Category: Global Issues

Drawing upon the cases weve looked at in class, provide a discussion of the critical tools helpful in understanding religion cross-culturally

Nowadays, people understand that cultural diversity plays a significant role in the modern globalized world. At present, people do not try to stick to their national (cultural, religious) group but ready to share experiences with other nations and groups. Such an approach helps the entire humanity develop and improve living standards. However, sometimes it can be difficult to understand traditions (and especially religion) of other nations, which may (and does) result in various conflicts.

Thus, it is essential to have effective critical tools to consider religion in cross-cultural perspectives. According to King and Beattie, the best critical tool while thinking about other religions is empathy (22). People should, first of all, know the basic principles of the religion they are considering. Secondly, while thinking about it, they cannot conclude projecting from ones values, but should take their time to reflect on the practice (King & Beattie 22).

When thinking about some other religion, a person needs to concentrate on the values promulgated and should avoid judging. People should try to understand that different cultures were developing in different socio-cultural environments, which influenced their beliefs. For example, two religions have two different approaches to sexuality: Christianity and Japanese Shinto. Japanese Shinto claims that the entire world was created during the sexual act, whereas Christianity insists on the innocent birth of Jesus, praising Virgin Mary, and condemning Eve, who is regarded as a temptress.

However, it is possible to understand these religions one, only should focus on the idea of life and birth. So, there is no need to condemn the Japanese and say that they are all sinners only because they explicitly reveal the idea of sexuality since Japanese Shinto, just like any other religion, strives for kindness and harmony in the world. Thus, can be, also helpful to look for similarities in religions and trying to understand what could cause differences.

For instance, rituals are one of the most disputable issues, and people often condemn or loathe some rituals. One such ambiguous rituals are African spirit-possession, which is hardly understandable for people who do not pertain to the religion where it is practiced. Of course, it is difficult to understand what you have never felt or never really seen. However, it is possible to compare this ritual by praying in Christianity since both of them bring joy, revelation, and relief. So, using these tools can be beneficial for understanding other religions.

Provide a discussion of some of the limitations that Western conceptions of art might have for our understanding of artistic productions (such as music, visual arts, etc.) cross-culturally

Admittedly, people about Western cultures have always thought that they are superior to other cultures due to the sophistication of Western culture. This perception is manifested by Western discourses, which are self-oriented, so-to-speak. Western conceptions of art have developed certain standards that have been strictly defended throughout centuries. Artists were moving in the same direction, which excluded the possibility to understand and assess other examples of the art of other nations. It can be explained historically by the Western expansionist policy. Thus, warriors and politicians tried to penetrate new worlds and make them accept their rules.

At the same time, Western people tried to justify that their culture is also superior. Perhaps, such successful expansion was one of the factors which prevented Western people from evaluating other nations works of art and created several limitations for our understanding of artistic productions. However, nowadays, people understand the significance of cultural diversity and try to regard art from cross-cultural perspectives. Of course, there are certain limitations that Western conceptions create. The post-colonial society worked out beliefs that Western cultures are sophisticated, and other cultures are primitive.

For instance, even now, many people judge artifacts of African, Asian cultures from this perspective. One of the most famous artists of Western art, Picasso, valued non-western artifacts as a primitive source for the regeneration of European forms (Hatt and Klonk 19). This viewpoint is still shared by many people. Western people judge visual arts basing on the previous examples of Western art. Listening to Asian and African western people may find it exotic and fascinating, but, still there can remain an idea of primitivism. Apart from this, it is important to note that Western art was too a great extent, influenced by religion, which promulgated certain values.

Thus, even nowadays many images or ideas revealed in the pieces of art of different cultures may seem not only primitive, but even lecherous, sinful, and incomprehensively vulgar. Western people judge the pieces of art basing on their values and fail to concentrate on the beauty of non-Western art. Of course, it is important to get rid of such erroneous perception and come to an understanding that every nation and culture has its peculiar art, which is sophisticated in its specific manner. Cross-cultural perception should focus on the ideas expressed by the works of art and the sophistication of techniques used to create this or that piece.

Drawing upon several examples that weve to look at in class, provide a discussion of how the concept of discourse is central to an anthropological approach to health and disease

According to Mills, the discourse may have many meanings, but the most general, which can be used for many stances is as follows: all utterances or texts which have meaning and which have some effects in the real world (6). In other words, discourse is the whole scope of ideas on a particular subject. To my mind, the concept of discourse is important for many areas of contemporary life, especially when it deals with health and disease.

The discourse, or sharing ideas and experience helps to find the truth and effective solutions, which in case of health are vital. Thus, in medicine there appear numerous ideas on how to treat diseases, and, unfortunately, emerge new illnesses. Of course, every utterance provokes reactions. For example, doctors find out that gay men have certain symptoms, and the disease was called Gay-Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Nevertheless, these findings evoked a discourse, and in some time people already knew that not only gay men were vulnerable to it, but many other cases led to the change of the name of the disease to AIDS.

Of course, the discussion did not make scientist just change the name, but they could find an effective treatment which now saves many lives (men, women, children). Thus, it is obvious that the concept of discourse is particularly important for the anthropological approach to health and disease. Another example can illustrate this statement. It was believed that black people are characterized by hypertension.

Of course, there was a specific discourse. It was believed that this peculiarity is determined by the past of the nations (slavery) and genes certain modification. However, recent research proves that the problem has a much larger context. The anthropological approach enabled scientists to see that the reason for hypertension among black people is not only genes but a way of life and other conditions. Understanding the reasons for diseases will enable people to find a cure.

Admittedly, this understanding can be found only in terms of discourse. Every person has his/her specific point of view, which can be erroneous (like in the initial assumption that AIDS is a disease of gay men), and only during the discussion can people find the truth. Moreover, the anthropological approach to health and medicine presupposes that cultural, ethnic, etc. peculiarities of people are taken into account. So, only the concept of discourse helps people to see all the possible details, which will become an effective solution. I believe it is important to start and take part in various discourses (of course, if one has something to say) so that the entire humanity can benefit.

Drawing on our class discussions, assess the usefulness of anthropology for solving global social problems

Anthropology, being a science about humanity, can be one of the most useful tools in solving global social problems. First of all, this science can define the exact problems. Admittedly, if you know what a problem is, it is much easier to find the right solution. On the other hand, anthropology can help to define the reasons for the problem. This science studies peculiarities of people, their behavior, and physical traits, so it is obvious that any social problem can be explained with the help of this discipline.

Of course, after having found the reason for a problem it can be possible to find the necessary solution. Furthermore, Anthropologists have accumulated many examples from the history of humanity, which can be useful for solving various problems. Sometimes it is enough to have a deeper insight. Many of the problems which appear on the global scale emerged in some particular places wherein the majority of cases (or at least in some cases) solutions were found.

It is possible to use the experience of a particular group of people to try to solve the problem of millions. Finally, it is possible to look for solutions to global social problems within anthropology. Social problems appear due to the peculiarities of peoples behavior or physical, mental traits, and anthropologists know how people act in this or those situations and what can cause this or that effect on them. So, after having found the solution anthropology can provide people with specific ways how to implement those solutions. For example, there is still certain tension between various nations.

Nevertheless, there are many examples that people of different cultures can live in the same country, in the same district. Many countries are characterized by cultural diversity, and, at the same time, there is no tension. So, it is possible to analyze what can lead to such results, find the necessary solution, and try to implement it on a global scale. Anthropologists can try to define what conditions should be created, what human traits are used to succeed.

It is possible to consider any social problem and solve it with the help of anthropology. Another example of a burning problem is believed gender issue. Irrespective of numerous changes in society millions of women are still suppressed in different countries. It is possible to look for the answer in anthropological study. It is necessary to research the most successful examples of womens emancipation and again use them worldwide. Fortunately, anthropology can provide many solutions taking into account peculiarities of this pr that nation, ethnicity, or culture. Thus, anthropology can be regarded as one of the keys to solving global social problems.

Works Cited

King, Ursula and Tina Beattie. Gender, Religion and Diversity: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005.

Hatt, Michael and Charlotte Klonk. Art History: A Critical Introduction to its Methods. New York: Manchester University Press, 2006.

Mills, Sara. Discourse. New York: Routledge, 2004.

The evolvement of new emerging military-focused countries, including China, North Korea, Russia, on the international relations stage unfolded discussions about what kind of world order will be installed in the future. Researchers and policymakers stated that after the Cold War, the United States took leadership and created a unipolar world with a single superpower. This paper will discuss courses of action that the U.S. can choose to maintain its global military and economic power status, advantages, disadvantages, and costs.

Considering the first course of action that the United States can undertake, namely retracting its powers from the forefront of the military scene, several essential issues should be discussed. From my point of view, the state cannot back off from world military supremacy entirely. However, it is suggested that hybrid warfare that other countries, for instance, Russia, started utilizing, requires the U.S. to change its strategy and develop a modern military defense (Chivvis, 2017). Therefore, the U.S. can retract from specific local conflicts, such as protests in Eastern Europe, that do not influence the states dominance.

The strategy of withdrawing military dominance from the world military scene has both benefits and drawbacks. The benefits include avoiding supporting other countries or sending troops to fight against other states that involve capital and human investments necessary for operations (The U.S. Department of Defense, 2018). While drawbacks are the possibility of losing power that other states can use to influence the United States and the lack of protection from emerging military organizations and countries, such as China and Iran, that create new bases and weapons (The U.S. Department of Defense, 2018). The retraction course of action involves changes in costs, including the increase of financial costs to switch to other forms of warfare, a decrease of human capital, and possible political expenses.

Talking about the second course of action when the U.S. continues to do whatever is necessary to maintain its military superpower status, several considerations can be mentioned. I believe that the U.S. should not do anything to achieve the military superpower; instead, I think that it is crucial to restrain other countries and organizations, so they cannot achieve the same level of power. Some researchers state that despite significant military landscape changes, the U.S. will hold supreme power (McNeil, 2019).

The strategy to continue putting all efforts to support the military superpower has unique advantages, disadvantages, and substantial costs. The main advantage is preserving the U.S. army superpower that brings assurance that American resources and people will be protected, and political opinion will be valued. Analysts point out that the drawbacks of maintaining superpower status include the necessity to focus more on international relations (Congressional Research Service, 2020). The costs of pursuing the supremacy strategy are also high (Payne, 2016). The state must put its national sovereignty in the first place that requires invasive operations costs, human and resource capital, and moral considerations (Congressional Research Service, 2020).

Overall, it can be stated that it is preferable to retract military power and be more analytical regarding operations that should be conducted. The theory of global politics and ideology that can be close to my perspective is realism that highlights that international systems are characterized by conflict, and foreign affairs are dominated by military rivalries (DAnieri, 2019). Therefore, I would not state that the U.S. should completely back off from the military forefront because countries can present a threat, but to develop new ways of conducting warfare to ensure that the U.S. holds power and balances its resources.

Works Cited

Chivvis, C. Understanding Russian Hybrid Warfare and What Can Be Done About It.The RAND Corporation. 2017, Web.

Congressional Research Service. U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress.Congressional Research Service. 2020, Web.

DAnieri, Paul. Magical Realism: Assumptions, Evidence and Prescriptions in the Ukraine Conflict. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 60(1), 2019, 97-117, Web.

McNeil, Taylor. Why the United States Is the Only Superpower.Tufts University. 2019, Web.

Payne, R. Global Issues: Politics, Economics, and Culture. 5th ed., Pearson, 2016.

The US Department of Defense. Summary of the National Defense Strategy of the United States. The US Department of Defense, 2018, Web.

Introduction

Throughout history, there has been instances of natural disasters that have led to wide spread effects across the globe. Most of them have caused a significant shift in the social life of specific or multiple population groups. This paper seeks to identify a global social issue; determine the affected population groups; determine how the social issue/natural disaster has affected global social change; explain if there is any resistance to change; offer details of how various affected social groups have dealt with the issue; and finally identify the sociological theory of social change that best applies to the social issue for future research, and offer an explanation why the theory is appropriate.

Hurricane Katrina and its effects

Hurricane Katrina belonged to the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Jamie, 2006). The hurricane has been identified as one of the most expensive natural disasters, causing loss of 1836 lives and damage to property worth about $81 billion as of 2005 (Jamie, 2005).

The Hurricane mainly affected populations in some cities and states located on the South of the United States. The states that were mostly affected include Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana and Kentucky. The most devastating effects of the Hurricane were witnessed in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans. Several other States, parts of Canada, Mexico and Cuba experienced some effects associated with the Hurricane(Jamie, 2006).

The hurricane led to a global response to try and offer relief assistance to the affected populations, particularly in Louisiana. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and therefore could not access basic needs. Severe damage to infrastructure was witnessed in the severely affected areas leading to complete loss of transport and communication(Jamie, 2006).

Most of the affected people were relocated to other areas but there was some resistance with some of the people preferring to stay back and wait for the effects to subside.

The hurricane led to a major shift in the social arrangement of the populations in the worst affected areas. Several measures have been undertaken to try and mitigate effects of future hurricanes. Such measures include: Redesigning of the existing levees, identification of locations for the construction of new levees and creation of inundaction zones(Jamie, 2006). Most of the reconstruction work in the severely affected areas was undertaken by the Corps of Engineers.

Several other disaster preparedness measures have been undertaken by other countries and states to try and avoid the effects should they be faced with a similar situation.

Economic effects were widespread especially in regard to infrastructure damage. This led to a significant loss of jobs in the affected areas.

Functionalism and how it applies to Hurricane Katrina

Functionalism is a sociological theory of change that stipulates the measures required to maintain the stability of a system, either by adaption or restoring a previous state (Turner, 1995). As in the case of Hurricane Katrina, functionalism applies in the quest to restore or mitigate the effects of the Hurricane. In regard to the maintenance of the stability of the system, functionalism can be used to conduct future research on how the effects of such an occurrence will be prevented or reduced to the minimum in the affected areas or elsewhere (Turner, 1995).

Conclusion

This paper sought to identify a social issue (Hurricane Katrina) and its effects on the populations and identify a sociological theory of change that can best apply to that situation. It has been seen that hurricane Katrina caused devastating effects on social life of the people mainly in the southern part of United States. The sociological theory that applies to the situation is functionalism as it explains how system stability and maintenance has been achieved following the hurricane.

References

Jamie, R. (2006). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina: 23 -30 August 2005. Miami: National Hurricane Center (NHC). Web.

Turner, J. (1995). Macrodynamics: Toward a Theory of the Organization of Human Populations. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Web.

Introduction

The term poverty has almost become synonymous in association with the greater population of the third world, that is, countries that are currently considered either developing or under-developed, especially in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania in respect to their economies (Marie, 2002). The term World poverty would therefore essentially simply refer to poverty around the world.

Main body

Having comprehended this basic concept, the question begs: so what is poverty? One does not know if it is indeed possible to exhaustively satisfy the meaning and come up with one definition of the term poverty. However, about the subject on discussion one can draw certain key pointers towards figuring out the meaning of poverty (Galbraith, 1998). According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, poverty is defined as, The state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possession (Marie, 2002). Thus, poverty as spelled out in the above definition may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to absence of material comforts. Another word that will inevitably crop up while discussing poverty is the term destitution which again according to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary implies extreme poverty that threatens life itself through starvation or exposure (Galbraith, 1998).

It will therefore make more sense for us to base our findings on this last definition which directly delves into the main issues of global poverty. These are internationally accepted to include lack of adequate food, shelter, water, and sanitation (Marie, 2002). Throughout the world scene, there is currently a food crisis being experienced as a consequent result of a rise in food prices (Ibid, 2002). The issue is not that there is not enough food to feed themselves and their families. Yet the price of food is still expected to rise further following the inability of world leaders in taking concrete actions to reverse the trend. It has been argued that the result of using grain to generate bio-fuel (to counter the effects of fossil fuels linked to global warming and environmental degradation) has deprived especially the poor of their main food source (Galbraith, 1998). This is because of competition between oil industry market players and consumers whose staple food mainly comprises these so-called fuel crops. A probable solution would be more investment being made in the agricultural sector, where assistance has declined by more than half over the past two decades. Boosting agricultural production which is the main livelihood of the worlds poor would essentially ensure food security (Ibid, 1998).

The rise of shanty towns and mushrooming of slums is easily directed to lack of sufficient housing, that is, affordable to the urban poor. In these dingy environments, sanitation and shelter are the biggest problems (Marie, 2002).

Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is quoted as saying, The poor are seldom poor by choice&but they must be given a fair chance to compete (Galbraith, 1998).

This means that poverty can be fought economically by creating access to formal and informal education (Marie, 2002).

It is lack of education that leads to unemployment and low-income jobs which forces people to live from hand to mouth.

Otherwise, the lack of enough job opportunities and economic development in the third world means that even the educated skills and knowledge cannot be utilized to contribute towards national development (Ibid, 2002).

Some facts and figures are cited below to show the magnitude of world poverty on the global population.

It is estimated according to the 2007 Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Program that, There are still around 1 billion people living at the margins of survival on less than USD1 a day, with 2.6 billion  40 percent of the worlds population  living on less than USD2 a day (Galbraith, 1998). It is however most important to note that the World Bank has been almost arbitrarily criticized  this according to an article by Anup Shah on www.globalissues.org  for coming up with a definition of the poverty line to mean one dollar per day while the poverty threshold for a family of four in the United States has been estimated at around eleven dollars per day (Marie, 2002).

This, therefore, means that a large chunk of humanity is left out. Moreover, according to the United Nations International Childrens Education Fund (UNICEF), 26,500  30,000 children die each day due to poverty (Galbraith, 1998).

It is however worth noting that poverty is not only limited to developing and under-developed nations.

Industrialized economies are seeing an increase in the levels of poverty as fewer people emerge to be profiting from the current trend of globalization (Marie, 2002). Hurricane Katrina which wretched the state of New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast region of the US on 29 August 2005 revealed to the world the silent sufferings of hundreds of thousands if not millions of poverty-stricken American citizens (Galbraith, 1998). There are still living today in the worlds superpower economy, people without electricity, proper housing, and water. Mr. Andrew Simms, Policy Director of the New Economics Foundation in an article to The Guardian, dated August 6, 2003, said, In the UK the bottom 50% of the population now owns only 1% of the wealth: in 1976 they owned 12%. Our economic systems incentive structure, instead of trickle-down, is causing a flood-up of resources from the poor to the rich& (Marie, 2002).

Statistics, according to Anup Shah of the globalissues.org on poverty around the world, reveals that it is reported that the UK is the worst place in Europe to grow up while poor (Galbraith, 1998). This is despite Britain being one of the most affluent members of the European Union.

Similarly, the writer goes on to note that it would be surprising for most people to realize that the USA, the wealthiest nation on earth, has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation (Marie, 2002).

Most people especially in continental Africa associate the West with having contributed to almost a majority of the woes they face. It is widely believed that the colonization of Africa by mostly European powers effectively profited the colonial masters (Galbraith, 1998). Raw materials were sourced from the continent and shipped off abroad to feed the insatiable appetite of western industries. Not only did the west profit from gold, diamonds, copper, and other raw materials but they exploited human resources by perpetuating the slave trade (Ibid, 1998). Even today, the raw materials come from the third world which has huge natural reserves and are exported for processing and manufacturing abroad then sold back to the third world at a profit to the west. This only serves to perpetuate the poverty circle (Marie, 2002).

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali on eradicating poverty quotes, Wars against nations are fought to change maps; wars against poverty are fought to map change (Galbraith, 1998).

Conclusion

There needs to be put in place sustainable solutions towards worldwide poverty eradication. These include creating awareness of the issue. Thankfully, this has resulted in the formation of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty which has been observed annually since 1993. The forum should be used to make world leaders commit themselves to fulfilling their pledge of reducing by half by the year 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty which was agreed upon at the Millennium Summit.

References

Galbraith, J.K. (1998). The Position of Poverty. In Jacobus, L.A. editor. A World of Idea. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins. pp240.

Marie, V. Lane. (2002). World Poverty: A Bibliography with Indexes. Social Science. Web.

The 21^st century can be characterized by the increasing level of public awareness in regard to various social issues. Among them, the fair and equal treatment of all people is one of the most topical matters that concern progressive communities. In spite of the recent efforts aimed at equality, women across the globe continue to experience unfair treatment. More specifically, they remain subject to serious violence, especially at home.

These instances form an area of concern for the worlds political and social activists, and public health experts. Intrasexual relationships have long endured the dominating role of masculinity. Violent tendencies are a distinct feature of the toxic paradigm that poisons the relationships between men and women today. Furthermore, in many cases, the violence is fueled by the persistence of archaic traditions embedded in the national culture. As a result, millions of women continue to suffer from domestic abuse and discrimination, both verbal and physical. This paper explores the issue of the global violence against women in its current state.

The world has entered a new stage of social development in the 21^st century. Today, democratic values and paradigms of equality become particularly important, as society aims to amend for past oppression. Among various discriminatory behaviors, violence against women remains topical for contemporary communities. According to Ali (2018), the problem is global in nature, and it was addressed with utter seriousness by the United Nations.

This key global organization describes violence against women as any case of gender-based violence that entails adverse consequences for the victims physical, sexual or mental well-being (Ali, 2018, p. 4). As can be inferred from this definition, the issue is highly complex, as it encompasses various aspects of womens lives. Their suffering extends beyond the physical domain, as a history of gender-based abuse undermines the normal development of a persons psyche and sexuality.

Under these circumstances, the protection of women against persistent violence has been prioritized as a social policy of paramount importance. Ali (2018) states that the problem is multifaceted, as well, taking the forms of domestic physical violence, rape, forced marriage, or trafficking. At the same time, it is necessary to note that men can also become the victims of violence and abuse. However, Ali (2018) argues that the likelihood of such a situation for them is incomparably lower than for women.

All these instances represent the various avenues that are used by patriarchal societies to degrade women. Brown et al. (2017) draw a connection between such instances and the ideological honoring of aggressive responses to the actions of women. Across many cultures, men are socially encouraged to behave in a violent manner as a means of asserting their dominance and masculinity. Doing otherwise can be perceived as a sign of weakness, meaning that healthy intersexual relations are compromised under this continuous influence from the outside.

Ultimately, society has made significant progress in terms of informing the public about violence against women and its repercussions. Nevertheless, the problem remained acute in the 21^st century, as millions of women continue to experience the relentless pressure of abuse. Such violence is often conditioned by the prevalence of archaic, patriarchal views within a culture that shapes intersexual relations. Under the influence of obsolete values, masculine aggression is nurtured, whereas the value of women is diminished. In a right value-based society, men will not have to resort to violence to defend their honor. Accordingly, further measures are required on a global scale to break the circle of toxicity and violence, providing women with sufficient security and recognition.

References

Ali, P. (2018). Genderbased violence and the role of healthcare professionals. Nursing Open, 5(1), 45.

Brown, R. P., Baughman, K., & Carvallo, M. (2017). Culture, masculine honor, and violence toward women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(4), 538549.

Introduction

The concept of finding ones place in the world has been addressed in various poems. For example, the classic theme of the person and the crowd is presented in the Charles Baudelaire poem Albatross in the traditions of both romantic and symbolic art. Eugenio Montale also touches on this topic, but he considers the concept of finding ones place in the world through the prism of naturalism. Thus, the global issue of a persons place in the world takes on different shades depending on the worldview.

Charles Baudelaires Les Fleurs du Mal

Albatross is the most programmatic poem by Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire is also represented as an Albatross in those publications where each poet is given only one sample of his work. The program and fame of the poem are due to the fact that the theme of finding ones place in the world is most vividly presented in this passage in the general context of the writer.

The bipolarity underlying Charles Baudelaires entire work is reflected in the poem Albatross. From romanticism comes, first of all, the two worlds of the poem. Albatross is divided into two spheres. The first, connected with the poet, is the realm of nature, freedom, and the royal flight of the human spirit. The other is the world of people, the realm of unfreedom, captivity, rudeness, and pettiness. The juxtaposition of these worlds gives rise to an all-consuming irony. A poet as a lyrical subject in a crowd is a tragicomic situation. The idea of duality plays a crucial role in the internal structure of the work (Baudelaire 118). Special vocabulary, color, sounds  everything works to emphasize the contrast between heaven and earth. Baudelaires desire to depict the spatial extent of the world is also connected with romantic art. The infinity and vastness of space are associated with images of the abyss and the sea.

Speaking directly about correspondences, the author refers to phenomena when some feeling or sound evokes another feeling related to perception: for example, a person remembers a color or taste. That is, certain emotions can cause people to have an associative connection, awakening their memories. The Baudelaire correspondences themselves are not something fixed and stable, on the contrary, they have a dynamic character. Under the influence of a person or his thoughts, familiar things begin to transform and acquire liveliness, gradually revealing their profound essence (Baudelaire 118). At the same time, the main role is assigned not to some higher forces, but to the person themselves. That is, it is people who, with the help of imagination, animate this world, bringing the human principle into it and achieving with the help of this communion with everything that exists.

Baudelaires tossing between Heaven and Earth, Good and Evil, God and Satan gives rise to a symbolic comparison of the poet with an albatross. The life of both of them is inextricably linked with flight, they are both wanderers, and their wings are a power in the sky and a hindrance not to the earth. Albatross is a surprisingly simple and clear poem in composition, with a special rhythm. This form was able to most fully and accurately express all the tragedy and inconsistency of the restless human soul with the help of its place in the world.

Eugenio Montales Cuttlefish Bones

This poem by Eugenio Montale is characterized by a philosophical tonality. He tries to comprehend the complex world, both external and internal, the poet perceives it in all its fullness of sounds, smells, and colors. Although at first glance it seems to the reader that Eugenio Montale demonstrates global pessimism about a persons place in the world, at the same time he does not capitulate to despair but continues to search for his poetic and life path.

In the selected extract, the author, on the one hand, withdraws himself as much as possible. He draws the world around him very realistically, and accurately, conveying sounds (singing, rustling, trills), smells (the smell of sweet peas), and colors (red ants). On the other hand, he does it picturesquely, and poetically, while not focusing on whose eyes the reader sees all this (Montale 227). A person should merge with the landscape and, as an author, abandon their Self. The world of Eugenio Montale is the world before man; however, this world is not static  it lives: the sea moves, and ants are busy with their business. However, with all this, the question arises: who goes along the fence and where, who sees the sea, and ants, hears cicadas? The subjects place in the world remains extremely free in the text. With all the realism and the lack of stylistic excesses, the extract is very poetic, lyrical in its inner intonation, and philosophically deep in essence.

Infinitive constructions (to immerse oneself, to observe, to see, to be surprised) create the impersonality of the artistic picture of the world  and this fully corresponds to the poets worldview and his artistic plan. Verbal constructions  such as the word incandescent  indicate that the wall is an object of external influence (Montale 227). This gives the passage an additional emphasis on the beingness of things. The use of such an expression emphasizes the subjective nature of an inanimate object.

The lyrical hero Eugenio Montale is a protesting, suffering, tormented person, not an Epicurean one. His inner perception of the world led him not to futurism, but to metaphysicians with their thoughtful study of life, the search for its meaning, with their inquisitive gaze into the unknowable process of death. The passage shows that the author denies the Nietzschean idea of a strong personality, the idea of a superman, which was popular in his time. The line between the love of ones homeland and ones people and the nationalistic idea of ones people being chosen over others in the work of Eugenio Montale is imperceptible. He recognizes that all people, regardless of culture and nationality, are only insignificant particles of the big world of nature. Therefore, the global issue of mans place in the world is very important in the work of Eugenio Montale. At the same time, his poems are active guides and reliable sources of the poets lyrical worldview, based on the denial that man is the center of a naturalistic picture of the world.

Conclusion

Baudelaire makes it clear to the reader that both microcosms, natural and human, communicate with each other. He speaks not only about the relationship between people and nature but also about the fact that all material things are in a kind of secret relationship. The source of these close kinship ties or analogies is the supernatural unity of the universe, that is, the cosmos which defines the place of a person in the world. Eugenio Montale exists in a space of dialogue with the inner self and with the world that surrounds it in a more cultural, civilizing context. Perfectly feeling the beauty of the world even in simple details, the poet is aware of it, moving away from all kinds of illusions and prejudices. Although he is emphatically lonely, the poets loneliness is a constant internal monologue; his loneliness seems to be a conscious choice. Thus, the poets search for ones place in the world has different directions: Baudelaire suggests considering man as a part of the whole surroundings, and a microparticle of the universe, while Montale is convinced that it is necessary to look for the answer inside ones own Self.

Works Cited

Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs Du Mal. David R. Godine, 2008.

Montale, Eugenio. Cuttlefish Bones. W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.

Introduction

Addressing global health issues is a complex and multifaceted task since in order to determine the most severe problems, healthcare providers need to identify relevant trends and common threats. In the context of the availability of information exchange, the measures proposed by authoritative boards may be distributed among the masses and used by medical specialists to help the population both globally and locally. As an example of a global health issue that is a significant problem in modern society, vaccine hesitancy will be considered. According to Paterson et al. (2016), in recent years, the number of individuals and groups that have a negative view of vaccination has increased, which, in turn, creates difficulties for healthcare providers. This work aims to describe this issue in the context of one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) offered by the United Nations. Also, the impact of globalization and measures taken at local and global levels will be assessed, as well as opportunities for MSN-prepared nurses to support relevant initiatives.

Global Health Issue

The issue of vaccine hesitancy causes severe concern among medical providers around the world due to a large number of dangerous diseases in people refusing the necessary and objectively important protection. Piltch-Loeb and DiClemente (2020) provide statistics on measles cases and note that between 1992 and 2019, 89% of all infections were associated with the lack of vaccination (p. 76). As factors influencing this global problem, Paterson et al. (2016) note not only a social trend caused by illiteracy regarding the benefits of appropriate protection but also the insufficient training of medical personnel. Some healthcare staff, including nurses, have limited knowledge about the relevance of vaccination recommendations, which, in turn, exacerbates the situation. Globalization, in this case, is an additional risk factor because the ease of communication among individual communities is the driver of false beliefs about the dangers of vaccination.

Since one of the SDGs proposed by the United Nations is the promotion of public health, this objective is consistent with the stated issue. In particular, vaccination, as a clinically relevant preventive measure, is discussed at local and global levels. According to Piltch-Loeb and DiClemente (2020), more than 44,000 medical providers are involved in child vaccination control programs (p. 76). This activity is consistent with the presented SDG and is considered an important area of work.

Strategies to Promote Global Health

To address the issue under consideration, interventions to promote knowledge about the benefits of vaccination are developed by healthcare authorities. Ensuring public safety and reducing mortality are significant reasons for governments to support these essential projects. Different programs aim to address the issue of vaccination hesitancy both locally and globally, and the efforts made by healthcare providers comply with the provisions of specific preventive interventions.

Local and Global Programs

As an example of work at the local level, a project may be cited, which aims to raise the awareness of the importance of vaccination by rural people in southern Florida. Thomas et al. (2019) describe this program and note alarming results: about 80% of adults are convinced that after the introduction of vaccines, children can become infertile, which is a myth (p. 1667). At the global level, one of the major interventions is promoted in support of measles vaccines in children. As Hotez et al. (2020) note, the program is sponsored by the WHO and covers different world countries.

Similarities and Differences

The similarity of both projects lies in the fact that their key goal is to convey the importance and benefits of vaccination and explain the danger of misconceptions about its dangers. However, the Florida program involves parents as the primary target audience, while the project under the auspices of the WHO aims to engage as many children as possible. At the same time, both projects are consistent with the aforementioned SDG since their primary goal is to promote vaccination as a significant aspect of ensuring health.

Implications for Advanced Nursing Practice

MSN-prepared nurses can participate in vaccination promotion projects, both locally and globally. For instance, employees of this profile can organize meetings with the population within their communities, conduct research on the patient recognition of the value of appropriate protection, and perform other activities to identify public awareness. As a potentially valuable strategy, Hoekstra and Margolis (2016) suggest engaging with parents to strengthen their decision-making intentions regarding vaccinating children. This intervention can bring positive outcomes at the local and global levels. Studies show that people in certain regions have false beliefs about the dangers of vaccines. Thus, due to globalization, local interventions to interact with parents may cause a worldwide resonance, thereby ensuring the interest of adults in promoting their childrens health, which is the ultimate goal of such a strategy.

Conclusion

Initiatives promoted both locally and globally to address the problem of vaccination hesitancy are important interventions that can alter the false perceptions of individuals and groups about the dangers of vaccines. The SDG reviewed may be achieved in many ways, and the involvement of nursing staff plays a significant role. Healthcare employees should have sufficient knowledge to promote community outreach projects, and a parent involvement strategy can be one of the potentially effective interventions. The implications of work in this direction on advanced nursing practice include providing sufficient knowledge about the importance of vaccination and educating the public about the benefits of appropriate protection.

References

Hoekstra, S., & Margolis, L. (2016). The importance of the nursing role in parental vaccine decision making. Clinical Pediatrics, 55(5), 401-403.

Hotez, P. J., Nuzhath, T., & Colwell, B. (2020). Combating vaccine hesitancy and other 21st century social determinants in the global fight against measles. Current Opinion in Virology, 41, 1-7.

Paterson, P., Meurice, F., Stanberry, L. R., Glismann, S., Rosenthal, S. L., & Larson, H. J. (2016). Vaccine hesitancy and healthcare providers. Vaccine, 34(52), 6700-6706.

Piltch-Loeb, R., & DiClemente, R. (2020). The vaccine uptake continuum: Applying social science theory to shift vaccine hesitancy. Vaccines, 8(1), 76.

Thomas, T. L., Caldera, M., & Maurer, J. (2019). A short report: Parents HPV vaccine knowledge in rural South Florida. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 15(7-8), 1666-1671.

How Serving as a Public Health Administrator at a Border is a Challenge

People living across borders often suffer high rates of communicable and preventable diseases (Flores & Kaplan, 2009). Tuberculosis and intestinal infections are some of the common diseases, which affect this demographic. This has been the case along the US-Mexico border (National Latino Research Center, 2004). From a socioeconomic standpoint, people living across this border suffer from high rates of poverty and unemployment. The lack of proper insurance for such populations further compounds this problem (National Latino Research Center, 2004). Research shows that the lack of clean water and poor sewage disposal methods are some of the potential causes of these health problems (Viergever, 2013). Health workers often experience many challenges associated with providing health services for people who live along this border. For example, disparities in health systems between the US and Mexico affect the quality of health care along the border because both countries have varying socioeconomic determinants of health (World Health Organization, n.d.). Moreover, these differences create disparities in health care access and use. Health insurance access is also another issue that emerges in this region because differences in health systems often mean that some people have access to health insurance, while others do not. For example, US citizens often enjoy Medicaid and Medicare programs, while their Mexican neighbors do not. Cultural differences between Mexico and the US also emerge as a problematic area for public health workers in cross-border health management because different cultural practices affect how people perceive health interventions, or whether they would accept new health interventions, or not (Flores & Kaplan, 2009). Poor environmental health quality is another health challenge that affects the quality of health along the US-Mexico border. Indeed, there has been little focus on the improvement of hazardous waste management and health assessment along this border (National Latino Research Center, 2004). Lastly, language differences, varying economic strengths, and different levels of economic awareness among Mexican and American populations impede efforts by health workers to solve health issues at the border. These challenges affect the delivery of quality health services in this area. Collectively, these factors show how serving as a public health administrator at a border is challenging.

Strategies for Developing a More Effective Public Health Workforce

Having an effective public health workforce is important in developing an effective public health infrastructure for planning, delivering, and evaluating public health services (World Health Organization, n.d.). Education and training are formidable strategies for developing an effective workforce. For example, training existing employees about how to manage the challenges of cross-border health management could help them overcome most of the associated challenges of health management. Similarly, it would help them to develop solutions for cross-border health crises (Viergever, 2013). Education and training processes may include several actions, including developing and implementing generic public health competencies, integrating competencies in professional development, and lifting the ability of the public health workforce to lead the health sector (Flores & Kaplan, 2009). Availing supporting information to health workers through research is also another strategy for supporting the public health workforce. These strategies should support public health programs through policy streamlining. Lastly, nurturing and developing supportive workplace cultures could easily improve the performance of the public health workforce because it would help the workers to realize maximum workforce ability and capacity (National Latino Research Center, 2004).

Another Border Area That May Pose Its Unique Health Challenges

Similar to the cross-border health challenges between Mexico and the US, America, and Canada also have unique cross-border health challenges. Health insurance is one such challenge. Canada enjoys a universal health care system that the US does not have. It would be difficult for a public health worker working along the border to harmonize health care delivery services when providing health services to affected residents. The lack of standardized data across both countries may also create the same challenge by providing different health indicators for health practitioners in both countries. These differences may create confusion when analyzing health data in both countries (World Health Organization, n.d.).

Challenges and What May Be Done To Ameliorate Them

Promoting inter-agency coalitions along the Mexico-US border could overcome the challenges of cross-border health management in the region (National Latino Research Center, 2004). This strategy should include health agencies from both sides of the divide. By collaborating with one another, they should harmonize policy challenges that impede the provision of quality health services. Similarly, both countries should come up with new strategies for overcoming cultural barriers that could impede the provision of health services (Viergever, 2013). This outcome would be beneficial to health care practitioners who intend to provide health services across multicultural regions. Here, health agencies from both parties should provide valuable information about the cultural practices of both countries and relay the same information to foreign health agencies so that they are culturally sensitive to their targeted population (Viergever, 2013).

Another Strategy for Addressing Challenges Related To another Border Region

America and Canada need to overcome significant barriers in cross-border health management to manage the unique health challenges associated with the border region. To do so, health agencies need to standardize their data collection formats to harmonize existing and vital statistics (Flores & Kaplan, 2009). They also need to bridge information gaps in environmental health management to improve the quality of information obtained in public health management (National Latino Research Center, 2004).

References

Flores, L., & Kaplan, A. (2009). Addressing the Mental Health Problems of Border and Immigrant Youth. Web.

National Latino Research Center. (2004). The Border that Divides and Unites: Addressing Border Health in California. Web.

Viergever, R. F. (2013). The mismatch between the health research and development (R&D) that is needed and the R&D that is undertaken: An overview of the problem, the causes, and solutions. Web.

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Mortality and global health estimates. Web.

Compensation is a systematic approach of providing monetary value and other benefits to employees in exchange for their work and service. To understand compensation within a global framework, recognition of the existing differences and similarities between the various contexts in which a company operates is important.

Milkovich et al. (2008) posit that employee compensation design hinges on the variations presented by four key factors  institutional, economic, organizational, and individual. The aforementioned changes could be either small or big. When imposed in different countries, these factors are reflected in changes that the organization may have to undertake when designing different compensation systems in the different areas in which it works (Berrone et al. 2010). This paper seeks to analyze the global factors that influence compensation in the United States.

The demand for different skills is one of the factors that significantly influence the compensation of employees in the United States. Unlike in the ancient era when workers were limited to work in their nations, importation and exportation of human resources has been very rampant in the recent past (Henderson, 2006). Thus, poor compensation of employees in the United States as well as other nations could make employees move to regions with higher compensation.

As such, this has compelled the United States to review their compensation rates thus preventing cases of workers migration. In addition to this, the scarcity of certain experts in the United States and the entire world has influenced the compensation strategy of the United States (Henderson, 2006). This is because, if the United States fails to compensate the scarce employees satisfactorily, it could have deficiency in such experts who may have moved to other regions that offer better compensation.

Various global macroeconomic factors such as taxation, inflation, booms, and surges affect the economy of the United States. When this happens, the compensation strategy of the United States is affected because it is a key element of the national budget. For instance, high taxation global rates reduce the growth rate of the US economy thus reducing the compensation offered to employees. On the other hand, if most of the global nations import more from the United States, the economy grows, thus increasing the compensation offered to employees in the United States. It is therefore clear that whatever happens globally trickles down to each nation and in turn affects various sectors of the economy.

The relationship of the United States with other global nations also influences its compensation strategy among other issues. This relationship is referred to as social security. A good relationship with other nations of the world would mean that the United States shares most of its resources including human resources with other nations hence creating harmony in the compensation strategies (Berrone et al. 2010). On the other hand, if the relationship is not cordial, cases of conflict could arise thus negatively influencing the compensation strategy of the United States.

Finally yet importantly, effects of deregulation of restrictions on bank entry are felt in the global economy today (Berrone et al. 2010). Such restrictions have influence the national income, thus influencing the amount of compensation offered to employees. Additionally, the state-level deregulation on branching restrictions has in turn depicted a significant growth rate in the US economy. This has therefore increased the compensation strategy of employees in the United States.

Reference List

Berrone, P. et al. (2010). Compensation and Organizational Performance: Theory, Research and Practice. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Henderson, R. (2006). Compensation Management in a Knowledge-Based World (Tenth Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Milkovich, G. et al. (2013). Compensation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Introduction

The global digital

Divide is used to define the difference between those who have the ability to access the global information and those who have limited access. The development of the internet is evidently uneven throughout the world, even though its accessibility is used as one of the major indicators of prosperity in both economic and social development in society (Mauro & Sandra 1). According to the 2002 global internet accessibility report, approximately less than 10% of the population in the world use the internet, while the difference between its usages continues to widen since the early part of the last decade (Mauro & Sandra 1). The gap is remarkably big as statistical information indicates that by the year 2002, the internet use in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and nations in the South of Asia ranged from less than 1% of the population. On the contrary, the developed and emerging economies like United States, Iceland, South Korea, and many others had between 50 and 60% of their population use the internet (Mauro & Sandra 1).

The majority of literature on the global digital divide indicates that many believe that ability to access information is a critical step towards achieving development goals. That is, if societies around the globe are able to bridge the gap between those who have and those who do not in relation to information technology, then the development problems would be minimized at a considerable level (Mauro & Sandra 49)

The first section of this paper seeks to analyze the problem of a global digital divide in the dimension of “personal trouble” of individual countries and in the view of “public issue” of the international community. The second section seeks to explain how social policy solutions to the issue differ depending on the two theoretical perspectives. The exponential growth of the internet and other information communication technologies, and widening disparities in usage have caught the imagination of many sociologists, in an attempt to understand the greater historical aspect of the interrelationship between individual ability and community effort in its adaptability. The key theoretical concepts lie in the concepts and beliefs surrounding two different views. The first being that the global digital divide is a result public or international community’s failure to develop a mechanism to narrow the gap of digital communication between the haves and have-nots. The second is the belief that individual persons of a particular country or region’s failure are what should be attributed to the widening of the global digital divide gap.

The global digital divide as a “personal trouble”

Human history is full of several aspects of technological developments that have defined how people leave. In fact, technology may be viewed as part and parcel of human nature and existence. Mitchell (3) observes that technology is what separates Homo sapiens from other species on the earth. In this view, it is noted that as humans become more dependent on technology, so the attitude towards its usage varies. That is to say, different individuals have developed a strong interest in its adoption and use than others, influenced by several other factors. These cultures are identified as cultural and religious orientations and beliefs of individual members of the society. Ihde (12) states that technology has been tacitly applied to explain the concept of progress or lack of it in society today.

Despite being considered one of the developed economies of the world with higher information communication technology consumption, Canada has been has exposed a unique kind of digital divide among its youth, in relation to use and experience. This is despite the high rate of internet connectivity within this country. A study commissioned by the Ministry of Industry in 2003 revealed that although a vast part of the nation is connected to internet, the usage is still varied among the youth (Looker & Thiessen 2). The main findings, however, suggest that some factors like proximity to urban centers encouraged more accessibility, thus higher usage unlike the rural areas. But still among the urban youths who participated in the survey, there was still a big variance in terms of frequency of usage as well as difference in competency. Another significant finding was that female youths spent less time on computers than their male counterparts hence exhibited low skills competency, despite equal accessibility. What generally makes the difference in a country believed to be among the most developed in terms of ICT connectivity?

To ex plain the above phenomenon, it is important to highlight what Mill (12) describes as the shifting of problem of the decade or the crisis of our period, that have inherently shifted from the external responsibility of the society to the individuals responsibility to improve his or her own life through embracing of the changes. In other words, the individual youth’s failure to embrace and learn more about technology should never be blamed on the entire society’s failure to help out. To emphasize on this stance, Ihde (60) explains the way in which a “rational and a progressive set of individual beliefs and interests have come into being through science”, which explains more on how it is likely to affect the mass consumption of the ICT across the global arena. In fact he suggests that the belief of utopian progressivism is associated with the roots of human modernity, where individuals’ problems have played a role in the failure of certain sections of the society from the times industrial revolution to today’s ICT revolution (Ihde 61).

The individual Culture and Skepticism

The social concern among individual members of the society has been used to explain some aspects of negativity towards the widening of the gap of the digital divide. Since the beginning of the 20^th century, many cultural groups have expressed concern on the negative impact of technology. According to Burke (6), the existence of technology has be come an element of human existence although some specific members of the society have regarded its negative impact on the social development of the society as the main reason to shun it. He states that the individual trouble with technology usage is not in technology itself but an attitude to it, for many of these individual societal members fail to recognize it for what it is, hence end up mistaking it for another thing, which is “an end in itself rather than a means” (Burke 27).

According to Mills (13), in several occasions, people often create the increased sense of ‘being moved by obscure forces within themselves which they are unable to define.” In other words, if individual members of the society are unable to explain the actual aspect of the digital technology in the market, they are likely to avoid it and stick to what they know best. This could be backed by the belief that advanced economies, which host almost the entire group of industries manufacturing the digital gadgets, make their individual populations more aware and knowledgably informed about the technology, before any attempt is made to move abroad. Moreover, the gadgets are made to conform to the culture of the advanced economies, which some individual people from less advanced economies are not willing to comply with. The cultural difference between decent families and streetwise ones tend to infuse a sense of mainstream values within their children, unlike their streetwise counterparts (Bolt & Crawford 11). Those decent families take individual initiatives to teach their children of better ways of life, as opposed to streetwise parents who would take little interest to develop etiquette of life, including providing better opportunity to learn in schools. This could explain why there is a digital divide between elite families of American society and those in the low social ladder. In other words, it is believed to be an individual initiative to fail to adopt better lifestyle through ICT adoption or not.

The global digital divide as a “public issue”

The uneven growth of digital technology usage has been attributed to many factors related to economic, political and social structure of the society. For instance, the developing nations have no stable source of energy, hence the limited accessibility of digital technology like internet services Bolt & Crawford, 27). The other reason that has perpetrated the digital divide across the continents as well as within nations is social structure of the communities, always associated with poor vs. the rich. In this perspective, the poor are literally forced to live within the lower social structure that does not allow them to access the ICT and its benefits. The connection between economic wellbeing of the society and politics also create some belief that it’s the poor political structure coupled with lack of political will embodied within the political class that perpetrates poverty of information.

The social structure of the communities

The first major theoretical problem is the belief that ICT or internet for that matter is for everyone’s for the taking; that its usage is not hampered by any national or regional limitations. In fact, scholars have noted that this form of optimism is not true as internet has been found “to reinforce the already existing class and social relations both within and across countries” (Mauro & Sandra 68). Critics of this theoretical point of view point out to the fact that just a few privately owned giant communication companies supported by governments have literally found a dominant ground to enable themselves rather than the people. They further argue these big media houses have made internet a “shopping mall” where they successfully defraud the limited internet users with viral marketing and sales (Mauro & Sandra 69; Roy 36). This makes internet more of a private property rather than a public property as earlier predicted in the early years of its usage.

Many scholars have warned that unless ICT is adopted in the interest of the citizens, the present path it follows will most likely perpetuate inequality that is seen to day. In fact, the common ground among sociologists and development experts is that internet has empowered a few and discriminated on the majority of the population of the world, creating a much wider gap between the high social class from the low social class. Interestingly, this trend has not only happened in the cross-border analysis of its impact but has also affected the citizens within the so called developed nations. Ihde (247) candidly puts its, the internet revolution as a tool to build “freedom, productivity, and communication comes hand in hand with the denunciation of the ‘digital divide’ induced by inequality on the internet.”

Economic Variance of Different Countries

Much data from different nations indicate that global digital divide is a factor of economic difference of various nations between and within the continents and nations. These data associate the trend to such parameters of measuring economic capability like per capita, GDP and GNP, income as seen in the view of cost of access (Mauro & Sandra 132) The cross-sectional analysis of data indicates that the less developed countries have limited access to ICT, as opposed to developed and emerging economies. This concept makes it easy to associate the problem as a public issue due to the fact that many of these countries are not strong enough, as far as economic indicators are concerned. Others on the other hand found out that the variance between the rich and poor nations is also a factor of competition in the ICT business, hence lowering price and increases accessibility.

The Political Environment

The global politics is certainly an issue that cannot escape the view of many scholars and general observers as a whole. It is said that political situation as structured by global world means that the growth of ICT can never be linear, as modern democracies tend to gain more advantage when it comes to political stability and decision making on matters affecting the global world. The empirical literature suggests that the global politics has created a dependency theory that has helped analyzed the world system in relation to political structure (Burke 212). In fact the belief that advanced democracies use their political superiority coupled with economic prowess to dictate terms of negotiation in the global arrangements leaves the less developed countries with little options to make political decisions on their own. That is, they are continuously given terms under which to operate from.

Likewise, others view the digital divide as an outcome of global integration of various control system designed by capitalist nations led by the United States and European nations. The main core of to this theory is that tighter integration of the world nations does not necessarily lead to linear growth, as it only depends on whether the particular country is within the core of at the periphery of activities as defined by how they relate.

Social Policy Solutions

From the above analysis, it’s possible to conclude that digital divide basically has a future just like any other social conditions in the modern society. The open fact is that global digital divide as a “personal trouble” does not explain many facts as seen across nations. While human capability and cultural beliefs and willingness to adopt the ICT may play critical role in the narrowing of the digital divide, it’s evident that little will be achieved if economic, political and social structure of the global community is not observed. This leads us to a very important concept; that the global digital divide is more of a public issue than a personal trouble.

However, social policy solutions have been seen in the dimension of bridging the digital divide with different perspectives. These policies are aimed at minimizing the gap between the haves and have-nots, as far as ICT is concerned. Importantly, these policies are known to have implications as they are likely to influence different tenets of the society such as economic, political, social and cultural.

The Policies and their Implication

The first theory that digital divide is as a ‘personal trouble’ has seen many nations adopting the policy strategies that target the individual capability development. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with the government of Costa Rica developed a policy that targeted the increase of technological options and capacity of the users (Bolt & Crawford 192). In this approach, the policy targeted an increased capacity of usage by educating the public and encouraging them to acknowledge the benefits of ICT and more importantly. However, the problem was that this program did not succeed as much as it was expected. In essence, the policy failed to first address the accessibility issue before venturing into capacity development. In other words, they prioritized the solutions targeting ‘personal trouble’ and ignored ‘public issue’ problems.

However, they realized the shortcomings of this policy implementation and reverted to increase accessibility of developing more ICT infrastructure. Currently, the constructors have developed a strong network of internet accessibility, supported by the useful application manuals. The strengthening of the solar power in the villages has even increased the accessibility as many designated centers have helped to develop more computer centers.

Although increased accessibility is an important part of digital divide gap reduction strategy, it’s evident that developing these structures without clear emphasis on proper ‘content’ may prove a futile approach to the problem solution Bolt & Crawford 130). In other words, the ICT applications and its contents must be offered in the real perspective of the realm of life that would benefit the local community. That is, the need to develop contents that are locally acceptable culturally and socially by the target population.

However, the above policy initiatives as adopted by many developing countries are not sufficient as far as the needs of the global communities are concerned (Ihde 87; Charon 39). The first point is that none of the above policy initiatives can be achieved if social, political and economic issues are not addressed in a more multidimensional manner.

The digital divide is in fact a social problem, and more importantly, it is a public issue that needs the attention of social policies and not technology oriented policies. Although it is possible to acknowledge that fact that inequities have existed from time immemorial, it is important to accept the need to continue making an objective oriented public policies that target mass rather than individuals’ abilities. Although faster ICT usage and accessibility can bridge the gap, the need to strengthen the social disparities is as important as, and even more critical than the technology itself. Ihde (89) observes that the single most appropriate and effective way to ameliorate the ICT application and success is through the development of public policy documents that address political, social and economic issues in a multidimensional perspective as well as single units.

Of the most critical importance is the need to balance ICT development as capitalism and the public interests Ihde (89). It is realized that it is the private sector which has the resources to invest. The governments should develop policies that help the public build strong incentives to attract the investors. Communities will therefore be able to identify core areas to attract these investors. It is therefore the role of policy makers to create a favorable regulatory environment that will attract the ICT investors, as the same time protecting the interest of the public.

Works Cited

Bolt, David & Crawford, Ray. Digital divide: Computers and our children’s future. New York: TV Books. 2000. Print.

Burke, James. Connections. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1978.

Charon, Joel. Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective. New York. Cengage Learning, 2009.

Ihde, Don. Technology and the lifeworld. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 1990.

Looker, Dianne & Thiessen, Victor. The digital divide in Canadian schools: factors affecting students access to and use of information technology. Statistical Canada, 2006. Web.

Mauro, Guillen & Sandra Suarez. Explaining the global digital divide: economic, political and sociological drivers of cross-national internet use. Social forces. 2005. Print.

Mitchell, Matthew. Possible, Probable and Preferable Futures of the Digital Divide. In formation Science, 2003. Web.

Roy, William. Making Societies: The Historical Construction of Our World. Chicago. Pine Forge Press. 2001. Print.