Sunday, February 16, 2020

War is the Last Resort of Resolving Disputes Essay

War is the Last Resort of Resolving Disputes - Essay Example These include protecting American citizens and interests from foreign aggression, liberating people from oppressive regimes, promoting democracy and human rights especially in autocratic countries in addition to protecting the American society from the adverse effects of drug abuse (Zycher 74-76). In spite of the vast resources invested in the wars and heavy loss of human lives, United States still remains under imminent threats of terror attacks and abuse of human rights is rampant at both local and international levels. Currently, United States military is at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. These wars have been ongoing for about ten years and the targeted countries are yet to attain political and economic stability. However, the numbers of the American soldiers and civilians killed and wounded in the conflicts are increasing. According to The Washington Post, 4,474 and 2,038 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively up to date since the emergence of the c onflicts. In addition 33,184 servicemen have been wounded in Iraq alone. However, the number of wounded servicemen does not include those suffering from psychological problems such as post traumatic disorder. Over 6,440 service members have lost their lives in both â€Å"operation Iraqi freedom† and â€Å"operation enduring freedom† in Afghanistan (The Washington Post). ... At the beginning of the â€Å"operation enduring freedom† in 2001, United States lost 12 service members in that year (icasualties.org). However, in 2010 alone, 499 service members were killed and an additional 418 the following year in 2011 (icasualties.org). Afghanistan has been experiencing some of the worst forms of violence for the last several years in form of suicide bombing, improvised explosive devices and resurgence of the Taliban rule. Therefore, it is apparent that the wars have made the world more insecure than before considering the number of service members and civilians killed in the conflicts. The war in America is costly to the United States, the targeted country and the global economy. According to Gholz (35), wars interrupt international trade, which result to reduction of global wealth. Gholz indentified four mechanisms through which wars interrupt global economic growth and development. The first way is interruption of trade between the targeted country a nd its existing trading partners in the world. This was evidenced in Iraq, where the United States invasion disrupted oil production and trade in the country. Secondly war could interfere with trade between countries not involved in the conflict. This could occur as a result of increasing the cost of doing business due to disruption of oil production and high insecurity (37-41).Gold estimated that 20 to 40 percent increase of the oil price in global markets since 2003 was caused by anticipated decline of oil production in Iraq after the American military invasion(7). Wars interrupt capital flow and foreign direct investment especially in the targeted country because of the increased risks of

Monday, February 3, 2020

Fashion Taste and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Fashion Taste and Ethics - Essay Example Each of the class has its own taste for the basic and secondary needs aspect that is commonly used by marketers as they launch new products in the market. In their efforts to emulate new consumption habits, members of the middle class as well as those at the lower social class imitate the taste of the upper calls members. This paper evaluates the relationship that exists between taste and class, one of the major aspects of identity. Class Social class entails the set of concepts that are adopted by social scientists to group individuals with similar consumption habits and taste into various categories. Being a vital analysis tool for the political scientists and sociologists, social class enables firms and governments to provide amenities and goods that are not only aimed at improving the living standard of individuals but also to improve economic performance of a country. According to Marxist theory, class involves the combination of subjective and objective factors. While the subjective individuals possess some perception of common interests and similarity among themselves, objectively members of the same class share common relationship to the factors used in the production of goods and services (Arsel and Jonathan, 2013). This implies that in most cases, the subjective factors play a key role in ensuring that members of a similar has have a similar taste towards a particular products. On his part, Max Weber, a reno wned sociologist formulated a major theory of stratification that depicted political power as a connection between class, status and group power. According to Weber, education and skills possessed by a person highly determines the class portion of an individual as compared to their relationship with the factors of production. Upper class Upper class is made up of the well-born or wealthy individuals. In most societies, the condition to enter upper class is being wealth. In others, individuals born in particular aristocratic bloodlines are taken to be the member of the upper class. As a result of the passing of the wealth from one generation to another within the upper class, their demand for luxuries and other expensive products remains constant. Some of the major factors that have resulted to high demand for expensive commodities by the members of the upper class include high generation of revenue from lands and rents among other sources of wealth. Even though the members of the up per class are not many especially for the developing countries, their implication on the aggregate demand for consumer products is significant in the growth for any economy. Middle class Middle class involves the group of people who fall between the upper and the lower classes. It covers the white collar employees who earn a significant income to cover their household needs. To ensure that their status is improved, individuals within the middle class have highly demand education and technologies the major aspects that enables them to enter the upper class. As compared to the upper class, members of the middle class have a lower taste for the luxurious products since their aim it to improve their economic status. In this regard, they look for employment opportunities that will expand their incomes and allow them to pursue further education thus enhancing their skills. One of the significant aspects of the middle cl