Social Administration Social Welfare Essay Example

Social Administration Social Welfare Essay SOWK 1001 Introduction to Social Administration Topic: 3 Discuss the development and change of people’s values and attitude towards social welfare in Hong Kong society Tutorial time slot: Tuesday 1600-1700 a) Introduction According to Midgley (1997) (as cited in Wong, Chow Wong, 2001), from a narrow perspective, social welfare is defined as the social helps that the government or the charity organizations provide to those poor and needy. It is also regarded as the well-being that people are enjoying in the society from a broader angle. In Hong Kong, It is obvious that the role of Hong Kong government has changed from passivity to active involvement. In the first two decades after the Second World War, the main objective of the government was to secure the poor a basic living standard. Since 1967, the mindset has changed. The government has actively involved in safeguarding the welfare of Hong Kong citizens. This is evident not only in the growing welfare budget and the increased volume of services provided, but also in the diversification of programs in operation. Social welfare has gradually regarded as one of the essential institutions in our society. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Administration Social Welfare specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Social Administration Social Welfare specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Social Administration Social Welfare specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In order to investigate the development and change of people’s values and attitudes towards social welfare in the Hong Kong society, three major traditional values and attitudes would first be introduced. Afterwards, four major changes in values and attitudes would be discussed. Furthermore, despite the revolutionary changes in the welfare scenario, some traditional values and attitudes are still commonly upheld among Hong Kong Chinese. Few statistical survey results, together with further analysis, were used to support the arguments discussed. ) Traditional values and attitudes towards social welfare The government has no obligations in providing social services Traditionally, the Chinese people believe that the government is not obligated in providing them with any social welfare. In the words of R. Plant, H. Lesser and P. T. Gooby(1980), they think that â€Å"people have no moral right to what they receive because no individual person can have a right to another personâ₠¬â„¢s charity. † In other words, Hong Kong Chinese traditionally considered social welfare as a relief to meet urgent needs, but not as a right. Suggested by Lau (1988), the primary moral basis for the development of this attitude is the lack of the â€Å"individualism† concept among traditional Chinese people. In simple terms, individualism is the positive view of human nature and is based upon two fundamental concepts: the respect of every individuals and the belief of equal rights for all. Everyone has a separate identity. While the comprehensive welfare system is developed upon individualism in the West, the concept of individualism was weak among traditional Chinese people. Reliance on family support While Hong Kong Chinese people think that the government has no obligations in satisfying their basic needs, people’s basic needs were usually satisfied within their own families. In case of having problems which were beyond the control and capabilities of their families, they tend to seek help from their clans, neighbors or villagers. Lau (1982) used the concept of â€Å"utilitarianstic familism† to describe the reliance on family support of Chinese people in Hong Kong. According to Lau, Utilitarianistic familism means ‘the normative and behavioral tendency of an individual to place his familial interests above the interests of society and of other individuals and groups, and to structure his relationships with other individuals and groups in such a manner that the furtherance of his familial interests is the overriding concern (Lau, 1982). As every member in the familial groups considered the interest of the family was prior to other interests, family members tended to seek help from or provide help to one another rather than outsiders when they faced some financial difficulties. The responsibility of a family member is greatly emphasized, especially in terms of mutual assistance. This gradually created ‘economic interdependence among familial members’ (Lau, 1982). This unusual strong emphasis was further studied by Lau, and he proposes that the mutual assistance among familial members in many cases will be considered as long-term investment with the hope of a pay-off in the future. Another research done by Lee Ming Kwan in 1988 (Lee. M. K. 1991. Family and Social Life. Lau. S. K, Lee. M. K, Wimp’s. , Wong. S. L. p. 53. Indicators of social development, Hong Kong 1988. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies) also found that Chinese people in Hong Kong were reluctant in seeking assistance from the government. Over 90% of them will solve the trouble by their own, seek help from relatives and friends but not any NGOs nor from the government. As suggested by Lee, these findings are â€Å"consistent with the syndrome of utilitarianistic familiam: the larger society and the polity are kept at a distance while familial groups are relied on as the principal agents for safe-guarding and furthering one’s interests. Chow(1986) further explained that. The development of social welfare was largely ‘a history of charitable effort’. Religious organizations like Church World Service, Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Services; indigenous organizations like Tung Wah Group of hospitals and the Po Leung Kuk became the main providers of social welfare. There were also some mutual aids associations like clansmen associations, mutual aids societies and locality associations which provided help for destitute members by collecting subscriptions from those who were more fortunate. Their effort was mainly concentrated on relieving the very poor and their dependent members. Self-reliance People would satisfy their basic needs by their own effort rather than with government assistance, unless they tried their best effort and failed. The ideas of â€Å"no one should depend on the welfare system for more than is necessary† and â€Å"welfare should be earned by one’s effort† are further supported by the study conducted by Lau in 1990. (â€Å"Indicators if social development. Hong Kong 1990†. ) In the study majority (over 40%) of the respondents agree that welfare services should go to the most needed. Only 3. % of the respondents think that welfare should be distributed on a charity basis. Referring to the survey conducted by Lee Ming Kwan in 1988 (table 2. 4), almost half of the respondents claims that they would solve it by their own effort in case of they or their families run into financial difficulties. In contrast, only about six pe rcent of them claim that they would seek help from relevant government departments. The finding indicates that Hong Kong Chinese in general tend to put great emphasis on one’s own effort in times of adversity. This conclusion is also consistent with the findings by Lee Ming Kwan in 1990. In the survey, people were asked to identify their source of help that they would most frequently resort when there were needs in eight areas. According to the figures collected(table 2. 5), when the family was troubled by financial problems, 27% of the respondents would seek help from oneself while none of the respondents would seek help from social services. When difficulties occurred in work or career, over 45% of the respondents would work them out by oneself. In general, close kin, relatives, neighbors, workmates and friends had all been active in the respondent’s help-seeking network. Table 2. 5—persons from whom one sought help (%) (extract) | |When there was someone |When the family was |When difficulties |When one was upset and |When one needed advice or | | |sick in the family |troubled by financial |occurred in work or |needed someone to talk |information on certain | | | |problems |career |to |matters | |Oneself |45. 3 |27 |46. |20. 4 |13 | |Spouse |20. 4 |20. 6 |9. 5 |27. 3 |10. 2 | |Children |5. 5 |7. 6 |0. 9 |2. 4 |4. 3 | |Parents |13 |17. 1 |3. 7 |1. 9 |2. 4 | |Spouse’s kin |2. 6 |0. |0 |0. 2 |0. 4 | |Siblings |5. 5 |5. 7 |2. 8 |1. 9 |4 | |Other relatives |0. 7 |1. 9 |4 |0. 7 |1. 4 | |Workmates |0 |0. 7 |0 |1. 4 |5. 2 | |Neighbors |0. |0 |4 |0. 7 |0. 9 | |Friends |0. 4 |10 |1. 8 |33. 2 |39. 4 | |Buying services |0. 5 |0 |0. 4 |0 |1. 7 | |Social services |1. 4 |0 |0. 9 |0. 2 |1. | |Others |0. 7 |0. 5 |0. 4 |1. 2 |1. 7 | |Don’t know/ not |4. 7 |8. 1 |9. 3 |8. 6 |14. 7 | |applicable | | | | | | Other Reasons Living under ‘borrowed time and borrowed place’, the young people stroke no roots in Hong Kong. As people came to make money and went away all the time, Hong Kong people felt that there was no need to care for the well being of others who just happened to be living in the same community for a while. A short term horizon was developed as a result. People were generally reluctant to commit resources to uncertain long term future. Welfare programmes thus lacked long term goals. As a highly commercialized and industrialized society, Hong Kong has often been described as a city where no one is concerned about the well-being of other people. As upward social mobility through political channel was blocked under British colonial rule, people could only place emphasis on economic pursuits. They were thus often characterized to be highly egoistic, materialistic and pragmatic. A lukewarm attitude towards the government and other matters outside personal orbit was shared among majority of Hong Kong people. The better-off class was unwilling to share resources with the poor. Fighting for more social benefits from the government was something undesirable as this might disrupt order and stability. They just wanted to maintain the status quo. ) Changes in people’s values and attitudes towards social welfare Political change – democratization and the change of sovereignty Hong Kong has been undergoing a gradual process of democratization since the 1970s. There was the first election of District Board in 1981. Before 1985, members of Hong Kongs Legislative Council received executive appointment. They served as an advis ory body for the colonial governor and had no power to introduce legislation or overturn acts of the executive. The British colonial government began to introduce democratic reforms into Hong Kongs legislature after the signing of the Joint Declaration in 1984. Beginning in 1985 these representatives were elected by professionals from functional constituencies. It was not until 1991 that any part of the legislature was elected directly through geographically defined constituencies. After 1989 Tiananmen Massacre in Beijing, Governor Patten was sent to Hong Kong to further accelerate the democratization process. The voting age was lowered and the number of voters selecting LegCo seats through indirect elections was raised. Under such reforms, Hong Kong people have become more politically socialized. Through the experience of election and political participation, the Hong Kong people have become more aware of their rights, including their right to social welfare. The change of sovereignty in 1997 also contributed to an increasing social expectation on the government. The handover has enhanced sense of belonging among the Hong Kong people and they now expect their own government to be more responsive to their needs. It is submitted that the introduction of the Principle Official Accountability System is also another reason for the rise of expectation on the government. Breakdown of traditional family system Nowadays, the family system is losing most of its traditional functions. With high percentage of old people, increasing number of young mothers going out to work, escalating incidence of divorce and higher number of domestic violence reports, family may no longer be acting as an institution where emotional, social and financial support can be provided. Instead, the family is now shedding most of its responsibilities on the society and people expect more from the government. Also, with the change in family structure and increasing economic difficulties, some problems may be so burdensome that is beyond what a family can handle. Many look to government for help as a result. . Economic difficulties The Hong Kong society is facing many challenges today. Economic restructuring, rapid ageing population and erosion of family functioning are some of the biggest challenges identified by the Hong Kong Council of Social Services. The new mode of business operation due to technological globalization causes structural job displacement and leads to high rate of unemployment. The ageing of baby-boomed generation increases financial burden of the family and our society. According to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, 59. % respondents considered social cause as the reason for poverty. Only 14. 2% considered individual problem as cause of poverty. As most people believe that it is not their fault or laziness which makes them poor, they expect the government to give them more help. It should be noted that not only the grassroots, but also the middle class has adopted a more active attitud es towards public affairs. In the past, the middle class as a whole seldom took up class-specific issues through collective action. However, many middle class families now find that they no longer have a secure future to look to. Some are even suffering negative equity. In the July 1st parade, the middle class was actually the backbone of the protest. This shows that the middle class is no longer apathetic with social issues now. More aware of rights as a citizen People become more aware of their rights as citizens and their social awareness were increased, more attention have been given to the issues on welfare services and social policy. According to the study conducted by Wong Chack-kie in 1993 (indicators of social development Hong Kong 1993), public welfare represents a contract of rights and duties among citizens of a society, and the Government’s welfare responsibility is supported. Table 3. 1. Government’s welfare responsibility (%) | |disagree |average |agree |Don’t know | |1. providing medial care for the sick |2. 1 |5 |91. 1 |1. 8 | |2. providing care for the elderly |3. 3 |6. 5 |88. 1 |2. 1 | |3. providing financial subsidy to university students |2. 4 |5. 9 |87. 8 |3. | |from low income families | | | | | |4. reducing the gap between rich and poor |10. 7 |6. 2 |75. 3 |7. 7 | |5. improving living standards of single-parent |13. 6 |11 |70 |5. 4 | |families | | | | | |6. providing unemployment benefits |14. |11 |69. 8 |4. 5 | |7. providing subsidies to new immigrants from mainland|65. 5 |12. 2 |14. 9 |7. 4 | |China | | | | | This change is largely brought about by political factors which made public opinions more reflected. Political parties in the 90’s joined the legislative council and exerted pressure on government’s social policy formulation. People were taken part into the vote as the legislation of social policy was opened to the public, so people’s awareness of the rights to receive social welfare services were raised. In addition, democratic parties’ campaigns encouraged the development of social welfare. For example, in 1991, â€Å"one man one vote† was realized and eighteen members were directly elected in the Legislative Council. More issues related to social welfare policy were being discussed in the Legislature afterwards. The set up of the District Board also encourage the expression of opinions towards public welfare. The responsibilities of the District Board is to advice the District Management Committee on the well being of district residents and on the provision and use of public services and the priorities of government programs. Citizens who had lived in Hong Kong for seven years would have the right to vote and elect their representatives to reflect their ideas on the government’s social welfare policy. Although the District Board had a limited authority and no power to the legislation of the social policy, the public could express their opinions through the District Board. Members of the District Board gave vote to the problems and needs, which are uppermost in the minds of the people of the District. It made suggestions for improvement of social welfare. For the sake of receiving better social welfare services, people would voice out their opinions and suggestions. Growing demand on quality social services provided by the government After the change of sovereignty in 1997, people have higher expectations on the government and are more demanding in terms of social services provision. After the 1st July 1997, Hong Kong became the special administrative region (SAR) of China and the British colonial government no longer holds the sovereignty. The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced that social welfare, including the extent of education, housing and elderly care, would be carried out efficiently in order to improve peoples’ life. In the past, people felt helpless under the colonial ruling and the self-reliance id eology was formed. After the transition of sovereignty in 1997, people began to expect more on the government as their â€Å"own government† rather than a government in a â€Å"borrowed time† and at a â€Å"borrowed place†. People are less reluctant in seeking government’s assistance. Hong Kong’s economy has been in decline for some time. After 1997, GDP growth slowed to 2. 3 percent a year, compared to 5 percent previously. Structural unemployment arises due to the offshoring of jobs to low-cost economies, and business process improvements in which redesign of operating processes and IT-enabled process redesign reduce the number pf people that need to be employed. The portion of respondents perceiving â€Å"government assistance† to be the best way in meeting personal needs has almost doubled from 4. 7% to 8. 6% from 1998 to 2001. This drastic increase could partly be attributed to the economic turmoil which disables many in meeting their basic needs, thus turning to the government for assistance under no choice. d) Traditional values towards social welfare that are still commonly uphold Self-reliance and reliance on family The upholding value of self-reliance could be reflected in the survey conducted by C. K. Wong and K. Y. Wong in 1998. Referring to table 3. 3, comparing the figures obtained in 1998 and 2001. For each year, around seventy percent of the respondents have the perception that one’s own effort in the best way in meeting personal needs. The rather stable figures indicate that self-reliance is still a commonly uphold concept among Hong Kong Chinese in general. A survey was conducted by Leung Sai-wing in 1997 to study how people assess the extent of poverty in Hong Kong. A great majority of the respondents chose individual failure from the answer categories as the main reason for Hong Kong Chinese being poor. including â€Å"the poor are lazy and lack of willpower†, â€Å"they do not have good educational qualification†, â€Å"they do not know how to speculate†, â€Å"they have been unlucky†, â€Å"they have unhealthy habits† and â€Å"their children do not support their living†). The one-fourth of respondents choosing â€Å"injustice in society† migh t be attributed to their dissatisfaction with the present institutional arrangement of wealth distribution. Anyway, the majority of them still explain poverty in terms of individual failure, which reflects people’s emphasis on self-reliance. Table 4. 1. Main reasons for Hong Kong Chinese being poor (%) |Because of injustice in society |23. 3 | |Because of their laziness and lack of willpower |22. 2 | |Because they do not have good educational qualification |19. 9 | e) Conclusion There is a value shift of Hong Kong people’s views towards social welfare as comparing to the past. Though people are usually referring social welfare to a narrow definition of providing help to those who are poor and needy, we, in recent years, discover that there has been progress in people’s perception of the term ‘social welfare’. People are trying to interpret the term in a boarder sense. They are also more open-minded towards social welfare and dependency on the government nowadays is more common than before, though we should not overlook the existent of the self-reliance ideology in the mind of many Hong Kong people. There is a growing urge for social assistance particularly due to the worsening of economic condition. It is not surprising that government spending on social welfare has been increasing over years. Thus, it is very true that government’s effort in welfare provision is directly related to people’s attitudes towards welfare. Reference: Lau. S. K. , Lee. lM. K, Wan. P. S, Wong. S. L. (1999, 2001). Indicators of social development, Hong Kong 1997 Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Wong. C. K. , Chow K. Wong K. Y. (1998). The assessment of social welfare policy : the views of Hong Kong people. HK: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lau. S. K. , Lee. M. K, Wan. P. S, Wong. S. L. (1995, 1998). Indicators of social development, Hong Kong 1993 Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lau. S. K. (1991). Society and politics in Hong Kong. HK: The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lau. S. K, Kuan. H. C. (1988). The ethos of Hong Kong Chinese. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press

Housing Bubbles Causes and Impacts on Credit Crisis

Housing Bubbles Causes and Impacts on Credit Crisis Introduction It is vital for a writer to comprehend and appreciate the use of rhetorical strategies when compiling any rhetoric piece of work. Hence, the ideas and perspectives of the author can only be expressed when rhetoric strategies are applied in a given piece of work.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Housing Bubble’s Causes and Impacts on Credit Crisis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As such, an author might employ various rhetorical tools depending on the purpose of writing the given piece of information. For instance, some authors may employ logos when they need to represent some statistics, solid evidence or facts. In some instances, ethos may be employed in a piece of writing to demonstrate various levels of credibility. The paper that I will analyze in this case was written way back in 2008. The paper is entitled A Summary of the Primary Causes of the Housing Bubble and the Resulting Credit Crisis : A Non-Technical Paper and written by Jeff. Holt. The author has worked as the Director for Undergraduate Programs, Department of Statistics at the University of Virginia. This paper aimed at demonstrating how the housing bubble led to credit crisis of 2007. The author was very formal throughout the article. He employed the third person point of view and presented facts and ideas in their empirical forms. In this paper, I will be exploring the rhetoric appeals and strategies that were used by the author when writing the journal article. Audience The intended audiences for this article are the financial business scholars and especially students who are undertaking business related courses at higher levels of learning. This can be judged from the content and arguments presented in the article. However, this paper was written with the instructor in mind. Even though my fellow classmates would benefit from the rhetorical analysis portrayed in the paper, the author was very keen in meet ing the needs of the audience. The author intended to address the paper to all those interested in business concept. From the title of the journal, it is evident that it is a â€Å"non-technical paper†. Therefore, quite a wide array of readers can understand the content of the paper. Purpose The main purpose for writing this piece of assignment was to demonstrate to my instructor that I was indeed in a position to read, understand and rhetorically analyze a formal article using persuasive arguments. In addition, the assignment was also meant to test my critical thinking and analytical skills through a piece of writing. The author analyses the key reasons why the housing bubble occurred. From his analysis, I was able to write a clear yet detailed rhetorical analysis based on the journal article.Advertising Looking for report on rhetoric? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Context This is a class that we are usuall y tested on the ability to read, understand and analyze literary content. We were supposed to write a rhetoric analysis paper as part of class assignment given by our professor. We were also required to choose an appropriate article to analyze with the assistance of our instructors. In my case, I chose an online journal article entitled A Summary of the Primary Causes of the Housing Bubble and the Resulting Credit Crisis: A Non-Technical Paper and written by Jeff. Holt. The instructor also gave out the direction for constructing a rhetorical analysis paper using the triangle technique. The thesis of the paper was to investigate and demonstrate how the housing bubble led to the credit crisis of 2007 by exploring the rhetoric appeals and strategies that were used by the author when writing the journal article. Style The journal article was written using a formal style throughout the pages. The arguments and facts presented are also formal in nature. For instance, the author cites othe r accredited authors throughput the text. The author also used APA style for his references. Based on the content and purpose of the paper, I was supposed to write it using a formal style. In fact, I used formal citations in MLA style. This was necessary because the task was meant to test my ability to communicate, analyze and articulate ideas obtained from a formal document. Organization The paper was organized into three main parts with sub-sections as well. These were the introduction, six body paragraphs and a conclusion. Besides, a works cited list was included at the end of the paper. In the introductory part, sub-sections and sub-headings were used in order to make it easy for the reader to follow. The body had two major sections with each section sub-divided into three sections each containing a subheading. Rhetorical appeals Logos This can be defined as the use of logical appeals when presenting reasons, ideas, reasons, and facts and so on. Logos play the role of persuading the targeted audience to agree with the perspectives of the author. One of the Logos used by Holt is statistics. For instance, what caused the housing bubble? Housing prices were rather stable during the entire decade of the 1990s. For a period of about 8 years (1990-1997), homes prices recorded a marginal rise of 0.8%. The audience can logically understand the reason why the Federal Reserve funds rate had been lowered to about 1.25% before the start of 2003 and up to one percent by June 2003. In addition, it is also evident that the housing bubble caused a major instability in the mortgage market since the interest rates were grossly affected. Pathos Pathos tends to address emotional appeals presented in any piece of writing. Holt observes that â€Å"even though the U.S. savings rate was low during the housing bubble, an influx of saving entering the U.S. economy from countries such as Japan and China helped to keep mortgage interest rates low† (121). This implies that the credit crisis was occasioned by the immense housing bubble.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Housing Bubble’s Causes and Impacts on Credit Crisis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The audience is in a position to acknowledge why the low mortgage rates of interest affected the short-term interest rates. During the entire period associated with housing bubble, the loans were advanced to borrowers in the most favorable manner since the terms and conditions were not very strict. Moreover, the author asserts that â€Å"mortgage interest rates were falling despite the low savings rate in the U.S. because of an influx of saving entering the U.S. from other countries† (Holt 121). In this case, he has used irrational exuberance to appeal to the emotional need of the audience when expounding the main pathos in the article. For example, irrational exuberance played a major part in housing bubble and consequent cre dit crisis since it entailed a lot of speculation in the mortgage industry. The author has managed to appeal to the audience by asserting that all the players who took part in the mortgage borrowing and lending assumed or speculated that home prices were bound to rise in the near future. In any case, home prices had never went down since the Great Depression era and therefore, all the major parties believed that such prices would never go down. Even the government regulators never made any attempt to control the rising prices for homes. The author has made it clear by asserting that investment bankers were also very keen in issuing mortgaged backed securities that were highly leveraged. Therefore, it may not be easy to recognize or even control irrational exuberance that accompanies price bubbles bearing in mind that housing was a pretty investment before the crisis began. Ethos The persona of the author usually reveals the ethos appeals portrayed in a piece of writing. This informa tion is also contained in the course reader. It is the targeted audience that is supposed to depict the persona of the author. In other words, ethos can only appeal if the writer demonstrates adequate know-how of the information presented in an article, book or any other form of literature. Although the author has not put down his academic credentials, it is evident that he has vast knowledge in this subject area. For example, he demonstrates that the â€Å"standards for mortgage loans were relaxed as a result of the following factors: new governmental policies aimed at fostering an increase in home-ownership rates among lower-income households†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Holt 124). When the terms and conditions of borrowing from the mortgage market were made more lenient, it became extremely easy for predict the condition of the market. Holt (120) also reiterates that â€Å"much of the financing that fed the housing bubble came from the unregulated â€Å"shadow banking system†. The tar geted audience can clearly relate the housing bubble and the role of banks in the whole mess. The unregulated system was highly leveraged.Advertising Looking for report on rhetoric? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, a deleveraging cycle was later subsequently created by the banking system which was unregulated. Eventually, this scenario triggered and worsened the credit crisis. Hence, there was panic within the banking system. Hence, lenders were greatly hampered in terms of screening borrowers. Most of the lending was advanced to individuals without verifying their credit worthy levels. Nonetheless, research studies are yet to be undertaken to determine the actual cause and effect of the housing bubble in relation to credit crisis These are fine details that cannot be given by an individual who is not a specialist in that area. Since he has worked at the department of statistics, he must be knowledgeable enough. Rhetorical analysis Comparison and contrast The author has managed to develop similarities and difference between the housing bubble and credit crisis. According to Holt, â€Å"even though the U.S. savings rate was low during the housing bubble, an influx of saving†¦help ed to keep mortgage interest rates low† (121). In terms of reduced interest rates that were being advanced for buying houses, the author notes that huge savings from foreign investors managed to keep the interest rates as low as possible. The audience is in a position to understand that savings obtained from worldwide sources provided minimal risk environment for investors. Borrowers ended up with huge borrowed amounts from various financiers in the mortgage market. By 2006, the influx of foreign savings in the US market had peaked to about six percent of the Gross Domestic product (GDP) compared to 1.5 percent way back in mid 1990s. Another comparison and contrast is evident where the Holt affirms that â€Å"investors in these countries sought investments providing low risk and good returns† (122). The author also observes that â€Å"home prices were still 57 percent higher than they had been in the 1 quarter of 1997† (Holt 121). Exemplification The author has u sed several examples to illustrate various assertions and points in the article. He observes that â€Å"For example, the monthly principal and interest payment on a $200,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 6 percent would be about $1,200† (Holt 123). Moreover, the author notes â€Å"for example, suppose XYZ Company invests $10 million in mortgage-backed securities (Holt 123). There are several illustrations with examples in the article. In case of any eventualities, these enterprises would be bailed out by the federal government. Cause and effect When the cause and effect tool is used well, it can significantly assist a writer to organize ideas in a holistic manner. For instance, there are several causes and effects for reduced interest rates on short term loans. Due to the 2001 recession, the Federal Reserve was compelled to lower the federal funds rate. This action aimed at strengthening the US economy which was already ailing (the cause part). Althoug h this rate was marginally increased in 2004, it remained stable for about three consecutive years (the effect part) The reduced short-term rates of interest are believed to have contributed towards the hosing bubble in two main perspectives. Hence, several home buyers did not prefer fixed rate mortgages since they were not favorable. Conclusion From this rhetoric analysis paper, I have acquired a lot of knowledge on how various tools work for writers when presenting ideas on paper. Before the housing bubble could fully develop, the rates for mortgage loans were rather stable. In addition, the main purpose of writing this article was to demonstrate my ability to read, understand and write a rhetorical paper based on the analysis of a given text. From the journal article on housing bubble, the author offered a detailed description of why the housing bubble in the United States contributed to the 2007 credit crisis. Finally, the author suggested that the housing bubble was caused by v arious factors such as fair interest rates and irrational exuberance. Holt, Jeff. A Summary of the Primary Causes of the Housing Bubble and the Resulting Credit Crisis: A Non-Technical Paper. The Journal of Business Inquiry 8(2009): 120-129. Print.

Marketing And Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing And Social Media - Essay Example he social media, because of active integration of technology in the lives of the masses around the world has resulted in the playing of a major catalytic role in regards to the formation of a large number of followers in the virtual world. It can be said that in the today’s date, the social media represents a series of programs that run explicitly by exploiting the functionalities of Web 2.0 (Wankel, 2010, p. 9) Talking in regards to the product lifecycle, it can be said that there are four stages such as introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The social media holds a tremendous value in the first two stages as it is deeply integrated with regards to value communication of the products to the masses. Just because social media is largely diversified in its forms through the presence of various social networking and micro blogging sites likes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. it can be said that the marketing power of the social media is tremendously high (Zarrella, 2010, p. 3). Talking more in connection to the power of marketing of the social media and the product life cycle, it can be said that the social media plays a very influential role in regards to the process of introducing new products and services in the markets by simply helping in the process of communicating the values of the products and services to the desired target audience. It also needs to be highlighted that during the course of attaining the growth phase of product development, the social media helps in a great way in manipulating the demand for the products and services by helping the marketers of the respective products and services to maintain a bilateral method of communication with the desired target audience. 2. It is important to mention that in today’s date, the social media has...Talking about the social networking sites, it can be said that the growth of the social networking sites has been largely augmented by the tremendous favoring of the growth prospects of t he United States. Like as witnessed in the case of dotcom bubble of the late 1990’s, the mere presence of the social networking sites in the virtual web space does not help in any way in the process of generating revenue. Every social networking site needs to operate on the basis of a business model, which will help in generating revenue for the online business. It is of significant and utmost importance to mention that the business models that are applicable in the case of social networking sites should not only focus on the process of generating monetary value, but also on the lines value creation, identification of the core competencies of the online business as well as proper value communication to the right target audience. Considerable amount of interest also needs to be given on the lines of creating competitive edge for the online business. It is of considerable importance to mention that an online business is built on four key model components. The first one is the value creation, which distinguishingly addresses the value that will be provided to the customers. The second factor is the issue of target market, which necessarily takes into account the factor of the desired target audience.

Worlds Environmental Problems and their Solving Essay - 5

Worlds Environmental Problems and their Solving - Essay Example This means the earth’s 7 billion stakeholders are those that will not literally pay for the resources that are extracted and sold to us, we will also pay for the economic hardships that are the result of this environmental exploitation. On the other hand, the companies who provide these products are benefiting themselves; oftentimes without even thinking of the damages they left have behind. It is obvious, however, that individuals are always looking to increase their income no matter the external costs. As such, this greed is one of the only reason that keeps companies and individuals from destroying the environment we share. Yet, blame alone is not sufficient to solve this problem. Instead, standing and defeating these companies by ignoring their products is the best thing to help the environment. So, the consumers themselves can stop the environmental destruction by voting with their pocketbook. However, two questions should be asked to consumers all over the world as a means of effecting this goal. The first question is: â€Å"Is being fascinated by a particular industry worth the environmental toll that is incurred†? Likewise, the second question is: â€Å"Would you live with the unrealistic food products that are not organic†? According to the documentary we saw in class, it became clear and apparent that many food producers were overfishing. This problem was so endemic that some of these companies agreed to catch as many fishes as possible is resulting in the near extinction of some species of fish. This destruction of the ecosystem is especially important; due in part to the fact that removing even one species can have unimaginable repercussions on the remainder of biological life on the planet.  

Analysis of the book First Globalization by Geoffrey C. Gunn Essay

Analysis of the book First Globalization by Geoffrey C. Gunn - Essay Example We will first focus on chapter seven of the book which is titled civilization encounters; this chapter focuses on civilization, Asia's first encounter with civilization was the arrival of missionaries and merchants. Although there was resistance to the Jesuit in china and the restriction of importing European text, there was a change in the people's way of life due to the western culture. People started to adopt the western culture and this can be termed as globalization. Catholic missionaries arrived in Japan in the year 1549, the missionaries were Portuguese and Spain sponsored Jesuits, religion was seen as an integral part of the state and also seen as having extra benefits other than spiritual benefits. Chapter six is entitled enlightenment views of Asian governance, this chapter focuses on the adoption of various forms of governments in Asia, there was high acceptance of forms of government which was influenced by earlier Jesuit writings, Baron however used travel literature to critique despotism in china and also Muslim courts, and it was Plato's idea that china be ruled by a king. The enlightenment of the whole of Asia through adoption of various forms of government also led to early ... Chapter eight is titled livelihoods, this chapter focuses on the introduction of records in Europe concerning Asia, and an example is Luis De Frois who wrote about the differences in early modernity between Japan and Europe, another example is the work of Marco Polo who wrote about the everyday life of china, this writings significantly changed the peoples way of life leading to people learning other languages and the emergence of the major European languages. Written literature worked as a way of popularizing the knowledge and ideas of a certain region, for example the invention of vital geographical knowledge by Europeans who also gained more information from the Arabs. This was aided by the invention of the print media in Europe leading to more and more regions being popularized. There was also the emergence of the alternative literature which was referred to as alternative due to the fact that it seemed to mock the real text, it was characterized by abstract scientific ideas and a good example is the well known book Gulliver travelers, this book however portrays a lot of Asian history and wisdom. Chapter nine is titled language, power and hegemony, the author describe the success of missionary in Asia as a result of mastering the Asian languages, the missionaries were the first lexicographers of the Asian languages while the Portuguese used their own language to their conquest or even worked with interpreters. European colonizers proclaimed the superiority of their language to their conquest and therefore through this there was the adoption of European languages. There was also the emergence of the translation of European literature that would as a result aid in scientific learning by various regions, this

Intellectual Property Rights And The Fashion Industry Cultural Studies Essay

Intellectual Property Rights And The Fashion Industry Cultural Studies Essay With a gross annual turnover of $750 billion per year the fashion industry is at the forefront of the worlds economy. Unlike most other goods, people demand fashion not for the added value or feature that a new item brings but for its own sake. People (mostly females) of all ages pour over magazines showing the latest celebrity fashions and then go out to retail fashion shows or browse online in search of something similar. This demand for the latest style of the rich and famous has transpired into a business network with an influence across the globe. This global business has brought with it many legal issues. Particularly important is the copying of the celebrity fashion that the masses seem to want. This essay will be broken into three parts. The first part will examine the current state of the law both in Australia and other jurisdictions. The second part will ask how the law can be changed in Australia to give greater protection to the fashion industry and the third part will lo ok at whether or not this change is necessary for the industry to grow. I will argue that the law needs to be reformed in such a way that copying is prohibited but flocking (following celebrity styles) isnt. IP law the reasons for its existence. The standard argument for the existence of intellectual property rights is that without them copyists will free ride on the creative efforts of others. Since most creative efforts are sold for economic gain absent any intellectual property rights the creators will see no incentive in creating when others can copy their designs and profit from it. The market for books, movies and music is protected from industrial copying in Australia by the Copyright Act. This act prevents the mass scale production of these creative works without licence or prior approval (with certain exceptions). This protection, gives the industry the comfort of knowing that its protected from the free-riding act of copyists. Albeit a creative work, the fashion industry remains vastly unprotected in many parts of the world. In Australia the Designs act of 2003 (which replaced the designs act of 1906) is the primary form of protection of designs for the industry. It is helpful to note at this point that the sketche s of designs are protected by the Copyright Act. Similarly, a new invention in clothing for example a new material that can keep one warm in winter and cold in summer would be protected by the Patents Act. This essay however is not concerned with those acts and their advantages or limitations. This essay is concerned with the protection of designs designs, researched and manufactured by the big designer houses and then copied by the high street for the masses. In a bid to regulate themselves from copying because of the absence of any laws to protect them the Fashion Originators Guild of America started self regulating the industry as early as the 1930s. Their method of regulation was to have designs registered with the Guild and any other firm copying these designs d be boycotted by members of the guild. The guilds activities were ruled as a violation of U.S. antitrust laws by virtue of a decision of the U.S. Supreme court in 1941. What concern us though are not the contents of that case, but rather whether the Guilds efforts in protecting intellectual property caused an increase in innovation and more frequent designs. Randal Picker suggests that the guilds efforts go to show that there was a need by the high end designers for this type of protection. He goes on to argue that the very theory of fashion means that the high end designers would only thrive in a market which was heavily regulated. This is because they market goods to a niche of customers who want to have what no one else has. These designers offer their customers unique one of a kind products and their customers purchase these because of the snob appeal these customers want only what others dont have. If there is no protection for their designs these designs would be copied by the high street stores and then the snob appeal of these goods will be lost. This means that these customers will not be willing to pay such high prices for these goods as they do not see a differential value in them. Although this copying has been around for almost a century and a half the problem is worsening due to improvements in information technology. The internet provides simultaneous access to fashions worldwide especially the European fashion weeks where big designers usually display their stuff and these are copied almost immediately. The poor quality of these copies means that some of these producers can get the products out to the market faster than the original desig ners. This means that once the designers products hit the market they have already lost their unique appeal. Further, since this fast fashion run-offs have become more highly sophisticated; the copyists can wait to even see which of the products seem to sell the most before they decide what to produce and they can then produce these trend setting items without having to take on the risk that their investment might not pay off. The basic theory of intellectual property would find this appalling. The big design houses spend millions of dollars on salaries for designers, researching market trends and organising expensive processes and fashion shows. Copyists however free ride on this work and produce cheaper substitutes. According to the traditional theory of IP this should lead to an economic disincentive on the part of the big fashion houses causing them to research and produce less. However the converse is true. We see that the bigger fashion houses continue to produce new creations every single year and the glamour of their products only increase. In order to understand why the standard disincentive is not in place we will need to look at the theory of fashion. The Theory of fashion Fashion theory dates back several hundred years. The Haute Couture stores of France were the powerhouses of fashion. No sooner was an item launched was it copied in America and sold to a larger market for much cheaper. It is important to make the distinction between close copying on the one hand (making replicas) and participating in trends on the other. Fashion changes often with some styles emerging as trends only to be soon replaced by other styles rising quickly to take its place. The demand for fashion is not merely a physical need although some people will wish to buy a new coast when their old one tears or a new cardigan because their old one looks worn. Fashion is more accurately a cultural expression. According to the fashion theory the theory of the leisure class fashion is usually adopted by elites with the purpose of being different from the masses. The masses then admire and demands goods that will emulate the elites. Consequently the elites abandon the older fashion, which has now been copied by the masses in favour of newer items that will distinguish them from the masses. This first theory of fashion suggests that fashion is driven by a an aspiration of social mobility on one hand (the masses trying to emulate the elite) and social stratification on the other (the elite trying to distinguish themselves from the masses) The other major theory is that of collective selection whereby fashion evolves through the collective process where many people, through their individual choices come to form the collective trend in society. The process of trend formation begins vaguely with a few people buying something of a unique design in the emulation of a celebrity and others copying it until a trend is formed. This theory is not purely about copying the elite, rather it is people following fashion because they desire to be in fashion and associate themselves with the latest styles and trends. This theory also called the Zeitgeist theory works through a matter of individual choice and collective social tastes. Whatever the theory prevalent in society one thing is certain and that is that the masses cannot afford the styles of the elite. Very few people in our society can afford t shirts from Armani and jackets from Polo Ralph Lauren. These large fashion house brands retail items at several hundred dollars apiece making it unaffordable to the masses. Fast fashion copying is the solution. The fast fashion outlets like Zara and Forever 21 provide these trend setting items at a fraction of the cost of the designer houses. One must not be mistaken here that they make exact copies of these items, because they dont. Rather their in house designers make inspirational pieces following the same trend but different. The items are visually similar to the ones of the high fashion houses and this is what many times has come before the courts under the Designs Act 2003 (Australia). Many of these fast fashion firms have shops on large high streets and have built themselves into a business empire. State of the law in Australia In Australia until the 17th June 2004 designs were protected by the Designs Act of 1906. According to the older legislation in order to register the design the design had to be: Features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation applicable to an article, being features that, in the finished article, can be judged by the eye, but does not include a method or principle of construction This legislation did not strike a balance between what are considered ideal objectives of design legislation; to protect designs form free riding competitors but yet at the same time not stifle competition too much because innovation is usually a development on a previous design. The older legislation was also impractical for the fashion industry because of the nature of the law itself. According to the old law the applicant had to file a separate design registration for each variation to the similar product. This is impractical as many items of fashion come in different colours and sizes. Further the design application needed to be examined by the designs office before registration was granted. This meant that designs had to be submitted before they could be registered. This too was impractical to the fashion industry for a number of reasons. Firstly, by the time the process of submitting the design and registration was complete the item would already have gone out of fashion given the relatively fast lifecycle of fast fashion. Further submitting the designs would mean the designs would have to be completed earlier. Usually designers work on their designs until the last minute before the official launch working on extras until hours before the design goes public. The old designs regulation was clearly impractical for fashion and the replacement legislation in the form of the Designs Act of 2003 hoped to iron out some of the problems. Under this act the fashion industry benefitted heavily as protection was obtainable for more than one design (colour or size) of the same product. . However the official government fees for this is a drawback to the registration of more than one design of the same product. Under the new act the fees for the first design is $200 and for every variation of that design a further $200. This heavy cost especially for the mid budget fashion houses is disadvantageous. Further the new legislation permits the design to be registered even before a full examination of the product is undertaken. This gives time for the producers to tweak the designs even until the last minute before they are released. However, the examination whilst not compulsory needs to take place before the owner can take action against anyone who infringes on this design. Getting this inspection carried out is costly, costing $360 per variation of a design, and requires a lot of paper work; in the form of photographs and a Statement of Newness and Distinctiveness explaining how this design is new and distinctive from any others on the market (without which the registrar might not be satisfied that the product is new and distinctive). The courts have taken an interesting approach to the question of designs in the fashion industry. The first decision to be handed down after the enactment of the Designs Act 2003 was the Federal Court of Australias decision in Review v Innovative Lifestyle Investments Pty Ltd and concerned a dress produced by Review and registered of which Innovative Lifestyle Investments produced an identical design. Justice Jessup found that the striking visual similarity between the designs and the time period in which they were produced (the ILI dress coming out only a few months after Reviews) was an indication that the registered design was breached. However, calculating damages was difficult because Review did not wish to submit its sales figures to the court. Thus Justice Jessup awarded Review $7500 in damages due to minor loss of reputation as not being a brand of originality and another $10,000 for ILI continuing the sale of the dresses after finding out about Reviews registration. ILI plan s on appealing the decision so it will be interesting to see what decision the appellate court hands down. This case shows that whilst there is sufficient legal protection in Australia for the protection of designs there are several limits to the protection. One such limitation is time. It took about seven months for the Review design to be registered. Items which are not timeless items like Reviews dress would have the long passed their fashion expiry before the registration of these items were completed. Since action cannot be taken until registration is completed this would mean that many designers would potentially not be willing to take action as the product would no longer be an item in stock. Further the need by the judges to assess the loss in sales would require firms to furnish in court their sales and projected sales figures. This might be highly sensitive information that they would not want competitors, in the highly competitive market, to know. Finally the value of dam ages awarded in this case was not high against ILI. If this case is anything to go by the exemplary damages are arguably not sufficient to deter copying. Rather many copyists would see this as merely the cost of doing business. Copying of items in the fashion industry can also be protected by copyright law. The copyright law provisions are used when there is an artistic or craftsmanship appeal to the garment. Protection under this provision was brought before the courts in 2008 by Elwood a manufacturer of trendy youth clothes. Elwood alleged that Cotton On had violated its copyright for two computer generated drawings; the New Deal tshirt and the swing tags attached to these garments. They alleged that Cotton On had sold several hundred tshirts which were visually similar to the New Deal tshirts. Cotton On conceded that the only difference was the wording but otherwise they had copied the design drawings. The first question the court had to answer was whether the designs drawings were drawings and thus entitled to protection under the act (as artistic works). The key to answering this question was whether the wording was to be read as text or whether they were for pictorial purposes. The court found that th ey were a pictorial which was designed to bring recognition to the Elwood brand. Accordingly the design drawings were the subject of the Copyrights Act. After determining that the designs were copyright works, the judge had to determine whether they were original Elwood drawings. The judge found on the evidence that this was an original drawing as Elwood had spent several weeks and a lot of effort creating them and thus they satisfied the originality criteria. That being assessed the judge had to then work out whether what Cotton on had copied amounted to a substantial part. In his honours opinion Cotton On had copied only the shape and the form of the item and not the wording or symbols of the design and thus did not create a visual similarity with Elwoods design. His honour said that the degree of copying was in keeping with Cotton Ons theme, same but different. We see here that even through copyright law it is hard for the copyright holders to have protection for their designs. The problem of free riding occurs when larger companies like Elwood carry out research and spend both time and money creating the brand and fashion statement. The copyists then free ride on this and tweak the designs slightly so that they can get around the law and as such they benefit from the hard work and risk taking of other firms. The Design/Copyright Overlap Whereas copyright law must encompass an element of artistic craftsmanship (such as the digital designs of both the tshirt and the tag in the Elwood case) or used to protect one off designs such as individual garments or pieces of jewellery; garments which are commercially marketed need to be protected by the Designs Act. For many years governments have been trying hard to emphasise this distinction. Their rationale suggests that when it comes to the shape and appearance of designs the Designs Act is more appropriate and people wanting their items to be mass produced for commercial sales should register their designs. To give effect to this policy the government has included provisions in the copyright act to close the loopholes that existed in previous legislation. Some of the provisions intend that purely two dimensional designs will have dual protection under the copyright and designs act. The other main change is that people creating works of artistic craftsmanship can choose whet her or not to register the design (but registering will generally result in a loss of copyright). It follows that the design copyright overlap has been made clearer as a result of the amended designs act and changes to the Copyrights Act. This has been the governments attempt to make the laws clearer and friendlier to give designers a more protected environment in which to carry out their work. It can be seen however, that the cost of registering the designs as well as the cost of enforcement of the registered design (litigation and related costs) are high in comparison to the damages receivable especially if the original designer is hesitant to make too many figures known to the court. Further, especially for claims under the Copyrights Act, the burden of proof is very high. The courts have been very careful to interpret the word substantial and as was seen in the Elwood case, although the copyright was found in favour of Elwood the court held the outcome in favour of Cotton On because they said that the visual appearance was not substantially similar to the Elwood design. This decision begs the question as to whether items can be copied so long as the colour and wording has changed. Whilst this might be perfectly acceptable in other industries, judges fail to understand the uniqueness of fashion, where it is not the item itself that matters but the advertising, marketing and style promotion than creates the trend for the item. It is arguable then that when considering designs and copyright protection the court should look deeply into merely just the design or drawing and focus on the value of the design or drawing in creating the trend fashion. That said, it is difficult to assess where exactly the trend originated. Some argue that the trend originates with the celebrities in Hollywood and others argue that the trends originate from the catwalks of Europe. These claims are however disputable as there are new and emerging fashion design centres around the world especially in Australia where the seasons are opposite to those of the countries in the Northern hemisphere making it impractical to follow their trends. Thus the onus of proving who started a trend might eventually mean that there is no protection for any designer since all fast fashion designs are usually a variation of some trend or item. Reforms: The US lacks fashion copyright protection completely and this has given rise to an entire industry that copies and tweaks. Fashion industry specialists call this blatant piracy looking great for cheap. One fashion expert reports that a high street fashion brand like Forecer 21 copies and retails a $2000 dress for $80 and even shoes by the renowned designer Balenciaga worth over $600 dollars is copied and sold by Steve Madden for $60. The lack of adequate safeguards in the US as opposed to Australia is the cause of this. Experts say that the up and coming designers are those at the biggest risk because they can ill afford the legislation needed to fight back. The Australian law can perhaps take some ideas for reform from the amendments suggested by the US Copyrights office. The first as a part of several suggestions is that the protection time frame be reduced from 10 years to 3 years. This is because the haute couture fashion where items retail for several hundred dollars a piece will usually have lost their exclusivity or reached the end of their fashion peak well within the three years. Although designs change fast a reason for the longer period of three years is to also include classic fashion items like the Guy suit by Hugo Boss. Another reform that has been suggested that we might adopt in Australia is that registration must be completed and take place within three months from the date that it goes public. This means that once a design is registered the designer has upto three months to organise for the inspection to be carried out for the item. This gives the designer more flexibility to decide which designs are profitable and then decide which ones he wants to register thus saving on the costs of statutory fees and paperwork. Finally they suggest that there be a special fashion board set up to deal with the fashion industry where a group of experts independently asses the item such that they can better understand the subtleties of a new design as opposed to an old one and thus the granting of registration will be fairer. Along with this Ralph Brown suggests that in order to make the enforcing more affordable this board be also given the power to handle conflicts. He argues that this be the first instance board that reviews the complaints that designers have if they feel that their designs have been breached. This board should be entrusted with the power to make a non binding directive (after analysing the evidence) in favour of or against the claimant. He argues that because this board will be made up of fashion experts they will be in a better position to analyse the breaches. If Australia had a system like this, then the Elwood decision might not have been decided the way it was. This board would have b een able to realise the subtleties of the trend style which His Honour in that case failed to see. In other words they will interpret the law in the context of the industry and not on the black letter analysis of the law. He concedes that the court is the ultimate arbitrator and he argues that if one or both parties are not willing to settle based on the boards directive then they could appeal the decision to court. The rationale for this approach is that to save costs and reputation most firms will settle out of court. What is important in any reform is having a balance between protecting the designs of those whose spend time, skill and money developing the latest fashions against the interests of the masses who want to be in fashion and who are willing to buy the cheaper counterfeits. The recommendations mentioned above would definitely allow designers to make the most of protecting their designs and their investments. In keeping with the standard theory of intellectual property i t is likely to increase investment in the industry. The large fashion houses might be willing to come up with more designs, and varieties of designs because they feel that there is an inexpensive way of enforcing their intellectual property rights. At the same time younger designers will be willing to release more designs into the market because they feel that they are better protected and can enforce their intellectual property system in a way that is understandable and cost effective to them. On the other hand the method proposed above would benefit the high street fast fashion firms as a trained eye in the board is likely to be able to spot the difference between blatant copying and trends. Zara for example will be able to produce in the confidence that when they produce dresses a trained eye in the design board will be able to easily tell that theirs is not an imitation of an original dress but rather a variation in style but within the scope of trends. This is something that the judges find hard to understand because as Susan Scaffidi (one of the most prolific fashion law writers) put it it is hard to have a sixty seventy year old white man look at an item of chic ladies fashion and decide whether or not copyright has been breached. Another proposed reform is that the costs of applying for design can be reduced by the government. The UWA faculty of law expert has written that making the registration process cheaper might be possible by maintaining an online database of all the designs. He argues that if design registration is cheaper more designers are going to seek it and this will be better for the intellectual property regime. The bigger fashion houses also argue that their selling point is that their styles are unique and those who purchase from them pay so much because of the snob appeal of the item. They argue that with so much copying their unique designs become less unique and as such they have to keep designing more items to keep up the unique appeal. Alain Wertheimer , Chairman of Chanel when asked about this in an interview to the Newsweek said that because of the vast amount of copying going on in the industry people are willing to pay less and less for designer clothes as they see no snob appeal in them. She says that as a result the bigger fashion houses are finding it hard to survive and that her brand too has had to undergo diversification to survive. Donatella Versace arguing on the same point says that Versace has had to diversify into manufacturing lifestyle items and dinner sets too because of insufficient protection by the government. Raustiala and Sprigman, in their article the Piracy Paradox argue very strongly that a strong intellectual property regime will not change anything. They argue that people keep demanding the latest trends and as long as the demand is there the suppliers will continue to provide for it. They also argue that the market will not change by much because the masses will not be able to afford the original designs anyway. They rationalise this theory to a fixed amount that people are willing to pay for items even if they were Zeitegists. This is because after a point fashion becomes a luxury good and the demand is therefore inelastic. People, they argue, after a point are not willing to sacrifice necessities for luxury goods and will do one of two things, either do without it or be content with older collections. They further argue in direct rebuttal to the claims of Alain Wertheimer and Donatella Versace that as a result of the big fashion house designs being copied and reproduced people who demand the unique style that comes with these designer products will keep purchasing more and it is good for their business. Their rebuttal to this is found in their theory of induced obsolescence. They argue that because clothing is about perception the demand for the goods is because the highly fashionable people have them and to not have them means that one is unfashionable. They also argue that in line with the theory of the leisure class that once more people have it those who demand unique products will want something else for the snob appeal. They argue that this causes the cycle all over again. Thus we can see that as more items are copied this puts pressure on the fashion houses to produce newer and more distinctive items. As such they can produce more often and their profits increase. Logically , it then flows that copying whilst being a part of the business of the copyist firms is also beneficial to the large fashion houses because the elite will keep demanding newer styles and this increases their business. This is called induced obsolescence by copying. They further argue that by the masses flocking to buy the latest styles there is an automatic trend created and as such the large fashion houses benefit because those on the marginal income lines will tend to purchase the fashion house brands so that they can be a part of the trend. It is also arguable that because the trends are so short lived for most of the casual wear collections (an average style time for the Armani Tees is seven months) even if there are tougher intellectual property law few firms would go through the trouble of registering all but their most classic designs. Conclusion In this essay we have looked at the reasons for the existence of intellectual property generally. We have then identified the theories of fashion and seen how people demand in style products so the copyists employ designers not to make an exact replica of the item but to make an item similar such that the item is a part of the trend. We have then considered the law in Australia. We have looked at how the Designs Act and the Copyright Act play an important role in protecting the designs and drawings of the designers. We have identified that the courts have had a mixed approach to enforcing right under the act. We saw in the Review decision the impracticality of taking an action to Court under the Designs Act. We saw that this impracticality was because the claimant needs to submit highly sensitive figures for the courts to make a decision. Further, we saw that the Elwood decision in which it is probable that the judge misunderstood that what Elwood was doing was setting a trend for pr inted tees. We then argued that it is impossible for courts to find the difference between trends and styles and argued that perhaps we do not want them to rule against style. This paper also suggested possible reforms to the law and to the method in which the law should be administered. These reforms flow from our previous analysis of the method of administration of the law being impractical. It was proposed that the proposed methods would help the administration of the system as well as make a more streamlined an easier system for designers to enforce their rights. However, when we consider the theories of fashion as a whole and when we consider the article by Raustiala and Sprigman, we see that reform really isnt necessary. Reform will not dynamically change the face of the industry because most designers will not go through the trouble of registering their designs as the design life cycles are very short and the trouble taken to register designs is not worth their while. We also see that reform is not necessary because copying (otherwise referred to as trend setting) is helpful to the big fashion houses. It stimulates designs for their products and increases their sales. We started off by saying that the industry is worth $750 billion a year. There seems to be enough money to go around. Any changes which impose tighter control will only reduce the value of the industry and push many out of business.

Marginalization of Women During the Cold War Essay -- gender roles, Co

At the height of the Cold War in 1959, Vice President Richard M. Nixon visited the Soviet Union to discuss political ideology with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. In what was labeled the â€Å"kitchen debate,† Nixon presented Khrushchev with an American â€Å"model home† that highlighted the merits of capitalism to a global audience. But as the politicians entered the Americanized kitchen, Nixon took a step further. Instead of keeping the focus on economic systems, the Vice President turned the discourse to the two nations’ construction of gender roles. While looking at an American dishwasher, Nixon said, â€Å"This is our newest model†¦In America, we like to make life easier for women†¦ I think that this attitude towards women is universal. What we want to do, is make life more easy for our housewives† (teachingamericanhistory.org). While the accessibility of consumer products that reduced labor for homemakers was an achievement of American capitalism, Nixon’s comments promoted a new American vision of the family. The traditional family in Cold War culture, which featured men as breadwinners and women as homemakers, was now an important component of the American Dream. By referring to women as â€Å"housewives,† Nixon effectively reinforced the pervasive sentiment that women could not only be homemakers in a financially prosperous capitalist society, but that it was also expected of them. As these expectations became fully engrained into the mainstream, gender roles became increasingly rigid, which discouraged many women from considering professional careers, let alone pursue them. As the Cold War era prompted Americans to find refuge in the traditional family, women were expected to operate within the framework of the home and in resul... ...represented an escape from the uncertainty of the future. But with the rise of a new traditional family in America, complete with strict and separate gender roles, women were denied opportunities in the workplace and forced to embrace the task of homemaker. While Nixon argued in the â€Å"kitchen debate† that American strength rested on each member’s ability to rise and fall, the marginalization of woman in Cold War culture masterfully highlights the distance between political idealism and reality. Works Cited Books May, Elaine Tyler. Homeward Bound. Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. Movies The Home Economics Story. Online Resources â€Å"The Kitchen Debate.† Articles Stevenson, Adlai E. â€Å"A Purpose for Modern Woman.† Chambers, Whittaker. â€Å"Witness.†

Relationship to Background Research Essay

Researchers Dunbar and Waynforth (1995) carried out research into human differences in mate selection by focusing on 900 different lonely-hearts ads taken from four different American newspapers. The investigation aimed to see what characteristics males and females looked for in potential mates by analysing each ad and recording how each person described themselves and what characteristics they looked for in a partner. It was found that women were more likely to advertise themselves as physically attractive, whereas males tended to highlight their economic status, displaying their potential ability to provide. Darwin’s theory supports this, as stereotypically good looking women will be good child bearers and provide ample food and care for children, and therefore will be more likely to produce healthy children with good genes for the next generation. Similarly, by highlighting their economic status men label themselves as good providers for children and will be able to care and help throughout the child’s life, meaning chance of survival is higher. Furthermore, stereotypically good-looking men (big, muscley etc) will have a higher chance of survival and therefore pass on these good genes to their offspring. I am going to investigate Darwin’s sexual strategy theory similarly to Dunbar’s methods, by looking into the way in which people advertise themselves in personal advertisements and seeing if they relate with Darwin’s, Andersson and Cunningham’s ideas about physical appearance and also pervious research done by Dunbar. I would be interested in finding out if Dunbar’s results done in America are similar to results that I will find in Macclesfield (England). I would further be interested in seeing if results have changed over time as men and women’s perceptions of each other may have differed in the last few years. His research led to my directional hypothesis which is â€Å"Men will describe their resources more than youth and looks in personal advertisements, women will describe their looks and youth more than resources. â€Å"The aim of the experiment is to find out what characteristics men and women offer when advertising himself or herself as a potential mate and to investigate if there are gender differences between the way men and women make themselves attractive to the opposite sex through lonely hearts advertisements. inspiration My directional hypothesis therefore, as influenced by Dunbar, is that heterosexual men will be more likely to offer resources such as wealth and financial stability. Heterosexual women, however, are more likely to offer youth and physical attractiveness. The null hypothesis would be as follows: there will be no significant difference between how men and women advertise themselves to the opposite sex.

Moral Perplexity

Moral Perplexity Moral perplexity is an ethical dilemma that humans face every day when making decisions. In order to overcome this dilemma we use norms of moral conduct which consist of: laws, ends and responsibilities (Ring 98). Last week's tragedy forced our nation to face one of the greatest moral perplexities of all time. The greatest question that the nation needs to answer is "how is it going to retaliate and who is going to be punished?" In this paper I am going to use the three types of moral conducts to analyze the retaliation process. Last week's terrorist attack took many innocent lives and shook our economy. Terrorists responsible for these actions broke laws. American law system is based on the idea that one who breaks the law needs to be punished and punishment needs to fit the crime. This is where we run into an ethical dilemma. America has an obligation to punish those responsible for breaking the laws but we don't know how and who to punish.United StatesPeople that are more radical think that America should bomb every country that supports terrorism, on the other hand people that are against bloody wars think it would be better if we just send some ground troops to some countries in the Middle East, to show that we are not going to tolerate terrorism. I think that this is a problem of competing values, because no matter what the government decides to do, there are going to be casualties on both sides. President Bush is in a very difficult situation right now that deals with many moral issues. For instance is it moral to retaliate and kill more innocent people or is it moral not to, even though we have a responsibility to punish those responsible.When considering the ends type of...

Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Essays - Tom Clancys Rainbow Six

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Essays - Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Title: Rainbow Six Author: Tom Clancy # Of pages: 740 Characters: John Clark an ex Navy Seal, and two other characters Alistair Stanley the executive commander of Rainbow Six, and Domingo (Ding) Chavez, the captain of team two. There are two other insignificant characters Clarks wife sandy and is daughter Patsy Who is married to Ding, Patsy is pregnant. The other main character is Dimitriy Arkadeyevich Popov; he is an ex KGB agent who is now working as a special consultant. He will become a very important character later in the story. The boss (sorry I forgot his name) owner of a multi-national Pharmaceutical company all around bad guy. Plot: Clark is the commander and in charge of starting a new European anti-terrorist group called Rainbow Six. Rainbow Six is split into two teams; team one and team two. These teams are the best there is. They are based in Hereford, England, but any European country can call on them at any time. They run three miles in twenty minutes, every mourning at six am. Only one team is on-call at a time. The team that is not on call will be doing live fire practices. In the first six months of being operational they are called on three times. The first incident happens in a Swiss bank where terrorists taken control. They also have a hostage. Team two successfully takes them out, with only one hostage killed (he had already been killed before they got there). The first mission helps to organize them and fix a few holes in there planning. The second mission is in Germany; an international trader is taken hostage in his mansion. This mission goes too well, thanks to the snipers. No hostage deaths, but all the terrorists are killed. The last mission is they are called upon is in Spain, where a team of terrorists take an amusement park and thirty children. They demand their leader, a man named Jackal be released from prison (he was the guy who took the Swiss bank). So to take them down they use a program to disable their cellular phones, their way of communicating, they kill the terrorists one by one till there all dead. Only one child is killed by the terrorists. In the meantime while this is happening, an American hires the ex-KGB agent Popov, now freelance. Popov is hired to get people to do the job in Switzerland, the bank taking, and the taking of the International trader in Germany. The person that has hired him is the Boss, owner of a multi-national pharmaceutical company that has deals with extremely deadly viruses. The Boss is extremely wealthily. Popov is living in New York he is flying back and fourth from Europe to organize these things. Popov in an attempt to figure out who is thwarting the operations watches the surveillance tapes and notices the same man smoking a cigar after each take down. He puts two and two together and comes to the conclusion that the same team was involved in each mission. Popov goes and tells the Boss, who though his numerous connections (one of them being Bill Henriksen leader of Global security). The Boss finds out that the team was Rainbow Six. This worries him because they could get in the way of his ultimate goal (youll find out his plans later). So he has Popov fly to Ireland and hire some of the IRA to attack the Rainbow Six base in Hereford, England. They Agree to do it for a handsome fee and some weapons. The IRA men decide to go after Clarks wife and daughter, since they are the easiest targets. They are successful in kidnapping Sandy and Patsy out of the hospital they work at. They use them to lure both the Rainbow Six teams out and try to stop them. Their goal is to take out five Rainbow Six members, enough to disable them, but they made the same mistake the men in Spain did they used Cell phones to communicate. So when the Rainbow Six team used their scramblers to disable the phones they began to fall apart. Eventually it came down to the IRA using the hostages as Bargaining tools to

Gender and History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Gender and History - Essay Example In other words, gender depends on the form of norms the society suggests. Lastly, sexuality is the modern discourse concerning sex which Foucault studied 2. There two known genders for animate matters, it is very much evident that human in nature is very patriarchal. Men dominate above women. It is already an issue on which to follow for the categories of gender. The conservative society will claim that there are only two accepted gender, the male or female. The society's notion of gender evolved and little by little entertained the other kind of gender which is the "third sex" (as what they call it) the homosexuals1. Just like in the Modern West, they believe that gender is more of nature. This means that there is only male and female based on the anatomical features 2. But when we say "anatomical", we are actually referring to the science of life called "Biology". This science belongs to the 20th century batch of sciences and believes that the existence of the third sex has reasons and causes. This science, therefore, has a different belief with that of the Modern West. In Modern West construction, they believe in bipolarity or the opposite of thing, example male with female, masculine and feminine, and girl and boy. When we talk about gender there will be a lot of involved issues in it. There were those about equal rights that will come up. There are also those issues about homosexuality and their rights. Before, homosexuality is already observed, long before the time of Troy and the Greek Philosophers. The issue of homosexuality before was about men drawn to have relationships with the same sex with the reason of academic relationship. They thought they would be more of a genius person when having a relationship with the same sex. But the issues about gender before were not as sound as now. It was all passing. Approaches toward homosexual behavior have reversed with time and place. In ancient Greece, homosexual relations were accepted and, in some cases, expected activity in certain segments of society. Later attitudes toward homosexuality in the Western world were determined largely by prevailing Judeo-Christian moral codes, which treat homosexuality as immoral or sinful. But like many other sins, homosexual relations were seen as expressions of the weakness inherent in all human beings, and not as a mental disorder or as the behavior of a specific type of person. This latter view, which regarded homosexuality as a pathology, developed in the late 19th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, psychoanalysts out-looked homosexuals as the victims of faulty development 7. There had been a lot of sociobiologists that tried to explain the existence of the third sex. The Modern West idea said that there are only two kinds of gender which is the male and female and that this is natural. Biologists tried to explain that the existence of the third sex has something to do with the hormonal imbalances of the person but sociobiologists will say that it is due to the third sex is due to the construction of new norms by the society.

Economy of Brazil and Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economy of Brazil and Russia - Essay Example This paper is divided into two sections which look at Russia and Brazil individually. The main goal of this report is to answer two questions. First, whether the Russian and Brazilian governments have been successful in running their economies from 2003-2005. Secondly, it will conduct an identification and evaluation of the different policies implemented by both governments within the time frame and their effects on the overall economic performance. According to the United State's Center Intelligence Agency World Factbook, Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world based on purchasing power parity. Recovering from its inflationary problem in the early 1990s, Brazil has now emerged as a stable economy owing from the Real Plan implemented since 1994 (Economy of Brazil 2006). In order to fully assess the economic performance of Brazil during the past three years, this paper will look at various economic indicators which include nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product), GDP growth rate, per capita GDP, and inflation growth from 2003-2005. This paper will utilize the data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Figure 1 shows the GDP and GDP growth rate in Brazil from 2003-2005. ... All in all, the Brazilian economy recorded a 7.32% increase in GDP during the three year period. It should be noted that nominal GDP is in an upward trend, albeit at a decreasing rate. Figure 2. GDP per capita (Real) and Inflation (%) in Brazil (2003-2005) Figure 2 shows the GDPO per capita and inflation rate of Brazil in from 2003-2005. Consistent with the upward trend in nominal GDP, per capita GDP is also increasing at a decreasing rate. There is a huge drop in the growth of inflation rate from 2004-2005. However, the economy was not able to sustain the 2004 level. Inflation slightly mounted by 0.3% in 2005 relative to what is recorded in the previous year. Compared to the previous years, the Brazilian government has been highly successful in fostering economic growth. World Bank reports that the country "has succeeded in reducing poverty to some extent and stepping towards attaining the millennium goals" and "for the first time in three decades, Brazil is experiencing an internal and fiscal equilibrium and low inflation." These improvements has been directly attributed to the government's active role in alleviating the economic situation. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stresses that the development of the Brazilian economy in the past three years is a result of its notable macroeconomic policies including the inflation targeting model and the Fiscal Policy legislation. Economists refer to these policies as the "main institutional pillars for macroeconomic management and consolidation" (Economic Summary of Brazil 2005) in Brazil. The inflation targeting framework has been adopted by Brazil in 1999 after putting in place a floating exchange rate regime. This requires the