Blog 7 "Follow the Money" by Vivienne Walt and Amanda Walt

Blog 7

“Follow the Money” by Vivienne Walt and Amanda Bower

What relationship do the authors discover about the workers level of poverty and how much they send back to their families?

I was surprised to find out the amount of money that is sent to poor countries by their citizens in support of their families back home.  I was even more surprised to find out that with the increase in the poverty levels, more money is being sent home - as much as 60% of their income per the authors findings.  I have to admire their survival skills and their lack of selfishness and commitment to their families and loved ones.  Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of sacrifice where priority is given to family and loved ones who may live thousands of miles away.  Not only is sacrifice being shown by sending the money, but also by the accepted poor living conditions that they are willing to endure in order to achieve dreams that they can clearly see through the eyes of their family members.  For example, when money is being used to build a home that is considered luxurious by any standard in a poor country – this is the dream home that the family has been waiting for.

If you were forced to relocate to another country, would you send money back to your family and relatives in your home country?  Why or why not?

I definitely would send money to my family if I am forced to relocate to a country, such as the United States, where better pay and numerous opportunities exist for a person to succeed.  What I would be doing is identical to what was reported in the article by Walt and Bower.  I personally come from a cultural background where children are expected to provide support and help to our families – no matter how much sacrifice this will demand.  Obviously, I can only do this if opportunities are presented to me to relocate to another country where I can make all their dreams come true.

Others who come from different cultural backgrounds may not be this receptive to the personal sacrifices that need to be done in support of their families and loved ones back home.  For example, a person who relocates from Switzerland to the United States would be less inclined to send any money home.  This is primarily because Switzerland has one of the highest costs of living in the world as compared to the United States.  In simple words a person who is wealthy in his own native country would not be inclined to send money back to his equally wealthy or well-to-do parents.  The inclination of that person would be one where saving for purchasing a personal home upon his return would be his first priority.

Overall, the article by Walt and Bower is very enlightening.  It is well written with numerous examples that demonstrate that this “Flow of Money” is a global phenomenon that takes place only among third world poor countries.  For citizens in wealthy countries, it falls upon all of us that we must demonstrate respect and appreciation for those individuals who have left everything back home and were willing to sacrifice even their own comfort in order to make those at home more happy.

Blog-6: Of Ice and Men

Yulieth Hassan

Blog 6

Of Ice and Men

Of Ice and Men by Cameron m. Smith

What assumptions underlying the Hearld Sun (Melbourne) report (see “Bears Feel Heat; Polar Icon Faces Wipeout”) do the Inupiat challenge?

Global warming is affecting the natural habitat in the Alaskan Arctic for the polar bear.  The Department of Fish and Wildlife in the US have come to the conclusion that polar bears are endangered of disappearing.  Scientists believe that global warming is going to raise the temperature of the frozen sea habitat where the polar bears live - making this a sad ending for these beautiful creatures.  Below is a list of the assumptions used to make such claims:

• The first assumption was that because of the decrease in the size of the polar ice cap, then the population of polar bears must also be decreasing and, as such, they should be classified as endangered species.

• The second assumption I find was that the officials from US Fish and Wildlife assumed that the polar bears could be endangered within 45 years.

•  The third assumption I find interesting was the fact that an official from the Interior Department thought that the polar bear would be threatened with extinction.

What reasons cited by Cameron M Smith in “Of Ice and Men” go against the assumptions in this announcement reported in the Herald Sun?

The reasons cited by Mr. Smith in his article are based on facts (rather than empirical data, hypotheses, or long-term projections) provided the natural inhabitants of this region of the Alaskan Arctic, the Inupiat.  Below I am listing some of these:

• Contrary to what officials from the US Fish and Wildlife have claimed, Polar bear numbers were not declining.  Supporting the Inupiat’s statement was the observation made by the native Canadians who lived on the Hudson Bay 4000 miles away from where the polar bears are presumably declining in numbers.

• The second fact supports the first by providing an approximate number of the polar bears being annually hunted – a mere 20 bears, as compared to 200 bears being illegally hunted in Russia.  This small number is kept under control because of stringent protection laws in the US and Canada.

• The third fact, had to do with the Inupiat identification of the main problem which led officials of the US Fish and Wildlife to the perception that the polar bear should be classified as an endangered species – namely, the shrinking size of the Northern Arctic Ice Cap.  As Mr. Smith correctly wrote “Listing a species as threatened or endangered is meant to force federally backed action to preserve that species’ critical habitat.  If that habitat isn’t delineated, however, the listing has little value.” – This is exactly the point raised by the Inupiat.

There is no doubt that there is a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds for the polar bears.  The best we could do to preserve this magnificent animal is to educate ourselves and others about global warming and its detrimental effects, not only on polar bears, but also on all animal species on our planet.

Bog-5: Claiming an Education

Yulieth Hassan

Blog-5

Claiming an Education by Adrienne Rich

Having read the 1977 convocation speech by Adrienne Rich, entitled “Claiming an Education”, I realized that the fight for women’s rights have gone a long way since then. 

In her speech addressing a class of graduating women at Douglass College, the overall tone comes across as being anti-male.  For example, she says

“What you can learn here (and I mean not only at Douglass but any college in any university) is how men have perceived and organized their experience, their history, their ideas of social relationships, good and evil, sickness and health, etc. When you read or hear about "great issues," "major texts," "the mainstream of Western thought," you are hearing about what men, above all white men, in their male subjectivity, have decided is important.”

Considering that the first women’s rights movement was started in 1848 as a side issue to that of antislavery, today, in 2014, that is 166 years later, women enjoy a great amount of freedom of choice.  Invariably, any gains made throughout the years were a direct result of their courage and persistence.  I do think that rather than paint “man” as an obstacle to women’s rights, she should have made a more positive impact on the graduating class by reinforcing their need for courage and persistence.  After all, most, if not all, of the graduating class of women would be working in environments alongside of man.

Since 1948, women’s rights movements have pushed for equality in different areas where men have an established track record.  Among these areas are politics, economic and social status.  In 2014, I can see many examples of how much women have accomplished since 1848 – not necessarily by battling man but by shear courage and persistence.  Take for example,

·        

•  The freedom of choice to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose.  While not sanctioned by all women due to different ethical, religious and social beliefs, it remains to be a right that is available for women that so choose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act)    
•   There are 36 women governors that have served, or are serving, as governors of US States - this is a published public statistic as of 2013.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_governors_in_the_United_States) 
•   Hillary Clinton, a US Senator representing the State of New York, served in the current Obama Administration as Secretary of State until she resigned her position to potentially seek the presidency of the US in 2016 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hillary-clinton) –this is the highest position a female can attain in the US.      
•  The number of women Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) leading major Fortune 500 companies (such as General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, etc.) is 23 – this is a published statistic as of July 2013 (http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24696574/23) -female-ceos-running-fortune-500-companies Traditionally, these positions would have been occupied by men.  These unique women are in these positions as a result of their courage, perseverance and unparalleled skills in management.     
•  The number of women serving as presidents of Universities and Colleges is now 23% of all University/College Presidents (http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/06/female-college-presidents-forbes-woman-power-women-tenure.html)    
•   In my opinion, there is no better example of women achieving more equality with men than them serving in active duty in the more recent wars involving the US.  Women are seen as fighter pilots fighting side-by-side with male pilots – having the same responsibilities and duties as their counterpart men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_military)

In conclusion, being a woman myself, I strongly feel and believe that women will continue to succeed in their quest for their voice to be heard in issues that have for many years being debated.  Only through persistence and courage will they be able to accomplish their goals.

Blog 4 Striking the Brothels' Bottom Line

Yulieth Hassan

Blog-4

Striking the Brothels’ Bottom Line

By: Nicholas Kristof

In this article, the author, Nicholas Kristof, addresses the topic of sex trafficking in Poipet, Cambodia.  He describes his experience dealing with one brothel where he “purchases” two teen age girls to later give them their freedom from this profession.  Keeping in touch with them over the years, he discovers that both girls have chosen different paths despite being given the same opportunity to reform their lives.  He also discovers that what he, and many others, believed to be a lucrative profession, was not immune to the typical challenges that face any legitimate business, namely, lower profits, community acceptance and customer satisfaction.

The first teenager, the article implies, started her own business with the support of a local aid organization.  The second teen eager, been given the same opportunity, returned back to the sex profession to support a drug addiction habit.  This comparison reinforces the important point that having the same resources available does not necessary mean having the same outcome.

Mr. Kristof also reflects his own positive outlook, based on what he has seen, towards curtailing this human trade business.  He cites the intervention and the support provided by the local aid organizations and the arrests and crack down by the local authorities.  He also cites journalists who thrust the human rights aspect of those women into the public arena and, for those particular women in Cambodia, the political pressure exerted by the US Department Traffic Office when sanctions were used as leverage to force a social change.  The result, in a two year period, a reduction, by a factor of two, of the number of operating brothels in Poipet.

Sex trafficking has been known to be one of the most ancient professions.  As such, the author states that while the number of brothels has been reduced by a factor of two, new ones are also appearing as “Karaoke lounges”.

The author concludes his article by making a number of suggestions that he believes can curtail sex trafficking, especially that of virgin girls.  He suggests that the government of Cambodia increase the number of sting operations where both persons involved, the customer and the seller, be arrested.  He also calls on the Obama Administration to make priority of this human rights issue involving modern day slavery.

I thought the article was very well written.  I was surprised to learn that humans are purchased like any other commodity that has a price tag.  I felt the article did not address adequately the consequential mental and physical human suffering of those involved.

It was recently brought to my attention by my professor that sex trafficking is a huge problem in the Phoenix metropolitan area.In a u- tube video our professor demonstrated how young girls are drawn into the prostitution with the promise of a rosy career in Hollywood,like the movies,and entertainment industries,young girls with otherwise promising future and loving and caring parents are tricked into vulnerable broken women with broken families.It is quite interesting that the Obama administration is willing to exert political pressure on the Cambodian government to curtail trafficking but seems to be unwilling to exert similar efforts to curtail the problem in Phoenix and within the USA