Chysanthemums By John Steinbecks Essays - The Chrysanthemums, Elisa

Chysanthemums By John Steinbecks At first glance John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" seems to be a story about a woman whose niche is in the garden. Upon deeper inspection the story has strong notes of feminism in the central character Elisa Allen. Elisa's actions and feelings reflect her struggle as a woman trying and failing to emasculate herself in a male dominated society. Elisa is at her strongest and most proud in the garden and becomes weak when placed in feminine positions such as going out to dinner with her husband. Steinbeck smartly narrates this woman's frequent shifts between femininity and masculinity over a short period of time. In the opening of the story Elisa is emasculated by the description of her clothing. She wears "a man's black hat pulled low down over her eyes, clodhopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron..." (paragraph 5). When Elisa's husband Henry comes over and compliments her garden and ability to grow things Elisa is smug with him and very proud of her skill with the flowers. Her "green thumb" makes her an equal in her own eyes. When Elisa's husband asks her if she would like to go to dinner her feminine side comes out. She is excited to go eat at a restaurant and states that she would much rather go to the movies than go see the fights, she "wouldn't like the fight's" at all (paragraph 21). Elisa is taken aback with her own submissiveness and quickly becomes preoccupied with her flowers as soon as her husband leaves. When the drifter comes and asks Elisa for work to do she is stern with him and refuses him a job. She acts as a man would to another strange man and becomes irritated. When he persists in asking her she reply's "I tell you I have nothing like that for you to do" (paragraph 46). The drifter mentions Elisa's chrysanthemums and she immediately loosens up as "the irritation and resistance melt(ed) from her face" (paragraph 51). The drifter feigns great interest in Elisa's chrysanthemums and asks her many questions about them. He tells her he knows a lady who said to him "if you ever come across some nice chrysanthemums I wish you'd try to get me a few seeds" (paragraph 56). Elisa is overjoyed by any interest in her flowers and gives the man chrysanthemum sprouts to bring to his friend. Her bubbly enthusiasm for her flowers is blatantly feminine in characteristic. When the drifter leaves Elisa seems like a transformed woman. She is feeling strong emotions for him. She is intrigued by the way he lives on the road and wishes"women could do such things" (paragraph 80). As she watches him leave her emotions are displayed: "Elisa stood in front of the wire fence watching the slow progress of the caravan. Her shoulders were, straight, her head thrown back, her eyes half closed, so that the scene came vaguely into them. Her lips moved silently, forming the words ?Good-bye----good-bye.' Then she whispered, ?That's a bright direction. There's a glowing there'" (paragraph 92). As Elisa retreats into her house to get ready for her night out with her husband she is truly feminized. She bathes and "primps" carefully, putting on "her newest under-clothing and her nicest stockings and the dress which was the symbol of her prettiness" (paragraph 94). She is pleased with the way she looks. As Elisa's husband Henry comes outside and comments on her beauty Elisa quickly stiffens. "What do you mean by ?nice?'" she asks him (paragraph 100). Elisa is taken aback by this feminine term to describe her. Henry replaces the word nice with "strong and happy" and she is satisfied with the exchange of words (paragraph 100). She boasts that she is stronger than she ever knew she was. As Elisa and Henry drive down the road her strength is quickly abolished. "Far ahead on the road Elisa saw a dark speck. She knew" (paragraph 108). Seeing the chrysanthemums lying on the side of the road is a hard slap in the face for Elisa. She feels weak, betrayed and feminine. She has no desire to try and be strong. She turns her head away from Henry so that he can "not see that she was crying weakly--- like an old woman" (paragraph 121). Elisa's desperation to be a person that she can not be is touching. Steinbeck makes it very easy to relate to this woman's struggle for strength and contentment in a life that

Negative Population essays

Negative Population essays Negative population growth can bring difficulties to a nation. To keep from getting into negative population everyone would have to have at least two kids and few people would have to have three. Children basically take the place of their parent when they die at a ripe old age and the population would roughly stay the same. Most, if not all nations depend on how many people, and in what ways the people the nation has contribute to that nation. If the population decreases, then the value of property would decrease, social security would lessen, and the economy would be less productive. This would affect everyone sooner or later. The property of value would diminish because property value only goes as far as people are willing to pay for it. No matter how much you spend on something, its value may not always be the same. For example, lets say Ben Jones buys a brand new car. He then drives it off the lot and instantly loses a couple thousand on that car. It is now considered a used car and less people would be willing to pay and buy that car. The same with property, its value changes in different circumstances. In another predicament, less social security would be given to senior citizens. No matter how much they have worked all their lives, it is nearly impossible to give them their fully deserve money if less people are there to pay taxes. For some people, that might be the only way they can get money. The government surely wouldnt have enough money to give because the government benefits and gets its money from the taxes as well. If the people pay more taxes, on the other hand, citizens would be striving to pay for their familys food and the food of others. Many people will be retiring in the next few years because of the baby boom that went on in the 1940s and 1950s after World War II and this might be a problem in years to come. Another problem that we might have to tackle is that the economy ...

Human origins, human problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human origins, human problems - Essay Example The paper is summarized in a concluding paragraph and Harvard referencing style has been used properly. 2. Introduction to the Hobbit Before going into the details of the subject matter, let’s first get to understand what Homo floresiensis actually is. Homo floresiensis, literally meaning Man of Flores, was discovered by Michael Moore’s team at the Liang Bua cave1 on the island of Flores in Indonesia2 on September 2003. Nicknamed as the Hobbit, it is believed to be a species known for its small sized body and brain whose fossils, according to archeologists, have been found somewhere 38,000 to 18,000 years ago3. More specifically speaking, the size is said to be â€Å"only about 1 meter in height and fully bipedal, with a very small brain size of 417cc†4. Homo floresiensis may be called contemporaries of Homo sapiens. Scientists suggest that since it is usual that large mammals may exist on islands in their dwarf form, hence Homo floresiensis may also be a dwarf f orm of Homo erectus. Mayell5 states that the skulls of the tiny humans were the size of grapefruits and they lived on pygmy elephants, Komodo dragons, and big rats found on the island. 3. Homo Floresiensis (LB1) in Human Evolution 3.1. ... The found specimen, LB1, contains leg bones, hands, feet, pelvis, and other remains which are both primitive and derived. LB1 is said to be the fossil of an adult who might be the age of 30. An analysis of its pelvis revealed that it was the skeleton of a female. It would have been a bit larger on size if it was a male although all fossil found so far are of the same size as LB1. Since, the individual was of young age, the bones of the skeleton had not fossilized as yet and are reported to be in the consistency of mashed potatoes or wet blotting paper. The brain size is as small as 380cc that is a chimpanzee’s brain’s size. With the fossils of LB1, some stone tools were also found which a homini with such a small sized brain cannot make. Thus the tools are believed to be created by Homo sapiens. Anthropologists, for example, Peter Brown, Michael Morwood and their colleagues argue about LB1 that â€Å"it was contemporaneous with modern humans (Homo sapiens) on Floresâ⠂¬ 6. 3.2. Evolution Homo floresiensis are said to have evolved from Homo erectus and the result is a tremendous decrease in the body and brain size. Because of the reduced brain size, archeologists also suggest that the â€Å"floresiensis might actually have evolved from something smaller, such as the Dmanisi hominids found in Georgia, some of which have brain sizes between 600 and 700 cc, smaller than the 800-900cc typical of early erectus†7. Also, when stone tools were found on another location in Flores in 1998, it was said that these tools may be the creation of Homo erectus because these were the pre-sapiens hominids existing in Indonesia who are thought to have crossed the sea-passage that separates Flores from Java. Some archeologists believe that these

Texas Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Texas Government - Essay Example It required clinics that performed abortion to meet surgical standards as those in hospital-style surgical centers and mandated that a doctor have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility where he or she performed abortions (National Women Corporate Center). Democrats and abortion rights advocates, in a bid to stop the legislation, said that this law could result to most of the 42 clinics in the state which performed abortions to close as they would incur a lot of expenses in a bid to be licensed as to perform abortion: expensive renovations or relocations to meet equipment and architectural standards (National Women Corporate Center). Given that the legislature was controlled by the Republicans then, passing of the law a simple task as seen on the concept map. By passing the anti-abortion bill, it went against the woman’s fourteenth amendment right to choose to terminate pregnancy before vitality. This was clearly a violation of women’s constitutional right. This law also denied a woman the ability to make an extremely personal medical decision. In addition, mandatory ultrasound laws presented disrespect for women’s decision making abilities and clinical judgment of a doctor. In 2013, Texas passed laws requiring abortion providers to have admission privileges at hospitals. This law clearly gave hospitals more powers than doctors. Passing the laws that many clinics did not meet the stated surgical standards, requiring them to be upgraded to the expected standards, resulted to many clinics being closed. This deprived the women fundamental constitutional rights. In Texas the district court judge blocked this provision from going into effect, this decision was reversed by the appellate court and U.S. Supreme Court did not reinstate the district court’s injunction (Besset, 6). Although the law is in effect, this case is still under

Action Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Action Paper - Assignment Example Peter, the sales manager, supported the general manager’s suggestion. Because I had been given an obligation to solve the problem, I proposed that the right people to ask in order to discover where problem was were the striking workers. All of them agreed with me. I went on and interviewed several employees who were on strike by that time. The purpose of this was to clarify as well as identify what caused the strike. Employees aired out their grievances that helped me to understand the real problem. I informed the rest of management body members about what caused workers to go on strike without issuing a notice. I suggested that for us to be surer about causes of the issue at hand there was a need to research more about what employees gave as their complaints. I invited all employees whom I had interviewed earlier, to give more details about their grievances. They stated how some of their grievances started, when it started, and their suggestions concerning the best way in which they wished their issues should be handled. After doing further inquiries about the problem, I presented the results to the general manager in addition to members of management body. At this point, we were sure about root causes of the strike. Together with my colleagues, we discussed about how we could solve the problem effectively, and within a short period to prevent more losses that our company was experiencing at that moment. James proposed that we invite all striking workers for negotiation. He also said that at the time of negotiation, workers were to be given promises that their issues were going to be solved as soon as they get back to job. Peter suggested that the best way to deal with the problem was to issue sacking threats to workers who will not report on duty as soon as possible. I disagreed with these suggestions and recommended formation of a special team that will deal with that issue without interfering with company’s way of

Should America Issue A Domestic Moratorium?

Should America Issue A Domestic Moratorium? Matthew Evan McElwain Thesis It is a well-known fact that America is the most militarily powerful nation on the planet Earth, and though some may argue it, our ability to intervene globally is the ultimate proof of this, as well as our ceaseless victories throughout wars in history, including the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, and the current ongoing War on Terror. However, it brings into question the morality and sensibility of maintaining such a massive offensive force, which is what shall be analyzed in this paper. Introductory Information First and foremost, it is imperative that the definition of moratorium is defined. A moratorium is said to mean a  suspension of activity (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). With this in mind, it calls into perspective the entirety of this papers concept. A complete cease upon militant interventionism and expenditure within the United States of America. As it currently stands, the budget of the United States Armed Forces stands at $585.2 billion for the fiscal year of 2016 (United States Department of Defense Budget Request Fiscal Year 2016), which is the most recent recording of it. This points towards the fact that the United States of America spends more money upon its armed forces than the 6 nations beneath us combined, with 5 of them acting as our allies and the other a nation with which we commence trade, who combined spend only $572.6 billion. (John U. Nef, War and Human Progress). Military Budget According to the United States Department of Defense, America spends $100,000 on each newly trained soldier per year, including their equipment, feeding them, and deploying them to their stations within the continental United States and overseas military bases owned and operated by the United States of America (John U. Nef, War and Human Progress). Since entering just Iraq, America now spends $4.3 billion per month in Iraq, and each soldier deployed overseas costs anywhere between $850,000 to $1.4 million per year (Larry Shaughnessy, One Soldier, One Year), and this doesnt include the maintenance of artillery, vehicles, and armaments within the country and across the world. The maintenance of all cruise missiles is $830,000, for Abrams tanks, the military standard, $6,210,000, and F-22 Raptor, the most common stealth plane in the United States Armed Forces, $150,000, each B-2 Stealth Bomber, $1.01 billion, Virginia Class Submarines, $2.3 billion, and for each individual of the 10 aircraft carriers owned by America, $13.5 billion (J. William Harbard, MilitaryEducation.org). This is a direct confirmation of the military-industrial complex that Former President of the United States of America, Dwight D. Eisenhower, forewarned about in his speech to the American people in 1961, suggesting that America, while free, when faced with the Cold War, would proceed to develop into a nation whose entire economy is meant to support the military, rather than the military develop to protect the citizens of the United States (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Public Papers of the Presidents). With this all in mind, it becomes extremely apparent that slashing of the military budget is an inevitably solid concept, rooted in the beliefs of former presidents and the modern citizens of the United States of America that America must make strides towards generalized demilitarization. Imperialism America has a long-standing history of Imperialism, although, not of the colonial form, militant imperialism. America is, for all intents and purposes, in the business of building itself up to step upon any and all who oppose it, with members of the United States Armed Forces being some of the most patriotic in the world, a particular famous quote being, I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country. (Captain Nathan Hale) The United States became an empire in 1945. It is true that in the Spanish-American War, the United States intentionallytook control of the Philippines andCuba. It is also true that it began thinking of itself as an empire, but it really was not. Cuba and the Philippines were the fantasy of empire, and this illusion dissolved during World War I, the subsequent period of isolationism and the Great Depression. The genuine American empire that emerged thereafter was a byproduct of other events. There was no great conspiracy. In some ways, the circumstances of its creation made it more powerful. The dynamic of World War II led to the collapse of the European Peninsula and its occupation by the Soviets and the Americans. The same dynamic led to theoccupation of Japan and its direct governance by the United States as a de facto colony, with Gen. Douglas MacArthur as viceroy (George Freidman, Coming to Terms With the American Empire). With the occupation of Japan following wartime efforts, America truly crossed the boundary, having annihilated the chance of the continuation of the Empire of Japan via the force of nuclear fire and subsequent eradication of their hierarchal culture, America finally moved on to the status of an empire, founded on unbridled economic strength and military power following World War II, the America of the 19th Century was lost during these two World Wars. Our culture was, for the most part, shifted towards the right, with conservativism and strength of nation the most important value to the United States of America as we as a nation entered the Cold War against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union). Franklin Roosevelts vision of a neocolonial world system with US hegemony and cooperation among the global powers, including the Soviet Union, was cast aside by the ideological construction of the Cold War, which defined communism as evil and expansionist, requiring the defense of democracy through a permanent military preparedness. A liberal-conservative consensus emerged. There was wide agreement on the militarist application of Keynesian economic principles, facilitating the growth of the economy and the capacity for military intervention anywhere in the world. Conservatives as well as liberals ended up supporting this approach, which reduced the differences between the two to the dimension and the quality of the intervention of the state in the economy, with neither side rejecting its tax collector-investor function in the production of arms (Arboleya 2008:133). And there was consensus based on Cold War ideological premises. In foreign policy, the distance between liberals and conservatives was reduced to the point of converting Roosevelt into the last traditional liberal that occupied the White House. As liberalism moved toward militant anti-communism in the context of the Cold War, liberalism ceased to be an alternative ideological current for foreign policy, expressed on the basis of a different political agenda. Militarism united both currents, and although differences persisted between conservatives and liberals in regard to the procedures to be utilized, nearly no one questioned the strategic importance of US expansionism. Isolationism became obsolete during the Second World War. The United States no longer was separated from the rest of the world by the ocean or by anything. Like the dollar, its soldiers appeared everywhere (Arboleya 2008:138) (Charles McKelvey, The Cold War and Imperialism). Militant Globalism At the height of the Cold War, the threat of Soviet invasion lurked constantly in the minds of Western Europeans. Their fears were not unfounded: a majority of the land that lay to the east of the Iron Curtain had become subjected to the direct influence of the Kremlin. The Kremlins coercive arm, the Red Army, stood at the ready along multiple European borders. It was in this context that the governments of the Western world sought to pool their collective military forces in order to better withstand any potential Soviet aggression. Thus, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (or NATO) was born. Unified in their solidarity against the communist menace, the member states of NATO shared common purpose. The eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, however, deprived them of this common purpose: no longer was there an imminent, existential threat to the capitalist countries of Western Europe. Many would argue that NATO, with its original rationale for existence made inapplicable years ago, is irrelevant in the modern era. Yet this could not be further from the truth. NATO is still a highly relevant organization within the framework of contemporary international affairs due to the active role it plays in collective security,humanitarian intervention, and international politics, and therefore will become all the more prominent in the future. In the post-Cold War era, NATO is becoming increasingly indispensable to its member states as the West transitions from a security landscape defined by a single, dominant threat, to one defined by a diverse range of credible threats. As previously explained, NATO was originally established to respond to the possibility of a Soviet offensive against Western Europe. Its sole objective was to protect the borders of its constituent states from unwelcome intrusion by the Eastern bloc. In these circumstances, few additional issues were of particular concern to NATO. This alliance against a mutual Soviet nemesis would persist throughout the duration of the Cold War, right up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, once the U.S.S.R. withered away into the pages of global history, NATO suffered from what some characterize as an identity crisis, (Friedan, Lake, and Schultz 187). Stripped of its source of strategic unity, NATO had no inherent reason to exist (Neil Misra, The Relevance of NATO in the Modern World). Neil Misra argues that NATO was born of mutual defense, and to dissuade communistic rhetoric in the Western Hemisphere, that the world most needed somebody to stand against communism, as the ideology couldnt work in all countries. Arguable, it seems he is correct, as in a planned economy (and a communist society is a planned economy, there is some sort of central bureau that has to make decisions about what to produce), its left to bureaucrats and planners. Worse, there are no prices in a pure Communist society, no indicators bringing together the information of thousands or even millions of people on the subject. How do you know how many cars, how much bread, how many wrenches and pens and notebooks to produce? How do you decide how many of any of thousands of goods and services to produce? You dont. The economy fails to function, stuck in a layer of juxtaposition that it cannot remove itself from due to the nature of the established bureaucracy. And herein lies the problem. We find with significant obviousness that America has not only consistently and in a manner that is completely unchecked flexed its metaphorical muscles for the sake of military and political gain, but has determined with great affluence that it deserves the right to maintain its place as the strongest sovereign entity within the United States. Recently, with the increase by President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, of the military budget by $52.6 billion, America has continued towards this path of imperialistic doctrine, and has shown that it does not plan for there to be a cease in such military action across the globe, especially considering the new conflagration of events with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. It is, without a doubt, apparent that America take action and begin to make strides towards stricter regulation of our Armed Forces. Proposed Solutions It is apparent that a moratorium must go into effect, as that would halt our expansionist policies and put a limit upon how much we grow militarily, this means that enlistment would be put on halt, and funding to the military cut, to a respectable 54%, and current service members moved into other government jobs or cut and given extremely well thoughtout benefits so that they may work on pursuing a better, more fulfilling life, post service. Another possible solution to this issue would be the disarmament of the United States of America, including, but not limited to, decommissioning old vessels, giving our old armaments to our allies, and removing funding for newer technology. The United States could also recommission the militarys purpose and put it towards funding and aiding humanitarian causes, and fulfilling global treaties, as well as move the United States into a state of armed neutrality. The United States of Americas military and military budget are both so massive that they could easily be used for the purpose of nation-building and gentrification in countries that are less developed than the United States of America. Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that the United States Armed Forces needs a mass downsizing, either in the form of budget cuts, disarmament, the removal of our military bases in foreign nations, a refocus on Humanitarian Effort, or the decommissioning of our forces so that the military can be put into a smaller, more justifiable size. Conclusion From the written and spoken testaments of several sources, as well as the general opinion of our allied countries, citizens, and politicians, it is apparent that America must slow or cease military expenditure and military operations and divert funding from the military towards more useful sources, such as domestic gentrification, education, space exploration programs, healthcare, or civil affairs. America must lead the world as a true show of democracy, freedom and liberty, without succumbing to globalist imperialism, international rhetoric or the whims of our politicians. It is absolutely imperative that America begin to make a change, lest we begin to sacrifice the survival of the citizen, for the survival of our Armed Forces. Ultimately, funding must be cut and a moratorium put upon military-based operations, as well as a cut to supporting our allies militaries. America must demilitarize. Bibliography    Freidman, George. Coming to Terms With the American Empire. Stratfor.com. N.p., 04 Apr. 2015. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. Misra, Neil. The Relevance of NATO in the Modern World. SIR Journal. N.p., 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. Webster, Noah. New Collegiate Dictionary. A Merriam-Webster. Springfield, MA: G. C. Merriam, 1963. Print. McKelvey, Charles. The Cold War and Imperialism. Global Learning. N.p., 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. Frieden, Jeffry A., David A. Lake, and Kenneth A. Schultz. World Politics: Interests, Interactions, Institutions. New York: W.W. Norton, 2016. Print. Nef, John Ulric. War and Human Progress: An Essay on the Rise of Industrial Civilization. New York: Norton, 1978. Print. Eisenhower, Dwight D. The Cumulated Indexes to the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961. Millwood, NY: KTO, 1978. Print. Shaughnessy, Larry. One Soldier, One Year. CNN. N.p., 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

Realism vs. Romanticism in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essays

     Ã‚   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic tale â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is a good example of a short story embodying both characteristics of realism and characteristics of romanticism. M. H. Abrams defines romantic themes in prominent writers of this school in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being five in number: (1) innovations in the materials, forms and style; (2) that the work involve a â€Å"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings†; (3) that external nature be a persistent subject with a â€Å"sensuous nuance† and accuracy in its description; (4) that the reader be invited to identify the protagonist with the author himself; and (5) that this be an age of â€Å"new beginnings and high possibilities† for the person (177-79).    Let us examine â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† in light of the above. First of all, Hawthorne was a real innovator in his use of the psychological approach to characters within a story. A. N. Kaul considers Hawthorne â€Å"preeminently a ‘psychological’† writer – â€Å"burrowing, to his utmost ability, into the depths of our common nature, for the purposes of psychological romance. . . .† (2). Q. D. Leavis says: â€Å"Hawthorne has imaginatively recreated for the reader that Calvinist sense of sin. . . . But in Hawthorne, by a wonderful feat of transmutation, it has no religious significance, it is as a psychological state that it is explored† (37). The reader experiences most of the story through the eyes and feelings of the protagonist, Goodman. In the following passage the reader is allowed, as is typical, to read his thoughts:    "Poor little Faith!" thought he, for his heart smote him. "What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was troubl... ... Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† 1835. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/goodmantext.html    James, Henry. Hawthorne. http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/nhhj1.html    Kaul, A.N. â€Å"Introduction.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Leavis, Q.D. â€Å"Hawthorne as Poet.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.      Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al.   New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995.    Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.   

Democracy in the USA Essay

Text of the US Constitution does not contain the word â€Å"democracy†. The U.S. Constitution was not a perfect document. Originally it contained provisions that are can be recognized as ambiguous. â€Å"The US Founding Fathers† did not create democracy in the modern sense of the word, but the republic. They did not fully trust the wisdom of the American people and their ability to make sound decisions. For many years America was considered to be an ideal democratic country, however in recent years the situation has drastically changed. Among the most important challenges facing America today is the growing social inequality, discrimination on racial, ethnic or religious grounds, practice of indefinite detention of prisoners without charges, judicial bias, operating outside the law in prison, use of torture, the impact of government agencies on the trials, weak penitentiary system, infringement of freedom of speech, Internet censorship, legalized corruption, limiting of citizens’ voting rights, acts of intolerance based on race and ethnicity, the violation of the rights of children, extraterritorial application of the U.S. law, leading to human rights violations in other countries, kidnapping, tracking dissidents, disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators, application of the death penalty to minors and the mentally ill, etc. At the same time, the international legal obligations of the United States, continues to be reduced to participation in only three of the nine core human rights treaties, providing control mechanisms. The USA has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006. At the same time, Americans continue to wrongfully position themselves as an absolute authority and unquestioned leader in the field of democracy and human rights. They are engaged in mentoring, trying to teach others how to build their democracy and ensure human rights. Of ten they do this roughly, ignoring the basic international law principle of state sovereignty. Often their attempts to take care of human rights in other countries is bordering on outright interference in the internal affairs. At the same time, in the USA the situation with human rights remains very complicated. Fundamental political rights of Americans in today’s society, are not only exempt from the archaic elements, but they become even more vulnerable. Elections cause the most serious complaints. The U.S. president is still not elected by direct popular election, and by the Electoral College. Many rightly believe this system obsolete and undemocratic. With it, in particular, the voice of a resident of Delaware or North Dakota has mathematically much more weight than the voice of the voters in the larger states, such as California or New York. With this system, three times in the history of the U.S. the candidate with fewer votes than his opponent was elected the President (George W. Bush in 2000). And Gerald Ford has never been elected. At first, he was co-opted by the Republican National Committee instead of thieving Vice President Spiro Agnew, and then automatically took place of Richard Nixon who departed from his position because of the Watergate scandal. In general, the U.S. political system is based on the absolute monopoly of the two political parties which is far enough from the European-style multi-party democracy. More than 5.8 million Americans (2.5% of all potential voters) are deprived of voting rights because of a criminal record. This means that in general every 40th American citizen has no right to vote, among them every 13th African American (7.7% of total), and in some states, such as Kentucky, Virginia and Florida, more than 20 % of black Americans are deprived of voting rights. According to the Census Bureau, of the 75 million eligible citizens who did not use this right in the presidential election in 2008, 60 million were not able to do so due to lack of registration, which is associated with many cumbersome procedures. Currently only the states of Missouri, South Dakota and New Mexico, as well as the District of Columbia have laws that allow the access of international observers during the elections. In other regions, the issue of the activities of foreign observers is in the competence of local authorities. The implicit control over the population is being enhanced. The current U.S. law, in effect, allows the intelligence community to carry out a total censorship of all electronic communications of foreign and U.S. citizens without a warrant. It also requires telecommunications companies to assist the Government in gathering intelligence about foreign objects and to keep the information gathered in secret. Currently under consideration in Congress, the Cyber ​​Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – CISPA, according to human rights activists, practically does not limit the possibility of the U.S. government to monitor web browsing of individuals. Freedom of speech is being limited. For attacks on journalists covering the action of the Occupy Wall Street movement, NGO â€Å"Reporters without Borders† in January 2012 lowered its rating of the U.S. in its annual global press freedom index for 27 items at once and put the U.S. on the 47th position (57th with the territories in which Washington exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction). According to an investigation of the Coalition of Independent Lawyers (Protest and Assembly Rights Project), only in New York from September 2011 to July 2012 at least 18 accredited reporters have been arrested. The site WikiLeaks was the subject of persecution by the U.S. administration in retaliation for the publication of the diplomatic dispatches. According to the latest Google report on the availability of services of the company, during the period from July to December 2011, the amount of requests for removal of content received by it from the U.S. government has increased by 103% compar ed to the previous reporting period. U.S. law enforcement agencies requested removal from YouTube video sharing hosting of 1.4 thousand videos that â€Å"contain insults.† 6.3 thousand queries required disclosure data of more than 12.2 thousand users of this company. 93% of these requirements were met. Quite specific topic is absolutely abhorrent practice of extrajudicial killings abroad. As part of the â€Å"war on terror† in Washington highly specific approaches have been developed, the application of which caused not only massive violation of many international legal norms, but also killing thousands of innocent people. Crimes against humanity committed by U.S. soldiers abroad often do not receive proper legal assessment of the national judicial system. Illegal abduction and detention of people remain in the arsenal of U.S. intelligence. In September 2006, President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons. As it became known later, in 2002-2003. secret services built about ten such detention facilities, including in foreign countries – Afghanistan, Iraq, Thailand, Morocco, Djibouti, Romania, Lithuania and Poland. In January 2012, a special prison at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) â€Å"celebrated† its 10th anniversary. U.S. President B arack Obama, despite his campaign promise, failed to close it because of counteraction of Congress. The practice of torture condemned by most countries of the world remains legalized in the United States. April 6, 2009 the Department of Justice published four memorandums, prepared in 2002-2005 by the lawyers of this agency. They thoroughly substantiated the legality of application of harsh interrogation techniques to prisoners of CIA prisons in terms of U.S. and international law. Along with other human rights violations in the United States numerous cases of police brutality have been recorded. Human rights activists note that the level of sexual crimes among American police is much higher than among the U.S. population as a whole. Mass practice in the United States have become systematic violations of human rights in detention. Business, which uses the prisoners’ labor flourishes in the USA. One in 10 prisoners in this country is contained in a commercial prison. The other fact demonstrating the low level of democracy in the USA are as follows: 1. In 33 U.S. states the death penalty is still permitted and applied; 2. Hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. are abused which results in some cases (in 2010 – 1.6 thousand) to a lethal outcome; 3. In the U.S., social and economic rights are seriously disrupted. In the country there are 12.8 million unemployed, 40 million people do not have health insurance, 14.5% of families are experiencing food shortages; 4. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the USA has one of the highest levels of income inequality; 5. One of the most rightless segments of the population of America are migrants, who make up at least half of all those employed in the agricultural sector of the country; This brief review shows that the issue of human rights, facing all of humanity, is acutely relevant for the modern United States. All claims of the United States to be the moral leader in this area require a lot of preliminary work to clear own American â€Å"Augean stables.† Works Cited Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Study on Targeted Killings, Human Rights Council, 9-11, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/14/24/Add.6 (May 28, 2010).

To what extent did the Cold War play a role in the 1950s in catalyzing the Iranian revolution in 1979

To what extent did the Cold War play a role in the 1950s in catalyzing the Iranian revolution in 1979 Introduction The cold war is a historical event that took place between1945 to 1960. This is a period where there was an intense conflict between the nations in the Soviet Union (communist nations) and the democratic nations (for example, United States of America). The war is perceived to have started because the democratic nations and the communist’s nations had two different systems of government and neither of the two governments could compromise theirs to follow another (Gasiorowski 1998, 6).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on To what extent did the Cold War play a role in the 1950s in catalyzing the Iranian revolution in 1979? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other factors that contributed to the war include; economic indifference where U.S wanted the world to practice free trade while the Soviet union wanted nothing to do with international trade, the power rivalry where each of the nations wanted to dominate the other, another cause of the war was that the Russians, a member of the Soviet Union had extended Its influence to Europe which displeased many politicians in the united states advocating for the resistance against Russian expansion. It was then in 1947 when the United States secretary of state, George Marshall announced that the United States would aid in the regaining of a well economic trend in the world but laid conditions that implied the European countries that were to get their aid from U.S would have to disclose their economic records to the united states a move that the Soviet union regarded as intrusion of states affair. Together with many other factors the Soviet Union declined U.S offer but America, Britain and other nations got together to form the military alliances that resulted to the cold war. When it came to Middle East, the Americans and British had their own reason to not favor the influence of the Russian spreading across the region. Britain and t he United States had certain interests on the Iranian soil including the oilfields. To prevent Iran from falling into the hands of the USSR and to recover the oil company, the British and Americans responded by helping in the coup. The Iranian coup de tat of 1953 set the stage for this Islamic revolution that would come twenty six years later. When the weak Mosaddeq’s government nationalized a British oil company, Afterwards in 1979, the virulent anti American Islamic regime ousted the Shah, who was an American sympathizer. It is thus practical enough to hypothesize that the coup, brought about by the cold war (Amuzegar 1991, 28; Curtis 2007). Iranian revolution is also called the Islamic revolution. It can also be referred to as the 1979 revolution. 1979 is the year which the Iranian monarch was ended by the emergence of the Islamic Republic. This phenomenon was preceded by demonstration against the monarch in the year 1978 (Ruud 2008, 454).Advertising Looking for re search paper on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The main difference with this revolution and other world revolutions was that this revolution was not caused by normal factors like the under privileged classes opposing oppression from the elite class of people nor was it because of issues of inequality, but it was seen different from other revolutions experienced there before in countries like France and the US. This revolution was supported by the whole society from the rich to the poor all these people revolted against their own state governance (Iran Chamber Society, 2010). Despite this lack of customary causes, the revolution resulted into rigorous changes within a short time. It was a massive and popular revolution that ended up toppling the system of monarch led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Thus, the revolution oversaw the replacement of the modernizing monarch by a theocracy. It is therefore believed that the cold war was a recipe for the Islamic revolution. Summary of the evidence This study tries to explain how the major superpowers who were once allies during the Second World War influenced the emergence of the Iranian revolution. As a matter of fact, the end of the Second World War was a precursor to the beginning of the cold war. As already stated, Cold War started as a result of hostile relationships between the United States of America and the former USSR. The conflict arose due to issues related to sharing the plunder of the Second World War. Since Iran was one of the victims of the plunder, the United States wanted to avoid the fall of Iran into Russia’s hands. The U.S. and Britain strengthened their interests in Iranian oil by overthrowing the democratically elected civil government and helping an American friendly government seize control of Iran. By doing this, Americans were trying to spread their influence into Iranian soil thereby blocking the USSR influence (Nayeri Nasab 2006, 7). However, more than two decades after, the Iranian government faced strong rebellion because of its monarch system and the anti-American movements, in 1979; the same government of the Shah was overthrown by the Iranian revolution that oversaw the reinstatement of a religious system of governance that persists up to date (Houghton 2001, 74). The Iranian coup de tat of 1953 The Americans and the British joined in the cold war in order to have control over the Iranians oil, because at the set time the Russians were gaining control over Iranian oil fields (Gottfried 2003, 18). Mosaddeq and his colleagues wanted to attain a complete oil independence to establish a lasting democratic government in Iran. This objective was obliterated by the 1953 coup de tat that was carried out by a combination of domestic and foreign forces. The 1953 coup marked the first important turning point in post war Iranian history (Gasiorowski Byrne 2004, 11).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on To what extent did the Cold War play a role in the 1950s in catalyzing the Iranian revolution in 1979? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After Iranian Prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, was ousted from office, Shah Pahlavi assumed his position. Shah Pahlavi was actively involved in the coup of 1953. He was a pro-American figure who received a lot of support from the United States in return. After the Iranian coup, he began projects that aimed at westernizing Iran in all sectors including academic institutions. The shah wanted the universities to follow after the highly esteemed United States universities. The 1960’s saw the adoption import substitution industrialization approach to development. Enormous efforts were being made to industrialize Iran by building factories to ensure that goods no longer had to be imported to Iran. Thus, he wanted the goods to be produced within its borders (Wagner, H. 46) . As a result, there were several huge construction projects that were launched in Tehran. Roads, dams, railways, airports and hospitals were built because of this initiative. Oil output also increased, thereby guaranteeing greater revenue for Iran. To expound on the success of the Shah’s ambitious project, Iran was able to rise from the smallest oil producing and exporting country in 1960, during the formation of OPEC, to one of the largest in 1967. The shah saw Iran’s oil as a way for the country to change the global political dynamics (Hogan 1992, 153; Kinzer 2008, 59). His strength of leadership was obliterated after the Islamic revolution that oversaw his downfall. Evaluation of sources During the research of the study, a number of reference books were used including other reference material like the periodicals in the internet, and journals about Iranians Revolution among others. Specifically, from an online periodical titled â€Å"MacroHistory and world report: The Iranian revolution† the author has cited the precise happenings dates as to why and how the revolution took place in Iran. The article has elaborated profoundly the happenings before up to the time the revolution was said to have taken place at a point the author states, â€Å"After returning to power in 1954, the shah launched an effort to modernize Iran economically and socially. He was seeking to balance his increase in power with changes, which would be favored by the normal Iran people.† Another reference material used was the Encyclopedia of the Cold War, Volume 1 that clearly brings out the facts about Iranian revolution. The book is written in simple English that as a reader I was able to understand it very well. It defines the historic times events between 1945 and 1991 when the United States was in collusion with a group of nations that dominated world politics the USSR.Advertising Looking for research paper on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More From this reading, discussions of how states joined together to act against the other in way to show who was more superior are clearly brought out it also examines how nations continuous anxiety arose, widened and eventually calmed down. The author of the book is keen to note the time line of each occurring event: â€Å"The 1960s and 1970s saw significant rise in the observance of religion in part as a reaction to Shah’s reforms whish directly targeted the clergy and the core supporters† (Wagner 2010, 53). He also examines the military (CIA) efforts that contributed to the success of the coup that heard planned on including the diplomatic help from states that saw Iran not falling into Russians’ hands together with the evolution of the political arrears in Iran not forgetting its impact to the people of Iran. Using a geopolitical style of writing, the author is able to capture the readers attention to try and help the reader get to know the perspective of all th e nations that participated in the cold war. From the two sources it is clear that as a researcher, is well equipped to analyze whether the Cold War had any impact to the revolution of Iran. The accounts produced were meaning full to the coming up with the study above. Without the referencing over the accounts mentioned in the study, the events would be seen as unclear occurrences that leaves a reader having doubts as to whether the events that have been mentioned are true or just a story has been made up (Macrohistory and world report, 2011). Analysis When doing the research going through the historical context is quite important as the researcher gathers information and facts necessary to support the research question. When using a historical context, one needs to note the precise dates to establish the sequence of events instead of having vague dates. Knowing the historical background of an event from a historical context makes it easier to analyze the event thoroughly and more a ccurately. Hence, by considering historical context during a study it means there is essential balanced view to critically analyze the event or happening since there is enough evidence to prove it’s a true happening and the information present is usually needed for its restoration. The analysis of a historical context forms the base of the study conducted. Conclusion The cold war between Russia, the United States and Britain, and the Mosaddeq government played a major role in the onset of the 1953 Iranian coup that led to the subsequent downfall of the Shah Pahlavi’s government and the revolution of Iran came to birth. Pahlavi was a pro-American figure who had good diplomatic relationship with the United States. As a result the United States through the CIA helped the Shah oust Mosaddeq from the prime minister’s position through an organized institutional coup. The main reason for this action was because Mosaddeq’s government had nationalized British prop erty. Mosaddeq’s government was also weak and the U.S. and Britain feared that Iran would fall into Russia’s hands. Shah Pahlavi succeeded in the coup and engaged in major infrastructural and economic developments. However, not every Iranian citizen benefited from his projects. Consequently, students started demonstrating thereby paving way for stronger anti-Shah campaigns. The Americans overlooked the strength of these anti-Shah protests. Mainly who were the conservative Shiite Muslims who wanted their nation to be governed using Islamic Law. This led to the Islamic revolution that oversaw the ousting of the Shah in 1979. The revolution in 1979 had been supported for by practically every person in the Iranian society. Though during that time there were conflicts within some Muslims groups to mention: Islamic tendencies that included Islamists, Marxist-Islamic and democratic-Islamic and Marxist-Leninist tendencies that included fada’I, Tudeh, Maoist, and others this conflict was seen not to be major as compared to the Shahs rule that they wanted to over through. These groups did not let their conflicts deter them from overthrowing Shahs governance. Instead, they united together in efforts to bring down the Shahs governance and overthrowing the state. Although there were several Muslims who were of no particular tendencies, they were also said to participate in the overthrowing of Shahs governance in Iran. These people were regarded as the modern middleclass people who single solidly objected the removal of shah but were threatened to be accused of treason if they didn’t join the rest of their Muslim brothers in removing Shah from power. References Amuzegar, J., 1991. The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution: The Pahlavis’ Triumph And Tragedy. New York: State University of New York Press. Curtis, M., 2007. The Coup in Iran, 1953. WordPress. Available through: http://markcurtis.wordpress.com/2007/02/12/the-coup-in-iran-1953/ . Ga siorowski, M. Byrne, M., 2004. Mohammad Mosaddeo and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Gasiorowski, M., 1998. The 1953 coup de tat in Iran. Department of political sciences, Louisiana State University. Available through: http://iran.sa.utoronto.ca/coup/web_files/markcoup.html . Gottfried, T., 2003. The cold war: the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty first century books. Hogan, M., 1992. The End of the Cold War: Its Meaning and Implications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Houghton, D., 2001. US Foreign Policy and the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Iran Chamber Society, 2010. A Short Account of 1953 Coup. Iran Chamber Society. Available through iranchamber.com/history/coup53/coup53p3.php . Kinzer, S. 2008. All the Shah’s Men: an American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Macrohistory and world report, 2011. The Iranian revolution. Macrohistor y and world report. Available through: fsmitha.com . Nayeri, K. Nasab, A., 2006. The Rise and fall of the 1979 Iranian Revolution: Its Lessons for Today. Google Documents. Available through: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:nMpiJqS5On0J:bibliotecavirtual.clacso.org.ar/ar/libros/cuba/if/marx/documentos/22/The%2520rise%2520and%2520fall%2520of%2520the%25201979.pdf+Nayeri,+Kamran+%26+Nasab,+Alireza.+The+rise+and+fall+of+the+1979+Iranian+revolution:+its+lessons+for+today.+March+31,+2006hl=engl=kepid=blsrcid=ADGEESio-Q0ParYr79ilCh68C71tLmuyCSiDi8Vc3Ffyuze0ofy6zhyVU-kT42UDEdrUQXSa7q-n_TOehoQdoGXZ0d4NCeEvfTa6sUwYGQg6GDVg8tU3olW7y2KctzJQ6GKV6Z2vpvk3sig=AHIEtbTqSpYaZaCfMwkKbRtJNuWcM2dk6Q . Ruud van D., 2008. Encyclopedia of the Cold War, volume 1. Philadelphia, PA: Tailor Francis. Wagner, H., 2010. The Iranian Revolution. New York: Infobase Publishing.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks Book Review

'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks Book Review Dear John is trademark Nicholas Sparks - romantic, sappy, sad, and redeeming. The book revolves around the love story of an army sergeant who falls in love shortly before 9/11. Dear John is one of Sparks most popular stories, and became known to an even wider audience after it was made into a movie in 2010 starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum.   Summary Dear John  starts in the present day, in terms of the books timeline, with John watching Savannah from afar. He is thinking about how much he loves her and why their relationship dissolved. Lost in a train of thought, John then takes the reader back in time and narrates the story of their love. The whole book is narrated by John, who joined the army to get away from his reclusive father and to straighten out. While he is on leave at home in Wilmington, North Carolina, he meets Savannah. They soon fall in love, but Johns time in the army post-9/11 weigh on the couples relationship. Review There is, unfortunately, not much more to say about the book other than its a predictable love story.  Dear John  has a pretty formulaic plot. Sparks writing is smooth and easy, but the characters are not memorable or complex. Furthermore, the love story is not very realistic. That being said, the characters are likable, if not particularly nuanced, and Johns relationship with his father creates a nice subplot. Although Sparks is one of the first to set the age-old boy meets girl love story in the modern, post-9/11 world, he does not delve into how the war affects the characters. In  Dear John, it could be any war keeping them apart. This specific war is not important. Overall,  Dear John  is a  quick, easy read that is not painful but also not extremely enjoyable to read. If you need  some beach reading, go ahead and borrow it. It will give you a few hours of  escape if nothing else. Recommended for those who like sappy romantic comedies, and at times tragedies, but not for those who like a little meat in their reading.  If you like previous books by Sparks, you will probably enjoy  Dear John.

Do you agree with Lord Nicholls' and Lord Millett's dissenting Essay

Do you agree with Lord Nicholls' and Lord Millett's dissenting judgments in Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2003] UKHL 62 - Essay Example Lords Hobhouse, Philips and Walker took the position that the initial contract was void altogether so that the innocent third party lost the protection provided for by Section 27 of the Hire Purchase Act 1964.1 The three Lords, relying on Section 29(4) of the Hire Purchase Act, 19642 held that since the initial contract provided for the identities of the parties to the sale and the person to whom the goods had been delivered was not a party to the contract, that contract was void. Lords Millert and Nichols, dissenting, took an entirely different approach and asserted that the plaintiff delivered the goods to the person they mistakenly took to be a party to the contract, but was nevertheless the party with whom they intended to pass title to.3 Therefore the initial contract was merely voidable. The overall tone of the dissenting decision reflects a willingness to overcome doctrines of contract law in such a way as to avoid leaving two essentially duped and innocent victims of a fraudster pitted against one another with the result that the most disadvantaged victim is left with no claim. Although the arguments submitted by the dissenting justices raise questions of fairness and equity, the majority decision illustrates that overcoming that unfairness is not supported by tenets of contract law. The rulings of the majority of the Lords appear to take a severe position against the consumer who trades in second-hand goods, it makes practical sense, since the risks associated with these kinds of purchases can be avoided by purchasing goods from authorised dealers. This approach is not only consistent with principles of contract law, it is also consistent with common sense. Any person dealing in used or second-hand goods accepts certain risks, one of which is the risk of gaining bad title or no title at all. The position taken by the two dissenting Lords are too focused on consequences for the

Role of NGO's Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Role of NGO's - Research Paper Example The island was claimed by Spain in 1492. In 200 years later, France forced the Spanish out and practiced farming there, which was aided by slave laborers, most of whom came from Guinea in West Africa. By 1791, the slaves pulled efforts together to oppose colonial rule. Towards the end of 1803, the French armies under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte ceded power and Haiti became independent in 1804. Immediately after the independence, the nation experienced serious problems of leadership and governance that has continued to destabilize the country up to date. The United States and other international community kept shifting between periods of engagement and non-engagement, but they did not offer Haiti any long-term solution its problems (Schwartz, 2008: 235). One of the most memorable leaders who have played a remarkable role in the country’s history is Aristide, who was ousted out of power in a coup by General Cedras Raoul in February 2004. Afterwards, a U.N. Security fore seen installation of interim force to restore order and form transitional government. Later, in 2006, Haiti held elections, but they were marred by violence after a run-off was called. In view of this background, it is clear that the crisis that is experienced in Haiti is mostly as a result of poor governance. This is especially as a result of lack of governmental capacity to serve the public effectively and efficiently. In particular, the government is left without the capacity to fight poverty or address the country’s most harmful impacts such as education and health, entrusting most of these functions to NGOs (Schwartz, 2008: 236). 1.2 Statement of Research Problem Most of Haitians are very poor, living on less than $2 a day, a situation that has been worsened by the inability of the Haitian government to provide basic services such as health care and education. This level of inefficiency by Haitian government was made evident in 2006, when the World Bank biennial ranked i t in the bottom 6 percent on government effectiveness and bottom 2 percent of countries on corruption (Buss, 2008: 256). Many NGOs commissioned by the international development community have attempted to bring Haiti on its foot, though they lack confidence in the government in performing its mandate especially regarding alleviation of poverty and improving the lives of Haitians. Similarly, the government circles raise complains that they are not consulted by the NGOs when choosing their projects. Most critics argue that many NGOs have failed to provide a long-term solution with their development projects, and rather opted to operate as relief agencies, providing temporary solutions such as giving poor citizens food on a daily basis (Haggerty, 1989: 25). With so many NGOs operating in Haiti, the role of government has been ignored, and the Haitian people have over relied on organizations that they did not elect into office. More so, the relationships between the NGOs and their donor s has continued to challenge the rights of the people of Haiti, yet these organizations have continued to amass a lot of wealth in the name of fighting poverty. One of the reasons given for the donors not dealing directly with NGOs rather than the government is the perception of widespread corruption in Haiti. There has been a discussion that the ongoing impression of widespread of corruption in the government can only be eliminated through promotion of good