Dictatorship and the Neoliberal Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dictatorship and the Neoliberal Markets - Essay Example More to this, social programs in the country have been abandoned, and most of the industries run by government previously have been privatized. The ejido lands in Mexico, which refer to land given to the community, or a group of people, under the agrarian reform have also been taken over. Neoliberalism in Mexico can be traced back to the Mexican crisis of 1982. The country, under the leadership of President Jose Luis Portillo (1976-1982) borrowed heavily from external sources, with an intention of investing in railways, nuclear power, oil pipelines, freeways, and the steel industry. The borrowings were done against the oil revenues of the country, given that previous years had shown a constant increase in the oil prices. However, the prices of oil began to deteriorate in 1982, due to overproduction, and OPEC price cuts. More to these, world interest rates increased, followed by devaluation in the Mexican peso, leading to a financial crisis in Mexico. Following these events, a debt moratorium was declared in 1982. These compelled the country to accept worldwide support from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the US Federal reserve, and the US department of the treasury. However, they offered conditional support, which required Mexico to adopt neoliberal poli cies (Thomas, James, William, & Browning-Akien, 4). Adoption of neoliberal policies required the Mexican government to cut on its spending. This led to a reduction in the subsidies given to members of the country to promote production. Consequently, the farmers faced difficulties in production, which worsened their economic ability. More to this, reduced government spending decreased the resources allocated to important sectors of the economy. These include the health sector, education, and welfare sectors. Consequently, the rates of unemployment increased, thus making Mexicans poorer. Accessing health and education services became problematic, hence

How violent video games have positive and negative effects on children Essay

How violent video games have positive and negative effects on children - Essay Example Harmless games like Pac-man started catching the child’s attention for hours and this was the beginning of game addiction in kids. With time, development of graphics and better appealing games started appearing in the market. With rapid increase of the gaming market, the genres of games started to change and new eon was set, where games did not look harmless anymore and the violence level inhabited by these games started becoming pretty alarming. One of the first high violent games that caught the world by storm was ‘Mortal Kombat’, a unique two player fighting game. The violence however was the nature of fighting and the brutal moves that were incorporated by each character. The game also showcased extreme violence in the end of each level, in which the losing game character would die a sadistic death by getting his body parts ripped by the other character. Due to this attribute of the game, it became an instant rage especially amongst teenagers. Media has played a major part installing ideas of violence amongst children and teenagers. Violence filled games has taken this to the next level. The following study of comparison between a violent game and a non violent game indicates the impact they can have on teenager’s mind: â€Å"They also found (Study 2) that participants who played Wolfenstein 3D (a violent game where the player â€Å"walks â€Å"through a castle, armed with various weapons, and attempts to kill people) in the lab behaved more aggressively than participants who played a nonviolent game† (Bruce D. Bartholow & Craig A. Anderson. Page 2.2001) The question that arises is can we co-relate extreme violence in schools with violence in video games. Pre-teens boys are always using the techniques and moves shown in the games on each other. However the alarming part comes, when these school kids decide to kill their classmates and teachers in similar game fashion. The one player shooting games has a deep effect on teenagers and if the child is

Nigeria's point of view in the UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORMATION Essay

Nigeria's point of view in the UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORMATION - Essay Example The submission of these issues was considered timely following the September 2008 decision (GA) 62/557 to move the issues from Working Groups to the Intergovernmental Negotiations’ (Martini 2). The Nigerian undertaking was in accordance with policies laid down by his Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his Cabinet, and consisted of proposals to increase the elected members to thirty-five, to change the nature of the power of ‘veto’ from being an instrument of ‘individual power’ to a collective and democratic instrument and to subject nuclear powers to accountability within a circle of client states. The meeting was attended by all fifteen members currently sitting, and there was a standing ovation after the conclusion of Mr. Oedin’s speech. Private consultation prior to sitting had also yielded some positive results – there is clearly a ‘climate for change’ among the members. However, when two of the delegations late r approached the Nigerian desk, with the intention of arranging a private meeting in April, it became immediately clear that there was a discrepancy between the intended content of our document and the interpretation by these delegations. Nevertheless, a window of opportunity has opened up for further discussions. Background to Problems The UN Security Council (UNSC) is the enforcement arm of the United Nations and has been in operation since 1945, with initially eleven members of which five were permanent, with individual powers of ‘veto, and six were elected members. In 1965, the latter body was increased to ten, bringing the total number of UNSC members to fifteen. The mandate of the UNSC has remained unchanged during the 55 years of its operation and it is now – as it was then – charged with keeping the Peace. The missions the UNSC carried out under this aim were greatly hampered during the ‘Cold War’1, obscuring systemic problems within the stru cture of the UNSC for over forty years. It is therefore mainly during the past twenty years that these problems have become obvious, through repeated unauthorized military actions by states as well as self-motivated use of veto powers by the permanent five members (Butler 10pp). In addition, the increase in member states of the United Nations between 1947 and 2011, from 50 to 1921 is in no way reflected in the increase in the numbers in the UNSC during the same period. The former nearly quadrupled whereas UNSC membership has only been increased by less than a quarter, making it questionable that member states are now adequately represented. This is particularly true when viewed from a regional perspective, as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa do not currently have a permanent voice through a permanent UNSC member (Jaramillo). Although Nigeria has been able to represent its concerns on three previous occasions3, this does ultimately not amount to permanent representation. Thi s is clearly also a general sentiment among the UN member states, which have often felt that the decisions of the Security Council do not reflect the will of the General Assembly as a whole but rather are often motivated by self-interest (Martini 2). There have been numerous past reform proposals for both the membership numbers and the powers of veto but, despite all efforts so far no solution has emerged that might have success of being debated in the UNSC (quotation needed) Nigerian proposal for reforms tabled at the March Council: His Excellency,

Research methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research methodology - Essay Example It will be argued in the following that this is the guiding thread for his critique of religion. His critique of religion, it will be argued is a critique of metaphysics. His aim in the critique is to refute the idea that history is marked by spiritual progress, and in turn, replace this with a progress defined by a 'class struggle', and in particular, the material relations surrounding the means of production. Thus, the relationship between his critique of religion and his political economy, is the replacement of spiritual progress with that of the class struggle. Concerning the issue of research methodology, the following analysis will pay careful attention to what is employed by Marx. His approach on this issue, includes textual interpretation. That is, he provides analysis of key texts like the philosopher, Georg Hegel. Second, his methodology in the following is historical interpretation. In particular, he focuses on economic history but also social history. â€Å"The German Id eology† is his most decisive criticism of religion. ... Thus, the reformation can be regarded as a change of consciousness that emancipates the individual consciousness from the determination of the consciousness by the church. In turn, this change of consciousness or of thinking, helps to shape and change history itself. By contrast, Marx outlines the material conditions which determine the social relations manifest in any given culture, and further, these material conditions are the cause of forms of consciousness. Consciousness in this sense, includes also the various forms of belief systems which religion consists of. He describes the ‘priority’ of material conditions against consciousness as a determinant for human behavior and of politics, therefore, in the following: â€Å"Men distinguish themselves by consciousness, by religion or anything else you like . . . they . . . distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence . . . by producing their means of subsistence men are indirectly producing their actual material life† [Marx, 1997: 341]. Marx's critique of Hegel is central to his critique of religion. It will therefore require some analysis to demonstrate Marx's 'materialistic' interpretation of history over and against Hegel's spiritual reading of history. Marx views Hegel's philosophy, along with religion, as essentially a â€Å"mystical† position [Marx, 1970, p. 27]. By ‘mystical’, it is implied in terms of an argument which is beyond the bounds of reason, and by ‘reason’, it is implied in the material or physical sense of the term. Or, it is implied in terms of something which can be verified empirically or through sense experience. In other words, and in keeping with what was said above, it can be said that the person which Hegel is describing is