Ice-Fili .. Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ice-Fili .. Case Analysis - Essay Example In fact, many players are entering the market since it is very attractive. The economy of Russia has grown strong and cities such as Moscow is a very attractive position to start a business. It can be said that the Russian ice-cream market would evolve rapidly as many new players have gained entry to the market. Although the GOST was supposed to have created as a barrier for new players, existing foreign giants such as Nestle can dominate the market. Regional producers also pose as a threat to existing players since they can easily be flexible. In short, this means that the ice-cream industry is robust and dynamic. Despite the foreign players and regional producers coming into play , Ice-Fili has sustainable competitive advantage. For one, the company has the most number of brands. This gives the company advantage since it can penetrate many markets and create market segmentation of its consumers. Also, it has the largest production capacity which can easily cope up with production needs. These are internal strengths that the company can effectively use to capture the market .Although Nestle appears as a threat, its only edge of Nestle against Ice-Fili is its distribution channels which has strategically created a nice in the premium ice-cream market. There are also other factors such as pricing and cost which a company should consider when evaluating its competitiveness in the industry. Currently, Ice-Fili has placed its price as average, but as an Ice-Fili executive said, the slight 10% increase would not affect consumer behavior. This reveals a wealth of insight that the company can raise the price of some premium products. However, this move must be supported with a campaign to project to the Russians the uniqueness of these premium products. Ice-Fili has young managers who can creatively make a marketing program aimed at different segments. As for the cost-position, Ice-Fili must stick to its recipe since this is exactly what foreigners wanted

Directions in Language Essay Example for Free

Directions in Language Essay On this essay we are going to expressly talk on promoting Academic Success for ESL Students and also understanding second language acquisition for school, I will take my time to explain Linguistic processes and discusses the linguistic processes of first and second language acquisition. First language acquisition is a complex, lifelong process. And I will also explain in detail the influential factors of social and cultural processes on all aspects of linguistic, cognitive, and academic development. Students that are in English speaking Countries, who English language is very new to need to acquire profiency in the language, and this same student need to learn some things in addition such as, to learn a range of academic content, some of which they are very new to. Now let us look through these major model factors. The model defines factors that enable predictions to be made regarding English learners’ degree of second language acquisition in an academic context. Taking a critical look from the authors angle describe in detail the dimensions and components of the model and gives more clearly several currently popular types of education programs for English language learners in the United States. Such as their degree of adherence to the model. Finally, we compare the predictions of the model, using predicted rankings of relative program success, to the actual measured effectiveness of each program in producing varying degrees of English learners’ achievement gap closure with mother tongue-English speakers. Promoting Academic Success for ESL Students We are going to look critically at, why is necessary to promote academic success for ESL students and Understanding second language acquisition for school. In the recent research by (Thomas Collier, 1995) shows that when examining interactions among student background you can deduce the difference in treatment and variables and their influence on student outcomes. The two-way bilingual education at the elementary school level which was found has giving a promising program model for the long-term academic success for language minority students. Language acquisition over the years has recently become a thing of necessity for every ESL students, acquiring language as a major tool for effective learning and successful years of study. In a scenario ESL student in country such as USA. It becomes a must for such a student to learn second language, if not it will be a little bit difficulty for such a student to learn fast and even relate with other friends around. ESL students must be encouraged to relate with English speakers and language minority students learning academically through each others languages. (Virginia, George Mason University, 1995). Perceptions among staff, students, and parents that it is a gifted and talented program, leading to high expectations for student performance with this kind of influence given to both languages a level of language stability would be achieved to a large extent creating self-confidence among language minority students. The duty of parents to promote both language minority and language majority for closer home-school cooperation can not be over emphasized to help in promoting the influence academic success for ESL Student, their must be cordial relationship between ESL students and Teachers/lectures or between ESL students and other colleagues and more so between wards/guardian and ESL students and the school authorities. We must watchfully guide against racism around us and protect the interest of ESL Students. The continuous support for staff development, emphasizing whole language approaches, natural language acquisition through all content areas, cooperative learning, interactive and discovery learning, and cognitive complexity of the curriculum for all proficiency levels. . (Virginia, George mason university, 1995). The linguistic processes of first and second language acquisition: The lifelong process: For us to really understand the progresses in language acquisition during the school years, it is expedient to recognize the complex, lifelong processes we actually go through to acquire our first language and second language acquisition in parallel processes. The complex oral language development system from birth to age five is universal, without any physical disabilities or isolation from humans. But the most talented five-year-old child entering pre-nursery is not yet half-way through the process of first language development. Research heard it that Children from ages 6 to 12 will continue to acquire steady or continuous distinctions, formal discourse patterns, vocabulary, syntax, semantics, and complex aspects of pragmatics in the oral system of their first language (Berko Gleason, 1993). More so, children that are properly brought up in this level adding reading and writing to the language of listening and speaking across the globe are usually very intelligent, skilled and increase in grades level and a clear increase in language academics subject. Adolescent that eventually gained admission into high school must have learned and acquired lots of vocabulary in every discipline of study and will continue to acquire more writing skills, this process continues like that till you get to adult age. Adult age is very sensitive age as language acquisition is concerned, as an adult you may not be able to learn too more language than your first language you had acquired. So first language acquisition is an unending process throughout our lifetime (Berko Gleason, 1993; Collier, 1992a). Let us take a look Second language acquisition is also a complex phenomenon. We use some of the same processes we have used to acquire our first language, going through progressive stages and relying on native speakers to provide modified speech that we can at least partially comprehend. The influential factors of social and cultural processes There are four major component of model namely, sociocultural, linguistic, academic, and cognitive processes. These four components are interrelated together and for you to really understand their importance in developing second language acquisition processes that occurs in the school context. There is a figure below to show the interrelationship between the four components. Figure 1 Language Acquisition for School (Virginia P. Collier, 1994. ) Sociocultural processes At the center of the figure above, you will notice that other components are surrounding social and cultural processes through the process of acquiring a second language in school. It is Central to that students acquisition of language are all of the surrounding social and cultural processes occurring through everyday life within the students past, present, and future, in all contexts-home, school, community, and the broader society. The work of Sociocultural may include individual student variables such as self-esteem or anxiety or other affective factors processes in promoting second language acquisition. These factors can strongly influence the students response to the new language, affecting the process positively only when the student is in a socioculturally supportive environment. Linguistic processes: A second component of the model, consist of the technical aspects of language development â€Å"(an innate ability all humans possess for acquisition of oral language)†, as well as the acquisition of the written system of language metalinguistic, conscious and formal teaching of language in school. First and second languages across globe include the acquisition of the oral and written systems of the students, such as phonology, vocabulary, morphology and syntax, semantics, Pragmatics, paralinguistic, and discourse. (Virginia 1994. ) Academic development. A third component of the model, academic development, includes all school work in language arts, mathematics, the sciences, and social studies for each grade level, Grades K-12 and beyond. It this succeeding grade, academic work dramatically expands the vocabulary, sociolinguistic, and discourse dimensions of language to higher cognitive levels. Academic knowledge and conceptual development transfer from the first language to the second language; thus it is most efficient to develop academic work through students first language, while teaching the second language during other periods of the school day through meaningful academic content. In earlier decades in the United States, we emphasized teaching the second language as the first step, and postponed the teaching of academics. Research has shown us that postponing or interrupting academic development is likely to promote academic failure. In information driven society that demands more knowledge processing with each succeeding year, students cannot afford the lost time. (Virginia 1994. ) Cognitive development: The fourth component of this model, the cognitive dimension, has been mostly neglected by second language educators in the U. S. until the past decade. In language teaching, we simplified, structured, and sequenced language curricula during the 1970s, and when we added academic content into our language lessons in the 1980s, we watered down academics into cognitively simple. (Virginia 1994. ) Tasks we also too often neglected the crucial role of cognitive development in the first language. Now we know from our growing research base that we must address all of these components equally if we are to succeed in developing deep academic proficiency in a second language. Interdependence of the four components All of these four components-sociocultural, academic, cognitive, and linguistic-are interdependent. If one is developed to the neglect of another, this may be detrimental to a students overall growth and future success. The academic, cognitive, and linguistic components must be viewed as developmental, and for the child, adolescent, and young adult still going through the process of formal schooling, development of any one of these three components depends critically on simultaneous development of the other two, through both first and second languages. Sociocultural processes strongly influence, in both positive and negative ways, students access to cognitive, academic, and language development. It is widely advice and crucial that educators provide a socioculturally supportive school environment that enable natural language, academic, and cognitive development to flourish. (Virginia 1994) Conclusion These few points raised above I belief has shown the importance of Language Acquisition for ESL students, crucially I have been able to raise some reasonable points concerning, understanding the relevance of Language Acquisition for ESL student. Promoting academic success for ESL students Understanding second language acquisition for school Then I have been able discuss the linguistic processes of first and second language acquisition which also link to First language acquisition is a complex, lifelong process. More so, I have been able to explain the very importantly the influential factors of social and cultural processes on all aspects of linguistic, cognitive, and academic development and interrelationship between these component and why they must be put in place, if we really want to promote Language Acquisition for ESL students. Without bordering our minds for ever am sure that these points contributed have immensely added to effect of promoting Language Acquisition for ESL students, understanding the importance of first language and second language acquisition and also the processes involved in learning these first and second language. The component involved in enhancing the Language Acquisition had been enumerated above. Reference Berko Gleason, (1993); Collier, (1992) Collier P Virginia, (1995). Directions in Language Education National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. George Mason University. Vol. 1, No. 4, Collier. P. Virginia, (1997). Promoting academic success for ESL students Understanding second language acquisition for school (3rd ed. ). Woodside, NY: Bastos. Thomas Collier, (1995).

Interrelationship between Human Rights and Natural Law

Interrelationship between Human Rights and Natural Law In the second half of the 20th century, the growth of interest in human rights has been accompanied by a revival in natural law. Consider why this should be so, critically exploring the interrelationship between human rights and natural law; and also, by using concrete examples, critically assess ONE or TWO theories that critique human rights with particular emphasis on the grounds for such critique. Word count: 5293 words (body) + 504 words (footnotes) = 5,797 words (+ 962 words bibliography, not including list of reports referred to) There is an assumed correlation between what is good and what comes naturally. For example, parental affection, heterosexual love and support for the elderly are all natural concepts, and therefore, arguably, good. Anything that ignores or distorts human nature is bad[1]. Legislators and lawyers have referred to naturalistic arguments in the past, particularly where the issues at stake are those not already covered by legal precedent[2]. Harris notes that the jurists who developed the law of the Roman Empire frequently made references to the nature of the case as a basis for dealing with matters not covered by previous authority. The compilers of the Corpus Juris used the word ‘naturalis’ as a tag to distinguish natural obligations from their counterparts in the Jus Civile[3]. More recently, in Corbett v Corbett[4], a judge held that a marriage between a man and a person who had undergone a sex change was a nullity because it could not fulfil the natural, biologically determined consequences of marriage[5]. Such lawyer type references to the natural helped evolve the concept of natural law. Classically, natural law is â€Å"right reason in agreement with nature†[6]. It is â€Å"universal and immutable†[7], â€Å"unchanging and everlasting†[8], available at all times and in all places to those whose responsibilities include enacting and developing the law. It is a concept of justice so far as it is there to right wrongs and properly distribute benefits and burdens. It is also a higher law, in that it is superior to any law created by a political authority: it is not possible to be freed from its obligations by â€Å"Senate or People†[9]. Natural law determines whether or not ordinary laws are morally binding on subjects. The rules of natural law are not created by anyone, but are instead discoverable by reason. Since all men have natural essences, or ends (just like in nature, to become an oak tree, for example, is an end for an acorn[10]), knowledge of those qualities allows us to draw conclusions by rational steps about what justice requires to best fulfil man’s ‘end’[11]. Although some natural law philosophers have cited God as the basis for the existence of these natural laws, the theory does not fail if God is taken out of the equation. Even if God does not exist, it is through that natural law would â€Å"have the same content†; and just as God cannot cause that two times two shall not be four, so he cannot cause the intrinsically evil not to be evil[12]. According to Acquinas, human laws derive their legal quality and power to bind in conscience from natural law, guided by a reasoned assessment of the common good. The content of the law is deducible from the first principles of natural law, which include, for example, that one should ‘do no harm to no man’. Any apparently conflicting law is a corruption of the law and so is not binding[13]: in the Seventeenth Century, when it was still accepted that the Courts could hold invalid any Act contrary to natural law, it was said that â€Å"even an Act of Parliament made against natural equity, as, to make a man judge in his own case, is void in itself†[14]. Intrinsic to the concept of natural law is the fact that humans have rights ascribed to them that they possess merely by virtue of being human[15]. They follow directly from the necessary ends fixed by human nature, that is â€Å"from the single fact that man is man†[16]. Schneider describes the basic human rights as â€Å"the right to existence or life, to personal freedom, to the pursuit of perfection of moral and rational life, to the pursuit of eternal good, to keeping ones body whole, to marrying according to ones choice and raising a family, and to free associations†[17]. Whilst not all would agree exactly on what set of rights follow directly from what is ‘natural’, these arguments have been used throughout history to support action taken when ‘natural rights’ have been infringed. The American Colonists justified their overthrow of British rule in 1776 on the basis that the government had impaired their rights to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, claiming that it was ‘self evident that man was endowed with such rights’. Indeed, that phrase is the cornerstone of the American Declaration of Independence which states: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evidence, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness†[18]. This is an adaptation of the phrase used by John Locke, who believed that â€Å"the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it which obliges ev eryone. And reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought harm another in his life, health, liberty and possessions†[19]. During the 19th Century, natural law theory lost a lot of its influence as positivism, materialism, utilitarianism and Benthamism became dominant. In the 20th century, however, particularly towards the second half, natural law theory received new attention[20]. This can partly be attributed to peoples’ reaction to the rise of totalitarianism: dictatorships such as those held by Hitler in Germany and Stalin in the USSR, based on terror and on mass support mobilised behind an ideology prescribing radical social change[21]. Such dictatorships are linked to the other factor that can be attributed to the rise in interest in natural law: an increased interest in human rights throughout the world[22]. In particular, the barbarism of the Second World War moved the United Nations General Assembly to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 which, whilst not legally binding, urged member nations to promote a collection of human, civil, economic and social rights. The Asse mbly called these rights part of the ‘foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. These words are echoed in the preamble to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 1984[23], which has been signed by the United Kingdom, Spain and Chile and by over 100 other nations in acknowledgement of a â€Å"clear recognition by the international community that certain crimes are so grave and so inhuman that they constitute crimes against international law and that the international community is under a duty to bring to justice a person who commits such crimes†. The preamble acknowledges that â€Å"recognition of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† and recognises that â€Å"those rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person†[24]. So natural law theory has been frequently cited by lawyers and forms the basis for many of our human rights conventions and agreements. Throughout history, certain ‘inalienable rights’ have been afforded to human beings simply by virtue of them being human. As well as the American Declaration of Independence and Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, both of which we have looked at, the English Bill of Rights (1689), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), and the first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States (‘the Bill of Rights 1791’) all contain similar references. Natural law enables us to identify which ‘basic goods’ should be fundamental and unchangeable; in contrast to positive law, which is human-made, conditioned by history, and subject to continuous change[25]. Further, philosophers endorsing natural law theories have argued that the basic goods that natural law identifie s enable us to have objective knowledge of morality: and that they are sufficiently precise to rule out many kinds of injustice[26]. But natural law theories have attracted much criticism from other philosophical schools of thought. Jeremy Bentham for example, states: â€Å"Right is the child of law; from real laws come real rights, but from imaginary law, from laws of nature, come imaginary rights. ‘Natural rights’ is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptable rights, rhetorical nonsense nonsense upon stilts†[27]. Bentham thought that the way judges insisted upon relying on natural law to justify their decisions was merely to ward off criticism of the law: he believed that judges stretched the notion of rights to the point of vacuity[28], and that what they appealed to as the basis for their decisions involved no publicly assessable reasons whatsoever[29]. For Bentham, natural law theory was no more than a cloak of mystery used to clothe the exercise of unfettered discretion; and an unwritten law based on the general dictates of natural reason was a mere metaphor and convenient fiction, whe re the real basis for the decisions being made remained elusive[30]. Such an approach was inconsistent with how matters should proceed in a democratic society since, where the law is open to question, â€Å"unless citizens are able to know what the law is and are given a fair opportunity to take its directives into account, penal sanctions should not apply to them†[31]. It is, of course, abhorrent to the rule of law that judges should be free to render decisions that reflect their personal or social biases[32] and there is common agreement in modern times that Courts are better suited to resolving disputes by reference to what the law actually is than for getting involved in the creation of legalisation itself[33]. â€Å"The existence of law is one thing; its merit or demerit another†[34]; and judges are not concerned with the latter. Bentham was a utilitarianist: he believed that the fundamental basis of morality and justice was the requirement that happiness or goodness should be maximised. There are three basic elements to this theory. We will examine the three elements in the context of a moral dilemma – the use of organs or tissue from a deceased person without the consent of their parent or relative. The first element to consider is that the rightness or the wrongness of an action, which depends upon the consequences it produces. In this context, the failure to obtain parental consent, perhaps also with an element of intentional deceit in obtaining the organs or tissue, may be outweighed by the potential research benefits that may be afforded society, such as decreasing mortality rates and the potential development of new treatments for disease[35]. The second element establishes a claim with regard to who is to be considered when estimating what the likely consequence of the act will be[36]. The logic behind this principle being the promotion of the aggregate welfare or the maximisation of happiness[37]. Taking this into context, medical staff would need to balance the potential pain and suffering of the parents or relatives of the deceased at the discovery of the retention of organs, with the claim society has on the benefits that are made as a result of the retention[38]. The third element makes a claim as to what makes a good state of affairs good and a bad one bad. In our context, failure to use organs or tissues from a recently deceased person for research and education (regardless of parental or other consent) must be weighed against the possible benefits that such use could bring to society. Failure to use the material would be classified as being a bad state of affairs, whilst its subsequent use, regardless of how the material was obtained, would be viewed as being a good one[39]. This method of reasoning appears to be very powerful in comparison with natural law theory, as it requires no religious faith or explicit moral code[40]; natural law theory in contrast would simply claim that the organs should not be used because the human has some inherent right to dignity and completeness by virtue of them being human. The medical profession sought to rely on similar principles to justify their exclusion of families from the decision-making process in the organ retention scandals brought to public attention by the Bristol, Kennedy, Redfern, CMO and Isaacs Reports[41]. The response to this was that to exclude relatives from such decisions relating to their loved ones would undermine family autonomy, and would be â€Å"objectionable, unethical, paternalistic and reflective of a stance no longer acceptable in contemporary Western medicine†[42]. It is clear that natural law theories are the basis for reasoning behind our development of the law of human rights that we see today. But the use of such theory as a basis for human rights is problematic because, firstly, there is no common agreement on what is ‘good’. The basic human goods mentioned earlier that Schneider identified were not available to all persons during Schneider’s lifetime, and indeed it is not until recently that some have been secured by the law today. Schneider thought that marrying according to ones choice was a right that humans should have by virtue of being human, but only recently by the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force on 5 December 2005, same sex couples have been allowed to marry in the United Kingdom[43]. Before that time, everyone did not have the right to ‘marry according to one’s choice’ because same sex-couples could not marry. Even now, there are some restrictions on who can get married à ¢â‚¬â€œ for example, a marriage solemnised between persons either of whom is under the age of 16 is void[44]. Similarly, as Bentham asserts, men are not really ‘free’ and there is no real freedom. Bentham states: â€Å"All men, on the contrary, are born in subjection, and the most absolute subjection the subjection of a helpless child to the parents on whom he depends every moment for his existence. In this subjection every man is born in this subjection he continues for years for a great number of years and the existence of the individual and of the species depends upon his so doing†[45]. Secondly, even if certain fundamental rights can be agreed upon, conflicts arise between the fundamental rights of one person and another. The obvious questions that arise from these issues are, how do we determine what fundamental rights should be available to all persons? How do we decide on the level of state interference that is ‘right’ when it comes to people making choices? And, where ethical decisions are at stake, how do we effectively balance the fundamental rights of one person against another? For example, with reproductive technology, couples may use screening to avoid implanting an embryo identified as having genetic predispositions towards disease. They may also select the sex of their baby, or even identify if their embryo has the right tissue match to make it a compatible donor for another family member[46]. It is extremely difficult to decide how far the state should restrict such reproductive choices using natural law theory alone. The rights of the parents, the unborn child and the potential beneficiary of a donor, must be considered: all of which we may argue have a set of inherent right s afforded to them by virtue of them being human, but whose rights should prevail? Even if such choices can be agreed on now, Bentham points out that future governments may not have honesty to be trusted with the determination of â€Å"what rights shall be maintained, what abrogated what laws kept in force, what repealed†. Similarly, future subjects â€Å"will not have wit enough to be trusted with the choice whether to submit to the determination of the government of their time, or to resist it.†[47] There can be no agreement on the fundamental ‘goods’ and even if an agreement is reached, it may be that those in power in the future will change their decision as to what rights are inherent. It may also be that those subject to that power do not agree on the decisions that have been made for them. Because natural law makes no reference to anything (the right is just based on is inherently deducible from what is natural) and there is no real marker by which to measure decisions and laws, these cannot be immutable. Further, even if natural law theory is successful in identifying inherent rights that we can agree on, it does not state what limits there are in enforcing morally legitimate directives[48]. This begs the question: if a person has an inherent right by virtue of being human, how far can they go to enforce that right? The actions of Dr Martin Luther King demonstrate how far some have gone: King protested against segregation laws which he claimed violated natural law, and as a result he urged civil disobedience, which entailed violating the law[49]. A person held in captivity might for example need to go so far as to encroach on other people’s inherent to protect their own: in order to protect their right to life and freedom, a prisoner may have to kill their captor to escape. Bedau, in fact, suggests that Bentham misses the opportunity to make a further attack on natural law theory because of this lack of reference to what a citizen should do if their rights are encroached upon, the absence of which could be viewed as a â€Å"tacit invitation to insurrection, violence and anarchy†; since it is â€Å"hardly surprising that believers in â€Å"natural and imprescriptable rights might use direct and violent measures in an effort to secure those rights†[50]. The act of citizens using violence to secure their natural rights which encroach on others’ natural rights is an issue of balancing. There are many other scenarios where balancing respective rights are a problem: abortion, for example, could be seen as the murder of innocent lives that have inherent rights as human beings. Per natural law theory, laws that permit abortion must be invalid and Doctors who conduct abortions must be murderers. Arguably then, the execution of abortion doctors is a legitimate defence of others, and perhaps also a justified punishment for their evil behaviour and violation of natural law principles[51]. But to deny abortion is encroaching on the mother’s ‘natural’ rights of freedom and autonomy. These are arguments that are ongoing today. Bentham proposes that the whole concept of natural rights is flawed: there are simply no such things as natural rights. Rights anterior to the establishment of government do not exist; neither do rights that are opposed to, or in contradistinction to, legal rights. The expression, according to Bentham, is merely figurative; and as soon as one attempts to give it a literal meaning, it leads to error[52]. As well as attacking the use of natural law reasoning by judges, Bentham gives sound logic for his disapproval of the theory. First, men who have lived without government, live without rights: and such men are part of ‘savage nations’, with no habit of obedience and therefore no government; no government and therefore no laws; no laws and therefore no rights; and consequently, no security, property or liberty against regular control. Bentham argues that (since life without government brings unhappiness and savagery) we have a want for happiness and therefore a want for, and a reason for wanting, such rights. But â€Å"reasons for wishing there were such things as rights, are not rights; a reason for wishing that a certain right were established, is not that right want is not supply hunger is not bread.† In other words, simply stating that we are free because we want to be free, does not make us free[53]. Bentham points out that something which has no existence cannot be destroyed – and if it cannot be destroyed, it cannot therefore require anything to preserve it from destruction[54]. So for example, freedom does not exist and so we can’t destroy it; and since we can’t destroy it we don’t need to protect it from destruction by creating and being signatory to conventions like the Declaration of Rights which he attacks. To seek to do so is dangerous because as soon as a list of those natural rights is given, they are expressed to represent legal rights; but no government can abrogate or uphold them because they are a fallacy. They are not something we can rely on because they are non-existent. We have already examined Bentham’s alternative to natural law. Bentham’s model sees the virtue of the law expressed not in terms of morality, but instead, in efficiency: the greatest good of the greatest number, secured not by different decisions taken by different officials who rely on their own diverse judgements, but by detailed policy schemes whose complex consequences can be carefully considered in advance, laid down in detail, and enforced to the letter. Where in contrast moral tests are used to determine the law, which allow citizens and officials to disagree about what morality requires and to substitute their own judgement about what standards have been established, the consequent disorganisation will produce chaos[55]. Applying Bentham’s logic, the law is whatever the sovereign ruler or parliament has decreed. That Ruler or Parliament, in turn, restricts individuals only so far as is necessary to enable the law to maintain every other individual in the possession and exercise of such rights; and the law is consistent with the greatest good of the community that he should be allowed. The marking out of boundaries is the job of the legislator, and should not be left to any individual, such as the judge, to make ‘occasional and arbitrary’ decisions[56]. But utilitarianism does not necessarily hold the answer to the shortcomings of natural law theories. Since it promotes the idea of the greatest good for the greatest number, this implies that someone should be in charge, with the authority and duty to sacrifice any one person’s property, liberty, and life, for the greater good. It also assumes that the person in charge has the capacity to make those decisions selflessly and to correctly weigh the interests of one person against another. This may not necessarily be the case; and the decisions and actions made could be as ‘occasional and arbitrary’ as those made by supporters of natural law theory. Further, because the decisions are made by those in power, the decisions will become part of the law; and so they are harder to change where they seem unjust; in contrast to natural law theory where natural law (usually in the form of human rights law and conventions) is used to challenge existing laws. A further difficulty is that the greater good approach ignores the individual. Any one person is expendable for the greater good: and so, for example, it is difficult to make a convincing utilitarian argument that rape should be unlawful. Without a moral basis, spiritual basis or teleology for rights, there is an increased risk of materialist or secular ends justifying the means, thereby leading to disregard for individual welfare[57]: laws made for the greater good, based on this logic alone and ignoring reference to a moral code, can be brutal to the individual. Morality is, arguably, a valuable accompaniment to the law: it judges law, and moral attitudes shape the law. Law has moral ambitions; and morality may bear on the validity of law[58]. Bentham’s approach has yet further practical problems, with the stance that judges and such individuals may not interfere with the law, or expand it in any way. Firstly, whilst the law may be set out in great detail, the way it is applied by each judge is not entirely certain. Judges are humans and subject to human imperfection. Secondly, the law will never be able to cover every scenario in every detail as Bentham describes. There will always be some legally unregulated cases in which on some point no decision either way is dictated by the law and the law is accordingly partly indeterminate or incomplete. In such instances, the judge has to exercise his discretion and make law for the case, by expanding the application of existing principles, rather than merely applying already pre-existing settled law[59]. Perhaps a better solution, although not perfect, will draw inspiration from both natural law theory and Bentham’s theories of utilitarianism. Laws, for example, believes that the search for a good constitution of rights is an exercise in moral philosophy: and necessarily involves a reflection on how people in society ought to live. As a constitution of rights exists for the benefit of individual citizens, the primary task will be to identify the essential needs and requirements of mankind. This need not be by reference to purely moral arguments, and need not ignore the needs of the individual when considering the greater good. According to Laws, it starts with the Kantian perception that the individual is an end in himself, never a means. From this, we can generate a constitutional model that prevents the human tendency to interfere with others to the extent that their ability to act autonomously is undermined. The creation of rights to protect autonomy will protect individual s from such interference. Therefore, autonomy â€Å"gives rise to rights†[60]. For this model to work, Laws believes that there must be an institution capable of enforcing the autonomy-protecting rights against the powerful, and especially the government. This institution, he believes, is the Courts. Such a model for human rights does not abolish altogether the difficulties that arise from natural law theory. One still has to agree on the ‘essential needs and requirements’ of mankind. But if one assumes for a moment that not they, nor anyone else, is in a position to state what those needs really are, then the only solution is to allow every individual to decide for themselves that their needs are. Restricting autonomy only to the extent where it encroaches on other people’s autonomy will allow this. It takes away the requirement that there has to be some higher moral order and allows each individual to make the decisions for themselves. This addresses one of the fundamental flaws of natural law theory. Natural law, as we stated, assumes man has an ‘end’ and that rights should be put in place to help him achieve that end. But man does not necessarily want to achieve that end: perhaps instead he wants to terminate his life before he reaches that en d. Human rights in the UK and Europe do not permit him to do so: to protect him from himself. But man is equipped with skills of reasoning, and reason, unlike natural growth, is â€Å"constituted by deliberative qualities like, reflection, analysis, prudence, principle, coherence and consistency. In a way therefore reason is precisely the opposite of a natural quality†[61]. Man may reason that he doesn’t want to follow what is natural, and ought to be permitted not to do so, provided his actions do not directly affect the choices of others. This is somewhat along the lines of John Mills’ harm principle, which denotes that: â€Å"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant†[62]. Of course, no man is an island[63] and our conduct necessarily involves interaction with others[64]; this is what makes the model imperfect, because it is simply theoretical and not practical. The degree of autonomy we could be afforded without affecting others in our actions is minute. But it is a starting point for considering what human rights should be enforced, and it gets around some complicated ethical problems (such as that of abortion, since autonomy must be restricted to prevent the taking of life of the unborn child, who would have no opportunity for autonomy at all if it were not). Bentham’s greater good theories are not entirely redundant, as in a balancing of autonomous rights question (such as where an organ is available for transplant but the relatives will not consent), the autonomy of the live person, dead person, relatives and medical professionals will still need some form of assessment. The action permitting the greatest autonomy (i.e. the transplant taking place or the unborn life surviving) should perhaps prevail. In conclusion, whilst we have seen a progressive inclusion in human rights into constitutions since the eighteenth century, the upholding of those rights has hardly been a success[65]. The aftermath of the Second World War, which saw the violation of human rights on a massive scale, and the rise in totalitarianism, has spurned a growth in interest towards establishing the security of such rights. In formulating what rights should be included in various conventions, there have be

Comparing Dystopian Dream of Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale and GATTACA :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Dystopian Dream of Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale and GATTACA  Ã‚   In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill writes that â€Å"it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.† By this he meant there are qualitative degrees of satisfaction and if to be satisfied we’re lowered in status to that of a pig, it’s better for us to be dissatisfied humans. The film GATTACA and the books Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale create fictional places where the needs and desires of humans are met, but not as well as they should be and not without a price. Given the achievements in science over the last several decades, specifically in areas of genetics and biology, it is no wonder why we dream of altering our world in the name of progress. But with social progress in these tales comes repressed individuality, loss of personal freedom, and discrimination of those who aren’t the biological elite. Because such stories deal with these potential imperfections of utopia, they’re called dystopias, pessimistic vi sions of societies striving to be ideal but never reaching their goal. Utopian and Dystopian thinkers differ in their views of human nature. While Utopians see human nature as basically good, Dystopians cannot share such optimism. Human nature, in their view, is much like science, neither good nor bad, but varied and variable, potentially both good and evil. Even in the most ideal circumstances, Dystopians believe there’s no escaping those who desire power and control over others. (Dystopia Handout) In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale those who seize power in the Republic of Gilead are the Commanders, men who arrange a right wing militant theocracy that demotes women and controls society. After a political massacre eradicates pre-Gilead government and environmental disasters threaten the proliferation of the human race, those women still capable of reproducing are forced to bear children for those who cannot. Those lucky enough to become Handmaids are spared from life in the Colonies handling toxic waste. Offred, the main chara cter of the book, finds herself stripped away from her family and her previous role in society. Instead of being a wife and a mother, she is what Lois Feuer calls â€Å"a walking womb,† useful only because she’s still fertile in a world where fertility is rare.. In GATTACA, as in The Handmaid’s Tale, reproduction is controlled by an elite group of males, but in a slightly different way.

Life and work in Merthyr Tydfil in the nineteenth century

The growth of industry in Merthyr was the main reason for the huge increase in population over a hundred years from 1750 to 1851. The population was estimated at four hundred people for the year 1750,this was just an estimate so we do not know how reliable this is as it is just an estimate and was not an official system. However by 1801 the first census was introduced and this produced an official figure for the population in Merthyr at the time, which was seven thousand people. This shows a massive increase in population in just over fifty years. The population continued to rise up until 1851 where it reached forty six thousand people. Source A1 The population of Merthyr Tydfil Year Population 1750 400 1801 7,000 1831 30,000 1851 46,000 The area of Merthyr was ideally situated for an iron works, as the mountains above were inexhaustible sources of Iron ore, coal, limestone, firestone and fire clay. There were several iron works in Merthyr at the time but the ones of Mr.Crawshays were the grandest and largest. The workers earnings averaged à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3 a month. This covered Men, Women and Children. The maximum wage of the workers was nine Guineas, which was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½9.45 per month. However this compared to Crawshay was nothing as he was earning a bumper à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½36,000 per annum. These facts and figures come from source A2 from the resource booklet. Rev. George Capper produced the source in a journal of a tour of Wales. This therefore makes the source a very reliable piece of evidence as Reverend George wrote it, who would have been a trustworthy and respected member of society. Also he would have had no reason to adopt a biased view on the subject. The source is very useful to a historian studying the works in Merthyr as it gives information regarding the size of the works and wage structures of the factory. Transport played a major part in the growth of Merthyr as an industrial town. In 1790 plans were put forward to construct a canal, which would go from Merthyr to Cardiff. It cost à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½103,600 and took four years to build. On its completion in February 1794 the canal measured 241/2 miles. The canal allowed raw materials to be transported at a much faster rate than previously, it could also transport a larger amount of goods at a time, compared to the old method of a horse and cart. Source A5(ii) shows how in ten years the use of the canal went from 83,729 tons of coal a year to 211,214 tons of coal a year. The levels of discontent in Merthyr started to rise at the start of the nineteenth century. There were many factors that contributed to this; one of them was truck tokens that were issued to workers as payment. This caused discontent because the tokens could only be spent in the shops, which were owned by the truck companies. The goods were highly priced and poor in quality, this along with a number of other issues including the state of the government at the time eventually led to the start of the riots in Merthyr at the start of the nineteenth century. Source B2 explains how the riot in Merthyr had reached such a point that it would be impossible to stop without the assistance of the military. It also explains what the rioters were doing during the riot, how they had demolished truck shops, the main one being the Morgan Lewis shop. It goes on to say that he thought there were in excess of two thousand people ‘doing all the mischief they can.' G.Lyndon produced the source in a letter to Samuel Homfray on the 22nd September 1800. It would have been reliable because the letter was taken from the time of the riot, also source B3 is shows a painting of troops arriving in Merthyr which backs up what is said in the letter. The painting is a contemporary painting by Penry Williams. Even though it is a contemporary painting it may not be an entirely reliable source as the artist may have exaggerated the scene, it would have been more reliable if it had been a photo instead of a painting. This would affect the usefulness of the source to an historian studying the events in Merthyr. The usefulness of the letter is that it would have been able to tell historians exactly what was going on in Merthyr at the time and how serious the riots actually were. At the start of the nineteenth radical ideas started to become more popular in Merthyr. They believed that wide scale reforms were needed in Merthyr at the time. These views are put across in source B4, which is part of an anonymous paper, found near Penydarren on 27th January 1817. It talks about the misery of the people of Merthyr and how if changes are not made soon the workers will take the law into their own hands. Source A1 shows the growth in population in Merthyr over a hundred years from 1750 to 1831. Source C1 shows the census of 1851 in detail. The reliability of this source is put into question as it says that the total population in Merthyr in the year 1851 is six thousand, five hundred and twenty eight. If this is compared to source A1, where it states that the population in Merthyr was actually thirty thousand people. Therefore there is a difference of nearly twenty five thousand between each source. This also casts doubt over the reliability of source A1, however in my opinion source I believe that source A1 would be more reliable than source C1 because source A1 supports the fact that Merthyr was booming due to the increasing size of the ironworks at the time.

How Important Is Recycling In Society Environmental Sciences Essay

RecyclingA is a procedure of utilizing waste stuffs into new merchandises to forestall wastage of utile stuffs, reduces the ingestion of fresh natural stuffs, reduceA use of energy, reduces chiefly land pollution and H2O pollution by cut downing the demand for â€Å" conventional † waste disposal. Recycling is a cardinal constituent of cut downing modern waste and is the 3rd constituent of the 3R constructs that are â€Å" Reduce, Reuse, Recycle † A . The recycling symbolA is recognizedA symbolA used to designateA recyclableA stuffs internationally. It is composed of three trailing pointers that form an ageless cringle. Recycling has been a common pattern for most of human history, with recorded of advocators as far back as Plato in 400 BC.A During periods when resources are rare, archeological surveies of ancient mopess wastes show less household waste ( such as ashes, broken tools and clayware ) -implying more waste were being recycled in the absence of new stuff. In pre-industrial times, there is grounds of bit bronze and other metals are collected in Europe and melted down for ageless reuse.A In Britain dust and ash from the wood fires and coal fires was collected by â€Å" scavengers † and downcycled as the basic stuff used in the industry of bricks.A The chief driver of these types of recycling was the economic advantage of obtaining recycled feedstock alternatively of geting virgin stuff, and every bit good as the deficiency of public waste remotion in more dumbly populated countries. In 1813, Benjamin Law developed the procedure of turning in shred into â€Å" cheapjack † and â€Å" mungo † wool in Batley, Yorkshire.A This stuff recycled combined fibers with virgin wool.A Industry West Yorkshire in towns such as Batley and Dewsbury, lasted from the early nineteenth century at least 1914. Industrialization has increased the demand for stuffs, aside from shreds, ferric scrapped metals were desired because they were cheaper to purchase than that of virgin ore.A Railways both bought and sold bit metal in the nineteenth century, and the turning steel and automotive industries progressively purchased bit in the early twentieth century.A Many secondary merchandises have been collected, processed and sold by the peddlers who combed mopess, streets, and went door to door in hunt of cast-off machines, pots, pans, and otherA metal sources.A By the World War I, 1000s of merchandisers roamed the streets of metropoliss in the U.S. , taking advantage of market forces to recycle post-consumer stuffs back into industrial production. Wartime Resource deficits caused by World Wars, and other events that change the universe greatly encouraged recycling.A Extensive authorities publicity runs have been carried out in the Second World War in every states involved in the war, coercing citizens to donate metals and preserve fibre, as a affair of important loyal importance.A For illustration in 1939, Britain launched a plan called Paper Salvage where this is to promote recycling of stuffs to help the war effort.A Resource preservation plans established during the war were continued in some states without an copiousness of natural resources, like Japan after the war ended. Postwar The following major investing in recycling occurred in the seventiess due to lifting energy costs.A Recycling aluminium uses merely 5 % of the energy required by virgin production, glass, paper and metals have less dramatic but really important energy when recycled feedstock is used. Importance of recycling Recycling is indispensable to both to human existences and its surrounding environment. Some facts about how rubbish that we produce is invariably increasing: I. Population is being increased and that means there are more people to make waste. two. The wealth is being increased and that means people are purchasing more and more merchandises and making more waste finally. three. Lifestyle is being changed, such as devouring more fast nutrient presents, and that means we create extra waste that is non-biodegradable. four. Developing of new technological merchandises and new packaging are being created, most of the stuffs in these merchandises that are non-biodegradable. Importance to people Around the universe, recycling is of import to metropoliss and to the people populating here and at that place in these metropoliss. I. By and large continuing natural resources is indispensable for the future coevalss. The demand for more natural stuffs is reduced by recycling ; it besides minimizes the usage of energy, hence its better continuing natural resources for the hereafter. two. Fiscal outgo is being reduced in the economic system. The merchandises made from the natural stuffs costs much more than if they were made from recycling merchandises. Environmental importance Waste is of import to be recycle as it has a immense negative impact on natural environment.i.Recycling helps to minimise the pollution caused by waste as these waste can let go of risky chemicals and nursery gases to the environment.two. Deforestation can do habitat devastation and planetary heating. the demand for natural stuffs can be reduced by recycling ( e.g: paper recycling ) . three. When merchandises are being made from natural stuffs, big sum of energy are being used. Recycling requires less energy and hence it helps to continue natural resources.Recycling in MauritiusIt has been noted that up until really recently in Mauritius the recycling of waste from family has been referred to a little measure and which are being likely to be neglected. Surely screening of waste and recycling is ineluctable for our spectacless, Sns, plastics and documents. It is true that, some of the larger hypermarkets are interested with fictile bin for aggregation and recycling, but what about the other waste we produced? But this state of affairs is being changed with the act of introducing of in 2007 the NGO of Mission Verte. There is now a proliferation of about 20 recycling centersA in Mauritius. The aboriginal purpose of the NGO is to raise consciousness of the populace about the 3R that is to cut down, re-use and recycle the waste of family. Their attempts aimed greatly at promoting the sorting and sedimentation of documents, composition boards, Sn, plastics and spectacless by the persons for assemblage and collected by local companies for the procedure recycling, but they are besides acute to advance theA compost methodsA of the green waste by the populace. Mare Chicose, created in the 1990s, is place to the island ‘s merely family landfill waste site. However, this landfill is under force per unit area because of the increasing sum of waste created. An sum of 375,000 metric tons of solid waste was created in 2003 ( 1,200 metric tons per twenty-four hours ) , which is expected to increase by 418,000 metric tons in 2014 and 510,000 in 2034. To clear up the state of affairs, the authorities has proposedA the creative activity ofA anA incinerationA plantA which would manage aboutA three quartersA of theA waste createdA andA produceA electricity.A TheA obstacleA is thatA the waste in Mauritius, which is mostly green ( garden waste, veggies, A etc. ) , A non suited for incineration, A andA besides that the chimneyA would haveA major negativeA public wellness, environmental andA economic impacts.A Environmental organizationsA inA MauritiusA recommend that minimizingA the creative activity of waste by enabling the recyclingA andA compost ingA ofA green waste ; A will extendA theA lifetime sufficientlyA landfill site, removingA theA importanceA of an incineratorA orA forA further landfill sites. Screening of waste Bins have been provided in many topographic points in Mauritius to rectify sorting of waste. The Mission Verte organisation provides information cusps about the marks on these bins. Materials that can be recycle in Mauritius Thin composition boards and paper – Thin composition board: bristol paper, for illustration: biscuits boxes, , coffin nail packages, medical specialty boxes etc. Paper: Magazine, handbills, newspaper, envelope and pulling documents, exercising books and telephone books. Note that milk, soap cartons, juice, C paper or dirty paper, wallpapers and wax documents, metalized and plasticized paper ( cocoa or some confects negligees ) can non be recycle. plastic- jar, bottle, container and pots of ‘all ‘ fictile types All types of plastic can now be deposited at: Grand-Bay, Tamarin and Forest-sides.A Merely fictile bottles can be deposited at Floreal, Curepipe, Flacq, Mahebourg, Phoenix and Trianon. aluminum tins and metal- Aluminium tins are discarded in the plastic subdivision Note that Preserves tins, jam tins, aerosols, metallic tray, aluminum pans or dishware can non be recycle in Mauritius. cardboards- All packaging and boxes made of ‘corrugated composition board ‘ can merely be recycle in Mauritius. Note: Dirty containers of pizza, poster board, or other nutrient containers can non be recycle in our island. glass – All glass bottle, jars and pot can be recycle except mirror, porcelains, light bulb and ceramic which can non be recycle in Mauritius. ( glass can merely be recovered at Curepipe terminal )