Adrift In A Moral Sea: Should We Help The Needy?

In his article, Hardin presents a compelling argument why we should not help the needy: we cannot afford it. And by all means, I agree with Mr. Hardin. The bottom line is it is not in our interests to help the needy. It may be that sympathetic people’s hearts are bleeding with the fact that 790 million of the world’s population is chronically undernourished and starving when all over the world it is standard procedure for stores to routinely dispose food that they were not able to sell for the day. We see them in pictures or news clips: the poor in Africa burning under the sun, the hungry children in Asia going through the piles of garbage looking for food. We feel sorry for them, but we are happy we are not them, that by some contingent force we ended up being born in a wealthy country. We may want to send them food and clothing and other parcels with wishes of peace and love, but if we really want to help them, then I think we should give them what they really need. Most of the â€Å"needy† come from developing and in-transition countries, whose histories are characterized by civil wars, revolutions and struggles for freedom from colonizers, then struggles for freedom from tyrants; and whose financial records show glaring foreign debt. The World Bank recorded that for every dollar that the developing world receives in grants, it pays $13 for debt servicing. In the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope John Paul II called for the cancellation of all foreign debts so that the poorer nations can focus on rebuilding and strengthening their economies and governments and providing services to their people rather than being harassed to pay their foreign debt that they acquired because of the colonization trend (and almost all developed countries had colonies), and of the two World Wars which they were mere casualties of. It seems to me then that if we really are serious about helping the poor, then we should not be giving them food or grants – we should be repaying them for ravaging their natural resources and enslaving their ancestors, for subjecting their nations to the highest form of discrimination and robbing them of their rights, and for destroying their lands and lives with our selfish wars. And the payments should be adjusted as per inflation and with interest. Of course, no one will agree to that. If we did not let the Jubilee Year weaken our resolve, why now? If we cannot even admit our mistake at Vietnam and apologize, why should we humble ourselves before the poor of the world, even if they are the majority? Let us think of the food program and the foreign assistance to other nations as our way of making it up to them. That is the best that we can do, since handing over our wealth is out of the question. The thing is, even with the food program, there is hardly any improvement in the hunger problem, and even with the grants the poverty levels and the population issues remain. In The State of Food Insecurity in the World, it is acknowledged that there have been significant improvement in agriculture technology and by all means, there is more food than ten years ago. But the problem of hunger persists because there are adequate infrastructures and mechanisms – roads, shipping systems – to deliver the food to people. There is a vicious cycle of hunger, poverty and overpopulation, but do we solve their problem? According to the Population Reference Bureau, the less developed world has on average a population growth rate of 1.5 compared to the .1 of the more developed world. Apparently, high mortality rates, the lack of food and adequate resources are not stopping them from producing offspring. In Darwin’s survival of the fittest, they seem to be doing just fine. I may be accused of being simplistic in my argument, but the needy have governments, and more than that, they have their own minds. They should know by now that there is not enough food where they are, there are very few opportunities, and so if they wanted to help themselves maybe they should focus more on looking for food and work than having babies. If their governments cannot take care of them, should ours do? Presently, we are facing our own social security issues; why would we want to trouble our government with providing for other people when there is an impending danger that we might not be having enough for the future? And why even dwell on the hunger in Africa when in our country there are hungry, homeless people? As Hardin pointed out, there is not enough space in the lifeboat. Either they make their own lifeboat, or they learn to swim to an island, what is important is that they should do something rather than just accept their fate of drowning just because the metaphor says so. It is a battle of survival, of preserving interests. If helping the needy will not cost anything and even placate our moral sensitivities, then we will help them. But as it turns out, we cannot afford to feed the millions of hungry people. Everything that we give them we take from our future stock, from that which we hope to give to ourselves in our old age, to our children and to our grandchildren. And when faced with giving to strangers or looking after our own families, nobody is the Good Samaritan. WORKS CITED: 2005 Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme Global Development Finance, World Bank, 1999 The State of Food Insecurity in the World. Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006.

Mount St. Helens

Geographic Facts and OverviewElevation: 8, 635 feet (2,550 m)Prominence: 4, 605 feet (1,404 m)Coordinates: 46 °12’00.17†N, 122 °11’21.13†WAge of rock: > 40,000 yearsEasiest access: southern slopeMount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located 96 miles south of the city of Seattle and 53 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of George Vancouver, who did a survey of this place in the late 1800s.The mountain can be found in the Cascade Range and is part the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes (Mount St. Helens). This volcano is quite well known for its ash explosions and pyroclastic flows. It is located 45 miles west of Mount Adams, in the western part of the Cascade Range. These volcanic mountains are each approximatel y 50 miles from Mount Rainier, the highest of Cascade volcanoes. Mount Hood, the nearest major volcanic peak in Oregon, is 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Mount St. Helens. (Mount St. Helens)Mount St. Helens is quite young compared to the other well-known Cascade volcanoes (Mount St. Helens). It only formed within the last 40,000 years, and the summit cone (before the 1980 eruption) began rising around 2000 years ago. The volcano is still considered the most active in the Cascades within the last 10,000 or so years, according to the Mount St. Helens report in Wikipedia.Mount St. Helens Eruptive HistoryThe early eruptive stages of Mount St. Helens are known as the â€Å"Ape Canyon Stage† (around 40–35,000 years ago), the â€Å"Cougar Stage† (ca. 20–18,000 years ago), and the â€Å"Swift Creek Stage† (roughly 13–8,000 years ago).The modern period, since about 2500 BC, is called the â€Å"Spirit Lake Stage†. (Mount St. Helens) Collectively , the pre-Spirit Lake Stages are known as the â€Å"ancestral stages† (Mount St. Helens).The Eruption of May 18, 1980Mount St. Helens erupts maybe around once each century. After lying asleep for 123 years, Mount St. Helens again spewed steam and ash on March 27, 1980 – a prelude that put geologists on alert. But what happened on the18th of May, 1980, went beyond what anyone had envisioned. According to Mount Saint Helens History report, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake from inside the volcano triggered the destruction of its north flank, letting down the largest landslide in recorded history and a volcanic eruption equal in power to 500 atom bombs (History). As much as a cubic mile of volcanic material shot upward and sideways.The blast traveled at more than 300 miles per hour with temperatures in excess of 600 degrees F, destroying 230 square miles of forest (History).   Within seconds, the trunks of thousands of 150-foot-tall old-growth Douglas firs snapped like toothpi cks. Ash rained down over 22,000 square miles, blew more than 12 miles into the atmosphere and circled the globe in 17 days (History).   When the ash finally cleared up, the mountain was reduced by 1,313 feet (History). Although the Forest Service and local authorities had worked hard to keep people away, 57 were killed.   Rocks, snow and ice roared down the mountain at enormous speeds (sometimes reaching more than 100 miles per hour). Most large animals on the volcano, like mountain goats, black bears, and thousands of elk and deer (even most fish, amphibians, insects and birds), died. (History)Mount St. Helens before the EruptionBefore the eruption of 1980, Mount St. Helens formed an almost perfectly conical, youthful volcano that sometimes was known as the Fuji-san of America (Eruptive History). According to Volcano World’s Eruptive History page, during the 1980 eruption, however, the upper 400 m of the summit was removed by a slope avalanche, leaving a 2 x 3.5 km hors eshoe-shaped crater now partially filled by a lava dome.The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 changed the surrounding environment. Before the eruption, the areas around the mountain were known for its natural beauty. The Spirit Lake basin was said to be coated with ancient trees. The tree rings of these huge 800 year-old trees show evidence of eruptions that date back before the time of the Europeans arrival in the Americas (Biologic History).A few research sites existed before 1980 and they showed a healthy, vigorous forest, growing on the rich volcanic soils typical of the Pacific Northwest (Biologic History). Under the dense canopy, huckleberries, ferns, and mosses grew. A wide variety of animals lived here. Above Spirit Lake, the alpine meadows on the mountain were slowly being overtaken by trees (Biologic History). The alpine meadows supported a wide variety of wildflowers and gnarled trees. Mountain goats were transplanted from the Olympic Peninsula. They were well known fo r their aggressive ways.Sometimes they butted hikers right down the mountain (Biologic History). When people remember Spirit Lake, they always mention how clear it was (Biologic History). Fed by snow and glacial melt, the lake's temperature was normally below 55 degrees Fahrenheit year round (Biologic History). The many types of microscopic plants and animals that fish eat did not do well in this cold water. Because of this, the fish that were stocked never managed to become a self-sustaining population (Biologic History). Some people will tell you that Spirit Lake was overflowing with fish. However, catch records indicate that it was just average for the Northwest. Those who visited Mount St. Helens before 1980, were always impressed by its natural beauty. (Biologic History)Mount St. Helens NowAs amazingly destructive as it was, the May 18, 1980 eruption is just one of many events in the history of Mount St. Helens. Considering the 27 years and renewed volcanic activity, it is surp rising to see how Mount St. Helens continually changes. The past 27 or so years have been characterized by a rebirth.   Within the crater, a new lava dome began rising in 1986, rebuilding the mountain (History).   A new glacier has established itself on the crater floor.  Ã‚   And since early October 2004, a second lava dome has grown at a rate as high as a dump-truck load in volume every second.At this rate, scientists estimate Mount St. Helens could return to its height before the 1980 eruption of 9,677 feet in less than 200 years – less than a blink of the eye in geologic time (History). Remarkably, plant and animal life has revived itself faster than was expected. Beetles were among the earliest animals to return and over 300 kinds now flourish (History). Lupines, members of the pea family, were among the first plants to grow in the deep deposits of volcanic ash.Scientists learned that lupines drive ecological recovery by creating islands of rich nutrients that prom ote establishment of other plant species (History).   Millions of new trees and animal species have also returned to the areas that most of them left in 1980.   Mount St. Helens is back to being a living playground. According to the Mount St. Helens Institute, it has become one of the most  remarkable areas of geological and ecological disturbance and restoration in the world. This country has learned a lot from what happened 27, or so, years ago. We are now better prepared to face another eruption (to avoid the casualties of 1980), and scientists, our other learned friends in different fields of study, and the general public, are coming to experience the remarkable volcano that is Mount St. Helens.The Current EruptionsMount St. Helens came alive again in the fall of 2004 and has continually been erupting. Plenty of news crews and visitors from around the globe have surged to the volcano.   Mount St. Helens has returned to its former grandeur and is now a leading recreationa l area, with more than 500,000 visitors a year. W O R K S  Ã‚   C I T E Dâ€Å"Mount St. Helens.† Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Apr 2007, 19:46 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Apr 2007 ;https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mount_St._Helens;oldid=124937639;

Speaker Observation Paper

On Monday April 18th the Dublin Library, in celebration of Earth Day, hosted environmental educator, activist, and author Dr. Linda Riebel. In her presentation she introduced the new edition of her book; The Earth Friendly Food Chain under the new title; The Green Foodprint. Her topic was on food choices for healthy people and a healthy planet. The purpose of her speech was to show how anyone-of any lifestyle-can become an earth friendly eater. The presentation was held in a small room in the Library and the audience turnout was surprisingly minimal. There were a total of four adults that attended. Despite the partially empty room, the speaker was able captivate the audience instantly by opening with a personal experience story about how a Safari trip to Africa ultimately changed her life and as a result she became vegetarian. Dr. Riebel began her speech by proclaiming, with enthusiasm, that the â€Å"Food Movement† has started. In the introduction of her speech she reveals her credibility on the subject. Dr. Linda Riebel is not only a vegetarian, but she also is a Psychologist, Eating Disorder Specialist, and Author of the acclaimed book, Eating to Save the Earth: Food Choices for a Healing Planet. She emphasizes that her speech would not dwell on the bad and negative but rather, focus on the solutions. The solution, she previewed, is already in movement; organic food, local food, meatless options and family farms. At her conclusion she reaffirms that what’s good for the planet and it’s creatures is also good for humans. She concludes by reiterating the good and positive, in that people are moving in the right direction. To further her message, she left the audience with information on where to find local farms, stores, restaurants, and more, for healthy sustainable foods. She pointed out the benefit of having a diverse system of agriculture that takes advantage of our local area's resources, tradition, and taste. Also, she was proud to announce that the City of Dublin is launching a new seasonal farmers' market beginning May 12. In addition to having the freshest in California-grown produce, she states, it will have different â€Å"theme weeks† every month to showcase a variety of the local talent and attractions. In her speech, Dr. Riebel, pointed out that; just as we have a carbon footprint, we also have a â€Å"foodprint â€Å"as well. Our â€Å"foodprint†, she explained, is the way in which our food system's contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change through the production, processing, packaging, shipping, storage and disposal of food. First she explains some of the environmental problems we are facing right now. This included some information on how we are depleting our water. A vast underground reserve called the Ogallala Aquifer supports over one-fifth of the irrigated cropland in the United States and in the last forty years, farmers have pumped massive amounts of water from the aquifer. While the need for water continues to grow, the amount available decreases rapidly. In some areas, farmers are consuming the groundwater at more than twice the rate of natural recharge. She also talks about the agricultural use of some rainforest land and how this habitat destruction affects wildlife today. Many commercial agricultural projects are still carried out on rainforest lands, although many of these revert to cattle pasture after soils are depleted. She also made it a point to discuss pesticides. She began this topic with an interesting history of the original use of pesticides. Their mass introduction into farming 70 years ago, along with petrochemically-derived fertilizers, set U. S. farming down a costly and unsustainable path. Along the way, community-scale farming was nearly destroyed, generations have suffered ill health ranging from cancer to autism and Parkinson’s, biodiversity has taken big hits, and the six mega-corporations who dominate the pesticide industry have gotten very rich and very powerful. She speaks of hope in that an organization called PAN( Pesticide Action Network) promotes the elimination of highly hazardous pesticides and offers solutions that protect people and the environment. PAN works to loosen the pesticide industry’s control over global agriculture by holding accountable governmental bodies that are charged with regulating pesticides. Dr. Riebel used a PowerPoint as her presentational aid. The PowerPoint presentation had appropriate graphics, appropriate font for ease of reading, appropriate layout of graphics and graphics were in good taste. The slides were very informative and did not take away from the overall presentation. She included pictures and quotes that got my attention. She also used her new book The Green Foodprint to refer to many of her points. This made me want to buy her book to learn more. She did a good job of relating the topic to current issues of today. The fact that she gave her speech in honor of Earth Day showed how she was trying to adapt her speech to this occasion. She was able to present her message with facts and information in a language that was easily understandable for the audience. She explained unfamiliar terms and concepts and was able to relate her message to the audience by enticing questions and answers from them. Her speech was enlightening and somewhat of a shock, considering some of the surprising facts she stated. The audience responded with awareness and interest. The speaker did a great job with her delivery. She had confidence and poise. She used specific topics that had relevant value, she maintained accuracy in her statements, and she provided additional clarifying material. Her poise was shown by her controlled voice. The volume in her voice was loud enough to be comfortably heard. Her use of power, pace and pitch was appropriate for the emotion or thought she was trying to express. For example, when she was trying to entice empathy from the audience when discussing the inhumane treatment of animals, she spoke slowly, and with compassion. She expressed a more enthusiastic delivery, specifically when she talked about the solutions such as shopping local and going organic. Her use of enthusiasm was appropriate to motivate and persuade the audience to make a change. She was able to stress important words such as â€Å"Foodprint† and â€Å"Organic† when presenting principal ideas. She maintained a technique of proper pausing to punctuate, to change thought or for emphasis. Her personal appearance showed proper attire and grooming. She had proper posture by standing straight and not fidgeting her hands. She did not show inappropriate facial expressions and was able to maintain eye contact with audience by directly addressing them. She exerted a warmth feeling, manifested in her facial expression and tone of voice. She had a conversational delivery which she utilized conversational expressions. She used her body to make descriptive gestures and emphatic gestures. This delivery was very effective because the audience was included. She successfully came across as well informed and educated on the topic. The urgency in her voice enticed the idea of change, especially in relation to the concept of Earth Day, and all the people in support of maintaining a healthy planet while eating healthy. Overall, I enjoyed this speech greatly. The speaker was very organized and confident in what she was saying. The urgency in her tone made me want to be part in the movement to creating a healthier planet and food. The delivery was very effective and it gave me a greater awareness about the food I eat and where it comes from and what’s in it. As she first stated in the beginning of the speech, that she would focus on the positive , she was successful in creating awareness of the solutions all around us.

Should crime prevention be a priority for the criminal justice system Essay

Should crime prevention be a priority for the criminal justice system - Essay Example (Pfeiffer, p 55, 2003) A Research conducted by the Heart Research Associates Inc. on the perception of the public on crime prevention found that majority of the people believed in a more pro-active rather than reactive approach. This research was conducted in the year 2002. But ten years ago, when the public was asked about what they thought about crime prevention, 42% said the criminal justice system should focus on punitive action while 48% supported crime prevention. These statistics have changed drastically with time. In 2002, when a similar research was conducted by the same research company, it was found that 65% of the public believe in dealing with root causes while 32% wanted more severe measures to take precedence in the criminal justice system. The survey also indicated the following preferences. It should be noted that most of the time, there are cases in which people break the law because they have no where else to turn to. Such people normally come from deteriorating neighbourhoods. They feel that there is not much that can be done about their situation and they opt to choose crime as their only means for survival. Most of these criminals normally have very low educational backgrounds. Consequently, their options in the formal employment sector are quite limited. They need to earn a source of livelihood and still have to meet their daily needs. However, the public only offers them temporary jobs that do not pay as much. Some individuals may feel the need to deal with this lack of necessities through crime. Overly, the underlying problem is education, if the government was to invest in education of such criminals then there would be no need to commit crimes and all the other issues will fall into place. (Maguire, p 207-265, 2000) Most criminals commit their crimes because their neighbourhoods make it easy for them to do so. In most Cities, there are certain localities that have been ignored by the governing

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Case Study Example This can be attained well through the gathering of information from the various departments, evaluating it and ensuring a consultative decision and communicates in good time through the use the best communication method that is not prone to distortion. Having this in place, the business is good to go and the manager only comes in to monitor internal as well as external factors that threaten the progress of the business and to give a way forward to curb them effectively. As a manager, Bill has all these power to execute to show his effectiveness in managerial skills in his new post. An organization cannot move forward without people working together to achieve the set goals and objectives. High employee turnover can greatly affect businesses and can lead to low productivity levels. Under-motivated employees tend to be unhappy with their job. They always feel overworked, under-appreciated and poorly paid and in turn. These can eventually lead to negative attitude and behavior towards work like those that were witnessed in Sally at her place of work. For the management to tactfully deal with her case, she should be informed of the organization’s mission and target to be achieved in the best way through the use of better communication skills to avoid misconception of the management’s intention. She should be given a brief job description to help her know what is expected of her and what she is accountable of. Sally should get motivated by simply being allowed to contribute and bring new ideas for improvement to the table and to have input in the whol e process. This brings a sense of ownership in the business. She should get enrichment in form of skill-building and training through workshops to let her work independently with less supervision. For Bill to prove performance, he should focus on the workforce productivity that ensures that employees work more efficiently and effectively to have the

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

Anything - Essay Example Black and the female identity have been looked down upon by the society for a very long time. Women of color have had rough time in America but there is future for better public perception because of their ability to fight back and disapprove the public racist opinion. Black female’s role in the public domain is explained by sighting Michelle Obama’s fitness for the First Lady-hood. According to Cooper (2010) black women have always come out to use strategies such as Michelle Obama’s to defend their negative portrayals in public. These strategies play major role in ensuring democracy and Michelle Obama who attempts to eliminate some of the limiting factors has showed this, positively. There are several arguments by Cooper, Darlene Clark and Evelyn Brooks regarding bodily appearance of women in the public as well as their public self-representation. Some writers use the black man’s body to express their concern about racism as well as addressing some of the discriminatory and vulnerability issues that need to be addressed. Cooper (2010), attempts to give hope to black women who were initially subjected to sexual discrimination and other forms of exploitation. Black women were always worried about their role in the society with the development of racism, although this changed during the post Reconstruction period. Cooper views black female leadership as a huge step towards black female identity. According to Cooper (2010), there is a great improvement in terms of woman’s role in the society since they do not worry much regarding racism and their representation and this is central to American progressiveness. The American society is moving towards recognition of black women and the general black race. According to Cooper (2010), black women’s voices and bodies should be positively portrayed in the American public sphere. She considers race women as subjects and agents of both

Ethical or Unethical Socially and Environmentally Essay

Ethical or Unethical Socially and Environmentally - Essay Example There are various concerns that have been pointed out to be of social interest while analyzing the ethic observed while producing cocoa. Among these issues is abusive children labor, issues with profit and protection as well as lack of proper ownership structures (Berlan, 2009). In regard to child labor, it has been established that a lot of children suffer trafficking and are taken to serve within the cocoa production farms as well as through the processing plants. In spite of increased efforts by the government to control the issues of forced labor on children, children trafficking as well as abusive practices on children within cocoa farms, the activities prevail and this is termed as unethical (Isern, 2006). This therefore shows that the entire process of producing cocoa can be said to be unethical socially as show through the abusive child labor is propagated. On the other hand, profit protection has also been termed as unethical and has been shown to persist within the cocoa farms. This is propagated by all players, right from the farmers, the middle men as well as the people involved in chain of delivery who all strive to maximize on their profit margins. In the process of targeting the high profits, the production has been characterized by unethical behavior hence the support of the thesis statement. Besides, lack of ‘ownership’ as is the common excuse adopted by all players within cocoa production industry has been used to explain propagation of the social vices like the trafficking of children and the unreasonably high prices. Every culprit interjected reasons that he/she has bought the product from middle men and hence the social concern (Blowfield, 2003). Besides the economic sense that is associated with production of cocoa, players within the system of production have been pointed ought on unethical behavior on farming practices which have contributed to environmental pollution through dumping of chemicals and fertilizers on the ground