Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad

Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad Vietnam has made a great progress in global integration since it began the Doi Moi process, especially when our country became the 150th member of WTO in 2007. The global integration has helped to change a poor country facing with starvation in the 1980s into a highly developing country now. However, Vietnam also has to face up with challenges affecting economic stability such as global financial crisis, severe competition from foreign enterprises. In order to understand more about globalization and its effects on the Vietnamese economy, I would like to write this paper to discuss the opportunities and challenges of this process upon the Vietnamese economy and what can be done to overcome these challenges. I. Literature Review 1. What is globalization? Globalization has now become a popular term appearing regularly on television, radio and newspaper. It is a very broad term which is related to economy, politics, culture, and environment. Carbaugh (2008) defines globalization as the process of greater interdependence among countries and their citizens. It consists of increased integration of product and resource markets across nations via trade, immigration, and foreign investment that is, via international flows of goods and services, of people, and of investment such as equipment, factories, stocks, and bonds. It also includes noneconomic elements such as culture and environment. Simply put, globalization is political, technological, and cultural as well as economic (p.2). Within this paper, we only focus on the economic side of globalization. 2. History of globalization in the worlds economy Carbaugh (2008) mentions three waves of globalization which constitute the so-called globalization nowadays. The first process was initialized by the global economic integration occurred from 1870 to 1914. It began with the decreases in tariff barriers and the development of new technologies railway, steam engines, and steam ships which lowered transportation cost. This wave was mainly driven by European countries, American businesses and individuals. As a result, the ratio of exports over the worlds total income nearly doubled to 8 percent and the United States became the richest country in the world. The first wave of globalization was ended by World War I, followed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, which pushed back the process. The second wave of globalization happened within the period 1945-1980 with the continual falling cost of transportation and the removal of trade barriers among developed countries. This period were featured by a new kind of trade: agglomeration economies-firms clustered together and were connected in a vertical linkage; parts manufacturers located near the main assembly line to lower the cost of transport. However, most developing countries still could not participate in this process for many different reasons. As the result, per capita income in developed countries increased dramatically while other developing countries were left behind. The last wave of globalization began in 1980 and continues up to now. The pace of this global integration has become much faster and dramatic because of unprecedented advancements in technology, communications, science, transport and industry. The wave is featured by the dramatic increase in global trade not only from developed countries but also from developing countries, which has made the global GDP increase quickly. Developing countries such as China, India, Brazil have succeed in joining the world market, exporting the goods they have competitive advantage mostly labor-intensive products. The communication technology developed very quickly. Another aspect of this wave is the increasing foreign outsourcing, which aims mainly at lowering the production cost by producing parts in developing courtiers. The period is also featured by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and the establishment of the worlds biggest trade institution: WTO (the world trade organization) to superv ise and liberalize international trade. 3. The globalization of the world economy-for better There is maybe no other issues which are more controversial than globalization. There are maybe no other international institutions which are more protested than WTO. However, theories and reality have proved globalizations indispensability. According to the law of competitive advantage by David Ricardo, because of trade, films, regions, countries will gain benefits if they specialize in producing things they do well at a lower cost and use the earnings from these activities to by goods for which they are high-cost producers. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization encourages innovation and efficient production in each countrys economy. Because of competitiveness from foreign enterprises, domestic producers have a strong incentive to improve the quality of their products. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization also helps reduce the price of goods. For example, in the case of the US, because of global competition, the prices of such items as TV sets, clothing, toys have reduced dramatically. Meanwhile, the prices of products untouched by globalization, such as hospital services, sports tickets, and car repair have a tendency to increase. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization through the form of international trade provides stability for production. For example, a company can buy parts and components worldwide to supply its production. Moreover, it can export its products to other countries if the demand in the domestic economy is low. Carbaugh (2008, p.16) Globalization plays an important part in the economic growth of one country. For example, countries that open their economy to international trade tend to benefit from new technology and other sources of economic growth. (Carbaugh, 2008, p.16) Protestants of globalization often mention job displacement, loss of countrys sovereignty, environmental damage, etc. as reasons for anti-globalization. Indeed, these problems can be properly addressed if each government has determination and right strategies. 4. The globalization of the Vietnamese economy-some important events To Vietnam, since the country began the Doi Moi process in 1986, the economy has gradually integrated into global market. With the guideline Vietnam is prepared to be a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the world community, striving for peace, independence and development. Vietnam has gradually joined international organizations and economic institutions as well as cooperated with other countries for mutual development. Vietnam re-joined the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1992 and 1993. The year 1995 saw many significant external economic events. Vietnam joined the ASEAN and committed to implement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), signed a Cooperative Agreement with the European Union (EU) and normalized relations with the US and applied for WTO membership. In 1998 Vietnam officially became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). (Ho) In order to enhance trade among Vietnam and other countries, many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements have been signed. On July 13th 2000, the Viet Nam-United States Bilateral Trade Agreement was officially signed. Our country has signed over 80 bilateral trade agreements 40 bilateral investment agreements and 40 agreements on avoidance of double taxation. Most significantly, after eleven years of negotiation, in 2007 Vietnam became the official member of the world trade organization (WTO)-the worlds biggest trade organization. Since then, Vietnam has entered the largest trade play ground where every country is equal in both opportunities and challenges. So it can be summarized that Vietnam has taken part in the international integration for over the past twenty years and fully joined in the globalization process for three years dating from 2007. II. Benefits and opportunities of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Integration deeply into the world market has brought many tangible benefits and opportunities to the Vietnamese economy. 1. Increasing export revenues As a result of integrating into the regional and global market, export revenues have increased continually since 1990, speeded up sine 1995 when Vietnam joined ASEAN and grew sharply since Vietnam joined WTO in 2007. The growth in export revenues is illustrated in the following table Total Of which: Balance(*) Exports Imports Mill.USD 1990 5156.4 2404.0 2752.4 -348.4 1991 4425.2 2087.1 2338.1 -251.0 1992 5121.5 2580.7 2540.8 39.9 1993 6909.1 2985.2 3923.9 -938.7 1994 9880.1 4054.3 5825.8 -1771.5 1995 13604.3 5448.9 8155.4 -2706.5 1996 18399.4 7255.8 11143.6 -3887.8 1997 20777.3 9185.0 11592.3 -2407.3 1998 20859.9 9360.3 11499.6 -2139.3 1999 23283.5 11541.4 11742.1 -200.7 2000 30119.2 14482.7 15636.5 -1153.8 2001 31247.1 15029.2 16217.9 -1188.7 2002 36451.7 16706.1 19745.6 -3039.5 2003 45405.1 20149.3 25255.8 -5106.5 2004 58453.8 26485.0 31968.8 -5483.8 2005 69208.2 32447.1 36761.1 -4314.0 2006 84717.3 39826.2 44891.1 -5064.9 2007 111326.1 48561.4 62764.7 -14203.3 Prel. 2008 143398.9 62685.1 80713.8 -18028.7 Table 1 Export and import of goods Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) The countrys export turnover in 2007 reached US$48 billion, 21.3 percent higher than 2006s figure, surpassing the 3.1 percent target set by the government. Vietnams key export items having high export turnovers were seafoods, rice, coffee, vegetables, rubber, cashew nuts, and pepper. (GSO) The second year of WTO membership saw a sharp increase in the countrys export turnover. Export turnover in 2008 reached US$62 billion, 29.5 percent higher than that in 2007. (GSO) In 2009 the export turnovers were estimated to be US$56.6 billion, reflecting a drop of 9.7 percent from 2008.However, it was due to price drops during the economic crisis. Vietnamese commodities have been exported widely to 150 countries and territories, with many sectors benefiting from WTO membership including labor-intensive industries like clothing, footwear and electronics. (SGGP) An example of quick development in export after joining WTO is textile and garment industry. Vietnam has become one of the ten largest exporters of textiles and garments in the world after earning US$7.7 billion from exporting these commodities in 2007. The US market made up 56 percent of this total turnover, followed by the EU (US$1.45 1.65 billion) and Japan (US$700 million.) (GSO) Unit 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Crude oil Thous.tons 17966.6 16442.0 15062.0 13752.3 Coal 17987.8 29308.0 32072.0 19354.7 Electronic parts (Including TV parts), computer and their parts Mill.USD 1427.4 1807.8 2165.2 2638.4 Articles of plastic 357.7 452.3 709.5 921.2 Electrical wire and cable 518.2 705.7 882.3 1001.3 Rucksacks, bag, pockets, wallets(*) 470.9 502.1 627.1 833.0 Footwear 3038.8 3595.9 3999.5 4767.8 Textile, sewing products 4772.4 5854.8 7732.0 9120.4 Rattan, bamboo and rush products 157.3 214.1 246.7 255.6 Pottery and glassware 255.3 274.4 334.9 344.0 Embroidery products 78.4 98.1 111.8 Fresh and processed vegetables fruit 235.5 259.1 305.6 407.0 Pepper Thous. tons 109.9 114.8 83.0 90.3 Coffee 912.7 980.9 1232.1 1059.5 Rubber 554.1 703.6 715.6 658.3 Rice 5254.8 4642.0 4580.0 4741.9 Shelled cashew nut 109.0 127.7 154.7 165.3 Tea Thous. tons 91.7 105.4 115.7 104.5 Wood and wooden products 1561.4 1943.1 2384.6 2829.3 Fishery products Mill. USD 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Of which: Frozen shrimps 1265.7 1262.8 1387.6 Frozen fish 608.8 1083.4 1379.1 Frozen cuttle fish 73.9 92.5 60.8 (*) Data from year 2004 include hats and umbrellas. Table 2: Some main goods for exportation Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 2. Rapid increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) As a WTO member, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investors. Registered FDI surged to US$71 billion in 2008, compared with only $12 billion in 2006. Although FDI commitments dropped last year to $21.4 billion as a result of the global financial crisis, the figure was still at the same level as pre-crisis 2007. (Thanh Nien news) During the three years of WTO membership, total registered FDI into Vietnam reached more than $114 billion, 4.5 times higher than the target set for the 2006-2010 period. Of this, $29.5 billion was disbursed in the five years. (Thanh Nien news) The data for FDI into Vietnam over the past 20 years are summarized in the following table: Number of projects Registered capital (Mill. USD) (*) Implementation capital (Mill. USD) Total 10981 163607.2 57045.5 1988 37 341.7 1989 67 525.5 1990 107 735.0 1991 152 1291.5 328.8 1992 196 2208.5 574.9 1993 274 3037.4 1017.5 1994 372 4188.4 2040.6 1995 415 6937.2 2556.0 1996 372 10164.1 2714.0 1997 349 5590.7 3115.0 1998 285 5099.9 2367.4 1999 327 2565.4 2334.9 2000 391 2838.9 2413.5 2001 555 3142.8 2450.5 2002 808 2998.8 2591.0 2003 791 3191.2 2650.0 2004 811 4547.6 2852.5 2005 970 6839.8 3308.8 2006 987 12004.0 4100.1 2007 1544 21347.8 8030.0 Prel. 2008 1171 64011.0 11600.0 (*)Including supplementary capital to licensed projects in previous years. Table 3: Foreign direct investment projects licensed in period 1988 2008 Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 3. Increase in enterprises awareness, adaptation and performance Joining WTO means that Vietnam has entered a large play ground where Vietnamese enterprises have to compete with many giant players-big foreign corporations with strong financial power and experience. Moreover, the reduction of tariffs and non-tariffs measures, the open of servicing market have made the domestic market more competitive. All these factors have forced domestic enterprises (both state-owned and private ones) to restructure and self-improve. Being aware of these challenges, Vietnamese enterprises have invested money to standardize their operation and products. Thousands of Vietnamese enterprises in different fields such as textile, transport, service, telecommunication, food production have met international standards: ISO 9000, ISO 14000. Furthermore, besides traditional markets such as the US, Japan, they have reached new markets such as Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More effort is put on employee training and attraction high quality employees. Some big Vietname se enterprises which have strong competitiveness are Co.opmart, Hoang Anh Gia Lai group, Sai Gon tourist, VNPT. This is also a chance for state-owned enterprises pending on the Government protection and subsidies restructure their operation. Otherwise they will be defeated even in the domestic market. So under the competition pressure, the Vietnams enterprises will become more effective and competitive. 4. More favorable legal system for trading activities Global economic integration and accession to the WTO have given Vietnam a chance to refine its policy and legal system to be more transparent, sustainable and predictable to be in line with WTO regulations and to attract more foreign investors. For example, according to Law on Foreign Investment, there are flexible regulations of establishment Enterprises with foreign investment are permitted to change the form of investment, and divide, consolidate or merge with other enterprises. Existing joint ventures are allowed to transform into wholly-owned foreign capital enterprises under certain conditions. In addition, there is no obligation to form a joint venture with a local partner. Foreign investors are entitled to make their own choice from three forms of investment set forth by the Law on Foreign Investment. There is also the reduction of the administrative burden The duration for investment licensing was cut from 60 working days to 45 working days for projects under the category of appraisal and issuance of investment licences, and to 30 working days for projects under the category of registration for investment licences Furthermore, under the Governments Project 30 to enhance administrative reform, about 5,700 administrative papers at all levels have been under consideration. Duplicate or unnecessary documents will be abolished. The Prime Minister has proposed a 30 percent reduction of all legal documents. To enhance administrative procedures Vietnamese government are developing e-commerce and e-government to create effective links between administration agencies, businesses and people. (Vov news) Moreover, as a WTO member, Vietnam is treated as a full WTO membership. Vietnamese enterprises have a healthy environment for development in foreign markets. If there are trade disputes, they can be treated under WTOs Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Vietnamese enterprises will be judged by the WTO international court, which means we have more advantages to protect our rights. (Ho) For example, the lawsuit is no longer imposed by domestic laws as the previous catfish war case- Vietnams tra and basa dumping disputes, and we can implement some legal retaliating tools within WTO regulations. Vietnam will have equal status with other countries in the global trade policy-making process and an opportunity to participate in building a more equal and logical international trade cooperative framework. Le (2008) III. Challenges of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Globalization is an indispensable process. As a result, 153 countries have become official members of WTO and up to now no countries would like to exit this organization. This illustrates clearly the benefits of globalization. Globalization by its nature does not make a country worse. However, the opportunities created by globalization are always accompanied with challenges. If a country cannot overcome these challenges, it will meet a lot of difficulties. Vietnam is not the exception. Our challenges are not only from the outsiders but also from the domestic economy. Three major groups of challenges are described as follows 1. Low competitiveness of nation, enterprises and products Vietnamese enterprises are mainly medium and small-sized. According to Le (2008), none of Vietnams state-owned enterprises was on the list of 1000 world biggest corporations, neither its commercial trademarks in the list of 1000 most prestigious global trademarks. If we want to gain strong competitiveness in international market, we must have many strong enterprises like Sony, Toyota of Japan, or Hyundai, Samsung of South Korea. According to World Economic Forums report for the year 2009-2010, in terms of global competitiveness index, Vietnam ranked 75th out of 133 countries in the year 2009-2010, dropping 5 places compared to 2008-2009s index. From the report and practical situation, we can come up with some drawbacks in our economy which lead to poor nations competitiveness. Firstly, the most problematic factor of doing business which accounts for 16.1 percent in the World Economic Forums report is the inadequate supply of infrastructure. According to Thomas Siebert, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the lack of high-quality infrastructure and logistical services is both a pressing concern and an impediment, especially to potential American investors. Indeed, this important issue has been brought up in every meeting between AmCham and the Vietnamese authorities since May 2006. Various problems include the delay in constructing bridges, inter-provincial roads and overland infrastructure. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said that 80% of Japanese companies considered roads as the first factor that needs improvement, followed by power supply (60%) and ports (40%). Dr Le Dang Doanh once compared a gap in infrastructure among Vietnam and other economies in the region by a typical example, it takes ten minutes to do logi stics for a container in a Singapore port but seven days in a Vietnamese port. Secondly, difficulty in accessing financing ranks second in problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. According to Dr Le (2008), Vietnams financial depth ratio, a measurement of money supply relative to the size of the economy the ratio of M2 over GDP was about 84% GDP, with around 6 million bank accounts over the population of 84 million, the stock market just accounted for 6% GDP and still in the pilot stage and incomplete. Not to mention technology, Basel standards for the banking industry, number of commercial banks services offered, ratio of bad debts, we can see clearly how big the gap is for Vietnam to fill. Thirdly, poor system of higher education and training, which ranks 92/133, is a big challenge. Inadequately trained faculty, ineffective teaching methods, and lack of access to modern technologies severely limit students learning. Government sponsored educational reform has not kept pace with the need to transmit from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. We are now facing with the dilemma of too much common labor force but inadequately educated workforce which ranks 3 in the problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. Moreover, the quality of management schools is too low (111/133), which results in incompetent staff at different levels, from central to grassroots, from State agencies to businesses. Table 4: The competitiveness index for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum Table 5: The competitiveness index in detail for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum 2. Issues relating to macro policies and administrative procedure According to the World Economic Forums report, although the country improves in most of the categories of the Index, Vietnam is down five positions to 75th, the considerable worsening of its macroeconomic situation-dropping from 70th to 112th place-weighs heavily on its economy and competitiveness. A widening trade deficit, an overheating economy, and a global rise in commodity prices caused inflation to shoot up to 23 percent in 2008.This in turn triggered a crisis of confidence, big swings in interest rates, and a sharp fall of the dong, the local currency. Although this issue was over and the government has performed better when dealing with the global financial crisis, it is an important lesson that because the Vietnamese economy has integrated deeply into the global economy, the exchange rates, inflation, balance of payment and budget deficit will develop unpredictably. I share the same point of view with what Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said when having a meeting with the ba nking sector: what is right today may not right tomorrow. If we follow the rightness today too long, we may make mistake in tomorrows situation. Hence, it is essential for the government to pay close attention to the world economy, better the forecast ability and have flexible guidance so that Vietnam can reap the benefits of the efforts and successes achieved in other areas. One of the main reasons for Vietnams 75th position is the variable Burden of government regulation (106/133) which constitutes a big disadvantage. In fact, the current administrative system is a serious obstacle to development. Although the government is trying to reduce unnecessary administrative procedure such as one door, the current result is not as much as expected. According to the former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Vietnamese public administration has been laden with the following problems: red-tape, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, cumbersomeness, corruption, and an unskilled and under-qualified public service. The administration is clearly not keeping itself abreast of economic level. 3. Difficulties in agricultural sector Agriculture  [1]  is the main sector in the economy, accounting for 20 percent of GDP and 66 percent of the national population. However, it is confronting with vigorous competition in the global market. Over the past three years, there was no sudden change in the export of agricultural products. Although the export revenue increased compared to the year 2006, the growth rate was lower than the general growth rate of export of the country as a whole, except for coffee. (Center for Information and Documentation). The table below illustrates the growth rate of agricultural export 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Mill.USD TOTAL 20149.3 26485.0 32447.1 39826.2 48561.4 62685.1 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 9988.1 11997.3 13893.4 16764.9 20785.7 28155.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 10161.2 14487.7 18553.7 23061.3 27775.7 34529.2 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 6485.1 9641.9 11701.4 14428.6 16000.0 19200.0 Light industrial and handicraft goods 8597.3 10870.8 13293.4 16389.6 21598.0 28575.0 Agricultural products 2672.0 3383.6 4467.4 5352.4 7200.0 10400.0 Forest products 195.3 180.6 252.5 297.6 Aquatic products 2199.6 2408.1 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Structure (%) TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 49.6 45.3 42.8 42.1 42.8 44.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 50.4 54.7 57.2 57.9 57.2 55.1 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 32.2 36.4 36.1 36.2 32.9 30.6 Light industrial and handicraft goods 42.7 41.0 41.0 41.2 44.5 45.6 Agricultural products 13.3 12.8 13.7 13.4 14.8 16.6 Forest products 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.8 Aquatic products 10.8 9.1 8.4 8.4 7.8 7.2 (*) Included crude oil. Table 6: Exports of goods by economic sector and by commodity group Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) This is due to a combination of many weaknesses. Farmers lack knowledge and professional skills. Production technology is small and backward, which increases the production costs compared to those of other countries and makes the quality of the products low. Agricultural enterprises are often of small size and disperse. As a result, they have weak financial capacity to improve production technology and labor productivity. Moreover, there are no shared strategies on developing in foreign markets, no strong and famous trade mark. For example, although Vietnam is currently the worlds second largest rice exporter Vietnamese rice still does not have an established trademark on the international market. Another problem is the slow and inaccurate market forecast about the worlds demand and price forecast by functional agencies, causing a lot of damages to agricultural enterprises and farmers. For example, in 2008, wrong forecasts about food security and the worlds rice price led to Vietnams not exporting rice when the worlds price was

The Media and Today’s Youth

The Media and Today’s Youth Today, there is no escape from the flamboyant displays of sex and violence on television, in the movies, and in commercial advertising. When watching the morning news, the television floods with reports of sexual assault and murder. When waiting in line at the grocery store, it is impossible to ignore the headlines accusing wives of cheating and husbands of abuse. When driving on the highway, it is difficult to concentrate on the road with audacious billboards with half-naked women around every corner.Similarly, it seems that today’s children are becoming increasingly dependent of modern technology including cell phones, video games, and internet, making the sex and violence seen in the media more accessible than ever. So if a young girl is experimenting with sex before she has even reached puberty, or if a young boy brings a gun to elementary school, this behavior cannot be blamed on characteristics inherited at birth. Rather, it is the unav oidable truth that young people are corrupted by the constant exposure to the provocative media.Children were certainly not born with the aforementioned negative behaviors, therefore it must be a direct effect of the environment. So does this mean that people are born moral and molded into violent, promiscuous creatures? According to the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, humans are â€Å"inherently good† and in order to demonstrate the ability of outside forces to molest the natural good nature of humans, he compares the human heart to a barley seed.Though all seeds, like the human heart have the potential to grow just as strong and healthy as the rest, there is always the possibility that external obstacles will inhibit some from succeeding as much as others. Similarly, the philosopher Hsun Tzu explains that the environment that a person grows in will significantly affect the person he or she is soon to become. Although he contrasts the argument of Mencius in his beliefs that humans are born with evil tendencies and are only made good through training and education.Both philosophers, however, agree that training and mentoring is vital to shaping behavior. If a man is surrounded by evil, it is inevitable that he will develop evil characteristics. Therefore, the theories of both Mencius and Tzu contrast the current values of American popular culture. Constant exposure to pop media promoting uninhibited sex is leading to a total loss of conservative values, especially among young girls. Values such as monogamy, loyalty, modesty, and self-respect are crucial to maintaining a decent image of the American Woman.Fashion magazines directed toward young women are bursting with photo-shopped ads for perfume, jewelry, and clothing showing women with little clothing covering their hourglass frames. If kids are exposed to over 250,000 commercial advertisements by the age of 17, then it is impossible to deny that this influences their views on what types of behav ior is appropriate. Not only are young girls pressured to keep up with unrealistic body images but also with ridiculous norms of behavior for their age group, including drinking excessively, dressing provocatively, and acting recklessly.Watching a show every week like Jersey Shore which openly glorifies sex and drinking will undoubtedly begin to make young girls believe that such behavior is desirable. A typical episode of this popular show includes an entertaining portrayal of a small group of young Italian adults who are paid to act foolishly. On a typical day, the group of â€Å"guidos† spend time working out, tanning, drinking, and helping out at a beach-side t-shirt shop on the infamous Jersey Shore boardwalk. The end of the show highlights their evening routine including unhealthy amounts of alcohol, minimal clothing, and lots of sexual content.Girls who act inappropriately at a young age were clearly taught how to do so by the poor role models who are paid millions of dollars per year to corrupt American youth. To make matters worse, these ideas seem to be reinforced with displays of sexual innuendo everywhere young people look. The explosion of personal computers within the last 20 years has allowed children to have more access to adult content than ever before. The internet is flooded with websites streaming free pornography and all a child needs is a computer and Google search.While there are some ways that parents can censor what their children view online, most kids are knowledgeable enough about computers to get around any firewalls. Additionally, there is very few children today who do not own a smartphone; a personal device that opens the doors to unlimited searching without censorship. But who needs porn when there is sexting? Today’s young people seem to be increasingly more open to send each other sexually explicit text messages or pictures without true control over where they are sent.The idea of sexting would seem much more sc andalous, however, if they were not observing such behavior from their role models on TV, in magazines, or on the internet. Unfortunately, sex in the media is not the only problem. Violent video games are becoming increasingly more realistic and allow people to live vicariously through the animation, causing real-life violence to seem mundane. For example, the game Grand Theft Auto is wildly popular among the youth as it allows players to earn points through stealing cars, mugging pedestrians, assaulting prostitutes, and murdering strangers.This type of game is obviously entertaining, but should not be available for kids at the local videogame provider. To make matters worse, the quickly advancing technology allows for a more life-like picture than ever before. Therefore, the line drawn between fantasy and reality becomes blurry; a dangerous problem when it comes to violent crimes. Kids who are involved in gang violence and vicious crimes had to have learned this behavior from somew here.While it is a valid point that television and videogames cannot make a person do something they do not want to do, it is undeniable that the media is capable of putting the idea in that person’s head. While adults are able to put violent and sexual content inside of context, children are not mature enough to realize the difference between how people act on entertainment television versus real life. With adult content becoming available to increasingly younger age groups, it appears that there is no limit to how young children are able to access the world of sex and violence.Hsun Tzu reinforces this argument with his statement that â€Å"environment is everything† when it comes to the root of human nature and his belief that values are learned through practice. The corruption of today’s young people is a negative bi-product of the digital revolution and has created colossal problems for the youth of society. But it is your responsibility as the youth of Amer ica to take a step back and realize that we need to hold on tight to our morals and values if we want to preserve The American Dream.

Taxi to the Dark Side

Brutality, degradation, inhumane treatment, cruelty, these are the words that are often ascribed to the act of torture, whatever form it maybe. The mere intention to conduct these actions reveals a complicated double standard (Fiala, 103). People would opt to be the punisher, the powerful, the dominant rather than being punished, being weak and being dominated by someone else. It might not generally surmise human nature but it reveals the fact that humans in a society would always aspire for the top position in the ladder.To this end, it is not surprising why some people support torture, most specifically, when they are not the one who is being (or will be) tortured. On the other hand, people also tend to display compassion and sympathy to other human beings. This is the basis of the deontological morality expressed by Immanuel Kant. This essay would try to explore the nature of torture and present an evaluation of the ethical values involved. The subject of the essay would be based on the discussion of torture in the documentary by Alex Gibney entitled ‘Taxi to the Dark Side’.The main argument would be that ‘torture is morally impermissible’ nonetheless the essay would also try to determine the reason behind the act of torture especially with regards to the incident in Afghanistan and Iraq. Interrogation is the basic means to attain ‘intelligence’ or first-hand information that are vital in the prevention of danger such as war/s and terrorism. It can also be use to gain knowledge of the culprit behind certain crimes. One, need not to be involved in an actual warfare or crime to understand the concept involved in interrogation.However, it is also a common knowledge that some information gathered through interrogation may not be valid. One cannot establish the factuality of a certain statement that people ‘spill out’ during interrogations. In some cases, ordinary interrogation techniques are futile since the pe rson being interrogated may not be willing to cooperate. These instances coupled with an urgent need for the ‘information’ usually calls for a ‘forceful’ kind of interrogation.In the context of this essay, the type of interrogation is known as ‘torture interrogation’ (Casebeer, 263). In the documentary ‘Taxi to the Dark Side’, torture interrogation is portrayed as a technique used to gather information from supposedly terrorists. It involves long hours of standing, sleep deprivation, use and application of physical force, humiliation and other maltreatments that would fall under CID or acts of ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading’ treatments (Luban).Casebeer (264), explained that torture interrogations encompass the strategy that involves ‘severe physical and/or mental pain’ (I believe that emotional or psychological pain can also be present especially during humiliation and inducement of fear) that is inflicted o n its ‘victim’, that is done by certain ‘perpetrators’ such as ‘interrogators and/or soldiers’ and are designed to reach a goal such as to ‘extract information and confessions’. The ethical considerations that torture interrogation presents are grounded on the fact that (in most cases) during ‘torture interrogations’ the person is not yet convicted ‘guilty’ (Fiala, 109).Torture, in its own terms, has long been considered as an immoral act. Nevertheless, torture as a type of punishment can be justified since the ‘victim’ of torture is ‘guilty’ of a certain crime which could have been worst than the punishment (torture) in itself. The possibility of torturing an innocent individual creates a moral debate regarding the permissibility of torture. The utilitarian principle requires the maximization of happiness and minimization of unhappiness as standard for morality.In the ‘tick ing time-bomb’ scenario, as mentioned by Casebeer (271) and in the documentary by Gibney, a bomb is placed in a certain field or establishment and only one person (a terrorist or the bomber) knows how to locate and defuse the bomb. If the bomb explodes, several people will be affected or will die, thus, all necessary parameters are to be taken to extract the relevant information from that person (terrorist or bomber). Torturing one person to be able to save more number of people is of course considerable.But it should not be taken for granted that this argument is ‘hypothetical’. In reality, this situation may not even exist. Deontological ethics focus on a person’s duty which implies the respect for another person’s rights. People, according to this ethical framework, should not be treated as means rather as an end (Casebeer, 266). In torturing another person to extract information that would benefit more people denotes using that other person as m eans. Whether the person is guilty or innocent, torture interrogation would still involve disrespect to the other person’s right and humanity.In reflecting on the documentary, a taxi driver nicknamed Dilawar died of homicide due to ‘blunt force of injuries to lower extremities that complicates coronary artery disease’ as a result of ‘torture interrogation’. The documentary elaborated that Dilawar is not-guilty. Furthermore, the documentary also highlighted that 93% of the suspected terrorists are turned over to the United States forces to gain bounties or rewards. It also turned out that Dilawar is included in this 93%. With these in mind, the act of torture interrogation is blatantly immoral.Despite the fact that legal documents and loopholes can be found to justify the act of ‘torture interrogation’ as can be deduced from documents, such as the memorandum for William J. Haynes II dated March 14, 2003, torture interrogation is morally i mpermissible. To better justify this position, Fiala argued about the possibility of the ‘slippery slope’ fallacy that might result if torture terrorism would be justified and practiced in ‘extreme cases’ or ‘supreme emergencies’ (quoted by Fiala from Walzer). According to Fiala, politicians or people who are granted the necessary authority to conduct torture terrorism might abuse their power.As Fiala states, ‘when political agents makes exceptions to moral principles, these exceptions can become precedents that serve to normalize immoral behavior’. In ‘Taxi to the Dark Side’, there is an argument regarding the slippery slope phenomena that transpired during the change in the ‘interrogation methods’ for the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. According to the documentary, the changes in the interrogation techniques are only applicable in Guantanamo. Nonetheless, the ambiguity and loopholes that surrounds the issu e resulted to the application of the interrogation techniques to Iraq.The danger of the slippery slope is when the technique is applied to innocent individuals. The documentary also mentioned that there are other prisoners that are sent to Guantanamo or in places outside the United States that permits torture interrogation because this methodology is illegal in the United States. After the discussion of the moral impermissibility of torture interrogation, it might be obvious to some people that torture interrogation is wrong. However, the question ‘why are there people who conduct such immoral acts’, might linger to a person’s mind.‘Taxi to the Other Side’ illustrates the confusion and the pressure that interrogators undergo during the ‘War against Terrorism’. Most of the pressure comes from the government, the need to justify an attack or the arrest of a person. Another source of pressure, as explained in the documentary, comes from oth er soldiers. As one soldier testified ‘I don’t want to go against my fellow soldiers’. Fiala (101) described the possibility of this situation as ‘a political pressure to take decisive and dramatic actions without regard for moral niceties’.This essay concludes that torture interrogation is morally impermissible based on the utilitarian and deontological ethical frameworks. Humans should be treated as humans. Punishments should be carried out effectively and justly. Torture interrogation does not treat humans humanely. Moreover, torture of the innocent is highly unacceptable under moral precepts. A clearer guidance on the interrogation process must be devised to be able to minimize the dangers of slipping down the use of torture interrogation specifically when there is a high pressure to produce information.Legal justifications are not enough to excuse or validate the use of torture during interrogation. It merely served as evidence that the legal st andards are flawed and needs immediate repair (reconstruction/revision). References Casebeer, W. D. (2005). â€Å"Torture Interrogation of Terrorists†. Fiala, A. (2008). â€Å"Torture and Terrorism†. Gibney, A. (2007) â€Å"Taxi to the Dark Side†. Luban, D. (2005). â€Å"Torture, American Style†. Office of Legal Counsel. (2003). â€Å"Torture Memo†.

Childhood Obesity A World Wide Health Problem For Our...

Childhood Obesity Raelene S. Webb ENG 122-English Composition Instructor Mallan-King 10-12-2014 Childhood Obesity is a world-wide health problem for our children. There are many costs associated with obesity. The total cost of obesity in America is 100 billion dollars and climbing. Ninety seven million Americans are overweight or obese. Should we as Americans be concerned about our children? Childhood obesity is associated with adverse health effects. Genetics even show that the environment may play a big role in obesity. Childhood obesity has never been as high as it is today. Over the last thirty years, obesity in children has nearly tripled. There are many significant problems that are affiliated with obesity,†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, the less that is known about weight-based teasing and its potential harmful effects on young people’s psychosocial well-being, the less we do something about it (Eisenburg ME, 2003.) There have been many studies that talk about children that are overweight and are being bullied (Health.com.) According to CNN Health, there have been studies that show that obese children are bullied more if they are smart, and have good social skills (CNN Health.) This particular study claims that over a time, 65% were more likely to be bullied than their peers whom were not overweight. A clinical professor at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio states that the low self-esteem of overweight children may in fact make them targets for bullies. Regarding the barriers to weight loss by the children, attempts should be made to change the attitude of the community toward obesity, especially childhood obesity (Lawman GG, Wilson DK, n.d.) The National Bureau of Economic Research states that the number of fast food restaurants have doubled over the past 30 years, and they also attract overweight people in ‘super sizing’ their meals. Fast food restaurants have high saturated fats and no basic healthy value to their foods (Fast-Food consumption among United States adults and children, 2003.) Fruits, vegetables and grains must be incorporated and have an important staple in everyone’s diet. It has been frequently suggested that