Avoiding a Malthusian Catastrophe - 783 Words

Thomas Malthus once said, â€Å"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.† Albert Einstein might argue, on the other hand, â€Å"Necessity is the mother of all invention,† albeit in another context. So, which is it? Are we doomed to unchecked population growth followed by Malthusian catastrophe, or can we avoid it through increased food production, decreasing population growth rates, or some other means? To say Malthusian catastrophe is inevitable is completely unwarranted. Is it possible? Certainly – it is only logical that if human population reached levels which far outstripped food supply, the resulting global famine would create easily ignitable tensions between nations, and†¦show more content†¦This spread in the demographic data available to contemporary researchers show that as nations become more developed, fertility rates do not increase exponentially as predicted, nor even linearly, but eventually plateau or potentially even decrease. This concept, demographic transition, has many contributing factors, many of which are uncertain. Still, even if these influences are poorly constrained, the overall trend towards replacement rates of reproduction is well established. The best example of steady and sustainable population levels is the European Union. The EU is highly industrially and agriculturally developed, yet has growth rates near zero percent, and not onl y a sufficient domestic food supply, but an exportable surplus of grains. Some detractors may be quick to point out that this is not the case in many developing countries like India and Sudan, which face shortages of food and resources that are exacerbated by their rapid growth rate. While true, such criticisms do not stand up to the wealth of data showing a strongly correlated positive feedback loop between increasing education and economic gains and falling fertility rates. That is, once such nations in the second phase of demographic transition receive or implement educational and economic improvements, the resulting chain-reaction can move them into the third phase of sustainability before the population can outgrow their resources.

A And The American Dream - 1376 Words

A Xicano and The American Dream Is the â€Å"American Dream† something that is feasible for the son of two immigrant parents? Watching my parents try to climb up the ranks of their job and society, in general, in the most honest way, only to just be met with racist legislation, police brutality, racial profiling, and exploitation, I have come to the conclusion that the American Dream is a fallacy. I’ve seen too many people beat and killed by the system; too many people of color systemically beat down and killed. I have had too many friends fall victim to the prison system. I have worked too many years in the strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry fields. I am tired of seeing my people suffer; it is time for me to help. I want to become a teacher and hopefully, someday, become a lawyer. The circumstances that led me to the path that I am on started long before I was born. My father came to the U.S when he was 14 years old. I wish I could say that he was still a k id, but he wasn’t – he was treated like a man. He was expected to work the blazing-hot summer fields and the terribly cold winter fields like a grown man is expected to work. He was expected to provide for his three brothers and three sisters like a grown man is expected to provide for his family. There wasn’t time to play outside with the other children, paint, draw, or even go to school; there was only time to work and provide. At age 19, he married my mother and they had my oldest sister. He undertookShow MoreRelatedAmerican Dreams : The American Dream1068 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican Dream? American Dream: Noun, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. That is the definition of the American dream according to Dictionary.com, but the American Dream is more than a definition, but a way of life for many. Millions of immigrants come to our country in search of this â€Å"American Dream† including my grandparents but more and more are disappointed. So does the American Dream exist? Has it ever existed or has it allRead MoreAmerican Dreams And The American Dream Essay1727 Words   |  7 PagesMobility and the American Dream feed off one another, immigrants and American citizens wanting to work hard and building new inventions to make life easier. Without this American ingenuity, it might of taken the United States longer to get to where the country is now. The American Dream has helped people see all the potential that there is in the U.S. Almost all aspects of mobility relating to the American Dream are still achievable. The path to the so called American Dream might be a harder toRead MoreAmerican Dreams : The American Dream1187 Words   |  5 PagesThe American dream is what makes people from all around the world to want to move to America. The American dream is what makes America wonderful. The American dream has been categorized as an equal opportunity to attain success through hard work. The end result of the American dream for the universal people is for that character and their loved ones to be living contentedly for the rest of their lives. However, this is not the same apparition that every individual has of the American dream. The AmericanRead MoreAmerican Dreams : The American Dream1663 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream The American Dream is indefinable. There is no one set of words or characteristics that the entire population assigns directly to its definition. With the American population consisting of people of various races, ethnicities, ages, classes, and genders, it seems trivial to even attempt to attribute a single definition to the concept of the American Dream. It is this inability however, to be confined within one single meaning, that allows for the American Dream to govern theRead MoreAmerican Dreams And The American Dream1728 Words   |  7 PagesAmericans have been dreaming since the Mayflower arrived in the New World and the American Dream itself has withstood threats up until this very day to all of its internal characteristics: international peace, health, leadership, wealth, supremacy, and equality. H.W. Brands states in his book American Dreams that â€Å"Americans had dreamed since our national birth, and in the twenty-first century we are dreaming still†. Both Brandsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ story and Nathaniel Philbrick’s account in Mayflower assist significantlyRead MoreThe American Dream : The American Dream1014 Words   |  5 Pages The American Dream. The American Dream is made up of many different aspects and ideas. Like moving up the social , escaping poverty , freedom ,equality , pursuing our interests and passions , opinions and safety. Most of the dreams are different for an individual depending on their situation. Poverty is a struggle in life. Not having enough to eat , not having heat and shelter. For the kids , life in poverty is much tougher to overcome than those who already have help with wealth.Read MoreThe American Dream And The American Dream1088 Words   |  5 PagesIn American society, there are many norms that have become essential to citizenship, like owning a home or attending college to pursue higher education. The American Dream drove Americans to improve their living standards and live luxurious suburban lifestyles, but quickly it became evident that in order to achieve the American Dream, people were forced to take on debt. Mortgages, credit cards, and student loans became a part of regular conversation for the middle-class and were crucial to upholdingRead MoreThe American Dream : The American Dream?1106 Words   |  5 Pagesaverage, Americans work 43 hours per week out of a total of 120 hours, take out the recommended sleep time and we work 43 out of 80 total hours . Therefore we work more than half the time in our daily lives. The larger part of Americans believe in The American Dream. so employees believe in working excessively for the chance of being rich, having expensive objects and being successful. The problem The American Dream is getting less and less possible each and everyday. The American Dream is centralRead MoreAmerican Dreams And The American Dream2042 Words   |  9 PagesEvery young American aspires to the American Dream. It is an innate American idealism, encountered by members of every level of society; however, most of all affected by this idealism are those who come from humble beginnings. Those who come from a below average income, the working-class, have much to gain from this American ambition. Sadly, aspirations are in jeopardy. American capitalism does not allow the working-class individual to achieve the American Dream, because of disproportionate economicsRead MoreAmerican Dreams And The American Dream Essay2288 Words   |  10 Pagestype of fulfillment from the American Dream which prompts them to relay belief in it to the newest generation of Americans. However, nowadays, populations of Americans have become increasingly critical of the American Dream and what that dream entails. That particular group claims that the American Dream is now dead due to many different facets of society. Is it possible to demand the death of an ideal that is essentially the backbone of a powerful country such as American? There are people who argue

Jet Airways free essay sample

Naresh Goyal, who already owned JetAir (Private) Limited (which provided sales and marketing for foreign airlines in India) took advantage of this opportunity by setting up Jet Airways as a fullservice scheduled airline that would give competition to state-owned Indian Airlines. Indian Airlines had enjoyed a monopoly in the domestic market between 1953, when all major Indian air transport providers were nationalised under the Air Corporations Act (1953), and January 1994, when the Air Corporations Act was repealed, following which Jet Airways received scheduled airline status. Jet Airways’ 45 destinations include most of the big cities in India. International destinations include Kathmandu, Colombo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Londons Heathrow Airport, Bangkok, Brussels and Newark. Jet Airways was the first private airline in India to fly to international destinations. It started international operations in March 2004 between Chennai and Colombo after it had been cleared by the Government of India to operate scheduled services to international destinations. MACRO ENVIRONMENT FACTORS: Economic Economic environment of India and world affects the airline industry to a great extent. Factors like fluctuations in global fuel prices, exchange rates, slowdown etc have varying impact on the way Jet Airways has been operating in this sector. One of the most important aspect that has greatly affected the worlds transportation system is the high fuel price. Besides high taxes, jet fuel prices have become costlier than crude oil prices which have greatly affected the bottom-line for many airlines including Jet Airways. State taxes on ATF available through government agencies vary between 4% and 30%, making the fuel 30% to 50% costlier than the global average. In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh the cess is 25% or higher. The three listed airline companies – Jet Airways, Kingfisher and SpiceJet – all of which reported losses in the quarter ending December 2011, blamed rising ATF cost for their bad financial performance. In February 2012, the Centre gave a nod to direct import of ATF on a case-to-case basis But once airlines start importing ATF, traffic at the countrys congested ports is likely to increase, making matters worse for exporters and importers. Airlines will also have to factor in the cost of transporting ATF from the various ports in the country to airports around the country, something which could eventually lead to increase in the ATF cost. Jet Airways in its financial report has also indicated the losses that it has incurred due to rupee depreciation. It has been reported that revenue from exceptional items decreased by 61% from Rs. 18,919 lakhs in Fiscal 2011 to Rs. 7,319 lakhs in Fiscal 2012 mainly on account of depreciation of the Rupee against the Dollar in the current year. Even in the past Jet Airways has experienced slowdown because of global recession. In 2008 during recession, Jet Airways was forced to discontinue the following routes: Ahmedabad–London, Amritsar–London, Bangalore–Brussels and Mumbai–Shanghai– San Francisco. It also had to put an indefinite delay on its expansion plans. Naresh Goyal, Jet Airways promoter is unable to put in more funds via his holding company due to FDI restrictions. He holds 80% in Jet Airways through Tailwinds. He claims NRI status, where 100% ownership is allowed. However, Goyal’s investment is via Tailwinds, which is considered FDI by the Indian government. Tailwinds is registered in the Isle of Man. In India, only 49% FDI investment is permissible in aviation. Airline business is a complicated one and only airlines would be interested in investing domestic carriers. The government is looking at allowing foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers but there would be no change in FDI cap of 49%. In this 49%, currently foreign airlines are not allowed to participate. So if this change happens then there would be inflow of funds from foreign airlines. The announcement of ECB (External Commercial Borrowing) with a limit $1 billion in the Budget 2012 will also give some relief to debt ridden airline companies. Shareholding Naresh Goyal 80% FII 6. 7% DII 7% Public hold 6. 3% Social The backbone of the airline industry is people. Individuals in the management, technical and crew are responsible for undertaking the task of serving their customers with utmost care and excellence. These individuals are trained and tailored to the industrys needs before they are allowed to work. They need to meet certain standards of service and technical knowledge designed to satisfy the customers. For this reason the players invest millions of dollars to improve the knowledge of their workers. Jet Airways plans to set up a marketing services firm and launch an aviation training academy, with a total investment of Rs 1 crore. The proposal is, however, subjected to regulatory approvals, including those from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Reserve Bank of India. The proposed academy would be based in Mumbai and offer certificate courses in in-flight services, ticket reservation and check-in services, according to a brochure brought out for the institute. Operations in the northeast are guided by the governments Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) which entails that all Indian carriers fly to the northeast and other remote parts of the country, more so as a social obligation. After posting a loss of Rs 298 crore in the last quarter, Jet Airways has sought government clearance to scale down its flights to the northeastern region by about half to stem the losses. Technological Technological factors in macroenvironment are the most dramatic forces in changing the market place. They help the business to create new products and harness new opportunities. Jet Airways makes strategic use of the latest technology to interact with passengers at a global level. Its significant presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr ensures increase in awareness and reach of the company brand. The companys growth on the social media networking platform has been noteworthy registering an exponential increase in the number of followers and fans on Twitter and Facebook. In the coming year, the Company aims to introduce state-of-the-art mobile applications for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows mobile phones. These applications will provide passengers with a convenient and seamless option to book tickets, check-in, access their JetPrivilege account etc. using their mobile phones. Additionally, the Company intends to commence the use of 2D Mobile Bar-coded boarding passes for guests who have checked-in for their flights, thus providing a paperless travel experience. Political In India, one can never over-look the political factors which influence each and every industry existing in the country. Like it or not, the political interference has to be present everywhere. Given below are a few of the political factors with respect to the airline industry: The airline industry is very susceptible to changes in the political environment. One instance of Government Policy resulting in great uncertainty is the fact that the Indian Government has not allowed foreign airlines to participate in FDI in aviation as yet. So the airline industry, which is currently facing draught of funds can still not expect foreign players to chip in. International airlines are greatly affected by trade relations that their country has with others. Unless governments of the two countries trade with each other, there could be restrictions of flying into particular area leading to a loss of potential air traffic (e. g. Pakistan India) Political factors can also affect the day-to-day working of the airline industry. For instance, in 2009, Jet Airways announced plans to lay-off 1800 employees that were undergoing probation with the Company. What happened was a PR disaster for the Airline. First the laid off employees suddenly became socialist in their approach and later went a step further managing to politicize the whole matter by seeking support from MNSs Raj Thackeray. Other parties and sundry ministers then followed the suit and jumped into the bandwagon, until the Jet Management had to revert the decision and ask laid off employees to join the duty back. Legal and Regulatory Operating in a cross border network of alliances and partnerships, multinational companies like Jet airways are subject to international and national regulations in terms of assignment of routes and destinations; international aviation regulations; partners legal standing as well as local laws. These constraints not only leave little room for airlines to operate but are also the sources for its highly efficient value chain. Another aspect is industrial relations. Personnel in the airlines industry from pilots to cabin crew to technicians everyone work in the capacity and provisions given by the laws prevalent globally. For this reason, everyone is cognizant of their rights to legal aid if required. Since most of the airline personnel in the world have associations and unions they tend to have an upper hand over management. The management therefore has to comply with their demands if it is within the capacity of the law Not only is this but the airlines also subject to strict safety, hygiene and efficient regulations. Airlines that do not deliver services according to international standards do not only lose out in the competition but are also subjected to aviation penalties. The principal regulatory authority that regulates the civil aviation sector in India is the Director General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA. To operate scheduled services in India, an airline requires an operating permit from the DGCA. This permit is required to be renewed on a year-to-year basis. An airline incorporated in India and operating scheduled services is also required to register all its aircraft with the DGCA, save and except aircraft which are wet leased. On July 10 2012 aviation regulator E K Bharat Bhushan was abruptly removed from his key position in the backdrop of his tough stance against debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines over its failure to pay salaries to its employees. Newly-appointed chief of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation Prashant Sukul on 13th July 2012 asked all airlines to strictly adhere to prescribed safety standards. Demographics Indian aviation industry promises huge growth potential due to large and growing middle class population, favorable demographics, rapid economic growth, higher disposable incomes, rising aspirations of the middle class, and overall low penetration levels (less than 3%). Few prominent factors we need to look at from demographics perspective: Working age population India is blessed with a young and growing population. India has amongst the best demographic ratio globally and this would continue to improve over next three to four decades. As compared to children and elderly, a relatively higher percentage of the earning population travels by air to save working hours and for business. The rising proportion of people of working age also implies higher disposable income as pressure on household for the needs of dependent children elderly comes down. Both the above factors along with a growing working age population would lead to higher demand for air travel. Exploding Middle Class McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) predicts that the India’s middle class will reach 583 million from the current 50 million by 2025. With this exploding middle class the demand for air travel is bound to go up in a unidirectional way. Nuclear families increase Increasing VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) Travel The traditional ‘joint-family’ system in India is rapidly breaking up. With increasing expenses and with more people migrating to cities for work, people are increasingly opting for nuclear and small families. This trend of smaller families has also bought a change to their lifestyles, with friends relatives visiting more frequently and families taking more vacations – implying greater frequency of travel. Air travel is finding a growing proportion of this additional travel, with smaller families making air travel for the entire family more affordable. Increasing Employment Growing employment means higher disposable income, more business travel and higher opportunity cost of travel time. All these contribute to higher demand for air travel. Increasing Leisure Travel Tourism accounts only for 2. 5% of India’s GDP, versus 6% in Asia Pacific and 5. 3% in China. However this ratio is fast changing with India emerging amongst the fast growing tourism destinations in the world.

The Difference Sports Participation And Title IX Have Made Essays

The Difference Sports Participation and Title IX Have Made Amanda Sprouse The United States of America was built, ideologically speaking, as an escape from a regimented way of life. It was based, in theory, on freedom of expression. However, it was built by white men, for white men. Every major institution was created through a new constitution; a set of laws that would allow men the freedoms they were not capable of attaining in their homeland. Not once were women taken into consideration; at that time it was absurd to even think of allowing women these very same freedoms. Since the beginning, the very socialization of women was against them living their lives as free individuals. Hundreds of years later, much has changed for women. Perhaps one of the most dramatic shifts has taken place in the world of female athletics where, to a certain degree, the establishment of professional athletics for women is now a reality. This is due, in large part, to the introduction of the Educational Amendments of 1972. Title IX, which came from these amendments, states that: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Although athletics are not the specific target for Title IX, they have become a focal point due to the fact that it governs colleges, elementary schools, and high schools. As mentioned above, the patriarchal system in which we live has led to the political socialization of women as inferior to men. Two examples of this are that our constitution refers to a human being as a man and that women are expected to give up their name, an important part of one's identity, when they marry. This argument includes a socialization basis of sexism, which states that the inequality of sexes is based on the variation of the socialization each receives. This way of thinking was evident in every inch of women's lives. It held them back in exercise, but more importantly, it held them back in education and employment opportunities. Vast improvements have been made over the years, particularly in the last twenty-five since Title IX was enacted. In 1972, women earned 9% of medical degrees. Three years ago, that percentage was up to 38%. The percentages look better in terms of law degrees, where women went from earning 7% of law degrees to earning 43% of them. Since 1977, the percent of females earning doctoral degrees moved from 25 to 44%. All of these increases give reason to celebrate what Title IX has accomplished. However, for those who have been in constant battle in the long war against sexism, these statistics are seen as long past due and still not up to par. Sex discrimination has been passed down from generation to generation and even with the women's movement and laws like Title IX, the fight continues to be lop-sided and in f avor of men. There are many complaints about the slow moving progress of Title IX. However slow this progress may seem, statistics indicate improvement and that is worthwhile. This is particularly obvious in the athletic arena: Female participation in athletics has increased dramatically since 1971, when there was only an 8% participation rate among high school girls. By the 1994-95 school year, it rose to a staggering 40%. Meanwhile, boy's participation has remained fairly stable. These statistics are a stumbling block to the arguments of Title IX opponents. They claim that Title IX should not be enforced in college athletics because there is a lack of athletic interest on the part of college females. The fact that high school participation is only 10% away from a 50-50-participation rate indicates a lack of opportunity in college athletics, not a lack of interest. Quite obviously, women today have an unprecedented amount of freedom compared to those raised a mere twenty-five years ago. Today, more girls are encouraged to participate in sports and other activities. They are able to dream about being bigger and better than girls of the past. College is now a viable option in a young woman's decision for post high school plans. An occupation, beyond