All Animals are Equal by Peter Singer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

All Animals are Equal by Peter Singer - Essay Example Everyone is different in many respects such as capacity, intelligence, body stamina yet all are considered equal in providing basic rights to them. The principle of the equality essentially enforces equal treatment for all and with that perspective, he argues, why the same moral ideal is not extended further to include other species of the planet. All species in this universe do not differ on the matter of suffering – no matter how big or small they are. Then why humans instill a different kind of treatment to them. If suffering is made the reason for consideration of equality among all species then the current moral principles of equality – that limit equality to humans only are certainly neither sufficient in themselves nor devoid of human bias. The point is criteria of equality cannot apply only to humans but it is perfectly logical to extend it to other beings too who suffers due to actions of humans against them. Singer asserts "Most human beings are speciesists" (155) because they make use of other species for eating. Though the argument is given is the nutritional needs but it has been sufficiently proved in the scientific realms that farm products such as soybeans and other milk products can meet human needs of proteins. Men use species just as means to meet their ends. The key reasons for consuming other species are attributed to human taste buds and this fact cannot be denied at all. Members of other species are treated most grotesquely – as machines that transform grains into flesh.

How does fashion shape social identities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How does fashion shape social identities - Essay Example Clothing is considered to have a significant influence on the social construction of identity of human beings. With choices of clothing being available, the different cultures are interpreted by individuals in order to choose their clothing. This includes the norms of appearance of an individual at a particular time based on different cultures and other alternatives available for rich fashion (Crane 2012). Clothing or fashion is said to imply the way individuals perceive themselves and their positions in the society. In the earlier times, clothing was the means that was associated with an individual’s representation of himself to the world. Over the years, other factors have been associated with clothing such as education, religion, occupation and class in the society. Clothes generally reflect the different types of societies and the different roles and positions of individuals existing within the societies (Crane 2012). According to social constructionists, the social world is represented as a set of connections that is brought about by the human beings through time, place, and form. As far as fashion marketing is concerned, it has been observed that marketers tend to focus on the sense of the consumers and their identities and segmenting them accordingly (Hines and Bruce 2012). Social identity is essential in interpreting the type of clothes worn by an individual. The use of clothes and fashion has been considered as a code to determine the identity of the person. If a certain individual is wearing clothes of a certain brand, it gives an impression of the individual and hence a social identity is created. However, for young individuals, it is difficult to create social constructions based on their fashion as their choices would vary with the options available to them. Differences in perceptions for branded and unbranded products also largely influence they manner in which people clothes and hence their

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Introduction The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 by Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok. ASEANs objectives were to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region. To promote regional peace and stability, active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields. ASEAN was subsequently expanded over the years to include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia making up the ten member states of ASEAN today. Despite the expansion, the objectives and working principles of ASEAN have remained unchanged throughout the years. The ASEAN way of informal networking had been effective in creating a cohesive, peaceful and economically successful ASEAN bloc. This essay will address the question of ASEANs relevance to stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia in three parts. First, the essay will attempt to examine the power-balancing role of US in Southeast Asia. Secondly, the essay will analyze the conditions under which ASEAN was created to illustrate how ASEANs objectives are aligned with stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. Lastly, this essay will explore in more depth how ASEAN remains essential to the stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The essay shall then conclude why the interpretation of MM Lees words is not accurate in current context and why ASEAN is not merely a supplement to the power-balancing role played by the US. Power-Balancing Role of US in Southeast Asia The strategic presence of US in Southeast Asia has not prevented USs allies and partners in the region from low-intensity conflicts and non-traditional threats. For example, there is still a high incident rate of piracy activities in the Malacca straits, Singapore straits and South China Sea. The strategic presence of the US has also not provided any security to the states in Southeast Asia from the attack by terrorist groups. Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia had all fallen victim to terrorist bombing, not once, but on several occasions. The attacks might even be triggered by the close ties between US and the states in Southeast Asia. The terrorist would have view the states as being pro-US thus became a target for the terrorist groups. The third Indochina War was officially brought to a close with the October 1991 agreements at the Paris Conference (PICC). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the regional role of the US is no longer being shaped by the American Cold War imperatives in Southeast Asia. Impetuses for the Founding of ASEAN Most Southeast Asian states, less Thailand, attained political independence after centuries of foreign domination and colonization after the end of World War II. As such, nation building was the primary focus of ASEAN during its early years of formation. Furthermore, forming a regional organisation could fill the power vacuum left by the major powers, which used the region for proxy wars and major power rivalry. ASEAN provided a platform for the newly independent states to concentrate in their nation building and economic development. ASEAN was thus formed to create a peaceful and stable environment for nation building and growth among the Southeast Asian states. Despite the wish for peace and stability, the world in the 1960s era was embroiled in the war against communism. Communist threat to existing governments at that time was severe. The region was overwhelmed with communist insurgencies and there were imminent danger of communism spreading across Southeast Asia. Economic growth, a means to prevent the spread of communism was thus another important objective for the formation of ASEAN. Although Southeast Asia faced a common enemy, suspicions and distrust caused by Konfrontasi, the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation was prevalent among the member states. With the change in political leadership in Indonesia in 1966 with Suhartos replacement of Sukarno as Indonesias President, this spells the end of Sukarno regime and the end of Konfrontasi. It was also the beginning of Suhartos New Order regime and Good Neighbour policy. In order to achieve peace and stability in the region, it was important to first restore confidence and reassure Southeast Asia of Indonesias peaceful intentions. As a result, ASEAN was formed under the principle of non-interference in each others domestic affairs to create a tolerant environment for members to engage without suspicion and doubts. Given the above conditions, ASEAN was formed with the objectives to promote regional peace and stability, co-operation, economic development, and generating social and cultural progress. Defence arrangement such as SEATO was deliberately avoided to prevent being seen as overly pro-Western and provoking to Vietnam. ASEANs Achievements It has been four decades since ASEAN was founded. The achievements of ASEAN cannot be downplayed, for the fact that ASEAN is the one and only permanent regional association in Asia. Stability of Southeast Asia ASEAN had provided the framework for regional stability. The ASEAN Way of doing things had proven its strength based on how far ASEAN have came since its founding. The specific features of ASEAN Way are: informal process of interaction, informality, quiet diplomacy, dialogue and consultation, self-restraint, flexible consensus, lowest common denominator emphasis, conflict avoidance. They also respect each others National sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-use of force etc. standard Intl Relations principles. Their mode of operations is process-orientated and network-based model of co-operation that avoids bureaucratic arrangements. The Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC) was signed by the member states of ASEAN in Feb 1976. The purpose of this Treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and co-operation among their peoples which would contribute to their strength, solidarity and closer relationship. This treaty has seen a growing number of countries outside Southeast Asia accepting it. In 2004, four more countries acceded to the treaty, namely, Japan, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Russia. The ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC) was form to achieve a socially cohesive and caring ASEAN. It is intended to foster co-operation in addressing a grab bag of social and cultural problems associated with rural poverty, population growth, unemployment, human resources development, education, environment, and health. An example of the level of co-operation the member states have can be seen in the incident of SARs outbreak in Asia. ASEAN has been proactive in seeking to contain infectious diseases, which know no border. During the outbreak, a special ASEAN Leaders Meeting in Bangkok was called in Apr 2003; the ASEAN heads of government mandated a comprehensive regional response to the threat posed by the disease, the spread of which was wreaking havoc on their economies. Although the actual job of fighting the spread of the disease fell to the public health officials of the states, the coordination of measures was carried out at the health minister level of the ASEAN +3. Another example is the Singapore-Malaysia dispute over Pedra Branca islands. Both countries laid claim to the Pedra Branca islands although Singapore had been the custodian of the Horsburg Lighthouse situated on the island throughout the last century. The dispute could not be resolved within ASEAN; however, both Singapore and Malaysia had agreed to bring it to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2007. This dispute came to an end with the ICJ ruling sovereignty of Pedra Branca to Singapore and that of Middle Rocks to Malaysia. ASEAN also manage to resolve the Cambodian crisis during the 1980s thru the ASEAN-Post Ministerial Conference (ASEAN-PMC) which assumed its current form when the US, Canada and Japan joined in 1978. Security of Southeast Asia TheZone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN)declaration was signed in 1971 by the Foreign Ministers of theASEANmember states (Indonesia,Malaysia, thePhilippines,SingaporeandThailand). In the declaration, the parties publicly stated their intent to keepSouth East Asiafree from any form or manner of interference by outside Powers and broaden the areas of co-operation. The ASEAN Regional Forum was formed in 1994 with the objective of promoting peace and security through dialogue and co-operation in the Asia Pacific. It is important that ARF continue to play its role in the political and security dialogue as well as confidence building. TheSoutheast AsianNuclear-Weapon-Free ZoneTreaty(SEANWFZ) of 1995, orBangkok Treaty, is anuclear weapons moratorium treaty between 10 Asian member-states under the auspices of theASEAN. It entered into force on March 28, 1997 and obliges its members not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapon. This is crucial to both confidence building in Southeast Asia and to worldwide nuclear disarmament. Vietnam has joined ASEAN in 1995 and the ARF, and the long overdue normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam has finally happened, under the influence of ASEAN. The Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) adopted at the 10th ASEAN Summit contained several measures to guide ASEANs effort in countering terrorism from 2005 2010. These measures form the preparatory steps to the establishment of an ASEAN Extradition Treaty as envisaged by the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) Plan of Action. Prosperity of Southeast Asia One of the main objectives of ASEAN is to improve economic development. ASEAN has since negotiated for Free-Trade Agreements (FTA) with various dialogue partners of ASEAN. The FTAs were established with Australia New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Republic of Korea. Since 2000, European Commission and ASEAN are already discussing trade and investment issues at Ministerial (EC-ASEAN Economic Ministers) and official (Senior Economic Official Meeting) levels. The key challenge is to promote region-to-region economic relations, particularly by addressing non-tariff barriers through regulatory co-operation using the framework of TREATI (the Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative), and ultimately to lay the foundations for a preferential regional trade agreement in the future. The Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative (TREATI) is a framework for dialogue and regulatory co-operation developed to enhance EU trade relations with ASEAN. Study for an EU- ASEAN FTA was then initialed in 2005 and making good progress. In 2006, EU-ASEAN trade represented 5% of total world trade. The EU is ASEANs 2nd largest trading partner, accounting for 11.7% of ASEAN trade (2006). Significantly, 13% of ASEAN exports are destined for the EU, which makes it ASEANs 2nd largest export market after the US. ASEAN as an entity represents the EUs 5th largest major trading partner, accounting to 127 billion EUR, just ahead of Norway and equivalent to Japan. ASEANs trade with the EU has been growing steadily over the past five years, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. On average, EU companies have invested 5.1 billion EUR a year for the period 2003 to 2005. EU is thus by far the largest investor in ASEAN countries: 27% of total FDI inflows from 2001 to 2005 come from the EU, compared to 15% for the US. Conclusion ASEAN was formed during the era of inter-state distrust and the uprising of communism. ASEAN was thus established with the objectives of promoting regional peace, stability and economic progress to facilitate nation building among member states. The working principles, the ASEAN Way of non-interference, informal understanding and consensus building based on lowest common denominator have been effectual in attaining the objectives of ASEAN. The introduction of new member states including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, had fulfill the dream of including all the countries in Southeast Asia into ASEAN. It can be seen that the strategic presence of US in the region can no longer guarantee the security of the states in Southeast Asia, especially in the current era of non-conventional threats piracy and terrorism. As such, the interpretation of Mr Lees words is not accurate in todays context. Over the last four decades, ASEAN have certainly achieved plentiful in all areas of stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Way has been successful in promoting regional co-operation and economic development. The nations of Southeast Asia were able to leave their historic rivalries behind them in the name of ASEAN unity. They have also taken the lead to create the ASEAN Regional Forum to engage all their Asia-Pacific neighbours for the first time, to discuss in a structured dialogue on wide-ranging Asian security issues. The Prime Minister of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Mr Bounnhang Vorachith, 29 Nov 2004, said, The role of ASEAN has been increasingly recognised in ensuring peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, through the ARF, with ASEAN as the primary driving force. In conclusion, ASEAN have proven its commitment and achievements through all the ministerial meetings, Communities and forums that it is still relevance to the stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The fact that EU and the Asia-Pacific states are willing to co-operate with ASEAN; is a testimonial and recognition of ASEANs achievements. It is not merely an adjunct or supplement to the power-balancing role played by the United States. The role of ASEAN is indeed central to the regions well being.

The Theory and Implementations of The Balance of Payments (BOP) :: Economics

The Theory and Implementations of The Balance of Payments (BOP) To develop country’s economic strength under the tendency of globalization, governments always seek to achieve two macroeconomic objectives, i.e. stable growth of internal economy and balanced development of external economic activities. The former can be realized by effectively adjusting Economic Growth, Unemployment and Inflation. However, how to realize the latter? An external macroeconomic variable is needed. In practice, the Balance of Payments fulfills this responsibility. (A). Balance of Payments (BOP used in following text), in principle, is a record of the country’s transactions with the rest of the world. It shows the country’s payment s to or deposits in other countries (debits) and its receipts or deposits from other countries (credits)[1]. The BOP account[2] also shows the balance between these debits and credits under various headings, which are categorized into the Current Account, the Capital Account and the Financial Account, which compose the main elements of balance of payments. The Current Account largely measures flow of real resources including exports and imports of goods and services, income receivable and payable abroad, and current transfers from and to abroad. It is normally divided into three subdivisions (Figure 1). Trade in goods account (often as the trade balance) The total value of exports of goods, subtracting the total value of imports of goods. Trade in services account Imports and exports of services, such as banking and insurance, transport services, law, accountancy, management consultancy and tourism. Investment incomes Interest, profit and dividends flowing into and out of the country. Transfers of money Two sectors: government transfers and transfers made by other sectors. Government transfers include contributions to international organisations (e.g. UK to EU budget) and foreign aid. The ‘other sectors’ section many highlights the transfer of assets by individuals to foreign bank accounts. The Capital Account measures external transactions in capital transfers, and in acquisition or disposal of non-produced, non-financial assets, which include land and subsoil assets, patents and copyrights etc. Capital transfers are transfers of ownership of a fixed asset or the forgiveness of a liability. The Financial Account records transactions in financial assets and liabilities between residents and non-residents. It shows how an economy's external transactions are financed. Transactions in the financial account are classified into direct investment, portfolio investment, other investment, and reserve assets[3] (Figure 2). Direct investment Money flows across national boundaries for the purpose of investing and it is thus either a credit or a debit item. Portfolio investment Changes in the holding of paper assets, such as company shares and bonds. Other investment It comprises loans, currency, deposits, and short and long-term trade credits, financial derivatives and other accounts receivable and payable. Reserve assets This refers to the reserves of gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and

Animal Farm And A Utopian Society Essay

Based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm a utopian society can not be achieved. A perfect world is impossible to achieve because you will always get someone who takes charge and overrules the people. In the book the animals successfully rebel from the owner of the farm, Mr. Jones. After the rebellion as a whole the animals set up some rules and commandments. At this point the animals feel that they have created a utopia, or a perfect world. They feel they can work hard for a while and then be rewarded with retirement. Eventually there becomes a superior group of animals that convince the rest of the animals that they are of higher intelligence. With this in mind they then told them that the elite group, the pigs, deserved more of the delicacies such as milk and apples. The pigs declared that these foods increased their abilities to do the brain work. The pigs also take over the house and begin to adopt many of the evil habits of man. In reality the pigs forced the other animals in to doing all of the manual labor so that they could reap the benefits solely for themselves. This is the sole reason that a utopian society can not be achieved. The pigs, or higher forms of government can only hold the respect of the people for so long until they eventually go back to the old ways, and the utopia is demolished.

Project Management Essay

Due to the rapid changes in the working world and the business environment, organizations have been forced to transform as a way of surviving in the ever-changing business environment. According to Gardiner (2005), most organizations Have adopted projects as their means of implementing change within the organization. The adoption of a project oriented a approach, with its associated management framework, is sufficient to ensure greater success in the implementation of change within an organization. While use of best practices in project management may not guarantee success in the change of an organization, the presence of projects increases the opportunity for success. Studies have shown that, where a project manager is well equipped with the skills and knowledge of project management, projects work as the best tools for implementing change within the organization. The Concept on Project Management Project management refers to the discipline managing, planning and organizing resources to achieve successful completion of specific project objectives and goals. A project is in nature a finite endeavor, that specifies the date as to when it should begin, and the time when it should end, this is done in order to create a unique service or product that brings about added value, or beneficial change in a company. The finite character of the project is different from operations or processes of an organization, some of which may be permanent or functional work, that are used to repeated operations, with the aim of producing similar goods or services. Management of the two systems is always complex and difficult. There is therefore need to employ distinct technical skills and adopt separate philosophy of management, that would enable the implementation of the best project that can bring beneficial returns to the company. messages. Application of Project Management in Organizational Change According to Gray & Larson (2006), in the regime where implementation for change is the motto for most organizations, projects are the best vehicles for implementing change. The aspect of project management has in fact become more significant than ever. In any company that needs to change its organizational structure so as to change with the improving technology, or in order to meet the needs and wants of the consumers, projects are used as the vehicles for implementing the required change, and managing the related change. It is however important to possess the ability to sustain and build project management in order to succeed in the implementation of change. The importance of project management has been illustrated by the efforts of Swiss Re organization by using all its business operations to meet the requirements of e-business. Projects were used as the main vehicles for implementing this change. Great concern has however been expressed in the way most projects once began fail to deliver, or get stopped while they are underway. According to a research carried out by Levine (2005), most of the Information technology projects implemented were discouraging with 90% of the projects being late to deliver change in the organizations. It has been shown that, 50% of the projects are never completed at the right time, while 30% of the projects began are stopped while still underway. Project management allows the implementation of change in an organization in a more organized manner likely to realize success. The major challenge of any form of project management is to attain the objectives and goals put in place, while at the same time adhering to project constraints which are usually in the form of time factor, budget and scope. The more ambitious and secondary challenge is the optimization of integration and allocation of inputs that may be necessary to meet the goals and objectives. The success of a project management is associated with the nature the project itself. Projects involve most of the key players in an organization, both the managers and the workers at the lowest level. Projects also involve the entire organizational participation. For instance, it involves people, money, provisions, motivation, communication and space, in order to achieve the project objectives and goals. With the contribution of all these elements, an organization is able to identify and make use of the best resources as a means of attaining the best results. Gray & Larson (2006), have emphasized that the managers can easily identify the talented workers and most potential factors in the organization, and allocate them where they can give a maximum contribution towards the achievement of the company. Management of a project is often the key responsibility and province of a specific individual project manager. The manager however does not participate directly, but instead strives to maintain progress and motivate other factors involved in the process, so as to achieve the objectives. The aim of the project manager also involves striving to achieve productive mutual interaction of the active parties, in a way that the entire risk of failure is reduced. Studies have shown that, where a project manager is well equipped with the skills and knowledge of project management, projects work as the best tool for implementing change within the organization. The project manager should be well equipped with the vision and mission of the organization, so as to direct the process of the project in the right direction, failure to which the project may fail to deliver, be late to achieve its goals, or get stopped while underway due to discouragements. The project manager represents the interests of clients and has to implement, as well as determine the specific needs and requirements of the clients, based on the understanding of the organization they are representing. Gray & Larson (2006), have expressed that the capability to adopt the available internal systems of the contracting organization, and to establish close links among the nominated representatives, is an important step to ensure that the major issues of quality, time, and cost among others are attained with the main aim of client satisfaction. A successful and focused manager should be in a position to envision the whole project from the beginning to the end, and should have the skills and ability to ensure that the vision is realized in order to achieve successful change within an organization. In order to attain successful change by use of a project, there is need for the project manager to consider the three key factors that include human resources, time and finance. If an organization is in need of achieving change in the shortest time possible, there is need to employ more people and resources towards the problem. Though this may increase the cost of the project, it may be the best way of achieving an organizational change in the shortest time possible. Doing the task quicker in fact helps to reduce the cost of the project, the organization may end up spending the same amount it may have spent if it was to carry the same project in a prolonged period. Researchers have established that, there is no single way of implementing a project within an organization due to the fact that each each enterprise is unique, has different characteristics, and different financial capability. It is therefore important for the project managers to consider the features that are appropriate and important within any organization. Consideration of the important factors guide the project managers to come up with appropriate and accurate projects that can easily realize the vision of a specific organization. Cultural Factors Considered in the Implementation of project Management According to Dye & Pennypacker (1999), some of the important cultural organizational factors considered while implementing a project include the history of the previous enterprise implementations, record of failures or success of the company is looked into, as this provides an insight into what should be done to achieve success in the project. A consideration is also done on the types of operational work and projects to be managed, organizations that are able to clearly prioritize and identify their projects end up with rigorous features of a project from the initial stages to the end, unlike organizations that do not identify and prioritize their projects at the first stages of implementation. The number of departments involved within the organization are also considered. This directs the planners to consider if the project is meant to satisfy a small number of users, or whether the project should expand in the process, if other departments will be incorporate as time goes by, or whether all the departments will be involved from the begging, thus requiring the project to satisfy a large number of users from the on-set stage. The expectation and support of the senior leadership is considered as a very important factor, because their involvement drive acceptance, and appropriate expectation. This is important for the success and realization of the changes expected within the organization. The value to the end user and management is absolutely important to ensure that the change implemented through the use of the project satisfy the needs and expectations of all parties involved in the process. According to Levine (2005), organizations also consider the maturity of the desired project management discipline. The 2007 project server is often used as it contains important features for managing projects. Where an organization is considering the application of project management for the first time, it is not easy to incorporate all the capabilities at the first instance. Studies have established that, staging the first features in project management implementation help to establish both the short term and long term changes effected in an organization. Any changes that are likely to take place are considered due to the fact that, if too much changes takes place, the chances of implementation reduce, with most of the people within the organization becoming resistant to the change. Resistant to change is one of the human characteristics. Critique of Project Management Approach Researchers have however established that there still exist discomfort in the use of projects. While project management is preferred as the most efficient way of implementing change within an organization, use of too many projects may fail to deliver the desired results. Researchers have asserted that, most projects in organizations fail to deliver due to the use of poor project management practices, whose importance has been ignored by managers over a long period of time (Balogun, & Hailey, 2004). Grundy, & Brown (2002), have argued that the approach of organizational management is not effective on its own in the field of information technology, because they assume that IT solutions are developed by a technical team. The potential solution for organizations dealing with IT has been stated to be misaligned with the important characteristics of an organization like incentives or culture. Combining the management of projects in IT and organizational change management as it has been argued, cannot produce the desired results for the organizational change. Conclusion From the above analysis, studies have shown that, where a project manager is well equipped with the skills and knowledge of project management, projects work as the best tool for implementing change within the organization. Senior managers spend a lot of efforts and time promoting and formulating their strategy, but most of the time, they realize very little changes within the organization. The strategy may not yield the results expected, somehow the original goals are dissipated in the process of moving the strategy to implement the change, and the initial momentum may be lost before the anticipated benefits are achieved. Failure to implement change occurs as a result of the senior management trying to make use of the the existing structures and systems within the organization, the status quo, to change the same status quo. The adoption of a project oriented a approach with its associated management framework, is sufficient to ensure greater success in the implementation of change within an organization.