United States Economic Situation Essay Example for Free

United States Economic Situation Essay The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $49,800. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to enter their rivals home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a two-tier labor market in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. Since 1996, dividends and capital gains have grown faster than wages or any other category of after-tax income. Imported oil accounts for nearly 55% of US consumption. Crude oil prices doubled between 2001 and 2006, the year home prices peaked; higher gasoline prices ate into consumers budgets and many individuals fell behind in their mortgage payments. Oil prices climbed another 50% between 2006 and 2008, and bank foreclosures more than doubled in the same period. In addition to dampening the housing market, soaring oil prices caused a drop in the value of the dollar and a deterioration in the US merchandise trade deficit, which peaked at $840 billion in 2008. The sub-prime mortgage crisis, falling home prices, investment bank failures, tight credit, and the global economic downturn pushed the United States into a recession by mid-2008. GDP contracted until the third quarter of 2009, making this the deepest and longest downturn since the Great Depression. To help stabilize financial markets, in October 2008 the US Congress established a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The government used some of these funds to purchase equity in US banks and  industrial corporations, much of which had been returned to the government by early 2011. In January 2009 the US Congress passed and President Barack OBAMA signed a bill providing an additional $787 billion fiscal stimulus to be used over 10 years two-thirds on additional spending and one-third on tax cuts to create jobs and to help the economy recover. In 2010 and 2011, the federal budget deficit reached nearly 9% of GDP. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan required major shifts in national resources from civilian to military purposes and contributed to the growth of the budget deficit and public debt. Through 2011, direct costs of the wars totaled nearly $900 billion, according to US government figures. US revenues from taxes and other sources are lower, as a percentage of GDP, than those of most other countries. In March 2010, President OBAMA signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a health insurance reform that will extend coverage to an additional 32 million American citizens by 2016, through private health insurance for the general population and Medicaid for the impoverished. Total spending on health care public plus private rose from 9.0% of GDP in 1980 to 17.9% in 2010. In July 2010, the president signed the DODD-FRANK Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a law designed to promote financial stability by protecting consumers from financial abuses, ending taxpayer bailouts of financial firms, dealing with troubled banks that are too big to fail, and improving accountability and transparency in the financial system in particular, by requiring certain financial derivatives to be traded in markets that are subject to government regulation and oversight. Long-term problems include stagnation of wages for lower-income families, inadequate investment in deteriorating infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, energy shortages, and sizable current account and budget deficits including significant budget shortages for state governments.

Life Without N Sync - A Satirical Essay :: essays research papers

Life without N’Sync: A soon-to-be reality, or a teenaged girl’s worst nightmare? I would hate to even suggest that we might soon exist in a world without N’Sync. Their songs inspire us, as well as being very morally sound. Their creative and innovative fashions and tunes gives us the much needed variety that keeps us interested about the next aptly-titled CD they put out. They are great role models for every aspiring ‘teen dream’, and give teenaged boys something to aspire to. N’Sync is a positive contributor to our society. N’Sync’s writers have written some very memorable songs in the past, including ‘Digital Getdown’ and ‘That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You’. These songs are filled with inspiring lyrics such as, â€Å"Don’t wanna be the reason for your love no more† and â€Å"Baby, baby get nasty, nasty and we can get freaky deaky.† These lyrics teach the 8 year old fans just what girls are good for, and make them feel loved and respected; at the same time they teaching them some interesting vocabulary that they can use in everyday life. I like the consistency of the song titles, because consistency is very important. A large portion of their titles include the word ‘you’, or ‘me’, which definitely showcases their creativity. The fact that they let talented musicians do the instrumental sections proves that they care about how their music sounds. N’Sync’s songs are a positive influence on to day’s youth. It’s a definite relief to know that Justin Timberlake is having a good hair day, and that Chris Kirkpatrick had a good photo shoot. I am glad to know that their latest CD has gone multi-platinum and they have made lots of money, because their happiness is very important to me. One can never get tired of their adorable puppy-dog faces and their cute plays on words that have been carefully scripted. Their intelligence, ingenuity and creativity has led me to believe that they are very positive role models for their fans, and they are who every teenaged boy should strive to be. The things I like most about N’Sync are the fact that they went from having no talent and no money to having no talent and lots of money. It’s good that magazine publishers have made entire series of magazines all about them. I enjoy reading the countless articles and interviews about them, because I say â€Å"The more, the better!!† Without N’Sync, many teenaged girls wouldn’t have music to listen to, or any pictures to put on their walls.

How are social change and changes in knowledge linked?

It will then proceed by discussing aspects of social change in history, in particular how changes after the 2nd world war challenged old and traditional systems of knowledge. In this discussion this essay will focus on two dominant systems of knowledge, medicine and religion, and in what way the changing role of women in society has challenged these knowledge systems. With regard to religion this essay will also discuss the development of new age beliefs in today's society with relevance to the question is religion in decline? This essay will aim to use relevant examples in this discussion in order to reach a conclusion of the link between social change and changes in knowledge in our society. So lets begin by answering the question what is knowledge? ‘All knowledge is produced, collected, collated and disseminated by human beings living in societies.' (Goldblatt 2000). It is inherited through the language we learn in our daily lives. We use many different sources of knowledge in order to understand where we Come from, who we are and the society within we live it shapes what we know and what we don't know. It is the social structures and institutions within society, which shape the content of knowledge systems, be it in medicine, religion, the political ideologies and so on. They decide who holds the power in within these knowledge systems.' They determine, for example, who has access to specialized knowledge languages (like medical training) and who has socially sanctioned and legal authority to make pronouncements on a given subject.'(Goldblatt 2000). Aside from specialized or expert knowledge there is also a different type of knowledge known as common sense knowledge. This is knowledge, which we all inherit or learn from family and friends, or acquire through outside influences accessible to us such as media or the Internet. It helps us understand or gain alternative knowledge on issues such as our health for example. It often comes in the shape of old wives tales, which have been passed down through generations. The dominant knowledge systems such as medicine religion and so on are not fixed however and when social change occurs, they are forced to respond to these changes, and in consequence it is also knowledge that can then influence change in society and determine how we live our lives. Throughout history society has seen many radical changes within its dominant knowledge systems. We have witnessesed major advances in scientific research, medicine, changes in ‘traditional' religious beliefs and challenges to the dominant political ideologies, particularly following the Second World War. One of the foremost debates today is whether or not there has been a decline in the trust of expert knowledge within all aspects of society. There have always been experts with specialized knowledge even in ancient times. However years ago experts in their field be it science, medicine or religion were always trusted their knowledge was respected and believed as true, scientists, doctors, priests and the like. Although they were never completely unchallenged the authority of their knowledge was secure. However it could be argued that at this time people had no way of acquiring the knowledge to know any different and had no reason to challenge the experts. In time however new discoveries in science, medicine, and with new communication technology evolving all the time in all aspects of society, allowed people much more access to alternative knowledge and information. With this new knowledge people began to ask questions and have their say regarding issues of importance to them. Also new experts were emerging all the time to challenge old knowledge systems. ‘Debates that were once confined to a small circle of influential figures and institutions within each of these traditions are now amplified through the enormously expanded means of communication that now exists' (Goldblatt 2000) It could be fair to argue then that it is not so much that there has been a decline in the trust of experts but that the old and traditional and trusted knowledge systems have become more diverse due to the emerge of alternate forms of knowledge within society, for example, alternative medicine, new political ideologies and so on. Following the 2nd world war feminism had a huge impact for women in all spheres of society. Science, medicine and religion, had largely been dominated by men throughout history. Women had been pretty much excluded from all these dominant knowledge systems. It was men who held superior patriarchy power within all aspects of society. This allows us then to not only question and discuss gendered knowledge but to also look at the interrelation between knowledge and power within these knowledge systems. Lets look at the at a feminist approach adopted by Fox Keller, with relevance to women's place within medical science. She argues that knowledge production is gendered and shaped by patriarchy within social structures in society. ‘Modern science †¦ is based on a division of emotional and intellectual labour in which objectivity, reason and mind are cast as male and subjectivity, feeling and nature are cast as female. Science involves a radical separation of subject and object and ultimately the domination of mind over nature. The result is a popular conception of science – one that is more suited to men than women'. (Fox Keller). An example of this is the Royal Society founded by Charles II in1662. It was argued that the knowledge produced within this society was because of its ‘gentlemanly origins. They saw the importance of objective knowledge over subjective knowledge within the field of science and medicine. Women's knowledge at this time was ‘devalued and relegated to folk medicine' (Thompson and woodward 2000). It was due to the fact that women were excluded from higher education and therefore unable to attend medical universities, hence were unable to enter the medical field without training. ‘Power over Knowledge was used to maintain a structure in which women were systematically excluded from a male medical monopoly' (Thompson and Woodward) Today however, due largely to the emerge of feminism, women now have equality with men in the medical profession, and other dominant knowledge systems such as religion. As with medicine religion too was dominated by the patriarchy power within society. In fact it wasn't until 1992 that women were finally accepted into the priesthood. In contemporary society women have challenged the patriarchy of old and traditional religious beliefs in favour of new understanding of religion and what it means for them. Many women now focus on a more spiritual beliefs, one movement dedicated to this is that of eco-feminism. ‘Eco-feminism is a new term for an ancient wisdom. As women in various movements – ecology, peace, feminist and especially health – rediscovered the independence and connectedness of everything, they also discovered what was called spiritual dimension of life – the realization of this interconnectedness was itself sometime called spirituality†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.The desire to recover, to regenerate [this] wisdom as a means to liberate women and nature from patriarchal destruction also motivated this turning towards spirituality.'(Mies and Shiva, 1997, p,500). So it is fair to argue that due to social change brought about by the emerge of feminism women have challenged both gendered knowledge and the power of knowledge in medicine and religion. The rise of Eco-feminism however is just one of the many alternative or new age beliefs within religion today. Which begs the question of religion in contemporary society and whether it is in decline. Or could it be that as with the knowledge system of medicine or expert knowledge in general, religion has become so diverse due to social change and the emerge of alternative religious beliefs brought about because of these changes. Religion has changed significantly throughout history. Following the emerge of the Royal Society and the intellectual movement throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, known as ‘The Age of Reason', (Enlightenment), it was argued that ‘Science replaced religion as the dominant source of knowledge'(Woodward and Watt 2000) However religion has always played an important role for people within society due to the fact that unlike scientific knowledge it is religion, which helps us make sense of the moral issues that, can affect us in our daily lives. Social scientists debate into the question is religion in decline is known as the secularization thesis. Some argue that it is modernization, which is a threat to traditional religious thinking by citing new age beliefs as being responsible for this. Some argue that people now fill their time with other leisure activities instead. It is also argued that other forms of thought have taken over religion such as science for example. The fact also that the UK is now a multicultural society means there are many diverse forms of religion apart from the church of England. There are two main approaches in this debate positivist, whose approach is based on observing peoples behaviour toward religion. They use quantitative evidence such as questionnaires and surveys, which is argued may be limiting. The interpretative approach however would argue humans cannot be observed in the same way as objects. There aim is understand what religion or people's beliefs mean to them and aim to explore those meanings from different perspectives. It can be argued that religion in contemporary society has become a significantly diverse knowledge system. Ethnic beliefs, women's challenge to patriarchal religion and the emerge of new age beliefs, be it alternative medicine or green issues have meant that the traditional Church of England the dominant form of religion any more. So in conclusion then this essay began by defining what is knowledge. It then proceeded by questioning expert knowledge with regard to social change. It then focused on two dominant knowledge systems medicine and religion and discussed how the emerge of feminism challenged the knowledge systems. Lastly it discussed briefly the role of religion in contemporary society and questioned whether it is in decline and the relevance of women's, ethnic and new age beliefs. It is fair to argue that the discussion in this essay does conclude that there is a significant link, not only between social change and knowledge but knowledge and social change.

History Teachers, Textbooks And Racism - 1633 Words

A Whitewashed History: Teachers, Textbooks and Racism. Textbooks can be wrong. Is it possible that watching the History Channel could be more informative than the average High School History class? Alia Wong points out in her article History Class and the Fictions about Race in America the topics of underqualified teachers, inaccurate textbooks and the inefficacy of history being taught at all grade levels. I, myself, can attest to this statement having been taught history by a teacher who taught from an extremely outdated textbook. I taught myself by quietly reading in every class. The way we teach history to our children is lacking a few fundamental truths that are essential to American history and how we teach it that underplays†¦show more content†¦When you present the institution of slavery as â€Å"workers† you are sugar coating or brushing off the brutality of slavery and racism. Presenting them as other than a group of people who were brought here against thei r will, who had to endure the most barbaric, inhumane and torturous enslavement of their kind. How is this lack of accurate representation of slavery and White Supremacy ok to leave out of our History textbooks? I agree with Wong that textbook company publishers tend to â€Å"mystify† the reason why the south seceded. Largely because â€Å"they don’t want to offend school districts and lose sales†. When you have textbook companies not wanting to really emphasize that racism, slavery and White Supremacy in the south during the 1800s was one of the biggest and most prominent parts of why the Civil War started, rather they emphasize that it was about States’ Rights, and that’s the reason why the south seceded. Not that it was about the preservation of slavery. With textbooks like this you get 41% of Americans believing the cause of the Civil War was not slavery, where as the other 54% believe it is about slavery, from a recent national poll from Histo ry Class and the Fictions about Race in America. When you get these types of numbers one must think what does the â€Å"mystification† or the whitewashing of history do to us as a society? When you underplay racismShow MoreRelated Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen Essay example1439 Words   |  6 PagesJames Loewen wrote the book ?Lies My Teacher Told ME? to help the students of the United States become aware of their true history. This book attempts to show how and why American history has been taught the way it has without regard for the truth. 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