Category: critical thinking

Critical thinking is an essential and invaluable aspect of philosophy. It is the ability for an individual to think in a rational, systematic and justifiable manner. Additionally, critical thinking is unprejudiced, unassuming and objective in consideration of philosophical discourse. For a philosopher to adequately answer any of life’s numerous questions, he or she must employ the use of critical thinking.

The main reason for applying critical thinking is to ensure that the human moral experience is universally explained with little quota being given to individual biases and egocentrism. Critical thinking is rational. Philosophers and scientists alike place the human rationality high above any known species on the planet. Any philosopher believes that they sane human being can think rationally in any situation presented before him or her. The point of dissension, however, lies in the general direction that the human rationale should drive the person, therefore, determining the destination of critical thought. The justification should uphold a person to act in a manner that does not compromise his or her human dignity, or that of another person. Critical thinking would, therefore, be geared towards the preservation, the betterment and the protection of the ordinary human being, the self-included.

The most renowned mathematicians, astrologists, physicists, biologists and finally philosophers have always sought a particular order to the universe, and to life itself. Philosophy asks many fundamental and exiting questions which, at first glance seem unanswerable. The philosopher should, therefore, ask the question, “Where am I supposed to begin the process of critical thinking? “well, the author posits that every human being had origin, a childhood in which he or she first began moralizing and learning. As such, the systematic thinking of philosophical issues should take into account the very beginning or the earliest periods of thinking. The critical thinker should use this period as a reference guide to further think from which he or she can identify intrinsic biases and make adjustments.

The critical thinker is, therefore, a systematic thinker who does not overlook past, present and foreseeable future events. Justification is the surest way of analyzing the authenticity and the value of any result of critical thinking. A critical thinker must justify or prove his or her result. What then is the justification? Firstly, justification begins with the self. Many of the actions we perform have their obvious reasons (which may not be true) and other subsidiary reasons. A man asks for a plate of food on two separate occasions. On one occasion, he claims that his hunger is what drives him to ask for the food. The man has given two distinct justifications albeit unknowingly. The philosophical argument assumes the same dynamic as that of the man. As such, a philosopher must be keen in the numerous justifications he gives while in the process of critical thought. Acceptable justifications are those that seem constant when seen in a different light, or in a different situation form the one the critical thinker was previously in. Critical thinking should have little or no recourse to biases. Biased thinking presumably never solves the philosophical questions of the individual, and much less those of others. This assertion proves that human beings share a common moral experience, which is not limited to individual preferences.

Furthermore, critical thinking takes nothing for granted nor does it assume any admission of knowledge of the self and other people. A critical thinker must patiently analyze any claim of truth before incorporating such information in any further philosophical discourse. Jean-Paul Sauter once said that the more subjective an individual is, the more objectively, he sees the world (Sartre, 1947). An objective view should guide subjectivism into the common moral experience shared by all human beings. Paulo Coelho also stated that education should serve to bring a man or woman close to others and not further away from them. Therefore, the subjective critical reason should be conservative, considerate and objective. Critical thinking is a skill that requires keen and careful consideration of many aspects such as individual prejudices. Additionally, critical thinking should be rational, systematic and justifiable. A philosopher should, therefore, train his or her intellect in careful discernment of facts, feelings, and ideas to ensure truthful discourse into philosophical problems.

Critical thinking is the ability to think and analyze clearly and rationally regarding the questions raised to assess both the meaning and the significance of claims and arguments (Doyle., 2019). In this way, it enables an individual to have self-evaluation and to make a reasonable judgment.

The class was at 9 am but I went out at 8.20 am. At that time, I was afraid of being late. I was considering what kind of public transports, either bus, train or taxi that I should take. As it takes a distance to walk to the MTR and bus station, I decided to take a taxi to school in hopes of attending school on time. Unexpectedly, I was still late for about 10 minutes at last. In the following, the reasoning strategies that I have used to make the decision in choosing a taxi to school will be discussed. They are compare and contrast, and intuition. Reflection towards the case will also be used for evaluation afterward. The first one will be compare and contrast.

Comparing and contrasting is the process of looking at similarities and differences in order to reveal important characteristics among things that are being compared or contrasted (Rao et al., 2006). Taxi, bus, and MTR in the case are categorized into public transports that I can take to school. However, there are five items in total that are being compared, they are cost, speed, time limits, comfort and direct to the destination. Taking a taxi surpassed the others regarding speed, time limits, comfort and can be direct access to the destination, except the cost is the most expensive. Regarding the speed and time limits, although the bus and MTR can run at a moderate speed, they will stop in every station which may take up the time to school. Besides, taking the bus and MTR cannot reach the destination, the school, directly. When getting off the bus and train, I still need to walk a distance to school. Although the distance I get off from the bus stop is comparatively shorter than the MTR, taking a taxi can be direct access to school. Considering the rush hour, I decided to take a taxi to school regarding speed, time limits, comfort and can be direct to the destination.

The second will be intuition. It is the act of knowing the problem or situation without having to rely explicitly upon analytic reasoning to do so (Cholle., 2011). At that time, I was in a rush, and I thought that there was no other traffic faster than taking a taxi to school. Therefore, I decided to take a taxi to school, hoping that I could attend the class on time. Lastly will be the reflection for evaluating the decision-making. It enables an individual to learn from the experience and to make an improvement next time. In the case, I did not think comprehensively and in details regarding the time phase. At that time, I only focused on the way that I could get earlier to the school by thinking about what kind of public transports was the best choice, instead of considering the time phase at that moment. Yet, it was at a peak hour while I was going to school. Many vehicles are driving on the road during peak hour and traffic congestion is easy to happen. Also, traffic accidents can happen suddenly that it will take up a time to school unexpectedly. Undoubtedly, taking a taxi to school is faster and convenient than other traffic, followed by the bus. However, in regard to the time during a peak hour, it may not be the best in choosing such an option. Although taking MTR will stop in every station and it cannot reach the destination directly, it does not have traffic congestion and arrives at the station on time unless lines are conked out. The risk of taking time up, therefore, can be reduced. Additionally, the cost of taking the MTR is much less expensive than taking a taxi. This helps save the money cost.

Critical thinking is crucial in daily life to make rational and prominent decisions by properly interpreting the problem. It is reflective and open mind thinking which concentrates to grasp the logical aspects behind the issue. Critical thinking is used to make judgments in a situation where more than one alternative is available. It is the outcome of any discussion and problem-solving technique. Concentration, learning, brainstorming, and plain hard work are required to gain critical thinking skills, but it is attained over years.

To become a master thinker, a person must figure out their existing thinking level and then practice to improve it. This essay will elucidate the theoretical and practical implementation of critical thinking. To resolve any problem, critical review, discussion, and inquiry are pre-requestee to apply the rule of critical thinking. Mostly human thinking is irrational because the person does not know the reason behind this learning such as why and how they believe. Society influences a person to believe because a person is gaining an advantage by irrational belief without understanding the reason behind it. Irrational learning is without rational ground, foundation, and evidence belief, it can be turned into rational thinking if critical recognition is performed to add clarity, fairness, and accuracy to thought. Rational learning can be generated by applying special design of logical thinking in schools.

Critical thinking relies on rational and irrational learning, academic level, and societal influences. Strong sense critical thinkers develop a framework of assumptions and their own ideas and figure out the thoughts opposing to their own point of view sympathetically and then apply the multilogical approach to ascertain either their own point of view is weakest or the opposing idea is strongest. They are rational thinkers, therefore, they do not follow anyone blindly and do not trap in confusing dilemmas such as democratic or capitalism concepts in the economic system, so they are disciplined and professional in nature. Robert Ennis stated that reflective reckoning is what to believe or what to do. For gaining genuine open-mindedness, first, a person must understand the point of view of others and then compare with own point of view to know the causes of non-matching of view and present own judgment if reasons are not inappropriate. Harvey Siegel commented that a critical manner generates a critical spirit that assists pupils to become genuine critical thinkers. The teacher plays a great role to develop critical spirit among the students by utilizing their skills and habits to emphasize thinking logically. It will be a worthwhile style of teaching.

In daily life, people reckon critically to tackle the personal and social aspects of life. From the time of Socrates (470- 399 BC), the concept of critical thinking is introduced in western intellectual traditions. As a teacher, Socrates’ life was full of logical thinking and rational ethics. Socrates stated that a teacher would be an expert only if he has the courage to put the question on society’s unethical rituals and he creates an environment among their students to develop questions in front of society. Mostly he talked about justice, virtue, and ethical manners with a vulnerable social group to be aware of right or wrong manner. Hereby, his students were experts in the art of dialectical questioning techniques. Socrates developed the maiden model to think rationally and express an opinion publicly.

Education institutes must focus on the creation of rational beliefs, but students try to learn about what the teachers and books explain, therefore it has prevailed that schools emphasize merely irrational learning. For gaining the efficiency of critical thinking, social studies are an appropriate area to analyze and to question the nonproductive plan and policies of leaders. Rationalization of ruling power and choosing of national leader requires critical thinking because it is a critical decision, so it is pivotal to develop a critical ideology for making judgments in favor of national interest. Apart from this, critical discussion, debates, and conversations are an appropriate way to eradicate any personal, social, and national disputes and help to evaluate different vintages through dialectical practice. In case of national tension, leaders of both countries should consider the perspective of each other to relieve political tension, for instance, the cold war: Cuban missile crisis, US writers state biased approach by writing that the cold war crisis could be settled by considering one point of view, it was representing their objective thinking, however, the concept of dialogical to consider both points of views and facts was missing there. Mostly facts bring the attention, questions, and arguments of listeners and readers. If provide some facts about the cold war situation that both counties tried to place their missiles in each other territory, then it gave birth to rational thinking in favor and against of this situation.

In conclusion, Critical thinking is an argumentative technique in which critical thinker deals with situation facts, different viewpoints, and a myriad of questions to make the rational judgment. Usually, it is not innate, but it can be accomplished by proper practice, training in educational institutes. Critical teachers must emphasize their personal, social, and civil life to make their students critical thinkers. The questioning technique is crucial to generate critical discussion and critical inquiry about the situation and contribute to students learning and make the problem-solving technique rememberable. Students must value their reasons and evidence to bring clarity and fairness at the time of presentation. Hereby, considering theoretical and practical aspects of rational thinking is productive to control irrational behavior and to solve the conflicts and misunderstandings in society. In this technique, thinkers must identify and understand the problem and facts and try to find probable alternative aspects, lastly, they must evaluate and analyze these alternatives and facts to make rational decisions based on the logical aspects. All techniques like problem-solving, decision making, managerial techniques and other are utilized in modern business era and these fully rely on critical thinking concept. People must recognize the assumption and facts, appraise the different arguments and illustrate judgment to think rationally.

The main problem to overpower in changing and reconstructing social studies units and instructions is to transform the didactic education from a single point of view to a dialogical education within multiple points of view. Thus, the teachers should not see themselves as only providers of the absolute truth and nor the champion or relativity but searchers of truth by inviting their students to participate. The teachers always remind themselves that there are different responses and points of view from each person and considering one point of view as the truth can limit their understanding of the problems. Start to get in and try to understand different points of view which increases their understanding of real-life problem situations. In addition, young people already confront a lot of issues through their life journey and keep wondering and asking different questions related to social studies.

Humans being live in an environment that has a different definition which means that there are several ways to get an idea of human behavior. So they always have a conflict with one another because of the variety of points of view that they share between one other; and the students need to understand that all accounts of human behavior are shown within a single point of view, so any point of view given by the teacher or written in the textbook should be identified, make other alternative points of view in consideration and finally critically analyzed and assessed.

Adults and children are sometimes lean and suppose to their unexamined point of view. Thus, from the beginning, social studies must encourage dialogical thinking which is based on a variety of points of view and their beliefs; this last emphasis on the diversity of human perspectives which should not be covered in a certain way that shows all points of view are equally valid. However, students have to learn how to make a difference and distinguish truth from falsity.

Students start to use dialogical to enhance their ability to think differently, logically, and crucially. They also need opportunities to learn basic principles of social analysis, and the opportunity to apply those skills in real life and develop insight into social analysis. Pitfalls of human analyses are needed for the students to help them recognize the ease where they mask self-interest or egocentric desires that are connected to social scientists’ language. Students must also learn the art of distinguishing perspectives on the world from facts for any particular instance of social judgment.

As everyone, students have all the right to enhance their own social perspective, whether optimistic or pessimistic, whether conservative or liberal, but the ability to analyze their perspectives, compare them accurately with other perspectives are mandatory. Finally, they should adapt to the use of critical thinking principles in the social domain as expected to be in the scientific domains of learning.

Traditional lessons cover different important subjects within social studies such as history, geography, politics, economics, and anthropology. Critical education in social studies focuses on the basic questions in a particular subject or lesson and prepares students for their own future political, economic, and social roles.

There are some common issues with social studies for example at every end of chapter questions often ask for a random section of details and keywords or ideas, so the student comes up with some answers and sentences that have a little sense of how to distinguish major from minor points. Moreover, sometimes the answers to the review question are found in the text in bold, so students do not even need to understand the question.

Students do not learn to read or use maps, timelines, charts, and graphs, and students do not develop useful schemas of temporal or spatial relationships. In addition, students do not learn to use insights or principles to understand specifics and do not learn how to recognize recurring patterns. Even though the texts are the kind of things that treat a diversity of opinion as necessary, beliefs are not presented as subject to examination or critique. Students are heartened to accept that others have different beliefs. On the other hand, students are not encouraged to ask why and not encouraged to recognize and combat their own natural ethnocentricity and at the same time that the last one often presents U.S ideals as unique even though beliefs about the state of the world and about how to reach ideals.

Texts do not often distinguish ideals from the way a system might really operate in a given situation, but texts often emphasize the ideal or theoretical models of government, institution, economic systems without showing the sources of power and change. In addition, explanations are often abstract and lack detail or linked to that which they explain, which latterly leave the students with vague understanding, so texts failed to address so questions such as: what was going on in people’s minds? Why is this valued? How did this bring about that? Without context, the little pieces have a little meaning and therefore, if remembered at all, serve no duction and it is not able to be recalled for use.

There are somehow a lot of different issues which enter in almost all areas of social studies and it is necessary to identify them. Firstly the history, Despite texts mention that to understand the present number one must understand the past, so a failure occurs while showing the student the historical background, how current situations, conflicts, events, problems and so on would be better understood by those who want to know and understand how they came to be because it is necessary to understand and know the past.

When Pi was thrown into the Pacific Ocean on the lifeboat with only a limited stock of food and other resources after the ship capsized, he had to make a plan to survive the uncertain and indeterminate period in the harsh seas; “when your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival” (Martel 120). Pi instinctively understands that he can’t use all of his energy worrying about the zebra, who is faced with death, and must instead focus on his own needs. He needs to put all of his efforts into figuring out how he can increase his chances of survival. In Life of Pi, Yann Martel develops the theme by using incredible imagery and details to display Pi’s devotion to God and how he uses his faith to guide him through his mental and physical survival in the ocean, which enlarges his responsibilities in the environment he put in.

Yann Martel enhances Pi’s tenacious pursuit of survival to preserve his physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Throughout the story, Martel shows the change in pPibeginning as a vegetarian and ending as a carnivore during his time on the boat. As Pi’s exposure on the boat interfered with his vegetarian diet, he learned that the only way to survive was to make major sacrifices. “Tears flowed down my cheeks” (Martel 183), “The flying fish were dead. It was split open and bloody on one side of its head, at the level of the gills” (Martel 183).

Pi demonstrates how serious he is about his vegetarian diet, Pi reacts very solemnly when he kills the flying fish. “ I was sixteen years old, a harmless boy, bookish and religious, and now I have blood on my hands” (183), and “ I never forget to include this fish in my prayers” (183). The author’s use of words helps the reader feel the guilt that Pi feels when he massacres the fish. Pi is forced to choose between killing fish to survive, but he has to go against everything he’s believed in. Pi is forced to take action to survive in this crucial environment.

Not only does the author use imagery to divulge the hard decision that Pi had to make to survive, but also uses allegory to reveal Pi’s faithfulness to God and how he uses his faith to guide him through survival in the sea, which enlarges his responsibilities by feeling the need to also take care of Richard Parker. To survive at sea, Pi realizes that he needs the tiger’s companionship, and therefore, he must tame Richard Parker. He accomplishes this with fish, a whistle, and the torment of seasickness, which is bothering the tiger. ”I had to tame him” (164), “We would live – or we would die – together.” (164) *Finish ending

Piscine Molitor Patel’s character depicts the responsibility he has for himself and Richard Parker, Yann Martel uses specific details and imagery to accentuate these qualities as Pi…

The sub-topic being discussed in this essay is the social problem of homelessness. Currently. Homelessness is identified as a social problem discussed briefly in the academic book Introduction to Social Problems. In an introduction to social problems, homelessness is acknowledged as a social problem of poverty (Isaacs et al., 2014). however, homelessness may not always be associated with poverty independently (Isaacs et al., 2014). The three leading causes of homelessness identified in an introduction to social problems are demographic changes, individual circumstances such as personal issues, and structural factors that can affect an individual’s issues (Isaacs et al., 2014). Homelessness is when individuals do not have safe, stable, fixed, or inadequate housing (Housing Act 1996). Homelessness is a complex issue in society as there is not one sole reason why an individual can become homeless; numerous factors contribute to an individual becoming and experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is an important issue to discuss due to the numerous individuals experiencing this social issue. There is no official nationwide figure on how many homeless individuals are. However, in 2019 it was estimated that 280,000 individuals were classed as being homeless (Shelter, 2019). Additional explanations as to why homelessness is a critical issue to discuss are individuals who have not experienced homelessness form common-sense views surrounding homeless individuals. This essay shall discuss the social construction of homelessness, the common-sense view of homelessness, and the models such as the individualism model, the self-makings model, and the rational actor model, which all contribute to how the public perceives Homeless individuals as well as forms the common-sense view towards the homelessness, alternative perspectives on homelessness such as structural problems concerning homelessness, and what the research and evidence on homelessness provide.

Social construction preserves the details of the world as a result of the interactions of individuals within their social environment (Isaacs et al., 2014). The social construction of homelessness is primarily perceived by how individuals in society witness homelessness. Currently, rough sleeping is considered the most visible type of homelessness (Reeve, 2011). However, homelessness is much more diverse than rough sleepers, as most of the homelessness are hidden away from society and are not as visible as rough sleeping. This causes the social construction of homelessness to be formed by rough sleepers leading to the social construction of homelessness in which all homeless individuals are rough sleepers. Individuals also suggest that homelessness results from personal defects, such as substance abuse (Cronley, 2010), causing another social construction of homelessness that homelessness occurs due to substance abuse or homelessness individuals have addictions to substances. Socioeconomic and political transformations can also contribute to the social construction of homelessness (Robertson and Greenblatt, 1992).

How the homelessness sector and the media portray homelessness directly impacts public knowledge and perspectives on the problem (Crisis, 2018), which causes numerous individuals to have a common-sense view of homelessness. Often, when individuals get requested to assume an image of someone encountering homelessness, an image of an individual lying intoxicated on the pavement or a desperate-looking individual requesting money on the streets (Isaacs et al., 2014) forms in their minds. Even though multiple individuals have witnessed individuals like this in society, these experiences are far from the reality of what homelessness means to the individual in that position (Isaacs et al., 2014). As rough sleeping is the primary homelessness that is most visible and noticed by society, numerous individuals associate rough sleeping with homelessness. This form of homelessness witnessed by society assembles one of the common-sense views toward homelessness: every homeless individual is a rough sleeper and resides on the streets. However, rough sleeping is only a tiny part of the social problem of homelessness (Isaacs et al., 2014), and many individuals experiencing homelessness are hidden from the public view (Crisis, 2018). The public correlates homelessness with individuals residing on the streets and the absence of not having a place to live (Crisis, 2018). This combination causes individuals to articulate extremely negative emotions about homelessness (Crisis, 2018). This view of homelessness is problematic in society because it misrepresents the full range of homelessness and blocks understanding of other forms of homelessness (Crisis, 2018). The individualism model can also contribute common-sense view of homelessness that individuals in society have. Individualism is a model which enormously affects how the public thinks. It forms how individuals perceive the reasons and repercussions of homelessness (Crisis, 2018). In this model, individuals witness the reasons for homelessness through a lens that examines individual characters and situations (Crisis, 2018). From this, individuals view the primary explanations for homelessness as individual choices and circumstances such as addiction to drugs and alcohol (Crisis, 2018). The self-makings model believes that individuals make and determine their choices (Crisis, 2018). According to this model, all individuals can acquire success; people who experience homelessness have failed to work hard and grasp those opportunities (Crisis, 2018). This model forms the common-sense view that individuals attribute success or failure to whether a person has tried hard enough or not and forms another common-sense view that individuals are homeless because individuals choose behaviors that lead to the loss of housing (Crisis, 2018). The rational actor model also contributes to the common-sense views individuals in society have of individuals experiencing homelessness. This model displays that numerous homeless people have concluded that homelessness is more suitable than conforming to society’s responsibilities, norms, and expectations (Crisis, 2018). Therefore this assembles the common-sense view that homelessness is a judgment made by an individual to bypass the expenditures of family life, participation in the employment market, or social responsibilities (Crisis, 2018).

There are alternative perspectives regarding homelessness. As rough sleeping is the most visible and tends to be what individuals in society believe homelessness to be, other classifications of homelessness are not visible to society. They have higher rates of individuals experiencing them. There are no official statistics on how many individuals are rough sleeping; however, it was estimated that 2,688 individuals were known to be sleeping rough on the streets in one night (The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2021) compared to the estimation of hidden homeless individuals living situations which frequently involve sofa surfing, squatting, or sleeping on public transport and that 12,500 people will be hidden homeless on any night in, with 60,000 household’s sofa surfing (London Assembly Housing Committee, 2017) and in 2021 96,060 households were living in temporary accommodation (Wilson and Barton, 2022). This evidence shows that more individuals are sofa surfing, squatting, sleeping on public transport, and living in temporary accommodation than homeless individuals living on the streets as rough sleepers. Demographic changes are another perspective on why individuals are experiencing homelessness. For example, alone, the population has gone up by 20 percent since the mid-1990s (Isaacs et al., 2014); this growth has materialized due to external migration and an increasingly more senior population and internal domestics (Isaacs et al., 2014). These trends can put increased pressure on housing (Isaacs et al., 2014). Government policies are also an alternative perspective as to why homelessness occurs. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, there was a political conclusion to reduce investment in social housing and sell existing housing by allowing social housing tenants the right to buy their homes (Isaacs et al., 2014). This conclusion took away thousands of social housing homes from the public sector and was never replaced (Isaacs et al., 2014). An additional perspective on homelessness is the structural problems that are causing homelessness. Structural factors can include unfavorable housing, rising poverty rates, and the welfare and benefits system (Alma Economics, 2019). The present rate of houses required to be constructed to fulfill the existing and expected demand of individuals requiring them is around half the level they need to be at (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015). This shortfall in the supply of new homes is one factor that contributes to rising house prices (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015) Rising rent prices of homes are rising, and data has suggested that private rent price increases are averaging around 2% a year since 2007 (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015). Changes to the benefits system have also been responsible for homelessness. The benefits system has become much more brutal, with more suspensions, sanctions, and exclusions (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015). These changes impact individuals and leave them without enough income to afford their rent, causing them to be homeless. Benefit caps have also been introduced by the government (Homeless Link, 2021), causing individuals who are on benefits to be only able to claim a set amount of money for housing costs. Individuals claiming housing elements as part of their benefits are likely to be renting a property that costs more than their benefit housing element (Homeless Link, 2021). The failure of the government to cover housing costs pushes people into rent arrears (Homeless Link, 2021), causing individuals to be unable to meet the rent arrears, therefore, leading them to lose their homes and become homeless.

When examining the recent research and evidence on homelessness, economic factors are one of the foremost contributors to homelessness rates. One of ‘s primary homeless monitors, written by crisis, discusses and evaluates yearly statistics and estimations on the homeless. Overall, homelessness is increasing substantially (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). The statutory homelessness caseload for local authorities has declined; however, it remains 42 percent above its low point in 2009 (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Homelessness temporary accommodation has increased by 71 percent (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). In 2018 Eighty-five thousand homeless households were found to be living in temporary accommodation, equating to over 200,000 people (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Official estimates suggest that rough sleeping has fallen by 2 percent nationally; however, there are still ascending trends of rough sleepers in three of’s four central regions, Manchester and Birmingham (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). For example, in rough sleeping has risen by 25% in 12 months (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). This data suggests that homelessness is increasing overall. Even though the proportion of rough sleeping and statutory homeless individuals has decreased, other classifications of homelessness, such as individuals living in temporary accommodation, are on the rise. The factors that are most strongly associated with these rising trends of homelessness are economic factors. Unemployment rates are at 4 percent, which is the lowest recorded rate since the mid-1970s (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Poverty rates are essential in establishing the context in which homelessness transpires (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Increased poverty levels are expected to place more households at risk of homelessness, especially when housing costs are involved (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Entrance to homeownership has become increasingly challenging since the late 1990s as house prices have increased faster than incomes from employment (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Access to affordable and socially rented housing has been more challenging (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Social housing is continuing to decrease. In 2018, less than 18,000 social lets were given to homeless households and individuals, even with statutory homelessness increasing substantially (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). Sixty-four percent of local authorities informed the crisis that when social landlords require financial capability or housing affordability checks, these make it increasingly complicated for homeless households to gain tenancies (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019). This data suggests that the economic factors discussed above contribute to the trends in homelessness rates. Local housing allowance reforms, benefit cuts, and universal credit for the new welfare system are also likely to hold particular importance for homelessness (Fitzpatrick et al., 2019).

Homelessness is a complex issue to discuss due to the numerous factors that can generate it, such as policies, individual circumstances, and structural issues. The evidence and statistics on homelessness and the evidence-based factors contributing to and causing individuals to become homeless indicate that homelessness is a much more significant problem. Currently, statistical evidence is primarily estimated, which shows there may be more individuals experiencing homelessness than the total number in estimations. In summary, the social construction of homelessness is that homeless individuals are perceived by how homeless individuals are witnessed in society, with rough sleepers at the forefront; however, many more individuals experiencing homelessness aren’t solely rough sleepers. The social construction of homelessness connects with the common-sense view of homelessness that individuals are homeless due to substance abuse or because they choose to be, as well as the influence of the media and the public models, on individuals who hold the common-sense view of homelessness, which contributes to the negative stereotypes a homelessness individual has placed on them and perceived by individuals in society. From examining the evidence on homelessness, some classifications of homelessness are decreasing however other classifications are continuing to rise and economic factors are contributing to the rising trends.

‘Liberté, égalité and fraternité’ are the influential words pinned to the French Revolution of 1789-1799. This rhetoric encapsulated ideas of reason promoted by Enlightenment thinkers such as Immanuel Kant, and later Abbe Sieyes in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and Maximilien Robespierre in 1790. France’s ‘global dimension’ meant ideas, especially liberty, spread, which is how the Revolution was influential due to the physical revolution of print and press, but the psychological communications revolution serves as why, as people wanted to copy France. ‘Revolution’ within this essay will mirror Annie Jourdan’s view that defines revolution ‘as a radical social, political and cultural transformation which destroys old structures and replaces them by new ones based on the natural rights of man’. Accordingly, this essay will argue that the French Revolution influenced later modern revolutionary movements through the physical and psychological communications revolution, where nations attempted to copy France’s idea of ‘liberty’, especially Saint Domingue and Ireland. However, Sebastian Conrad, argues that France psychologically encouraged the rethinking of Enlightenment’s ‘liberty’ in immoral and violent forms, as it was a tool for emancipation.

The physical communications revolution of print and social arenas spread the revolutionary rhetoric of ‘liberté, égalité and fraternité’. France acted as a transnational space and Pierre Serna views them as ‘the setting for intense movements of information, books, words and images’. This interconnectedness led to later modern revolutions that mirrored France’s language. The French Revolution itself was promoted by newspapers, the press, and social arenas such as masonic lodges, Jacobin clubs, and coffee houses. Print was a key vector of communication as it aided the press; in 1789, there were 36 printers and 194 booksellers and within a decade later, this number had tripled. Furthermore, by 1789, Paris had 1,600 cafes, which is poignant as ‘where there were cafes, there were most often also newspapers’. This created the realm of ideas, which recent historians view as vital for spreading revolutionary language. Furthermore, publications later influenced modern movements, poignantly Ireland, who ‘reacted most passionately to the ideals of the French Revolution’ as in 1792 they had 35 newspapers, where France acted as the central discussion. Ultán Gillen’s international approach details the impact of the French Revolution on Ireland, which ‘filled the pages of innumerable pamphlets’. The Fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 impacted discussions as the Irish ‘read the newspapers…[and] took informed positions’. Consequently, Desan conveys, ‘the communications revolution had an electrifying effect on the aspirations of people outside Europe’ as people read or heard of events in France and decided to interpret them for their liberation.

To link physical communication to psychological communication, France’s colony of Saint Domingue in 1791, can be examined as they attempted to mirror France. As a colony where slaves made up 500,000 of the population aside from 32,000 free people of color and 30-40,000 whites, they ‘engulfed’ and ‘seized’ France’s ideas of liberty. France’s revolution was driven through institutions, which influenced the outside world as words were at the heart of the revolution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen from 26 August 1789, pushed ‘liberty’, as ‘language not only reflects but constructs identity’. Linking back to the physical communications revolution, news of the French Revolution arrived in 1790 and traveled through white colonists, who spoke about it in bookstores and masonic lodges. Furthermore, Mike Rapport argues that in France’s annexed territories, French systems of law and communications were formulated as people ‘engaged in political citizenship…in elections, in political clubs, and through debates in the press’. However, Jeremy Popkin notes, that slaves were illiterate, but this did not mean the revolutionary rhetoric could not be spread to them. They passed down the ‘language of freedom and natural rights’ they heard from their masters, for example, Julien Raimond’s brother, a planter in October 1789, who told people of the revolutionary colors of liberty and equality. The spread of language and symbols contributed to the success of their revolution as in January 1804, they published their Declaration of Independence. Therefore, the communications revolution was essential to their success as it allowed French revolutionary ideas to spread, which conveys how and why France influenced later modern movements.

Conversely, the new psychology, encouraged by France, allowed immoral interpretations of ‘liberty’. As the French rhetoric was based on Enlightenment views such as Immanuel Kant, one would assume it would follow a path of reason. However, Conrad’s work on the Enlightenment posits that instead language was reinvented for emancipation. This aspect of psychological rethinking, influenced by France’s idea of ‘liberty’, flowed through physical communications. Popkin’s extensive work on Saint Domingue conveys how Toussaint Louverture’s ‘declaration of freedom was very different from that of the French revolutionaries’ as he proceeded with agricultural labor and named himself governor in the 1801 constitution, which contrasts with France’s declaration in 1789 that all men are liberated. Desan links to Popkin’s work as she believed that neither France nor Toussaint ‘really sought to institutionalize republicanism’ as they proceeded with immoral practices. However, this view is pessimistic, as Saint Domingue and Ireland gained liberation in their contexts, which is supported by Jourdan’s idea of revolution as a ‘radical social, political and cultural transformation’. Despite this, the idea of ‘liberty’ was rethought by individuals as they copied France to use it as a tool for their emancipation.

Additionally, psychological rethinking led to violence as Conrad contributes that violence ‘unleashed by post-seventeenth century Europe in the name of Enlightenment values’ led to ‘the Third Reich, the Gulag, the Two World Wars, and the threat of nuclear annihilation’. Dorinda Outram supports this by viewing that the Enlightenment was the center of political terror, where the French Revolution promoted its rhetoric. Moreover, the language guided Vladimir Lenin’s Cheka, which executed enemies, and Adolf Hitler’s actions towards minorities through the Holocaust. The guillotine during the Jacobin Reign of Terror, where they sought enemies of the Revolution, made violence justifiable for Russia and Germany. Revolutionary language that was shared, gave people a tool for emancipation as they wanted liberty and saw the path as unlimited, which is why the French Revolution was influential.

In conclusion, the French Revolution’s influence is found within the communications revolution, both physically and psychologically. People’s minds were evolving due to the spread of revolutionary language within print, clubs, and coffee houses. Ideas of liberty from the French Revolution attempted to be copied, for people’s emancipation. However, France’s influence of ‘liberty’ meant interpretations as for Haiti, which meant the abolition of slavery but proceedings of labor, and for Russia and Germany, which meant socialism and the Aryan race, but the Cheka and Holocaust still occurred.

Sources Essay

With consideration to the argument put forward in the context essay, the sources essay will continue to place its focus on the communications revolution that took place due to the French Revolution. Individuals were thoroughly influenced by the actions of 1789-1799 and proceeded to make publications about it, as witnessed with both the Haitian Declaration of Independence of 1804 and Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man, 1791. These sources together are evidence of the use of language such as liberty and citizens, influenced by France. However, Toussaint Louverture’s language conveys the rethinking of liberty as there are undertones of despotism that run perpendicular to its true meaning. The weight of the sources is not only evident in their language, but the wider global impact the publications had, as Paine’s criticism of Edmund Burke created a mass discussion on both the French Revolution and American Revolution, whereas Louverture is primarily an example of the psychological rethinking of liberty. Essentially, both use ‘liberty’ in a similar tone to France, to justify revolutions as it was a tool towards emancipation.

Toussaint Louverture in January 1804 announced The Haitian Declaration of Independence, where ‘liberty’ was used as a tool for emancipation. Before 1804, the French colony was made up of 500,000 slaves along with 30-40,000 whites and 32,000 free people of color. Despite the French government announcing the abolition of slavery in 1794, slavery persisted. This meant that Saint Domingue, now referred to as Haiti, adopted France’s Enlightenment ideals of ‘liberté, équalité and fraternité’. Haiti’s Declaration examples this well as the reader, Toussaint Louverture, continuously regarded the audience as ‘native citizens, men, women, girls, and children’. This illustrates them as revolutionary peoples, similar to that of the French Revolution where it was the Third Estate of civilians who rose. These individuals gained their independence by using ‘liberty’, which in turn influenced Haiti because they wanted to mirror it. Poignantly, Toussaint refers to his people as ‘we’, which forms them as a collective, abstaining their colonial power over them. Therefore, the Declaration serves as an example of how psychological communication about liberty took place. However, the Enlightenment historian, Sebastian Conrad, espouses that Enlightenment language was not diffused correctly, but instead was reinvented by countries. Both Haiti and France reinvented the Enlightenment rhetoric of reason to justify their path to liberty. This aspect was influenced by France’s manipulation of liberty to gain liberation from the monarchical despot of Louis XVI. Despite claiming themselves as enlightened beings, who embodied ‘liberté, égalité and fraternité’, actions were taken involving the guillotine during the violent Jacobin years of 1791-1793, which involved extreme egalitarianism. Louis XVI’s execution on 21 January 1793 and the c1,500 people executed from March to August in 1794, is evidence of this. Consequently, ‘liberty’ was used as a tool for emancipation. The ‘Black Jacobin’, Toussaint reflects this as he orders the audience to ‘support the leader who commands you’ as he named himself governor in the 1801 constitution. Along with this, Louverture’s language and tone should be noted, as violent phrases were used against the French to create a heroic figure of himself, such as ‘tigers still dripping with…blood’. The overall oxymoronic tone of the Declaration is ironically monarchical as he wants to be worshipped because he uses ‘let’ frequently, which assumes that Toussaint is granting them life from a privileged position. However, this contrasts with his previous use of collectives such as ‘we’ and ‘citizens’. Furthermore, Louverture’s claim of ‘anathema’ to the French, which is an attempt to disgrace France and put a curse on them, goes directly against Enlightenment ideals of liberty, as Immanuel Kant wanted everyone to be a ‘world society of citizens’. This contrast links to the argument of the context essay, where international Haitian historians such as Suzanne Desan and Jeremy Popkin argue that neither France nor Toussaint ‘really sought to institutionalize republicanism in Saint Domingue’. Instead, they used the language of Enlightenment and ‘various constitutional documents produced in France’ to justify their needs. Notably, other declarations such as Ho Chi Minh’s Declaration of Independence in 1945, used language from the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen because it was a way to justify their actions. This tool for liberation was passed through the physical communications revolution of print and social spaces. Even Haiti’s emancipation would later be used in Jamaica so they could liberate themselves from slavery. This corroborates the argument that the French Revolution’s influence is found in the communications revolution as declarations were ‘movable’ by promoting words such as ‘citizen’ and ‘liberty’, even if not used in the correct sense.

In the same light the second source, Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man in 1791 can be used to highlight how the French Revolution’s influence is found in the communications revolution. The source is a criticism of Edmund Burke’s ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’, where he attacked France’s Revolution. Even though both supported the American Revolution between 1765 and 1783, their views differed on France. Paine argued within the source, with evidence from the American Revolution, that the only way for France to release themselves from despotism was a popular political revolution, despite ‘reason [being] considered as rebellion’. Paine’s argument includes France’s interpretations of ‘Reason and Liberty’, which was used as a tool for emancipation. This debate between Paine and Burke, which was inspired by the French Revolution, encouraged discussions of revolution abroad, which shows France’s global impact. Furthermore, he referenced Kant’s idea of the world as a state of society, which later influenced revolutions such as Russia, which used this language to impose socialism. This language not only influenced the East but in Ireland too, where ‘Paine strengthened reforming opinion in favor of the Revolution’. The Irish Revolution, led by Wolfe Tone, was heavily influenced by the Burke-Paine debate as ideas of reason were spread throughout the nation. Furthermore, Burke himself was an Irish statesman, which meant the debate was close to home for the Irish. Poignantly, ‘Protestant radicals, particularly in Belfast and Dublin were enthused’ by the debate and in October 1791, the Society of the United Irishmen was formed in Belfast. As Paine predicted in the source, this was because ‘nature appears to [people]…in magnitude’, which shows how influential ideas of liberty were. However, the Rights of Man provides more weight through its provenance as it is a key example of how discussions about the French Revolution influenced later modern revolutionary movements. About the physical revolution of print, Paine reprinted his book, which was read in social arenas, and by May 1791, 50,000 copies were in circulation. Without the French Revolution, these ideas would not have been disseminated. Furthermore, George Rude supports this as he notes how one million copies were sold, which were ‘eagerly read by reformers, Protestant dissenters, democrats, landed craftsmen, and the skilled factory hands of the new industrial north’. Without print, Paine’s debate over the French Revolution and whether it was valid, would not have been spread. Furthermore, Paine’s influential message inspired by both the American and French Revolutions of ‘man must go back to Nature for information’ would not have had its impact. Consequently, the French Revolution influenced Paine’s Rights of Man due to the revolutionary rhetoric of their institutions, such as print and social arenas, which were key to the success of the revolution. Paine copied the language, leading other countries to do the same as well as copying France’s institutions for communication.

To conclude, the message of these sources is that man must find their liberty as France did. However, within both this essay and the context essay, it is evident that individuals reinterpreted language. This is where the French are responsible due to their immoral examples of liberty such as the use of the guillotine. Therefore, France’s ‘liberté’ rhetoric changed people psychologically to see it as a tool for emancipation, which spread through physical communications, where print, press, coffee houses, and clubs, formed discussions leading to revolutions abroad.

Bibliography – Context

1. Bayly, Christopher, The Birth of the Modern World 1780-1914, 1sted, (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004)
2. Childers, Thomas, ‘Political Sociology and the “Linguistic Turn”, Central European History, vol.22, no.34, (1989), 381-393
3. Conrad, Sebastian, ‘Enlightenment in Global History: A Historiographical Critique’, The American Historical Review, vol.117, no.4, (2012), 999-1027
4. Desan, Suzanne, ‘Internationalising the French Revolution’, French Politics, Culture and Society, vol.29, no.2, (2011), 137-160
5. Forrest, Alan and Middell, Matthias, ‘Introduction’, in The Routledge Companion to the French Revolution in World History, ed. by Alan Forrest and Matthias Middell, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), pp.1-21
6. Gillen, Ultán, ‘Irish revolutionaries and the French Revolution’, in The Routledge Companion to the French Revolution in World History, ed. by Alan Forrest and Matthias Middell, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), pp.225-240
7. Hobson, Christopher, The Rise of Democracy: Revolution, War and Transformations in International Politics since 1776, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015)
8. Hunt, Lynn, ‘The French Revolution in Global Context’ in The age of revolutions in a global context, c.1760-1840, ed. by David Armitage and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, (Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp.20-36
9. —-and Censer, Jack, The French Revolution and Napoleon: Crucible of the Modern World, (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017)
10. Jourdan, Annie, ‘Napoleon and Europe: The Legacy of the French Revolution’, in The Routledge Companion to the French Revolution in World History, ed. by Alan Forrest and Matthias Middell, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), pp.207-224
11. Outram, Dorinda, The Enlightenment, 3rded, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
12. Petrey, Sandy, ‘Introduction: Meaning in action, action in meaning’, in The French Revolution, 1789-1989, ed. by Sandy Petrey, (Texas: Texas Tech. University Press, 1989)
13. Popkin, Jeremy, A Concise History of the Haitian Revolution, 1sted, (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2012)
14. Rapport, Mike, ‘The International Repercussions of the French Revolution’, in A Companion to the French Revolution, ed. by Peter McPhee, 1sted, (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2013), pp.381-396
15. Serna, Pierre, ‘The Sister Republics, or the ephemeral invention of a French Republican Commonwealth’ in The Routledge Companion to the French Revolution in World History, ed. by Alan Forrest and Matthias Middell, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), pp.39-60

Bibliography – Sources

1. Armitage, David, The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008)
2. Conrad, Sebastian, ‘Enlightenment in Global History: A Historiographical Critique’, The American Historical Review, vol.117, no.4, (2012), 999-1027
3. Desan, Suzanne, ‘Internationalising the French Revolution’, French Politics, Culture and Society, vol.29, no.2, (2011), 137-160
4. Gillen, Ultán, ‘Irish revolutionaries and the French Revolution’, in The Routledge Companion to the French Revolution in World History, ed. by Alan Forrest and Matthias Middell, (Oxon: Routledge, 2016), pp.225-240
5. Haitian Declaration of Independence
6. Kant, Immanuel, ‘What is Enlightenment?’
7. Popkin, Jeremy, A Concise History of the Haitian Revolution, 1sted, (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2012)
8. Rapport, Mike, ‘The International Repercussions of the French Revolution’, in A Companion to the French Revolution, ed. by Peter McPhee, 1sted, (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2013), pp.381-396
9. Rights of Man, 1791
10. Rude, George, Revolutionary Europe, 1783-1815, (London: Fontana, 1964)

Critique of the article “Hope and Glory: An expanded social strategy diagnosis model to incorporate corporate social responsibility within business strategy”

This article was composed by a group of authors, i.e., Andreia Areal, Bryan McIntosh, and Bruce Sheppy, all are sincere and truthful professionals. Andreia Areal is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Economics at Richmond University and other private higher education institutes. She has substantial experience in legal practice administration, as well as non-profit and private health and fitness organizations. She has recently switched her career to become an academic trainer specializing in strategy, marketing, and corporate social responsibility. Bryan McIntosh is an Associate Dean at the Faculty of Health Studies and University of Bradford. He has worked with the central government, NHS, local government, and several academic institutions. He has a long list of publications in peer-reviewed journals and substantial experience in the field of health management consulting. Bruce Sheppy is a successful Senior Health Management Professional who has held positions as Group Marketing Director of a South African hospital group listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and CEO of a pan-African medical insurance and health management company with offices in Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda He has a long list of peer-reviewed journal publications and serves on the editorial board of a top healthcare management journal as well as being a director of an environmental management and sustainability organization.

This paper attempts to explain whether CSR may be a strategic tool for companies in India to get a competitive advantage by addressing the complexity of the conceptualization of strategy and CSR. The prescriptive and emergent views of corporate strategy, as well as the profit maximization versus processual argument, will be discussed in this paper, with an emphasis on alternative models of social responsibility: in particular, the bottom of the pyramid and the production of shared value (CSV). The goal of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature by developing a diagnostic model based on Whittington’s general viewpoints on strategy to support the anecdotal assumption that CSR can be matched with business practices.

The argument over corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a long history in academia. The authors couldn’t agree on what CSR is and how much value it brings to businesses. Divergent scholarly viewpoints on diverse approaches to strategy formation exist, and the issue of shareholder value versus stakeholder responsibility has been extensively debated.

India, Asia’s third-largest economy, grew by 7.4% in 2014, according to the World Bank, and is expected to contribute 6% to 11% of global GDP by 2025. However, according to the World Development Indicators, 21.9 percent of India’s population lives below the national poverty threshold.

From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that CSR has strategic potential that has yet to be realized. The paper started with a discussion of Whittington’s generic strategy model from an Indian perspective on strategy formulation. The study report examined the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its lack of strategic emphasis. The notion is that when it comes to CSR, an enlarged strategy model should be explored, and the bottom of the pyramid and CSV concepts should be regarded as alternative models of strategic intent toward social responsibility.

Introduction

The Monsanto Company was an American agrochemical and agricultural biology corporation which existed from 1901 until 2018. In 2008 Monsanto was acquired by Bayer as a part of the crop science division. “Monsanto scientists have spent the past few decades modifying crops-often by inserting new genes or adapting existing genes within plant seeds-to meet certain aims, such as higher crop yields or insect resistance.” (Ferrell, 2017, p. 382) By doing this Monsanto would be able to generate plants through weeks of droughts and kill insects. The positive outcomes Monsanto had were they produced herbicides for plants such as corn. Monsanto also invested strongly in other countries. On the negative side parts of the business practice were in the early stages of investigation. The public has disagreed about the increase in regulations in certain countries.

Efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture

Businesses start with having strong leadership values. They also help their customers understand what their business entails. Monsanto’s Ethical Culture has consequences such as producing and selling products without the physical consequences of its products. Monsanto claims that all their products are safe to be consumed by customers and are not harmful to plants and animals. “Monsanto, one of the most well-known biotechnology companies in the world.” (Charleboisa & Van Ackerb, 2016) The Monsanto company produces assorted crops that have been accepted and approved by multiple farms at an astonishing rate. It is very important to customers that they can trust the Ethical leadership within the business. “Differences in public reaction in the EU and the US to agricultural biotechnology are largely the result of moral concerns that reflect the history, traditions, experiences, and values of people of diverse citizenship.” (Knowles, 2001) When businesses begin to expand, they can not just expand their business to a country without knowing more about the country. Monsanto started in St. Louis, Missouri, and expanded to Europe in 1919. Before expanding a business, research, and visiting are required. A company will not want to expand where their business is going to fail. Europe is a great country for Monsanto to expand to. The reason is Europe is a healthy country, they take great care with farming and feed their animals only plant-based products.

Costs and Benefits of Growing GMO Seed

When cost is controversial GM seeds are more expensive. GM seeds are more cost-efficient relating to the valuable traits. Some of these traits include being resistant to weeds, pests, and diseases. There are many advantages Genetically modified (GM) crops have in terms of improving farming productivity and decreasing the need for pesticides. An important benefit is having control of farms that pollute water systems. There is reduced mechanical weeding that prevents the loss of topsoil. “The GMO panel regularly reviews the available publications on food allergy to cottonseed.” (Naegeli H, 2017) Using cottonseed can help reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease. Cottonseed can improve your blood pressure and reduce heart problems. Many people take health very seriously and are willing to spend more on eating healthy. Eating healthy doesn’t necessarily cost more, people just need to know how to shop. “Monsanto produced most of its caffeine from what was called ‘waste tea leaves’ – broken and damaged tea leaves that we unwanted by tea traders.” (ELMORE, 2018) Monsanto recycled waste and took out the caffeine. Tea has caffeine within it, but it is healthy caffeine. The caffeine in tea can detox your body, whereas coffee can raise your blood pressure. “The GMO Panel assessed all the scientific publications selected by the consent holder and considers that these were adequately discussed and up into the context of the overall safety assessment of maize.” The outcome of the testing on the GMO Panels was inclusive. Meaning the Panel didn’t contain any food, safety, or environmental concerns. GM crops are more profitable where there are increased costs of seeds that are offset from the farmer’s producing a better crop which has incest resistance and decreases diseases.

Management of Harm to Plants and Animals

The moral and safety of Monsanto’s implications of GM foods are a huge concern to the stakeholders. Monsanto’s primary focus is to be able to regulate its system smoothly. Monsanto does this by evaluating and handling any risks of harmful products and activities. With this being the primary goal for Monsanto, the public can gain their trust with good quality products. This has high importance for the market. “However, time put everything into perspective. Slowly, authorities, the industry, and stakeholders are coming to understand the strong interaction between biotech and chemical.” (Varela, 2016) Monsanto along with others dealt with legal issues regarding practices down within the business. Like any other business, everyone comes upon many concerns or problems. The only way businesses grow is by learning from the mistakes made in life. The more mistakes made the more we learn from the mistake that was made. “Monsanto company has developed insect-protected cotton event MON 88702, which produces a modified BtCry51Aa2 insecticidal crystal protein that protects against feeding damage caused by certain hemipteran and Thysanoptera an insect pest in cotton.” (Bachman, 2017) This was a protein that was put on the plants to prevent insects from destroying the plants. After putting the protein on the plants, it not only protected the plants but made the plants safe to eat. The first GE food animal to be profit-oriented is salmon. The GE animals are new and are still being researched. With the salmon, they noticed it grew faster. The Food and Drug Administration is currently working on other animals for this testing. The benefits of genetic engineering increasing health, growing food production, and reducing environmental impact. Which all leads to a healthier lifestyle for humans and animals.

Biblical Concept

The verse I find that is fitting for this case assignment on Ethical Decision Making and Cases is Isaiah 17:11(NIV). “Though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable plan.” (BibleGateway, 2019) The reason this verse was chosen was because this is how our life is. Life is taken one day at a time. Challenges are faced such as blocks in the road. We must keep going when that block is reached. Think of a way to solve the problem and continue. As in this verse talks about, the day the seed is planted, growth is expected right away leaving disappointment when nothing is there. Plants take time to grow leading to perfectionism, just as life. Goals and purposes are not given to us, research is required to have goals and purposes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this case study ‘Monsanto Attempts to Balance Stakeholder Interests’ is about genetically modified. The Monsanto Company tries to show that being genetically modified is a better way of life. The healthier companies get the world will turn around and look at the positive outcome of genetically modified. The efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture: is being able to have other people believe in the product that your company is producing. Once Monsanto can convince the business or person to believe in the business, the faster your business will grow. Ethical Culture is about the respect each person is given and the trust. Cost and Benefit of Growing GMO Seed: this can be costly but the benefits in the outcome are great. The cost of a cottonseed with protein on it costs more than a plain seed. The Benefit of a more cost-effective seed is that there is no incest on the plants. The plants are healthier for both people and animals. Management of Harm to Plants and Animals: there is no harm being done to either plants or animals. The food and safety department has done many tests on the plants to make sure that they are not harmful. Genetic engineering is still being tested on animals, but so far have been successful. Overall people and animals will be able to live longer and healthier lives.

References

1. Bachman, P. M. (2017). Characterization of the Activity Spectrum of MON 88702 and the Plant-Incorporated Protectant Cry51Aa2.834_16. PLoS ONE, 12(1), e0169409. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A477004687/AONE?u=vic_liberty&sid=AONE&xid=6d0e1518
2. BibleGateway. (2019, February 6). Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isa+17%3A11&version=NIV
3. Charleboisa, S., & Van Ackerb, R. (2016). In the belly of the “beast”: A look at Monsanto’s public engagement awakening. Science Direct, 42(1), 223-225. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.09.005
4. ELMORE, B. (2018). The Commercial Ecology of Scavenger Capitalism: Monsanto, Fossil Fuels, and the Remaking of a Chemical Giant. Enterprise & Society, 19(1), 153–178. doi: 10.1017/eso.2017.22
5. Ferrell, O. C. (2017). Business ethics. Boston, MA, USA: Cengage Learning.
6. Knowles, L. (2001). Bridging the (Agri)Cultural Divide: Public Perceptions of Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe and North America. Food Safety, Food Quality and Food Ethics, 67-73. doi:10.1.1.472.3810
7. Naegeli H, B. A.‐M. (2017). Scientific opinion on an application by Monsanto (EFSA‐GMO‐NL‐2013‐114) for the placing on the market of a herbicide‐tolerant genetically modified cotton MON 88701 for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. EFSA Journal, 15(3), 4746, 20 pp. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4746
8. Varela, J. C. (2016). Will chemical packages be the only future for biotechnology? why the Bayer-Monsanto merger could be a good opportunity to put things in the right place. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 7(4), 782-783. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1863563673?accountid=12085

Introduction

Humans are obsessed with technology. The fact that there are more people with mobile phones (5.1 billion) than people with toothbrushes (4.2 billion) (according to Hubspot) shows how much we love technology.

Those statistics do not surprise me. Technology is not going anywhere. Technology is not an option. It is a fundamental part of our life. It simplified our life. It made the earth a smaller place.

There is no argument against “Has technology made our life more comfortable?”. Without digital technology and digital tools, I may not be able to study at the university, especially with the current circumstances surrounding COVID-19. It is fascinating how technology helped us to adapt to a new world of social distancing.

I remember in my younger years how taking a photo was painful. First, you have to have a bulky camera. And you can’t guarantee the quality of the photos. You just have to wait until the film is developed at the camera shop.

And what about listening to music? Those cassette tapes and their terrible sound qualities and how easily they damage and break.

Another example is making a phone call. Imagine a world with no mobile phone. I can’t even imagine living without my mobile phone for a few hours.

And can we imagine going back in time before the invention of the automobile? The comfort of traveling around so quickly and leisure has become an aspect of our modern life.

Those are just a few examples of how technology made our lives easier.

Has technology made our lives more comfortable?

Forty-five years ago Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft. They had the bold idea of a computer on every desk and in every home (CNN Business ).

A lot of people thought they were crazy and out of their minds and it was impossible to achieve their vision.

But today, I look around in my house and there is a laptop for every family member. The number of laptops and computers is more than family members.

But what are the conveniences that we get from owning a computer? I use my laptop daily to do my master’s degree and study, to connect with friends and family via emails and video chat, to browse the internet, to find new recipes on YouTube, and to upload personal photos to our cloud storage. These activities would be impossible to achieve without having the technology. I can chat with any person in any country around the world any time I want. I can buy items from overseas that do not exist in my local shopping center. I can read the news, watch kitten videos, and like celebrity posts on Instagram. I can do all that without leaving my bedroom.

Someone said, “Modern problems require modern solutions”. We live in a modern world and our problems are evolving at the same rate with technology. I will give an example. One of our cats is a compulsive overeating cat. She always steals the other cat’s food. Recently we’ve been advised by the vet to put her on a weight loss program. It was hard to prevent her from stealing the food. After researching the matter, we found out there is a device called Microchip Pet Feeder. It is designed for multi-pet households to ensure that pets are unable to steal from others. The feeder uses revolutionary technology to read the cat microchip and open the food bowl to the right pet only. We bought two feeders, one for each cat. It took a few days to get the cats to be comfortable to use it but it solved the issue with stealing food. The problem with household pets may seem trivial but it is amazing how technology and innovation can be useful in those trivial situations.

In the past, talking to electronic devices was something out of Sci-Fi movies and shows such as Star Trek or R2D2 in Star Wars. But now we have Alexa sitting right on the shelf in our living room waiting for our commands.

Voice recognition devices are everywhere nowadays. Recently, Amazon Alexa (simply known as Alexa) has been added to our household gadgets. It is the virtual assistant AI (Wikipedia) capable of voice interaction with us. We can ask Alexa all sorts of questions. Rather than using the browser to search for answers I simply say “Alexa what is 360 Fahrenheit in Celsius?” or “What is 2800 divided by 9” or “Alexa what is the temperature today?”.

We can stream music, ask math questions, ask her to tell us jokes, play audiobooks, weather temperature, traffic status in certain areas before traveling, and so on.

Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant are human new smart devices. They are in homes, offices, hotels, cars. They are everywhere.

According to Daria Evdokimova, CEO & Co-founder of VoiceOps

“In the next 5-10 years, it’s highly unlikely machine-driven speech-to-text won’t surpass human transcription in both accuracy and speed, just given the current pace of development. We’re not there yet, but we will be shortly. That speed of development will also increase over the next few years as we continue to capture more voice data through in-home and mobile virtual assistant apps like Siri and Alexa.”

The journey of Virtual Assistant AI is just at the beginning. We are still far from seeing the real potential of this technology in our world.

One aspect of modern technology is called Deep Learning. Machines can learn new features from raw information or inputs. We already experience the outcome of this technology with self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles. Those vehicles will revolutionize how people use their cars shortly. They are supposed to operate fully without the interaction of humans. The concept of autonomous cars might seem dangerous to some people. The technology is still in progress and those new types of cars are still not ready to be operating on our roads. But I am sure soon we will start to see them on the road.

Imagine you own a self-driving car, the car will drive you to the train station or work in the morning and it drive itself back home and park itself in the garage. How fantastic is that? Who needs to find parking in some backstreet near the station or work?

Your smart self-driving car could generate income for you while you are not using it by working as a taxi for other commuters. I like to drive my car and I enjoy long drives. But when I am over 70 I think self-driving cars will add extra comfort and independence to my life.

Our reliance on technology can be found in every corner of our world. Inside and outside our homes.

We enjoyed listening to the radio stations while we drove our cars. We extended our life expectancy with all the modern medical equipment and medicine. And where would we be without the television? Every night we have dinner while we watch our favorite shows on Netflix or Prime or Stan. And how can I travel without airplanes? We can be on the other side of the world within a few hours instead of a few months. How is that not comfort?

Imagine life without a laptop, mobile phone, car, electricity, medicine, microwave oven, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, lava lamp, MRI scanner, vaccines, air conditioning, clocks, vacuum cleaners, heaters, lights, and bikes.

I feel like I am privileged to be living in a time of advanced technology. I can only hope that I can witness more futuristic technological inventions such as space tourism, robot butlers, flying cars, and lab-grown meat.

I also hope that humans will start to use technology in favor of the environment, not against it. I hope technology can help us clean the ocean from plastic, recycle our waste, save wildlife from extinction, provide clean water, fix climate changes, generate renewable energy, and build smart homes.

There is no doubt that technology has a great influence on humanity. From the beginning of the 20th century till now technology has influenced us in both positive and negative ways. There are a lot of technologies that have negative effects on the environment and our lives such as the evil single-use plastic. While it contributes to the comfort of our daily living especially at the shopping centre, it also destroys our planet and contributes to the death of our oceans. According to Onyalife, only 9% of the plastic we manufacture makes it to recycling facilities around the world. The rest is dumped in our water or landfill.

More examples of evil or useless technologies are nuclear weapons, face recognition, Microsoft Office assistant Clippy, Facebook, asbestos, and many others.

However eco-friendly technologies such as solar power, LED lighting, and biodegradable plastic are becoming more and more household items.

Last but not least, technology is the result of our thinking and our desire to invent. We can’t eliminate technology from our life. It is what makes humans superior creatures among other living creatures on this planet. Technology can kill millions with nuclear bombs or light our houses with electricity. It is our choice to use it for good or bad.

Conclusion

All sorts of technologies are embedded in many aspects of our world.

Being not able to use technology or having no access to technologies such as computers, the internet, automobiles, and mobile phones because of age or location is considered a big disadvantage these days.

Technology can mitigate a lot of our daily life struggles such as banking, shopping, social isolation, health and well-being, and more.

Digital technologies are considered basic human rights such as the internet, not just a comfort tool.

The argument that technology has not made our lives more comfortable is baseless. Most of us blame technology when it comes to social and mental health. I hear phrases such as “Social media is ruining our lives” “We became addicted to technology” “Wireless devices making us sick” or “5G network is spreading coronavirus”.

All these negative attitudes toward technology are the result of us not knowing how to use technology in our daily lives, not because of technology itself. Also, many of us have deep worries about the impact of emerging technologies on our lives.

I see technology as empowerment for our world. We can’t take technology out of our life. We can’t go back to the time before the industrial revolution. Technology will continue to evolve to cater to our needs and make our life more easy to live.

References

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3. En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Amazon Alexa. [online] Available at: [Accessed 2 August 2020].
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5. Czaja, S., Charness, N., Fisk, A., Hertzog, C., Nair, S., Rogers, W. and Sharit, J., 2006. Factors predicting the use of technology: Findings from the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (create). Psychology and Aging, 21(2), pp.333-352.
6. Onya Australia. 2020. 48 Eco-Friendly Products To Buy Today To Stop Plastic Waste Australia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 3 August 2020].