The European Union Sets Guaranteed Prices to Farmers

The European Union sets guaranteed prices to farmers for agricultural products. This is in order to encourage production. Show how this can happen with a supply and demand diagram. The provision of food is extremely significant for the human well-being so agricultural markets have always been treated in a different way by governments. There are various factors on which the success of farmers depends. It is not a simple production that needs a certain amount of resources to manufacture a certain amount of products which will bring expected profits.Variable determinants of the agricultural market like the weather or natural disasters create a situation in which in order to maintain a particular amount of food available on the market, governments encourage farmers to produce more. They tend to do it in a similar way, often, by providing them with subsidies and setting guaranteed prices of the products. Pic. 1. This diagram shows us the correlation between the supply and demand curves in the farming sector. Both of them are quite inelastic, because of a constant need for agricultural products and their regular provision.We can see that the excess of supply is cause by the encouraging policy of the EU, increasing the competition among the farmers. This leads to a greater supply which is often far above the real demand. The difficult matter to solve for authorities is setting the actual minimum price, because the consumers would obviously prefer a lower price than the farmers. This leads to many misunderstandings and mistakes in the chain of supporting the agricultural production. The European Union decided to create a whole system of subsidies for the farmers.However, to maintain the food safety within its borders, the EU established guaranteed prices for products. This particular system of intervention is called the Common Agricultural Policy, The CAP. The farming sector is protected and purposefully kept stable. The most important aim of CAP is to sustain regular supplies from the farming branch. Bad weather conditions or natural disasters usually harm the harvest and decrease the amount of agricultural products. To maintain a particular amount of food available on the market, he EU decided to encourage farmers to grow more crops, developing the competition among them, but what is even more important, increasing the number of suppliers. This means that generally more products are available, even in extreme situations. Guaranteed prices also allow to keep farmers’ income during good harvest when prices would be driven down and protect consumers form incredibly high prices during a bad harvest. Moreover, more farmers are assured that they do not really risk their expected income and they develop their methods of growing.Provided with generous subsidies, they can invest more capital to increase their long term profit. Such a situation results as a higher productivity and efficiency of the farming sector. On the other hand, extended usage of lands is a cause of ruining the environment. Overdeveloped sense of competition among the suppliers leads to more crops being grown, and more lands being used. Most farmers easily avoid an environmental laws and limitations which are not really executed. Regular polluting waters and grounds with overdosing insecticides result as a natural catastrophe and are not survivable for the local fauna and flora.Furthermore, such actions undertaken by the EU led to overproduction. Because of an extremely high number of suppliers, the market was overwhelmed with products. As a result, governments were forced to sell the excess onto the world market and by doing it, they harmed farmers form countries that do not provide such support. Most of them, developing countries, whose economy is based on the farming sector, were instantly defeated on the market, finding it impossible to compete with such a system, because the prices offered by Europeans were too low for them to sustain their regular income.To sum up, guaranteed prices strongly support farmers in the European Union, maintaining the provision of food at a sufficient level. However, over-usage of such a way to encourage them to be more efficient and competitive, leads to problems like environment pollution and threatening developing countries. Moreover, in long term such actions harm the interest of consumers, who cannot benefit from any changes on the agricultural market and even expect lower prices from massive suppliers.

Climate Change: Fact or Fiction

Weather can be defined as the state of the atmosphere including movements of energy like wind and precipitation. Climate is the generally prevailing weather patterns of a region. The climate of a region is made up of the different weather patterns. The weather patterns are usually repetitive according to the seasons. Where I’m from in southwest Nebraska it snows in the winter, rains in the spring, and is hot in the summer. The question is, has the weather and climate always been like this in Nebraska? We have proof that climate has changed in the past.Seventy million years ago there may have not been any ice on the North Pole. The region was most likely covered in forest. The amazing part of this hypothesis is that without the polar ice caps the ocean levels would be around seventy meter higher than they are now. Scientist also know that the world was in its most recent ice age about 2. 6 million years ago. If the North Pole went from forest to ice sixty-eight million years, o bviously the world has seen drastic changes before. This raises the question of whether or not this could happen to us again.Could the increases in temperature that everybody attributes to global warming just be a natural cycle of the planets climate? Most people think not. The logical answer for the steady increase in temperature is global warming due to the â€Å"Greenhouse Effect†. The Greenhouse Effect is caused by an increase in the concentration of â€Å"greenhouse gasses† in the atmosphere. Some of the most dominate greenhouse gasses are Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide, and Water vapor. Some people might argue that these gasses are found naturally in the atmosphere.The concentration of the gasses could be increasing due to natural factors. The atmosphere may be holding these gasses in for an unknown reason, or the environment may be producing higher concentrations naturally. This theory is unlikely according to data recorded in past years. Ice cores show that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased dramatically since the industrial revolution. It’s no coincidence that global warming started becoming noticeable the same time humans started harvesting fossil fuels.Burning, mining, and processing fossil fuels are the main cause of the increase in gas releases. According to Peter Singers book One World, the scientific evidence that human activities are changing the climate of our planet has been studied by the IPCC in order to provide policy makers with an authoritative view of climate change and its causes. (Pg. 15) The â€Å"Third Assessment Report† released by the IPCC in 2001 found that our planet has shown clear signs of warming over the past century.Since 1960 snow and ice cover has decreased by about ten percent, and mountain glaciers are in retreat everywhere except near the poles. Paralleling the changes in the climate is an unprecedented increase in the concentration of greenhouse gass es in the atmosphere. This increase is produced by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, the clearing of vegetation, and in the case of methane, cattle and rice production. Not for at least the last four-hundred and twenty years has there been so much carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Pg. 15-16) What will happen if we continue to emit increasing amounts of gasses into the atmosphere, and global warming continues to increase? According to the Third Assessment Report, between 1990 and 2100, average global temperatures will rise by at least 1. 4 °C, and by as much as 5. 8 °C. Although these average rises in temperature might seem small, even a 1 °C rise in the average temperature would be greater than any change that has occurred in a single century in the past ten-thousand years.Moreover, some regional changes will be more extreme and are much more difficult to predict. (Pg. 16-17) If the average temperature of a major agricultural region was to rise 5 °C all the dominant crops in the area may not be suited for the region anymore and major economic downfall could result. Now that everybody in the world is aware of the cause of global warming, the question arises, what are we supposed to do? I believe the best and most effective answer to that question is reduce the amount of energy that we use.The first and simplest step is to reduce your power consumption. Creating power is one of the largest uses of fossil fuels which means the less power made, the less fossil fuels used. Everybody can use less power by simply turning off lights and unplugging appliances when not in use. Most appliances continue to consume power even after they have been turned off, if everybody just unplugged their electronics or switched off the power strip energy would become a lot more sustainable. Another huge problem with the world is automobiles.While most people love their cars and don’t want to lose the freedom to go anywhere their thoughts might be changed when they look at all the negatives cars produce. First, is all the time, energy, and resources used to make a car. Most car parts are made from expendable ores and minerals and then shipped across the globe. This not only uses up mineral reserves in the production of the parts but consumes large amounts of petroleum energy in the transportation process. Then, as everybody knows all these cars consume huge amounts of energy in the form of gas every day, this will deplete our oil supply in no time.Cars also need roads to drive on. Roads are the leading consumer of the United States mineral resources, and the take up very large amounts of space in cities and agricultural areas. People in cities can ride the bus and everybody can ride the train on long distance trips. If we could all cut the amount we drive in half the sustainability of many of the world’s resources would increase dramatically. Turning off your lights and taking the bus aren’t the only way people can reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses they contribute.Factories produce a large amount of pollutants every day. Factory products can also contribute to atmospheric pollution because everything made requires resources to be produced. And after a product is used up it becomes waste and must be disposed of in some way. We can lower the amount of waste that is being put into landfills by buying goods that aren’t over packaged. Many goods are jazzed up with large and fancy packaging but in the end people just throw the package away. If the same product can be purchased in a smaller package it will cost less and take up less space as waste.Consumers should try to buy fresh produce from local stores. While fresh goods are not usually over packaged, buying local also helps to cut down on the amount of transportation and the energy wasted while the item was stored in large warehouses. Another step in the environmental preservation process is to recycle everything possible. This is more easily said than done for most people but it is becoming easier and more convenient all the time. Recycling bins are popping up all over in convenient locations and the incentives to recycle are getting greater all the time.It isn’t that hard to separate easily recyclable materials like cans and bottles in your home and take them to the proper recycling center. Another easy was to recycle is take your plastic shopping bags back for recycling or get a reusable bag. If resources are conserved, then naturally the amount of gasses being released into the atmosphere will be decreased. In conclusion, global warming is a major global problem. If a sufficient remedy isn’t found soon enough the world may never be the same. Finding a means to curve the rise of global warming is easier than most people think.

Almost. Maine Test (Play) Essay

True or False: 1) Phil and Marci are married. 2) The setting for the play is Eastport, Maine. 3) Steve is Marvayln’s boyfriend. 4) Randy and Chad are a couple. 5) Gayle and Lendall are married. 6) Rhonda and Dave went snowmobiling. 7) Pete is left alone at the end of the play. 8) Jimmy is Sandrine’s ex-boyfriend. 9) Chad works as the mill. 10) Randy’s ex-girlfriend’s face broke while they were dancing. Multiple Choice: 11) What is Marvalyn doing in the beginning of her scene? a) Washing dishes b) Folding clothes c) Ironing clothes d) Reading a book 12) What is inside the tiny bag that Lendall gives to Gayle? a) Chocolate b) A ring c) Flower d) A card 13) Where does Marci’s second shoe come from? a) The sky b) Phil finds the shoe for her c) Under the bench d) The car 14) What is Danny’s wife’s name? a) Ginette b) Hope c) Suzette d) Glory 15) Why is Sandrine at the Moose Paddy? a) She is a waitress there b) She came to meet Jimmy c) She is there for her bachelorette party d) For a drink 16) Dave and Rhonda are ____________: a) Brother and sister b) Married c) Boyfriend and girlfriend d) Friends 17) The waitress’s name at the Moose Paddy is __________: a) Sandrine b) Villian c) Hope d) Marci 18) All of these characters are in the play Almost, Maine except ________: a) Sandrine b) Pete c) Michael d) East 19) Jimmy’s tattoo says _________: a) Sandrine b) Villain c) Waitress d) Villian 20) Where does Hope take a taxi from? a) Boston b) Baltimore c) Bangor d) Easton

Social Exchange Theory

Reaction Paper #2 The Social Exchange Theory was very interesting for me to research as I was not familiar with it before this class. I learned about the basic parts of the theory, how it can pertain to marriage and divorce, and how it can help me in parenting. Self-interest is the main focus of this particular theory and can be described as a utilitarian way of thinking. After more research, I learned that utilitarian thinking in family studies is concerned with achieving outcomes that are most valued (White & Klein, 2008). Within this theory, the actors are most concerned with rewards and costs. Rewards are considered anything that is perceived as beneficial to the person’s interest, and the costs are just the inverse of the rewards. As a past math teacher, this was analytically easy for me to understand, but seemed very selfish to me. To me, someone who based their relationships and choices on this theory did it for their own personal profit and maximization. Even if there are no rewards, the actors will make whatever choices are necessary to minimize the costs (Chibucos & Leite, 2005). I did not fully accept and understand the social exchange theory until I read the additional assigned readings. One of these articles was written by Susan Sprecher. She completed a longitudinal study on the social exchange theory within dating couples (Chibucos & Leite, 2005). As I examined her findings, I realized that most individuals make choices based on rewards and costs, and I sometimes refer to them as pros and cons of a decision. It did not seem so selfish, but more of a well thought out plan. I also realized that I had made choices as described by the social exchange theory many times in my life, specifically concerning my long-term relationships. I chose to get married in 1990 because the benefits outweighed the costs of marriage. Yes, I even made a list. The benefits included companionship of the one I loved and trusted, the option to start a family and have children, and begin building lifelong relationship with the person that I had chosen to grown old with. I knew there were going to be costs to a marriage, but as a young adult, I did not realize all of them. The costs, in my mind, included a loss of independence, putting our money together, accountability, and maybe some contention. It seemed to me that my benefits were greater than any costs, and I was willing and excited to make my vows. As time went on, children began arriving into our home. It seemed that as the stresses of family life increased, so did our marital contention. Somewhere during our fifth year of marriage, I made a list of the benefits and costs, or pros and cons as it seemed at the time, as to whether or not to continue my marriage. The benefits were about the same, but the costs were increasing annually. Finances were very tight, my husband chose to spend a lot of time away from home, anger problems were escalating, and being a mother of two children was hard without help from my husband. Nonetheless, the benefits seemed to outweigh the costs, because I knew divorce would be more costly. By the eighteenth year of our marriage, my marriage had taken a terrible turn. A private investigator informed me that my husband was living with a 22-year-old and had been for over three months. I had five children, relied solely on my husband’s salary for support, and did not want the identity of being â€Å"divorced. † But I think the devastation of discovering his romantic relationship, the length of his infidelity, and the fact that he made no attempts to resolve matters, made my benefits and costs equation easy to solve. My benefits were to teach my daughters that this was unacceptable behavior and should never be tolerated and to teach my sons that there are dire consequences to such choices as a husband. I almost felt that my agency had been taken away as I had to choose to divorce my husband. Now three years later, I can examine that divorce equation and see that I made the best choice for my family, and that without even realizing it, I was using the social exchange theory to resolve a great issue in my life. This theory is more easily seen within large issues to me, what about my everyday parenting? I have watched for the past few weeks how I can help my children within these guidelines. With some careful thought, I helped one of our children decide the best place to sit on the school bus. If he chose one seat, he could sit with more popular kids, but he stood a higher chance of getting in trouble for misconduct. If he chose a less desirable seat, he could stay out of trouble and befriend a new student who recently moved into town, therefore, making a new friend. With some discussion, he was able to analyze on his own which seat would be more beneficial to him. Another time I was able to use this knowledge within parenting was in helping my daughter with her math teacher. My daughter dislikes math anyway, and sees no longterm reason to learn it. She was assigned a specific teacher at school and was not doing especially well, per her grades. My daughter disliked the teacher stating that she was too strict and assigned too much homework. Her friends told her that she did not need the specific math class to graduate and encouraged her to change classes. Using the social exchange theory, we not only discussed the importance of math, but how learning to get along with this math teacher could greatly benefit her grades. We encouraged her to talk to her teacher about her difficulties and to request some clarifications about specific concepts. My daughter chose to try it out because during our discussion she could see the benefits, although, she was not completely convinced. She went to her teacher, worked out some differences, and her grades reflect the benefits. I now more fully appreciate the opportunity I have had to research, analyze, and give a presentation on the social exchange theory. It increased my knowledge and gave me the opportunity to reflect on some past decisions I have made in my life. I can see that this theory is not applicable to all choices, but it is helpful to know that it is an option when dealing with difficult decisions pertaining to relationships. I can see why some would consider it reductionist (Piercy class notes, September 29, 2011). I think I would feel that a therapist was not taking my personal issues seriously if they were reduced to just costs or benefits. With this in mind, a marriage and family therapist might not want to use this framework when working with major relationship issues. When the social exchange theory was further explained in class, I was able to grasp the thought of being under benefitted and over benefitted in a relationship (Piercy class notes, September 29, 2011). I do not think that any relationship is ever equal, but if we think about how and/or if each person involved benefits, we can help each person better relate to one another. This might be a better way that a therapist could use this theory in a counseling setting. As Dr. Piercy said, â€Å"Satisfaction and commitment are more important than equity† (Piercy class notes, September 29, 2011).

Georg Hegel Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Georg Hegel - Research Paper Example He saw the problems that were prevalent in Scotland and England and considered whether these problems could be avoided in Germany. In addition, he showed concern as to what had happened to the European promise of enlightenment. Because of Germany’s perceived backwardness, Hegel was able to see a distinctive angle to most of these questions. After studying the works of the Scots, he contended that the two countries were outside and inside a developing civil society. Vital for him was a comparison with an idealized view of the Polis in Greece where there was harmony contrasted with the modern world’s discord (Hegel 85). Hegel was particularly enamored with Ferguson who had pointed out clear parallels between the Greek Polis, the Native North Americans, and the Scottish highland clans, which Hegel found to contrast with civil society favorably. Hegel, rather than choosing to ignore the bourgeois class’ repulsive forms that were appearing throughout the continent, ch ose to reconcile these with humanity and its advance to freedom. 2. Does Hegel see reality as static or dynamic Hegel disputes reality’s static nature as proposed by Aristotle, choosing to view it as essentially dynamic. This was because reality tends to pass into nothing by its nature, before going back in the higher concept of itself and becoming again (Hegel 87). This contrasts with Aristotle’s view that nothing was ever more certain than what was the same as itself and that everything was the exact way it was. If that would be a table, according to Aristotle that was the entire truth of the table. However, for Hegel, reality was dynamic and another truth was equally essential about the table; it will become ashes and was previously a tree. Therefore, dynamism and becoming is reality’s best expression, rather than being. Becoming is the best expression of thought since when we become, we get the best knowledge, especially because one knows what it is, what it was, and what the thing will be and the way in which it developed. Hegel contends that mind and life appear when one advances in the development scale, just like nothing and being develop to become, to appear as the process’ third term, which, in turn, develops to higher concepts and forms (Hegel 87). 3. Give an example of the Hegelian Dialectic Hegel gave an outline of his dialectics and gave its purpose as the study of things as they are, as well as their movement, in order to give a demonstration of the finite nature of partial understanding categories. An important principle in his dialectics was the transformation of quantity into quality (Hegel 89). Hegel termed this as a measure, which is the qualitative amount and the amount is quantity’s existence. The identity that exists between quality and quantity that is in the measure is only implicit at first. The two categories that are united by measure have a different and independent authority. While it is possible to alter the existing features of quantity sans any effect of on quality, the diminution and increase, even if immaterial, has limits that when exceeded causes the quality to suffer. When the present quantity in a specific measure goes past a particular limit, the corresponding quality will also suffer. However, it does not negate quality, only definite quality. Hegel uses water’s aggregation whose temperature is not a consequence

Dangers of the Internet Pornography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dangers of the Internet Pornography - Essay Example However, watching internet pornography is dangerous to society because it contributes to ethical and moral degradation. The increasing accessibility to internet pornography is currently an important issue of concern to policy makers and the society. This has generated intense debate on controlling the accessibility of the content especially to young children. The legality of allowing adults access to pornographic content remains a controversial issue. However, numerous research studies on pornography demonstrates that watching the content is harmful to all people irrespective of their age. According to Bailey (32), watching pornographic content especially through the internet contributes to development of sex addiction or obsession that motivates people to commit crimes in the society. In addition, the habit wastes productive time that could be used to build careers and enhance family relationships (Bailey, 37) Watching pornographic content motivates people to commit sexual crimes Di amond (310). Various studies carried on sexual offenders demonstrate a positive relation between watching internet pornography and committing sexual crimes such as rape and sex with minors. In a study conducted by Allen, et al(140) among convicted rapists to establish the relationship between watching pornography and committing rape, 86% of the convicted rapists admitted to have been regular audience of internet pornographic content and over 60 percent of them admitted to have imitated the scenes on the pornographic content on their victims while committing the offense. A separate study by Bailey (67) established that rapists are fifteen times more likely to have been exposed to explicit pornographic content in their childhood. Similarly watching internet pornography contributes or aggravate to the development of antisocial and deviant behavior, sexual crimes and personality disorders (Bailey, 76) . Currently child pornography is a serious problem in the globe and several research s tudies have been undertaken to investigate its effect on children and the society. According to McCarthy (183), â€Å"possession of child pornographic content by an individual is a strong indicator of pedophilia. Allen, et al(147) noted that child pornography is widely applied by pedophiles to â€Å"arouse themselves sexually, to undermine the resistance, ruin the conscience and minimize inhibitions of potential children victims toward engaging in sexual intercourse with an adult. In addition, child pornographic content is used by children sexual molesters to train the minors on how to act while having sex with an adult†. Internet pornography increases the vulnerability of people to engage in deviant sexual behaviors. These behaviors include voyeurism, pedophilia, group sexual encounters and exhibitionisms among others (McCarthy, 186). Bailey (86) conducted a study on child pornographic offenders and established that 23 percent of them were suffering from pedophilia, a menta l disorder. A total of 11 percent of the offenders in the study were suffering from voyeurism and exhibitionism while 49 percent had paraphilia (Bailey, 89-96). Therefore, watching pornographic content contributes to the development of deviant sexual behaviors and is an indicator of the prevalence of the disorders in the society. The effect of watching child pornography and sexual abuse on minors has drawn considerable research findings. The conviction that watching child

Protection of Fundamental Rights in EU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Protection of Fundamental Rights in EU - Essay Example In most of the European countries, these rights have already been there. Some of the erstwhile communist countries naturally did not have many civil liberties, but with the fall of Communism in Europe, these rights have been restored. What made the European union fundamental rights unique was that the rights are equal to all, disregarding the race, colour, ethnicity and nationality. The political leanings of the countries too did not matter any more. These rights have come as a gift to many of these countries, which have not seen much of fundamental rights for a long time. It also has given an additional dignity to the European Union and its citizens, an identity of their own, a distinguished existence. "Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice4". Human dignity, Right to life, Right to the integrity of the person, Prohibition of torture or inhuman treatment, Prohibition of slavery and forced labour, Right to Liberty and Security, respect for private and family life, protection of personal data, right to marry and right to found a family, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and information, freedom of assembly and of association, freedom of the arts and sciences, right to education are just to name a few. European countries always had fundamental rights and liberties5; only they had never taken a consistent form of a group or a union. Fundamental rights have really empowered the European union citizens and to see that, there is no other better place than European Court of Justice where the citizens vociferously fight for these new rights that have become theirs now. With this, EU has tried to wipe out centuries of inner struggles, bitter wars and unending conflicts. It has also tried to wipe out the racial discrimination, and elimination like that of Jews. It is a great step in human rights, where all citizens were awarded the same enshrined rights without any prejudice or favour. There is no doubt that European Union is rather obsessed about these rights and the Court of Justice attaches tremendous importance to them. There are various reasons for this obsession. European Union is not a body with an authority; this means, it does not have a divine, inherited right to be there, like a monarchy. As it does not belong to any particular country, it also does not have a chosen right, or a right of authority. European Union itself is a created institution, created for future safeguarding of European countries, as a last resort to save Europe from inner bickering that had not only led to many wars, but two all consuming World Wars, bringing countries all over the world into its orbit. It had also witnessed an extremely bloody French Revolution, an equally unpleasant Russian revolution that led into communism and a considerable number of Eastern European countries