her economy is through the promotion of agriculture. This sector is however faced by many challenges like excess use of chemicals, wrong choice of crops as well as extreme or excess farming. Another important industry is forestry which has also faced a lot of problems in the recent past. Exploitative foreign companies and criminal organizations have negative effects on the forestry industry.Other challenges include wild fires, pests as well as pollution from the industries. (Library of congress, 2006). Russia showed her interests in registering with World Trade Organization in 2005, a move that was expected to place her at a competitive edge in as far as her economic growth and development are concerned. However her failure to adhere to the stipulated rules for instance strict adherence to intellectual property rights sees her blocked from admission by some great economies for instance the US.(Palmer D, 2009). This has seen different bodies in Russia advocating for a change in how people perceive intellectual property rights. The need to view them as an investment has now become vibrant. Russia is a member of the EU, another international organization and she continues to accrue related gains. There are certain rules to be followed by all members of the EU community. Russia collaborates with the EU to modernize the economy, on security matters, international relations as well as on regional cooperation. (EC)In an effort to strike a balance between the economical, environmental as well as social interests the forest owners will be losers. This is attributed to the fact that they will forego their financial gains as they adhere to the harvesting. The society will gain as a whole as the adverse effects of global warming will be reduced in a safer environment. Russia has also gained from the globalization process especially in her trading activities with the larger EU region. The poor and marginalized in Russia who forms approximately 20% of the population have also emerged as winners in the globalization process.(World Bank, 2009). This is attributed to the fact that international organizations like the World Bank have been committed to change their plight. World Bank has been involved in collaborative research activities to find ways of how more jobs can be created. It also assists in health care provision by offering equipment as well as in preventive approaches to curb diseases. World Bank also shows commitment to boost Russia’s education, fight against corruption as well as acquire a safe environment. (World Bank, 2009).There are many governmental as well as non governmental organizations that affect Russia’s performance in the global environment. These organizations may have a direct impact on the Russians for instance those that empower the human capital while others may indirectly affect man for instance those based on natural resources like wildlife and forests. Regardless of the direct or indirect impact these organization lead to the emergence of losers as well as winners in the society. All in all, the benefits of globalization are enormous and ought to be embraced as no country is self sufficient.References: Doug Palmer. 2009. Russia's WTO bid still faces big U. S. obstacles. Reuters. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://www. canada. com/news/world/Russia+still+faces+obstacles/1453371/story. html EC. The European Union and Russia. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://ec. europa. eu/external_relations/library/publications/russia_brochure07_en. pdf Greenpeace. The Russian Forests. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://archive. greenpeace. org/comms/cbio/russia. html. INDEM Foundation. 2005. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://www.indem. ru/en/index. shtml Library of Congress – Fe deral Research Division. 2006. Country Profile: Russia, October 2006. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://lcweb2. loc. gov/frd/cs/profiles/Russia. pdf. WWF 2009. Reducing climate change in Russia through sustainable forestry. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://www. panda. org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/russia/index. cfm? uProjectID=RU0130 Wwf Pskov Model Forest Project. Retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://www. svo. se/episerver4/dokument/sks/engelska/Swedish_Russian/PMF%20 Brochure_ENG. pdf