Love and Desire -A Sober Approach to Gender Equity Essay

Love and Desire -A Sober Approach to Gender Equity - Essay Example It was more of an attempt to subject men to women. Sommers recognized this and rose against it as subjection was not the aim but assimilation and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities across all sexes. There is perhaps no single statement that captures her ideas in entirety as the provided argument. This study seeks to explicate the meaning of her argument and the means she uses to present this argument. At the same time, the study also attempts to offer a personal view on the accuracy, and persuasiveness of the reasons she offers in support of her conclusions. Additionally, the study also traces the quality and accuracy of her argument when representing the views of an average woman and while discrediting the views of radical feminists. Lastly, we weigh her view against a probable response or view by staunch radical feminists such as Marilyn Friedman.This is one that starts with discrediting the views of radical feminists who consider feminism as a representation of two extremes, sexism and assimilation. In understanding these terms, sexism is discrimination based on sex largely defined by long-held stereotypes and traditions. On the other hand, assimilation refers to absorption of the minority by the majority to create a harmonious unit. In this regard, we can understand radical feminism as a fight to absorb the female gender into mainstream masculine activities as a means of fighting existent stereotypes on female inferiority. Sommers views this extreme as misguided as a woman can be free of these stereotypical and oppressive situations and still retain her feminine nature, simply, she does not have to fight to be a ‘man’. In trying to underline this argument, that a woman can enjoy her feminine nature without taking on the roles and mind frames of men, she cites what would satisfy an average woman. She notes that, an average woman is one who would derive utmost satisfaction from bearing children, having ample time to care for th ese children, having fair opportunities and being treated equally with their male counterparts. In summary, she notes that irrespective of the simplicity of these demands, it is still difficult for women to achieve them. It is at this point that she acknowledges that indeed a struggle must ensue for the average woman to achieve these goals. However, she is categorical that such dreams and aspirations cannot be achieved if they are sought through radical means. According to Sommers, a radical approach only underlines furtherance of false consciousness, one that is far from the actual concerns and priorities of a majority of women. This is understandable as a radical means represents a reactive force and not a reasonable force. In essence, a fight for fair inclusion of women is not a fight that can solely be won by women but one that also requires the input and participation of men. Having this in mind, it is quite apparent that men would be open to a reasonable means as opposed to a radical means. It is quite clear that Sommers’s argument is guided by this sobering reality.  Ã‚  

The Age Gap Between Baby Boomers and Today's Youth Essay

The Age Gap Between Baby Boomers and Today's Youth - Essay Example Every generation has its own cultural values, their views which are tuned to the period they belong to. Both of these generations have to face many difficulties and undergo a lot of problems. Our topic of study is the age gap between baby boomers and the millennial generation. Each generation has its own attributes. There is a wide age gap or generation gap and so the conflicts are likely to occur between these two generations. The likings, tastes, values and attitude towards life, everything differ from the youth. Both generations, for our overall progress, can adopt things from each other. Our research is based on the two of generations, the baby boomers and the millennial generation or generation Y. The study will focus on how a good rapport can be maintained between baby boomers and millennial generation which is very important for building a society with a fine amalgamation of old values and modern values. Introduction Before starting our discussion on the topic let’s discuss about the concept â€Å"Generation Gap.† As Gerhard Falk and Ursula Falk mentioned in their book â€Å"Youth Culture and Generation Gap,† â€Å"The change in values from one generation to the next is called â€Å"The Generation Gap.† (Pg. 23, 2005) They further say â€Å"this not only involves education, occupation, and preferences for lines of action, but also family size, status Vietnam of women.†... To find out the problems arise due to the age gap. Try to find out the solutions which can be useful for individual growth and the growth of the nation. Hypotheses: The baby boomers are more strict and rigid and they are reluctant to adopt new things easily. The condition of baby boomers and young generation differ from country to country. Baby boomers are more stabilized, secured whereas the young generation is more depressed and living in a very uncertain era. The baby boomers used to be closed minded whereas the young generation is very open minded. Young generation is more technosavy than the baby boomers. Generation gap hampers the work culture. Literature Review The consequences of age gap between baby boomers and young generation differ from country to country. It depends upon the then state of affairs of the country in which the baby boomers were born. For example, the baby boomers in America in their young age were living a prosperous life. It was because the after World War II America was the country which had to bear a minimum loss unlike the European nations. But still the baby boomers of European countries and America were in much better condition. â€Å"In Europe and North America, boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of affluence. As a group, they were the healthiest and wealthiest generation and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time.† (2009). Consequently, it became the most powerful and affluent country in the world and thus started ruling over the world. This was the period when the baby boomers were living a very affluent life. On the contrary the situation in third world countries was totally different. For example in India the baby boomers

Participatory Action Research Essay Example for Free

Participatory Action Research Essay The youth group was started in 2004 after the youths realized something was going wrong in the community and they were the right people to rectify the situation. They then came together and registered with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services Youth Affairs. It’s a non-profit making organization whose purpose is to address the needs of the youths and to improve the living standards of the community. The group brings together youths of both genders and has no ethnic or racial barriers as it believes youths from whatever background experience the same problems and must come together in order to solve them. Majority of the youths are trained in various fields of education and so it’s a pool of educated young men and women committed to be difference makers in other people’s lives. Currently the group has thirty five fully registered and active members but there is room for more members to join them. Since its formation, the group has provided their voluntary services beyond area of operation to improve the well being of the community. Their areas of activities include youths and community mobilization and awareness on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), guidance and counseling services, education on income generating activities, youth and community education on alcohol and drug abuse, education on leadership and administration, planning and accountability, tree planting exercise and offering voluntary services for the well being of the community. The group is seeking to address the most pressing needs that are affecting them and the community where they are living. These pressing need collaborative efforts as they cannot be solved by the community alone as they need technical expertise and some substantial funding. These needs were prioritized according to their impact in the community and they include; the high unemployment rate among the youth, gender disparity due to the culture, and idleness among the youths leading to irresponsible youth behavior, high infection rate of AIDS and other venereal diseases, drug abuse, poor farming methods leading to food insecurity and afforestation problem.. The members agreed that they had the brains, knowledge and skills and if put together and shared will bring a big change among the group members, other youths and the community at large. Though they have had challenges especially from the elderly community members when discussing on sexual issues, the group is committed to continue working until they have attained their set objectives. Their services to the community have effected some positive changes, which have commended by the community members. The group also works with other major stakeholders who have been helpful to the group in terms of training and financial support. These include the Community Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Religious Organizations, Society and the Government to improve the living standards of the community. These stakeholders have been very helpful to the youth group because they have been offering training without charging them any fee, giving the youths some incentives as well as the community and funding their projects at some level. They have been able to work with the group since it was started and have promised they will continue working with them as long as keep the agreement with them. The possible research question that could be answered if the researcher collaboratively worked the major stakeholders is to find out whether their input into the group has had and positive impact to the youth group and to the community. This research question will be a guide to getting some critical information which will be used by the group to improve on the areas that they are not performing well (The research question could be as follows; What has been your input to the group and has it had any impact to the group and to the society? ) The benefits of doing the work the researcher is proposing is that it could again help the group to be able to identify their weakness and then find out solutions for them. It will also open another door for them to meet other partners through the researcher who will pump in some more useful input to the group. Through their interaction with them some critical issues may rise which could not have been solved, but it will be an opportunity to solve them. In one way the group could be advertising or selling itself and what they are undertaking through these formal discussions as the contents of the discussions will be published somewhere, which will get some support for the group. This could be beneficial to the group and to the researcher as he/she will be able to learn more about how groups work. As concerns to the ethical issues, the protocol has to be followed and the group has to be consulted first before anything happens. There should be respect for the group and any information about the group should be kept secret as it is. The researcher should make sure that he/she work within the guidelines of the group and should she/he need any information should follow the right channels but not go to public and tell the public about the group against their wishes References Luft, J (1984). An Introduction to Group Dynamics (3rd Edition). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Toseland, R Rivas, R. (2005) Introduction to Group Practice, Allyn Bacon. New York.

Nozicks Wilt Chamberlain argument

Nozicks Wilt Chamberlain argument Explain and evaluate Nozicks Wilt Chamberlain argument. In Robert Nozicks famed Anarchy,State, and Utopia Nozick uses the example of a basketball player who becomes considerably richer than the rest of the population to demonstrate that liberty is incompatible with any patterned theory of distributive justice. This argument, if successful, would be a considerable challenge for Rawls because his theory prioritises liberty in his conception of justice but also requires some redistribution of wealth (as determined by the difference principle). If Nozick is right that a patterned theory (of which the difference principle is one) is incompatible with liberty then the Rawlsian project collapses into a libertarian theory because the first principle (liberty) must be favoured over the second redistributive principle. First I will argue that the Wilt Chamberlain argument is not question-begging because it assumes self-ownership and not absolute property rights (the latter is what the patterned theory must deny) and attempts to derive the latter fr om the former. Second I will argue that interpreting liberty as self-ownership does entail the incompatibility of liberty and a patterned theory as long as we do away with a Lockean proviso on initial acquisition. Nozick categorises theories of distributive justice by two classifications. The first classification is whether a theory is historical or ahistorical which is the distinction between whether a theory takes into account past actions/events/circumstances (historical) or not (ahistorical). The more important distinction that Nozick makes between varying theories of distributive justice is between patterned and unpatterned theories. A patterned theory of justice is one in which distributive shares are determined or correlated with some variable. For example a utilitarian theory of justice would be a patterned theory of justice because it would distribute social goods according to how much utility they promote. An unpatterned theory would not determine who is to get what by reference to some variable in the world. The best (and seemingly the only) way to interpret an unpatterned theory of justice is to not determine who is to get what but by what means who can get what; we may call this a procedural theory of justice. Nozicks argument against patterned theories of justice is that they are incompatible with liberty and uses the example of Wilt Chamberlain to argue for this point. In an imaginary world we assume a patterned theory of justice. Although it doesnt (and shouldnt as the example is meant to show that all patterned theories of justice are incompatible with liberty) matter which patterned theory we choose we will assume an egalitarian theory. So in the initial situation (from here on D1) we assume that the social goods in society have been distributed equally. In D1 Wilt Chamberlain, a famous basketball player, strikes an agreement with his club that for every ticket sold he will receive 25 cents (Nozick 1997:208). As a result of this Wilt Chamberlain becomes very wealthy and so upsets the patterned theory because society becomes more unequal (from here on D2). About this case Nozick can be interpreted as arguing the following: Ex hypothesi in D1 each person is justly entitled to their share of goods. This entails that no person in D1 has a claim of injustice against any other person(Nozick 1997:208-9). If everyone is entitled to their goods then they are to be at liberty to do with them whatever they want i.e. they have absolute property rights. An egalitarian principle denies that each is to be at liberty to do as they wish with their goods because it upsets the patterned theory of equality (as it does in D2). Therefore an egalitarian principle of distributive justice is incompatible with liberty. As there is no good reason to think that any other patterned theory of justice cannot be upset by liberty then any patterned theory of justice is incompatible with liberty. The essential point that Nozick is trying to make is that if each person is entitled to their goods in D1 then how can it be possible for an unjust situation to occur in D2 after each person voluntarily gives money to Wilt Chamberlain in order to see him play? As Nozick puts it, how can an unjust situation arise from people transferring their money to Wilt when each customer had no claim of justice on any holding of the others before the transfer ?(Nozick 1997:209). An initial objection may be that in society people will always freely trade (i.e. not have their property taken coercively in order to maintain a distributive principle) in accordance with that distributive principle. This objection misses the point because all Nozick is trying to show is that a patterned theory of justice is in principle incompatible with liberty. That is, any patterned theory of justice doesnt necessitate a respect for liberty. A more serious problem for Nozick arises in trying to establish (2) because it seems to beg the question against the patterned theorist. For exactly what the patterned theorist denies is that each individual has absolute property rights over the goods that have been distributed to him. When goods are redistributed after D2 in order to correct the unpatterned distribution that Wilt and his customers caused then this is not a violation of Wilts liberty because he had no absolute rights over his goods. If he had no absolute rights over his goods then when his goods are taken from him then Wilt cannot complain that his liberty has been violated. His liberty to do with his goods as he wishes is only his right to do with his goods as he pleases and if he has no absolute rights over his goods (which is exactly what the patterned theorist denies) then his liberty has not been violated under any circumstance in which it is taken e.g. not violated when in accordance with the patterned theory. In order to establish the incompatibility of liberty and any patterned theory non-question-beggingly then Nozick must give independent support for absolute property rights. Nozick does give independent reasons for absolute property rights and these are not reasons that the patterned theorist necessarily denies. Whilst the patterned theorist necessarily denies absolute property rights they dont necessarily deny the principle that each person is the owner of their own bodies i.e. the principle of self-ownership. Even if Nozick fails in his attempt at this he has not begged the question against the patterned theorist because the denial of self-ownership is not what the patterned theorist has denied in the Wilt Chamberlain argument, rather, what he has denied are absolute property rights. If self-ownership does entail absolute property rights then the patterned theorist must, by modus tollens, deny self-ownership as they necessarily deny absolute property rights. But you dont beg the qu estion against an opponent by asserting a conditional that entails the denial of your opponents point otherwise all of philosophy would be question-begging! Rather Nozick has provided a new argument and it is for the patterned theorist to deny this in order to deny the Wilt Chamberlain argument. If Nozick is to demonstrate that liberty is incompatible with any patterned theory then in order to avoid begging the question Nozick must give independent support to the idea of absolute property rights. If people are forbidden from exercising their right to property (e.g. their right to keep their property despite it being incompatible with a pattern) then we may say their liberty has been violated just as we say that a person whose right to speech has been violated has also had their liberty violated. So conceived liberty is just a collection of rights;we are at liberty to do something so long as we have a right to do that thing and no-one prevents us from exercising that right. An example that supports this conception of liberty is given by Ryan (Wolff 1992:93) where we would think it absurd to say that a professors liberty has been violated by him being prevented from transferring his tenure to his children. We think that his liberty hasnt been violated because he had no right t o transfer his tenure in the first place. Therefore our liberties are dependent on our rights. Liberty is violated when a right is violated and if peoples right to property is absolute then taking it from them without their consent violates their right to that property and so their liberty too. When we say that property rights are absolute we do not mean that people have the right to use their property literally however they want for that would give people a right to throw their spears at somebody without provocation. Rather we mean that people may use their property however they wish as long as they dont interfere with others using their property as they wish and crucially that they may use their property despite it not maintaining a patterned distribution. Can Nozick give independent support for absolute property rights (and not merely postulate them)? His attempt at this starts with the thesis of self-ownership (Kymlicka 2002:107): 6. Persons have the right to decide how they use their bodies as long as they dont interfere with anybody else using their body. Self-ownership is essentially an absolute property right to your own body; we are to be at liberty to use our bodies in any way we wish as long as we respect the like rights of others. Self-ownership seems intuitively a very plausible starting place for any normative theory. If it is denied then either other people have a claim on our bodies or nobody has a claim on our bodies or their own bodies. If people dont have the right to decide what they should do with their bodies then in what sense is slavery wrong (slavery that is better than no slavery, to cut short the utilitarian response)? Self-ownership seems to have enormous explanatory power for our moral intuitions as it explains why slavery, murder, rape, kidnapping and almost any other use of force is seen as wrong. An initial implication of this is that it would be wrong in a world where people are born with different numbers of eyes to take, without consent, peoples eyes in order to achieve a more equal distribution of eyes (C ohen 1995:70). This is one way in which a patterned theory would violate rights and thus liberty but Nozick wants to take aim at all patterned theories not just some. For example Rawls patterned theory would guarantee the right to freedom of speech and freedom of thought which are both guaranteed by self-ownership. Nozick wants to attack the Rawlsian redistribution of private property (i.e. property that is not identical to your own body) and show that violations of these private property rights (and thus liberty) is tantamount to denying self-ownership.The point is as follows: 7. If (6) is true then anyone can gain an absolute property right to any part of the world as long as they dont worsen the condition of others. (7) follows from (6) because (6) implies that we may do anything we wish as long as we dont interfere with others doing what they wish. It doesnt matter exactly how we acquire a piece of property only that it seems we must use our bodies. For how else could something that was not originally ours become ours? If this is the case then we may acquire property because we acquire property through the use of our bodies and we have the right to use our bodies as we want. The clause in (7) is introduced in order to try and stop the acquisition of property which deprives another of that right to it. For when we acquire a piece of land then it comes ours and it is up to us if others are to be able to use it and thus no-one else can have a say over how that piece of land is to be used. Nozick thinks this is acceptable as long as we hold a proviso on exactly when we may acquire a piece of land. We may only acquire a piece of land if the acquisition of that piece of land materially worsens the co nditions of anybody else who would use that piece of land. We only worsen the condition of others if they have less of what they need than if we had not acquired the piece of land that we did. For example we may not take the only full water hole in an area and deprive others of the water in it because we are clearly worsening the conditions of others. He doesnt specify exactly what happens to someones property once the Lockean proviso is violated just saying that there become stringent limitsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦on what he may do with his property(Nozick 1974:180). He seems to doubt that we could even call it that persons property. If the argument is successful it will show that people can gain absolute property rights and thus that patterned theories are unjust because they involve violating those property rights and thus liberty in order to maintain a pattern. The problem with the above argument is that the self-ownership thesis does not entail (7). Specifically it doesnt entail the Lockean proviso and the proviso seems completely ad-hoc. If Nozick admits that our ability to acquire property is dependent on how it affects the materials that others can have access (and thus their welfare) to then how is this different to weakening the property rights in order to achieve greater utility via a patterned theory? Nozicks proviso seems arbitrary in that he gives no reason why we should select his Lockean proviso over another. If we should limit the acquisition of property because of its harmful effects on others then why shouldnt we accept another Lockean proviso such as one that maximises the welfare of others? I believe that Nozick specifically selects that principle because of his interpretation of interfering in (6). For he wants to forbid acquiring property when that interferes with others acquiring property. This seems to be a mistaken int erpretation of the interfering which seems to be essentially depriving another of a negative liberty rather than a positive liberty. The distinction between positive and negative rights is essentially the distinction between what others have a duty to do and what they have a duty not to do. For example my right to not be killed is a duty that others have to not murder me and so is a negative duty whilst my right to an education is generally conceived as a duty that my lecturers have to come and lecture me about distributive justice. So I have a negative right if I have a right that people dont do something to me whilst if I have a positive right I have a right that someone provide something to me. Interfering is naturally construed as violating negative rights such as when we say that people have a right not to be interfered with. So we should interpret the self-ownership thesis as saying that we may do as we want with our bodies (including using them to acquire property) as long as we dont stop others using their bodies as they wish (including them acquiring property). So our negative right to use our body as we wish is somebody elses duty to not stop us from using it as we wish. We do not have a positive right to use our body as we wish and thus nobody has a duty to help or assist us in someway of using our bodies as we wish. This means that we have the negative right to acquire property and so everybody has a duty to restrain from stopping me acquiring property unless in doing so I am violating the negative right of someone else to acquire or maintain property. When I acquire property it does stop others acquiring property but this is nothing to the point, since you had no right to that plot (Narveson 1987:62). For nobody had a right to that piece of land until I got there and it became mine and when it becomes mine then nobody may violate my right to that property. So Nozick makes the mistake of assuming that by acquiring a piece of land I am interfering w ith somebody elses right to that piece of land. But in actual fact I am not violating anybodys right to that piece of land because I only have the duty of not violating anybody elses right to property but nobody had a negative right to that piece of property because it was me who first acquired it. So self-ownership guarantees that I may acquire property using my body and that I may acquire property as long as I dont interfere with the property rights that others already have and as interfere is violating a negative right we dont interfere with someone else acquiring property by acquiring that property because they had no positive right to a piece of land rather only the negative right that someone else not stop them acquiring a piece of land. Thus self-ownership does not require a Lockean proviso in order to acquire property because the mere depriving someone of a piece of land doesnt constitute interference. The implications for the Wilt Chamberlain case is that each person acquir es a right to that piece of property and that we may use our property in anyway that we wish as long as we dont violate the negative rights of someone else to their property. In the Wilt Chamberlain case nobody is violating anybody elses right to property by buying tickers because nobody is stopping anybody else using their property as they wish and therefore the redistribution to maintain the pattern violates the negative rights of Wilt to his property. As we have identified the violation of a right as correspondingly the violation of a liberty then it can be said that redistribution violates the liberty of Wilt by violating his liberty to do with his property as he wishes. In conclusion it seems that the Wilt Chamberlain argument does provide a good argument to show why patterned theories of justice are incompatible with liberty. We first identified that the violation of a right to do something is best described as the violation of a liberty to do something. Then we argued that in order for Nozick to avoid begging the question against the patterned theorist he must give independent support to the idea of absolute property rights which give somebody the right to use their property even if it upsets a distributive pattern. Nozick tries to argue for absolute property right from the basis of self-ownership which is the idea that each person is to have the right to use their body as they wish (which includes using it to acquire property rights) as long as they dont interfere with others using their bodies as they wish. Nozicks Lockean proviso on acquisition is not entailed by self-ownership because interference is defined only as the negative right to acqui re property and we are not violating somebody elses right to that piece of property by acquiring it because they only had the negative right of the opportunity to acquire it and not the positive right to somebody else not taking it for themselves. As self-ownership guarantees that people may acquire and use property as they want as long as they dont violate the negative rights of others to their property then the taking of Wilts property (his money) is a violation of his absolute property rights and is therefore a violation of his liberty. Bibliography Nozick,R., Anarchy,State, and Utopia 1974 Wolf,J., Robert Nozick: Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State 1991 Cohen,G.A., Self-ownership,freedom and equality 1995 Narveson,J., The libertarian idea 1987 Kymlicka,W., Contemporary political philosophy 1990

tempcolon The Theme of Colonization in The Tempest Essay example -- T

The Theme of Colonization in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Colony-A member or inhabitant of a colony.   A body of emigrants who settle in a remote region but remain under the control of a parent country.   --Webster's Dictionary    Can Prospero be defined as a type of colonist?   He does, after all, impose his presence onto an island already inhabited by somebody else, take over control and enslave his predecessor, while at the same time still remaining under the control of his native land.   If Prospero represents the colonist, or the white man, then Caliban serves as his counterpart in this discussion.   Critics have argued in the past that The Tempest's representation of Caliban relates Caliban to the black man, because Caliban, like African Americans of early times, is conquered and forced into slavery against his will.   Caliban thus becomes a representative of the colonized man.   Critics have pointed out that this device seems to fit the bill because of the Caribbean like location of the play; it is foreign and strange and not the native home of the white man who comes to discover it and claim it as his own.   At the same time, if the audience takes this interpretation to light, Prospero thus emerges as the white man, or the colonist.   Caliban thus serves to represent native cultures, while Prospero serves to represent colonizing cultures, like the British of Shakespeare's time.   The parallel of Prospero's domination of Caliban as compared to the Europeans colonization of the Africans, which was a topic of Shakespeare's time, becomes relevant upon closer examination.    This interpretation can be found within the consistent arguments between Prospero and Caliban.   Prospero feels the island is his; he rightfully won it fro... ... they were the original owners of the island, without the power to regain the island or their native land, they will never have the ability to be able to call the land solely their own again.    Works Cited Brown, Paul.   "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine: The Tempest and the discourse of colonialism."   New York: Collimore and Sinfield, 1985.   pp. 48-71. Davis, Angela.   Women, Race and Class.   London: Women's Press, 1982. Fanon, Frantz.   Black Skins, White Masks.   London: Pluto Press, 1986. Griffiths, Trevor.   "This island's mine: Caliban and Colonialism."   Yearbook of English Studies 13.   New York: Harcourt Brace.   Pp. 159-80. Mannoni, O., Prospero and Caliban: The Psycholgoy of Colonization.   New York: Praeger, 1964. Nixon, Rob.   "Caribbean and African appropriations of The Tempest."   Critical Inquiry 13 Spring 1987 pp. 557-77.

Addiction: A Desease Or A Choice? :: Drugs Alcohol

People argue whether drug addiction is a disease or a choice. Today, I will be discussing this argument in hopes to have a better understanding as to why this topic is so controversial. Throughout my research, I easily found information on this topic and I am still not sure I have found any answers. The biggest argument is that addiction is a choice not a disease. For those on the other side of the argument they claim just the opposite. According to a source on the Internet entitled Alcohol and Drug Treatment: The Disease Concept Of Substance Abuse and Addiction, the idea of drugs and alcohol being a disease is a â€Å"very controversial and debated topic.† For the purposes of this essay, I am forced to agree that drug addiction is a choice. People get high and drink because they want to and if they are not careful they can become an addict. The research I found on this particular topic seemed to have the most support and facts to dismiss the idea that addiction is a disease. I also beeivle if there was enough evidence to support the idea of addiction being a disease it would not be such a controversial topic. According to a Website entitled â€Å"Saint Jude Retreat House,† alcoholism and drug addiction are not diseases because those types of behaviors can be avoided and there is help available to change these behaviors. Although it has been found true that drug and alcohol dependency can be passed down through hereditary there is no concrete evidence I have found that proves that this is a disease. In a book entitled Treating Substance Abuse, Theory and Technique 2nd edition, says â€Å"This first and probably least controversial of the disease models can be termed the â€Å"medical consequences model.† (Page 11). This statement seems to be saying that because this topic is so controversial and not enough medical proof is available it has been given a generic name. It is true that drugs and alcohol can cause diseases, but does that make the addiction problem a disease? Perhaps this topic is so controversial because of the lack of knowledge or understanding of drug addiction. On a Website entitled â€Å"Addiction is a Chronic Disease,† the source was comparing diabetes and cancer to support their idea that drug addiction to is a chronic disease. The Website did not give any additional support and provided no examples. Addiction: A Desease Or A Choice? :: Drugs Alcohol People argue whether drug addiction is a disease or a choice. Today, I will be discussing this argument in hopes to have a better understanding as to why this topic is so controversial. Throughout my research, I easily found information on this topic and I am still not sure I have found any answers. The biggest argument is that addiction is a choice not a disease. For those on the other side of the argument they claim just the opposite. According to a source on the Internet entitled Alcohol and Drug Treatment: The Disease Concept Of Substance Abuse and Addiction, the idea of drugs and alcohol being a disease is a â€Å"very controversial and debated topic.† For the purposes of this essay, I am forced to agree that drug addiction is a choice. People get high and drink because they want to and if they are not careful they can become an addict. The research I found on this particular topic seemed to have the most support and facts to dismiss the idea that addiction is a disease. I also beeivle if there was enough evidence to support the idea of addiction being a disease it would not be such a controversial topic. According to a Website entitled â€Å"Saint Jude Retreat House,† alcoholism and drug addiction are not diseases because those types of behaviors can be avoided and there is help available to change these behaviors. Although it has been found true that drug and alcohol dependency can be passed down through hereditary there is no concrete evidence I have found that proves that this is a disease. In a book entitled Treating Substance Abuse, Theory and Technique 2nd edition, says â€Å"This first and probably least controversial of the disease models can be termed the â€Å"medical consequences model.† (Page 11). This statement seems to be saying that because this topic is so controversial and not enough medical proof is available it has been given a generic name. It is true that drugs and alcohol can cause diseases, but does that make the addiction problem a disease? Perhaps this topic is so controversial because of the lack of knowledge or understanding of drug addiction. On a Website entitled â€Å"Addiction is a Chronic Disease,† the source was comparing diabetes and cancer to support their idea that drug addiction to is a chronic disease. The Website did not give any additional support and provided no examples.

Why Do Managers Plan?

Why do Managers Plan 1 Why do Managers Plan? Management 301 Distance Learning December 07, 2011 Why do Managers Plan 2 Why do Managers Plan? Strategic Planning This seems like a very cut and dry topic to discuss, but there is no single reason that a manager makes plans in the work environment. I will cover several areas in which managers use planning, and why it is an essential part of accomplishing tasks, and how it streamlines processes necessary for an organization to be successful. First, I will discuss strategic planning: strategic planning can also be referred to as â€Å"charting the course† for a business or organization. A central part of strategic management is performance measurement (Public Administration Review, December 2010). Unlike private sector business organizations, many government and public agencies have developed performance measurements without developing strategic plans. I think that this is primarily due to the infrastructure that is set in place in most government or public agencies, and the amount of red-tape that accompanies government ran agencies. Regarding the private sector, I believe that having a strategic plan to guide managers and leaders in the decision making process allows them to identify alternative steps or measures to take in the event that something in the business process changes that they have no direct control over. Managers who develop a strategic plan also are likely to recognize that the end result cannot be their only concern, but they identify milestones that must be met along the ay, or during the process to use as a measurement tool to determine if they are making positive progress or if they need to examine â€Å"glitches† that will delay or have a negative impact on the business process. One tool to measure performance is a â€Å"Balanced Scorecard†. It is grounded in the idea that the measurement Why do Managers Plan 3 of an organization’s performance ought to take into account the processes and resources needed to produce outcomes, as well as the outcomes themselves. In some ways, its emphasis on inputs and outputs is a step back in performance measurement, but that step is designed to help organizations fulfill the results promised. (Public Administration Review, December 2010). I believe that this is a vital step, if not the first step in planning that will help ensure a business or organization has a set path that will enhance their possibilities of success. Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning is the next area that I want to discuss. When people talk about managers making plans for operations or processes in a business or organization it is likely that they are referring to plans that include forecasts. This type of planning is appropriate if the future of or in the business environment is stable; however, this is not always the case with many businesses because they face business environments that are complex and unstable (Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning, January 1987). With this being the case in most business environments today, the leadership of these businesses continue to pursue planning and forecasting tools and technology that will help them when they are developing strategic and organizational plans. Knowledge management might also be referred to as Management Information Systems (MIS). This is a computer program or network that was developed for management and leadership members to use for the purposes of planning and may have examples of past planning events or projects that the current managers can use to aid them in the planning and decision making process. One significant advantage of this type of system is that it can provide historical data that allows good planning to be done from the beginning, and this might improve the probability of success of a project or production process Why do Managers Plan 4 based on the past lessons learned that are taken into consideration when developing the current plan. The MIS was developed to assist managers in gathering information, generating ideas and alternatives and also for analyzing this information and choosing from among the competing alternatives. This MIS is just another tool to emphasize why managers plan. Another area that planning is important for managers is multi-project planning and resource control. This area is also related to the area of enterprise resource planning (ERP). Both of these areas require the use of business planning tools to make the manager’s job of planning for needed materials and resources much easier to manage through the use of technology and computer programs. One of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job is to ensure that he/she effectively manages projects or production processes without exhausting the organization’s limited resources (Multiproject Planning and Resource Controls, December 2006). When we talk of managers, I think it is important to realize that managers are in all industries including retail, production, manufacturing, and construction to name a few, and the one common link that they all share is planning. Planning is the bedrock or foundation that managers must establish as a starting point no matter the industry which they work. The important parts of planning that are related to multi-project and ERP management are identifying the resources needed to start and sustain work processes to eliminate loss time due to a shortage of resources, and how the ERP system works together with other internal business systems to enhance the planning of management. An example of this could be that the ERP system interfaces the maintenance projects that are being actively worked with the supply or requisitioning process to ensure that needed resources such as materials and tools are being ordered to meet the project or job requirements. The ERP system Why do Managers Plan 5 can be programmed to recognized or identify items needed based on job number or serial numbers related to specific aspects of the job that were identified during the initial planning phase of the job or project. The items that would be ordered due to this planning would be added to what is commonly referred to as a â€Å"pick-list†. This part of the ERP system is known as the interaction between structure and human action and is called the â€Å"duality of structure, which simply means (in this case) the interaction between the ERP system (usually managed by a materials manager), the ordering of resources (between materials manager and vendors), and communication between the project or production manager and the system (actual input into the system) (business benefits from ERP systems, Staehr, 2008). The ERP systems ability to identify this process in only possible due to the initial planning that was performed by the manager in charge of the projects or processes, and communicated and planned with the materials manager to ensure the system was interfaced to the processes. I have actually used an ERP system called SAP, and these types of systems require a lot of training and â€Å"hands on† work because they can be very complex to use. Another extremely important and relevant planning tool that managers can use is the Production Planning Model. This PPM might also be referred to as Material Requirement Planning (MRP). The MRP is a vital tool for managers who work as maintenance managers, production managers, or operations managers. Managers use the MRP to identify the amount of spare parts that need to be either â€Å"on hand† or quickly procured to ensure there is limited or no equipment down-time due to the lack of parts to make needed repairs for process equipment. It is important that managers who work in these types of environments are the not just the process manager, but the planning manager. I make the Why do Managers Plan 6 previous statement because the manager who develops the operational or process plans should use the equipments historical data to identify operational and down-time trends. They should also use Bills of Materials (BOMs) to identify parts that will be more likely to fail due to the amount of use, or are more susceptible to wear from continuous use in the operation or process. This topic is important to discuss because many plants or facilities might have the capability to manufacture parts in their own machine shops, and this can be a cost savings measure as well as a time saving measure. This is why it is important that the planning manager identify this as a possibility or a preference during the planning phase of the job to be performed. Using MRP helps manufactures and managers determine precisely when and how much material to purchase and process based on a time phased analysis of sales orders, production orders, current inventory, and forecasts (Production planning model, April 2009). MRP determines material requirements based on master production and planning schedules which are used in conjunction with one another to ensure an efficient work process. A primary reason that managers use the production planning model is to reduce the levels of parts or goods on hand. In other words, if proper planning is performed prior to starting the job or production process the manager will be able to determine the parts needed/required from start to completion of the process and save inventory costs by only having the required parts on hand with no excess. Once it is determined how much product will be produced it makes it much easier to determine the amount of parts or spare parts that will be needed. When managers are planning for a production run it is important for them to be aware of any future product orders that might follow closely after the production Why do Managers Plan 7 process or run that they are planning for, so they can consider having more spare parts on hand to aid the planning process of the following project or product run. Good communication among the management team is crucial to the overall success in the planning phase of all work processes. The advantage of using the MRP to assist in the planning stage of projects or production processes is that it allows the planning manager to use historical equipment data, and maintenance data to develop a trend analysis and determine the appropriate amount of parts required during a specific production process. In summary, I have used several different examples to emphasize and support why managers plan. I know that some of the examples that I used to illustrate my points might be broad, and even complex with regards to using ERP and MRP as tools to aid in planning, but I feel they were essential elements for me to use to stress that planning is often difficult and requires the use of technology to properly forecast outcomes etcetera. I have worked as a manager in charge of maintenance planning processes in a manufacturing environment, so I know from firsthand experience the importance of planning. I have used a management information system program (SAP Plant Maintenance Module) to integrate and implement plans and procedures, and it can be very time consuming and complex, but if we had not used a system such as this to help develop plans we would not have been able to effectively perform maintenance procedures and the company could have suffered catastrophic equipment failures. I know that we have probably all heard the old saying that â€Å"failing to plan is like planning to fail†, well in the case of â€Å"Why do Managers Plan? I would have to say that I agree with that old Why do Managers Plan 8 saying, and that managers plan to ensure their efforts are successful, and to ensure the success of the organization as a whole. Why do Managers Plan 9 References: Professional Article: Strategic Planning and Balanced Scorecards: Charting the Course to Policy Destination, Edward T. Jennings, Jr. , University of Kentucky. Public Administration Review, dated: December 2010. Professional Article: Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning, Lynda M. Applegate, Tsung Teng Chen, Benn R. Konsynski, and Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr. Twentieth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Honolulu, Dated: January 6-9,1987 Multiproject Planning and Resource Controls for Facility Management, E. William East and Liang Y. Liu, dated: December 2006. Understanding the role of managerial agency in business benefits from ERP systems, Lorraine Staehr, La Trobe University, Dated: 2008. Production planning model with simultaneous production of spare parts, P. Cyplik, L. Hadas, and M. Fertsch, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland, Dated: April 2009.