“They Don’t Care Where You Were Born, Just How.”

â€Å"They don’t care where you were born, just how. † Discuss the importance of genetic makeup in the world of Gattaca. In the world of Gattaca everyday life is based upon ‘perfection. ’ Your career, social status and living conditions are all affected by genetic makeup and whether or not you were genetically altered before you were born. People’s position in society is not determined by their race or gender or social status, but the purity and â€Å"perfection† of their genetic code. When going for a job in the workplace at Gattaca it’s common for the interview itself to simply be a DNA sample rather than having an actual face to face interview with a boss. Gone are the days when workers were picked on their written resumes and personality traits, your resume is now IN your DNA. The contrast between the Gattaca workers and the Gattaca cleaners shows the huge difference in what your genetic code can do to your career. Gattaca is a world where police and security checks are carried out by immediate DNA analysis from blood samples. The constant testing at Gattaca to make sure everyone is ‘genetically fit’ is shown constantly throughout the movie, and the ‘valid’ and ‘in-valid’ labels given to the genetically alerted and the non-genetically altered emphasize just how important the genetic makeup of a person is in Gattaca. The main character, Vincent, sums up well the unfairness of the new genetically classed social system: â€Å"I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determines by social status or the colour of your skin. Now we have discrimination down to a science. †

American Materialism

The world is now filled with corporations dedicated to provide both wants and needs of the people. If a person is craving for Big Mac or missing any episode of a favorite show, the access to acquire what is wanted is delimited by just any means. Corporations are everywhere, go to any place in the United States and there are the hundred corporations waiting just to serve you.American tastes accessibly satisfied anywhere nowadays. The proliferation of American products and corporations dedicated in giving them is not just mere coincidence of society development, but a result of globalization and the trend of conscious disintegration of American attitudes and values, aptly stated, is cultural imperialism.(Galeota, 2004) In 1976, theorist Herbert Schiller defines cultural imperialism as â€Å"the sum processes by which society is brought into the modern world system, and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced, and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions top correspond to, or even promote, the values and structures of the dominant center of the system†. (Galeota, 2004) This statement regards the influence of corporate America as not involving simple consumer goods, but rather the fact those American principles such as freedom and happiness disseminates.Although this is appealing at first glance, in a way it show how society is progressing, it covers the awful truth that many cultures in America, held by moral values and principles are gradually disappearing because of the influence of corporate America. There are many motivations to which American cultural imperialism can be attributed to. Throughout history, there has been the desire to access foreign markets and the belief of the superior America, dominating the world.This desire now transforms into greater desire to control not just the foreign markets, but also the entire consumers of the world, not just in America. This is the enabling factor for business enterprises to expa nd and franchise. The American corporation domination results to local enterprises’ suffering. And because American corporations are able to gain profit, and conveniently serve America interest, they disregard the detrimental effects of American corporations’ control of the global market.Historically, materialism in America can be attributed to the Protestant Ethics and the Expansion of merchants in America. The first reason, attributed to the study of Max Weber â€Å"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism† (1904-1905), states that because the original settlers of America are Calvinists, their beliefs supplies moral energy and drive towards a capitalist entrepreneur. (M. , 2001) They worked their way into development towards the accumulation of work, but at the same time lived simple lives and failed to enjoy the fruits of their labor.(M. , 2001) This is the principle that governs the protestant ethic, that hard work is essential with simple living. M ore so, the ethic prescribed attributes religious reasons for the manner by which people and society should live. The idea is that hard work is prescribed by God, one of the reasons why we exist. Thus wealth is God-given and seen as God’s reward to those who works hard. This attitude also relates to the nineteenth century belief of the jingoists which attempted to fulfill what according to them was divinely ordained American expansion.The other reason for corporate America’s influence on materialism lies in the expansion of merchants during the 1920’s headed by the group Great merchants (the Sears & Roebuck, Wanamaker’s, and Marshall Fields). (W. , 1993) The group experienced difficulties in expanding their business and thus was motivated to think of ways to have new methods in merchandising, fashion, advertising and consumer credit. Consumer credit became popular as businesses were getting more from credit taxes and interests. Even through the Great Mark et Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, America did not lose its taste for consumerism and profit.Newer corporations experienced the need for greater mass seduction and gaining of profit after a period of the market’s recession. This did not hinder merchants to expand their options. Business schools started to emerge and the new theories in economics are now greatly reserved for the study concerning business and marketing. Marketing is one of the greatest influences on American materialism brought by corporate America. Advertisements, posters, billboards and others now promises greater benefits for the consumer at a cost which can be redeemed through work and even consumer credit.What this does is to project the image of America as provider of all things and the land of greatness- the reason for American consumers’ clamor for products. Corporation which reached the global market had employed localized strategies to gain their stance in a globally competitive world. Corporations are now capable to expand and sell their product worldwide with the thought that if in America they gain profit, much more in other countries. (W. , 1993) Corporate America influenced not just American consumers to become materialistic, but even global consumers.Corporations have succeeded in making them superior and globally competitive. Products and other items can easily be acquired and consumers find these products as necessity more than luxury goods. Money does not buy happiness. The essential goal in living a full life is not just mere acquisition of money to buy anything you want, or whatever is the hottest item in the market today. What is important is setting the priority to recognize the intangible rewards or life: family, love, relationships, friendships and others.Section 2: No, Corporations does not cause Materialism Life is about achieving happiness. Borrowing Socrates’ thoughts, the goal in life is to pursue happiness. Happiness comes in many forms ; certainly the general idea on happiness comes from acquiring material possession or from the intangible perks of living life, like love, family and friends. The person who thinks of today will account wealth as an important factor in his happiness- not just being satisfied emotionally, spiritually and morally, but also materially.In psychology’s basic needs, we account food, shelter and clothing as the primary needs of the individual. Accomplishing those needs means that the person can now start to live his life comfortable. But as development in society transpires, as people sees the potential of available resources and service to other people as well, the concept of having more than the basic is a reason to work hard and do good in a chosen career. Having wealth is a personal and subjective goal.When one has money, this does not mean that he/she is intrinsically materialistic, it can be said that the benefits of having money in a corporate and capitalism dominated world m eans a comfortable life for families and people. Work pays off with financial gains, and the more hard work put into it, the more rewards for a hard day’s work. People who are somehow viewed as materialistic is charged with this false accusation. It can be realized that with wealth, happiness and other aesthetic meanings to life can be the ultimate and final goal of the person.Acquisition of wealth is now deemed as a way to meet the ends. In a capitalist dominated world, corporate America is now greatly influenced with theories on the economy and business sector. These sectors can be stated as governing factors in the way people live. A country’s market economy is a determinant and a reflection of the people in the society lives. In America, considered as one of the biggest nations in the world; the most competitive, and rich country, had made it a point to provide American consumers their needs and wants.To satisfy their need with their financial ability contributed t o their stance in a globally competitive world. Corporations and businesses should not be blamed for the materialistic Americans. Some Americans work hard for their money, even to the point of having no time for their family and personal life. We cannot blame Americans who has set their priority to work, because behind it, there lays the reason that they want to provide for their family and achieve a sense of self-fulfillment by accomplishing their goals in their careers.It can also be said that those accused materialistic Americans are just reaping their rewards of hard work that their intention is to live fruitfully their given hard labor. After all, they deserve it. Corporations is not a reason for the materialistic America, their main goal is to provide consumers with a range of products they need, they want, and can afford. The society should also not be blamed for spending money or regarding financial status as important in their lives, after all, the true reason behind it all is to be self-fulfilled and happy.Let us look behind the actions and focus on the reasons that reflect who Americans really are, people who are in pursuit of their happiness. Reference: Galeota, J. (2004). Cultural imperialism: an American tradition [Electronic Version], 1. Retrieved April 23 from http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G1-116733753. html. M. , W. (2001). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (T. Parsons, Trans. ). New York: Routledge. W. , L. (1993). Land of Desire, merchants, Power and the Rise of a New American Culture. New York: Random House.

Managment Information System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managment Information System - Case Study Example The retailers on the Amazon system are directly affiliated with the company which ensures the customers that the products that they will receive will be the same which they might get from original stores. When customer purchases any item, the Amazon system is designed in a way that it recommends similar items purchased by other customers widening the choice and availability of products to customers. The system also remembers customers’ every purchase and reminds them of the items they have already purchased making virtual shopping hassle free. In addition to this, the shipping procedure of Amazon also makes its stand out among the competitor. Any order that is placed by the customer is connected to the Amazon distribution centers that determine the best and cheapest way to ship the product. This data is calculated by the automatic system and the customer receives the full shipping information under two minutes. For a service such as the Amazons’ customers are willing to shop here even if they can find better prices elsewhere. The company wanted the entire system to be automatic from online ordering to coordination of distribution to the concept of almost-in-time inventory control applications. Since Amazon was new entering the cyber-world with a new conceptual idea, it had to build its technology from scratch as no such technology had been built previously. In addition, the data systems from stores, retailers, and merchants had to be connected to Amazon’s servers in real-time to provide current information to the customers. As the company kept growing, it introduced more ideas into its website for customers that required building and integrating new technology to the existing systems. To cater these needs, Amazon built its system from scratch. Besides this, Amazon wanted to have an advantage in the e-business by developing homemade applications and not relying on any legacy systems. Amazon

The Impact of the Physician Assistant in Modent Health Care Research Paper

The Impact of the Physician Assistant in Modent Health Care - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, physician assistants provide affordable healthcare to the public. Physician assistants, or PAs, should primarily act as assistants to a doctor. Nevertheless, some states in the country overlook this factor and allow PAs to operate alone insofar as they fulfilled the other basic requirements of certification. While the first program for PAs started in1965, the government’s role in the programs was only in the 1970s when it instituted legislation meant to regulate the operations of PAs. Thus, the pioneers were medics from the military although most PAs are currently women. Nevertheless, the program has developed overtime with PAs said to offer 80% quality healthcare in comparison to medical doctors. With the development of this concept of PAs, there are some notable positive impacts to the modern medicine. One such impact is the availability of healthcare to a larger population, which would be impossible in an environment where there were no PAs. In this case, most PAs operate in areas where the doctors cannot reach. Thus, a larger population of the country has access to healthcare brought to their neighborhoods by the PAs. Secondly, PAs offer cost effective treatment and quality care. In this case, the cost of healthcare is cheaper due to the services provided by the PAs who ensure a healthy nation. Finally, PAs ensure that doctors concentrated on cases that required extra attention due to their complexity in nature. The impact of the Physician Assistant in Modern Health Care In life, not every professional can handle all of his or her workload. In effect, it is important to have assistants in various professions who can help and relief some of the workload. The medical profession is not an exception. In this regard, the doctors cannot perform all the roles of treatment and continue to provide care to their patients. Most fundamentally, doctors require nurses, who provide a supportive role during treatment and the process of care. Furthermor e, doctors also need other various personnel in their profession in order for them to perform their duties effectively. One such example of these personnel is physician assistants, commonly known as PAs. By their very own definition, the physician assistant is a title given to personnel in the medical profession who perform a portion of the roles performed by the traditional physician. In this regard, a PA’s role is under the supervision of a physician, and they cannot take the complicated cases, which is the responsibility of the traditional physician. Despite the role of the PA being a relatively young role in the medical profession, this role has grown overtime and has become an essential component in modern healthcare system. While physician assistants training programs traces their origin to the 1960s, the government started developing an interest in the program in the 1970s and developed standards for training and certification (Vorvick, 2011). In this regard, President Nixon noted the need for assistants in the medical profession while addressing the congress and observed that: One of the most promising ways to expand the supply of medical care and to reduce its costs is through a greater use of allied health personnel, especially those who work as physician’s and dentist’s assistants, nurse pediatric practitioners, and nurse midwives. Such persons are trained to perform tasks which must otherwise be performed by doctors themselves, even though they do not

Social Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Issues - Assignment Example Introduction One of the key arguments of the civil rights together with Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) movements have for long advocated is the fact that the state has no rights in determining or getting itself involved in what happens between two consenting adults in the privacy of their bedroom (Querbes, 2004). In these two cases, first in Georgia and then in Texas, police officers came into the citizen’s home and found him and his partner engaging in the act of consensual sodomy, which was outlawed in these states. In the first case, even after the Georgia Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled in favor of the respondent, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ruled that sodomy was not a fundamental right. In the second case, the Supreme Court basically ruled that they had no right to interfere with what happened in the confines of the bedrooms of consenting adults (Querbes, 2004). 1 There were numerous societal factors that led the US Supreme Court to abandon the rule of stare decisis. The stare decisis is a principle that basically holds that judges usually allow previously made decisions to stand. In the case of Lawrence v. Texas the Supreme Court saw need to completely rule in the opposite of the judgment in Bowers v. Hardwick due mainly to the changes in attitudes, perceptions and views on homosexuality in the country (Harms, 2011). In 1986 when the initial Bowers v. Hardwick decision was made the country had just come out of the rather â€Å"freewheeling† permissive society of the 1960s and 1970s and a decidedly conservative candor was more the norm (Hanon, 1999). It was therefore no wonder that more than half the states still had rules in place that outlawed sodomy which was viewed as one of the practices that many felt made homosexuality abhorrent. The American society then was much much stronger in intolerance with the homosexual lifestyle (Harms, 2011). For the court also by the time the second (Lawrence v. Texas) decision was taken there had been quite a change in the Supreme Court with nearly half (four out of nine) judges having either retired or died and been replaced, giving the Supreme Court a totally new outlook which made it easier for them to make such a radical change in decision. The majority in the Bowers v. The Hardwick decision was only 5-4 and one of the judges in the majority later changed his opinion and said he would have voted differently had he thought the matter was as important as it turned out to be (Harms, 2011). Historically mainstream United States Culture has always condemned homosexuality and any other type of â€Å"deviant† sexual practices hence the enactment of anti-sodomy laws in many US states up to the eighties. Gay men and women were seen and depicted as degenerates and sexual criminals and they, their practices, views and lifestyles by the medical profession, government and the mass media. In the early 1980s, the Bowers v. Hardwick was therefore not an unpopular or an unusual decision at the time that it was made. 2 At the time of the Bowers v. A Hardwick case in 1986, the American public’s attitude toward homosexuality was very conservative. In fact as late as 1988, only

China Superpower Status Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

China Superpower Status - Essay Example As identified, the factors that were considered in ranking these economies are: â€Å"institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation† (Ali, 2010, par. 2). In an article written by Miller (2006) in an attempt to assess China as an emerging superpower, the author initially proffered the need to determine the crucial elements that define a country being classified as a ‘superpower’, to wit: â€Å"a â€Å"superpower† is a country that has the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, and sometimes, in more than one region of the globe at a time, and so may plausibly attain the status of global hegemon† (Miller, 2006, par. 4). ... nents that were deemed critical to categorize a country as generating the status of a superpower were pinpointed as â€Å"measured along four axes of power: military, economic, political, and cultural† (Miller, 2006, par. 5). In this regard, the essay aims to identify the reasons for China’s ascent to super power status using the components above mentioned. Reasons for China’s Ascent to Superpower Status Consistent with Miller’s (2006) contentions that identified the crucial components for superpower status, the study written by Xuetong (2006) likewise supported that the same elements, eminent strength in military power, political and economic power have paved the way for China’s ascent. Xuetong’s (2006) assessment indicated that with data compiled in 2003, from among seven states, France, Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, and India, China emerged as the sole country with strong power status on the three identified components (pp. 20 – 21). France, Britain and Russia manifest strong military and political powers, but weak economic power. 1. Economic Power The tremendous growth in China’s economy spurred by the expansion in manufacturing of diverse products at practically the lowest labor cost from among international economies have paved the way for its ascendance to strong economic power status. The statistics reveal the China’s GDP ranks second from among the countries in the world. As noted by Miller (2006), â€Å"China’s rise further depends critically on the continuation of such growth rates, and there are reasons to wonder how long the spectacular rates of the past 25 years can continue. The high proportion of China’s economy occupied by its exports makes it sensitive to the ups and downs of the international economy generally and to the engine of

Military Industrial Complex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Military Industrial Complex - Essay Example The Military Industrial Complex is more than just a weapons supply system. It is a unique partnership that continues to exert substantial power and influence, has sustained America's arms superiority, and reshaped the American landscape as well as its economy. The beginnings of the expansion of the MIC can be attributed to Captain A.T. Mahan and his book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (Liu 2). The book, published in 1890, was a series of lectures that Mahan had given at the Naval War College. Mahan's book initiated the beginnings of an expanded civilian shipbuilding business to supply the Navy with warships. Subsequent to the publication of Mahan's book, the first US battleship was built in 1893. Under the leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909, an advocate of Mahan's theories, American civilian shipbuilders built 129 battleships under his administration (Liu 10). This major military buildup is generally viewed as the beginning of the MIC. World War II and its reliance upon the MIC had a profound effect on America both demographically and economically. During World War II, the Department of Defense spent in excess of $70 billion on civilian aerospace and defense contracts of which most were directed into California and the Southwest ("The Rise of the Sunbelt"). This increased spending in the region gave rise to the areas massive migration and sowed the seeds of the decline in the 'Rustbelt'. With the reliance on new technology, the military depends on civilian contractors for research and production. The nuclear buildup of the Cold War was an example of the MIC at work. It has been estimated that during the Cold War, the MIC employed 1 out of 3 research scientists and engineers in the US and spent 60% of the research and development dollars available (Cypher 37). This spending in the civilian sector by the Pentagon forms the backbone of the modern MIC and fuels the powerful influence it holds and creates the anxiety that it generates. The MIC is often viewed as a partnership that was formed during the Cold War in an effort to maintain "...peacetime defense spending to 'wartime' levels" (Bruntin). The fear through the Cold War and Vietnam was that this self-interested group would promote their own agenda at the public's expense. Reports of corruption, bribery, and fraud have served to maintain this image in the minds of many Americans (Bruntin). As the Cold War wound down the public anticipated a peace dividend that never arrived. The MIC has been subsequently put to use against new international enemies and the war on terror. The MIC is a cooperative effort between the military, industry, and the government. Sometimes called the iron triangle, the alliance between these groups is a necessary factor in America's arm superiority. The military has the motivation to keep an ongoing civilian supply of weapons research and development, even in periods of peace. The contractors have a need to continue to receive tax dollars to maintain their revenue stream. Politicians have an interest in maintaining a strong military, and contract dollars are fought for as politicians seek to