Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Presidency of Andrew Jackson Essay Example for Free
Presidency of Andrew Jackson Essay The early nineteenth century was first of all marked with the making of American national identity. Presidency of Andrew Jackson is usually addressed as revolution in American democracy as since that time rapid development of politics, social relationships, national economy and religious started. Tremendous social changes described in Tocqueville’s â€Å"Democracy In America†written in the middle of nineteenth century that amazed Europeans with tremendous democratic, social, national and economic development of the United States serves one more incontestable prove for the forming of American nation during the period. Jackson appeared a symbol of the self-made man for many Americans. He managed to inspire people the idea of American national identity through his multiple successful reforms and personal achievements 1. Strengthening of American political and party system, gradual development of two-party system, fair people-centered politics and successful innovations helped the nation to overcome previous colonial mentality and build a prosperous welfare society of XIX century America. Symbolizing himself the changes in country’s political system Jackson indeed made the nation to believe in him and his policy targeted to improve the lives of all common Americans. For many Americans who associated Jackson primarily with the Battle of New Orleans in 1912 his coming to power was a synonym of the same successes in archaic and corrupted political sphere . As the war hero Jackson captured imagination of people and dedicated loyalty of a great part of American society. He was believed to be a symbol, a kind of a national ideal, a self-made man possessing strong will and moral courage. Many researchers believe that the very idea of national identity, American nationalism has its roots in Jackson’s presidency 4. Jackson was elected a President of the United States in 1828, and soon supported several very important changes both in political and social milieus. Before all, Jackson increased the power of the Executive Office. This measure was targeted to ensure the rights of the common Americans and suggest them the idea of a sole nation. Jackson’s changes were first of all targeted to reinforce people, inspire them a vaporized feeling that a government is before all for the people, not vice versa. Jackson believed that no social group or privileged class are entitled to any special political or economic advantage. These rich minorities that were in power prior to Jackson didn’t respect the will of common Americans and the real political power was concentrated in the hands of an elite minority. Jackson’s electoral campaign and future policy was targeted to clean up corruption in Washington. In his electoral program Jackson declared that people were cheated by previous Adams’ administration and corruptions and intrigues in Washington defeated the will of common Americans. These ideas united people around the idea of fair politics: factory workers, frontiersmen, farmers, bankers, and businessmen from all across the United States rallied behind Jackson. He appeared that charismatic leader that gathered the nation. Even his nickname â€Å"King Andrew†serves a good illustration of his respect amidst the common people. These promises and real deeds of Jackson indeed helped people to identify them as Americans and became proud of the own country. Almost 20. 000 citizens, an incredible crowd in XIX century, greeted Jackson near the White House after he was elected! After Jackson was elected a president his primary efforts were focused on making that political and economic changes that eventually helped American society to become more democratic and welfare. Jackson sufficiently reconsidered the very idea of presidency, partially, the issue of presidential veto. Jackson changed the perception of the presidential veto. It had originally been viewed as something the president could do if he considered a bill unconstitutional. Jackson eventually made it clear that the president could veto a bill on whatever grounds he saw fit. The first president to proclaim himself the elected representative of all the American people, Jackson did not hesitate to use the power of veto. Jackson himself vetoed twelve bills, more than all of his predecessors all together. His use of the powers of removal and of executive orders paved the way for the modern American presidency 6. Jackson has made a government more open to the common people and sensitive to their wills through implementation of his principle of â€Å"rotation in office†. He believed that no person should regard officeholding as a right he decided to protect the nation from a permanent, aristocratic officeholding elite through removing of long-term officeholders. Nevertheless that only a small part of federal officials were indeed removed by Jackson, this policy helped the President to become even more popular in the society. This measure also helped Americans to trust authorities and respect political power 7. Rapid economic development and growing demand for man power determined rapid social migration within the county that also prompted self-identification of people. It was the very beginning of a legendary â€Å"American Dream†idea further united the nation. The old way of living was reshaped by the influence of Industrial Revolution. Traditional political system was unable to promote development of the country as far as both the political and economic layers concentrated in the hands of a small minority. Jackson, instead, suggested different standards of economic development. Jackson’s economic policy caused rapid development of territories, huge growth of cities and transportations. In the new democratic American society built by Jackson, people no longer associated themselves with family background, occupation, or class to define themselves. Believe in a self-made man based on the example of Andrew Jackson helped to new model of people’s self-identification according to the different standards 8. Jackson himself supported several controversial decisions that, however, were popular in that time society. One of such measures undertaken by Jackson was a notorious Indian Removal. National interest in Middle West territories and personal feelings of a President as a former Indian fighter led to the governmental decision to move all eastern Indian tribes to the territories beyond Mississippi. The removal policy of Jackson was popular among white majority of the country that obtained new fertile lands 9. Andrew Jackson’s foreign policy also promoted nation’s consolidation and evoked people’s proud of being Americans. The President eventually ended the long-lasting disputes with the United Kingdom and France. In 1937 Jackson recognized Texas’ independence from Mexico. At the same time he rejected the calls for its joining the country due to the slavery policy of the state. Territorial expansions of America were also helpful in forming of national dignity and proud of the common people. Jackson’s presidency, his political and social outlooks and reforms indeed help the nation to recognize its unity and role in establishment of fair democratic society. The rise of national identity during Jackson’s presidency helped people to build completely different nation and welfare country.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Healthy Eating Companion App
Healthy Eating Companion App 1.INTRODUCTION Healthy eating is the most important factor in maintaining health. It is considered as most important means of promoting health. Healthy eating is an overall sense of well being and also helps in preventing many chronic diseases. Healthy and unhealthy eating are both influenced by variety of factors. The application allows users to specify their dietary requirements, based on which the application makes suggestions as to how much exercise the user needs to do that day. It also suggests healthy meals to the user based on their dietary plan. It is very important that we follow a good nutritious diet for our bodies to function properly and stay healthy Foods are made up of six classes of nutrients. These nutrients are macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and water. If you neglect to have the right combination of these six items, it will be very difficult to live a healthy lifestyle. 2.BACKGROUND Rapid developments have encouraged using smartphones in health promotion research. Although many applications which are related to diet and health are available from major smartphone platforms. The few have been tested in research studies in order to determine the apps effectiveness in promoting health. Healthy eating helps us to maintain a healthy weight and also avoid certain health problems. Diet can have profound effect on sense of wellbeing. Studies have shown that eating Western diet with processed meats, packaged meals, takeout food, and sugary snacks will result in high rate of stress, depression, and anxiety. Eating an unhealthy diet may cause mental health disorders such as Alzheimers disease, schizophrenia, and increased risk of suicide in young people. Eating vegetables and fruits, cooking meals at home, reducing intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates may help to improve health and lower your risk for mental health problems. 3.TEAM ROLES Name:             RUCHITA BHAGAT Roles:              Project Manager Description: Ruchita will be responsible for leading the project and managing contact and feedback from stakeholders. The project manager will be checking to make sure tasks are completed by time. The manager will also be in charger of making sure the different area of the project are communicating with each other. Name:             STACY LLOYD Roles:              Graphical User Interface Design Description:   Stacy will be responsible for designing the graphical user interfaces for the application and the graphical assets for the interface for the application for all platforms. They will be expected to update there designs from testing feedback and giving the new designs to the application development. They are also expected to help with testing when there is no graphical work is required. Name:             MANASA KOMPELLI Roles:              Application Development Description:   Manasa will be responsible for developing the application, implementing the graphical user interface with the graphical assets. They will be expected to implement the logical code and fixing software bugs. If no work for the application is currently needed they are expected to help with the service/ database development or testing the application. Name:             TYRONE BRAMWELL Roles:              Service/ Database Development Description:   Tyrone will be responsible for designing and developing the sever side software and the database required for the proposed system. They will also be expected to look at hosting solutions for storing the database and running the server software. They will be expected to fix software bugs and help with the application development and testing. Name:             JOHN SMITH Roles:              Testing/ Quality assurance Description:   John will be responsible for designing test suits for the application and service/ database, creating automated testing for both part of the software. They will be expected to find bugs and problems with the software and verifying the solution meets the specification. They will also be expected to investigate bugs and ways to replicate them so they can be tested for on the next build. 4.SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE 4.1 SCOPE The scope of the project is to build and design a cross platform application which links to services. The application helps the people to live healthy life and it also helps the people to keep the fat off and stay toned. It is the healthy meal planner combined with quick workout routines. The application allows users to specify their own dietary requirements so that application makes suggestions on healthy meals and also how much exercise the user needs to do that particular day. Healthy Eating Companion App is like coach in your pocket, always ready to help. The App analyses your food diary, calculates your targets and guides you with personalized advice and diet tips. The users will start using the application by selecting an appropriate plan in the application or by designing their own. The application estimates the intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins based on users input, and suggest meals based on their daily allowance estimated from their dietary plan. The app provides the users with optional information about the activity required to burn the calories consumed per meal in various forms (walking, cycling, swimming, cardio, etc.). The goal of application is to lose weight, get fit and gain weight with sustainable happy and healthier lifestyle 4.2 OBJECTIVE Healthy Eating Companion App is an application which helps people to follow their dietary plan and stay on track towards their goal. Its helps to follow meal plans and workouts created by experts trainers. It helps how to gain or lose weight with healthy diets and workout routines. It is a personalized step-by-step guide accommodating everyone,from beginners to advanced fitness enthusiasts, providing Workout plans to challenge you and make you progress. Customized healthy meals and diet plans Foods to eat and foods to avoid Healthy recipes Healthy eating companion app improves your nutrition and provides you with the healthy eating tools you need to reach your health and weight goals by Organizing your week with a healthy meal plan Providing you with over 300 healthy recipes customized to your personal tastes. Keeping track of users daily calorie burn. Accommodating dietary preferences vegetarian,vegan,pescatarian diets. 5.REQUIREMENTS Req Code Details R01 Build a companion app R02 Store users diet requirements R03 Provide an exercise plan to users R04 Meal plans based on diet requirements R05 Exercise plans based on food intake R06 Suggest health meal plans and alternatives R07 Allow user to input honest intake R08 Allow users to design own meal plans R09 Provide optional information on exercises R10 Show alternative Exercise R11 Show calories burned by exercise R12 Estimate Fats, carbohydrates and proteins from user input 6.SPECIFICATION Spec Code Req Code Details S01 R01 Use C# with .Mono to create a cross platform app for windows, Windows Mobile, android, iOS, mac OSX and linux S02 R02 R07 R08 Use MySQL for the database technology as its one of the recommend database technologies to uses with mono (External Database). SQLite for storing information if using an internal database (Internal Database). Could use CSV and other data files for storing data S03 R02 R07 R08 Design a database to store information S04 R02 R07 R08 Create a database to store user information S05 R02 Design a GUI to input and edit diet requirements S06 R02 Create a GUI to input and edit diet requirements S07 R02 Create code to store diet requirements input and allow editing them into database S08 R03 Store possible exercise plans in database S09 R03 Design a GUI to view possible exercise plans S10 R03 Code GUI and code retrieving exercise plans S11 R04 Store possible meal plans in database S12 R04 Design a GUI to view possible meal plans S13 R04 Code GUI and code retrieving meal plans S14 R05 Code recommending exercise plans from food intake S15 R05 Design and Code GUI for recommending exercise plan S16 R06 Code recommending healthier meal plans and alternative meal plans S17 R07 Create and design a GUI for inputting users honest intake S18 R07 Store and retrieve user honest intake from database. S19 R08 Create and Code GUI for allowing user to input own meal plan S20 R08 Store and retrieve user meal plans from database. S21 R09 Store optional information on exercises S22 R09 Design and create a GUI for viewing optional exercises information. S23 R10 Create and design a GUI showing alternative exercises. S24 R10 Store alternative exercises in database S25 R11 Display user information on how many calories an exercise burns S26 R12 Write code which works out from the user honest inputs and Estimate Fats, carbohydrates and proteins S27 R12 Store Estimate Fats, carbohydrates and proteins in a database 7.TIMELINE AND WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE 7.1 Timeline 7.2 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE                         1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT                      1.1 PLANNING                    1.1.1 PROJECT OBJEVTIVE                    1.1.2 PROJECT MOTIVATION                    1.1.3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT                      1.2 ANALIZING PROJECT                    1.2.1 PROJECT SCHEDULE                    1.2.2 REQUIRED DOCUMENTS                      1.3 TIME MANAGEMENT                     1.3.1 TIME SCALE                      1.4 PERFORM QUALITY ATTRIBUTES                    1.4.1 MEETING SCHEDULE                    1.4.2 MEETING AGENDAS                       1.5 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE                       1.6 STEERING COMMITTEE                          2 DESIGN                       2.1 PREPARING DESIGN                    2.1.1 DESIGN DOCUMENT                    2.1.2 DESIGN OVERVIEW                       2.2 PREPARING DESIGN SPECIFICATION                     2.2.1 DESIGN INTERFACE                     2.2.2 DESIGN FOR SCREEN                       2.3 REVIEW DESIGN                       2.4 TECHNICAL DESIGN                     2.4.1 INTERFACES                          3 DEVELOPMENT                        3.1 DEVELOPING SOFTWARE                        3.2 BACKEND SOFTWARE                     3.2.1 DATABASE IMPLEMENTATION                     3.2.2 MIDDLEWARE DEVELOPMENT                     3.2.3 GRAPHICS AND INTERFACE                     3.2.4 CONTENT CREATION                        3.3 PROCURING SOFTWARE PACKAGES                         4 TESTING                       4.1 INTEGRATION TESTING                       4.2 DEVELOPING TESTS REPORT                       4.3 ACCEPTANCE TESTING                        5 MAINTENANCE                      5.1 HARDWARE MAINTENANCE                      5.2 SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE 8.LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES 8.1 legal issues Copy right The images for developing healthy eating companion app should be copyright free to use in designing. Copyright arises automatically and is owned by the author of a work. Source code is classified as a literary work and attracts copyright protection immediately upon creation, although protection also extends to images and animations Trade marks Developers look to the future to establish themselves in a highly competitive market and                     setting themselves apart. Trade marks are not necessarily complex and gained a reputation for dealing with matters quickly and efficiently ensuring costs do not escalate unnecessarily. Data protection issues Many apps not only run on mobile devices and also access to other data, such as details of the users social media account stored on the device. The users profile data in the application should not be shared with other people. It must also not be kept for any longer than necessary. Unauthorised access The data or information is used by another Unauthorized access and disclosure of health information can result in insurance and employment discrimination, as well as embarrassment and other dignitary harms Legal Uncertainity The information regarding users profile regarding his diet plans in application deleted ,edited or modified led to a law making it a criminal offence to do certain things. 8.2 Ethical issues Honesty and Integrity This means we need to work honestly which applies to methods ,data and results. we should always keep to any agreements and act sincerely when working with others. Objectivity we should aim to avoid prejudice against one person or group in any aspect of project which include data analysis,design, interpretation, and review. And also you need to disclose any financial or personal interests that may affect project. Carefulness Care should be taken in carrying out project to avoid mistakes. The work should be reviewed properly to ensure results are credible. It is also very important to keep full records of project regarding users profile. Confidentiality Respect should be given to anything that has been provided in confidence. You should also follow guidelines on protection of sensitive information such as users profiles in the application. Legality Aware of laws and regulations that govern your work, and be sure that you conform to them. 8.3 Social Issues Privacy Personal health records and applications record sensitive personal information of the users across a variety of devices, including mobile devices. Ensuring both robust security and ease of use is a challenge for the designers of personal health applications. 9. PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION This project is to create food intake app which can recommend exercise plans from the users honest input. The application is developed with C# with .Mono to create a cross platform app for windows, Windows Mobile, android, iOS, mac OSX and linux. 10. RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION L Likelihood, S Severity, D Detectablescore: 1 10 Risk Details L S D Total Score Mitigation Data Loss Code, Database or other work done could be lost during development stages or afterwards 4 8 3 96 Keep multiple backups of data storing them in different location. Version controlling the data reduces the chances of data being corrupted and overwriting the file in the back ups. Lack of communication with stakeholders A lack of communication with stakeholders could lead to the project being built which is not what the stakeholders wanted. 3 6 4 72 Making regular meetings with stakeholders and show deliverables and documentation would help get feedback and make sure everyone has the same idea of the project. Illness Staff could become ill which could delay the project or require new staff brought to the project and trained increasing the costs. 4 7 5 140 Staff becoming ill should not work so they dont spread the illness. If long term then a temporary replacement will need to be found Hardware Failure Computer hardware could be broken or break causing repair costs and time. Could cause data failures 3 8 2 48 Hardware like computers and servers might break. Replacement hardware should be kept and funding to buy replacement hardware should be kept. Legal Issues Parts of the project may come into legal issues over copyright materials and data protection 3 8 5 120 Make sure all material used we have rights to uses or own the copyright. Make sure we follow laws to best of our ability. Data being stolen Data stored in the database may be personal to people and could cause harm if stolen 4 8 8 256 Make sure we use best practises. Keep software up to date and encrypt all identifiable and private data. Hosting Services going down The database and the server side software is going to be stored on a hosting server if it goes down then the app wouldnt work. 3 7 2 42 Use a hosting services with a low down time and keep a copy of all data so it be easy to move to a different hosting services Staff leaving Staff leaving would cause staff shortages and they may take the knowledge base they have with them. 4 6 1 24 A replacement would need to found and training provided. All staff should document everything they do so new staff and old staff know how software works. KEY ELEMENT OF RISK MANAGEMENT 11. References 1. Niva M. All foods which affects health: understanding of functional foods and healthy eating among health oriented tips. Appetite. 2007;384-93. 2. Shepherd J, Harden A, Rees R, Brunton G, Garcia J, Oliver S. Young people and their healthy eating: a systematic review of research on barriers and facilitators. Health Education Res. 2006;21:239-57. 3. Join WHO/FAO expert consultation. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003. p. 149. 4. Polivy J, Herman CP. Mental health and eating behaviours: a bi-directional relation. Can J Public Health. 2005;96(Suppl 3):S43-6. S49-53. 5.Morgan Leslie Segal,Harvard school of Public Health;best food sources.health benefits.1939-2017. 6. Anthony Alayon Posted in: Diet and Nutrition;Health-Reporter-Daily. 101 Toxic Food Ingredients They Never Told You About. 2005 p.278 7. Aasim Durrani- Legal-issues-for-mobile-app-developers;2013 p.346 8.Resnick,D,B.What is Ethics in Research and Why is it important:List adapted from ShamooA and Resnik D.2015,3rd ed.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
A Biblical Response to Society Essay -- Sociology, Society, Culture
Sociology is an extremely valuable tool in understanding how society and individuals interact, function, develop, and change. The study of sociology seeks to make sense of what occurs in front and behind the scenes in a society. For the purpose of clarification, society is defined as a â€Å"comprehensive, territorially based social grouping that includes all the social institutions required to meet basic human needs†(Popenoe, 86). We live in a secular world and in a society permeated with sin. As Christians we need to have a proper, Biblical response to society and the world around us. The three aspects of society that will be addressed in this paper are culture, social norms and mores, and social ills and injustices. First, culture is simply the â€Å"shared products of a human group or society†(Popenoe, 53). The two products of culture are nonmaterial culture and material culture. Nonmaterial culture is basically the intangible such as right and wrong, values, and knowledge. Material culture is material objects that tend to represent nonmaterial culture. Material culture ranges from monuments to fads and technology to even the mundane. All material culture represents nonmaterial culture. A culture can easily be metered by its nonmaterial values. America was originally founded on solid values that today are all but abandoned. Self-discipline and hard work have been replaced by instant gratification and laziness. Also, the American material culture is shown though the products sought after in our materialistic society. The iPod, sports, car, boats and other luxury items are what are considered America’s material icons. It is becoming harder and harder to live a Christian testimony given the negative cultural shift in our society. G... ... to correctly. All in all, the greatest priority a Christian should have in society is to bring glory to God and be the salt and light of the earth. Christ mandated we be different and gave us the great commission before departing to heaven (Matthew, 5). Paul exhorted the Corinthians to bring glory to God no matter what is done (I Corinthians 10:31). To that end, humans were created. God is the only one who can bring about revival and reformation, but we still have the Bible to follow. Every situation is different, but the Bible never changes. The Reformation was a great spiritual shift toward God that resulted in a major positive social change. Man did as God commanded him, and God gave grace and blessing. The â€Å"five solas†were the biblically extrapolated principles that were followed by Christian reformers. Though God’s grace both Christians and society prospered.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Fathers :: Personal Narrative Writing
Fathers The Capability From Grampa to Dad the tradition as joker was carried on. Dads carried things, brothers on shoulders, bags of groceries and twelve roses for mom. Hardly anybody knew, but Dad did, that garbage collected even between the prettiest gold hills in Northern California. So when he came home with lamps and couches that were neat in the elderly sort of way, we were supposed to sit around the presents and guess at their prices, bidding upward seventy-five dollars. And when Dad came down with a receipt for just five dollars our hands came down with it, clapping against the surprise shouting out our open smiles. Graveyard shifts at the canneries pulled the shades on our house, making us whisper quiet and skirt tip toes around the edges of shadows. But come those hauling jobs, Dad packed us up in the truck's cab and drove us to the dump, past the stories and stories of crushed cans, and past the stacked white walls of abandoned refrigerators that made one think of a bum's version of "what's behi nd that door?" We'd watch through the back window, always knowing that Dad weighed in solid enough to move a truck, because we felt his every hop on and off that back bed. Dad in short sleeves, Dad with long sleeves, peeled back by the show of darkened muscles and everything darkened under his sweat and concentration, until all was shoveled clear off the platform and his eyes opened again, bright and blue, so suddenly we were wondering how the sky above so clean and blue could hover over a stink so wretched. His Strength Unlike Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox, Dad sleeps just down the hall, in the other bedroom. On weekends he and his friends trot down the road with their saws and axes, while the ladies stay inside, stirring lemonade. Their boots land so heavy, a solid slab of road can't last and it gives to gravel. As Dad pushes through the thicket branches break back from his wooden shoulders. Then he stops. This afternoon trees fall and fall under him and his crew. The walls of the house shake around the ladies and children. The cupboards rattle and long, dainty needles quiver in their sewing boxes. Dad can clear out a grove and take their shadows. That's how we see him standing, until the day he tumbles down the side of a mountain.
No Doubt :: essays research papers
In the begaining - In Anaheim California Eric Stefani Gwens older brother would write songs like (Stick it in a hole) about a pencil sharpener, and forcing Gwen to song with John their singer. In December of 1986 their singer John Spence quits and forces Gwen to sing at their first gig. In the summer of 1987 Gwen and Tony (their basses) start going out.December 21-1987 John Spence shots him self in a park in Anaheim Cal. In the spring of 1988 the heavy metal guitarist Tom, a college student,refuses his sisters offer to play in her band to play in No Doubt.In 1987-1988 part of the then underground-ska-scence, No Doubt built a huge following of " rude boys" and after numerous gig openings for the untouchables and fishbones, as well as their own all- ages show. In 1989-1990 No doubt evoled into a soild five piece unit, expanding their sound to include the style of each,natural evolvution shows opening for The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Ziggy Martey, Mano Negra, their forbrace board sound that appealed to the college crowd. August of 1991 No doubt signs a "big" record contract with Interscope Records. October- December 1991, between working and driving to school (Tom's a music major, Gwen's a art major, and Tony and Adrion are psychology majors) the band drives to a Los Angeles studio as often as possible to record their debut album, a 14 song collection of older material as well as recently plained tracks. Finally in march of 1993 No Doubt begains the first sessions for what would be called Tragic Kingdom. Eric departs before the completion of Tragic Kingdom, and continues as a animator for the simpsons. After a seven year relationship, Tony gets clawstrophobic and dumps Gwen and after that she wrote "don't speak"an evoled from a love song to a broken heart song .January of 1996 several mounths after the release Tragic Kingdom debuts on billboards top 200 at no. 175 and the "just a girl" reaches no. 10 Tom who created the music guitar world " I always thought the song was cool but never thought the song would fly like it has , says Tom.June 1996 the song "spiderwebs" with music by Tony and Gwen penned not about their relationship , reaches no. 5 on the billboards.The band begins their first European tour, followed by dates in Austratia,New Zealand , and Indonesial in July 1996 Tragic Kingdom goes plamtinum and so does Gwens hair.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Democracy Best Form of Government?
Democracy is best defined as the government of the people, by the people. The classical example of democracy is that of ancient Athens, where the whole populace would meet in the marketplace to vote on decisions. It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others have been tried. In my opinion, democracy is not a perfect system, but it is the best form of government when compared to others and is the most effective among all different types of government. In a democratic government, power is given to the people. This allows the people to have a direct say in who governs them, via the votes cast by every adult member of the population. As such it ensures that a government is made up of those who are truly representative of the people, satisfying the population of electing a government that will think about them, care about them and provide for them. Furthermore, when power is given to the people, the people will be more careful when using their power as they will have to bear the consequences if the leader elected is corrupted or not a wise leader. By giving power to the people allows decisions to be made according to the will of the people and also prevents the abuse of power. Citizens are kept informed by the media and are thus fully capable of making an informed decision. Furthermore, the will of the people is far more representative of different groups in society than the condescending rule by elites, who have no understanding of different ways of life. Only the citizens of a country understand what kind of leader they truly needs and in a democratic country they will have the ability to vote for them. Democracy empowers the people and allows them to participate in decision-making, which is why it is the best form of government. Besides power, democracy also allows the freedom of speech and that allows a nation to improve and progress. Democratic nations allow citizens to criticize leaders, their policies and laws. Being open to criticism allows leaders to listen to opinions of the citizens and understand what the citizens truly needs. This allows policies to be improved and the nation to progress better. By silencing the people and censoring any constructive criticisms, citizens will gradually stop thinking critically and start to follow laws blindly. This will be detrimental to the innovation and creation of ideas in a nation. Allowing criticisms can ensure that citizens think critically of how policies and laws will affect them, constantly sharpening their thoughts. Having a population that thinks critically is vital to the progress of a nation, and a democratic government that allows the freedom of speech can allow the nation to improve and progress, thus being the best form of government. As mentioned earlier, democracy is a not perfect form of government. Citizens of a country have never received any training and do not possess any skills needed to face and solve the problems that a state faces. Also, the masses are easily manipulated and tend to act according to their feelings. For example, after the 911 terror attacks in New York, many citizens of America pushed for the use of nuclear technology against Middle East. If America were a full democratic country, it would have already been engulfed into another nuclear war, and the consequences are heavy. As such, expecting the people to elect the â€Å"best tools for the job†is unrealistic. Government from above can see, by virtue of its position and advantages, what is a better solution for problems. Therefore, democracy may not be as effective in certain situations as other forms of government. Furthermore, real, effective leadership must come from above and not from below. The government should give orders, make laws and not take orders from the people. Democracy functions on the unrealistic assumption that all citizens are as capable as the leaders and is able to make the best decision. This is what makes democracy imperfect and ineffective. In conclusion, democracy is, to a large extent, the best form of government. The best form of government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves. However, if man were angels, no government would be necessary. Hence, a balance should be striked between governing the people and allowing them to make decisions themselves, and democracy is the only form of government where such a balance can be found.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Book Critique on ‘Suicide’ Essay
Book Critique on ‘Suicide’ by Emile Durkheim Nearly a century ago, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim became interested in the phenomenon of suicide. Why, he asked, do people kill themselves? In his day, the common answer to such a question is: the suicidal person is depressed or mentally ill or has suffered an unbearable loss. An alternative philosophical answer is also presented: an individual commits suicide because it is part of his nature. But Durkheim was not satisfied with these explanations. He thought it likely that forces within society influenced people’s decision to kill oneself was never simply personal. Durkheim wanted to provide a sociological answer to the phenomenon of suicide. To find out whether his ideas were correct, Durkheim considered the explanations for suicide that were common in his day and systematically assembled the evidence for each. As his sources, Durkheim used government records that listed numbers of suicides and gave information about the people involved – their age, sex, race, religion, marital status. Upon analyzing this material, Durkheim saw that the usual explanations for suicide were contradicted by the evidence. There was a general variance of suicide rates across countries and time. Durkheim argued, â€Å"If suicide is considered a personal issue, why is there so much variation? †(Durkheim, 1897/1951:17). If suicide were related to mental illness, Durkheim would have found relatively stable proportions of suicide and mental illness within social groups. Durkheim found the opposite: some groups shared high rates of mental illness but little suicide; other groups shared high rates of both. Durkheim found that women were more likely to be diagnosed a mentally ill, but had less chances of committing suicide. Other contradictory information surfaced: Durkheim discovered that most people committed suicide during warmer periods of the year, not, as might be expected, during the cold days of winter. These initial findings forced Durkheim to conclude that suicide is determined by social forces; that is, forces external to the individual. Durkheim said, â€Å"suicide is based on social causes and is itself a collective phenomenon†(Durkheim, 1897/1951:145). Characteristics of the social group in which people find themselves make suicide more or less likely; self-destruction is not simply a private act. In analyzing his information, Durkheim looked for specific social conditions under which suicide occurred the most and least often. Here were some of his findings: 1) Protestants committed suicide three times more than Catholics and Catholics more than Jews; 2) Single people committed suicide more often than married people, and married people with children least often of all; 3) And, suicide rates are higher when people feel few or weak ties to a social group or community. The Jewish community was more tightly knit than the Catholic, the Catholic more tightly knit than the Protestant. Married individuals, especially those with children, had stronger social bonds than single people. After identifying the general cause of high suicide rates, Durkheim classified suicide into three types: 1) egoistic suicide, 2) altruistic suicide, and 3) anomic suicide. Individuals with few or weak ties to a community are likely to commit egoistic suicide, or suicide related to social isolation and individualism. The opposite of egoistic suicide is called altruistic suicide. Here individuals whose ties to their particular groups are so strong that their commit suicide for the good of the group. Durkheim also saw that suicide rates increased when there were sharp economic upturns, and decrease when there was economic stability. When times are stable, people feel better integrated into the social fabric and committed to social norms. When times are stressful, the resulting state of anomie leads people to commit anomic suicide. At the end of his research, Durkheim argued that ‘sociology is a legitimate field of study’ (Durkheim, 1897/1951). This statement is founded on two striking facts. First, he showed that suicide tendencies can be explained by social facts; that is, empirical statements with no psychological or philosophical implications. In essence, sociology is a field of study independent from psychology and philosophy. And second, social explanations about specific phenomenon are never inferior from other types of explanations. In essence, social explanations are sufficient to explain contradictory social facts, since the latter depends on the former for empirical validity. General Critique There are several criticisms on Durkheim’s research on suicide. Here are some of the criticisms: 1) Durkheim defined suicide as referring to ‘all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result’ (Durkheim, 1897/1951:44). By positive act, Durkheim meant such things as jumping off a bridge or shooting oneself. By negative act, he meant such things such as not taking necessary medicine or not getting out of the way of a moving vehicle. When Durkheim developed the concept of altruistic suicide, he himself committed a violation of his own operational definition. This violation constituted a flaw in his research. Given his data, it is almost impossible or difficult to find instances of altruistic suicide. One can infer that the inclusion of this type of suicide was the result of ‘overzealous inference’ from data; 2) Some sociologists argued that Durkheim was able to delineate the difference between personal issues and public problems. This is not entirely true. Durkheim never gave operational definitions to both personal issue and public problem. Durkheim only assumed that personal issues are issues peculiar to personal events; public issues are issues salient to the interests of a given social group. In a sense, it was Mills, not Durkheim, who formalized the distinction between personal issues and public problems; 3) Durkheim also ignored one important factor in his analysis of suicide: the political context of the late1890s. Durkheim argued that economic upheavals increased suicide rates, economic stability decreased suicide rate. If one closely analyzed the context of the late 1890s, one can perceive that it was not economic crisis (ups and downs of the economy) that determined suicide rates; rather it was the stability of political structures. The more stable the political structure, the more stable is the market. Hence, there are fewer tendencies for individuals to commit suicide. Conclusion Although these criticisms were significant in many respects, they are insufficient to demolish Durkheim’s theory of social facts. For one, Durkheim successfully defended the integrity of sociology as a field of study. And second, his analysis of suicide rates cannot be proved to be incomplete or faulty. His definition of suicide may be shaky, but the implication of such is of no theoretical importance. Hence, Durkheim’s study on suicide rates is sociologically acceptable. Reference Durkheim, Emile. 1897/1951. Suicide: A Study of Sociology. J. A. Spaulding and G. Simpson. New York: Free Press.
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