Monday, January 27, 2020

Should Combat Sports be Banned?

Should Combat Sports be Banned? 1. Should physical combat sports be banned? Ans: Introduction: Combat sports have been in existence in different forms for more than 2000 years. With high risks prevailing is such sports and the nature of aggression demonstrated on the sporting arena, ethical issues have come up whether in a modern civilized society there is a place of such activities. Measures have been adopted to minimise the risks to participants yet the demonstration of skills in such thrilling fashion has been under criticism. There are both bright and dark sides of these sports but whether to eliminate them or not is the major debate. Definition of Combat Sports: Combat sports may be defined as sports wherein two individual combatants fight each other using fighting techniques according to a set of prearranged rules. Competitors use different techniques in different forms of Combat Sports, but the objective of any contest is to subdue the opponent. The question arises here that is it ethical to allow such a sport where the main intension is to harm your opponent. The Dark Side of Combat Sports: The first thing that strikes into ones mind while saying about the dark sides of such sports is morality. 1. Morality: As said earlier, is it morally correct for one human being to attempt intentionally to harm the brain of the other as in boxing. It might be true that reckless tackles are made in sports like American football, Soccer, ice hockey etc and also body line bowling prevails in cricket which sometimes result in serious injuries but one does not win the game by doing so. Where as in physical combat sports one can win only by hurting the opponent and that too so seriously that the opponent cannot continue to take part in the game anymore. 2. Impact on society: The impact of such sports on the society can be viewed in two different ways. Combat sports practice: Evidence of unlicensed boxing events exist where violence has reached its extremities but it may be argued that a sport, which is explicitly a stimulation of actual combat and which has clearly defined boundaries is less of a threat to the social order than such evidences. Another issue evolved which argued if participation in a combat sport results in increase of violence and aggression in a human being. But different researches have shown increase in social and emotional awareness among the participants. Viewing Combat sports: The effect of excessive media exposure of combat sports does have a positive impulse of violence in some people but for the vast majority of the population exposure to aggression and violence as a passive spectator is considered to have negligible impact on peoples social behaviour. The Value of Combat Sports: Notwithstanding the violent nature of combat sports, â€Å"good† can be found in them just like any other sport. Any form of combat sport has the potential to improve physical health and well being. Higher physical competence and ability to defend ones own self can be considered as the positive side of combat sports. Combat sports can also acts as a medium of self-expression and human bonding. Contrary to popular belief, winning is not the sole objective of fighting contests. Value is given to what can be learnt from the opponent, be it in victory or defeat. Conclusion: Considering the fact that sport where the principal intent is to harm your opponent and with the high risk of fatalities and serious disabling injuries involved, the question arises both from the ethical and safety point of view as to whether or not combat sports be legally banned. In my opinion, before considering a legal ban and forcing the sport underground, each combat sport should be given the opportunity to review its rules for competition. For example, fighting within predetermined weight class, only one fight per night etc.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Economic Policies Of The Presidential Candidates Essay

The presidential election is coming just in the time when America is in desperate need to get out of many crises. Some of the apparent crises are the health reform crisis, the credit crisis and the political crisis generated by the war. Considering this background environmental condition, the coming election might be one of the most important events in the history of America and one that will decide the future of the country. In this paper however, I will focus on discussing the economic policies proposed by both presidential candidates. The discussion will focus on evaluating each of the candidates’ economic agenda and how they will affect the US economy in terms of growth (the supply side) and stability (the demand side). II. Thesis Statement Based on the news rails and publications regarding the economic agenda of the two candidates we can assess to a certain extent, the direction of each candidate. From my analysis, each of them has different approach on how to address the challenges faced by the nation. In the end of this paper I will provide a conclusion stating the different overall positions of both candidates and what benefits could come from each economic agenda. First however, I would make a thesis statement based on a quick glance over the available information in order to direct the course of this discussion. The thesis statement is: â€Å"Obama has an economic action plan that is aimed to affect the US economy in the form of improved living conditions for the middle class American workers in all aspects and thus generate economic stability, while McCain has an economic action plan that is aimed to affect US economy in the form of enhanced America’s competitiveness in businesses and thus create stronger macroeconomic growthâ€Å" III. Candidates on Economic Growth (the Supply Side) There are several perspectives of measuring the quality of a economic policy. In this paper, I am using two basic measurements of economic performance, which is economic growth and economic stability. Economic growth represents development of the supply side within the economy, which is represented by factors like productivity growth, capital accumulation and the supply of labor. Economic stability on the other hand, represents development of the demand side of the economy, which is represented by factors like inflation, demand for goods ands services, employment and price levels. Despite their nature of sometimes being a trade-off to each other, both are important economic indicators to ensure a prosper society. The lack of attention to any of those factors mentioned above will generate concerns and even protest from unsatisfied citizens of America. Thus, this paper is dedicated to evaluate the presidential candidates’ economic policies proposal within each and ever factors mentioned above. III. 1. John McCain on Economic Growth III. 1. 1 John McCain’s Agenda John McCain has confessed previously in one of his interviews that economy is not really his strong point. However, due to the presence of numerous professors as his economic advisors, it is not objective to judge the candidate from this statement alone. After a period of unclear statements regarding his economic agenda, John McCain has finally stepped-up confidently with a clear-cut economic agenda. His website reveals several sections consisting of actions under a title of ‘McCain Tax Cut Plan’. In the ‘Pro-growth Tax Policy’ section, McCain proposed the following actions: 1. Keep Tax Rates Low Under this action John McCain intends to fight the Democrats on their tax hike agenda and in the exact opposite of that plan, John McCain believes that there should be a reduction of taxes for the entrepreneurs of America. John McCain believes that small, medium and successful entrepreneurs are at the hearth of American innovation and therefore, should be protected by sound government policies. 2. Make It Harder to raise Taxes To support his commitment to maintain a low tax level, John McCain will strive to change the current legislation and suggested a new one, regulating that tax increases require at least 3/5 majority vote in Congress. 3. Cut Corporate Taxes Especially for corporations, John McCain suggested that a further tax reduction is important for US competitiveness. He believes that America was once a low-tax business environment, but later failed to keep pace as trade partners lower their rates. Thus, a tax deduction is appropriate to restore US competitiveness. 4. Rewards Savings, Investments and Risk-Taking John McCain believes that the reduction of tax will enable saving and further investment on innovation. Thus, it is imperative to maintain low taxes. 5. Allow First Year expensing of Equipment and Technology investment In order to boost investment in research and development, the government should allow corporations to expense their capital expenditures used for developing cutting edge technologies (‘John McCain’, 2008). III. 1. 2. Perceived Effects of the Agenda As elaborated, McCain’s economic agenda focused on his tax-cut plans. There are pros and cons regarding this action plan, especially regarding whether this tax cut plans will actually support economic growth. In theory, McCain’s agenda is in line with the general understanding on macro economic tendencies. Macroeconomic theories revealed that when taxes are low and entrepreneurship & innovation are supported by various legislations, there will be increased investment on business that will finally enhance the level of productivity of related businesses. This means that ‘in theory’, McCain has met the first criteria of economic growth, which is increased productivity. By lowering taxes on huge corporations, McCain will also allow these companies to enhance their capital accumulation process and generate business expansion faster than it would be otherwise. This means that ‘in theory’, McCain would have also met the ‘capital accumulation’ criteria. In terms of labor supply, McCain’s campaign website does not mention any effort of increasing the supply of labor for American industries. In his speeches and interviews on the other hand, the candidate has mentioned that his economic agenda will also include training programs for to increase the skills and capabilities of US labors and thus, enhanced their wages also. If these government training programs are truly a part of McCain’s action plan, than it the candidate had also ‘theoretically’ fulfilled the third factors, which is labor supply. Concerns however, are stated by economic observers. These observers stated that in the past 4 years, we have performed this strategy of providing entrepreneurs and corporations with supporting strategies, but the fact is, during the entire Bush’s administration, the amount of new jobs created is less than a year within the Clinton’s administration. Observers and writers also perceived that the corporate tax cut will enrich the already rich and done little for the middle class. This is quite in contrast to the current concerns throughout the United States toward increasing the quality of life for the middle class and the working class. Some perceived that this is only a clever strategy to get the support of powerful entrepreneurs in McCain’s campaign. Therefore, McCain’s idea of continuing this program (further protecting and supporting large corporations) does not impress most economic scholars and economic observers, but gain interest of the business sectors. Another concern is that McCain’s plan to increase labor supply is considered weak. This is due to the fact that American corporations are outsourcing their production activities overseas, due to the cheaper cost structure in foreign countries. Thus, supporting the large corporations with huge tax cuts will not guarantee that American labor will gain advantage over the growth generated by those tax cuts. Furthermore, with trainings that enhance American labor’s wage-rates, it will be less likely for American companies to use American labor in their production. These policies might have the potential of generating increased growth rates and innovation as promised, but even with the tax returns for workers families, the middle class will only gain a small portion, compare to the benefits gained by rich entrepreneurs.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Common Core Essay

The common core is a set of standards which were developed by state leaders along with teachers, school administrators and many other people, not the Federal Government. The common core has standards. Standards which are not curriculum. Standards that â€Å"do not tell principals how to run their schools, and they do not tell teachers how to teach. Local teachers, principals, and district administrators ultimately decide how the standards are to be met and the curriculum to be use† (Laine and Minnich). The school districts still have to choose which textbooks to use and, which curricula they wish to add and drop. The basic standards of the common core are: Aligned with college and workforce-training expectations; Rigorous in content and include the application of knowledge through higher-order skills; Built on strengths and lessons taken from state standards; Informed by standards in top-performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in the global economy a nd society; and Evidence-based, clear, and aligned across a child’s K-12 education. The common core has many pros and cons to reforming the education system. In the Article The common core is a change for the better the authors mention that the common core provides a good foundation on what needs to be taught (Gardner and Powell). The authors also touched on the fact that students nowadays are â€Å"more mobile than ever†, families have to move around more to follow and find available jobs. With the common core all across the Country have the same standards. There is some consistency within all schools in America. If a family was to move from Maine to Nevada, it would be quite impossible to expect things to be the exact same. However, you can still have an idea of the standards and know what to expect. This is a great thing about the Common Core. Every Student this way is exposed to the same standards. Once students are mingled together in colleges and universities across the country the professors can expect almost every student to be able to do the same things, to a degree. Not to say that every student knows the  exact same co ntent, however they will all have graduated high school with the same skills. Skills that may be taught in a variety of styles, none the less resulting in the same skills. The common core requires teachers to be very specific and hand out rubrics, stating exactly the quality of work that is expected. This eliminates the confusion that can arouse from complicated projects or open research topics. The students will know exactly what the teacher is requiring of them. Ultimately making it easier on the students to provide what the teacher wants and getting the highest grade possible if the students puts in the effort required to meet the expectations. Effort: defined as â€Å"an earnest or strenuous attempt† by dictionary.com, is where a problem arises in the common core. The common core standard â€Å"Rigorous in content and include the application of knowledge through higher-order skills† is asking 21st century students to put in lots of effort, they can’t ask Siri to write their English paper or do their history project. Most high school aged students in the United States are not going to put in the required effort to achieve rigorous assignments. I know that when I was in high school my attitude was ‘if I wait to the last minute it only takes a minute’. That’s not because I was swamped with assignments or didn’t understand it. It was because I would rather be doing anything else, after having spent all day in classrooms with new information being drilled into my head. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was go home and spend more hours on homework. Making high school more rigo rous is going to prevent kids from being kids. Students in the United States are less motivated to learn and value education less and less. Stephen Krashen says that another problem with very rigorous assignments is â€Å"CCSS are so demanding that in English language arts classes, educators and students will have little time for anything not directly linked to the standards† (Krashen). I do not quite agree with this statement because the standards are not the curriculum being taught, just the way it is being taught. Teachers and schools have some free space to spend as much time as they feel necessary to focus on aspects they feel more important. The common core has pros and cons, just like anything in life. One set of standards isn’t going to please everyone in the United States. My personal opinion is that the common core has good intentions, but may be a bit unrealistic. If every school in America was teaching the same skills to the same degree, all students would have the same experiences entering college. There are 50 states with thousands of different schools in each states. Within those thousands of schools there are teachers who all have their own style of teaching. Not to mention the millions of students that all learn a little differently at a different pace. What are the odds that every state school, and teacher are able to provide every student with the exact same skills, using the exact same standards? There are good intentions behind it, and the United States can give it a chance, but I feel as though it may be unrealistic. Works Citied Fine, Sarah. â€Å"Moving Forward With The Common Core.† Education Week 30.8 (2010): 18-19. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Gardner, Nancy S. Powell, Rod. â€Å"The Common Core Is A Change For The Better.† Phi Delta Kappan 95.4 (2013): 49-53. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Krashen, Stephen. â€Å"THE COMMON CORE. (Cover Story).† Knowledge Quest 42.3 (2014): 36-45. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Richard, Laine, and Chris Minnich. â€Å"Common Core: Setting the Record Straight.† Education Week 32.36 (2013): Web. 16 Mar. 2014

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Feminism And Gender And Sexuality - 1378 Words

In the conversations about civil rights in America’s past, there is one minority that is often overlooked when considering the great achievements made in history. Women have become a powerful figure in society recently. In the past, women fought for their equal rights against all odds, starting the revolution with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1848 at a women’s conference in Seneca Falls, New York. Women realized they could fight for the rights they were entitled to, this notion sparked the concept of feminism. Simone De Beauvoir references women as the ‘second sex’, saying that â€Å"one is not born, but rather becomes a woman† (2382). By this statement, De Beauvoir argues that women are not born a women, but are taught from infancy to accept society’s role of ‘woman’. The idea that women are taught to accept their role by society is the concept that feminism fights. Historically, Feminism has evolved from the critical examination of inequality between men and women to focusing more on the social constructions of gender and sexuality. Feminism aims to closely examine gender inequalities and to effect change in areas where gender and sexuality politics cause social imbalances. Feminist political activists fight for reproductive rights for women, domestic violence, gay marriage, and issues within workplaces such as sexual harassment and discrimination. Any type of stereotyping, objectification, violation of human rights, and gender or sexuality based oppression are feminist issues.Show MoreRelatedHow Popular Fiction Reflects Debates About Gender and Sexuality: Feminism1278 Words   |  6 PagesIn this paper I will discuss to what extent popular fiction reflects debates about gender and sexuality. 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