Enabel’s Lecture Notes

Food. It has been an essential to our survival since the first human was evolved. Yet its effect does not only lie in our survival but also the way our society revolves around it. In this essay I would like to focus on how has food change our society and vice versa.

In the early civilisation, our ancestors have travelled round places in search for food to sustain our survival. The change from nomadic hunting and search for food to the start of an agricultural society has been marked with huge changes in the way people live and interact with each other. Farming became an activity that could ensure that our ancestors have enough to eat without worrying about the lack of food supply. However, the change domestic activities that they engage with mean a change in the way that people live and interact with each other. It is due to settlement of a group of people claiming ownership to a piece of land that sustain their survival and the increase in interaction in this group of people that the first formation of society has begun. In any case, it is also due to the change in the way people gets food that gave rise to the value of land. Land in previous times has not much meaning for the people as they just move around it to gather and look for food. But since the agricultural development, land has been given a value due to the ability for it to sustain the growth of food.

Ironically, after the industrial development and the urbanisation of cities, having the means of producing food and land does not equated to an equitable amount of wealth due to the possession. Land and food has become a source of exploitation. In fact the ones that are being exploited are the ones that produced the food that sustains the lives of those that exploit them. The lack of the ability to eat the food that they produce is one of the most significant inequalities that plague our society of today.

In any case the change of the diet of the society has also lead to the change in the ecology of the area in which they are residing in. The growth of crops is always linked and influence by the demands of the consumers but this has lead to both the lack of diversity of crops and the change in the nature of the crops. Technology has also a part to play in the change of the nature of the crops and the patterns of the consumption. Crops are grown in these days not only to support the stomachs of the growing population but subjected to economic influences. Whatever the society decides that it needs, it will be taken into account and subject nature to its will.

The change in the economic system of the society affects the production of food in the world. Ever since capitalism and colonialism of countries started, production of food has been shifted towards the countries that are the periphery of the world’s economy. These countries are the ones in charge with the production of food yet due to the low value that is placed on their labour. The food and the wealth never seem to reach their end. Instead it has been the procession and the distribution of the food that accumulates the wealth. Most of countries in the core of the economy get the most of the food and energy produced in the world and in turn wastes most of the food as the supply is always more than the demand in these countries. The unequal distribution means a lack for food in those countries that do not both have neither the means nor the power to retain what is theirs and achieve a substantial diet for all its pollution. Africa, for instance, has the ability to grow and harvest plentiful of coffee, cotton, millet, corn, wheat among the things that they grow in the country. Yet even if the continent is able to produce the amount of food that is needed for the population, more than half of the population is still dying from starvation. The food that is being exported out of the country has always been paid much lesser than that of its actual value hence resulting in the extreme poverty of its people. The crops are further processed in other countries and being sold for at multiple times that it is paid to the farmers. Also, must we take in the fact that most of the crops grown in the developing countries are cash crops or being use for exports meaning that the goods do not benefit the producers of them at all. The crops that they grow are under the scrutiny of those who either own the land or the labour of the people and hence the crops or the food grown is not to feed the people but to earn money for the capitalist.

The growing population has placed on Earth a pressure that is so intense that it begins to weaken under it. Surely with technology and science of today, it is able to supply and help earth deal with the pressure. However, the crux of the problem is not the lack of food but the extensive consumption of the people at the expense of others that gave us the false consciousness of a population depriving of food. We should not be working to produce more food but to start changing in the way we distribute both energy and food.

“I can explore the world at the comfort of my home”. This is a tagline for an advertisement cable television. Indeed television has come a long way in our lives. From its first introduction it has already create waves in the society that we live in.

In the past, television was a symbol of social status and wealth. Only the rich and powerful can afford the luxury of having a television in their homes. It had served a vastly different purpose that it does today. In Singapore, the introduction of television began around the 1960s where it has taken over the era of radios in the entertainment industry. At first, television (the black and white form) is a rarity, and they only had 3 channels that showcase English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil and sports programmes. It is precisely due to its rarity and newness that it attracts people to the television sets. All of a sudden, family with the television set becomes popular with the neighbours and the programme that is being played becomes a timeslot for social gathering in front of the television. Television at that point of time has become a status symbol. To the owners, the television becomes a status that proves that they are more superior both in wealth and social capital to their neighbours; to the neighbours, television becomes a symbol that they wished they had and wants to earn in order to get the same status. Television has also become an attraction for social interaction and cohesion. People would gather after work to catch their favourite programme on television. During this time, the interaction comes both in the form of the people interacting with the characters in the programme but also the interaction with the others in regard of the programme.

A classic example would be one of a soccer match that is played on television. The audience will first put themselves in the shoes of the player to see how they would play it and thus when anyone of the characters in the game makes a mistake, they would share and express their judgement with those that are around them whom they hope share the same opinion. This creates interaction between the community and forms both relation and identity of the people when they are able to understand and internalise the judgement of the others through this exchange. 

However, as technology progress so has the quality and the accessibility of television progress. Television has been made more and more available throughout the years through mass production and the affordability of the machine. This has lead to a decrease in the importance of television as an attraction of social interaction in the society. Television today still remains a status symbol but instead of the ownership of a television that determines your social status, it is mostly the quality and the brand of the television that determines the social status. To own a SONY BRAVIA is different from owning an AKIRA television. Our lives are so commercialised that we are buying things not for their usage but for their implications to the image we portray to others regarding our social status.

The increasing number of television means that more people are connected to the media via television. With increased connectivity, means more people are being affected by it. Television today is being offered with a variety of choices. As our world gets globalised so is our entertainment source, television. Recapping back on the tagline at the start of this essay, you will be surprised at how true that statement can be. Cable television has enabled many of us to explore the lives of others through the foreign channels that are shown on television. This exposure has affected the social fabric of our society. We began to take what we learnt from the television and incorporate it into our lives. We have been socialised into the rest of the world at the comfort of our own homes. The trend of J-pop and K-wave that has seized our entertainment industry shows how a culture from a foreign country could easily influence ours. Fashion which is part of culture has seen a trend in a copying if Japanese and Korean fashion style. Walk along Orchad road and notice the number of teenagers deck out in the latest Japanese-styled clothes that may not even suit our climate.

Rather than assuming that this is a one-way influence, it is essentially a 2 way influence. It is true that the programmes influence our way of life but the programmes are also influence by us to take on an identity in order for us to identify with it. Taking the example of the anime-turned-drama boys over flower, it has 3 different versions that all shot into popularity. For Taiwan, it was called Meteor Gardens, in Japan, it was called Hana Yori Dango and there are plans to shoot a Korean version. Although they all have the same storyline but the background of the script and the characters have been change to alter allow the locals to identify with the characters. The Japanese drama is not the same as the Taiwan one. The characters do not share the same history and background and they don’t even speak the same language. Hence it maybe that the society that shapes the programmes that we are watching.

Another observation is that the television programmes are almost all from developed countries. Very few are from developing nations that are shown in Singapore, even if there are it would be of some charity or education programmes. Thai, Africa and even Vietnam programmes are not found in Singapore. It can’t be the language barrier that stops us from watching drama produced by these nations but rather is the lack of audience. They do not appeal to the audience as we find it difficult to relate to them and they are not commercialised to appeal to our liking. The inability for us to identify with their situation and environment has caused this inequality in exposure. The lack of exposure means that there are lesser chances for their voices to be heard and lesser chances for them to incorporate themselves into our environment. They will remain the ‘ignorant one’ and we will remain the ‘knowledgeable one’ due to our exchange of information and culture; they are the ones that would be excluded from this cycle of progress.

Television has incorporated itself into all aspects of our lives not mentioning changing the social fabric of our society. Should we not take into greater account the power of media if it was to have such a great influence on our lives?

Inequality and the issue of population and health are always interrelated. In particular, I would like to discuss the issue of chronic diseases in this essay.

Chronic diseases are illnesses that don’t kill their victims but stay dormant for long periods of time before taking their victims’ lives or that they slowly torture before allowing the victim to die. There has been a rise in the number of cases of deaths due to chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. It has been a common perception that these diseases are considered the rich man’s disease, only prevalent in wealthy countries due to their unhealthy lifestyle. However, this is a misconception. Chronic disease is too prevalent in poor or developing countries. The causes are mainly attributed to the poor diet that they have and the unhygienic and polluted environment that they have.

In wealthy countries such as the United States, the cause of disease such as high blood pressure and diabetes are mostly due to the high-fat and high-sugar diet that they have, coupled with the stresses of their work that makes them turn to smoking or other forms of drugs and a lack of regular exercise form being stuck in offices most of the day that contributed significantly to the rise in such illnesses. As for the cause and the type of chronic illness that plagued the poor countries, they may differ from the developed countries. The chronic illnesses that are prevalent in developing countries are mainly of 3 forms – cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases (worley). These illnesses are mainly caused by poor diet, pollution and unhealthy living and working conditions. The food that the poor could afford, especially those living in the urban areas, is not likely to be balanced nor healthy as they have to make do with whatever that is given to them. The living and working conditions are likely to be unsafe and unhealthy. The working class living in the city are mostly likely living in places where the rent is cheap which would most likely be slums or places that is near sources of pollution (near rubbish dumps or factory dumps and heavy industrial factories that emits polluted air). The poor living condition coupled with the poor diet reduces their immune system and the environment further worsens the problem as it makes them more vulnerable to the risk of illness caused by pollution such as lung cancer. Unlike the richer countries where it is the choice they make of their lifestyle that causes these illness, the poor are more likely to be ‘force’ into such illnesses due to the environment and the lack of choices.

It is the poor that are more likely to suffer from such diseases. They are both vulnerable to infectious disease as well as chronic diseases. Although they live in the city area or areas where medical facilities can be easily found however due to their mediocre income the treatment is something that they will most likely forgo. Chronic disease is a long- term illness. The treatments for such illnesses are more likely to be one of long-term medication and relatively expensive considering the course of the medication. Most of the time, the treatment is only there to suppress the illness and the victims sufferings not to completely eradicate it. In the eyes of these working class victims, it deems the medication to be useless and a luxury to have. It is relatively impossible for them to afford the medication and the check-ups as even food has been a problem for them and for them to be able to pay for the regular and long-term treatment means that they have to at least have a stable job.

The inequality that the poor have in the society has resulted them unequal opportunities to the facilities that could have help them break out of this vicious cycle of deteriorating health and poverty. Without a healthy body and acceptable living conditions, it is extremely hard for someone to be a productive source in the society and thus further ensuring his ‘uselessness’ in the society which existence would be a bane to the society which would result in would result in the worsening of his plight as he is being treated as a parasite. It is a cycle that is never ending unless something is done to change the entire social fabric of the society in order to break the cycle.

Reference:

worley, h. (n.d.). Chronic Diseases Beleaguer Developing Countries. Retrieved from population reference bureau: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2006/ChronicDiseasesBeleaguerDevelopingCountries.aspx

Scenes that are portrayed from movies and drama often show the urban cities with 2 distinctively different perspectives. Light-hearted late night dramas like Friends show a pretty view of the urban towns with its bright lights, cosy cafes and luxurious leisure mall, while crime drama such as CSI showcases the problems and the underlying conditions of migrants, beggars and the homeless living in gutters or sleeping in alleys that are often hidden to others by the sight of glittering high-end shops. The 2 distinctly different views shown to us coexist in many of the urban cities today. In a view of skyscrapers and well-dressed professionals, it is common to see a couple of homeless old man sleeping on the sidewalks, their presence totally ignored by the general population.

 In this essay I would like to talk about one of the most common characteristic of urban cities which is the slums. Slums are generally parts of the city inhabited by the poor who live in unhygienic and dangerous conditions. Take a look at the picture of a slum below.

On the left is a picture of a slum in Nairobi, Africa and on the right is one of the slums in America. Both have similar living condition that maybe considered is unliveable by our context which also proves the point that the living conditions of the slums is universal. The only difference that is in the pictures is in the background where for America there are clean and majestic skyscrapers in the background but none were seen in the background of the pictures of slums in Nairobi. Although one is in a city of a developed country and the other is in the city of a developing country, they are both strangely similar and prevalent.

The appearance of slums is actually a source of concern for many of the social problems that is prevalent in cities and countries today. The desperation for the residents in such areas to get out makes their socialisation and thus their mentality and values to differ from us. They are taught from a different way from us which may be due to them having fewer opportunities to go through the social institutions that taught us our values, morals and show us the way to succeed in the society hence resulting in them being vulnerable to outside forces that could be use to exploited them. Slums are effective breeding ground for crime as the people there are usually too poor to even survive physically. Once a person is unable to feed himself, any economical incentive that leads him to break out of his vicious cycle will be welcome with open arms. It is such an effective breeding ground not only because of the extensive amount of the people that they can get for their purpose but also the lack of control that the government or the police have in these areas. For the government, these places serve no economic value and are a pain in the ass for them to serve and help the sore of the city they govern. The police themselves could not even venture into the slums without getting lost as the place is only familiar to those who live in there who could successfully navigate through its hooks and crannies. Hence the lack of control of official social institutions leads crime to be rampant in these areas even forming their own social institutions for social order in the form of gangs which protect the criminal activities from the prying eyes of the police. Not only so the lack of policing and prevalence of crime is detrimental to the residents themselves. Children living in slums maybe easily removed and exploited in the sense of child soldiers or amputated to work as beggars. Adults easily mould into the radical ideas that the people spread and almost always find themselves being used as a means for these people to get their aims for instance in the cases of suicide bombers where they find people that are living a life worse than death and spread their ideas of the promise of better afterlife if they did what they are told.

Not only so the health conditions in the slums are a source of concern as the diseases can rapidly spread and infect these people and also spreading to the rest of the city due to the close proximity that these places have with the city. The dilapidated conditions of living dangers the entire city as these conditions can easily spread to the rest of the places due to the close proximity and the constant interaction that they have with its residents. The residents themselves are also in constant danger as the sanitisation in these areas are practically nonexistence hence extreme detrimental to the physical growth and protection of these residents health, moreover the poor diet that the residents have leads to the problem of a poor immune system which makes them perfect candidates for the carriers and victims of diseases. The poor health conditions is detrimental to the country’s economy as well as a sick worker is never an efficient worker.

These people living in the slums although having no economic power by themselves but as a group holds power in the form of the number of people and for certain developed countries the power to vote hence also showing that they have a say in the political climate of the country. However the sad fact that they are ignorant of these fact deprive them of these rights however if they were to gain knowledge of these facts they would make a powerful source to be reckon with.

All in all, the group of people living in slums although lurking in the shadows are actually a powerful influence on the society that we should not ignore.      

Ethnicity is a double edged sword. It can be help to consolidate people, to form social solidarity via socialisation and communication which is the basis of our society. Yet it is also the source of many of the conflicts that now permeates our life. Be it violence or non-violence, it will exist and continue to exist as long as we see each other differently. It is both the formation of social order as well as the disruption of it.

The award-winning movie Hotel Rwanda depicts the genocide of Rwanda, a small African country where 1 million Tutsis were killed in the short time span of a month. Although, the movie intends to depict a hero that was born of conflict due to the love for his closed ones, it is troubling to discover that ethnicity is used as a reason for the massacre of so many innocents. After the departure of the colonial masters, the country is thrown into chaos and the suppressed Hutu during the colonisation had turned their hatred for the Tutsis in the form of genocide that led to the mass killing of the Tutsis.

Ethnic cleansing which has one of its forms as genocide is defined by the elimination of an unwanted group from a society, as by genocide or forced migration. (ethnic cleansing and genocide) Ethnicity, which is a group that is, based a sense of common heritage, common culture, (Sernau, 2006) has the ability to form social solidarity within people that would be the basis for social order in the society. However, due to the grouping of the society, we tend to gather based on our similarities and emphasised on the differences that others have on us. Through the socialisation of these groups throughout generations, we tend to give in to the pride of our own ethnicity more so by accentuating the differences of us and the others and emphasising how does the others are inferior to us or how they treated us differently from us, depriving us from our superiority (this depends on whether is the ethnicity being oppressed or being the oppressor). When we begin to see ourselves as the centre ethnicity of the universe it would have lead us to ethnocentrism which meant that people think their culture is central to the universe that leads us to the tendency to use what we have shared-values, ideas, and rules-as a starting point for thinking about and judging other people. (Charon, 2007)

As much as we want to admit that ethnocentrism is bad for the society, we should also consider the benefits of ethnocentrism. It seems that it may contribute to social solidarity and order by helping to bind us together and creates in us a commitment to society thus making it easier for us to follow the rules when the rules seem right, making us fell good in who we are and more certain in what we believe in. (Charon, 2007). But it is precisely this power to make us follow the rules when the rule seem right to us that makes it so scary when the power is in the wrong hands or wield in the wrong way.

Too many times in history have we seen that this power is wield in the wrong way. From World War 2 where Hitler, in the name of creating a superior race has initiated a mass killing of the Jews and ended in one of the bloodiest killings in history that almost eliminated an entire generation of Jews. So has the genocide in Rwanda that killed more than a million Tutsis and the Nanking Massacre that resulted in 300,000 Chinese killed and 20,000 women raped. (Japanese Army’s Atrocities – Nanjing Massacre). It has happened so many times throughout the course of our history yet we don’t seem to learn the lesson. It is not simply just figures of deaths that were displayed on the newspaper, we don’t seem to comprehend that there is a disruption of social order under the face of genocide or ethnic cleansing. The deaths don’t simply reflect the displeasure of a certain group of people against another group of people. It is more about a deep-seated hatred that has been caused by differences and the claim for power that has been ongoing in the society unaware of its presence. The genocide or war has not only create a short disruption of social order that it seems to be but contributes to a long term disorder that would be boiling and accumulating over the years before it is being outburst again. It is an on-going vicious cycle that genocide seems to amplify as when a ethnicity takes power over others it will cause a sense of hatred from the others due to the power it wields and over time keep increasing till an outburst that will inevitably turned the social order into chaos occurs as the struggle for power may turned the tables onto the ruling group. Ethnicity, at the end of the day, is another form of the struggle to gain power through the people and society. The grouping of people through certain traits is simply an excuse for the rulers to garner strength and support from its people. Although ethnicity in its ideal sense is actual useful in maintain social order but in the social reality it seems to disrupt more than create social order and solidarity.

Bibliography:

Charon, J. M. (2007). Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective,Sixth Edition. In Charon, Ten Questions. Thomson Wadsworth.

ethnic cleansing and genocide. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.munfw.org/archive/50th/4th1.htm

Japanese Army’s Atrocities – Nanjing Massacre. (n.d.). Retrieved from Japanese Army’s Atrocities Web site: http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre/

Sernau, S. (2006). Global Problems: the search for equality, peace, and sustainability. In Sernau, Global Problems. Pearson Education,Inc.

From imperialism to nationalism to today’s democracy system, the political systems in which people are governed have been evolving to better the system as well to meet the changes of our environment. We have been providing ourselves with new systems that could overcome the faults of the previous systems however it does not go to say that the changes have no fault of their own.

Imperialism forces the people to act according to the mindset of the ruler. Nationalism brings out the darker side of violence when the others do not conform or fulfil the national ideal. How about democracy? In the lecture , the idea of democracy have 3 main downsides, mainly illiberal democracy or the tyranny of the majority , issues of corruption, misinformation and public manipulation as well as giving rise to dictatorship

Democracy is mainly the government of the people where the power is given to the people to make choices that can change their lives. Simply said it is the government of the people. However it fails to recognised that if there is a vote per citizen or person, the consensus of the majority will have to sacrifices the rights of the minority as the decisions will always be made according to the majority choices hence in one way or another it will definitely benefit the majority at the expense of the minority. Under the suppression of the majority, the minority will turn to other alternative for their voices to be heard for instance terrorism where it is better understood by Krueger & Maleckova “as a response to feeling of indignity and frustration developed in repressive political environments.”.

Secondly, the issues of corruption, misinformation and public manipulation can be said to be the ultimate downfall of democracy. Although it can be said that so far there has been no system that could totally eliminate the possibility of corruption of happening. The system of governance in democracy enables the elected government to hold immense amount of power at their disposal and hence makes them more vulnerable to the temptations of corruption. For instance, in the case of former Indonesia president Suharto, his “alleged haul of 15-35 billons in 31years of rule” is possible due to the immense power he gathered over the years which lead to him having a presidency for almost 4 decades due to the lack of opportunities for other parties hence having his actions go unchecked by the people thus enabling him to carry on with his corruption. The government could also use the public for their power to conduct and legitimise their agendas in the name the nation and the public by spreading misinformation or manipulation of the social reality via the media and the alternative information sources for the public to agree to their cause. The people may get threatened into doing what the government wants by being showed what are the repercussions of not doing so. In Liberia, the mandate to hold the elections in 1997 lead Charles Taylor to campaign under the slogan of “I killed your pa, and I killed your ma”. The people feared for their lives. Taylor won. It is ironic that even when the power is given to the people it do not necessary means that the people really got to choose the decisions affecting their lives. In America, the government uses the face of the fight against terrorism in justifying the reason for the war in Iraq. ”We will defeat the terrorists,” Bush said. ”We will build a free Iraq that will fight terrorists instead of giving them aid and sanctuary.” However, there has been no substantial evidence that the terrorist have indeed been using Iraq as a ground for their financial aid for their activities. America simply uses the media into manipulating the information presented to the public to gain their support for the war.   

The fact that democracy is actually the power of the people it goes to show that the people have a say too. However it also enables the political leaders to gain power through the power that the people hold in supporting him. The votes of the citizens in elections or the passing down of the motion without any doubts is the actually the act in which the people gives power to the government in legitimising their actions such as war. It can even lead to dictatorship which is similar to the case of Hitler where he manages to convince the majority for a war that eventually lead to the extermination of the Jews as well as World War 2. He “uses the electoral process for a return to dictatorship under a Fuhrer.” Basically the people chose him to be the leader and he uses the power to eliminate any opposition thus building an empire with him has the only leader, the only dictator.          

Not all government are fully democratic. There are also the illiberal government under the façade of a democratic system which defies what is freedom of choice and freedom of speech. People can only choose the vote for whether they do or do not support the issue or decision they have much less choice in deciding the choice themselves. People are also given little amount of freedom of expression justified under the notion of order and security of the country. In Singapore which is a classic example of illiberal governance, the one party system of PAP gives too much control in the hands of only one group of people almost authoritarian as opposition have little opportunities to win the elections due to the gaining of power over the years for PAP and the lack of any platforms for other alternative parties to participate.

Democracy has too many contradictions in itself. One or two party government eliminates other voices becomes authoritarian hence defies democracy but if too many parties or voices is added to the government in the name of democracy for all the voices of the people to be heard then it will lead to a weak and inefficient government due to the many and mostly conflicting view hence disabling the government to make decisions that the majority will follow.

Reference:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3567745.stm

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/31/bush_gives_new_reason_for_iraq_war/

Global problems: the search for equity, peace and sustainability by Scott Sernau

Sociology of Terrorism by Austin T.Turk 

War has been evident since the starting of mankind. In this post, I would like to focus on a particular group of people namely the child soldiers which have become a worldwide problem that is not subjected only to the developing countries. I first came across the term of child soldiers in a movie called “Blood Diamonds”. The African child in the movie was caught on his way to school by a rebel gang. The rigorous and inhumane training that the gang taught him which included the killing of their fellow members for the sake of survival eventually led him to be dehumanised to the end that place him in a situation that he had to kill his own respected father in the name of the gang. The movie has displayed a crude yet accurate picture of the profile and lifestyle of a child soldier.

It is common to see child soldiers wearing oversized civilian’s clothes, holding an AK-47 or M-16 rifle while carrying a pink teddy bear bag in the streets of places with regional conflicts or civil wars e.g. Africa, Liberia. Over 250,000 children under 18 are fighting in government armies and armed opposition groups. Many are abducted or recruited by force, and both often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. Others join armed groups out of desperation. In any case, it is the drive for their survival that turned them into child soldiers. They normally come from peasants or poor families that are commonly subjected to the terror of the rebel groups and government forces in armed conflict due to their vulnerabilities. They are normally living in developing and conflict-ridden countries where they are barely able to survive and threatened with the violence and poverty that filled their lives. Most child soldiers have either joined for the sake of their survival as poverty which has been partially due the problems that a war-torn country forced them to look at the armed forces as a means to ensure that they are able to sustain their survival and not die of hunger on the streets. There are also significant numbers of cases that the death threats that are issued by the groups that terrify the family into giving up the children for the security of the rest of the family. Families that do not have any economic, social or political power are most vulnerable to such treats which is to say the majority of the population of such countries as the power normally belong to only the elite few which ironically are the one using the child soldiers. Other than voluntary joining, there are plenty of cases whereby the children are kidnapped of the streets. Due to their lack of security, the streets become a hinterland for the groups to forcibly recruit members. The lack of legitimate policing of streets as well as the nonchalant attitude that the police or the authorities take up upon such cases due to the lack of status of the children makes the recruiting of new members an easy task.

These soldiers grow up without any form of education besides the knowledge of wielding a gun and a strong hatred for their supposed “enemy” which leaves them with virtually no hope for their future. The child soldiers being vulnerable both physically and mentally make them prone to brainwashing and manipulation of the violence of armed forces. They are subjected to killings, rape, injury and violence in a magnitude that leaves them traumatic for life as research has shown. Studies have shown that those with more severe symptoms of traumatic stress are less willing to consider reconciliation regards acts of retaliation as a way to overcome their experiences. The researchers said their findings underlined the urgency of dealing with the psychological effects of war on child soldiers. “Post-traumatic stress might be an important factor influencing post-conflict situations and may contribute to cycles of violence found in war-torn regions,” they said. Hence it shows that the child soldiers have an important impact on the state of conflict in the war-torn countries that they could even be the cause of the next possible conflict.

References:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6925384.stm

http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4791597

http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/childsoldiers/whatsgoingon/

Crime has been a problem plaguing many societies for many years. It has been most spread and prevalent in groups that we normally consider as gangs or the mafia hence in this essay I would attempt to derive the causes behind the presence and persistence of these gangs in our modern society. In this case I intent to use the profile of 2 different gang mainly the American gang MS13 and one of the most famous gangs of Japan, Yakuza to understand the causes to why they are form and how they have been able to grow.

One of the most notorious gangs of today is actually MS13 (Masa Salvatrucha) in Central America. They were actually from an influx of El Salvadorian immigrant youths that were ostracized by the local communities depriving them from the low cost housing and job opportunities. The frustration of the inability for them to have proper housing and legitimate jobs forces them to turn to crime as the next available alternative. The changing economic pattern of America rendered the skills brought by the first generation of Salvadorian peasants as useless in an economy that was changing its focus of its workforce into an industrial and knowledge-based sector. Angered by the fact that they were stuck in low-paying unwanted jobs, together with their knowledge on warfare due to the civil war in their hometowns, they started to turn violent. They engage in crimes such as drug distribution, prostitution and robbery (for money) as well as murder, rape and kidnapping (for revenge over their mistreatment). One of the most famous incidents was the kidnapping and murder of the son of Honduras President Ricardo Maduro as Honduras was the first Central America country to adopt strong anti-gang policies. Their ability to organise violent acts against the government in turn shows their growth in power and capability to engage in such acts without putting the local government into their scope of consideration. Currently, MS13 operates in at least 42 states and have about 10000 members nationwide. It expands its membership through recruitment and migration. They use the internet to glorify the image of the gang in order to attract more members, or they would simply absorb the existing smaller gangs into their gang. They also use the pull of family members and migration of other Salvadorians to increase their membership. The technological advances and ease in transportation in today’s world enable them to spread their ideals at a much faster rate and the anonymity of their identity in the virtual world makes them even harder to trace for the authorities to stop the spread. Reports have shown that MS13 members normally work in legitimate jobs that do not require employers to scrutinise their data or details hence they are normally in lowly paid jobs such as construction, restaurant and delivery service industries. To a certain extent, we can say that they are stuck back at the same jobs their ancestors tried to break out by forming the gang in the first place. The later generation of MS13 are finding themselves in a dilemma as their involvement in the gang gets them stuck in the cycle that forces them into the gang in the first place. They are unable to break out of the cycle hence unable to break out of the gang which in turns increases their fury turning their attention on other alternatives of crime for money or their exertion of fury.

However, in different societies, the reason for the existence of criminal organisation may be different. The Yakuza in Japan has been more accepted and pervasive than in any other countries. This is due to their wide scope of members (110,000 active members) and a firm and long-standing alliance with Japan’s right-wing nationalist. Their ability to infiltrate into the political and corporate circle suggests that they do not in any sense suffer from inequality of treatment or opportunities that are common in the origins of other criminal organisation in other countries. In contrast, they are highly influential as accounted by their huge numbers as well as the amount of control they hold over their business of vice and other similar activities that accounts for quite a tidy amount of profit for the gang. The modern day Yakuza would normally be a well-dressed pure-blooded Japanese, holding a managerial post in some multinational company. He would be extremely different from his ancestors in terms of profile and background. Their ancestors were mostly social misfits that were poor and engage in criminal activities as they were forced to do so due to the lack of well-paying legitimate jobs. They engage in all sorts of criminal activities and their power grew due to the fall of the government after the World War 2.

 In different countries the background and operation of the gangs may differ. However it boils down to the fact that the origins of crime is due to the inability for the so called “criminals” to fit into the society to enable them to see themselves as part of a whole society. The sense of shame, frustration and helplessness pushes them in the direction of crime as an alternative. When their disability forces them to be discriminated against their needs to satisfy their lives (example: lodging or jobs), the fury against society grows even bigger as their hatred intensifies. Another point that I inferred from the case study of these 2 gangs is the events that occur in our history that changes the demographics of the gang and its profile. In MS13, the introduction of technology and the blurring of borders enable them to obtain power be it by capital through drug and weapon distributions or by spreading their ideals nationwide obtaining their power by numbers. Changing in economy also pushes people to the alternative of crime as seen in MS13 as the skills that the agricultural peasants own were rendered useless in the face of industrialisation and a knowledge-based economy. In Japan, due to the fall of the government in the World War 2, it has lead to the increase in the rise of the criminal gangs to take control of a turbulent society.

Reference:

www.knowgangs.com/gang_resources/profiles/ms13/

www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1347306/posts

www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/ms13_011408.html

www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html

web.telia.com/~u31302275/yakuza.htm

In our history, the rise of feminist movement was possible due to the platform of these 3 events Globalization, Industrialisation and World War 2. It triggers the rise of the movement due to several factors.  Previously there was also war and the same happening that men died and women took over the household and the economy however there wasn’t in those cases any form of the rising of female equality movement until in the early 19 century when globalisation and industrialisation took the world by storm. They still went back to a world where women were seen as a weaker sex whose only existence is to create the next generation and maintain the order of the family. It was always seen as men followed by women and family followed by personal rights hence placing women at the bottom of the social status strata.

It was only in the age of Industrialisation that women were first seen as an asset, a necessity. The rise in the amount of labour needed and the type of labour needed force people to accept the fact that women are not in the economy as a substitute of men but as a vital to the production of goods and labour. Before Industrialisation, the need for labour was not that high in demand and the type of labour are those that do not hard labour hence basically for the men to take in charge of most of the economy is reasonable. During the period of Industrialisation, the need for hard labour decrease greatly mainly taken over by the machinery, the type of labour needed requires nimble hands and prone towards mass production and the operation of machinery which can be done better by females, and the lower cost in hiring females caused the rise in paid female labour.  After coming into the economy, women realise that they could perform equal or even better that man in the economy hence leading to the expectations that they too should get the same treatment as their counterparts.

Globalisation helped in the sense that it open up countries and join the will of women all over the world together hence it create a greater impact on the motive of the movement. The movement then balled into a worldwide event having an international status means that for once the world will have to recognised that the group was a powerful force asking for changes and reforms in the way women in general is treated demanding equality with both sex.    

But the road to the equality of the both sexes is not smooth sailing. The economic changes are not in tune with the social changes. The changes in the economic structure is not reflected in the social norms men are still thinking themselves as the provider of the family and refusal to acknowledge the women results in today’s unbalance in the responsibility in both men and women. Globalisation has helped the female population in the rise of their status but it too has worsened their disposition. It has caused women to be overburdened with responsibility, because of the opening of societies women can no longer hide under the shelter of their society hence they are more prone to exploitation. Even if the women have now taken the role as the main breadwinner in the family, it doesn’t mean that their efforts are recognised in anyway. In the family, they are still expected to take on the role as the main support of the family and in terms of the economy they are being expected of the same quality of effort as the men but with lesser wages and opportunities although in terms of qualifications they are the same as men.

The challenge of today is to allow the social changes be in step economic changes. It is not so easily met as it involves the changes in the concept in work and the mindsets in the social structure itself. Men must be able to find their stance in the current workforce in order for them to not be obsolete and accept the abilities of women that they are not inferior to them. Women must also realise their limitations be it biological or emotional, there must be a clear definition of the responsibilities between the men and women. Women must not seek equality and increase in status and power just for the sake of seeking them but to look at the needs of society and compromised them with their wants. Similarly, the same has to be done by the men.

Work and trade is incorporated in our daily lives hence their workings will definitely cause tremendous effects on our society. In my opinion, most of our current social problems of in equalities or poverty for instance have actually been caused by or heavily influence by the way in with we work and trade. It is the current economic system that has triggered many of these problems that weren’t there before. It is true that people maybe poor in the past according to our modern day standards. However in recent times, the standard of poverty has decreased to unprecedented standards. Our economy has heavily influence the change in society to cause problems that weren’t known in the past. To say that nothing have been done to help the situation may be quite unfair. In contrary, things have been done to improve the lives of the poor and helpless but it ended in failure or caused even worse consequences due to the ignorance of those providing assistance, the real agenda of exploitations from the sources that render their “help”, domination of few in economy and unfair practices. To eradicate these problems and entire structuring of the economy needs to be done to rid of any cause and effect and completely start from scratch. This would be impossible as it would have turned the entire society and livelihood into turmoil. What we can do is to do things slowly, observing the effect and studying the situation carefully before careful decisions to control the development and help rendered sustainable, fair and efficient.    

In the lecture about the labour and trade, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank was mentioned. It was said that many of the failures of the IMF and the World Bank development projects have failed due to the domination of the big capitalist states in today’s world in their operations. It is due to their ignorance of the situation of the Third World countries or the developing countries that result in the failure. However, if we consider the other alternative of having the Third World countries own leaders that lead and organised the development project then can it remedy the failing situation?

Theoretically, yes it can as the failure of the development for the big capitalist states in the first place was the ignorance of such places. Thus, if the leaders of the development project itself are lead and organised by the Third World countries themselves then the risk of the failure due to ignorance is eliminated since no one knows more of the country’s situation than the people themselves.

In my opinion, I beg to differ. Even if placing leaders that are more familiar with the particular country does help eliminate the ignorance of the other capitalist states, it may in turn create more problems. Firstly, it can’t be assured that whomever that leads the country’s development project is able to carry out the task fairly and efficiently. Most of the time, the representatives of the countries tend to be the elite of the country hence they too will not know the needs of those who are the most in need of the help and development. Secondly, it is extremely hard to find it safe to say that the huge amount of loads lend to the developing countries are truly use to help the country. It has been quite true that the government in the Third world countries are corrupted and the country’s cash is always in the hands of few. Hence, it is fairly uncertain that the loans given will truly help the development as it wouldn’t be certain that the loans will have fully utilise for the development and the fact that till this date, the world bank will not let the government of the Third world countries to control the project goes to show their inability. Lastly, even if the projects are lead and organised by the government of the country, it is still the big capitalist states that control the development projects as it is them whom are providing the financial assistance and the project will normally lead to their benefits, ignoring the real needs of the poor.

Personally, my suggestion is to create a separate body of specialists to lead the projects. The group of specialist must be totally detached in terms of the political and economical will from the controlling parties of the World Bank and the IMF in order to work with the main aim of developing the country in an unbiased manner. These people could be scholars in their own field of development and as long they are working with the sole purpose of creating or helping with the development of the country will the project be successful.