Severe Social Isolation

Severe Social Isolation Effects of Development

            Based on the evidence provided by the video “Secret of the Wild Child” there is a strong relationship between severe social isolation (SSI) and under-development of social traits in a child. Based on the video a child who grows up in isolation will not develop the ability to socialize. In extreme cases the child will never develop the ability to communicate through speech. Scientists believe that a child’s brain stops developing by the age of 10-12 years of age. Prohibited social activity will inhibit the development of a child’s brain consequently if a child is isolated their brain may not develop fully. Most of the apparent signs of severe isolation are very similar to the signs of Down syndrome and can be easily misdiagnosed. The most predominant sign of SSI is a lack of ability to communicate using language and a lack of emotion. Most SSI children cannot tell the difference between hot and cold, they can’t walk smoothly, and they have little retention and memory loss. All of these symptoms are signs of underdevelopment of the brain and according to research on brain development the brain stops (or slows extremely) developing in adolescent age. If a child passes through adolescence in SSI then they will never fully develop therefore the effects of SSI are permanent.

 

Links for research

http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=genie

http://www.ecsd.com/~rhhedgz1/brain.html

http://www3.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/hsbioethics/units/unit3_4.html

 

 

The U.S. Within the World Economy

The U.S. Within the World Economy

What, How, and for Whom to Produce?  What to Produce?

•We live in a world of scarcity and tradeoffs. 

•If more of a particular item is produced, then less of something else will be produced during the same period, with a given set of resources.

•In the U.S. economy, for the most part, it is the interaction of the demand for and the supply of different goods and services that determines what and how much will be produced.

•This interaction is carried out via the price system.

The Price System      

•With a price system, when goods get scarcer, their prices go up. 

•When they get less scarce, their prices go down.

•If the highest price that consumers are willing to pay is less than the lowest cost at which a good or service can be produced, output will be zero.

How Should We Produce Our Goods and Services?

•The price system indicates to producers what to produce.

•Because of competition and the desire to make the highest profits possible, producers must use the least-cost combination of inputs.

For Whom Will Output Be Produced—Who Gets What?

•After goods and services are produced, there has to be a determination of who gets what.  For instance, who gets to buy all of those millions of new cars produced by General Motors and Ford? 

•The answers to questions like this are determined by the distribution of money income.

Determination of Money Income

•The money income is determined mainly by the value of your labor services to the outside world.

•It is given by how well you are able to sell your labor

•It also depends on how well you have invested in the stock market, housing, and the like.

Distribution of Goods

•In the U.S. economic system, the distribution of finished products to consumers is based on different consumers’ ability and willingness to pay the market prices for goods and services. 

•There is no central governing body that decides which consumers will get which goods.

Resources

•The U.S. economy produces millions upon millions of goods and services.

•Those goods and services that we produce each year require resources.

•We call such resources factors of production, which are the resources or inputs required for final production of goods and services.

Resource Classification

1.Land—As an economic term, land refers to all natural resources present without human intervention.

2.Labor—Labor is often called the human resource.  It includes the services of anyone who works to produce goods and services.

3.Capital—refers to the manufactured goods used to make other goods and services.

Sometimes economists like to distinguish between physical capital (factories and equipment) and human capital—defined as the accumulated education and training of workers. 4.Entrepreneurship—refers to the ability of individuals to start new businesses, to introduce new products and processes, and to improve management techniques. 

• Entrepreneurship involves initiative and willingness to take risks in order to reap profits.

Productivity

•Productivity is often measured as output per unit of labor.

•If the labor input required to produce a unit of output falls, we say that productivity has increased.

•Typically, productivity increases because of the increased use of capital, both physical and human.

The U.S. Economy in Perspective

•The economies of most European countries have been around for much longer than the one in the United States. 

•In fact, the U.S. was an undeveloped country, by world standards, until the latter part of the 1800s. Since then, it has grown to be a world powerhouse.

•Average living standards—measured by income per person or consumption per person—have increased many times just in the last century.

•Population grew from a few million during the time the Constitution was ratified to close to 300 million today.

The U.S. Economy by Itself

•While there may be 50 states, we typically look at the U.S. economy as one entity. 

•A good reason why this is appropriate is that there is unrestricted trade among the states—the Constitution prohibits almost all barriers to interstate trade. 

The U.S. Labor Force

•Currently almost 145 million U.S. residents are part of the labor force, defined as the number of those over 16 who are either working or actively looking for work. 

•A hundred years ago, the labor force measured a mere 40 million.

•Given that the average percentage of the labor force without a job has stayed about the same over time, this means that the U.S. economy is capable of creating millions of jobs every year.

•Today, the U.S. labor force is well schooled, well trained, and mobile. One in five families move each year, usually for work-related reasons.

The Number and Quality of Goods that We Produce and Consume

•For much of the early years of this country, we were an agrarian society.  Over 90 percent of the population was engaged in farminguntil mid 1800s.

•Our incomes were low, and the products that we consumed were precious few and far between.

•Today, the average U.S. resident can choose among dozens of car brands (not all manufactured in the U.S), dozens of brands and types of refrigerators, and millions of books.

•We are a consumer-oriented society.

The Information Age

•Perhaps one of the most startling changes in the U.S. economy has occurred in the area of information and communication.

•One of the reasons that we are such a “wired” society is because the cost of computing power has fallen so significantly.

The Switch to a Service Economy

•When this nation started, almost everybody worked in agriculture.

•Gradually, we became a more manufacturing-oriented economy.

•Today, less than 2 percent of the labor force is involved in agriculture, and about 17 percent is involved in manufacturing and mining.  

•The rest of the labor force is involved in services—over 80 percent! Services include the obvious—healthcare, accounting, architecture, legal research, plumbing,electrical repair, and education.

•Services also include banking and finance, accounting, travel and vacation consulting, retailing, insurance, real estate, and providing restaurant meals.

The U.S.’s Place in the World Economy

•With 4.5 percent of the world population, the U.S. generates about 25 percent of total world industrial output.

•The U.S. economy has a total national income of over $11 trillion, compared to $30 trillion for the world economy.

The U.S. Is Closely Intertwined With All Other Countries

•We live in a global economy.

•The information and communication revolution has caused the U.S. to be in closer contact with all other countries.

•With the benefits of increasing global integration also come some costs. 

•The more our businesses are dependent on manufacturing in other countries, the more they are susceptible to crises caused by interruptions in their normal global supply routes.

The U.S. Economy Is Huge and Growing

•The U.S. economy is one of the most vibrant, resilient, and flexible economies in the world.

•On average, U.S. residents have experienced increases in their standards of living over most of this country’s relatively short history.

Gross Domestic Product—GDP

•The most frequently used statistic of economic performance is gross domestic product (GDP).

•GDP is the current value of all final goods and services produced in our nation each year. It is usually expressed in trillions of dollars per year. 

Per Capita GDP

•To get a better idea of what has been happening to the average person’s standard of living, we typically have to divide GDP by population to come up with per capita GDP.

•However, per capita GDP does not tell us anything about the distribution of income, it just tells us its average level. 

Inflation and Real GDP

•Inflation is defined as a sustained rise in the average of all prices.

•When you adjust GDP for inflation, you obtain real GDP.The term real refers to the physical or actual quantities of goods and services produced.

Per Capita Real GDP 

•To compare living standards over time, we need to correct GDP for both inflation and population growth.

•The result is called per capita real GDP.

Basics of Economics

Chapter 1 introduction to economics

Economics
• Economics is a social science that studies how people allocate their limited resources to try to satisfy their unlimited wants.
• Economics is the study of how people make choices.

Needs vs. Wants
• The term need applies to the bare minimum physical necessities that allow you to survive: bare minimum of basic food, shelter, and clothing.
• Wants include those desires that you are able and also unable to pay for.
• They are unlimited.

Scarcity
• Scarcity exists because nature does not provide us with all of the resources required to satisfy our unlimited wants.
• For many people, the scarcest resource they face is time.

Goods and “Bads”
• Goods are defined as those items that give us satisfaction when we consume them. Examples include a sandwich, a cup of coffee, a warm sweater, etc.
• “Bads” are the byproducts of production and consumption that we would prefer to do without. They include pollution of any type, such as smog.
Scarcity and Decision Making
• Scarcity forces us to make choices.
• When we decide to do anything, we are implicitly deciding against doing something else. In other words, we are giving up an opportunity.

Opportunity Cost
• The opportunity cost of every economic decision we make is the value of the next-best alternative .
• It is the value of the alternative that
we had to forgo, or do without, for
the decision or choice we made.

Scarcity and Trade-offs
• Scarcity forces us to make choices.
• When we change our mind, and choose a different alternative, we face a trade-off.
• Trade-off is the sacrifice of one good or service to purchase or produce another good or service.

Resources
• Resources are things (goods or services) used to produce other goods and services to satisfy people’s wants.

Production Possibilities
• Most businesses can use their resources and technology to produce different goods or services.
• When businesses produce more
of one good or service, they must produce less of another.
• The PPC is a graphical representation of the maximum combination of two goods or services that can be produced, given a fixed amount of resources and technology.

Efficiency vs. Inefficiency
• Combinations along the PPC mean that the economy is producing its maximum output with given technology and resources.
• Those combinations represent productive efficiency.
• Any point below the PPC represents an inefficient point or output combination, where some resources are being wasted.

Economic Growth and the PPC
• Economic growth is defined as an increase in output produced by a nation, and can be graphically depicted as an increase in the production possibilities of a nation.

Rational Self-interest
• A key assumption used by economists when formulating economic theories or models is
rational self-interest.
• It is often misinterpreted as fostering selfishness to pursue just one’s monetary wealth.
• This assumption also refers to individuals pursuing goals relating to prestige, friendship, love, power, helping others, creating works of art, and many other matters that make them and those around them better-off.

Nuclear Weapons testing and The Future of the Marshall Islands

In a post colonial and post nuclear age, how can the Marshall Islanders survive? This is a question that I will answer in this essay. I would like to, first, give you some background information about the Marshall Islanders and the United States’ nuclear weapons testing program. After I talk about that, I will talk about how the Marshall Islanders have adapted to colonization and radiation, and how this is all linguistically relative. Lastly, I will talk about what we [the US] need to do in order to help ensure the rest of the world doesn’t make the same mistakes that we have.From 1945 to 1992, United States conducted over 1,000 nuclear weapons tests. The period from 16 July 1945 to 4 November 1962 is known as the atmospheric age, the age before the United States “went underground”; I believe that this happened because of pressure from the rest of the world. Beginning in 1963, the number of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States continually declined until 1992, when all testing ceased. The entire world was under pressure because of the discourse of the cold, and the displacement of power that nuclear weapons gave to the United States. The first Atomic bomb test was called ‘Trinity’ and it was tested on July 16, 1945, it took place in New Mexico, at the Alamogordo Test Range. The next Atomic explosion on earth was the bomb used in the attack on Hiroshima. I found it surprising that the next explosion what the test called ‘Able’ which was on June 30, 1946. I find this surprising because one of the main discourses for testing nuclear weapons in the first place was the cold war and the threat of communism. But, the Soviets didn’t even test any nuclear weapons until operation ‘First lightening’, which took place on August 29, 1949. Another discourse was the threat of the Soviets creating the hydrogen bomb before the United States did. In 1952 the United States went along with ‘Operation Ivy’ the first ‘Hydrogen Bomb’ ever detonated was tested it was codenamed ‘Mike’. In 1954 ‘Operation Castle’ was the response to the Soviet thermal nuclear weapons testing program, this contained the test codenamed ‘Castle Bravo’, that to this day contains the largest yield (15 megatons) ever tested by any nation worldwide. On the 22nd of November 1955 the hydrogen bomb was tested by the Soviet Union, it was designated as ‘RDS-37’. One interesting test was known as ‘Starfish Prime’ on July 9, 1962, this was a high-altitude nuclear test; it was actually detonated 248 miles above Johnston Island. The flash could be seen over 900 miles away in Honolulu, also the electromagnetic pulse disabled the traffic lights, and made television sets and radios malfunction, here in Hawaii. The United States signed the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty on August 5, 1963; they no longer conducted any atmospheric tests. Although the United States no longer conducted atmospheric tests, it continued underground tests until 1992, with ‘Operation Julin’. I think that all of this is very important to know, because if you see any of the media from the cold war era, the United States makes the Soviet Union seem like the aggressor, but looking at the data, the United States is the aggressor, they were much more extreme with all of their tests. I will talk about the discourse of the Marshall Islanders, and how the United States took advantage of it position as a trustee and a world super power. The test codenamed ‘Castle Bravo’ was tested on Bikini Island, and the wind carried fallout across most of the Marshall Islands. This fallout irradiated many people and they had adverse side affects. The United States government claims that it was due to a sudden shift in the winds, but according to various weathermen in the military, they knew that the winds were blowing to the east to begin with. The United States created the discourse that the Marshallese were “savages” which in a sense de-humanized them. Then in a propaganda video by the government, they showed the Marshallese in the ‘iron room’ getting tested for radiation. They even included the ‘Mayor’ of the Marshallese getting tested in the video, this made it seem as if the whole thing was approved by the Marshallese, by calling them savages earlier in the video, it made Americans think that we were doing these people a favor, by making them ‘civilized’. The United States was talking to the Marshallese like they were children, when they say “Now James…”, that proves that they thought that the Marshallese were inferior. The United States took advantage of the Marshallese not having an understanding of what a nuclear weapon was when they asked them if they could test the bombs. They said that they want to “turn this great destructive power into something for the benefit of mankind”. Even if you could understand English, you wouldn’t have a clue to what extent that is, at that time people didn’t understand the destructive power of these weapons, not even the ones testing the weapons. Another example of this is when President Truman said that the United States had a new “weapon of unusual destructive force”; he was talking about the atomic bomb. Another discourse was ‘the opportunity to study the radiation effects on humans’, this was an argument made to distract the American people, because there were already thousands of people to test in Japan after the bombings in World War Two. The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (formerly the ABCC) has been doing research on the effects of radiation on people since 1945. Although the Marshallese were up against the United States, they had courage and didn’t back down. Besides going to the United Nations and taking the United States government to court, they also rebel in their use of language. The Marshallese made their own words, instead of adopting English, to describe their situation and made it unique. They are creating their own radiation language, for instance radiation is called poison, also they made the distinction between which doctors actually cared about them and which ones were just monitoring radiation. This is important because they are making their own understanding of the situation, and also it shows that the Marshallese are starting to understand the effects of radiation on their own. This is important because if you don’t have a unique word for something like radiation you can’t fully understand it.I would like to conclude this by saying that we all need to be aware of the adverse effects of Nuclear weapons. It really irks me when there is a conflict between the United States and someone else and I hear someone say “let’s just nuke them”, that is one of the most ignorant things that I have ever heard, and I think that anyone who thinks that Nuclear weapons should be used should do some research on the horrible effects that radiation has on a person. The United States has already irradiated 2/3 of the mainland, and killed thousands of people, with these weapons. When I hear rumors of America talking about using so-called “tactical nukes”; that really scares me, because I’m afraid that Americans are forgetting about the effects of these weapons. In the cold war the world Americans became desensitized to these weapons, because they were always in the mass media, and propaganda was used to manipulate everyone, to make them accept these horrible weapons. We need to be aware of these things, college students of today are tomorrow’s leaders, and we can’t afford to become desensitized again.

!Kung

After reading Chapter 10 of James Spradely’s book, I have decided that I could not only be a hunter-gatherer in the Kalahari, but I think that I would like it. The thought of getting my own food right out of the wild sounds very rewarding. I think that I could be a hunter-gatherer in the Kalahari because I lived in a small town that is on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, the climates sound very similar, so I would get used to it fairly quickly. I have always been interested in the notion that I could go out and hunt an animal for my meal that night, just like the native Americans did. As long as I was part of a camp, life wouldn’t be as hard as it sounds.The thing that I found most interesting about the culture of hunter-gatherers was the lack of selfishness; everyone works for the greater good of the camp. I actually think that our society could learn a lot from the !Kung. We would learn that all of the material things in life aren’t so important. The book argues that hunter-gatherers lack what we call culture, but I don’t agree, I think that they have a different kind of culture, one that westerners have forgotten about. Their culture is more like the spirit of Aloha, where everyone works together and the members of the camp are like family members. In our society we are working an average of forty hours a week for a thing called money; to the !Kung that would seem ridiculous. Sometimes I think that it would make more sense to hunt for my meals, I think that it would feel more rewarding to me. I think that in our society today people overworked, most people work about 8 hours of the day for 5 days, then get only 2 days off, all of that in order to pay the bills. The !Kung work about 2-6 hours of the day for 1 day, then get 2 days off, they don’t have to pay for rent, utilities, or food. The !Kung have an abundance of resources, including many plants and animals. In an average day they consume about 2,000 calories, with 96 grams of protein, this is within the accordance with the RDA for the average male. A staple in the diet of the !Kung is the mongongo nut, which provides 26 grams of protein per 100 grams, an amount similar to peanuts. Also according to the text, about 10 percent of the population was over 60 years of age, as of 2005 at total of 12 percent of the population in the United States is over 65(CIA World Factbook, 2005). All of the above facts considered I think that the !Kung may have a fairly exceptional standard of living.I think that the greatest challenge to me would be getting over the language barrier. I found out that the orthography of the language is very different than any language I have ever heard. For example there are a series of clicks that have significant meaning. I have actually included an outline of how to pronounce the clicks. I think that I would need to learn the language in order to be an effective hunter, or to make any contribution to the !Kung society.Symbol Pronunciation” /” The “first” click (dental), sounds like “tsk, tsk! ” and is made by putting thetongue just behind the front teeth.”¹” The” second” click (alveolar) , is a soft “pop” made by putting the tonguejust behind the ridge back of the front teeth.”!” The “third” click (alveolo-palatal), is a sharp “pop” made by drawing thetongue down quickly from the roof of the mouth.”//” The “fourth” click (lateral), is a clucking sound like that made in Englishto urge on a horse.In conclusion I think that I could live as a hunter-gatherer successfully and indefinitely, so long as I learned the language of the !Kung. I like to think that I can do anything that another person can, given that I have time to learn how to do it. I think that the whole experience would be both exciting and rewarding, and it would be a superb learning experience. I think that everyone could learn from a society like the !Kung, and that maybe our society needs to look at a society like this and take some of the core values of sharing, family, and community, from the !Kung. With these values I think that it is possible to make a better world for everyone.

Chappli Kabab

If you ask any American if they know what a kabab is, they would most likely say “Yeah, it is a stick with meat on it.” They would be correct, those are typically known as shish kebabs, but what they most likely wouldn’t know is that there are at least twenty-five different types of kababs. Kebab simply means “grilled meat” in Persian, they are typically made of lamb, beef, fish, chicken, or a combination of lamb and beef. Kebabs are not usually made of pork because the major religion in the Middle-East is Islam which prohibits it’s consumption. To fully understand the kebab you must know a little history of this wonderful dish.It is generally thought that kebabs originated in the Middle-East as a way to cook meat with very little fuel. Because the meat was typically in small pieces (especially in shish kebab), it cooked more quickly and therefore the fire did not need as much to burn.Kebabs were the food of Persian kings and in ancient times ordinary Iranians consumed it only once a year on Norouz, the traditional Iranian new year holiday. Today, however, kebabs are not only consumed in almost every Iranian house on a weekly basis, but they have also become Iran’s number one selling fast food, and there is a similar trend throughout the whole Middle-East.I chose to make the chappli kabab for this project. The chappli kabab originates from Pakistan, it is more like a hamburger patty than a shish kabab. In Pakistan kebabs are in the category of food called Mogul food, or barbeque. The kabab is sold in Pakistan much like the hamburger is sold here. A popular way to eat chappli kababs is to wrap the meat with naan bread, and dip it into a mixture of yogurt and pepper. Naan bread is a flat bread that is cooked in a brick oven called a tandoor. Naan bread is like a cross between a tortilla and a pancake. Traditionally in Pakistan people didn’t use silverware they ate with their hands, but now more people are using forks, spoons, and knives.I chose this dish because I never tried kababs until about a year ago, after eating just one I fell in love with them. I want to share that experience with as many people as I can. You can get recipe online at www.shanfood.com, you can also order the masalas (spice mixes) online. In Pakistan a box of chappli kabab masala is only twenty rupees, which roughly equates to forty-three cents. I think that kababs in the Middle-East are like Hamburgers are to Americans. I really like the Pakistani culture and food, I want to experience as much of this culture as I can, and I think that I may try to live there in the future. I think that kababs will be around for a long time to come, because they are easy to make and delicious. Thank you for trying my dish and taking the time to read this, I hope that it was everything you expected.

Bretton Woods Institutions

In the world today the global income is more than $31 trillion a year. In some states in the Global North the average income is $40,000 a year per person. In comparison, 2.8 billion people in developing states live on less than $700 a year per person, and 1.2 billion of these people earn less than a dollar a day, which is less than $400 a year per person. Some places are in so much poverty that there are no hospitals or schools. Institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF come in to play when states form the Global North adopt the role of helping to raise the level of income and erase poverty in developing states.During World War Two, most of Europe was devastated and the world had to figure out a way to fund the rebuilding of the states that were affected. To avoid another huge recession after the war, the allies held the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The deliberation lasted for three weeks and consisted of 730 delegates from the allied states. Finally on the 22nd of July 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. The agreements set up a system of rules, procedures, and institutions to regulate the international monetary system. The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were created in 1945 as institutions to help monitor the international monetary system. A complex system of IGO’s work mutually to monitor the international financial system and to fund loans.The World Bank is IGO that consists of 5 other IGO’s. The idea of the World Bank is to give out loans to less developed countries at a low interest rate, in order to help develop them. The 5 IGO’s include the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The IBRD was formed in 1945 in order to fund the rebuilding of Europe after World War Two. Currently the IBRD’s focus is to fight poverty by financing states through low interest loans. The IDA was founded in 1960 to provide interest-free loans and grants to the poorest of developing countries (LLDC). The IFC was formed in 1956 to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries. The MIGA was founded in 1988 to promote Foreign Direct Investment by insuring investors with political risk insurance and by mediating disputes between investors and governments. Lastly, the ICSID established in 1956, is an administrative council that provides facilities for the conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes between member countries and individual investors.The IMF is the other main Bretton Woods Institution that was formed during World War Two and still functions today. The IMF was created specifically to “monitor” the international monetary system in order to prevent further economic recessions after World War Two. The primary mission of the IMF is to provide financial assistance to states with serious financial difficulties. States with that cannot pay their loans on time may request loans and/or organizational management from the IMF to help their national economies. In return the state is required to launch certain reforms in order to cut costs or generate more revenue. Generally the IMF requires these reforms so that states avoid fixing exchange rates that lead to fiscal, monetary, and certain political practices, and which eventually leads to economic crisis. Regardless of how these reforms are justified, these policies violate sovereignty and the IMF is one of the most criticized Bretton Woods Institutions.The World Bank is viewed like a “one-stop shop” super bank, where states can go to handle all of their finances. Within the World Bank, The IBRD and IDA are the “loan desk”, the IFC is the “stockbroker”, the MIGA is the “insurance agency”, and the ICSID is the “court” (or mediator). With the World Bank as the “super bank”, the IMF is the “credit-counseling firm” (like Debt Relief of America), except the IMF also provides loans. The IMF may also similar to the “secret service” because they monitor international currency. These Bretton Woods Institutions collectively have immense power as they essentially handle all of the states’ monies.The Bretton Woods Institutions have been successful in preventing huge economic recessions; there has not been a recession in the United States since they were formed. However, there is a lot of corruption within these institutions. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in the United States (in Washington, D.C.) and are also primarily funded by the United States. Also since the voting system is weighted based on the percentage funded by states. This gives the United States and IMF-finding states more power; and this may be the reason that the Unites States has not had a recession. The IMF has also been observed taking away states sovereignty, as it dictates states’ economic policies. Arguably, these institutions could operate like non-profit organizations, and send in managers to help manage states’ budgets and funds. The primary goal should be to resuscitate these states, and offering loans to them will not help as loan recipient states do not always use this money in the most economically effective manner. Instead, the IMF and World Bank could send in their accountants to states that ask for help and suggest economic reform. The Bretton Woods Institutions have met their goals from the World War Two era, and today there are new goals that have to be met. How soon will it be before 1.2 billion people earn closer to $40,000 a year per person is a question that The Bretton Woods Institutions should answer.

Foreign Policy Factors

In this exam I am supposed to explain which factor is the most important in determining foreign policy. I have thought about this for some time now and I researched various factors that I think are important, but I couldn’t narrow it down to just one factor. The reason that I believe this is that there are three levels of factors that effect foreign policy; each level is (generally) independent of the others. I want to start by talking about the “Peace of Westphalia”, then I will talk about different factors that effect foreign policy (which I think are most important), lastly, I will talk about the future of foreign policy and what I believe should be done.The modern system of states started in 1648 after the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), with the Peace of Westphalia, which was a treaty between various European Countries. The reason that it is important is that there were four main ideas that formed, which didn’t officially exist before. They are as follows; (1) the principal of sovereignty of nation-states and the fundamental right of self-determination; (2) the principal of legal equality between nation-states; (3) the principal of internationally binding treaties between states; and (4) the principle of non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of other states. This was the first time that state was given the notion of sovereignty, it was this treaty that established a system that respected peoples rights and that relied on international law, rather that the right of the strongest to regulate interactions between states. This is the inception of international relations in the modern world.I could not say that just one factor was the most important one in determining foreign policy. I actually have formed a theory, based on observation of history, on this matter. I think that most scholars would argue that the most important factor is the type of government in a state; this is based on the democratic peace theory. The first notion of the democratic peace theory came from Immanuel Kant, a great philosopher in the 18th century. The theory states that democracies never (or almost never) go to war with each other. I think that the foundation of this theory is right, but I think that the theory is a little flawed; it should state that governments of the same type don’t go to war with each other. The reason that I think this is if you look at any other government type, they don’t really go to war with the same type of government in a different state. I think that this theory is dangerous because it promotes world domination, there have been many wars in the name of democracy and peace, we say that we are “liberating” the people of the state that we go to war with, but are we really doing that, or are we just trying to make other states into the same type of state that we are? This is a question that I have asked my self my whole life. I am going to explain my theory in the next paragraph.I came up with this theory while I was in a movie theater, waiting for the movie to start, all of a sudden eureka phenomenon occurred, and my theory came to me. So, I would like to look at the “big picture” here. In political science, there are three “levels” of factors that effect foreign policy; the first is the “systemic” level (I call this the “International” level); second is the “state” level (domestic level); and finally, third is the individual level (the leader). Each of level is independent (mostly) of the other levels. I would like to bring one other factor into the equation, the factor is weather or not the state is a superpower, this might not sound very important, but I think that it is because it really determines what international and domestic policy will be made. This is my theory: If the state is a superpower then the domestic (state) source of foreign policy is most important; if the state is not a superpower then the most important source of foreign policy is international (systemic) source of foreign policy. The reason that I say this is, superpowers push their policy onto weaker states and try to make them have compatible or similar governments, if a weaker state rebels then the superpower will simply reprimand (overthrow, invade, or instill trade embargos) the weaker state. Also, a non super power must make it’s foreign policy based on what the superpower wants otherwise it will not prosper, and will actually start to decline (I believe that this is a remote cause of poverty in most poor states). The irony is that the thing created to control strong nations and help weak nations (the united nations) actually works the opposite way, it empowers the strong even more and limits the weak. The individual level is also important because the leader of a state makes most of the important decisions, and therefore forms actual policies, making the leader the “trigger” or actor in the equation. I good leader will know their state’s place in the hierarchy of states, and will act accordingly. The future of the world will be made by the decisions and policies of today.I believe that peace can be achieved if the world’s superpowers invest in it. They must not use violence in order to make weaker countries succumb to their policies, the old saying is “violence begets violence”, so in order to have peace, things must be done in a peaceful manner. That means no more waging wars against “ideas” (i.e. war on terrorism), no more invading states if you don’t like their policies, and create a truly free market between all states. I like to say that they [superpower’s] should lead by example, and then others will take note and follow. I think of my self as a realist, although I recognize that this is quite an idealistic idea, I think that this is a way to “regulate” the world (per se) without the “illusion” of [unenforceable] international law, therefore there is true [actual] freedom through out the world.

Fieldwork Project

One of the greatest challenges of anthropology is fieldwork, and breaking through the language barrier. It is hard to get the whole picture, unless you understand the native language. Sometimes it is hard to get the whole picture even you can understand the native language, because certain ideas that exist in English don’t exist in other languages. In linguistics you can translate certain words between languages, but in most cases translation doesn’t capture the whole idea of the word, or it leaves out part of it. I think that you can’t simply translate words, you have to know and understand the meaning of that word in its native language.For instance, when making a kinship chart, in Hawaiian your “makuahine” are equivalent to all of your aunts and your mother in English. So in Hawaiian you can’t differentiate between aunts on either side of the family or your mother easily. I interviewed a friend of mine to prove the point. The first question that I asked was, who are your makuahine (mother and aunts)? Then I asked, who are your makuakane (father and uncles)? I listed all of the names on a sheet of paper, so that I had a list of the whole generation. From there I had to figure out who my friend’s parents were. I did this by asking who gave birth to him, because I couldn’t just say who is your mom, in this case my friend said that her name is Tess. Once I had the name, I plugged it in to the next question, who is the husband of Tess? Then I drew the anthropological symbol for marriage with their names under it. The next thing to do was to find out who was married to who, so all I had to do was plug-in all of the names of the makuahine, then I drew the same symbols as before with the names under them. Once I had all of the makuahine and makuakane paired as husband and wife, respectfully. I had to find out which ones where siblings of the parents and place them on the correct side of the kinship chart. I did that by asking, who are the Kaikunane (brothers and male cousins) of your mom? Then I asked, who are the Kaikuahine (sisters and female cousins) of your dad? From there I made a table, one column was my friend’s father, the other side was his mother, and I moved the correct husband and wife pair to the correct side of the table. By that point, there were only there was three people left and two of them were married, so I who were the mother’s kaikuahine (sisters and female cousins), my friend said that she had none. After asking that last question I could logically deduce that the only men left were brothers of his father, since the last woman wasn’t directly related to anyone in the family. You can understand the native view by speaking the language, but if you don’t think in that language you may miss the whole point, I would argue that there are some things (thoughts) that you can’t translate into English, therefore an anthropologist may not be able to make his own culture understand the native view, the view may be lost in translation, and in that sense [I think] anthropology has failed. But, is it fair (or even possible) to ask everyone to think (or even understand) in the native language? Perhaps most would say no, but I don’t agree.The main goal of anthropology is to understand the native view, and you simply can’t understand it if you don’t speak the language. Language is more than the spoken word, it is also your thoughts, which will affect the way you perceive things, and will create your paradigm (way of thinking). I enjoyed this project because I got to experience some of the real challenges an anthropologist may feel. I think that the most important part of understanding another culture, is understanding their language, and the next time I wonder why someone is acting a certain way, perhaps, I will try to understand their own paradigm.

Disclaimer

I am going to publish information about all of the classes that I am taking. I may publish some of the class work that I turn in. You cannot reuse the information contained in the article without proper citation, otherwise you will violate plagiarism laws. These articles are not for the purposes of cheating or any other illegitimate use. The purpose of this is too share ideas and views with other people. I hope that you enjoy this blog.