Globalization and genocide Essay Example for Free

Globalization and genocide Essay The twentieth century has seen a lot of inventions come into being, from the invention of the engine, to the manufacturing of airplanes. Then there came the aspect of globalization. The world that was so large started shrinking on a daily basis until finally, borders seemed to have evaporated into thin air even between continents. Today, a person may be in London in the morning and in the evening he is in Washington. Communication has also been made easier and more efficient in such a way that you can talk to a person who is thousands of miles away, as if you are talking to the person next door. The world has become a small community. Successes and failures However, there are shortcomings that have come with globalization. Lechner and Boli (2004) in their book The Globalization Reader argues that while there has been shortcoming of globalization because of the strain it has exerted on the environment thereby degrading it. While the countries all over the world have been working to see their economies develop, this has been at the expense of the environment. One of these causes of environmental degradation according to their argument is the destroying of the natural environment. Large tracts of forest covered land are destroyed each year leaving the land bare and in a few years no longer unproductive. This, they argue, is not the only cause of environmental degradation. Another cause is the releasing of harmful chemicals into the environment. Example is the Chernobyl nuclear accident. After this accident, there were many nuclear substances that were released into the environment and over the years have caused cancer. Fossil fuels have also contributed greatly to the destruction of the environment. While these have provided fuel for industries, carbon dioxide emissions has been on the rise thereby causing global warming. Are there ways and means to reverse the current trends of environmental degradation in order to make secure our future? However, despite all this destruction, there has been an effort to try and slow down if not to completely stop the rate at which the environment is destroyed. Whereas the governments have not been keen enough to conserve the environment, Lechner and Boli (2004) argue that there are environmentalists who have rallied for conservation of this precious environment. In 1992, Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Environment and Development proposed that, for a meaningful development to be achieved, environment conservation must come first. There are also who have argued that for environment to be conserved especially in poor nations, the rich nations must cancel their debts since the small governments spend all their earnings paying debts at the expense of local development, thus forcing it people to solely rely on an already deprived land hence furthering the effects of environmental destruction. Others have used all their minerals on debts without caring much on the effects this has on the environment. There are also organizations that were formed to champion for the protection of the environment. Their call is on the political class to make their priorities right by spending less on military and more on environment protection, not just for this generation but also for future generation. Issues of poverty have been cited as the biggest enemy to the protection of the environment. An example is of Mau forest in Kenya. While this forest has been the water catchments and the source of many rivers in Kenya, it faces the danger of being destroyed because of human activities. At the moment, part of the forest has been inhabited by people who are poor and therefore not willing to move out. The government of Kenya on the other hand is also unable to settle these people elsewhere since it doesn’t have resources. The neighboring nations namely Uganda and Tanzania face the same plight as Kenya and cannot help the Kenyan government yet these rivers drain in Lake Victoria which is shared among them. These activities that have affected a nation environmentally do not affect just one person. The Mau forest in Kenya is a good example. If the future of Mau forest is not solved, eventually, Egypt which doesn’t even border Kenya will be affected since it depends on water from Lake Victoria through river Nile for its irrigation. Human beings faced the danger of extinction on a daily, more so from environmental degradation. Nevertheless, it is possible to have a better world. A world where pollution is controlled and excellent environment that is not contaminated is the ultimate choice for everyone. There have been meetings called by different people all over the world to fight for the right to live in a non polluted environment. An urge to have those that are considered the minority in the society to participate in the process of policy making has been on the rise. Is it possible, when we are united together as a people, to fight for our environment? Genocide The effects of globalization have not been felt in the environmental circle alone. Social life in many places throughout the world has been altered because of globalization. According to Gellately and Kiernan (2003) examines the atrocities that have been committed against humanity, some among them committed by the ‘civilized’ as they championed for globalization. For example, there were mass murders that were committed at Guatemala, sponsored by the US government. In this revolution, the Mayan community was massacred and the world kept mum. Even when as a commission to investigate these events was setup, their report did not reveal the motives behind these killings, and the people behind it. The Mayan people are not the only ones that have been affected. Yugoslavia in 1991 faced genocide whereby a minority group was targeted and massacred. Politics and cruelty has been the order of the day. Politicians have been known to use people to get into position and then turn against these people. These acts of brutality are yet to end. Societies throughout the world still experience mass murders in their midst. Technology, which is supposed to ease the way life, is now being used against people. US is not spared either. September 11 attacks proved that people are willing to go all the way to destroy others. While we may toy around with the idea of whether to reevaluate our stand towards globalization or not, we must always remember that a time is coming when we shall not enjoy the relaxation our beaches offer us as we do today. At that time, there will be no trees for our wildlife and therefore no rain. For countries in Sub Saharan Africa, this will mean that there will be no food since these communities have always depended on rain for their agricultural activities. Just as a reminder, that time is already at hand. We are already seeing the effects of globalization on our environment. Yet, the question we ask ourselves is, ‘Are we ready to shove the idea of globalization beneath the carpet and look for a new alternative? ’ Some of the greatest crimes against humanity were committed at a time when we considered the world to be on a highway to becoming one community with no barriers. That was in the mid 1990s, a genocide that left many dead with many other maimed. Yet, the global community never spoke a single word until it was all over. According to Gellately and Kiernan (2003), these acts of brutality have often been sparked by oppression through the years by those who are powerful. After many years of oppression, those who have been oppressed pour their anger on those who are helpless and vulnerable and therefore cannot defend themselves. In the end, we witness the kind of crimes like those that happened in Rwanda (p 375). We cannot also ignore the fact that technological advances in warfare have also been the cause of genocides in our communities. Cases in point are the Nazis in Germany; the use of poisonous gases against the Kurds in Iraq; the September 11 attacks on US soil. These have all employed the use of technology to perpetrate crime. Thus, the globalization that was supposed to bring us together has also been the source of death and segregation in our communities. Are we as human being going through a transition that is changing us for the worse i. e. turning us against each other? Is globalization therefore the cause of genocide or a solution to eradicating genocide in the current world? Are we our own enemies? References Lechner, F Boli, J. (2004). The globalization reader. New Jersey, USA: Published by Wiley-Blackwell. Gellately, R. Kiernan, B. (2003). The specter of genocide: mass murder in historical perspective. Cambridge, UK: Published by Cambridge University Press.

Analysis of Thomas Mores Utopia Essay -- Thomas More Utopia Literatur

Analysis of Thomas More's Utopia The historical Thomas More, the author of Utopia, was an extraordinarily complicated man who tied up all the threads of his life in his heroic death. The Utopia is the sort of complicated book that we should expect from so complicated a man. It is heavy with irony, but then irony was the experience of life in the Sixteenth Century. Everywhere--in church, government, society, and even scholarship--profession and practice stood separated by an abyss. The great difficulty of irony is that we cannot always be sure when the ironic writer or speaker is being serious and when he is being comical. We find that difficulty in Utopia. Edward Hall, the great chronicler of English history of More's time wrote, "For undoubtedly he beside his learning had a great wit, but it was so mingled with taunting and mocking that it seemed to them that best knew him, that he thought nothing to be well spoken except he had ministered some mock in the communication." (*) In Utopia three characters converse, and reports of other conversations enter the story. Thomas More appears as himself. Raphael Hythlodaeus is the fictional traveler to exotic worlds. More's young friend of Antwerp Peter Gillis adds an occasional word. Yet the Thomas More of Utopia is a character in a fiction. He cannot be completely identified with Thomas More the writer who wrote all the lines. Raphael Hythlodaeus's name means something like "Angel" or "messenger of Nonsense." He has traveled to the commonwealth of Utopia with Amerigo Vespucci, seemingly the first voyager to realize that the world discovered by Columbus was indeed a new world and not an appendage of India or China. Raphael has not only been to Utopia; he has journeyed to other strange places, and found almost all of them better than Europe. He is bursting with the enthusiasm of his superior experiences. However, I shall devote most of my remarks to the second "book" or chapter in More's work--the description of the island commonwealth somewhere in the New World. Since the Utopians live according to the law of nature, they are not Christian. Indeed they practice a form of religious toleration. Utopia provides a second life of the people above and beyond the official life of the "real" states of the Sixteenth Century. Its author took the radical liberty to dispense w... ... marriage is allowed but strictly controlled so that conjugal relations relieve sexual needs without creating any genuine bonds of intimacy between husbands and wives. Utopia is thus not a program for our society. It is not a blueprint but a touchstone against which we try various ideas about both our times and the book to see what then comes of it all. It helps us see what we are without telling us in detail what we are destined to be. Utopia becomes part of a chain, crossing and uncrossing with past and present in the unending debate about human nature and the best possible society possible to the kind of beings we are. Utopia becomes in every age a rather sober carnival to make us smile and grimace and lift ourselves out of the prosaic and the real, to give ourselves a second life where we can imagine the liberty to make everything all over again, to create society anew as the wise Utopus himself did long before in Utopia. His wisdom is not ours. But it summons us to have our own wisdom and to use it as best we can to judge what is wrong in our society in the hope that our judgment will make us do some things right, even if we cannot make all th ings new this side of paradise.

Microwave Oven and Brand Image Essay

Operations Strategy at Galanz- One Page Summary Background Galanz is the world leader in selling microwave ovens with 60% of the domestic market and 44. 5% of the international market in 2003. The company was founded in 1978 by Liang Qingde. Its headquarters are located in Shunde, China. In 1991 it bought the blueprints and production lines of Toshiba’s microwave ovens and made its first microwave in 1992. In 1995 Galanz replaced Shell electric as the leading microwave manufacturer in China. The next year Galanz started a six year price war and Toshiba and Panasonic had limited the magnetron supply. In 1997 the company started developing its own magnetron and finally in 2003 the company finally received some recognition in the overseas market. Internal Analysis A strength to Galanz is its position in the domestic market. It is the largest company with a large customer base and a well known brand. It has developed its supply chain which is vertically integrated and this is also a key strength. As the company grew the importance of innovation and developing its own R&D became more and more apparent and this is a strength. Weaknesses to Galanz are its low brand awareness in the international markets and poor management structure which is highly centralized. The company also overlooks data records and codes of practice which is a large weakness because it shows poor management and commitment to ethics. The final weakness would be its conflict between the R&D department and production departments. Since this can slow down production and innovation. Galanz uses a low cost strategy but also tries to incorporate product innovation. External Analysis Now that Galanz creates most of its own parts (about 90%) for its microwaves it has great opportunity in increasing its R&D and producing highly innovative products. It also has opportunity to improve on its brand image in the international market and gain more market share. A threat to Galanz is the possible lawsuits from governments because of its highly aggressive low price war. Another threat is Galanz becoming too focused on OEM and having to compete with strategic partners and potentially losing orders. Galanz is positive in the bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, and threat of new entrants parts of the five forces model. It is a very large company with large demand and it can influence the decisions and prices of its suppliers easily. The barriers to entry are high since the suppliers of the megnetrons are limiting the amount produced. Although there are a few substitutes for microwaves, they are not threatening because to other product can do what a microwave does. The intensity of the competition is very high and this is Galanz only negative factor. Summary of key SWOTs, key success factors, and key risk factors Galanz’s strengths would include its size and its vertically integrated value chain. Its recognition of the growing concern to stress the importance of R&D and product innovation is also key. Galanz weaknesses are its low brand awareness, centralized management structure, the internal conflict between departments, and ignoring the codes of practice. Opportunities of the company are to continue to increase its R&D departments and improve its brand image internationally. Threats include possible lawsuits from governments and too much focus on OEM part of its business. The STEP factors of the industry show that Galanz is doing well in the technological and economic parts but is weak in the social and political side. The company must focus on its low cost strategy and continue to develop its value chain internationally. It will be risky for Galanz to enter markets where its brand is not well known. It is also risky for the company to start focusing too much on innovation since this may lead it away from its original successful low cost strategy. Challenge Statement or Question How can Galanz adapt its competitive strategy and its mass production system to meet the needs of the industry and the demands of the customers, and establish a well known brand image while continuing to hold a large market share and bringing value to its stakeholders?

The Issue Of Mineral Rights Essay - 1954 Words

As a first-time homebuyer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I thought I had very carefully prepared myself for all that the process would involve, including gathering income and financial documentation, qualifying for a mortgage, arranging for a thorough inspection, evaluating needs and desires from a home and finding a reputable agent to represent my interests. One area I never considered, however, was the issue of mineral rights. To be perfectly honest, although I d heard the term, I d never given consideration to what it actually meant. But that all changed in the middle of my home buying process - and I d like to share with you the knowledge I ve gained through extensive research I completed to protect my own rights and the rights I would possess as a soon-to-be homeowner. According to property law, two different forms of rights exist in any real property: surface rights and mineral rights. Surface rights refer to any structure erected above the surface or sub-surface structures th at do not exceed a certain depth, as well as rights to use all surface property surrounding structures in accordance with zoning ordinances. Mineral rights refer to mineral substances below a certain depth and the way in which they are preserved, explored or extracted. These mineral substances can include natural gas, oil, or any other substance in common use today that can be mined or otherwise extracted from below the surface. Local laws set the depth below which surface rights terminateShow MoreRelatedThe Mining Act 1990830 Words   |  4 Pages1990, has a significant role in protecting Ontario’s vast mineral resources and brings forth a set of policies in which promote responsible mining development and extraction. 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The Apple company used conflict minerals which is against human rights and they extracted illegally from Congo mineral deposits. It is a great mistake done by them. This reflected the ethics of Integrity and Leadership .Two things that reflect these ethics are that using of conflict minerals and the second is not to reveal this to the manufacturers. Apple started facing pressureRead MoreOur Nutrition And Food We Eat1251 Words   |  6 Pagesconditions (Axelson, Federline and Brinberg). Around a large portion of the wellbeing heap of food is attributable to dangerous water, unaltered sanitation and cleanliness. Interestingly, in industrialized countries, over-food and food wellbeing issues, including food borne disorders impacting human wellbeing furthermore impacts joined with cultivating creation schemas, are pervasive concerns. There is furthermore a foremost rate of under food among destitute, and a higher inconvenience of both