Moral Obligations To The Poor In The Article by Peter Singer Assignment

Moral Obligations To The Poor In The Article by Peter Singer - Assignment Example According to him, it is essential that human beings bring about a change in their moral conceptual scheme, i.e. the way they perceive moral issues and the commonly accepted way of life. As he remarks, it is commonly accepted at the international level that suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are not good. In this background, Singer’s argument has great relevance in wider perspective, i.e. we have moral liability to prevent something bad from happening if it is in our power to do so. Therefore, it is indubitable that Singer’s article â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality† raises some of the essential questions of social and moral concerns, and he provides a very convincing argument about this issue. In the background of the Bengal emergency, Singer proposes his argument that â€Å"if it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything morally significant, we ought, morally, to do itâ⠂¬  (Singer, 1972). He also provides convincing evidences and illustrations to support his argument, thereby making the readers agree with his proposition. Significantly, his principle takes no account of proximity or distance; not the distinction based on how many people can offer the assistance. Through his arguments, Singer upsets the traditional moral categories, because, in this case, the traditional distinction between duty and charity cannot be drawn. Thus, he argues for a moral concept of charity which is higher than that of the traditional acts of charity and disagrees with the present way of drawing the distinction between duty and charity, which makes it an act of charity for a man living at the level of affluence to give money to save someone else from starvation. (Singer, 1972). In the course of his article, Singer explains three counter-arguments to his position addressed in the article and offers his responses to those counter-arguments. The first objection to his po sition is that it is too drastic a revision of our moral scheme and they argue that people normally reserve their moral condemnation for those who violate moral norms of society, rather than those who indulge in luxury instead of giving to famine relief. In response to this counter-argument, Singer maintains that the imperatives of duty merely try to prohibit intolerable behavior in the society rather than to cause charity. Therefore, the present division between acts of duty and acts of charity is a valid argument. The second objection to Singer’s arguments arises from â€Å"some forms of utilitarian theory that we all ought, morally, to be working full time to increase the balance of happiness over misery† (Singer, 1972). Singer counters these arguemnts with evidences from writings of Thomas Aquinas and others, and provides practical as well as philosophical arguments. According to the third counter-argument, overseas aid should be a government responsibility. They a lso argue that until there is effective population control, relieving famine merely postpones starvation. However, Singer also makes his arguments to counter these views and suggests that methods of preventing famine should be adopted by us while the other organizations work specifically for population control. In support of his arguments, Singer introduces the concept of marginal utility in order to respond to the question of just how much we all ought to be giving away. Marginal utility is the â€Å"level at which, by giving more, I would cause as much suffering to myself or my

Spanish and Chinese Civil Wars

Spanish and Chinese Civil Wars Both China and Spain are salient examples of the turbulence that afflicted nations in the twentieth century who swooped from imperial to democratic regimes amidst a tide of protracted ideological struggles. Many of the causes of both civil wars stemmed from economically backward markets, pendulums of power and widespread social discontent, problems that were exacerbated by external influences and involvement. The collapse of Chinas Manchu dynasty and the abolition of Spains Monarchy lead to political vacuums filled by revolutionaries and reformers with little sense of a unified China or Spain. What ensued were two vicous civil wars. Despite these similarities, subtle differences in culture expound the very different outcomes of these civil wars The deep Nationalism displayed by the Chinese at the turn of the 20th Century that lead to the extensive xenophobia and formation of two conflicting revolutionary movements can be seen as a major cause in the Chinese Civil War. For centuries, the somewhat egocentric Chinese nature based in Confucian values created a precious, self-sufficient and culturally rich nation. However, this immemorial concept of superiority was brutally damaged following the Opium Wars with Britain in 1839 and 1842, questioning the unchallenged notion of Chinese supremacy. By 1890, Britains military foothold resulted in the diplomatic creation of over fifty foreign enclaves and the establishment of concession areas within major cities. Chinas ancient imperial political system was feeble in the face of Western governments and failed to generate valuable resistance, humiliating and degrading the Chinese people thus forming the foundations of the revolutionary movements that would lead China into Civil War. An early example of this can be seen in the anti-foreign devil movement of 1900, known as the Boxer Rebellion. Although proving unsuccessful, the rising revealed the incompetence of the imperial authorities and contributed to the Manchu governments failures to recognise the discontent amongst its people. In October 1911 the insurrection came to a head, and the Manchu dynasty abdicated, the last Emperor, Pu-Yi, was banished to the Forbidden City and a new Republic was formed. Similarly, in Spain, the push for democracy was at the centre of political instability and is consequently a cause of the Spanish Civil War. As a constitutional monarchy, Spain at the turn of the century was facing a catastrophic decline in national pride due to colonial losses in Central and South America and a dwindling economic situation. The brutal theory of Hispanidad proclaimed Spain the centre of World history and the Army saw its role move away from defending against external enemies and move towards redeeming Spain from the increasingly popular Bolsheviks, liberals and atheists that threatened the popular fascist values of Accion Espanola. This heightened political dissatisfaction resulted in the bloodless coup of 1923, in which King Alfonso XIII appointed Primo de Riviera the leader of the First Republic. Rivieras rule was for the most part unsuccessful and reliant on heavy borrowing; he ignored the dire need for social reforms in order to combat Spains unemployment issues. A similar situation ensued within China where the new republican leader Sun Yatsen struggled to hold power over the reactionary and corrupting General Yuan Shikai who, despite having promise stability to China, solved few basic economic or political problems. Although these long term causes alone were insufficient to cause civil war, it can be seen that in both Spain and China the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty and the abdication of King Alfonso XII created not solely ineffective and undemocratic republics but power vacuums amidst rampant, deep-rooted nationalism and pride. Economically and socially backward, Spain was an agric nation. Compared to neighbouring European countries, there had been little industrial development in Spain during the 19th Century. The semi-feudal land system that dominated the South created a divisive wealth gap between affluent Landowners and deprived landless peasants. In other Northern regions the few industrially developed areas like Asturias and Catalonia had successfully developed textile and coal factories. The exploitation in rural and industrial areas led to the growth of radical political persuasions. Anarchism and socialism prospered as demands for worker control of factories flourished. Furthermore, the Republics failures to adequately tackle the damage inflicted on Spain as a result of the 1929 Wall Street Crash created a reputation that democracy and economic hardship where synonymous. Hence the result of Spains extensive poverty was a loss of faith in the Republic and a turn by the masses towards radical politic s and extremist groups. Likewise, Chinas economic and social grievances were largely based in rural poverty. Despite its abundant natural resources; coal, oil and ore, ninety percent of the population were peasants. A lack of modern manufacturing resulted in a constant need for imports, high inflation and dwindling food supplies. The fragmented, de facto government that followed the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916, comprised of regional military leaders or warlords. It was these locally powerful individuals who exploited and terrorised the country, a step away from any sense of national cohesion. To exacerbate their unpopularity the Bejiing government and warlords frequently negotiated with foreign powers over land and exports. It could be argued that the 4th May movement in 1919 as much a reaction against foreign exploitation an the unfavourable Versailles agreements as a reaction against the powerful and betraying warlords. This disunity and poverty intensified the resentment of Chinese nationalists, providi ng further direction and focus to revolutionary movements like the GMD and CCP, who were primarily inspired by a hatred of warlordism. It was the affronts to national pride committed by warlords and foreign devils that presented the Chinese people with a collective sense of injustice. So, it can be noted that in both China and Spain the economic turbulence was a key factor in the formation of reactionary political groups. Slow industrialisation in both countries created inequality and a lack of trust in their respective political systems. Author and historian Jung Chang recounts her fathers reasons for joining the communist party in Wild Swans as a result of, widespread fighting amongst warlords, who all levied heavy taxes combined with the effects of the Great depression and Maos policy of Chinese must not fight Chinese appealed to his sense of nationalism as well as offering equality and change. In China, political instability largely sprouted from 19th Century disaffection with the imperial rule. Challenges to this authoritarian ruling can be noted in the Boxer Rebellion and then in the 1911 revolution. However, such an ancient and customary hierarchy was an intrinsic Chinese value, devotion and reverence towards authority dominated culture. This strict social discipline and veneration of conformity might suggest that the Chinese never really sought democracy, the totalitarian regimes that followed their revolution illustrate the continuation of hereditary traditions. This forced and manufactured form of revolution then underpinned the succession of weak governments that lead China into civil war. The rules of Yuan Shikai and Sun Yatsen, never adequately filled the power vacuum left following the removal of Emperor Pu-Yi. Their weak ideologies and failed reforms lead to the violent and destructive warlord era that lasted from 1916 until 1927. It was the brutality of this regime that fuelled future leaders like Mao into the belief that, Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. For this reason, the warlord era advanced the Chinese Revolution through the disunity and fragmentation it created but also through the vicious extremist ideologies it ignited. Despite the formation of the United Front between the GMD and CCP in order to combat the warlords retarding the approach of civil war, this alliance broke down by 1927 when the GMD purged the CCP. Chiang Kai-sheks White Terror in 1927 demonstrated the temporary nature of the United Front and stresses the deep resentment between opposing ideologies. Furthermore, Chiangs resistance to defend Manchuria against Japan and vario us foreign encroachments instead focusing on the annihilation of the Communists disillusioned many, Jung Changs father included, she writes, the communist slogan Chinese must not fight Chineseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and the Communist stance about fighting the Japanese and about creating a just society fired [my fathers] imagination and he joined the party in 1938. Consequently, Chiang was deeply unpopular, increased political polarisation ensued, feuds and purges accelerated the existing factors that stemmed from imperialism. Spain too endured unstable political leadership as well as deep internal divisions, however, without the Chinese threat of invasion and foreign infringement a swinging pendulum of governments developed. Radical reforms were introduced, removed and then reintroduced with each election. Chaos erupted. The first, Left Republic of 1931 introduced a series of highly contentious laws; Catalonia was granted a degree of autonomy following secession campaigns, there was nationalisation of the land and most controversially, the Church was entirely separated from the state. Church bell ringing was banned, Catholic Schools closed and Church land redistributed. The traditional and conservative core of Spain were enraged, the Church became a martyr with which the landowners and Right united to form CEDA. Even the Left was aggravated by the reforms that they felt lacked depth and passion, as a result, the Socialists withdrew support and the Left suffered electoral defeat in 1933. The triumphant Rig ht Wing Republic then instigated what became known by the Left as the bienos negros, two years where all reforms were reversed, socialism and anarchism repressed. Declarations of Communism in the Asturias region in 1934 were brutally suppressed by General Francos forces, three-thousand were killed. The Left, fearing a Right wing dictatorship then formed the Popular Front. In 1936, there was a pendulum swing back to a Popular Front led government. Peasants began seizing land they felt was now theirs, the Falange and Church launched uprisings and revolts against the left. From February to July of 1936 there were three-hundred political killings. The revenge killing of Sotello was manipulated by the Right to justify a brutal and extreme coup, the start of Civil War. The result of such a turbulent and ever-changing political landscape was division, division within the already divided factions. The Left Bloc governments angered their support because of the diverse ideologies between grou ps, the Right too comprised of various groups with wildly differing objectives. Thus every government failed to appease each individual assemblage. Elwood suggests it was this lack of consensus over anything that caused disillusionment with democratic politics and brutal caciquismo political polarisation of which only violence could conquer. Infamously, Carr branded the Spanish Civil War a European civil war fought on Spanish territory. A proxy war for the amplified political tensions of Europe post-WWI, the first major battle between Fascism and Communism. Equally, the Chinese Civil War was caused by ideological conflicts between incompatible parties. The GMD a nationalist yet democratic party following the three principles of the people deeply contested the CPP philosophy, based in the signification of Marxism, Mao Zedong believed Chinas revolution should be peasant-led. These conflicting values produced a series of conflicts culminating in two civil wars that straddled WWII. Chiangs abhorrence of the CCP resulted in his White Terror Campaign in 1927 where the GMD turned savagely on the allied CCP, purging 5000 known communists and sympathisers in Shaghai alone. GMD troops pursued the CCP into Jiangxsi where, for seven years, and through five encirclements campaigns the remnants of the CCP fought against persistent Nat ionalist assaults. These intractable problems forced the CCP into a march of martyrdom know as the Long March, engraining an impassioned need for justice into their plight. In Spain, however divisions spread further and more intricately. In George Orwells Homage to Catalonia, he describes the internecine that blighted both the Left and Right as, hatred between those nominally on the same side, especially Stalinists and Trotskyists. Significantly on the Left, divisions between Anarchist, Socialist, Marxist and Trade Unionist factions led to disunity and disagreement. The entrenchment of these differences meant that no democratic process could focus the varying priorities. Moreover, the colossal polarisation and radicalisation of politics between Left and Right directly opposed the Republic, the basis for a vicious and unrelenting war. Whereas, in China the extremity of fascism was not present, and although equally as divided as Spain, internal division was minimal and insignificant. In China, there was a common aim; a strong independent nation and so, although the ideological differences provided basis for civil war, the tensions were not significant the mselves to cause war.

Vegetarianism Essay -- Healthy Lifestyle Essay

Vegetarianism Eating is a staple of life. In every culture, food customs and variety are part of that cultures definition. In American society and other cultures, meat is a main food that is consumed, yet not by everyone. Dating back to medieval times, some meats were not consumed due to the "impurities" they were seen to be by the religions of the time. Throughout history, this has developed from not eating red meat, to not eating any meat at all, and even further to the vegan extreme of not eating any animal products at all. Though not everyone feels this way, more and more people change their eating habits every day. Methodology Due to the nature of this report, information is not hard to find, especially in this town. Considering that there is a whole food "industry" in today's society, the data is not hard to collect. Also, with the new wave of vegetarianism and veganism making its way through society, research on it was plentiful. Most of the books in the library tended to be older books, but they did briefly go into vegetarianism in certain sections. As is shown through various graffiti art on the sidewalks, such as "VEGAN POWER XXX," to the food in the dorms (signs stating the vegan or vegetarian nature of the food), this is a new heath and moral concern with people, but especially college students today. Students who have changed their eating habits are also good sources for information on how one goes about changing theirs too. Description and Analysis To live, one has to eat, and the best food for the body is that of the healthy nature. "The concept of eating in such a way as to help the body to balance and adjust itself is of course a widespread one," (pg. 93, Wheeler/Poh). Over the years, starting b... ...matter. Actually narrowing my paper down helped me be more productive for I had a goal in mind instead of just a very broad subject matter of food. This report turned out very well and I enjoyed researching it. However, in the future I hope to interview more people to get more of a range of opinions. Overall, I enjoyed doing this research and finding out more about vegetarianism than I could have ever imagined. References Denny, Laura. 2001. Interview by Sarah E. Patterson, 2 December, Bloomington, Indiana. Tape Recording. SEP A-052. Twigg, Julia. 1983. "Vegetarianism and the Meaning of Meat," in The Sociology of Food and Eating, by Anne Murcott. England: Gower Publishing Company Limited. Wheeler, Erica and Poh, Tan Swee. 1983. "Food for Equilibrium," in The Sociology of Food and Eating, by Anne Murcott. England: Gower Publishing Company Limited.

Disaster Response

The aspect of disaster has been a prevalent attribute within any societal setting. The strength of the society towards this has been provided by various processes modeled as disaster management strategies. Every community has been therefore at a projected risk of effect by various conceptions of disasters. However, the success of any disaster management process is a compliment of various phases. Mitigation is the process of gaining the knowledge about the disaster and developing possible measures of avoiding the risks involved.It therefore involves an assessment of the probable risks which could affect oneself, property of family. It is the compound of both structural as well as non structural processes and measures that are taken towards limiting the impacts held by the disaster (John, 2005). Preparedness is the process whose aim is mainly to prevent the occurrence of the disaster. It compounds the preparation of the procedures and equipments which could be used when the disaster oc curs. Disaster response implies the probable methods of fulfilling and providing the basic and adequate humanitarian needs that are of importance to those affected.It therefore governs the structures of providing assistance and help for the affected persons to undertaken persuasive process in driving out from the crisis. Disaster recovery process comes after the possible immediate threats and effects to people have subsided. It implies restoring the affected property and people to their former state of living by supplying the very essential necessities and creating conditions for a continued life. (John, 2005) In my community, preparedness towards disaster has been a crucial role. Various structures, policies and processes have been constituted to avoid and deal with risks.Various processes have been developed to create possible environments that prevent risks from their occurrence. It has used mass decontamination, emergency evacuation processes, quarantines, developing emergency s tructures for the support of rebuilding and supporting the society after these occurrences above other fundamental measures. At my personal level, I have been obligated in creating moral awareness on the principles and codes of risks mitigations. This is by providing supportive processes that enlighten the society about the possible measures in disaster control (John, 2005).

Pramanik Containers And The Bottleneck

Printing plates were hard to locate when required for repeat orders which lead to constant delay in start of work. Shank and his crew often had to work overtime to complete the orders due to mismanagement of plates. Biennials is not ready to spend any money to upgrade the system but puppyish wants to improve the storage of plates. He should look to outsource storage and delivery of plates to external firm and introduce ERP technology for the same. WORD COUNT: 120 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Paranoia containers Pat Ltd, established in 1977 was a family based business owned by Biennials Meta in Iambi.They used to manufacture customized aerosol containers and was the sole supplier of cans to BBC Pharmacy, a large NC since 1977. An informal meeting between Biennials Meta and Moan Sings, purchasing director of BBC Company had initiated the business partnership and within a year's time Paranoia supplied aerosol cans to BBC Pharmacy. Paranoia had created a value on its own through product quality and fast service. Many new customers tied up with Paranoia because of its ever spreading capability and quality service (for which they were known) which resulted into an annual sales of about RSI 315 million by 009.Biennials was also interested in bidding for new business and supply aerosol cans to Radiant healthcare who were entering Indian market to sell deodorants. Paranoia used to manufacture aerosol cans according to specific customer requirements biz. Size, shape, diameter of cans. These requirements were met by installation of 4 high speed automatic fabrication machines which operated at a rate of 25 cans per minute. The printing department had to decorate cans according to customers specifications and this required a high-capacity machine which could print 300 parts per minute.By 2010, Puppyish Meta son of Biennials Meta Joined his family business after completing his family managed business (FM) program. On his first day in the company he walked into the printing area and saw Shank, the head printer sleeping on the Job and also observed that operation management in printing department was in total mess. Printing plates required for printing process were hardly found in time resulting in delay of entire process. Upon enquiring from Rakes the Accounts Assistant of the company he got to know that plates used for new orders were kept in storeroom after use to be subsequently used in repeat orders.But there was no proper mechanism in place for arrangement of plates so they could not be located easily. So to compensate the time lost in finding the plates employees often worked overweight to complete the order. It resulted in extra costs as workers were paid overtime wages and new plates were made only in emergency orders in case old ones were not found. Paranoia received about 60 orders per day and manufactured 30,000 cans per day. It had produced nearly 30,000 designs during last 15 years. Plates of all these customers were maintained for use in case of n ew order. Maintaining accounts of such vast data required meticulous work.But Shank insisted that they should hire another person to maintain the registers as he was already busy running the machine but this was not acceptable to Biennials. Puppyish decided to deal with the problems and discuss the same with his father. Puppyish wanted to restructure the storage operations of plates in his company, but further investment is not acceptable to his father. So Puppyish has to come up with a concrete plan whether he should introduce technology for data maintenance of printing plates, reduce the extra costs which are paid for working overtime or he would hire extra employees to maintain the registers of plates.PROBLEM STATEMENT Improper management of print plates records leading to unnecessary load on the employees of printing department resulting to the low efficiency and extra costs. Biennials was not ready to make any investments in upgrading the present system. OBJECTIVES: 1 . To impr ove operation and time managing department of printing division with minimum extra cost. 2. To store and locate printing plates in an efficient manner. 3. To introduce technology for maintaining data of printing plates and customers orders. 4. To reduce excessive work load on employees. OPTIONS: 1.Buy a new warehouse or rent it to store printing plates. 2. To introduce technology like ERP system to maintain computerized data of printing plates. 3. Hire extra people to specifically maintain printing plates registers. 4. Outsourcing the work to some company so they can maintain data storage of printing plates properly. EVALUATION OF OPTIONS: OPTIONS o c s 1. Buying a new warehouse will require lot of investments initially as well further operations costs for running the facility as well buy new equipments. It would be beneficial for proper maintenance of plates, cost incurred would hinder its implementation. Introducing ERP system will professionalism the system. It would store inform ation of each and every plate and employees will be able to prepare printing plates whenever customers place their orders. But it will require huge setup cost and they will have to hire employees and train them. 3. Hiring employees for maintaining record of plates will be a better option keeping cost factor in mind. Although it will lead to extra costs but it will be negligible as they were paying Shank and his crew overtime wages. Also it will reduce unnecessary load of current employees and they will be able concentrate properly on their work.But for maintaining huge amount of data, use of technology is advisable. 4. Outsourcing maintenance of printing plates to external firm will help Paranoia to focus on its core service of manufacturing and supplying aerosol cans which they are known for. Printing plates can be made depending on customers order and the outsourcing firm can maintain the data according to that. This will help employees of printing department to focus on decoratio ns of cans and need not worry about locating plates for every order. But this implementation requires investment and he will have to convince his father who is not willing to spend any money.RECOMMENDATION: Puppyish should try to negotiate with his father and convince him to invest money in outsourcing firm and to reduce constant bottleneck in printing department. Although hiring new employees will avoid extra costs but recommendation would be to outsource the work to the external firm. As Paranoia is well known aerosol manufacturer company,they should focus on its better quality service and fast service and let the external firm take care of the records of printing plates. This will reduce load from Shank as well as his crews shoulders and they will be able to work efficiently on printing machines.CONNECTIONAL: Puppyish has to come up with a concrete plan and convince his father and take him into confidence to invest the money into the outsourcing firm by showing him that they are already spending extra cost due to mismanagement of printing plates so they can cut down on the unnecessary spending which is affecting the company and customers not receiving their delivery orders completely due to orders becoming an emergency order. To implement the idea of outsourcing firm Puppyish should ask his team to float tenders to invite firms interested in storing and delivering printing late.CONTINGENCY PLAN: Puppyish should implement ERP technology in the firm as the data storage of the printing plates will be computerized. It will equip the company and it would help him as the company looks to expand the business in the future. Word count-11 50 UNDERTAKING To Whom It May Concern: l, Rural Augural, hereby declare that this assignment is my original work and is not copied from anyone/anywhere. If found similar with sources, I take complete responsibility of action taken thereof by WAC team. Signature NAME: Rural Augural ROLL NO: 131246 SECTION: B