What are the Impediments to Restoring Peace in Post-Saddam Iraq Term Paper

What are the Impediments to Restoring Peace in Post-Saddam Iraq - Term Paper Example In and after several stages over the next 12 years or so, Iraq attained its independence in the year 1932. Iraq was proclaimed as a republic in the year 1958, but in actual a series of military strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last one known of them was Saddam Hussain. Iraq also had territorial disputes with Iran that led to an inconclusive and costly war for almost an entire decade from the year 1980 to 1988). In the year August 1990, Iraq captured Kuwait with the sole reason of capturing the major chunk of oil trade in the Middle East but was later on expelled by the US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War that happened during January-February 1991. It followed in the liberation of Kuwait, the UN Security Council (UNSC) put stringent conditions on Iraq to scrap all its weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles. (Tripp) The UNSC also pressurized Iraq to allow UN verification inspectors to inspect it's suspected nuclear facilities and centers for making of weapons of mass-destruction like biological weapons. Iraq didn't cede to and complied with the UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years that in turn led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in the year March 2003 and the permanent ouster of the Saddam Hussain regime from Iraq. Under a UNSC mandate, the coalition forces are keeping a vigil in Iraq trying to keep the democracy alive and helping to provide security to the common people and to support the freely elected democratic government. (Frontline) Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Although looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined economy-rebuilding efforts, economic activity is beginning to pick up in areas recently secured by the US military surge. Oil exports are around levels seen before Operation Iraqi Freedom, and total government revenues have benefited from high oil prices. (CIA The World Fact Book, Iraq)It is true that there has been a lot of rebuilding effort in Iraq with the intervention and aid of quite a few International Institutions and Countries and Iraq has made some progress to rebuild the institutions that it needs to implement and reap the rewards of the new economic policy. In this direction, Iraq has also negotiated an agreement for the reduction of debt with the Paris Club and also a new Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. Iraq has also received pledges for $13.5 billion in foreign aid for the period span ning 2004-07 from outside of the US, and also more than $33 billion in total pledges from all the aid givers. An understanding was reached with the current regime in Iraq in May 2007 to integrate Iraq into the regional and global economy without any apparent prejudices.

Alienation in The Catcher in the Rye and The Grapes of Wrath :: essays research papers

The theme of alienation is relevant in both â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye† and â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath. It is an idea presented very prominently in both books, expressed through characters, actions, and events. The Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, a socially inadequate, sixteen year old boy who distances himself from others as a display of mental superiority driven by the idea he possesses that everyone is a phony, while he appears to be the only one who has remained genuine and authentic in today’s society. Like The Catcher in the Rye, a significant subject of The Grapes of Wrath is isolation from modern culture. The Joad family, upon their arrival in California, are estranged and avoided because they are labeled as â€Å"Oakies† on account of their origination from Oklahoma. They are regarded as dirty, unwanted people, on a quest to take advantage of prospering California. They are treated as though inferior mainly because of their socioeconomic status, which is considerably lower than the farmers of California. Though Holden Caulfield’s alienation from others is intentional, while the Joad family is inadvertently segregated, the motif of isolation is still pertinent in both novels. Holden’s dissociation from his few friends and anyone else he encounters is based on his belief that everyone is a phony and he is above them on some level because he is capable of observing this phoniness and avoiding it, and the Joad family is discriminated against because of their being from Oklahoma. The motives of the Joad family and Holden, however, are completely opposite. The Joad’s strive for acceptance in California from anyone who thinks poorly of them, when Holden ‘s intentions are to be cynical and to disregard the phonies with his eccentric personality. Another significant difference in both The Grapes of Wrath and The Catcher in the Rye with regard to isolation are the forms of isolation, which are presented. Holden is mentally isolated, avoiding social situations and even when in them, distancing himself from people with the conviction that whomever he may be associating with is not worth his time, while the Joad family is physically outcast. The police force in the area turn them away when they ask for assistance and burn their camps as a display of superiority and as a way of physically secluding them from California natives. Again this presents the point that Holden chooses to estrange himself as the Joad’s would much rather be received by people without hostility and the intention of driving them away.

Is Technology Really Making Life Easier?

Is Technology Really Making Life Easier MRT Abstract In this research paper I have posed the question; is technology really making life easier? I took the stance that advancement in technology has led to major sociological issues that are currently being felt and will be felt for generations to come. I highlighted the creation of such devices and services such as cell phones, computers, the internet, and social media. My research has only shown more support to what I had believed prior to starting this process.My conclusion based off the information to follow is that technology may have made our lives more convenient, however it has not made our lives easier or less stressful. Do you think modern technology has made life easier and safer? Or do you think that modern technology has made life more difficult and more dangerous? Today, we can’t imagine ourselves without technical advances such as cars, microwaves, cell phones, computers, and televisions. However, technology wonâ⠂¬â„¢t stop there, but it will grow bigger and bigger. As technology grows, there are not only advantages, but disadvantages from them.A list of the benefits of technology would be very long indeed. However, as with almost everything we human beings have created, technology has a downside. There is, we might say, a dark side to technology. For openers, technology does not necessarily make life simpler; rather, it tends to make life more complicated. Nowadays, for example, nearly every discussion of the â€Å"wonderful power of technology to enrich our lives† mentions the cell phone. Certainly, the instant communication brought about by the telephone has been a major advancement.It was originally a rather simple device that anyone could learn to use in a matter of minutes, and we soon began using phones to make and receive phone calls, usually about matters of some importance. Recently, however, we have created these devices to perform a ridiculous number of irrelevant tasks. One needs a thirty-page booklet to learn how to use them. Anyone who enters a phone store today seeking a phone that simply sends and receives phone calls is likely to be looked upon as a refugee from the Dark Ages.Cellphones have become the number one thing in most people’s lives. It is the quickest way to keep contact with the outside world. It has made life easier for humans and it has become one of the things that we cannot live without. Cellphones can help us solve a lot of problems, but can also cause a lot of stress related problems because people are too dependent on technology nowadays. It has weakened our social ability, without it, people find it hard to express themselves. Cellphones have dominated our lives with the advanced technology and applications they offer.Friends from miles away are only a text message away from you, and it can avoid awkward and silent moments because you do not have to talk to someone face to face anymore. Although it can help us in many different aspects, we are starting to rely on it and abuse it. A lot of teenagers cannot be separated from their cell phones for too long, they are always on their phones and they find it hard to not look at their phone before long. Most of their phones allow them to watch movies, read books, listen to music and talk to people, which make them a lot less interactive and productive in real life.They provide us different sorts of interesting entertainment and useful information, which is easily accessible to people. People who live in the city are always rushed and in a hurry, to them, time is money and one of their most valuable assets, and cellphones are exactly what they need and cannot live without in their daily lives. People who are often on their phones believe that texting and interacting with people on their phone makes up for not seeing them face to face in real person. As they are always depending on their phones, they become lazier.They do not have urge to go out and meet new people and become more socially awkward as they do not know how to talk to people face to face anymore in their daily lives. A recent study from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business finds that even though cellphones are generally thought to connect people together, they are making the users less social minded. The school’s marketing professor Rosellina Ferraro said: â€Å"We would expect a similar pattern of effects with people from other age groups.Given the increasing pervasiveness of cell phones, it does have the potential to have broad social implications. † There is a problem with texting. Did you know that one of the main causes of car crashes are that people are texting while they are driving? That is a huge problem. Several studies show cell phones are a leading cause of car crashes. It is estimated that cell phone distracted drivers are four times more likely to be in a car wreck. Cell phones cause over 200 deaths and hal f a million injuries each year. When you are texting while driving, you are more focused on your phone than on the road.As a result your speed can change very quickly. You could be at a speed of 20, then 40, then 50, then 60, or 70 miles per hour and sometimes even faster. This cycle will not end if a person is surrounded by a group of people who are always depending on their cellphones even when all of them are spending time together. To people who do not usually use their cellphones this can be disrespectful and impolite as it seems like they are not enjoying the time spent with each other. There are no doubts that cellphones are very important to us, as they can help us in numerous aspects.It is the best thing to have when you are bored, and to communicate with people from far away even when you are busy. People can contact you any time of the day and it is very convenient and user friendly. They are made for people in the world to easily connect with each other, instead of makin g long distance phone calls, sending emails and writing letters like the old days; which require more effort and are more time consuming. It is important to have a cell phone with you because it can make communication easier, provide many applications in it and most importantly safety to their users.Another example of the complexity of modern technology is the computer. Again, nobody can deny that computers have enabled us to share information, process data, and perform numerous other tasks with speed and ease that, as recently as a generation ago, we would have thought impossible. Computer technology has been advancing so rapidly that new applications are discovered faster than anyone can keep pace – and that's a problem. Even the computer experts understand only a fraction of what these machines do (just ask an expert for help when a computer crashes).Although most users can and do master some of the basic operations, most computer owners cannot use many of the functions th at are built into computer programs. Much has been written about how the younger generations who have been brought up in the computer age know intuitively how to use these machines. However, evidence suggests that they learn only what amuses or entertains them. I for one grew up in the computer age, however I can say that if you do not keep up with technology is will pass you and leave you in its’ dust. Most haven't the patience or the desire to go through the complicated process of learning more functional programs.Furthermore, they tend to use computers rather than their own brains for many tasks that they should be able to perform without mechanical assistance. It is possible to argue that the invention of the calculator is largely responsible for the inability of many people to do simple math; it is likewise possible to prove that electronic spell-checking (which is, and may always be, imperfect) has created at least one generation of individuals who cannot spell and know nothing about the logic of language. Complexity is not the only downside of computers.They have created an even greater gap between the rich and the poor, the educated and uneducated. To use these devices, one needs both experience and education. Lacking computers at home (even if they can access them at school), poorer people do not have the opportunity to gain much experience with them. Even as the computer becomes a commodity (something to which virtually everyone has access), the pace of technology is so rapid that these individuals are light years behind the more fortunate people. Furthermore, since computer skills must be learned, less educated individuals have a vast disadvantage.Educated individuals can use computers to expand their knowledge; uneducated or less educated people are stuck where they are. The gap widens. Finally, with respect to computers, many of the advantages have spawned a nightmarish array of problems. I recently interviewed several Lewiston Police Offic ers and asked them what they felt was the most significant change they have witnessed in their field. Technology was their first answer. One officer explained how when he started on the force some fifteen plus years ago he was given a car and a radio.When he would need information he would have to contact his dispatcher, which would then relay what little, and often outdated, information they had over the radio to him. He explained that now every officer has a laptop computer right in their car tied into some of the most sophisticated databases in the world. The software allows him to run license plates in a matter of seconds which will tell him who owns the vehicle, if it is registered, if the owner has any warrants or such. He said that while yes this technology is amazing and in today’s world he probably could not do without, he longs for the simpler times.He stated that there is a disconnect with society due to the technology. Officers will travel around in their vehicles like robots verses interacting with people on the streets as they did in the past. He feels that this societal disconnect has led to a lack of respect that police officers once had. While technology has now given us the ability to shop from home, it has opened a whole new area in which con artists can conduct scams, a complex area that authorities admit is impossible to police. While it has enabled us to bank by internet, it has brought on a wave of identity theft such as we have never before seen.This negative consequence of technology has affected hundreds of thousands of people which have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals get and use consumer’s personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to buy goods or services wrongly. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes out there. When the identity thief uses a credit card, bank account, Social Security number or cell phone in your name and doesn’t pay the bill, it is all reported on your credit account.People don’t know that their identity has been stolen until damage has been done which can cause a problem. While it enables banks and other organizations to process data with lightning speed, electronic processing creates greater opportunity for error. One incorrect keystroke can set in motion an automated series of mistakes that are not easily detected or corrected. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the invention of the Internet is one of man’s greatest and most spectacular endeavors. For, it has truly revolutionized the world in regards to how we engage in business, recreate, socialize, educate ourselves and communicate with each other.The Internet eliminated all impediments of conventional methods of operations. Through its construction, the world economies have flourished. Therefore, it can be said in a nut shell, that the Internet has made life on earth easy to say the least; but to what expense? The amount of people that have used the internet has grown 572% from 2000 to 2010. What would the world be without internet? It has only been 20 years since its creation but yet it has affected society immensely. Internet has had both a positive and a negative influence on society.Due to the significance of both influences, internet cannot be seen entirely as good or bad, people can only have strong opinions on the matter. Before explaining all of the benefits to society the internet has had, let me start with showing that there is a good argument that the internet has had a negative impact on society. Skeptics argue that the internet is not beneficial to society because it limits face-to-face interactions, society’s most important type of interaction. The limiting factors include, but are not limited to, email based sites, like Yahoo. om, Gmail. com, and Hotmail. com, and social networking sites, like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. They limit face-to-face interactions because it is more convenient then meeting up with everyone that a person would like to talk with. According to the National School Boards Association (NSBA), who published a report on research and guidelines on online social, educational, and networking, the average teen will spend more than 9 hours a week on just a social internet site (Creating & Connecting).It is not terribly surprising that skeptics will say that spending close to two hours a day in a desk chair, on a computer, searching the web, downloading music, chatting with friends or playing internet games is a complete waste of time. They believe it should be used for studying, playing sports, being outdoors, the list goes on and on. Sadly, skeptics are completely right when they say these things are not productive, in fact, the way which most people use the internet is not productive. The NSBA’s report shows statistical figures that support the skeptic’s thoughts.Teens repor ted that they are on social sites, like Facebook, about 41% of the time that they are on the internet and downloading or listening to music 30% of the time they are on the internet (Creating & Connecting). Clearly not the best use of time and it only leaves 29% for the rest of the endless list of the possible things to do on the internet. They could be using the time they are on internet for more productive means. Nevertheless, it seems too hard for people to use it for something productive, or beneficial to society, like reading the daily news.However, some of the available internet sites to read and learn from leads to the next negative aspect of the internet, unreliable and falsified information. The internet has very few regulations and almost no one policing it. With the addition of anyone having the ability and access to make a website, it presents a problem. The problem, it allows them to publish whatever they would like, not matter if it is true or not. This causes unreliabi lity, especially for students such as myself researching information and it can be very difficult to find out if the source is credible or not.For instance, according Lucy Rector, a professor at Harford Community College who published a comparison of Wikipedia and other encyclopedias for accuracy, breadth, and depth in historical articles, Wikipedia is only 80% accurate (Rector, Comparison of Wikipedia). This means that one out of every five times a person visits Wikipedia they could being reading something that is not credible, this presents an outstanding credibility problem. This has had an effect on society, as now people must always determine whether or not the information they are presented with is credible.The creation of the internet has opened a new market in society for scammers. The National Consumers League produced a study in 2001 that showed internet fraud had generated 7 million in profit, nearly doubling from the year before (2001 Internet Fraud Statistics). These da ys it is hard to escape scams because they seem to be lurking around every corner. Online shopping fraud is no joke and has steadily increasing by millions over the years. In Europe, the amount of money lost per year due to online shopping fraud is 21. million, according to an article about how â€Å"Online Fraud Rises by 185%† written in the Sunday Times (O’Connor, Online Fraud Rises by 185 per Cent). The article goes on to say that today’s scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and convincing. Oddly enough, one of the main reasons for this is because it used to be that sites with the goal of fraud used to be terribly published. Often having spelling and grammatical errors that were easy to spot and then avoid. Skeptics say would argue that because of the internet, people have been seduced into scams costing people millions.The internet is full of graphic content and no one checking ID’s. Due to the internet, pornography has become more common and has had a negative effect on society. According to an article on â€Å"the Effects of Internet Pornography†, internet porn is viewed by 66% of men from 18 to 34 at least once a month (Wang, The Effects of Internet Pornography). In the article Richard Berry, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers states that, â€Å"Pornography had an almost nonexistent role in divorce just seven or eight years ago†; its significant role now is â€Å"clearly due to the Internet† (Wang, The Effects of Internet Pornography).In the same branch of the internet but a more disturbing reason the internet has had a negative impact on society is child pornography. The internet has led to a global outburst in child pornography, conventionally thought to be too morally wrong and unthinkable of a behavior it can leave victims with emotional and physical damage for the rest of their lives. Society could do without their children being emotionally damaged for the rest of t heir lives. Although skeptics will say that the internet has affected society negatively, their argument is minute compared to the agreement that internet has had positive effects on society.Skeptics can argue that the time spent on the internet could be used for something else more productive, that the internet has created a numerous amount of unreliable and incorrect information that is published, and that it has helped scammers steal money and much more from society but it is nothing compared to what the internet has contributed to society. Internet has given society a new form of communication, a new way to acquire information, and a new and improved way to shop. From the birth of the internet came the birth of social network sites, such as Facebook and Myspace.Now a day, a person can communicate with anyone across the globe with the touch of a button. Although the time a person spends on social networks like Facebook, Myspace, Skype, Yahoo Mail, and Match. com can be completely useless, the sites, themselves are often beneficial to society. Facebook and Skype is a great and easy way to stay in touch with friends and family. Yahoo Mail and every other email account website cut down on paper pollution and put up a good fight against the inconvenience of the mailing system. Even Match. om has its benefits to society, now people do not even have to leave their seats to meet new people or ask them out, this is apparent in Facebook and Myspace as well. The point still being that, the internet has given us a new form of communication that is overall much more efficient, but possible less effective, than the ways people used to communicate with each other before the internet. Rick Nauert would agree with this. Rick Naurt has a PHD and is the senior news editor for the University of Southern California, in 2006 he said â€Å"More than a decade after the portals of the Worldwide Web opened to he public, we are now witnessing the true emergence of the Internet as t he powerful personal and social phenomenon we knew it would become (Nauert, The Internet as Agent of Social Change). † When asked if the internet increased regular contact with others, he answered, â€Å"42. 8 percent of Internet users agree that going online has increased the number of people they regularly stay in contact with (Nauert, The Internet as Agent of Social Change)†. Clearly, the creation of the internet and social networks has helped our society stay in touch and meet new people.The internet has led to a massive increase of easily accessible information and a lot of it very credible. The internet is enormously vast, with information on virtually every topic. A person can pretty much type anything into Google, even a question, and get what they are looking for. When talking about how the availability of information has changed society for the better, think of how hard it was to acquire information for papers for students before the internet. It was accomplis hed by moderate amount of time spent in a library. However, this led to teaching students good work ethic and did not allow time for procrastination.Not only can a person just learn anything over the internet, according to Karen Farkas, who wrote an article about â€Å"Online education growing as colleges offer more classes to meet student demand†, found that 29% of students have taken one or more online classes (Farkas, Online Education Growing). Although it is not surprising that in today’s day and age it is possible to get a college degree by taking exclusively online classes. Connection to the internet is not the only negative aspect of technology that computers provide. Consider automated answering systems and the disconnect of speaking to a human being.The only individuals who see any benefit in these systems are executives who, with their eyes on the bottom-line, look upon them as a cheap way to reduce or eliminate customer service personnel. These systems creat e the illusion of offering customer service when, in fact, they have practically eliminated customer service altogether and shipped what is left overseas. Automated answering systems constitute an area of technology that symbolizes what happens when tasks that only a human being can perform effectively are left to machines. Customers universally hate these systems because they provide little or no ervice, waste time, and often put the customer into an electronic loop that leads nowhere. The worst of these systems are those that provide voice messages in which a machine pretends to be a real human being. Verizon Wireless is a great example of this nightmare of a system. The creators of the Verizon System actually programmed the computer to recognize profanity, which usually is caused by frustration, and automatically connect you to a â€Å"real† human. While we may find definite advantages to almost any technological advancement, it is very difficult to find anything good to s ay about automated phone systems.In contrast, few of us question the value of technological advances in transportation – notably motor vehicles and airplanes. Because of these developments, we can travel further and faster than anyone a century ago would have imagined possible. However, even here technology has its downside. We live in a more dangerous world, not only because cars, trucks, and airplanes can kill but also because the ease and speed with which we can get from one place to another has made national borders more porous.The same technology that can deliver us to Grandma's house halfway across the world can also deliver an explosive device that can obliterate Grandma and a few thousand of her neighbors. The recent discussions with North Korea are just an example. In addition, we have been seriously depleting the Earth's natural resources to run these machines and have appreciably hastened global warming because of the gasses that they emit. On a simpler level, too, we may perhaps question whether it is necessarily desirable to go further and faster. Is it always better? Do we enjoy the trip more, or has the process of getting there become a hassle?For what are we saving all this precious time? Is it to have more time to watch commercials on TV, many of them promoting technology that we don't need? Entertainment is probably the one area in which technology has had positive effects with very little negative impact. If the content of television is mediocre, we can't really blame that on technology. If the music that people listen to on their various gadgets is trash, we can't blame the gadgets. If we are spending more time being entertained because we have, thanks to technology, a wide variety of entertainments to choose from, that is not necessarily a bad thing.We can complain about the intrusion of too much marketing in the entertainment media, but that is not the fault of technology. Indeed, with television, there's a quiet little war going o n between the technology that subtly tries to sell us products and the technology that enables us to bleep out the advertisements. To be objective about it, the so-called downside of technology – real as it is – represents more what's wrong with us than what's wrong with our creations. We are making them complicated, often more than they need to be, because we arrogantly believe that man will always be the master of the machine.We turn the cell phone into a public nuisance and a safety hazard instead of a useful tool because we are too foolish to use it wisely. We cause sporadic outbreaks of massive â€Å"computer errors† because we are stupid and careless; what we call computer errors are, in fact, idiotic blunders made by human beings. We are the self-destructive species who turn machines for transportation into weapons of mass destruction. The real issue regarding technology is not whether it is good or bad but whether we are grown-up and mature enough to use wisely what we have created.The evidence suggests that, on the whole, we are not and technology may just be our demise. Works Cited â€Å"2001 Internet Fraud Statistics. † Welcome to Fraud. org, Online Home of NCL's Fraud Center. National Consumers League, 2002. Web. 23 May 2011. . â€Å"Creating & Connecting// Research and Guidlines on Online Social and Educational Networking. † Creating & Connecting// Research and Guidlines on Online Social and Educational Networking. National School Boards Association, July 2007. Web. 22 May 2011. . Farkas, Karen. â€Å"Online Education Growing as Colleges Offer More Classes to Meet Student Demand. Online Education Growing as Colleges Offer More Classes to Meet Student Demand. Cleveland. com, 07 May 2011. Web. 22 May 2011. . Heltz, Braxton. â€Å"National Business Association – How The Internet Has Changed The World†¦ † NBA – Membership Association Serving the Self-Employed and Small Business Community. N ational Business Association, 2007. Web. 23 May 2011. . Kraut, Robert, Vicki Lundmark, Sara Kiesler, and William Scherlis. â€Å"Why People Use the Internet. † The HomeNet Project. Carnegie Mellon University. Web. 23 May 2011. . Nauert, Rick. â€Å"The Internet as Agent of Social Change | Psych Central News. Psych Central – Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology Information. Ed. John M. Grohol. Psych Central, 29 Nov. 2006. Web. 23 May 2011. . O'Connor, Rebecca. â€Å"Online Fraud Rises by 185 per Cent – Times Online. † The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion. The Sunday Times, 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. . Rector, Lucy H. â€Å"Reference Services Review | Comparison of Wikipedia and Other Encyclopedias for Accuracy, Breadth, and Depth in Historical Articles. † Emerald. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. . Wang, Laurie. â€Å"The Effects of Internet Pornography  « Power to Change. Power to C hange. Power to Change Ministries. Web. 23 May 2011. . Williams, Chris. â€Å"Online News and Advantages. † IdeaMarketers – Free Content Directory. IdeaMarketers. com. Web. 23 May 2011. . ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY â€Å"2001 Internet Fraud Statistics. † Welcome to Fraud. org, Online Home of NCL's Fraud Center. National Consumers League, 2002. Web. 23 May 2011. . â€Å"Creating & Connecting// Research and Guidlines on Online Social and Educational Networking. † Creating & Connecting// Research and Guidlines on Online Social and Educational Networking. National School Boards Association, July 2007.Web. 22 May 2011. . Farkas, Karen. â€Å"Online Education Growing as Colleges Offer More Classes to Meet Student Demand. † Online Education Growing as Colleges Offer More Classes to Meet Student Demand. Cleveland. com, 07 May 2011. Web. 22 May 2011. . Heltz, Braxton. â€Å"National Business Association – How The Internet Has Changed The World†¦ â €  NBA – Membership Association Serving the Self-Employed and Small Business Community. National Business Association, 2007. Web. 23 May 2011. . Kraut, Robert, Vicki Lundmark, Sara Kiesler, and William Scherlis. â€Å"Why People Use the Internet. † The HomeNet Project.Carnegie Mellon University. Web. 23 May 2011. . Nauert, Rick. â€Å"The Internet as Agent of Social Change | Psych Central News. † Psych Central – Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology Information. Ed. John M. Grohol. Psych Central, 29 Nov. 2006. Web. 23 May 2011. . O'Connor, Rebecca. â€Å"Online Fraud Rises by 185 per Cent – Times Online. † The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion. The Sunday Times, 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. . Rector, Lucy H. â€Å"Reference Services Review | Comparison of Wikipedia and Other Encyclopedias for Accuracy, Breadth, and Depth in Historical Articles. † Emerald.Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. . Wang, Laurie. â€Å"The Effects of Internet Pornography  « Power to Change. † Power to Change. Power to Change Ministries. Web. 23 May 2011. . Williams, Chris. â€Å"Online News and Advantages. † IdeaMarketers – Free Content Directory. IdeaMarketers. com. Web. 23 May 2011. . Murphy, Tony. Achieving Business Value from Technology. New York: Wiley, 2010. Schmidt, John G. Lean Integration: An Integration Factory Approach to Business Agility. Boston: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2010. Nicholas, John M. Project Management for Business, Engineering, and Technology.Chicago: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. http://blogs. wsj. com/digits/2011/08/24/steve-jobss-best-quotes/ http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/241907. php Arminen, I, 2007, ‘Review Essay, Mobile Communication Society? ’, Mobile Communication Society? , v. 53, no. 1 University of Tampere viewed 19 March 2010 http://asj. sagepub. com Cogmed, 1999 Karolinska Institute, viewed 6 April 2010, http://www. cogmed. com/ Cupples, J & Thompson, L, 2010, ‘Heterotextuality and Digital Foreplay', Feminist Media Studies, v. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-17, Ebscohost viewed 19 March 2010 http://www. informaworld. om/smpp/content~db=all~content=a919196107 Geser, H, 2004, ‘Towards a Sociological Theory of the Mobile Phone’, ‘Sociology in Switzerland: Sociology of the Mobile Phone’, Google Scholar viewed 16 March 2010 http://socio. ch/mobile/t_geser1. pdf Horstmanshof, L, & Power, MR, 2005, ‘Mobile phones, SMS, and relationships’, Humanities & Social Sciences papers, v. 32, no. 1, pp. 33-52, Bond University viewed 16 March 2010 http://epublications. bond. edu. au/hss_pubs/75/ Snooks and Co 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld. Published 2010

Political Parties and Platforms - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1974 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/08/07 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Political Parties Essay Did you like this example? Political parties are a major part of American politics. These parties consist of a group of people who share the same views and seek to control the government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office. They also have a significant influence on America’s moral beliefs and choices. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Political Parties and Platforms" essay for you Create order Every day you hear and see new debates based on the conflicts between these parties. Whether you voted for a certain presidential candidate, the passing of a law or even just a city council member, the decision is inevitably influenced by political parties. The two main parties in the United States are the Republicans and the Democrats. These parties are known for having majorly opposing views; the Republicans are conservative and tend to lean to the far right while the Democrats are very liberal and lean to the left. Sitting in the middle, there are other lesser known parties such as the Green Party of the United States, the Libertarian Party, the Prohibition party, the Justice Party, the Socialist Labor Party, and the Communist Party USA. All these minor parties have little to no influence on American politics, but they still exist to represent the people who do not fit into the category of Republican or Democrat. The Republican versus Democrat conflict has been going on for a very long time. Both parties represent opposing philosophies and ideals, and it’s no surprise that they have historically never been able to fully reach a consensus. The Republican party or the GOP (Grand Old Party) began as a party that supported Thomas Jefferson, who had wanted a decentralized government with limited powers back in 1792. Since then, the party has grown and changed into something quite different from the way it once was. Today, the Republican party is all for states rights and it opposes federal regulation of issues that have been traditionally handled by them. On the other hand, government control on private, noneconomic issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and gun control are things that this party has publicly supported. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica) The Republican party is now considered by the media and the American people to be the epitome of conservative ideals. The Democratic party formed back when the United States of America was at its humble beginning and is the oldest political party in the US. Ironically, the ideas the party was founded on are exactly what it opposes today. Back in the 1900s, the party was all for slavery and opposed the civil rights movement. Today, it supports the rights of minorities, organized labor, and progressive reform. In contrast to its rival party, the Democrats support government regulation on the economy but oppose it when it concerns the private affairs of citizens. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica) For this reason, the Democrats have been seen as the ones who stand for liberalism in every sense. They tend to appeal more to the younger audience because they are not based solely off of tradition and have continued to evolve as the country has. A huge example of this is the election of democrat, Barack Obama, as president in 2008. He became the first African American president of the US and gave hope to minorities everywhere. 8 years later, in 2016, there was another election that would once again cause a shift in American politics. Donald J. Trump, a Republican, but also a billionaire TV personality was elected president. While Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Donald Trump’s victory came from the electoral college. While the Republicans rejoiced, the Democrats and other parties wondered what was next for the country. President Trump would become the first president without any prior political experience. So how did he win? In the beginning, no one thought it was possible that Donald Trump would win the election. Everyone took him as a joke. On the other hand, Hillary becoming the first female president seemed just as ridiculous. The two parties had to find a way to push their agenda, and effectively win the favor of the American people. The Democrats focused on issues such as raising workers wages, expanding social security, creating good-paying clean energy jobs, ending systematic racism, protecting voting rights, preventing gun violence and advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ community. The Republican party made promises to rebuild the economy, free financial markets, reduce the federal debt, protect the right to bear arms, encourage environmental progress and push immigration reform. (2016 Democratic Party Platform and 2016 Republican Party Platform) While these platforms were used in various ways, others were in direct competition with the ideals of the other party. For example, the democratic party openly supported same-sex marriage as well as the inclusion and representation of LGBTQ citizens inside and outside of the workplace. They also specified that they would protect transgender people from the violence they are experiencing based on their personal choices. (Siddiqui and Jacobs) These promises were an effort to gain the support of the LGBTQ community. The Republicans had the complete opposite viewpoint; their platform was based on the concept of natural marriage, discrimination, and they even went as far as supporting conversion therapy, which is the controversial practice of trying to make LGBTQ people heterosexual. (Siddiqui and Jacobs) This was one of the major issues that split America down the middle, and it became between those who were more secular in their beliefs versus those who were adamantly religious. Another example is the rapid changes occurring in the environment, and how each party addressed fixing them. The Republicans d ecided to simply just praise coal as an â€Å"abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy resource.† (Siddiqui and Jacobs) However, the Democrats went way more in depth by expressing their ideas and plans for fighting climate change and encouraging clean energy policies. The Democrats seemed to take the issue much more seriously and planned to continue the work of the Obama administration to lessen the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. (Siddiqui and Jacobs)Since 9/11, terrorism has been another issue that has weighed heavily on the hearts of the American people. Terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda have been a major cause for concern, and both parties realized that. The democrats mainly promised to â€Å"dismantle the global network of terror† by improving their intelligence capabilities, hardening Americas defenses and seeking an updated Authorization for Use of Military force. They also directly slammed Donald Trump’s slander of Muslims by saying it violates the first amendment right to religious freedom and gives ISIS more power. When it comes to immigration, the Democrats again promised to protect immigrants from the effects of electing a candidate like Donald Trump who may tear apart families to achieve his goals. They also want to fix the immigration system but without the devastating effects of uprooting those already in the countries. (Democratic National Convention)Republicans took a slightly different approach, relating terrorism back to the issue of immigration. While the party is said to stand by the victims of terrorism, they believe that the broken immigration system is what needs immediate attention. This is why the y support the building of a wall along the southern border of the US. This way, less undocumented immigrants that could possibly pose a threat would be able to make their way into the US. In the Republican Platform for 2016 it states â€Å"To keep our people safe, we must secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and properly screen refugees and other immigrants entering from any country. In particular, we must apply special scrutiny to those foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States from terror-sponsoring countries or from regions associated with Islamic terrorism.† (Republican Platform 2016) This is the plan the now president Donald Trump has continuously tried to push through. All these platforms and issues continued to remain relevant as the country faced the 2018 midterm elections. America was on the edge of its seat as election day drew near, and people from politicians to celebrities were encouraging the nation to cast their vote. Two years into President Trump’s presidency, influencers wanted to make sure to let the public know that their voice could be heard over his fiery comments. The Republicans and Democrats also began to gear up for the election. Though the Republicans had controlled both the House and the Senate, there was now an opportunity for the Democrats to take back the house, and they were determined to do so. Healthcare, the Supreme Court, the economy and women’s rights. These are the issues that weighed heavily on the minds of the American people. When it came to healthcare, the parties were mainly focusing on a past decision with the name of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. The Democrats would do anything in their p ower to keep it, while the Republicans had been working non-stop to get rid of it. In correspondence to this, 51% of people said that the Democrats would do a better job dealing with healthcare while only 35% said the Republicans would. Also, according to a political ad tracking firm, Democrats had spent 125 million on ads focused on healthcare while the Republicans had only spent 50 million. (Al Jazeera) Overall, the Democrats seemed to believe that salvaging their former presidents policy would push voters in their direction. Next, the United States Supreme Court is supposed to represent justice and morality. But what happens when an appointee doesn’t fit the criteria? Brett Kavanaugh was President Trump’s choice to fill the role of Supreme Court Justice until controversy sparked over sexual assault claims. This should’ve ended all chances of him being appointed but things proceeded to take an interesting turn. In the end, Kavanaugh was still appointed and it looked like the results could send voters either way. Though the court was moved further right, the public may have been moved further left. This made the Trump administration and the Republican party look ignorant and insensitive.Ironically, the President himself is also known for his derogatory comments towards women, and that could also have hurt the Republican campaign. The President and the Republicans also no longer wanted to fund planned parenthood and are known for being pro-life. These were all hits towards women’s independence and ability to control their own fate. Fortunately for him, the improved state of the economy would definitely help him offset the damage. Unemployment was at a record low (3.7%) thanks to his new policies. (Al Jazeera) Other aspects of the economy such as the stock market had been experiencing positive growth as well, and though it started with the Obama administration, the President and the Rep ublicans took it to new heights and I believe that the voters did acknowledge that. In the end, the Democrats did succeed in taking back the house. They needed to fill 218 seats and ended up with 235. (The Associated Press) I believe this was a direct result of people’s concerns about healthcare, the supreme court, and women’s rights. I also believe the push to vote was much stronger in this midterm election than ever and this result proved that every vote really does matter. The Republican’s also had a victory, managing to stay in control of the Senate and keep control of states like Texas. While many factors could be considered in trying to explain and analyze these results, I think the most important question to ask is what happens now? Congress is split right down the middle and so is the country. The two parties now have more of an equal playing field despite a right-wing president in office. America may face an even harder time getting decisions through all the branches or getting anything done at all. The political parties of the United States will continue to go head to head on every problem until the next election comes to pass.