Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Occupy Wall Street Movement Essay Example for Free

Occupy Wall Street Movement Essay The Occupy Wall Street movement started from young protestors growing tired of high student loans and low grossing wages. The movement had moral and economic implications. These implications could be compared to utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics, with one that best applies to the movement. There are several people and organizations that can be held responsible for the inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. There is an equitable outcome that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society from this movement. The movement will fade away with time with likely outcomes to come from the protests. Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement. One of the main concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movement is the rising cost of college and student loans. If student loans were forgiven, however, it wouldnt solve the fundamental problem of costly education. A government program that forgave student loans would improve the finances of people holding student loans, but it would do so at the expense of taxpayers in America. Many of these taxpayers would fall within the 99%. Furthermore, by seeking bailouts for student loans, the Occupy Wall Street movement is fundamentally no different than the banks and corporations that theyre criticizing. For the most part, media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protest has been predictable. Stories are narrated according to the pro/con structure typical of balanced reporting or sensationalism. On the one hand, positive focus sympathetically explains why protesters have been demonstrating en masse since Sept. 17. These accounts place the activist mantra of â€Å"We are the 99%† in a historical and economic context that connects significant inequalities in wealth to violations of justice that should prompt people of conscience to demand rectification. On the other hand, negative reports argue against interpreting the protest as legitimate civil disobedience. Occupy Wall Street is an especially interesting collective action movement because it embodies a distinctive and pervasive shift in ethical orientation. The long-simmering forces that gave rise to the protests also have profoundly altered how students today view their place in society. Analyze each of the implications identified above against the utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics to determine which theory best applies to the movement. Support your position with examples and evidence. We are living in historic times. Capitalism will not be brought down in this through this movement. This is as a result of weaknesses of linkages between working class revolutionary theory and practice as represented by the partisan and broader social manifestation of this most decisive force of bringing to birth a new world on the ashes of that morass which we now live in. But it is an hour in which great leaps forward can be made and are being made. Such hours come with lessons that would be invaluable for us living today and for generations coming after us that would eventually cleanse the life of humankind of the ugliness and pains that capitalism stamps on its beauty and fullness. Utilitarian ethics on its own part conflates the expansion of wealth in society as a whole with greater happiness for the greater number of persons in society, thus losing sight of the proportional increase in unhappiness for most members of society that create the wealth, with the expansion of such wealth, which a few appropriate (Ferguson 2008). This is of particular importance for industrial relations, which addresses the site of relations in the process of production. Determine who is responsible for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. In your analysis, make sure to include if this is something that happened suddenly or if it built up over time. Explain your rationale. Wealth accumulates over time. The highest earners are able to save much of their incomes, whereas lower earners can’t. That means high earners can accumulate more and more wealth as time goes on (assuming they don’t blow it all, of course). Higher-earning Americans also have the resources to pay for better tax preparation, which helps them reduce their taxes and save even more money. On the tax front, note also that people who have already accumulated wealth stand to earn a lot in capital gains, which are also taxed at a lower rate. Most of the attention paid to economic inequality pertains to what people are making each hour or each year, not what they already have stored up or what kind of cushion they have to fall back on. Perhaps that’s bec ause most people do not have a firm grasp of how much they’re â€Å"worth,† but they can always look to their paychecks to see how much they have coming in, and can make easier comparisons to their neighbors. Proposals for a wealth tax resurface periodically. The idea is always contentious since it basically requires double-taxation of earnings. There are lots of existing examples of double-taxation on the books, though. Few measures would help the long-term health of the economy more than reducing the economic and political clout of Wall Street. The financial sector exists to connect savers with investors and to do so at the lowest feasible cost and risk. In a sensible world, we would view the financial sector as nothing more than a transactions cost to be minimized along the way to producing the goods and services that the economy is really about. No society has come close to making wealth distribution equal. The great egalitarian experiments of the 20th century proved this, as attentive readers have known since the 1957 publication of Yugoslav dissident Milovan Ä ilas’ The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, which revealed shocking disparities in quality of life in the â€Å"workers’ paradises† of Eastern Europe. China gave the world a horrific double-shot of rural poverty and relative urban wealth; it is only since the country joined global trading markets that it has seen provincial poverty decline. At the same time, income inequality in China has grown, as it does in every rising economy. Growing wealth disparities are in fact a sign that overall prosperity is increasing in a competitive marketplace. The economist Gary Becker recently described how this works: â€Å"It would be hard to motivate the vast majority of individuals to exert much effort, including creative effort, if everyone had the same earnings, status, prestige, and other types of rewards. Fewer individuals would engage in the hard work involved in finishing high school and going on to college if they did not expect their additional education to bring higher incomes, better health, more prestige, and better opportunities to marry.† Creating general equality of opportunity is among the greatest U.S. achievements. But creating equality of outcomes has caused misery everywhere it has been tried. Suggest an equitable outcome from the movement that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society. This protesting will end up in getting at least one of the following token changes enacted: Eliminating the electoral college but leaving campaign finance untouched; Outlaw lobbying and then creating a new official department with a new name that companies use to lobby through; Legalize gay marriage; Raise the tax on the rich a small amount for a few years. After winning this token victory the people will go back home to their normal lives and get stuck in the rat race again. It’s true that loan forgiveness will not solve the fundamental problem with education costs, because the real problem is that corporations just aren’t interested in paying for it, they’d rather make money off it, which is precisely what they’re doing. But this does not mean that the costs have to be shi fted to the taxpayer. The private institutions that created the debt in the first place ought to bear the burden. But there is a way that education costs can be drastically reduced without raising taxes a dime on anyone, even corporations: by slashing the defense budget. There are high-quality universities in third world countries that have negligible education costs, simply because they are funded directly by the public sector. Why the richest country on the planet can’t have inexpensive education as well is anathema. Cutting the defense budget increasing education spending are some of the main goals of the Occupy movement, which are also shared by the vast majority of the population, but unfortunately not by our politicians. Michael OHanlon examines proposed budget cuts for the Department of Defense, noting that U.S. military will have to eliminate programs and forces just to accomplish the savings goals now on the books, and outlining possible ideas for cutting spending without harming national security. Predict whether the movement will continue, fad away, or turn into something else. Provide a rationale with your response. Occupy Wall Street was at the pinnacle of its power in October 2011, when thousands of people converged at Zuccotti Park and successfully foiled the plans of billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sweep away the occupation on grounds of public health. From that vantage point, the Occupy movement appears to have tumbled off a cliff, having failed to organize anything like a general strike on May Day, despite months of rumblings of mass walkouts, blockades and shutdowns. If history repeats itself then the police will continually harass the protesters and make their lives miserable using nonphysical methods. It will not come to Americans getting shot by law enforcement officials. Technology and a more connected culture has changed the political landscape so that less outrages more people. And the Internet has given every person in the world a megaphone that can be heard around the world. It doesn’t take too many people with megaphones to rally the world. Americans will put their collective foot down after a few more beatings well before it comes to shooting. Plus, a lot of law enforcement personnel are pretty fed up with the system themselves. If the protesters made a more concentrated effort to win the hearts and minds of the police and the military they could speed up the process of forcing the government to throw them their victory sooner than later. The Occupy Wall Street movement started from young protestors growing tired of high student loans and low grossing wages. The movement had moral and economic implications. These implications could be compared to utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics, with one that best applies to the movement. There are several people and organizations that can be held responsible for the inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. There is an equitable outcome that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society from this movement. The movement will fade away with time with likely outcomes to come from the protests. Reference: Business Ethics 2010 Money.msn.com Huffingtonpost.com Cleanbreak.com/ocuupywallstreet

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Europe: The Land Of Self-Discovery Essay -- Personal Narrative Travel

Europe: The Land Of Self-Discovery Every person has, in the course of his or her life, experienced some event that can be identified as life changing. This event can be an emotional enlightenment or a physical change that alters one’s mindset. Such a clarifying incident can happen at any time. However, I believe that such an event might not occur during the first eighteen years of a person’s life. Lucky for me, I have had an experience that I believe changed my outlook on life. The summer before my freshman year in college I went on a seven-week backpacking trip throughout the European continent. I visited ten different countries during the course of my trip, and each country, changed me in a certain way. Some countries made more of an impact than others, but each had enough significance so as to make a noticeable change. In this essay I will outline what I experienced in each country and what that country did to change my outlook on life, and I will explain to the reader why I belie ve that this trip would have a similar impact on each and every one of them. The first country that I visited was Great Britain. My two friends and I stayed in London, which is the largest city in Great Britain. When I first got to Great Britain I did not see much of a difference between it and the United States. Everyone there spoke the same language as me, and it seemed as if the culture was influenced heavily by the United States. However, first impressions can be deceiving because I would come to learn that Great Britain had a great deal to offer. My little group set out to learn everything about London. We visited local landmarks and museums. All in all, I think that London had the aura of a larg... ...eled to Madrid and Seville. Seville has the third largest church in Europe, and this church was built on the remnants of a mosque after the Christians had burned it down. I thought everything in these two cities was amazing. I would say that Spain introduced me to a whole to concept of life; the idea that one should party till four in the morning and just nap the next day. All in all, I think that Europe changed my outlook on life. I used to think that I would want to live in a huge city, but after being in huge cities and comparing them with smaller cities that I know I no know that I want to live in a small town. I would also love to live abroad for a period of time in my life. I think that everyone should go on a trip covering a foreign land. It is a way to realize what is important to you in life, and will always be a memorable experience.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Lawmaking by executive order: an analysis of a movement tending to destroy American constitutional government and to set up an executive autocracy Essay

Executive Order Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Executive Order is a lawfully mandatory order given by the acting President since he is the head of the Executive Branch ordering (FAA) Federal Administrative Agencies. An Executive Order is generally applied to control officials and federal agencies in their implementation of congressionally recognized policies or laws. However, in many occurrences they have been applied to direct agencies in ways opposing to congressional intent but not all executive orders are formed equal. Some of executive orders may deal with defense or security issues while others may be normally symbolic or ceremonial. Congressional approval is not a must requirement in order to for an Executive order to be effected because it have the alike legal burden as laws approved by Congress. Examples of executive orders include proclamations, national security directives and presidential decision directives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Executive orders have been applied by every main executive since the reign of George Washington in 1789. Every president starting with George Washington have delivered orders which can be referred as executive orders although they did not formally indicated by name. Most of these orders were not published and were only comprehended and discussed by the agencies which were concerned. George Washington’s first executive order stated that â€Å"United   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   States was going to remain neutral in the war between Great Britain and France. In the early era of 1900s, Department in the State started numbering those orders and the numbering system we apply today when considering a specific order was not prepared until far ahead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Those orders were retroactively numbered starting from year 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln issued the â€Å"emancipation proclamation† by executive order and by now there are more than thirteen thousands orders which have been numbered. However, there are still some orders which have not been listed because of bad record keeping but that is not a problem today since all upcoming executive orders are accessed easily. Since the decision of Supreme Court in 1952, every president has also made sure to mention which precise laws they are performing under whenever they are delivering the executive order. Numerous significant policy modifications have happened through Executive orders although the President cannot use apply executive orders to create laws, the orders can still have a very extensive consequence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For example President Truman delivered an executive order to incorporate the armed forces, while President Eisenhower delivered an executive order to incorporate all public schools. Another executive order #9066 was given out by President Roosevelt to affirm definite areas zones for military, but soon it was applied for the transfer of Japanese-Americans to captivity camps in the course of World War II and claimed it that he had power under his military authority. President Kennedy and President Johnson applied them to promote racial segregation in federal contracting, appointment and housing. President Bill Clinton overturned the executive order which has been issued by President Reagan about promoting use of federal funds to support abortion. However, conflict aroused during the reign of President Clinton because in his more than 300 executive orders he was not consulting the Republican Congress.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recently, President Barrack Obama have received a lot of criticism from Republicans due to signing numerous executive orders to postpone certain there has been criticism from Republicans as President Obama has signed numerous executive orders to postponement certain sections of the â€Å"(ACA) Affordable Care Act†, although the law have not specified the authority of the president to do that. The claim of Republican is that the president is â€Å"selecting† which sections of the law to obey and which one to disobey. In all terms considered executive orders cannot interject the laws approved by Congress or the duties deputized to the Executive Branch. However, executive orders tracks against the common section of the Constitution that states â€Å"No one should have power to act disjointedly†. In contrast, Congress often provides the President substantial freedom in administering and implementing federal law. Sometimes, the Congress cannot approve precisely how to implement a law therefore this abandons the conclusion to all federal agencies concerned and the President in the power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When congress flops to comprehend out deeply on how an act is to be implemented, the President can provide those parts in detail but in the custom of Executive Orders. The main purpose of executive orders was to strengthen the right or duty of a President to produce an order, verdict, or declaration to convey out a precise power that actually committed to his preference by the Constitution or by congress approval of a lawful statute. The President is supposed to take care that the laws be loyally executed because Executive Orders were never planned to offer a President the power to go from one place to another in Congress to enact legislation. For example if the police are aiming suspects in a certain area where gang hitting is dominant, the President can order them to go after those gang wrecks by an Executive Order because he is the chief law enforcement officer but has to adhere to the written law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The white house and the Presidency has evolved over time, and is not the same as it was years ago. Since George Washington took over office, many presidents have taken office, with the most recent being the historic Barrack Obama who has made over nine hundred executive orders so far. It is important to put time into consideration as we seek to compare the many presidents the United States of America has had as we examine their executive orders made. In this paper, I am seeking to examine the executive office especially on presidents who faced very starkly times at the white house. Among rhetoric and administrative powers, the president possesses legislative powers which are exhibited by making of executive orders as it has been the case with many presidents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Initially, the white house lacked guidelines to follow when setting these executive orders, until in 1952 when president Truman decided to make an executive order no. 10340 that was rendered null and invalid because it was making a law without congress, instead of extending it as should have been the case. After the ruling, previous presidents have been citing existing laws when making these orders to avoid unconstitutionality of any of these orders. This paper examines some of those orders issued, with most of them having been made during the tenure of President Roosevelt. The largest amounts of executive orders were issued between Truman’s era and Roosevelt’s era. The most executive orders have been issued during the reigns of the presidents that have been known and termed as strong. These have come under tenures when America was at war like in Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. Mostly, presidents have issued them in ti mes when they need to act in ways not allowed for by the constitution. There have been more conservative presidents like Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Hebert Hoover who had the belief that they were strictly limited by the constitution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currently, President Barrack Obama has made executive orders that have seen even congress men rally behind to impeach him as well as filing lawsuits. Last year (2013), the president passed twenty-three executive orders as part of his war against guns, and recently, in a public address he issued an executive order that saw the increment in salaries for some workers under the federal government. Currently, an executive order is seeking to fight for a debate in the enactment of a new immigration law. The current president has threatened to use these orders to pass key policies if congress fails to act imminently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Clancy (1996), several implications for the adoption of presidential orders have been evident, with Obama ensuring that immigrants are getting proper treatment even when deportation has been necessitated. President Bill Clinton ensured the conservation of some American rivers which were taken as American Heritage. ‘Obamacare’ has seen the current president pass over nine hundred executive orders, which he has said are all in ensuring better lives for the American people and improving life standards for American families. This has been evident especially with the pay increments for example of these initiatives to boost the lives of Americans. Gun policies have also been enacted through his executive orders, giving a sense of security back to notorious streets that have seen an increase in the number of gun owners: most of which are illegal. References American Liberty League (ALL). 1935. Lawmaking by executive order: an analysis of a movement tending to destroy American constitutional government and to set up an executive autocracy. Washington, D.C.: American Liberty League. Clancy, T. (1996). Executive orders. New York, N.Y: Berkley Books. Great Britain. 2008. Draft Legislative Reform (Health and Safety Executive) Order 2008: report, together with formal minutes and written evidence. London: TSO. McNamara, Carol, and Melanie M. Marlowe. 2012. The Obama presidency in the constitutional order: a first look. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. Smith, V. Kerry. 1984. Environmental policy under Reagan’s executive order: the role of benefit-cost analysis. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Source document