Thursday, October 31, 2019
Sculpture Across the Paliolithic to 300BCE have the same hair Essay
Sculpture Across the Paliolithic to 300BCE have the same hair - Essay Example This idea enables a viewer like me to identify social statuses of Greek models. I believe that the long, symmetric and curly hairstyles imply ancient Greek tradition and culture. Four sculptures from Ancient Greece captured my interest. These sculptures are important works of art, and they are displayed in famous museums. The first is the Statue of a Youth from Paul Getty Museum. This statue is also featured in Jansonââ¬â¢s History of Art textbook. The second one is called Head of Hades from the Online Metropolitan Museum of Art. The third is called Statue of a Kouros, which is displayed at J. Paul Getty Villa Museum located in Malibu, California, and the fourth is the Kore, located in Akropolis Museum in Athens and is also featured in Jansonââ¬â¢s History of Art. While I was gazing at these works of art, one aspect caught my attention: the similarity in hairstyles of ancient Greek sculptures. I noted that all sculptures have symmetrical braids or curls that cover the forehead. The first sculpture is called Statue of a Youth. It is located at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California under ââ¬Å"Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome Exhibit.â⬠The sculpture dates back to 470-460 BC from ancient Greece. It is made of marble and measures 181 cm. tall. The sculpture presents a young man, a charioteer from Mozia in Sicily. On one hand, his small face and well-built body form emphasizes his youth and strength. On the other, his hairstyle, which according to the caption, ââ¬Å"ends in ringlets,â⬠may seem feminine to modern viewers. Many would think that his hair is fashionable, some would wonder who styled it; others might take interest in the cultural background of the hairstyle. These reflections could lead to the inkling as to why the charioteer has ringed braids. Was this the fad in Ancient Greece or did social status have anything to do with the hairstyle? The caption states, ââ¬Å"The Mozia youth's capped hair ends in ringle ts, an untypical feature, and symmetrical.â⬠This caption acknowledges the fact that the artist employed symmetry in his art, despite the half-twisted gaze of the young man. It also declares that the hairstyle is untypical or uncommon; hence it is important to consider tracing back the history of braiding among CVbnm,.charioteers and the whole society of ancient Greece to know the relevance of the hairstyle in display. Nevertheless, I will reserve my findings in the latter part of this paper. Statue of a Youth (the Mozia Charioteer, detail), 460 B.C., Sikeliote (Sicilian Greek). Marble, h: 181 cm. J. Paul Getty Museum The statue is placed in the middle of the room, making it the center of attraction. From this location, viewers can note the importance of this piece of art in Greek art and culture. The sculpture is not within a glass case. Made of marble, I suppose it can stand heat and cold, and will not tarnish easily. Nevertheless, some features are missing, such as the arms (and hands), nose, and one shoulder, which could help give more information to the viewer. I am not sure if these are intended or the sculpture was actually damaged at some point in its existence. According to the book, the sculpture was damaged when Carthaginian forces seized the artworks from Sicily. The figure, which displays the features or a charioteer from
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Chapter Summarize Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Chapter Summarize - Essay Example The healthcare professional must bring about a consistency between their commitment and actions. This will inculcate in the patient a feeling of trust. Each and every member of the team must perform with the same level of integrity. Individualizing your approach- The professional should first understand the approach and then act according to the situation. Instead of being a slave to the clock he should be flexible enough to treat the patient according to the situation. The practitioner should resist adopting a short-cut and if it is really needed, then a thorough explanation should be given to the patient. Also the waiting patients should be treated appropriately so that they donââ¬â¢t lose confidence. Little things mean a lot ââ¬â Practitionerââ¬â¢s individualized attention on a patient even on small issues can build a strong professional bond. These may include making a patient comfortable hygienically (providing with a tissue or a glass of water when in need) , remember ing patientââ¬â¢s interests (movies, matches etc.) or expanding patientââ¬â¢s awareness (making a patient feel close to home ). Responding to gifts- Patients and their respective family members often offer gifts to healthcare professionals. This creates a dilemma for these professionals , whether to accept them or not. Before deciding doctors should consider the monetary value, patientââ¬â¢s intention , nature of professional closeness .
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Doing Business In Latin America
Doing Business In Latin America Introduction Todays world is ever changing. National borders are becoming less important in times of global capital movements, cross-border migration and highly interwoven transnational trade relationships. Globalisation is since the 1990 and the collapse of the bipolar world a well-known phenomenon and it is beyond question that nation states will have to adjust to its influences in the long run. The governmental response has so far been the creation of international free trade agreements and multilateral institutions like the WTO for instance, which are to oversee global trade systems and which also have as their task the liberalization of markets around the world. Advocates of trade liberalization claim that the eradication of trade barriers ultimately leads to an increase in a countries overall wealth, whereas more leftist opponents stress that free trade predominantly benefits multinational corporations and the corporate ruling class. As a matter of fact, States themselves or Governments do not trade. Consequentially, companies and corporation are most likely to benefit from free trade Areas and investment opportunities abroad. However, doing business in third countries underlies varying circumstances. Taxation, environmental regulations, labour standards and investment regulations are factors of production that vary from country to country. For businesses in order to make use of comparative advantages, it is therefore essential to know about the differences between countries in terms of the local business climate. This paper aims at unfolding those differences for three Latin American countries: Mexico, Belize and Cuba. Furthermore, this paper shall function as a guide to companies who are interested in doing business in the Latino Americas and especially in one of the three countries mentioned above. The paper starts with a general economic introduction of the countries in concern. For this purpose, economic data will be analysed. Then in the second part, the document will focus on unravelling differences in terms of business climate and investment opportunities. Lastly, a conclusion will be drawn. 2.0 Introduction to Mexico Mexico lies at the bottom of Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States. It has a population of about 112 million inhabitants. From 1930 to 1970, although starting from a low baseline, Mexico experienced tremendous economic growth. Achievement historians call it El Milagro Mexicano or The Mexican Economic Miracle. The annual economic growth of Mexico hit an average of 3% to 4% during this period, with an estimated annual rate of inflation of 3%. It was not really a miracle however; it was actually a result of the government policy. The policy put an emphasis on primary education which increased the enrollment rate between 1929 and 1949 by 300%. The policy also imposed high tariffs on imported domestic goods, and lastly, the policy publicly invested in agriculture, energy and transportation infrastructure. From the 1940s, foreign immigration into Mexicos cities expanded the countrys urban population. Despite the falling foreign investment of the Great Depression during that period, the economy grew. The assumption of mineral rights and the subsequent nationalization of the oil industry into Pemex during the p residency of Là ¡zaro Cà ¡rdenas del Rà o was a widely accepted move. On 1 January 1994, Mexico became a full member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), joining the United States of America and Canada. In 2005, North American economic integration was further strengthened by the signing of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion-dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-quarter that of the United States; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the United States and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA. Mexico has free-trade agreements with more than 40 countries, governing 90% of its foreign commerce. 2.1 State of the Mexican Economy As mentioned before, Mexico has a free market economy in the trillion dollar class. It contains a blend of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is roughly one-third that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has nearly tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has free trade agreements with over 50 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2007, during its first year in office, the Felipe Calderon administration was able to garner support from the opposition to successfully pass pension and fiscal reforms. The administration passed an energy reform measure in 2008, and another fiscal reform in 2009. Mexicos GDP plunged 6.5% in 2009 as world demand for exports dropped and asset prices tumbled, but GDP is expected to post positive growth late in 2010. The administration continues to face many economic challenges, including improving the public education system, upgrading infrastructure, modernizing labor laws, and fostering private investment in the energy sector. Calderon has stated that his top economic priorities remain reducing poverty and creating jobs. 2.2 Doing business in Mexico In 2004 Mexicos securities market was a tiny fraction of what might be expected for an economy of its size. And while Latin America received 9% of global private equity flows, Mexico, with more than a third of the regions income, received only a tenth of that. More companies were delisting rather than issuing new shares on the Mexican stock exchange. It was time for reform. Mexico overhauled its securities laws, with useful input from stakeholders. A new law attacked self-dealing, a major problem in the country, to better protect investors. Mexico also extended corporate governance obligations to subsidiaries. In addition, listed companies were required to set up committees of independent directors. Changes in the law were enacted to help protect investors and boost their confidence in Mexican markets. Although Mexicos economy took a plunge during the 1996 recession, the worst has passed and Mexicos economy is headed towards a recovery. Mexicos economy depends a lot on the United States; it derives a great deal of income and stability from the United States. When purchases, tourism, hiring, and investment from the United States declines, Mexicos economy declines. If the United States continues to suffer from unemployment, tight credit, and general market instability, Mexico will suffer from the same. If unemployment in the United States soars to 10%, Mexicos unemployment will equally increase to follow suit. A simple solution would of course to break away from the dependence on the American economy but it would not be viable. The American economy is a strong one and instead of breaking away from it, Mexico should instead attract investors from other regions of the world (such as the European Union), so that their economy would not be so tightly tied to just one economy. 4.0 Introduction to Cuba Cuba, an island country, is located in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuba has a population of about 11 million inhabitants, most of them living in the cities of Havana, the nations capital, and Santiago de Cuba. The official language is Spanish. Cuba, like Mexico and most of the Latin American countries, has formerly been a Spanish colony, but managed to gain independence in 1902. In the 1950s the world famous Cuban revolution took place, which changed the political system in Cuba towards a regime based on communist socialism. Fidel Castro, Cubas dictator had close ties to the Soviet Union, which was at the same time the countries mayor trade partner and financial contributor. During the Cold war, Cuba took side of its communist allies and became center of public attention, as Soviet nuclear weapons were placed on Cuban territory during the 60s and the U.S felt threatened by this behaviour. It was due to this incidence that the U.S. imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, which exists in some form up till today. Since the breakdown of the UDSSR, Cuba lost its greatest ally and exports and financial support fell drastically. By now, Fidel Castro who led the Regime for 50 years has been replaced through his brother Raà ºl due to bad health conditions. Rà ¡ul Castro is likely to impose economical and political reforms in the near future in order to open up Cubas economy to investment and international trade. In addition to the world wide economic recession, Cuba suffered in 2008 severe damage due to Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. The Economist estimated the damage to lie around 10 billion US$, an amount that is hard to bear for a country that weak in terms of productivity and economic stability (The Economist, 2008). 4.1 The state of the Cuban Economy Socialism and poor governance have, over the years, hemmed economic development substantially. The countrys annual GDP is with 50 bn comparatively small and close to the poorest 25 % of the worlds countries. Cubas GDP has experienced an unstable development during the last decade (U.S. Department of State, 2010) [3.2 % growth in 2002, 1.4 % in 2001, 3.8 % in 2003, 5.8 % in 2004, 11.2 % in 2005, 12.1 % in 2006, 7.3% in 2007, 4.1 % in 2008, 1.3 % in 2009]. The decline in GDP growth during 2008 and 2007 can be ascribed to the global economic recession and it is apparent that the Cuban economy has been severely hit. According to the an article published by the Guardian, Cuba faces a long, hot summer of discontent. Virtually every key economic indicator is moving in the wrong direction as the global economic slowdown is excerbating deficiencies long been apparent in Cubas economic management (The Guardian, 2009). Cubas GDP per Capita was 4, 450 US$ per year and therewith around 10 times smaller then the capita GDP in the United States. The average monthly salary amounts to 18 $ which would mean that the average Cuban would live of 50 cents a day. As a consequence of this low income, Cubans are obliged to scrimp and hustle on the black market even when things are going relatively well (The Guardian, 2009). However, due to Cubans social policy, citizens receive free food vouchers and other governmental support. About 60 % Cubas labor force, which covers 5 million people, work in the services sector, with tourism being the largest part. The rest of the Cuban workers are either employed within the agricultural sector or the industry with the latter only producing light industrial goods. . The unemployment rate is with 1.7 % considerably low and is in fact the 9th lowest in the world. This , however, cannot be taken as a reliable figure as the socialist government tries to hide away unemployment through public occupation campaigns. The public dept in 2009 amounted to 35 %, according to the CIAs World Fact book (CIA, 2009). Moreover, the industrial production growth rate is declining (-1 % in 2009). Cubas main export partners are China (25 %), Canada (20%), Spain (6%) and the Netherlands (4.53%), importing primarily sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus and coffee. The value of Cubas exports in 2009 was 2.458 billion U.S. $. With imports in comparison being 4 times higher, Cuba runs a steeply negative trade balance. According to the World Fact Book, Cuba mainly imports food, machinery and equipment and chemicals. Summing up, the Cuban economy finds itself in a critical situation and economic reform are utterly necessary to guarantee stable economic growth. Unfortunately, data about Cuba from this years competitiveness index cant be presented here, since neither the World Economic Forum nor the IMF process the Cuban case. 4.2 Doing business in Cuba Since Canada is one of Cubas main trade partners, the Canadian Foreign Ministry releases information on the Cuban business climate as well as import regulations. For U.S. companies, doing business in Cuba is even more complicated as the international relationship still suffers from the trade embargo of the 1960s. Firstly, it turns out that importing can only be undertaken by Cuban government entities and joint ventures holding permits for the specific goods in question. Certain Agents and intermediaries are allowed to handle certain goods, but due to the political regime, these persons are not allowed to import on their own (Government of Canada, 2009). Furthermore, to obtain import licences, Canadian businesses will most likely see themselves forced to cooperate with Cuban partners first before any governmental approval will be issued. For about 4.500 products and commodities Cuba applies its MFN tariff, which is 10.4%. However, for some well protected commodities, Cuba applies a 30 % import tariff. According to the Canadian Government, Entities with foreign partners may be granted duty free status for some or all of those products as part of their economic association or joint venture agreement (2009). Mostly, this clause applies to members of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) in which Canada is not taking part. Canadian exporters are obliged to hire Cuban custom brokers for the carrying out of custom formalities. Moreover, it is essential to fully comply with all regulation and elaborate documentation is furthermore of great importance. According to the Canadian Government, Seemingly minor discrepancies can lead to confiscation of improperly imported goods. Although compliance with these regulations is technically the responsibility of the importer or the agent handling consignment shipments, careful documentation on the part of the shipper will reduce errors and delays (2009). Also, exporters have to comply with labelling, sanitary, phytosanitary and product safety standarts. What is more, due to Cuban investment law, foreign companies will find it difficult to set up representative offices and subsidiaries in Cuba since they are expected to establish a substantial trade relationship with Cuba for at least three years, before being allowed to establisha presence in Cuban national territory (Canadian Government, 2009). Regardless of these restrictions, consignment sales sales in which goods cross the border and are still considered to be owned by the exporter are possible as long as they are covered by a contract for sales of merchandise imported on consignment. Summing up, one can see that doing Business in Cuba is complicated in most of the instances we have addressed here. The Cuban government has to restructure its economy and especially open it up for foreign investment since foreign investment is one crucial factor for economic growth of a country.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Importance of Art Education in Young Children Essay -- The Benefit
In todayââ¬â¢s society, much of our evaluation of academic achievement is based on a very narrow perspective of what sort of capabilities determine a childââ¬â¢s intelligence. The typical mindset of todayââ¬â¢s educational systems views students who receive high scores on standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT as high ability students; such a statement, although true, limits the opportunities of students who are, in fact, intelligent, but in different academic areas. Because of the recent focus on math and reading scores, schools are doing away with art-related programs at an aggressive and alarming rate. What many do not realize, or rather, realize, but fail to acknowledge, is that involvement in art encourages development in many different areas and has been shown to improve a childââ¬â¢s overall performance (Arts). Involvement in visual arts enables children to begin building important life skills at a young age. Therefore, integrating art programs into the young c hildââ¬â¢s educational curriculum will help them reach maximum potential throughout their lifetime. Visual arts should be kept in schools because it enables children to express themselves, improves academics, and provides a therapeutic outlet that encourages maximum opportunity for development. One of the many benefits of involvement in visual arts is self-expression. A piece of art often reflects the mood of the artist or depicts a scenario that is related to an incident of importance in the artistââ¬â¢s life (Schlerf). As a result, visual art has become a helpful tool of communication. This is especially true for children, who may not know how to otherwise convey their feelings. These feelings could be expressed outright or through a metaphorical approach. Children might communic... ...hing Group. Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. "Fact Sheet About the Benefits of Arts Education for Children." Americans for the Arts. 04 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. Schlerf, Lauren. "Arts Education Initiative: Therapeutic Potential for Children - Erika Schnaps." MyPortfolio. University of Southern California, 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. Smith, Fran. "Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Edutopia, 28 Jan. 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. "What Are The Benefits Of Art Programs? | LIVESTRONG.COM." LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools. Demand Media, Inc., 2011. Web. 14 Se "What Is Art Therapy?" Art Therapy. International Art Therapy Organization, 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. 1.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Pathophysiology
The causes or pathogenesis are usually multiracial. Several risk factors can predispose to infection or initiate inflammation and subsequently the infectious process. Intact canal skin and cerement production have a protective effect against infections. This is secondary to the fact that cerement produces a pH in the ear canal that is slightly acidic. On the other hand, breakdown of skin integrity, insufficient cerement production, or blockage of the ear canal with cerement (which promotes water retention) can predispose to Infection.Skin Integrity can be Injured by direct aroma, heat, and moisture or persistent water In the ear canal. Such damage Is thought to be necessary for initiation of the inflammatory process. Subsequently, edema may result, followed by bacterial inoculation and overgrowth. In Otis External, the infection is caused by bacteria or fungi. Scratching, inserting objects into the ear canal, or moisture (from swimming, for example can make the ear canal vulnerable t o Infection.The external auditory canal is a cylinder measuring approximately 2. 5 CM in length and 7. 0 to 9. 0 mm in width, extending from the conchs' cartilage of the auricle to the humanity membrane . It Is divided Into a lateral (outer) cartilaginous portion that occupies approximately one-third of the canal and a medial (Inner) bony portion that occupies the remaining two-thirds. Their junction is termed the isthmus and is the narrowest region of the ear canal.The outer cartilaginous portion is lined by thicker skin with numerous addenda structures including cerement glands, sebaceous glands, and hair follicles. The inner bony portion of the canal contains thin skin without subcutaneous tissue. The dermis In this area Is In direct contact with the underlying peritoneum. Thus, minimal Inflammation or Instrumentation of the bony canal causes significant pain and/or Injury. The Inferior tympanis recess Is a small depression In the inferior medial aspect of the ear canal, adjacent to the tympanis membrane.Debris can collect in this area and cause or perpetuate infection. The lining of the ear canal is a exaggerating exogamous epithelium that undergoes continual sloughing. Epithelial migration is a naturally occurring cleaning process for the ear canal that allows egress of keratin debris and cerement. Epithelial migration begins in the center of the tympanis membrane and continues out to the medial, then lateral aspects of the ear canal.The ear canal is bound superiorly by the middle cranial Foss, interiorly by the temporariness's Joint and paranoid region, medially by the tympanis membrane, posterior by the mastoid cavity, and inferiorly by the skull base and soft tissues of the neck. These boundaries have particular importance when considering the potential complications of external Otis. The fissures of Sanatoria are a series of embryological fissures In the anterior aspect of the fissures also allow potential spread of ear canal disease to the paranoid r egion, temporariness's Joint, and soft tissue of the upper neck.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Helping People in Need a Supererogation or an Obligation
Helping people in need a supererogation or an obligation People in poor nations are starving to death when we are enjoying our delicious meal with our friends and family. There are various governmental aid-projects and privately run charities which are responsible for delivering donations from the relatively wealthy nations to the nations in need. I believe it is a morally right thing to help the people in need, but not every one of us would make donations regularly.Peter Singer uses the drowning child example to make people rethink about this current scenario. He believes that it is our obligation to help the people in poor developing countries. There are objections to his stance, but before considering and discussing from both sides, I am now going to describe and explain the Singer's drowning child example first. Imagine a child is drowning in a shallow pond and saving the childââ¬â¢s life means jumping into the pond and thereby getting oneââ¬â¢s clothes wet and muddy. Would you still save the child?All of those having a rational mind will say yes. In spite of the bad consequence of fouling the clothes, saving the childââ¬â¢s life is morally what we ought to do as the importance of the childââ¬â¢s life so far outweighs the little cost of getting oneââ¬â¢s clothes wet and muddy. It is within our power to prevent the childââ¬â¢s death without sacrificing something that is of even greater importance. Thus, this is what we ought to do and it is our obligation to prevent something this bad from happening (Singer, 1997).Even when there are other people near the pond who are equally qualified of saving the child but are doing nothing but simply passing by, would you still jump in and save the child? Similarly, all of those being asked said yes. It simply does not make any moral difference to the situation. Undoubtedly, not saving the child in this situation might make one feeling less guilty but everyone thinks that we ought to save the child. We agree that this is our moral obligation and it would be wrong not doing so (Singer, 1997). Then what if the child were being far away, maybe even in another country?Would people still hold the same stance? The answer is yes. Distance and nationality do not make not saving the child just. Whichever child or even adult, if saving his life is what we are able to do without having something of great significance to us being sacrifice, we ought to do that. This is morally what we ought to do without violating other things that are of similar or higher moral importance (Singer, 1972). The situation of the drowning child example is actually synonymous with those hungry children and adults suffering from famine or other disasters, both natural or man-made.If we agree that saving the child that are drowning in a pond is morally what we ought to do and not doing so is unjust, then why should we think otherwise when it comes to helping the people who are suffering in poor developing countries? Why does making regular donations to nations in need not our moral obligation whereas saving the child drowning in a pond is? We have agreed that distance and nationality does not matter in this moral stance. Moreover, the problem of being too far away from the sufferers and we might not be able to come to their aid in time has been overcome by the effort of charities.What is it that stop us from making regular donations? There are explanations to this bipolar situation, giving reasons to help better understanding the causes leading to this global scenario. First of all, saving the drowning child is helping out directly, while making a donation is not. The donation will be distributed to the people in need through the government or some privately run charities. Some of the donation will be used for administrative cost or get swallowed up in corruption.People will never know how much of their donation can really be given to those in need. As corruption is usually a prevalent problem in many of the developing countries, people sometimes have the worry that their donation might not serve to their right purposes but only be ended up in greedy hands. This worry is reasonable but actually most of the donations can get to serve their proper purposes (Giving What We Can, 2012). Although not all of the sum can be used for aid, the part of it that gets to its destination still can make the best of its worth.The aid organizations may not be one-hundred percent efficient, but they can help to solve the problem of distance, serving as an agent for delivery. There are many people around the world who are compassionate about the plight of the others. Charities and governmental organizations collect the aids and help distributing them to the areas in need. I think this is by far the most efficient way of giving out a helping hand. The cost for administration is inevitable and the part of donations spent on it could be seen as for supporting these organizations to keep runnin g.Furthermore, in my point of view, there are always ways to minimize corruption. We can donate money to aid projects that do not involve valuable goods or specifically make donations to programs which serves to tackle the corruption problem in where it is prevailing. The probability of wasting a proportion of the donations should not mean aiding being useless. Those that can get though may make a significant change that we could not imagine. The second explanation is about the psychological difference between the drowning child example and the reality.We feel more related to the sufferers when we could see them. The feeling of guilt for not helping is lesser when we could not see or witness the sufferings (Singer, 1972). Although it makes one feels less guilty without the sight of suffering presenting nearby, it does not make helping those further away a lower priority morally. As we have discussed that distance is not a considering factor in deciding whether it is our obligation t o help or not, both of those from our own country and from the other countries deserve our help.Moreover, in this age of the prosperous development of media technology, charities and governmental aid agencies can effectively show the current situation of the emaciated children to the public. Therefore, it does not sound very plausible to me saying that people not making donations is because of the lack of awareness of the issue. According to Peter Singer, a moral philosopher, if we are able to prevent something very bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything morally significant, we ought, morally, to do it (Singer, 1972).Some people object this position. I am going to summarize those objections. For one of the reasons is that this is simply too extreme as most people do not judge those who are ignorant of the others' suffering. People usually criticize those who violate some moral norms, for example: murdering, sex assault,etc. Some writers, including Sidgwick and Urms on, Stated that if the moral code that we set is too hard too uphold, there will be a general breakdown in the moral system (Singer, 1972).The moral code that we are currently using mainly includes not invading the others' privileges, for example: stealing, killing, etc and other things that could help keeping the society safe and sound. Helping the poor nations is not necessary for the wealthy nations. Thus, people usually do not see it as what they must do. This is regrettable but understandable. If making regular donations to those in need is being made to be an obligation and a moral code, it might be too hard for everyone to follow. Eventually, people might choose not to follow anything from the moral code (Singer, 1972).Singer argues that if the conduct is good, why should we categorize it into morally obligatory or morally optional? If morality means doing something good, then shouldn't a good conduct be in the moral code? Moreover, drawing a line to divide conducts into the aforementioned categories is by no means easy. It is hard to define the standard to be used for distinguishing conducts into two kinds. Helping the people in need in other countries is always be defined as a generous and selfless gesture. However, Singer thinks otherwise. He thinks that ââ¬Å"our traditional moral categories are upsetâ⬠.He objects the traditional distinction that is drawn between duty and charity by using the current standard. It is our moral obligation to prevent as much sufferings as possible in the meantime not sacrificing something else of comparable moral importance (Singer, 1972). How does a man act is actually influenced by the general societal values and the people around him. When a man making a donation or joining voluntary services to help those in need is being praised for his generosity, he would think that what he has done is a supererogation.Actually, coming to the others' aid to prevent suffering without sacrificing as much is an obligation tha t people usually overlook. This situation is for long being shaped by the general social atmosphere and this is what being upsetting. The moral attitude of people is shaped by each other and also the society. Admittedly, helping those is need is always greatly encouraged. However, this is by no means enough. Preventing as much sufferings as possible without causing sacrifices as significant is morally obligatory and not doing so should be seen as unjust (Singer, 1972).I agree with Singer that if it is within one's ability to help, saving other people from suffering seems to be just and morally right, while otherwise seems wrong. Although there might be concerns that what we have given might not be able to serve their greatest worth, I believe that the part of aids that get to the hands of those in need is able to make a significant change in their lives. There are worries that helping those poor developing countries might worsen the current situation. Firstly, those countries usuall y have a higher birth-rate.The aids that we give now would only support them to have a even greater population that the countries themselves are not able to feed (Giving What We Can, 2012). This might leads to a greater demand in foreign help and eventually turns into an ever-expanding cycle. This worry is understandable but there are always other alternatives to help in this kind of situation. For fear of the problem of overpopulation, donations could be made to organizations that help in promoting and enhancing birth-control in the developing countries.Moreover, the reason behind the scene of them having a high birth-rate is the high mortality rate of children. They need a large family size to ensure having enough manpower to take care of the family, to work and to earn. If their lives were not this hard, the birth-rate would presumably decline (Giving What We Can, 2012). The other worry is that the developing countries might become more and more dependent on the aids (Giving What We Can, 2012). This worry is again not necessary as there are many aid projects that are actually aiming at helping those developing nations to be self-supportive.People in some of the poor nations are taught to grow crops for supporting themselves and for selling to make money. Donations could be made to support this kind of projects. Moreover, helping those in need does not necessarily means lengthening their life expectancy but might be about improving their living quality (Giving What We Can, 2012). One example is performing a simple eye operation to cure their eye diseases so that they could see the world more clearly. It is our obligation to help the others in need when it is within our own power without sacrificing something of higher importance.Death and sufferings are things that should be prevented. This is what we ought to do. With the gap between the rich and the poor growing everyday, our moral attitude towards giving out aids should be revised. Helping should not be s een as a supererogation but an moral obligation. References: Giving What We Can. (2012). Myths About Aids, from http://www. givingwhatwecan. org/why-give/myths-about-aid Singer, Peter. (1972). Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1(1), 230-234. Singer, Peter. (1997). The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle. News Internationalist, 1.
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