Torture is Ethically Wrong: Analysis

Torture is Ethically Wrong: Analysis Stephen D. Dillehayes Serving in a combat centered career in the military for almost two decades I have many experiences with the topic of torture. I have attended classes on how to apply and resist, both with varying results. But one of the topics that always come up is Is torture ethically right. I believe argument can be broken down into categories, how it affects the person and how it affects the states, which will reveal how it is fundamentally wrong. Lets look at two sides of the debate. Argument: Premise 1: Provides information in time sensitive situations. Premise 2: The ends justify the means. Premise 3: The enemy uses it, so there isnt a reason we shouldnt. Conclusion: Torture is legally and morally right. Counterargument: Premise 1: By dehumanizing someone you can collect information easier, but this also dehumanizes you. Premise 2: Human rights are suspended by the torturer to get what he wants. Premise 3: Information received validity cant be trusted. Conclusion: Torture is legally and morally wrong. The first premise of the counterargument is centered on the acts of violence inflicted by the torturer. To be affective as a torturer you have to think of your victim as less than human, in order to justify the human rights violations you have to commit to get any useful information. This process have been seen throughout history, the most notable is the Nazis treatment of the Jews in World War II. These actions can led to not only war crimes, human rights violations but also legal ramifications which will have long term effects on the person i.e. criminal charges and psychological damage. For the second premise you have to look at human rights on a global scale. The United Nations, in 1948, wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One of the Articles contained in it is Article 5, which states No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation. (UDHR, 1948). The United States of America was one of the members who helped draft and signed this collections of rights. By denying to fall it and allowing personnel within its government or military to use torture as a mean to get information the United States government as a whole is guilty of human rights violations. The last premise can be summed up from the Army Field Manual 34-52 Chapter 1, Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. (AFM 34-52, 1992) This statement comes from an organization, the U.S. Army, which has been at war no stop with terrorism for over a decade and they dont even believe torture is an effective way to get information. It is hard to get a better first hand source then that. All of these lead to the conclusion that the argument is fundalmentally flawed. If you look at the main points you can see how they dont support the conclusion, whereas the counter argument not only supports but validates its conclusion. One, provides time sensitive information, which cant be trusted. Two, the ends justify the means, the same argument the Nazis use, which didnt make it right. Finally, our enemy use it so we should. This mindset was ban by the UN, which the US is part of, which makes the premise invalid. By looking at the evidence provided, which shows that torture dehumanized a person, but is globally wrong based off of articles of the UN, there is no other conclusion then torture is wrong. Not only on a personal standard, from what it does to someone. But since the USA has already signed an agreement banning it, it is legally wrong at the state level as well. References Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948) retrieved from http://www.claiminghumanrights.org/udhr_article_5.html FM 34-52 (1992, September 28) retrieved from https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm34-52.pdf

Case Study 6 Essay

Case study 6 Question 2 You have been hired as a consultant to a small clothing manufacturer who wants to emulate the success of Zara and Benetton. She wants advice on an innovation strategy which takes the key lessons from these successful firms. What would you offer? (Tidd 295) Within the entire business a change needs to be made in order to transition into a more electronically effective business, this can be done by growing Mechanization of operations. By introducing technological improvements such as a mobile app a website or possibly integrating online services not previously offered. Additionally the business can incorporate international trade which is has a huge upside since it saves money and allows the business to not only save money but also to increase its productivity. Another great way for the manufacturer to emulate the success of Zara and Benetton is to produce clothes which combine stylish designs with a strong link to current high-fashion themes with moderate prices (Tidd 294). Zara’s successful growth is not simply a matter of low prizes or of standardization, but rather of innovation that is complimented by providing their customers with variety and product innovation. The small clothing Manufacturer must increase its variety, in a ddition to providing the consumer with product innovation such as that of Zara and Benetton. Conclusion In conclusion it is extremely important for the small clothing manufacturer to incorporate, technology and technologically advanced systems and software, along with product innovation and a larger variety of great choices for customers to pick from. Lastly the business must improve introduce international trade in order to offset the costs of providing a larger variety of clothing. If this can be done successfully the small business could match the success of Zara and Benetton. References Tidd, John Bessant and Joe. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, (UK), 04/2011.

Economic History Essay

According to Keynes, recessions and financial crises can be avoided if central banks maintain general equilibrium in the money markets (via monetary policy). It can reduce money supply by selling bonds. It can increase money supply by buying bonds. This increase-decrease in money supply is a general mechanism utilized by central banks to ensure the robustness of the financial market. In short, the aim of the policy is to make the prices of financial assets stable (prevents panic). Keynes, however, argued that monetary policy does not raise the national income. Monetary policy only creates an ‘illusion’ of economic prosperity. Keynes favored the use of fiscal policy in increasing the level of national income because of two major reasons. First, fiscal policies are easier to implement than monetary policies. A government can increase or decrease its expenditure level depending on the status of the economy. If an economy is in recession, then the government can increase its level of expenditure. If actual GDP exceeds potential GDP, then a slight decrease in government spending is necessary. Note that the mechanism by which fiscal policies are implemented are much less sophisticated than that of implementing monetary policies. Second, the effects of fiscal policy are more ‘pronounced’ than that of monetary policy. An increase in government spending automatically increases the level of national income. B) Explain what Friedman thought were the pros and cons of the active use of fiscal policy and of monetary policy. (3 points) Friedman argued that fiscal policy is not an effective tool for preventing recessions and financial crises. For instance, deflationary fiscal policy would be ineffective if the marginal propensity to consume tend to increase with respect to the interest rate. Inflation would therefore be a very difficult problem to solve. This instance led Friedman to conclude that fiscal policy is actually an economic barrier to foster economic activity. Friedman, however, viewed monetary policy as a mechanism for stabilizing an economy. For example, too much money in an economy would cause prices of goods and services to increase. Too little money in an economy causes a contraction in the GDP. Monetary policies are designed to effectively combat both inflation and deflation, and increase efficiency in the money markets. According to Friedman, the cause of the Great Depression was not overproduction, but rather the Crash of 1929. The inefficiency of the money market created instability in stock prices, which ultimately led to the Crash of 1929. For Friedman, efficiency of money markets is an important determinant of economic stability. C) Where do these two economists agree? Where do they disagree? (2 points) Both economists recognized the importance of interest rate adjustments in boosting an economy. For Keynes, interest rate is an important factor in inreasing investment and consumption level in an economy. For Friedman, interest rate serves as a stabilizing agent in adjusting the prices of financial and non-financial instruments. The two economists however differed on the extent to which interest rates can be used to boost an economy. Keynes preferred a more rigorious reduction in interest rates while Friedman a more conservative approach in interest rate adjustments. There is another significant disagreement between the two theorists. Friedman rejected the concept of permanent income hypothesis which states that as income increases, the fraction allocated to savings also increases. Keynes supported this hypothesis. D) What is your own view on this debate? Explain. (2 points) The use of either fiscal or monetary policy is dependent on economic circumstances. For example, a demand-induced recession can be effectively resolved by fiscal policy while a supply-induced recession can be resolved by monetary policy. No single macroeconomic theory can fully explain or resolve all macroeconomic problems. A) Neoclassical economic theories are based on the assumption that people are rational. Did Thorstein Veblen have a favorable view of neoclassical economics? Discuss his views on this issue. (3 points) Thorstein Veblen rejected many of the assumptions of neoclassical economics. He argued that the term ‘rational’ is generally vague even from the standpoint of modern economics. Rationality is an idea that excludes behavior which is not based on a measured calculation of costs and benefits. Veblen argued that rationality itself is a relative idea; an idea which is based on economic, political, socio-cultural, and economic factors. Veblen established the idea of ‘conspicuous consumption. ‘ According to him, demand is often fueled not only by economic factors alone but also by sociological factors. Those individuals belonging to the upper strata of society often engaged in conspicuous consumption because it enhances status. By conspicuous consumption, Veblen meant a general precedent of artificially increasing demand out of conscious desire to enhance status. Conspicuous consumption is a state where actual consumption greatly exceeds actual needs. B) Consider the articles on behavioral economics at http://myweb. liu. edu/~uroy/eco54/histlist/behav-econ/index. html. Read and summarize the main thrust of some of these articles. (3 points) In the article, â€Å"How Obama is Using the Science of Change,† Grunwald argued that Obama hired some of the best professors in behavioral science to help him in his campaign. This so-called ‘behavioral team’ assisted Obama in evaluating the behavioral instance of the voters, in order to find the correct political stance. According to the author: â€Å"Obama won the election because he looked like change, sounded like change and never stopped campaigning for change. But he didn’t call for just change in Washington – or even just change in America. From his declarations that ‘change comes from the bottom up’ to his admonitions about ‘an era of profound irresponsibility,’ Obama called for change in Americans† (Grunwald, 2009). According to the author, Obama relied his presidency on the ability of every American to change behavior. Although his top priorities – health care, energy, international peace – depended on this change. For Obama, economic prosperity could only be achieved through constant moralistic evaluation of individual conduct. Saving energy, protecting the environment, and promoting a responsible system of governance are highly related to individual decisions. C) Based on these articles, what is your opinion of the value of the contributions of behavioral economics to economic analysis? Explain. In the past, economic phenomena were solely explained by economic factors. For example, fluctuations in GDP were generally explained by varying levels in consumption, investment, trade accounts, and government expenditure. Efficiency in money and capital markets were solely explained by confidence levels, risk based assets and liabilities, and in general, federal funds rate. Today, there is a growing interest in associating economic phenomena with non-economic factors. This interest is not without basis. Some economists, notably Hayek and Kuznets, were able to show that some non-economic factors influenced, sometimes, determined economic phenomena. For example, the failure of capitalist reforms in Latin America during the 1970s was attributed solely to political instability. Becker, for instance, proved that individual reaction to income and tax changes affect the overall labor supply in an economy. In his time allocation model, Becker posited the hypothesis that individual behavior directly influence aggregate income. D) Do you think behavioral economics represents a return of Veblen’s ideas? (2 points) Behavioral economics may be thought as a return to Veblen’s ideas. Behavioral economics has the following assumptions which reflected Veblen’s ideas: 1) Individual decision-making patterns influence economic decision making in the public sphere; 2) Individual behavior is influenced by the behavior of other individuals; 3) Economic phenomena are sometimes directly influenced by actions of institutions; 4) And, consumption and investment are not solely determined by interest rate and confidence levels respectively. It should, however, be noted that most of Veblen’s ideas tackled non-economic issues, so it is impossible to assume that behavioral economics is a determined return to Veblen’s ideas. A) To what extent has economics benefited from the application of mathematical methods in the analysis of economic issues? (2 points) The application of mathematical methods benefited economics in the analysis of economic issues in three respects. First, mathematical methods allowed the construction of elaborate and sophisticated models in explaining economic phenomena. Second, these models greatly enhanced the means by which prediction is utilized. Many of the models used were helpful in assessing economic trends, and in general, in determining future consumption, investment, and public budget levels. Third, these methods provided economists formal, logical reference points. It is very difficult for an economist to analyze an economic phenomenon without the proper guidance from theory (it is very probable for an economist unguided by theory to draw misleading and sometimes, false conclusions). B) What is game theory? Discuss some of its contributions to economic analysis. What is your opinion of the value of the contributions of game theory to economic analysis? (3 points) Generally, game theory is a mathematical system for analyzing and predicting how humans behave in strategic situations (Camerer, 2001). Standard equilibrium analyses assume all players: 1) all forms of belief based on analysis of what other may do (this is called strategic thinking); 2) choose a best response given those beliefs (optimization); 3) adjust best responses and beliefs until they are mutually consistent (equilibrium). Game theory, unlike the ‘nomothetic’ macroeconomic theories, assumes that not all players behave rationally in complex situations. Assumtions (1) and (2) are violated, or more accurately relaxed. Players’ fate are intertwined. The presence of players who do not think strategically or optimize can change what rational player will do. As a result, the standard way of predicting individual behavior often becomes invalid. At best, game theory offers a new approach in analyzing individual behavior. It relaxes the concept of rationality. This is desirable because individual often act irrationally in many circumstances. Game theory may provide supplementary insight in economic analysis of actor units. Game theory may provide vivid differentiation between collective and individual action. Note that sometimes, there is discrepancy between collective and individual action (which is not shown in standard microeconomic analysis). C) What is econometrics? Discuss some of its contributions to economic analysis. What is your opinion of the value of the contributions of econometrics to economic analysis? (3 points) Econometrics is the use of statistical tools in formal economic analysis (Garcia, 2004). Paul Samuelson was one of the first economists who developed the field of econometrics. He used complex regression systems to predict specific economic phenomena like business cycles and GDP fluctuations, and to determine optimal tax and desired levels of public goods. In general, the contributions of econometrics to economic analysis are as follows: 1) accurate prediction systems, 2) precise determination of specific contribution of economic factors (in regression anaysis), and 3) determination of direction of economic trends. At best, econometrics is used to confirm or dispove economic theories. It is a means by which theories can be empirically verified. D) Comment on Paul Krugman’s article â€Å"Two Cheers for Formalism† which is available at his web page http://web. mit. edu/krugman/www/. It is much safer to assume that formalist economics is still useful in analyzing economic events. The reason is evident. Much of economic theorizing are essentially based on logical analysis of economic precedents which altogether comprised what is called ‘models’ – the physical representation of reality. Many of Krugman’s assumptions are essentially based on whimsical distortion of economic facts. This distortion is evident. Krugman treated theory as if it was based on pure logical thinking. For the most, theories are partially constructed from actual observations. In any case, there is no sense in arguing that a new economics is needed to explain current trends in the world economy, for economic theories, at the present, can explain those trends. References Camerer, Colin. 2001. Behavioral Game Theory: Thinking, Learning, and Teaching. California: California Institute of Technology. Garcia. Yolanda. 2004. Lectures in Econometrics. Universit of the Philippines. Grunwald, Michael. 2009. How Obama is Using the Science of Change. Retrieved on April 25, 2009 from http://myweb. liu. edu/~uroy/eco54/histlist/behav-econ/index. html The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.

Sibling Rivalry - 1459 Words

Sibling Abuse: The Truth Sibling child abuse is a hidden epidemic in the United States. Parents and caregivers often conclude this form of violence to be simple sibling rivalry, and a part of growing up. Sibling abuse is any form of physical, mental or sexual abuse inflicted by one child in a family unit on another. This could apply to blood relatives, step-siblings, or any minors living in a house of cohabitation. The negative impact sibling rivalry and abuse can have on a person mentally is overwhelming, insuring further life difficulties. The effects of sibling abuse are different from the effects of stranger or acquaintance abuse due to the victim can have a feeling of being trapped by the abuser over a long period†¦show more content†¦Conflict between siblings has been attributed to a variety of factors. Family system theorist argue that families promote conflict because of intense emotional involvement, amount of time spent together, necessity of integrating a range of activities and interest, involuntary membership, and social norms making conflict acceptable as reported by (Schmitt). In the early 1980’s a parental study conducted by Richard Felson concluded that almost all sibling rivalry focuses on jealousy of children toward their younger sibling. Research also supported that conflict will be more frequent if siblings are of the same sex and when the younger sibling is more successful than the elder sibling, or if the younger is more favored by the parents. Supposedly, the older sibling resents the younger sibling because the elder is deprived of the parent’s attention. It is very important for parents to realize that if an older child feels his or her needs will not be met, that child will feel frustrated. This frustration can grow quickly into an anger that this child then takes out on a younger sibling. Parents who think 3-, or 4-, or 5-year-old siblings already feel completely secure greatly misunderstand the normal developmental needs of preschool-age children. These parents sow the seeds of sibling rivalry. A second source of sibling aggression is due to household rules concerning personal property. The greater the age difference,Show MoreRelatedSibling Rivalry Is A Conflict Of Differences745 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all their differences confusing, and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives long.† said American author Susan Scarf Merrell. Siblings are very similar to each other, and are bound by blood and proximity. Despite this, they are their own person, they influence each other so much, but are different in how they act and appear, if only minisculely. 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There areRead More Sibling Rivalry Essay956 Words   |  4 Pages Sibling Rivalry Sibling rivalry is one of humanitys oldest problems. One of the first stories in the Bible deals with the rivalry between two brothers, Cain and Abel. The older brother, Cain, was irritated at constantly having to help take care of his younger brother, Abel, and kept asking his parents: quot;Am I my brothers keeper?quot; The story of these two brothers has a tragic ending; Cain becomes so angry that he kills Abel. The fact that this is one of the first stories within the BibleRead MoreSibling Rivalry within the Family686 Words   |  3 Pageswith our siblings and having a sharing session with all of the family members while watching the television. And nothing feels better than to have a harmonious family without dealing with a family quarrel. But the fact is, not every family felt this. Sometimes parents are too busy and do not have a time for their partner and affected to a fight, or maybe an older child feels uncomfortable whenever they saw their parents holding their younger bro ther or sister and affected a sibling rivalry. At theRead MoreSibling Rivalry in as You Like It1466 Words   |  6 PagesSibling Rivalry: Sibling rivalry  is a type of  competition  or animosity among children, blood-related or not. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment,  birth order, personality, and people and experiences outside the family.  According to a  child psychologist sibling rivalry is particularly intense when children are very close in age and of the same gender, or where one child is  intellectually gifted. 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