Regional Problems and Urban Problems Experienced In UK Economy Essay Example for Free

Regional Problems and Urban Problems Experienced In UK Economy Essay United Kingdom economy is a developed economy. Developed economies experiences different challenges as its tries to sustain its operations, in this essay I shall write on the urban and regional problems experienced in the United Kingdom economy. According to Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2006) growth of the economy came along with increased migration to the cities where the economic activities were many. This migration strains the resources available such as the infrastructure of roads, railways, water and sewage systems, waste managements and sustainable supply of food and other consumable goods (Jacobs, 2006). Such straining of limited resources makes them more expensive as a result lives in the cities is becoming expensive by the day. There is also stiff competition for the available job opportunities as the local and migrants from other countries flock in the country in seek of Jobs. These ends up denying the locals who are not much skilled accessibility to Jobs which leads to most people being Jobless in cities which are expensive to sustain their livelihood they therefore result to crime. This is the reason why state of insecurity and crime is in increase as the economy grows. According to George, (2007) the regions surrounding such strong economies tend to dwindle because most of their experienced laborer seeks employment in the already developed economies because their compensations are much higher. This denies them a chance to develop as they brain washed. The performances of such economy and its effect in the region could be measured by use of Regional Economic Performance (PSA) target and Gross Value Added (GVA). Therefore there is need to strategize on how United Kingdom would be able to solve the regional and urban problems which they experience for its sustainability References George, C, 2007. ‘Regional Activity Relocation Problems In A Developing Economy’, Center of Economic Research. Vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 311-338 Jacobs, B, 2006. ‘Cities Under Stress: Problems of Development and Decline’, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 104 – 112. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2006), UK Presidency EU Ministerial Informal on Sustainable Communities, Available at http://www. communities. gov. uk/documents/cit

Ultimate Poverty Reduction Strategy Social Policy Essay

Ultimate Poverty Reduction Strategy Social Policy Essay A dynamic, growing global economy is the ultimate poverty reduction strategy (Colin Powell, July 2001). Discuss this assertion in the light of economic development in India and by reflecting on development theory and thinkers to inform analysis. The assertion of A dynamic, growing global economy is the ultimate poverty reduction strategy (Colin Powell, July 2001) has long been a controversial topic across the world. Truly, the economic growth is an essential implement to reducing poverty as Rodrik (2007) said Growth is the most powerful instrument for reducing poverty. The evidences, on the other hand, have been expressed the serious doubt that million of people are still living in poverty condition[1] which has intensively questioned whether the economic growth is really guaranteed poverty reduction for everyone. This essay carefully aims to focus on India economic growth and examines the development theory which has been applied as a tool behind its spectacular growth nowadays, called Liberalization. This is particularly concerned the period when India economic transformed from strict economic as Protectionism to Trade liberalization. Furthermore, it also attempts to focus on the impact of economic growth on poverty reduct ion in India in order to criticize the assertion above. At the last stage, I will focus on the meaning of poverty and argue in this essay on whether the economic growth data such as GDP, which is normally used to describe the economic growth situation, is actually be the right tool for the poverty reduction or not. India Economic Development First of all, the speed of economic growth in India at the present period has emerged as one of the fastest growing major economies along with China.[2] For a better understanding on India economic development, it is necessary to understand its background because based on historical of India in particular economy section, it has long evolution in itself. Focusing on long term period, India has undergone four steps of growth. During the colonial period, under the British rule, the overall record of economic performance was pretty dreadful. Per capita economic growth during the period 1870 to independence in 1947 was only 0.2% per year. Later, Nehru became the first prime minister; a strategy of democratic socialism was applied resulted in Protectionism which was highlighted on import substitution, business regulation, state intervention and central planning in 1947- 1970. In addition, there was a strong state control and licenses were strongly needed for everything as well as bank acc ount, money transfer and foreign investment all were required licenses. Obviously, there was a sluggish growth from both time under British Raj and Nehrus License Raj. However, there was a faster growth in 1970-1991 due to Green revolution which introduced new high-yield crop technology caused of income rising but economic growth was relatively slow in general (Sachs, 2005). It had become clear that that the states ambition of pushing the country into the front rank of the developing world had fallen far of its target, with seemingly few prospects of changing in the near future (Chibber, 2006, p.3). There are many critiques against India government due to powerless economic which was seemed to be the major obstacle of country development. Consequently, in the late 1980s, Rajiv Gandhi introduced market reform that encouraged the growth. Reform policy mainly emphasized on opening for international trade and investment, deregulation, tax reforms and privatization. The high growth remai ned with market liberalization since 1990s (Sachs, 2005). The 1990s have witnessed a turning significant change which was particular after the deregulation and liberalization programmes that launched during the mid 1980s and early 1990s (Arup, 2008, p.1057). Accordingly, India has become one of the worlds fastest growing economies with average growth rates of 9% over the past four years[3]. The impact of economic growth: Is it really reduce poverty? Having been mentioned above, it seems that this is a pleasant period for India in term of dramatic growth rate in comparison to others which is believed to be a powerful mean to reduce poverty. Theoretically, the economic growth appears to be ultimate poverty reduction strategy as the assertion above. Arup (2008, p.1067) also noted that the inter-relation between economic growth and poverty reduction is the growth process contributes to generate employment opportunities. The unemployment rate in India has reduced consistently from 9.5% in 2004 to 6.80% in 2009.[4] Beside, growth in high skill activities could increase the demand for goods and services which are involved to labour from poor household. Additionally, it can be noticed from the graph above that poverty in India has been declining continuously and significantly in term of percentage in urban, rural and overall aspect, from 1977 2007.[6] This economic data reports that the amount of people living below poverty has been reduced from 51.8% in 1997 to only 19.8% in 2007. India success at GDP growth rate and percentage of poverty declined are to be admired. This growth number, however, has to be watched in proper perspective (Kohli, 2006). Undoubtedly, the question has remained whether the poverty reduction counts only on the price or not. Thirlwall (cited in Vandana and Robert, 2002) noted that although people living standard is usually measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP)[7], the economic growth is not the same as economic development. Obviously, growth is an essential condition for nation economic and social development but it is not sufficient condition to identify poverty condition as the growth rate of nations cannot be taken alone as a well-being of societies because the quality standard of living is much more comprehensive concept than focusing only on income level. Disparity in India Basically, the Gini coefficient figures are used to measure of income or wealth distribution. A high Gini coefficient indicates more unequal income or wealth distribution, meanwhile a low Gini coefficient indicates more equal distribution.[8] Surprisingly, although the India economic growth rate such as GDP, income per capita or unemployment rate seemed to increase annually which is mentioned earlier, it can be noticed from the Gini coefficient graph above that after 1990s ,when was the period of Liberalization began, the continuing disparities both in rural and urban has been higher. This can be implies that the gap between people has been wider which means higher disparities as well as even the poverty line in urban shows the impressive decrease but the inequality in urban has also increased. Therefore, class system and economic disparities among India have to be strongly concerned. Which group received the benefit from the economic growth is still questionable. The important point that really needs to be noted is the ratio of inequality is most likely leads to the problem such as, shelter, water, sanitation, health, education, social security and livelihoods along with the special needs of vulnerable group like women, children and elderly people (UNDP, 2009, P.1). Growing in GDP probably tell nothing in reducing poverty if life still has not met the basic needs. Does economic growth fight poverty? In order to be able to know how to reduce poverty or what the exact strategy of eliminating poverty is, it is significantly important to understand the meaning of poverty itself. The World Bank gives an overview of poverty as follow; Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. (The World Bank, 2009) Clearly, poverty is not count only income or economic resource because poverty involved not only in economic aspect but also social and politic as well. Literacy and education level, fertility rate, life expectancy and health are the essential factor to be told the poverty condition. As Gaurav(2002, p.105) says, the need to combine human development with economic has been well recognized in discussions of policies for fighting poverty. India will require more than economic reform but human development should be included. By doing both of economic and human development can taken India along way from poverty finally. Therefore, Human Development Index, which consists of literacy, education level, life expectancy and per capita income, also should be used to measure the quantity of life. According to the UNDP report (2005) India has an average HDI of 0.63 (medium) and ranks 127 in the world, India high GDP growth contrasts with the poor human development which indicates a failure at the social front. The success in literacy, health and gender equality is far from impressive. Additionally, some thinkers believe that addressing on only economic growth probably is not enough factors to claim as it is a sufficient reason to reduce poverty according to poverty can be valued in various ways. According to UNDP since 1997, the per capita income does not make sense because the world should speak of human poverty instead of income poverty. Not only income, the UNDP also takes the following aspects including, Chance of self determination, Health and expectancy of life, Possibilities of obtaining an education, Political freedom, Human rights and Human dignity and self-respect into consideration (Friedel Hutz-Adams, 2006, p.20). Moreover, UN-Human Development Report (1990) argues the expansion of the economy as measured by GDP per capita does not necessary mean that people are in better living particularly, in regards to health, education and freedom. Goulet (1971) suggests that life sustenance[9], self-esteem[10] and freedom[11] should be regarded as an important basic component for the true meaning of development. Moreover, Sen (1999) also noticed closely related to Goulet that economic growth like GDP should not be evaluated alone for the reason which meaning of achievement is much more wider which should include economic and social development. Beside, poverty in his view is lacking of possibilities of self-realization which refers to income, provision of basic needs and possibilities to access to available resources are very crucial. To conclude, I have to argue Colin Powell statement. I personally believe that it is impossible to measure poverty reduction by focusing on economic development alone. Similarly to when talking about development, it is unfeasible to state on economic, politic or social development alone. Nevertheless, all these factors are essentially need to compromise together in order to achieve the actual development which lastly leads to poverty reduction in the meaning mentioned here which does not focused on being rich and poor only. Economic growth data such as GDP or income per capita do not really tell the truth of better standard of living. Since Poverty reduction meaning has more complex dimensions, other factors are strongly need to be counted. For example, in term of politic, people participation and decentralization are the key point of people freedom and ability to decide what they exactly want. The suitable programme or policies then will be issued properly for them to pursue their l ives better. Beside, social development regards various issues such as gender, equality, education, health and social disparity etc., these issues again require to be provided equally because this is the condition for better living. It can be seen from India that even economic growth rapidly but the social disparities also increase. Other evidences have been shown continuously that some social, politic and human composite indexes go contrast to the economic rate which resulted in nation development difficulties mainly is poverty. Lastly, as the poverty here is defined in term of sociology, politically and economically dimension, the word growth from now on should be talk in term of quality rather than quantity. References: ARUP MITRA, J. P. S. (2008) Growth and poverty in India: emerging dimensions of the tertiary sector. The service Industries 28, 1055-1076. CHANG, H.-J. (2002) Kicking Away the Ladder:The Real History of Free Trade, Anthem, London. CHIBBER, V. (2006) Locked in Place: State- Building and Late Industrialization in India, Oxfordshire, Princeton University Press. EASTERLY, W. (2006) The White Mans Burden: Why the wests efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good, Oxford, Oxford University Press. FIELDS, G. S. (1980) Poverty, Inequality, and Development, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. FRIEDEL HÃ ¼TZ-ADAMS, R. H., PEDRO MORAZÃ ¡N, ULRIKE LOHR; HARALD ROHR (2006) Does Economic Growth Reduce Poverty? Poverty Reduction and Social Equity in the Age of Globalization. Structural Violence in the Relationships between North and South, 7, 69. GAURAV DATT, M. R. (2002) Is Indias Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 89-108. GOULET, D. (1971) The Cruel Choice: A new Concept on the Theory of Development, New York, Atheneum. KOHLI, A. (2006) Politics of Economic Growth in India, 1980-2005, Part II: The 1990s and Beyond. Economic and Political Weekly, 1361-1370. KRUIJER, G. J. (1987) Development through Liberation: Third World Problems and Solutions, London, MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD. MCKINLEY, T. (2001) Macroeconomic Policy, Growth and Poverty Reduction, London, PALGRAVE. MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION, UNDP. (2009) INDIA: Urban Poverty Report 2009. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). RODRIK, D. (2007) One economics, many recipes: globalization, institutions, and economic growth Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford : Princeton University Press. SACHS, J. (2005) The End of Poverty; how we can make it happen in our lifetime, London, The Penguin Group. SCHIMTZ, H. (2007) The Rise of the East: What does it mean for Development Studies? 38, 92-106. SEN, A. (1999) Development as Freedom: Human Capability and Global Need, New York, Knopf. THIRLWALL, A. P. (2002) The Companion to Development Studies, London, Arnold, the Hodder Headline Group. TOYE, J. (1988) Political Economy and the Analysis of Indian Development. Modern Asian Studies, 22, 97-122. United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), Human Development Report (2005, 2009), New York, USA. Almost half the world over 3 billion people lives on less than $2.50 a day. There are 1.4 billions people in the developing world who are living in extreme poverty, of which about 600 million are in South Asia. For more information: The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the fight against poverty (The World Bank Development Research Group, August 2008: http://www-wds.worldbank.org) The economy of India is the twelfth largest economy in the world by market exchange rates. Indias economy in recent years is growing 9.2% in 2007 and 9.6% in 2006 and has seen a decade of 7% growth. (http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian-economy-overview.html) India country overview 2009; http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN For more detail, please see http://www.indexmundi.com/india/unemployment_rate.html. http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html The percentage was calculated from people living below poverty line $ 1.00 a day which was based on Indias PPP rate (World Bank.org) This is calculated by the total amount of goods and services produced per head of the population. For more details : http://www.poverty.org.uk/e14/index.shtml Life sustenance is concerned with the provision of basic needs such as housing, clothing, food and education (Goulet, 1971) Self-esteem focuses on the feeling of independence. One country cannot be fully developed where is exploited by others which in this case can be referred to colonization. (Goulet, 1971) Freedom regards to ability to determine own destiny.

The Meaning Of Trust | Philosophy

The Meaning Of Trust | Philosophy When trusting someone or something, and you are able to build confidence in that object, allowing yourself to be less guarded around it, and allow it to influence us. A dictionary definition of this would be enabling other people to take advantage of your vulnerabilities-but expecting that they will not do this. So how does this compare with how we objectify our emotions? Is it something that can be characterized that something that is able to be trusted? Of course, because our emotions are closely linked with our characters, they feed off of who we are as people. It is seen as immature or undeveloped to allow emotions to influence you in any immense way, and this is why someone would even question arise this question. What is meant by the pursuit of knowledge? Emotion as a way of knowing Because of its ambiguous nature, it can be very hard to define emotions. Even more challenging would be to distinguish it from other sensations such as a temporary mood, or permanent sentimental trait. So with all these other terms in mind, emotion can be defined as the manifestation of the sensations we feel in reaction to our environments and situations around us, that linger for a long period of time. An easy example such as being told unfortunate news or discover something joyful can make us feel different sensations of sadness or happiness. So if these sensations we call emotions are so accurate with the occurrences we face daily, why even question its reliability? Because we, as human beings have also been taught something that would not be considered as natural as the feeling of emotions; we have also been taught morality. The ability to distinguish what we believe is ethically right or wrong, regardless or our instinctive urges, is what makes us different than other forms of life, and the reason we are even able to ask this question. We combat with ourselves in order to achieve goals, defeat lifes trials, and to pursue knowledge. So, maybe the reality of the question is, is it even possible to know when to trust emotions? Or else it may be trying to explain that emotions have limited value for knowledge acquisition if any at all. Emotion as a value judgment Thesis Statement I believe there has to be some instances when we are able to trust our emotions when we are trying to acquire knowledge. Emotions are just a display of the biological responses we has humans experience. Emotion is also as one of the ways of knowing in the IB theory of knowledge. History Define History *Use TOK Definition Genocide Historical event which arises the universal consciousness Rwanda WWII Germany Cambodia UN The World An emotional attachment with the consciousness The knowledge of the laws created due to and for genocide was created due to an emotional response. Also link the genocide information with pain for H.S. Human Sciences Definition human science *use TOK Definition The bodys natural Awareness to diseases and pain The emotions that are felt due to them The Arts When we think of The Art as an area on knowledge, we seem to think of it as one of the areas that is linked closest with emotion. When trying to gain knowledge in the Arts, the use of emotion is fundamental to understanding the pieces and the intentions of the artist. However with knowledge of human emotion, it is easy to understand how the intentions of the artist can be lost in the response of the spectators that view them. Our emotions during viewing different forms of the arts, such as music, literature or drama change with each person, because each person interprets the art differently. This can be seen with an example through music. Recently there has been a revolution of a new age brand of music called dub step, which can be described as a form of electronic music characterized by heavy baselines. Many people find this type of music annoying and irritating, and characterize with dark, negative emotions. Others enjoy it because they experience the music as a stress reliever, because they perceive the beats as melodious and peaceful a way to and an almost cathartic experience happening. Associating these emotions with the people that enjoy this form of music, people make judgments about the dub step audience, our emotional judgment of people; you would say that it had given aid in the process of gathering knowledge. But the stereotype that these persons are placed into, gives a hasty generalization, therefore misleading knowledge. Summary When we, as the knowers question our ability to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge, what we are really trying to discover is, as humans, do we believe that our personalities and human faults allow us to not only discover new aspects in the world around us, but A higher awareness about ourselves or our they just obstacles that we have to overcome. A way to know when our emotions can benefit our pursuit of knowledge is when we are consciously aware that our emotions influence that search. To know if an emotion will lead us down a negative or positive path in our quest for information, can be judged on a persons level of emotional intelligence. Emotion intelligence can be understood by describing it as, a persons ability to monitor and control instinctive and natural urges brought out of us by our emotional state. An easy example to demonstrate emotional intelligence would ask a person to distinguish which emotions were being portrayed on anothers face. But even with such te sts, it is difficult to give an empirical value to something as inexpressible as emotional intelligence. Closing Argument Counter Argument Emotions less valuable than reason as a way of knowing? ^Prove Counter Wrong^ the same level of value as a way of knowing Conclusion In Conclusion, by saying that we should not allow our emotions to influence the pursuit of knowledge is to ask the impossible. As human beings our emotions contribute to the overall motivation in, not only our pursuit of knowledge, but in every endeavor we pursue. I believe it is possible to trust our emotions in every occurrence where knowledge can be gained, but the key is, to not allow your emotions to tamper with the intelligent voice of reason we all have developed due to our moral upbringings. Instead, the emotions will guide in us embracing the more natural inclinations and curiosities that we have instinctively. That is what they are there for. The value of emotion as a way of knowing depends on the kind of knowledge being pursued. If we classify knowledge by sections on the TOK wheel, the value of emotions are very high when concerning issues such as Ethics, The Arts, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. , but other areas that are based mainly off of factual data such as Natural Sciences and Mathematics Aristotle quote Anyone can be angry that is easy. But to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way that is not easy. Aristotle (384-322BCE)

America Needs to Perform Embryonic Research Essay -- Argumentative Per

America Needs to Perform Embryonic Research Only twenty years ago, embryo freezing (cryopreservation) was considered a technique that raised â€Å"disturbing,† â€Å"extremely difficult,† â€Å"incredibly complex,† and even â€Å"nightmarish† ethical issues. Currently, however, at least 41 of the 169 infertility clinics in the United States have begun to implement in vitro fertilization protocols (IVF) (Freemann et al., 1986). The number of frozen embryos in this country nearly tripled, from 289 to 824, between 1985 and 1986 (Van Steirteghem and Van Den Abbel, 1988). An estimated ten infants in the U.S. and sixty in the world were born as of 1988 after having been frozen as embryos. The government and professional advisory groups have endorsed embryo cryopreservation in several countries, but despite these developments, human embryo freezing is still not universally accepted. The fact that freezing lengthens, perhaps indefinitely, the period of embryonic existence outside and independent of the huma n body allows new options for manipulation of the embryo and for its ultimate fate. As a consequence, the emerging technology raises a number of issues that challenge deeply embedded ethical principles. Cryopreservation is defined as the scientific technique that utilizes extremely cold temperatures to freeze or suspend an organism for storage and ultimately future use. The ability to freeze human embryos creates several clinical options that might not otherwise be possible or as efficiently achieved. Cryopreservation also opens up new research opportunities such as understanding infertility in men and women. Published studies indicate that cryopreservation increases prospects for pregnancy in infertile couples (Wood, 1988). ... ...mmittee on Regulation and Business Opportunites, House of Representatives, 100th Congress, Second Session, 62-76. Department of Health, Education and Welfare: Ethics Advisory Board. 1979. Report and conclusions: HEW support of research involving human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. Federal Register 44: 35033-35058. Freemann, L., A. Trounson, and C. Kirby. 1986. Cryopreservation of Human Embryos: Progress on the Clinical use of the Technique in Human in Vitro Fertilization. J. In Vitro Fert. Embryo Transfer 3: 53-61. Van Steirteghem, A.C., and E. Van Den Abbel. 1988. Survey of cryopreservation. Ann. N.Y Acad. Sci. 541: 571-574. Woods, E.C. 1988. The future of in vitro fertilization. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 541: 715-721. World Medical Association. 1985. Interim Statement on Ethical Aspects of in vitro Fertilization. World Medical Association.

Robinhood :: essays research papers

The themes of â€Å"Robin Hood† are many and complex. Robin hood has the theme of chivalry through out its pages. Every word empowers the average person to stand up to a evil government that oppresses its people. The themes are rich and interesting, that’s what makes robin hood a good story. They deal with feelings and emotions that do really happen to average people. The themes have importance to us all and can be truly entertaining when done in a clever way. Robin Hood showed many of these signs of chivalry, the way most of us show these signs of are morals, through actions. Stealing from the rich giving to the poor was one of the many ways robin hood showed his good nature. Another way was to court Made Marian, which on its own is a very cheval act. One of the mane rules of chivalry state that you must treat the farer sex with good taste he did this with Made Marian. His good nature and act of honor made Robin Hood a cheval man. Robin Hood was a chivalry kind of guy, helping people fight evil and ridding the countryside of a terrible king. Probably the best reason of his chivalry was his act of standing up to the evil king. He saw that there was a unjust situations and he had to take a role in taking that government down. He organized a legion of men to do this act of chivalry. He took chances to get deeds accomplished and he gloriously accomplished those things. The king, even though robin should have been honoring him, was evil and that’s why robin had to do what he did. Another one of the Robin Hood themes is one of empowerment. It is with this theme that the lower classes get recognized as a strong entity in today’s society. This theme has the strongest meaning to the

Civil Disobedience Paper Essay

Throughout US history, there were many occurrences performed by people that helped define American Identity. Some of the many aspects that helped evolve characteristics of American identity are civil disobedience, freedom of religion, and immigration. Historical happenings throughout time helped create how the US is today, and why certain freedoms are allowed. Civil Disobedience is one of the important aspects of american identity. Harriet Tubman played a great role in performing civil disobedience involving her freeing slaves. Harriet had a huge bounty on her head and still she rebelled against the law, rescuing more slaves. Henry David Thoreau also performed a part in the act of civil disobedience when he refused to pay taxes, because of his opposition to the Mexican-American War. He wrote an essay Resistance to Civil Government stating that citizens have the right to disobey the law if the law was considered unjust. Furthermore, Woman’s rights is another example of civil disobedience. Women weren’t treated as equal as men and were denied the right to vote. In 1848 the Declaration of Sentiments had 12 resolutions that called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. Overall, civil disobedience plays a huge role in American identity. Freedom of religion is another aspect that highlights american identity. Many people came to America in search of religious freedom. Colonists wanted a chance to worship freely and have a religion they wanted to take part in. When the pilgrims came to American their goal was to escape the persecution of the puritans. Later on many religions began to disperse everywhere and therefor, population began to grow in America. The Salem Witchcraft Trials, and the Great Awakening of the 1730s played a great role in influencing freedom of religion. America became a refuge for those who wanted religious freedom and became a home to the many people that had the chance to improve their lives. Overall, religious freedom is a huge aspect defining American Identity. Since before America’s founding, immigration has been part of the American identity. In 1845, potato famine in Ireland stopped plants from growing and many families were starved and wished for an escape, nearly 3.5 million Irish migrated to America during the 1820s through the1880s. The Irish weren’t the only immigrants that migrated to America. The Germans had come to America during World War 1 in order to better their lives. Immigrants with money would buy farms in the country, and immigrants with very little money would stay in the city, mainly in New York. By 1855, New York homed at least seventy percent of the New York population. Many immigrants have come to America and still have many coming in and out of our country nowadays. Overall civil disobedience, freedom of religion, and immigration are just a few of the many traits given to the US over time. Because of all these happenings that have occurred in the US, we as citizens have many rights. Here in the US we are known to have different yet unique identities, all thanks to the acts of rebelliousness and righteousness throughout US history.

To What Extent Does Cultural Background Influence Ones Perception of Human Beauty

To what extent does cultural background influence ones perception of human beauty? â€Å"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. † This famous quote simply expresses the universal concept of beauty has no intrinsic or definite meaning. From this, one can derive that beauty can be nothing more than the subjective perception of human individuals-it is all based on ones predilection and proclivity. However, it is not just to say that anything can be considered as beautiful, thus contradiction does not exist in perceptions of beauty. As one can see, there are certain guidelines to beauty. Whether it is the inner or outer beauty of a human being, the concept of beauty that society imposes is all shaped from general consensus. Then perhaps â€Å"Beauty is not one’s own, but a reflection of one’s culture†. Even though nothing can be defined as absolute beauty, due to the limitation ones cultural backgrounds created from the subjective nature of perception, Human beings in the end will still unite their perception of beauty to a universal degree of understanding. The rift in the perception of physical beauty between cultures can be placed on two ends of a spectrum. In both Western and Eastern Culture’s ideology of beauty, having a slender body is crucial to be considered as an attractive woman. However, as we shift our view to the third world countries in Africa, this measure takes a drastic turn and becomes weak and meaningless. In those countries where poverty and diseases are the plays a key role, plumpness-being the sign of health, wealth and fertility is the ideal beauty of a woman. Moreover, a culture’s own tradition of beauty cannot be overlooked. Padaung women of the Kayan people wear a special ornament called neck rings around the neck of an individual to create a visual appearance of a stretched long neck. This tradition of elongating necks to achieve beauty is probably not accepted by others. Furthermore, the influential power of media cultural also alters ones perception. The concept of beauty in men displayed by the Japanese pop idols with distinctly feminine features is also one of the rare occurrences in perception. Despite the range of different perception of beauty presented in varies cultural, they are all collided to establish one fact-that is to be accepted but the general consensus within their culture. However, speaking of acceptance, all the rift between culture’s perception of physical beauty are stirred together to create the universal acceptance of the inner beauty of mind and heart. â€Å"Beauty is only skin deep. †The acceptance of inner beauty goes beyond the subjective norms of beauty that varies between the different cultures one is exposed to. Gibran had concluded that â€Å"beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart†. When it comes to these values of love, compassion and moral code, humans’ emotion, conscience and perception are unified to form a common knowledge. As described in Plato's Philebus, the measure of beauty was structured and related to intelligence. One understands what is to be considered as a lovable person not only by their outward appearance but by tying the strings of the inner quality that one possess as well. With this commonality, the barrier of subjective beauty is broken down. As one gives and receives love on a daily basis, following the universal idea of moral code and intelligence, their perception is broaden to a degree of understanding that the â€Å"Miss Universe† Pageant† can be hosted based on this commonality beyond cultural differences. Therefore, one can say that the universal acceptance and emotion unifies the human belief of a beautiful person. Although the universal concept of beauty has no definite meaning and can alters from one perceiver to another. It can also be viewed that â€Å"human beauty is a reflection cultural perception and ideas of aesthetics and indigenous to that area†, but one cannot deny that the there are certain values built upon a common understanding. With this common understanding, the rift of perception between different cultures becomes narrower thus in the end, allowing ones perception of true beauty to be united to a universal degree of understanding.