New England vs. Chesapeake Paper Essay Example for Free

New England vs. Chesapeake Paper Essay The New England and Chesapeake regions varied in many ways. They varied economically, socially, and religiously. At first there were many small colonies but then they grew into two distinct regions, the New England and Chesapeake areas. The New England region was a more superior place to live in than the Chesapeake region because the people in New England developed swifter and better. The Chesapeake region suffered because it had social, climatic, and religious problems. Even though the southern area is known for their blossoming fields and enormous plantations, the climate is scorching and the area suffered from many diseases. (Jamestown Settlement: Primary Sources New Brittannia). As a result, a large part of the population actually ended up dying due to these harmful diseases like the disease of smallpox. Yes, the southern colonies had a thriving economy due to the growing of tobacco and rice, but they lacked diversity. In this area they mainly had only one type of religion, Anglican. They absolutely had no religious tolerance. The social structure was also way off during this time period. It consisted with the majority of the population being poor indentured servants and slaves and then a small portion being wealthy plantation owners. The plantation owners were white men and they held all the power to vote in the society. That is why this region was so underdeveloped. They had a moist and blistering climate, and they had no diversity religiously or socially. However, The New England colonies developed better than the Chesapeake region because they had a better climate, and were more diverse socially along with religiously. Firstly, it was colder in this region so the people there did not have any destructive illnesses lingering around. Secondly they had more of a mixture in religion like Quakers and Catholics. The people in these colonies focused on religion and they wanted close- knit families (Document A). They did not just have one sole religion but several. The area also had more of a diverse social system with many different levels. They had poor people, middle-class working people, and than the rich. The people in this region believed that they should struggle and win together as a team. (City upon a Hill). The main reason they had a diverse social class is because they did not need to only depend on farming for their economic income. They had a fishing industry and the New England colonies were placed in an urban area so the people had more choices for jobs, although some people still farmed. They also had many technological advances in the New England Colony with Benjamin Franklin making many machines and inventions during this era. That is why the New England area was more developed and had a better chance of surviving. In Conclusion, the New England area was a much better place to live. They were not as prone to diseases because of the colder climate, they were more diverse socially and religiously, and they had economic opportunities because they were an industry. This difference in development needed to occur because without it America wouldn’t be as diverse as it is today because everyone would just have conformed together.

Feminist Movement 1960s

Feminist Movement 1960s The Women Movement has been divided into three phases by the feminist experts. Each phase dealt with different issues regarding to females. In the First Wave of Feminism, the movement started from the 18th century which lasted in the beginning of the 20th century. The hurdles of inequality such as property rights and voting rights were the major concerns. Virginia Woolf is the founder of the ideas of this first wave of movement. The first wave completely paid attention to the idea and rights of suffrage. The Second Wave of Womens Movement which is also known as Feminist Movement or the Liberation movement of women in the USA began during the early years of 1960s and lasted throughout the late 1980s. Simone de Beauvoir is allied with the idea of this wave. The second wave of feminism focused on the issues of gender inequality, sexuality, workplace, family and reproductive rights. This wave argued that women have to face the political as well personal tyranny in a society which is male dominant. (Barbara Sinclair, 1983) The womens movement in the 1960s emphasized on attaining freedom in terms of reproductive and sexual. The demands are women specific like centers for rape crisis, birth control options, very reasonably priced child care, emphasis on womens health and other needs of women. This movement resulted in creation of municipal Rape Treatment Center Act, 1974 by which in all city hospitals, rape treatment centers established. This movement also challenged the abortion law in Illinois where abortions were illegal by law by creating an organization named Jane. Other goals of these movements were the equality in terms of economics from 1960 onwards. This movement emphasized on gender equality unlike earlier movements which were aimed for legislation only. Another organization was formed for the rights of women in 1974 name The Coalition of Labor Union Women with the targets like maternity leave, pension benefits deduction and other rights like biased insurance rates and provided access to women who were never before on union level. Women which were already working in Chicago fought hiring and biasness for jobs. The period from 1917 to 1960s had two world wars and an economic boom because of which many women came into Workplace. During the war, women served as labor and then they started working to achieve and maintain the new higher and better living standards which were enjoyed only by middle class families. When women joined the workplace, they soon realized the discriminated behavior towards them in terms of unequal economic and social status. Many movements such as Civil Rights act and student movements were at its peak during the years of 1960s. The women adopted and followed the practices of these movements. They adopted the different methods of awareness raising, demonstrations, protests, and political lobbying to bring in front their own agenda. National Organization for Women (NOW) was established in 1966 which was an official group to represent and fight for the issues and problems of women. This new group of women was not instant success of them but by the end of second years of its creation growing to its members up to the mark of 1035 and was divided by ideological partitions. The founders of NOW began working on the legislation that could improve the living of the women and they also forced the politicians to become aware of the problems of the women. This group worked out six factors which are considered to be essential for womens equality with men which includes the abiding of laws by employers for equal opportunity employment and end the discrimination, equivalent and isolate education as of men. The other factors were maternity leaves, tax deductions and training to poor women while on job. At the same time many other organizations started to establish for the welfare of the women. The two factors on which NOW face d serious problems were Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution which makes sure the equivalent rights regardless of gender and the demand of contraception and abortion. United Auto Workers which was supporting NOW with the office space took out its support because the ERA law will prohibit freedom for women. When some of the NOW members called to revoke the abortion amendments, many other members left NOW. NOW was struggling to re-establish itself as a national organization for women for the period of two years. There were other groups formed due to this blow to NOW by female antiwar, civil rights and members who left NOW due to refusal to readdressing the womens concerns. Women during 1960s period were demoralized by unequal treatment. In 1964 at Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC) conference a womans resolution was presented, Stokely Carmichael who was Black Nationalism in United States cut off all the debate with the argument that the only place for women in SNCC is prone. NOW aimed on womens rights, the new radical groups emerged with wider themes of womens freedom and spread in Chicago, Toronto, Seattle, Detroit and other places and towns. Although these radical groups structure was not strong as NOW has its national structure. In no time, womens liberation movement was wide spread and can be observed every where. Liberation movement had no officers nor offices, no addresses and no printed agenda to present their point of view. Miss America Pageant presented the image of womanhood during the protest at Atlantic City and New Jersey in 1968. Redstockings which is one of the feminist radical groups published The Bitch Manifesto based in New York City in 1969. In 1969, NOW called the congress to unite women in which was aimed to unite the radical and moderate wings of the womens movement which was almost impossible task. NOW leaders were aimed to have a reform while the radical groups were aimed to revolution. In 1975, the National Agenda of Women the comprehensive program of legal and political reforms- was presented to the president Gerald Ford, all state governors and all the members of the Congress. Subsequently, in 1977 an action plan was presented to the government official in National Womens Conference in Houston to remind them about the feminine constitution which is their responsibility. National Womens Political Caucus and National Organization for Women keep focusing and pressurizing the politicians and legislators and making prominent of womens issues on media. The legal success of the movements were the Affirmative action, Title IX and Women Education Equity Act, The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1974), the act of Pregnancy Discrimination (1978), the illegalization of marital rape and legalization of no fault divorce in all states. Beside all these victories, the change of social attitudes in favor of female is considered the biggest victory of the womens movement. The year of 1980 is the decline of the second wave of feminine movement. During the early 1980s, it was thought that females have achieved all of their demanded goals. In 1982, the Equal Right Act (ERA) was failed, because only three states did not approve this. The second wave of womens movement was successful except the ERA. (Flora Davis, 1999) Pros and Cons Despite of problems faced by Womens movement due to its leadership and ranks, the movement attained some goals in a very short time. Due to support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1965, women in US got jobs in every corner of US and the employees which have decimation histories are required to provide the durations in which they increase the women strength in their companies. Some laws including Divorce laws were relaxed; ensuring that employers can not fire the pregnant women from jobs and some new study programs for women are introduced in universities and colleges. In 1972, Congress passed an amendment in the Higher Education Act which ensured that there must be no discrimination on the bases of gender in educational programs which are getting federal financial helps and also ensured that there must be same space for womens in all male schools. ERA amendments in the US laws including state sodomy laws, existence of single sex bathrooms in public places, legalization of same-sex marriage and relationship and making abortion as a legal right funded by the taxpayer fund. This law required 38 states which were not achieved as expected and amendment fell short of three states support. There was a growing sense that womens movement goals are already achieved. NOW sustained its new role in new millennium by struggling for womens rights including equality in military and federal funding for child care programs and to prevent any violence against womens of US. Despite of its popularity and its membership and funding growth, its activism fragmented and burdened with opposition. In sum, the second wave of womens movement was very successful for the welfare and in status up gradation of women. It has many successes and the only failure is the ERA. In the Third Wave of Feminism started in 1990s and present till today. This movement started in result of the perceived failures of the second wave of Feminism. The Equal Rights amendment is still in question and in progress which was supported by second and third wave movement leaders.

U.S Attitudes Towards Transgender People

U.S Attitudes Towards Transgender People In the United States, there are unassigned â€Å"rules† and standards of which people are expected to conform to, gender being one of them. Throughout history people have only known two types of sex, female and male, but what about other gender identities?   People tend to develop attitudes about those who identify themselves as the opposite gender. These attitudes are influenced by a variety of factors: religion, morals, political ideology, just to name a few. I wanted to see what really influences the attitudes the nation holds towards transgender people. The articles I discuss address U.S. attitudes towards those individuals and provide insight of why they feel have those attitudes. The article, â€Å"Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Towards Transgender People: Finding from a National Probability Sample of U.S Adults,† by Aaron T. Norton and Gregory M. Herek, introduces a study that describes the correlations of men’s and women’s attitudes towards transgender people. They surveyed 2,281 participants, and the survey focused on five hypotheses, each hypothesis focusing on different aspects that contribute towards heterosexual men and women attitudes towards transgender people. The first, â€Å"heterosexuals’ attitudes toward transgender people are positively correlated with their attitudes toward sexual minorities† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.5). The participants attitudes were measured with a series of feeling thermometers, and the participants were told, â€Å"using a scale from zero to 100, please tell us your personal feelings toward each of the following groups†¦ The warmer or more favorable you feel toward the group, the higher the number you should give it,† vis-versa. (Norton & Herek, 2010, p. 6). If the participant felt neither warm or cold toward the group, they would rate it 50 (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 6). The participants were also told to use a 5- point scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, for Attitudes Towards Lesbians (ATL) and Attitudes Towards Gay Men (ATG) (Norton & Herek, 20102, p.6). The higher the scores indicated higher levels of sexual prejudice. The results for this hypothesis show that transgender people are highly correlated with the four sexual minority groups: gay men, lesbian women, bisexual men, and bisexual women, and they are also negatively correlated with the scores of the ATG and ATL. (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.7). Like the first hypotheses, the four-other focus on similar aspects that correlates towards the negative attitudes people have towards transgender people. The second hypothesis states, â€Å"they [attitudes] are more negative among men than women,† was proven to be true (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). According to the study heterosexual man have more negative ratings to all â€Å"men† targets (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.8). Men also scored higher than women, meaning greater prejudice on both the ATG and ATL scale. Hypothesis three stated that â€Å"to the extent heterosexual respondents endorse a binary, conception of gender, their attitudes toward transgender people are more negative† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). 46.5% agreed that â€Å"there is not enough respect for their natural divisions between the sexes,† while 19.5% disagreed, and 34.0% reported they were â€Å"in the middle.† In all the results concluded that attitudes towards transgender people w ere correlated with endorsement of gender binary beliefs (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.8). â€Å"Transgender attitudes are correlated with the same social psychological variables that have consistently been observed to correlate with heterosexuals† attitudes toward sexual minorities, is what the fourth hypothesis stated† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). This hypothesis looks at four different correlations: authoritarianism, political ideology, religion, and personal contact with sexual minorities of attitudes toward transgender people. I focused on three of the four, political ideology, religion, and personal contact with sexual minorities. 48.2% described their political ideology was moderate, while 26.5% were liberal and 30.7% were conservative (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 9). The conservative respondents gave lower thermometer rating (25.39%), followed by moderate (32.18%), then liberals (39.23%), thus meaning that conservative individuals had more negative, prejudice attitudes toward transgender people (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.9). The second of the four correlations I focused on was religion. It was found that women who have â€Å"a great deal† of religious guidance in their day-to-day living, had transgender ratings that were significantly more negative (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 9). The results also concluded that prior contact with gay or lesbian people meant that thermometer scores were higher, less prejudice, than respondents who had lacked such contact (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.9). The fifth and last hypothesis that the survey tested was, â€Å"men’s attitudes toward both groups are linked I similar ways to the variables specified in hypotheses 3 and 4 If sexual prejudice is controlled, between those variables and men’s transgender attitudes should be reduced to no significance consistent with previous findings.† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 4). While hypothesis five had little support, it concluded that heterosexual menâ€⠄¢s attitudes toward transgender people and their political and gender beliefs reduced when their attitudes toward gay men were statistically controlled (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 110). It also concluded that with ATG scores controlled, women’s attitudes were predicted by â€Å"authoritarianism and anti-egalitarianism,† and so were men’s; showing gender differences in the psychological roots of transgender attitudes were not observed (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.11).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aaron Norton and Gregory Herek’s article about the attitudes heterosexuals have about transgender people was very interesting, I found that the study focused on some of the main aspects that influence heterosexuals’ attitudes towards transgender people in the U.S. I also gained knowledge about why people may have such attitudes. I feel that the content included throughout this article is very relevant with some of the topics we have discussed in class, such as, ‘ethic, religions, and sexuality’, and gender identity as a whole. The article included many finding that I agree with. One being that, â€Å"attitudes towards transgender people were more negative among heterosexual men than heterosexual women† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.1). I believe that to be true, statistics prove it, but also though out the community I live in. I have observed the attitudes and stigmatizations transgender people face in my community, and I have witness more negative attitu des coming from the heterosexual men that I have contact with. I also agree that being exposed to more sexual minorities, leads to people having less sexual prejudice toward transgender people. I have found that by having contact with those who identify as lesbian or gay, makes me more accepting of transgender people. I believe that the survey as a whole helps readers gain more knowledge about the prejudice attitudes people, especially heterosexuals, have towards transgender individuals within the Unites States. The article, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† by Hogler Elischberger, Jessica Glazier, Eric Hill, and Lynn Baker-Verduzco present a survey study that examines the attitudes U.S. adults have toward transgender children and adolescents. There were 281 individuals (128 male, 152 females, and 1 missing information) that participated in the survey and reported that had â€Å"generally favorable attitudes toward transgender minors† (Elischberger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco, 2016, p. 199). The survey first assesses the attitude adults had toward transgender people by asking a series of questions. It then assesses their behavior intentions with two hypothetical situations. The study concluded with the ‘presumed causes of gender atypicality, where the participants were asked to indicate how strongly biological (nature) and environmental (nurture) cause affect atypical behavior (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p .203). The article, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† by Hogler Elischberger, Jessica Glazier, Eric Hill, and Lynn Baker-Verduzco presents a survey study that examines the attitudes U.S. adults have toward transgender children and adolescents. There were 281 individuals (128 male, 152 females, and 1 missing information) that participated in the survey and reported that had â€Å"generally favorable attitudes toward transgender minors† (Elischberger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco, 2016, p. 199). The survey first assesses the attitude adults had toward transgender people by asking a series of questions. It then assesses their behavior intentions with two hypothetical situations. The study concluded with the ‘presumed causes of gender atypicality, where the participants were asked to indicate how strongly biological (nature) and environmental (nurture) cause affect atypical behavior (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203).      The survey first assesses the participants attitudes, with a series of attitude statements. The participants used a 10-point Likert type scale ranging from 1, completely disagree, and 10, completely agree to see rate their attitudes toward the list of statements provided.   The statements given included â€Å"Personally, I view this gender atypical behavior as a problem because Six of these statements were provided that differed in terms of the reason cited for the disapproval: it is against my morals, it contradicts my religious views, Bit will hurt the child’s [teenager’s] current relationships with their peers, Bit will be a bad influence on other children [teenagers],it may have an effect on the child’s [teenager’s] sexual orientation it goes against nature. A seventh option, the child’s behavior is not wrong for any one specific reason, it is just inappropriate† (Elischberger et. al., 2016 p.201). These statements allowed the participants to express their attitudes without giving a specific reason. The attitudes result for this part of the survey, although relatively low, showed that attitudes were less positive in the participants who had religious affiliation, conservative social-political views, and stronger conformity to certain traditional gender norms; however, the endorsement level of participants was highest (7.34 out of 10) with the statement, â€Å"I do not find the behavior a problem† (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 202). Thus, meaning that the majority of participates did not have a problem with transgender people. The second part of the survey consisted of how participants might act in two hypothetical situations that involved a gender-atypical child or adolescent. The scenarios were (a) using the restroom appropriate for their gender opposed to sex, and (b) sharing a cabin/room on a school trip with peers of the same gender (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). The participants were asked to put themselves into the positions of the: parent of the nonconforming child, the parent of one of the child’s peers, the child’s teacher, and a school administer (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). The response ranged on a 1(lowest and 10 (highest) possible scores, with higher numbers indicating a â€Å"stronger intent to limit gender expression in each scenario† (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 203). On average, all the average results ranged between 4 and 6. In the restroom scenario, the results indicated that if the participant was the parent of the transgender child they would more than likely want their child to use the restroom of which they identified with, however, if they were in the administrator position they would be less likely to want that child to use their assigned restroom (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). In the third part of the survey was ‘Presumed Causes of Gender Atypically.’ This part consisted of asking the participants to indicate how strongly they believed different factors cause gender atypical behaviors. The participants determined whether biological (nature) causes genetics, hormones, and brain development, or, environmental (nurture) cause: mother, father, media, and other environment caused gender atypicality (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 203). The results showed that on average the participants agreed that environmental factors played more of a role in gender atypicality than biological factors. It shows that the participants believed other environmental factors and media were the highest causes of gender atypicality.   I find the research done in the â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† to be very interesting. I believe that I am, and am becoming, more open to allowing transgender people express their gender identity. I agree that the media and environmental factors play a key role in gender atypicality, but I also believe that it comes from within. This article includes some stuff that we have discussed in class, but we have yet to go into depth about transgender people, so I am not able to find a lot of connections between the class content specifically. Discussing the research that is found in this article would be beneficial for a larger population because it assesses the attitudes of people who believe that they are â€Å"okay† with transgender children and adolescence, and determine if they actually are. Overall, both articles included information that was accurate to how the U.S. populations feel towards transgender people. They both state that being more religious and having more conservative values correlate to people having more prejudice attitudes towards transgender people. If I were able to conduct my own study or include a category, I would include children’s point of view. I know they would not fully understand all the factors that go into nonconforming or transgender individuals, but I believe it would be interesting to do a study that focused on how their mindset changes over the years about the topic and what, if any, biological and environmental aspects contribute to their attitudes.   References Elischberger, H. B., Glazier, J. J., Hill, E. D., & Verduzco-Baker, L. (2016, March 22). Boys Dont Cry-or Do They? Adult Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth. Retrieved March 23, 2018, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-016-0609-y Norton, A. T., & Herek, G. M. (2013, June 01). Heterosexuals Attitudes Toward Transgender   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People: Findings from a National Probability Sample of U.S. Adults. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/heterosexuals-attitudes-toward-transgender-people-findings-from-a

Dantes Inferno Essay example -- Dante Inferno Essays

Dante's Inferno It was sometime in the middle of the 17th century that British cleric Thomas Fuller wrote, "He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil." If Fuller was right, where does one place Dante, the pilgrim who bravely wandered where no man had wandered before? Certainly, the sojourner precisely written by the poet of the same name was a man. Certainly, also, he repented his sinful ways (how could one not after braving not only the depths of Hell but later the stretches of Purgatory and the "many waters" of Heaven?), but he was no saint. Indeed, Inferno itself can be easily construed as a boast of sorts—made it through hell, met Lucifer, bought the t-shirt. But in reality, the book is much more subtle, and the journey much more enlightening to readers as one watches Dante, an Everyman if ever there was one, change his thought processes even as foot passes foot on his journey downward. When examining just what type of man Dante the poet was, it's important to note the society of the times. To be from Italy†¦or, even more specifically, from Florence†¦was an important distinction. Even today, Italy is a center of religion. In 1330, Italy was not only a Catholic Mecca but a republican haven. Dante the poet was not the only citizen of the city to gain distinction—Michelangelo, Raphael, and da Vinci all proudly added "Florentine" under their signatures. Additionally, Pope Gregory XI would find the city sinful enough to excommunicate the entire place forty-six short years later. Living in such a tumultuous and dynamic atmosphere, it was no wonder that Dante the poet, already in exile, would place his literary counterpart (for clearly the pilgrim is ss otherwise specified... ...e progress of the pilgrim from a sinner, sympathetic even to those condemned by God, to that of a saint of sorts, vindictive and scornful of the enemies of the church. The presence of the two further episodes of Dante the poet's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio and Paradiso) indicates that the pilgrim's spiritual education is not complete, but he has learned a great deal throughout his journey throughout hell—arising from the subterranean with less moral confusion and a greater sense of God-fearing reverence. For 14th century Italy, the alternative was more than a personality flaw†¦it was a stigma. The poet, alone and in exile, had taken truly to heart and to paper the words that his Romantic counterpart Percy Shelley (a man who would be called to Italy himself time and time again) would write nearly 500 years later: "The great instrument of moral good is the imagination."

North Korea Surprise Attack :: essays research papers

In 1949, Congress dragged its feet in considering a $150 million dollar aid bill to South Korea. Syngman Rhee had so often talked about invading North Korea that US leaders feared giving him too much in the way of weapons. For this reason, South Korea was sent only rifles, bazookas, and light artillery; tanks an airplanes were held back. Also by 1949, most of the US military had moved out. Only 500 advisors, known as KMAG (the Korean Military Advisory Group) remained in South Korea, under the command of Brigadier-General William L. Roberts. In January of 1950, the House defeated the Korean Aid Bill by a single vote; Korea was scheduled no to get American Aid for the following year, 1950. On June 25, 1950 the North Korean army attacked South Korea, crossing the 38th Parallel. Pentagon officials were stunned, and had no immediate contingency plan ready. Some said little could be done, while others suggested it was the beginning of Stalin's plot to take over the world. Truman and his circle of advisers sat firmly in this latter group. Immediately upon the invasion, these advisors discussed the prospect of sending General Douglas MacArthur, the US commander in the Far East, to lead a military response. The North Korean invaders hoped to take Seoul, the South Korean capital, as quickly as possible. The majority of ROK forces were routed by North Korean troops. Only one ROK division, the 6th, held its ground. John Muccio, the American ambassador to South Korea, quickly reported back to Washington that a "probable" full-scale attack was under way. Meanwhile, Syngman Rhee reacted to news of the invasion by ordering the imprisonment of more South Koreans. The UN was particularly upset about the North Korean invasion, because it had overseen the elections held in 1948, and did not want to see a war undo that election.

Macroeconomics: Should the Minimum Wage Increase? Essay

Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement that can be applied for an employee or put simply, the lowest amount of pay that an employee can make. Governments set a minimum wage on businesses in hope for reduced poverty and increases in the standard of living. Minimum wages are beneficial up to a line, when minimum wage is too high, it makes businesses make crucial decisions and must save money by firing workers, reducing output, and increasing prices on products. Over the years, the federal minimum wage has increased and has been beneficial up to the minimum wage increase in July 24, 2009 from $6.55 to $7.25. After the increase, the unemployment rate has soared and businesses fired worker and increased their prices. For this reason, it would be beneficial to the economy if the minimum wage is reduced back to $6.55 because it will decrease the unemployment rate, increase GDP, and help youth and unskilled workers in the job industry. The Great Depression was a devastating time for the United States with families having no income, there was no economic growth, and the poverty rate was at an all time high. To aid with the matter, President Roosevelt attempted to impose a federal minimum wage but was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Court continued to refuse to have a federal minimum wage over and over again. It was until chose a presidential nominee, and made a platform that supported minimum wages by the party’s presidential nominee, Alf Landon. After this, the Court decided to allow a minimum wage. Over the years, the government has increased the minimum wage from 25 cents in 1938 to $7.25 in 2009. The current debate in Congress now is that President Obama wants to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 which is going to be a bad idea for the economy, decreasing the minimum wage will benefit the economy for reasons that will be stated now. Human labor is very important to businesses even though technology is rapidly improving but if the minimum wage increases, the cost of human labor increases, so to deal with this, businesses must decrease output, increases prices, and ultimately fire employees. So if the minimum wage increases, the unemployment will also ultimately increase. Evidence of this occurring is seen through a recent minimum wage increase from $6.55 to $7.25. When the minimum wage increased from 2008 to 2009, the unemployment rate almost doubled. In 2008, the unemployment rate was 5.5% and in 2009, it increased to 11.2%. Decreasing the minimum wage will reverse this because human labor is cheaper, therefore businesses can increase output, lower prices, and hire more employees. This rapid increase unemployment rate is undesirable because of the huge economic cost for GDP. The economic cost is determined using Okun’s Law which is to double the unemployment rate to find the GDP gap, so the GDP gap for the year 2009 is 22.4%. Multiplying the GDP gap with the potential GDP gives the economic cost. The potential GDP in 2009 was about $13750 billion and multiplying this with the GDP gap 22.4% gives the economic cost of $3080 billion (McConnell, 2012, p. 175). The cost of this was way too high and the cost will increase much more if the minimum wage is increased, but if the m inimum wage was decreased, maybe the economic cost can be reversed. If the minimum wage can be decreased, the unemployment rate will also decrease, and GDP can increase. GDP is a monetary measure of the health of the economy. This is calculated by adding up all the expenditures made on final goods and services in the U.S or adding all the income mad in the U.S. If minimum wage is decreased, businesses and firms can increase output with more employees and lower prices. Since there are lower prices, there will be a higher demand so more goods and services can be sold thus increasing GDP making a bigger and healthier economy. For example, a man sells burgers and hires 10 people at $7.25 and minimum wage goes up to $9.50, the cost of ingredients goes up. The labor that is used in bringing the beef to market is paid with minimum wage. If those wages go up the cost of producing the beef will go up, ultimately driving up the price of beef. The man now can’t afford the price rise on raw ingredients because it will cause him to run at a deficit. Instea d he will have to raise prices and sell less burgers or make less output. Since there is less output to be made, fewer employees are needed so employees are fired. Since there is less burgers to be sold and it is at higher prices, not a lot of consumers will purchase the burgers and thus GDP will decrease. Decreasing the minimum wage will not just decrease unemployment and increase GDP; it will also benefit the working youth and unskilled workers as well. If the minimum wage decreases, businesses and firms can afford to hire more employees, including youth workers and unskilled workers and can train them. This gives youth and unskilled workers valuable experience which can help them with future job opportunities. If the youth and unskilled workers can at least get a job, they can work their way up the ladder and use the experience they get from the minimum wage job and use it as they rank up or pursue higher income jobs. There are many reasons for why decreasing the minimum wage would benefit the economy but there are those who oppose this view. Those who oppose this view say that decreasing the minimum wage will hurt the economy because lowering the minimum wage decreases the income of families so that they can purchase fewer goods and therefore decrease the GDP growth rate. There is another argument saying that is only fair to give an employee a â€Å"living wage† and can support at least a family of two for 40 hours a week. This is untrue because most employees that work minimum wage don’t work 40 hours a week anyway so it is already not a living wage but they don’t take the job for the short run, they do it to gain experience and can in the future work with other businesses that require past experience and will pay the employee a higher wage. As stated before, employees can work their way up the income ladder. Decreasing minimum wage is beneficial to the economy because of many reasons. It is beneficial because it reduces the unemployment rate, increases the GDP, and helps youth and unskilled workers with future job opportunities. This can be done by first refusing Obama’s plan of increasing minimum wage, and then starting a bill to reduce minimum wage. Minimum wage is needed to prevent employees getting an unfair pay but there is a limit on it, don’t raise the minimum wage too much Mr. President. References 2050., & 2000, u. f. (n.d.). Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.cbo.gov/ Brownstein, R. (n.d.). A Short History of the Minimum Wage Fight – NationalJournal.com. NationalJournal.com. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/a-short-history-of-the-minimum-wage-fight-20130214 Macroeconomics, global edition (19 ed., p. 175). (2012). 9. S.l.: Mcgraw Hill Higher Educat. Shemkus, S. (n.d.). Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons – Salary.com. Welcome to Salary.com – Salary.com. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.salary.com/increasing-the-minimum-wage-pros-cons/ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). (n.d.). U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.bea.gov/index.htm U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division (WHD) – Minimum Wage. (n.d.). United States Department of Labor. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/coverage.htm

6. “It Is More Important to Discover New Ways of Thinking Essay

Developing new ways of thinking about what we already know is very important as it helps us to develop a better understanding of that which we already know so to some extent the above statement is true. However it is as significant to discover new data or facts. In fact these two concepts go hand in hand; it is because of some discoveries that we knew when they first came to light that we have something we call existing knowledge to think about and sometimes it is through trying to develop new ways of thinking about a certain issue without a solution that we finally decide it is best to find a new explanation or concept of looking at it. A student who goes from lower to higher school both learns new and advanced ways of thinking about the information they have gathered in previous grades as well as some new data they have never come across before which further stresses that both concepts are important. We cannot learn everything at once nor can we know all sbout those things we know, which is why both developing what we already know and leaarning some new things are equally important. In some cases one may find that discussing and thinking about what we already know but in a new clearer way can help us reach a conclusion whereas if we had chosen to discover new facts about it instead, our horizon of confusion would have been broadened and we find ourselves with yet another mystery to solve. A good example of a case like this is death. Unless someone dies and comes back and tells us exactly what happens after death, no one can ever really know what happens. Any information we all have of life after death is based on assumptions that is if there is even life after death. Discovering new facts about the so called life after death isn’t but going to cause even more confusion, so really in my view I would say it is rather best that one sticks to the knowledge and believe they have over this issue, and if anything, find new ways of thinking about instead of creating yet another confusing phenomena based on assumptions. But such fields as Science motivate constant discovery of new knowledge because this is one area of knowledge where falsification is the only method used to prove the theories because we cannot verify, in other words prove a Scientific theory to be true in any way but we can pfove it fo be wrong. In this case it is clear then that in Science it is more important to discover new facts or data than to think about that which we already have as we need new discoveries to falsify old theories. However sometimes it may be thinking hard and deep into a scientific theory that makes one see fault in it as a result make new discoveries in which case both thinking of something in a new way and making new discoveries would have been equally important. We can for instance look into the famous example of the falsification of Newton’s theory of gravitation by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Einstein like all other Scientists of that time saw nothing wrong with Newton’s model until a crisis came when Newton’s theory of gravity failed to account for the behavior of light. Obviously this had to be a result of scientists thinking of new ways of applying Newton’s model. No one expected the negative outcome they came out with but it was negative and the Scientists were faced with a dilemma they had to solve. That it is when Einstein invented his theory of relativity, a whole new theory, which could work even for those discoveries that Newton’s model failed to. In any case, the point is to show that finding new ways to think of something can actually lead to the discovery of new information which in turn gives us something new to think about and in new ways if we please. Living only by developing things we already know would be depriving ourselves off so much knowledge. Had the people who lived before our generation decided they wanted to live only on what they knew, there would be so much we do not know. Generations like that of Newton or Einstein, generations like that of Priestley or Lavoisier who made discoveries about oxygen and those of people who learned the word of God and passed it on from generation to generation till the bible was written we would not have the knowledge we have today. And the knowledge does not end there and like the paradigm shifts suggest, there will always be new information, new theories and new ways of thinking as the world revolves that will override the current theories but should we decide to live only by the data that already exists, we may find that we are making experiments with 90% errors all the time.