Global Economic Crisis: Implications and Challenges to the Philippines Essay

This is a forum where we can wonder, what is really happening in our country? Mr. W.D. Hilton our keynote speaker discussed the possible effects of the Global Economic Crisis in the Philippines. In this paper, I will write some of the highlights when we talked about Global Economic Crisis. The primary target of the said crisis is the people. There are so many people suffering in crisis and covered by clouds of hopelessness. Is there any hope, waiting for us to a brighter prospect of life? There are so many problems that we are experiencing right now. For our country Philippines, the Global Economic Crisis really put our country at stake. There is a big probability that there are many fellow Filipinos will be put to the test; on how high are their faith and how strong they are in facing the Economic crisis as of now. As a citizen concern, there are so many questions that are bothering to me at this time such as, what is Global crisis exactly means? When will economic crisis end? How to cope with the global financial crisis? And, what would be the possible effects of Economic crisis in the Philippines? What is really a Global Economic Crisis means? Based on my own understanding, Global Economic Crisis is the situation where more than one country is affected by scarcity of resources to be needed enable to provide for all citizens globally. When you say crisis, as what the dictionary defined it as, a condition of instability or danger in social, economic, political or international affairs leading to decisive change. This definition implies that our country is obviously affected by the so called Global Economic Crisis. As what the symposium explained and emphasized during the discussion, it is visible to the eye that we are one of the most affected by the crisis because as a third world country, this is not impossible to happen. The hardest question that crossed my mind was, when will economic crisis end? This would be a difficult question that the answer is still unclear for us, Filipinos. Another question is, is the Philippine Economy ready to battle the Global Financial Hardship? In our status right now, we are still struggling for some very broad reasons such as, corruptions, poor leaderships and rich in stealing wealth from others. If we still continue this type of system in our country, there’s no hope for any survival in crisis. Our superior in the government doesn’t have any heart for the poor and the rich people are getting richer. As a democratic country, how can we fight for what is right when all that we have is the left over of the government? Global economic Crisis touches the people’s lives negatively in some other ways. Here is some example of situations that is occurring right now. We can’t stop the time from approaching to us and will surprise us that one day; there would be a downsizing in the organization. One of the main reasons of downsizing of employees is, the company cannot afford to pay their salaries anymore due to financial crisis. It is hard for the organization to motivate their employees well because of lack benefits and expenses for their compensations would be budgeted only. For those who graduated recently, it would be difficult for them to get hired because there are no available jobs for them or the organizations are not yet ready for hiring new employees. It implies that there is no assurance even if you are holding a degree. Unfortunately, for the undergraduates are more difficult for them to find a job because of no vacancies for them available. For the prices of products or goods in the store, the consumer will buy it by bundles or dozens because they are aware or expecting that there is a price hiking because of high demand of goods. This is also the time that only few consumers because only few people can afford for the expensive price. That’s why they are taking the opportunity to buy the goods as many as possible. For our fellow Filipinos in other countries such as the OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) they are also affected by Economic Crisis in such way. Have you heard the news that there was a time that the OFW’s were forced to send back to their respective countries due to poverty. Of course, the foreign country will prioritize first their fellow countrymen before the other citizens while experiencing the crisis in their country. Lastly, for those who are my fellow students also got affected. Example of this, they are millions of students taking up â€Å"Nursing† because it is in demand this time. Without noticing it, that there so much rivals or competitors with that job, to the extent that they are only few of them got a vacant seat due to overflowing of graduates with that course. Because of the crisis, they are hoping to go abroad, but unfortunately, they are only selected and rare people has the capability or could meet the requirements in going abroad. So, where are they going? It takes time to wait for other demand from other countries. With these situations, it would really pull us down. We are almost poor in everything even though we are rich in natural resources. We just didn’t know how to use our natural resources wisely. Even in making wise decisions are very hard for us. Poor in leadership, has a big impact in our country that’s why we are suffering and experiencing these unwanted state in life. We owe USA with a big amount. We are still hoping to pay for it but, if the occurring of corruptions in our country; it would be difficult for us to cope up because if greediness ruling inside of us, with no hesitations, our country is slowly dying. To sum up everything, Global Economic Crisis is a big threat because we allow vulnerabilities and the threats to come. What would be the mitigating measure that we are going to use to cope up with the big crisis? I think truth shall always prevail. Our politics has a big part in our crisis right now. We should stress what should be stress out. We have to overcome the crisis this time because we are all accountable for whatever may happen.

Education and Society Essay

Education in the United States has become a crucial part of every American’s life. Completing high school opens doors for individual achievement and is directly linked to economic success. But equally important to the completion of high school is a rich and positive experience in the learning process. Educators are skilled in creating great learning experiences and to enhancing the curriculum, while parents are even more influential. Parents are the positive influence for many children who would otherwise be drastically falling behind, failing, or even dropping out of school. The child’s family background, combined with passed down values and experiences will determine the student’s high school education. The role of technology in early childhood education is an effective tool for students, so the lack of technology in a child’s upbringing can affect their educational career. For example, students who do not begin using various types of technology from kindergarten can fall behind. Studies found that students who are less likely to access technology at home can be at an academic disadvantage. This shows how vital technology is in a child’s education, however there is a challenge in making it available to everyone. Particularly low-income or minority college students could have trouble in succeeding in a technology-saturated environment. Some parents don’t parents don’t understand the importance of Internet access, since in their generation, the Internet was a luxury, not a necessity. However, the bigger issue seems to be the gap between Whites who have access to the Internet and minorities. Studies found that â€Å"56% of Latino adults and 60% of African American can use the Internet,compared to 71% of White adults. The same organization finds that while 42% of white families and 41% of Latino 2 families 666subscribe to broadband access,only 31% of African American households have such access. † Even if lower income schools computer labs students need to build their skills at home as well. Early childhood reading for children can bring a positive outcome to a child’s life. What a child learns in their early years are things that will continue to helps them along in their future in school and in the real world. When a child is introduced to early childhood education, they can get many benefits from it. Benefits include learning to interact in new situations, use critical thinking and basic speech skills before kindergarten. According to Maryanne Wolf, â€Å"In most underprivileged communities, no children’s books were found in homes; in the low come to middle income community there were, on average three books; and in the affluent community there were around 200. † Parents need to create an atmosphere where reading takes place in order to show the importance of reading, but low-income families are falling behind. Parents from affluent communities are able to gain access to understanding the importance of reading while parents from lower income don’t have the resources. Its unclear why low income families don’t have as many books in the home, but the issue might be attributed to a poor school library, lack of understanding for the importance of books, or the obvious issue with low financial resources to buy books. Parents from different language background and parents who aren’t literate in English, will likely raise children who have to play catch-up once they enter kindergarten. Reading can’t just happen over night– it needs to be developed over time. If books are limited, discussions and thoughts aren’t spoken out loud, and this can result in problems. Catherine snow of Harvard and her colleagues found that in addition to literacy materials,one of the major contributors to later reading was simply the amount of time for â€Å"talk around dinner† The 3 importance of simply being talked to, read to, and listened to is what much of early development is about†. In a low-income, busy and hard-working parents may not have time to have these simple talks, or even the financial resources to purchase books for there children. These are two important ingredients for a strong educational upbringing that many low-income family parents can not afford. Even though socioeconomic status and the access to technology are key a family’s behavioral and cultural backgrounds have an equal influence on a student. A child is instinctively drawn toward the background of their parents and social settings to learn what is deemed from right to wrong. According to David Brooks â€Å"Educated parents not only pass down resources to their children, they pass down expectations, habits, knowledge and cognitive abilities. Pretty soon you end up with a hereditary meritocratic class that reinforces itself generation after generation†. What David Brooks is saying is that even though the United States has universal access to higher education such as community college but some students may not be â€Å"physiologically prepared and culturally prepared for college†. Children are reaching their parents expectations and are just continuing a cycle. If parents aren’t showing their support in a educational and motivational sense, kids won’t feel the need to fulfill higher education. The time to instill values of education is not when a child becomes a senior in high school; rather the time to start discussing educational values to a child, is the onset of school, preschool. Education provides an individual their path to a successful future, but only through hard work, dedication and determination is this achievable. Education requires a parent to mold a child into an individual that is capable of contributing effectively to society. The drive to learn must be aroused in children and started at an early age.

Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender Research Paper

Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender - Research Paper Example An increase in population still kept African-Americans and the whites in separate neighborhoods. These separate neighborhoods deprived African-Americans of receiving quality education and competing with the whites in the labor market. Segregation also created a feeling of hostility between the two communities who still fail to interact and comprehend the behavior of each other. This research paper will investigate the ways in which segregation among different communities, namely African American and the whites, creates inequality in the labor market. For this reason, this paper will examine three very important elements to understand why the problem of income disparity exists in one of the largest metropolitan cities of the USA. The three important elements identified by research are demographics, education and unemployment. Demographics play a critical role in understanding the labor market of Chicago. Chicago is one of the densely populated cities of the US with  a population of over 2.5 million people out of which about 32% are African Americans while 45% are white (Reich 17). However, Chicago is highly segregated. The major ethnic groups like to live among themselves in what they call their neighborhood. Jobs are highly dependent upon the neighborhood where people live. In order to understand the labor market of Chicago, it is critical to look at some of the details in history. The Second World War gave opportunity for the masses to work in factories as the US prepared for war. The Chicago Defender broke the news to African-Americans living in the South that there were plenty of jobs in the city of Chicago and ensured African-Americans would live a much happier life there (Ellen 261-277). It worked for most private firms, who were looking for cheap labor and also for Africans American, who found it difficult to find jobs at that time. There were nearly 3,000 African Americans

National Public Health Performance Standards Essay

National Public Health Performance Standards - Essay Example Among the 10 essential services that are offered to the patients, Essential Service 3 requires that the public health providers Inform, Educate and Empower People about Health Issues (CDC, 2013). Under this essential service, several standards have been developed, to ensure that the service providers consistently maintain high quality services and maintain the effectiveness of their systems. The Local Public Health System Performance Assessment for Essential Service3: Inform, Educate and Empower People about Health Issues, operate on the basis of several standards. The first standard is the design of health education, health information and health promotion activities to reduce health risks and promote good health (Institute of Medicine, 2013). This is a very vital standard under the essential service s. The strength of this standard is the fact that; it helps to make the public aware of the health risks that could face them, educate them on how to avoid such risks through the educative promotional activities, and thus enhances the avoidance and prevention of the health risks from occurring, thus avoiding the inconveniences and the costs that would be involved in treating such health issues. The empowerment of the public to reduce the health risks is also essential, since it is the most viable way of addressing common ailments, which can easily be spread to a large numb er of people. By educating and informing the public regarding such risks, they avoid them in advance, and thus make it easy for the health system to address other health issues that are more complex and difficult to avoid (Kuhr,). Another standard designed under the Essential Service3: Inform, Educate and Empower People about Health Issues, is the health communication plans, which include media advocacy and social marketing (CDC, 2013). The strength associated with this strategy is that, it enhances the accessibility of health information and health education by

European Presence and Influence in Africa Research Paper

European Presence and Influence in Africa - Research Paper Example Colonization was also a political move by European countries for domination of other weaker nations to exploit the natural and human resources of the land (Koggel 2006)1. Any interaction should, for moral, ethical and practical purpose benefit both sides. If it is imbalanced in favor of one of the parties, then it can be termed as exploitation. History reveals that this interaction benefited the visitors rather than the indigenous people of the land. The paper reviews the influence (both good and bad), the benefits and disadvantages to the people of Africa due to the presence and eventual colonization by Europeans (since 1800 to the present day). The degrading practice of slave trade can be cited as a valid example. This was a period when early explorers like Dr Livingston and Henry Stanley began sending reports of life in the Dark Continent. The paper will focus on two areas in this regard. Firstly a review of the positive (and negative) influence due to the forced and unforced Euro pean presence in the country. It will also look at improvements of the living conditions of the indigenous people as a result despite the existence of a lucrative slavery trade. European presence and influence in Africa – boon or bane Any form of interaction, especially between unequal forces is bound to advantageous to the stronger of the two. But even so, well-meaning and visionary individuals, groups and governments can also create a positive impact and atmosphere. This can be seen in the African continent also. One of the most well-known of early African explorers was Dr David Livingstone who initially went to the land as a missionary and medical man. Dr Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist and was affiliated to the London Missionary Society (Craig 2012)2. He arrived in 1841 at the port of Cape Town, but his quest for exploration led him to the interior parts of the continent in 1849 (Livingstone Online n.d.)3. He was shocked by the then existing slave trade (most ly by Arabs and Portuguese) and was very influential in curtailing this practice to a large extent. What is appreciable is that his work was based primarily in the interiors of the continent where other white men were unwilling to venture. The inhospitable terrain, lack of knowledge regarding this, and the inability to communicate with the locals were some of the main reasons for this (Morgan 2007)4. â€Å"Livingston who began his career as a Christian missionary and ultimately became best known as an explorer of the African continent, drew together in his life work these intertwined notions of empire, civilization and trade. From Livingstone’s perspective, market relations remained embedded in human society† (Bowden et al. 2006)5. In other words, Livingstone believed that the African society will benefit from industry and commerce, through cooperation and not by coercion (Bowden et al 2006). But he also believed that Western civilization especially that of Britain is the solution to most of Africa’s problems. This could be seen as an arguable outlook since many atrocities and discriminations had been wreaked upon the natives of the land (Boahen 1990)6. For example, natives who came to cities and towns for jobs were housed in ghetto like conditions. They were paid low wages and could not expect to get better positions in an organization. A Free Trade movement (a loose coalition of like minded people) was also in existence during

Drug Trafficking in the United States Research Paper

Drug Trafficking in the United States - Research Paper Example This essay will briefly discuss the current problem of drug trafficking in the United States and how the government tries to solve the enduring issue. Criminal drug operations in the United States have been a crisis for decades now and display no indication of disappearing. The National Drug Threat Assessment in 2004 shows that (Swanson, 2006): In adults age eighteen to twenty-five, 15.4 percent report having used cocaine in their lifetime, 53.8 percent report having used marijuana, and 15.1 percent report having used MDMA (commonly known as ‘Ecstasy’). In 2002, there were 1,209, 938 mentions of drug use by emergency room patients (compared with 899,977 in 1995), and in 2000 alone, over 1.5 million people were admitted to substance abuse treatment programs in the United States. Americans consumed over 259 metric tons of cocaine in 2000 and over 13.3 metric tons of heroin in the same year (ibid, p. 779). The U.S. government, as a solution to the growing problem of drug tr afficking, invests more resources into law enforcement, rehabilitation, and prevention initiatives (Destefano, 2007). The United States confront major threats of drug trafficking from neighboring Western countries because they can simply satisfy or surpass the demands of the United States for prohibited drugs (Destefano, 2007). The drug control goals of the U.S. ... The agency believes that the prosecution of drug traffickers is a major element of its plan, and functions to reinforce overseas criminal justice systems to reduce their fraud by drug traffickers (Swanson, 2006). The Office of National Drug Control Policy of the Clinton administration proclaims its major priorities for national policing as â€Å"the disruption and dismantling of drug trafficking organizations, including seizure of their assets, and the investigation, arrest, and prosecution and imprisonment of drug traffickers† (Swanson, 2006, 780). The presence of an International Criminal Court with authority over illegal drug activities would promote all of these (Bartilow & Eorn, 2009). The United States, primarily, should back up this scheme because it will provide a greater assurance of punishment and conviction for drug traffickers. The judicial body would furnish another medium for prosecution, aside from the United States’ and other countries’ criminal j ustice system. More suspected drug traffickers would be convicted, sentenced, and thus pulled out from current systems of drug production and distribution (Bartilow & Eorn, 2009). The disturbance of drug traffickers and their loss of profits from drugs could aid in mitigating political corruption and fraud, and safeguard the authority of social institutions, law, and democracy from disrupting forces (Destefano, 2007). The United States would hence gain from the consequent boost in international defense. Subsequently, the Court would probably make global policing more productive and responsive. It will offer procedures for mitigating jurisdictional conflicts between countries and for transferring

Discrimination and Racial Profiling Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discrimination and Racial Profiling - Coursework Example The categorization of people based on their race has resulted in numerous problems starting in the 17th century all the way to the 21st century. It promoted slave trade, especially for Africans. This explains why the African-Americans are the most segregated group in the U.S (Klein, 2012). After being arrested, a black person is 33% more likely to be incarcerated as compared to the whites. An African-American is 30% more likely to drop out of school than the whites and 21% than the Hispanics or Latinos. In the same way, the police are likely to pull over and frisk either blacks or Latinos than whites. In the city of New York, 80% of the police stops made were for African-Americans, 60% for Hispanics, and 12% for whites. In 2013, the U.S Sentencing Commission reported that blacks received 11% longer than whites for similar crimes than whites. In the same way, the black drug offenders were 20% more likely than whites to receive mandatory minimum sentences (Alexander, 2013). To that eff ect, the blacks remain the most discriminated ethnic group. As the most segregated minority groups, the blacks have been forced to give up their culture so as to participate in the mainstream American life. Recent studies have indicated that 75% of the black ethnic minority experience unemployment. Furthermore, their health and education facilities are poorly equipped than the white’s who are considered the majority community and superior (Waters,