The Expansion Of Interest Groups - 747 Words

The emergence of interest groups in the European Union weakened the union’s overall power ; however, many politicians collaborate with them to gain an advantage. It is important to remember that interest groups are private firms, who can allocate their resources to provide studies for political actors. Interest groups provide â€Å"policymaking expertise, and implementation and monitoring capacity, the potential for a consolidated collective viewpoint, and the potential to enhance legitimacy â€Å"(Bache, Bulmer, George, Parker 2014, 310). With the acquired data, political actors can push forward stronger legislations built on concrete data. Interest groups pivotal role in the EU because they can use their resources to influence decision making in†¦show more content†¦Consequently, interest groups resemble a double –edged sword to the EU because although they can provide resources and information to public institutions, usually the largest groups will have t he most influence. Moreover, the amount of resources available â€Å"will secure ‘insider status’ with the policy makers or remain outside the policy process. (Bache ,Bulmer, George, Parker 2014, 315). The firms who control insider status will indirectly possess some control about the policies discussed in the EU. However, large firms also carry a substantial amount of influence because of their economic power. For example, politicians will find their hands tied if they decide to rule against one of the largest job suppliers in a country despite huge strikes against them. As the author states, â€Å"large firms find it easy to become privileged interlocutors of the political administrative system, thanks to their economic importance. â€Å" (Bache ,Bulmer, George, Parker 2014, 316). The wealth and resources possessed by large firms make interest group politics a process where the strongest stay on top and dominate conversations. Therefore, although in the last decade ’s interest groups have advocated for positive social, environmental, and economic changes, their role is contested against business interest. Clearly, interest groups’ in the EU is ultimately very circumstantial because they can advocate anything from same-sex marriages to fewer taxes on the rich. TheShow MoreRelatedThe Affordable Care Act Legislation Essay962 Words   |  4 Pagesincluded in the ACA with the help of Senator Baucus of Montana, who had a role in writing the health care law.2 The goal was to increase benefits for this new category of Medicare-eligible individuals. 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A Brief Note On Unemployment And Its Effect On The Economy

Unemployment plays a huge factor in the appearance of a good economy. All over the world governments try to decrease the amount of people that are unemployed in its country. Governments always want to try and provide fixes to things such as unemployment by instituting minimum wage laws, job security laws, and setting regulations on working conditions. While most of these things may seem necessary and even beneficial we have learned that laws and regulations such as these set on businesses typically hurt the ones they are trying to help the most. It is another case of focusing on the goals that these policies have and not focusing on how well they work and not how well they work out for the group of people that these policies are put in place to help. We have already learned about how things such as price controls can be bad for the economy and it is no different applying it to the agricultural industry or the labor force. 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Ah, Woe Is Me Free Essays

In the beginning of this short story we are introduced to Sarah, an aging black servant living in South Africa. She works hard for an upper-class white family and spends all of her money on education for her three children who are sent to a boarding school. They come home once a year at Christmas, and the first time the narrator meets the children, she is surprised at their well-mannered behaviour. We will write a custom essay sample on Ah, Woe Is Me or any similar topic only for you Order Now She finds, however, that Sarah is a bit harsh towards them, and she comments on this. Sarah tells her that it is better to learn the lesson now and grow to accept ones fate later. In the course of the following year, Sarah must give up her job because of her legs, and one day her daughter comes to the house. Slowly she tells her story to the narrator. How the younger brother is working now, and how she is taking care of Sarah. The narrator offers her some clothes and some money and invites her inside for a cup of tea. When she is about to leave, she starts crying and can only mutter that her mother is very ill. Unsure of what to do, the narrator hands her a handkerchief. The setting in this story is South Africa in the 1950s. Apartheid and segregation are words that describe the conditions under which the blacks (the native Africans) live perfectly. The blacks nearly have no rights and must accept being oppressed by the whites. Sarah is only one of many poor blacks who only just manages to earn a living by working as a servant for a rich white family (the narrator). Slavery does not exist anymore, but it can be difficult to distuingish the life of a slave from that of a native African in the 50s except from the fact that they do after all get paid for their work. Sarah is very concerned about her children getting a good education. She probably wants them to have a better life than she has had so far, and while that is a very noble thought, the facts speak against it. Her children do not at this time have a very good (if any) chance of getting a good solid education because it is very expensive, and their mother does not make that much money. Even if she did make enough money, her legs are bad, and at the end of the story, she has to give up her job (and thus take her children out of the boarding school) because she cannot afford to pay for the school. This is what could look like the final blow to her childrens future success in life. No education means no chances of getting a better life in South Africa (and just about everywhere else, too). But what if she did have enough money to give her children a proper education – would that guarantee the children a good future life I gravely doubt it. As I said before, the blacks live almost like slaves, and as such, they do not have the opportunity to climb the social ladder. All in all, Sarahs hopes and dreams for her children are all very noble, but, unfortunately, at that time and place, very unrealistic. The narrator does not treat Sarah any better than most other white people in South Africa at this time. While she allows Sarahs children to stay in her house during Christmas, I think the only reason she does it is because she tries to escape her own bad conscience. It is Christmas after all. Throughout the rest of the year, she does not even think about helping Sarahs children financially so they can stay in school. Even though she presumably has more money than Sarah will ever see, the thought of helping her servant out does not strike her at any point in the story. Her servant is her servant, and servants children are not someone she thinks about. This point is also very clear to see when one reads the description of the narrators thoughts about Sarahs children. She is surprised at how well they behave, how good their manners are; as if she was expecting a horde of wild animals instead of normal human beings. She is undoubtedly not the only one to think this way about the blacks, they were considered animals by many white people at that time. However, the narrator seems to excuse her treatment and behaviour towards Sarah and her family with ignorance (see lines 99-103). I find it hard to believe that this ignorance really existed, but it is possible that it did, because the whites and the blacks were so distinctly segregated by the apartheid system. Yet I find it hard to believe that the narrator was completely unaware of Sarahs almost inhuman standard of living. Surely, even though apartheid almost divided the whites and the blacks into two separate worlds, she must have known something about the conditions under which Sarah and her children lived, and that it was getting worse as the days went by (because of the mothers bad legs). When Janet, one of Sarahs two daughters, comes to visit the narrator in the end of the story, the narrator once again displays her ignorance about the blacks, but this time she openly admits it. Janet is, of course, in an unpleasant situation when she stands in the back yard of her mothers former employer. Everyone has some pride in themselves, and standing in the back yard, asking for alms is, of course, very degrading to a proud person, no matter who that person is. Janet has probably tried being in a similar situation before, but now that her mother is unable to provide for the disintegrating family (her father has lost his job and her sister has married and moved away), the life and death of her family depends solely on her and her brother who are the only ones working. Janet is of course very depressed and sad, but she cannot give up now. Her last hope is that the narrator will help her out, and, fortunately, she does. The handkerchief is actually the first thing the narrator has ever done to help Sarahs children. It is not until that point in the story Janet realizes just how bad things are with Sarah and her family. Of course, one could again be tempted to think that it was only her bad conscience that made her give Janet the clothes, but there is no way to be sure. I am, however, inclined to believe that the narrator has finally realized how immense the difference between the â€Å"black world† and the â€Å"white world† really is. However, the things she gives Janet (some money and the handkerchief) will not last long, and what will Janet do then Come back for more, of course. I am not saying that the narrator is doing something bad, but I do not think she realizes that Janet will probably come back again. It is like giving a stray cat some food; it will always come back for more. The question is if the narrator would give Janet more money if she came back, and if it would be any help at all. The first question is easy: Yes, she would give her more money if she came back – her conscience forbids her to do otherwise. The second question is a bit more difficult to answer. Of course the money is an instant help to Janet and her family, but only a very insufficient one. The few dollars (or whatever currency they use in South Africa) she gives Janet will only provide the family with a meal or two, and after that they will be back to where they started, and would have to beg for more money. Now, I am not saying charity does not help, but I do not think it helps as much as many people would like to think it does. In many cases, it only puts off the sufferings. The apartheid system has officially been abolished in South Africa today, but I think old habits die hard, so to speak. I am sure there are still blacks like Sarah and her family who have to subordinate to the richer white population even though – officially – apartheid does not exist there anymore. Societies do not change overnight, especially not when one group has to give up its right and privileges and share them with others (whom they dislike). Sarahs story is undoubtedly not the worst example one could find, but no one knows what happened after the scene in the narrators back yard. How to cite Ah, Woe Is Me, Essay examples

Nanotechnology Immortality Or Total Annihilation Essay Example For Students

Nanotechnology: Immortality Or Total Annihilation? Essay Technology has evolved from ideals once seen as unbelievable to common everyday instruments. Computers that used to occupy an entire room are now the size of notebooks. The human race has always pushed for technological advances working at the most efficient level, perhaps, the molecular level. The developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology have spawned a new form of technology; Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could give the human race eternal life, or it could cause total annihilation. The idea of nanotech was conceived by a man named K. Eric Drexler (Stix 94), which he defines as Technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex atomic specifications (Drexler, Engines 288). The technology which Drexler speaks of will be undoubtedly small, in fact, nano- structures will only measure 100 nanometers, or a billionth of a meter (Stix 94). Being as small as they are, nanostructures require fine particles that can only be seen with the STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope (Dowie 4). Moreover the STM allows the scientists to not only see things at the molecular level, but it can pick up and move atoms as well (Port 128). Unfortunately the one device that is giving nanoscientists something to work with is also one of the many obstacles restricting the development of nanotech. The STM has been regarded as too big to ever produce nanotech structures (Port 128). Other scientists have stated that the manipulation of atoms, which nanotech relies on, ignores atomic reality. Atoms simply dont fit together in ways which nanotech intends to use them (Garfinkel 105). The problems plaguing the progress of nanotech has raised many questions among the scientific community concerning its validity. The moving of atoms, the gathering of information, the restrictions of the STM, all restrict nanotech progress. And until these questions a re answered, nanotech is regarded as silly (Stix 98). But the nanotech optimists are still out there. They contend that the progress made by a team at IBM who was able to write letters and draw pictures atom by atom actually began the birth of nanotech (Darling 49). These same people answer the scientific questions by replying that a breakthrough is not needed, rather the science gained must be applied (DuCharme 33). In fact, Drexler argues that the machines exist, trends are simply working on building better ones (Unbounding 24). Drexler continues by stating that the machines he spoke about in Engines of Creation published in 1986 should be developed early in the 21st century (Unbounding 116). However many scientists still argue that because nanotech has produced absolutely nothing physical, it should be regarded as science fiction (Garfinkel 111). Secondly, nano-doubters rely on scientific fact to condemn nanotech. For example it is argued that we are very far away from ever seeing nanotech due to the fact that when atoms get warm they have a tendency to bounce around. As a result the bouncing atoms collide with other materials and mess up the entire structure (Davidson A1). Taken in hand with the movement of electron charges, many regard nanotech as impossible (Garfinkel 106). But this is not the entirety of the obstacles confining nanotech development. One major set-back is the fact that the nanostructures are too small to reflect light in a visible way, making them practically invisible (Garfinkel 104). Nevertheless, Nanotech engineers remain hopeful and argue that; With adequate funding, researchers will soon be able to custom build simple molecules that can store and process information and manipulate or fabricate other molecules, including more of themselves. This may occur before the turn of the century.(Roland 30) There are other developments also, that are pushing nanotech in the right direction for as Lipkin pointed out recent developments have lead to possibilities of computers thinking in 3-D (5). Which is a big step towards the processing of information that nanotech requires. Although there are still unanswered questions from some of the scientific community, researchers believe that they are moving forward and will one day be able to produce nanomachines. One such machine is regarded as a replicator. A replicator, as its name implies, will replicate; much like the way in which genes are able to replicate themselves (Drexler, Engines 23). It is also believed that once a replicator has made a copy of itself, it will also be able to arrange atoms to build entirely new materials and structures (Dowie 5). Ethnographic Paper EssayOne scenario which illustrates the danger of nanotech is referred to as the gray goo problem. Gray Goo is referred to as when billions of nanites band together and eat everything they come into contact with (Davidson A1). However, Davidson only gets the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the deadliness of gray goo. Roland better illustrates this hazards threat; Nanotechnology could spawn a new form of life that would overwhelm all other life on earth, replacing it with a swarm of nanomachines. This is sometimes called the gray goo scenario. It could take the form of a new disease organism, which might wipe out whole species, including Homo Sapiens(32). Simply put the nanites would replicate to quickly and destroy everything including the human race (Stix 95). Moreover, the rapid replication rate that nanotech is capable of could allow it to out-produce real organisms and turn the biosphere to dust (Drexler, Engines 172). However, death is only one of the da ngers of gray goo. If controlled by the wrong people, nanites could be used to alter or destroy those persons enemies (Roland 32). But gray goo is only of one of the many potential harms of nanotech. If so desired, nanotech could be used as a deadly weapon. Although microscopic robots dont sound like a very effective weapon, Drexler states that they are more potent than Nuclear weapons, and much easier to obtain (Engines 174). But aside from being used as a weapon, nanites would be able to produce weapons at a quick and inexpensive rate. In fact, with the ability to separate isotopes and atoms one would be able to extract fissionable Uranium 235 or Plutonium 239. With these elements, a person has the key ingredients for a nuclear bomb (Roland 34). As a result of the lethality of nano-weapons the first to develop nanotech could use it to destroy his rivals. New methods for domination will exist that is greater than Nukes and more dangerous (Roland 33). This along with simple errors, such as receiving the wrong instructions points toward nanotech doing more harm than good (Darling 56). Moreover, the threats from nanotech could be a potential cause of extinction (Drexler, Engines 174). Drexler continues by saying that unless precautions are taken nano could lead to complete annihilation (Engines 23). However, if nanotech does not lead to extinction, it could be used to increase the power of states and individuals. Bacon believes that only the very most elite individuals will receive benefits from nanotech. Beyond that however, it is perceived that advanced tech extends the possibilities of torture used by a state (Drexler, Engines 176). However, states will become more powerful in other ways. With the increase means of production, nanotech could remove the need for any if not all people (Drexler, Engines 176). This opens new doors for totalitarian states. They would no longer require keeping anyone alive, individuals would not be enslaved, rather they would be killed (Drexler, Engines 176). It is perceived that all the benefits would remove all interdependence, and destroy the quality of life itself (Roland 34). In the end, nanotech could give a lifestyle never before imagined. On the other hand, it could destroy entire species. The effects and potentials of nanotech are best sum med up by its inventor, Drexler, Nanotechnology and artificial intelligence could bring the ultimate tools of destruction, but they are not inherently destructive. With care, we can use them to build the ultimate tools of peace (Engines 190). The question of how beneficial nanotech will prove to be, can only be answered by time. Time will tell whether developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology will eventually produce true nanotechnology. And, if produced, whether this branch of science will give us immortality or total annihilation.