Saturday, February 29, 2020

To what extent was the March 1968 reevaluation of the Vietnam War, as Coursework

To what extent was the March 1968 reevaluation of the Vietnam War, as a function of Cold War ideology, accomplished to satisfy domestic concerns rather than international concerns - Coursework Example The fight angered the people back in the states as the promise of the war ending had been breached and the confidence of the administration had dwindled completely. The people wanted more than ever for the war to end and not to continue with retaliation which would mean addition of more troops. The President’s declaration of the war ending in March of 1968 was therefore made to calm the people down and fulfill their wishes even though the international concern would loom over the decision. The best international course of action and which was being recommended by the general was addition of more soldiers but this would divide the nation even further than it already was and hence the president ended the war. The end of the war satisfied the people but they still lacked trust in their president and he decided not to seek re-election having let down the

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

To analyze Michael Sandel's argument in The Case against Perfection Essay

To analyze Michael Sandel's argument in The Case against Perfection and make and argue a claim about it - Essay Example Enhancements are furthermore self-defeating to the human appreciation of natural abilities and the cultivation of talents in his view. Sandel argues that human appreciation of life comes from the fact that there is an unequal, apparently random gift of talents, advantages, and disadvantages in the social context that makes life meaningful through patterns of difference. He holds that inequalities in natural ability and skill that make some unfortunate and others lucky allow people to be compassionate, as there is an equally likely chance that they would have had the same fate. When genetic enhancements diminish the differences in talent, Sandel states that the individual’s success depends solely on whether or not the person has made the right decision ethically, and through this personal â€Å"responsibility expands to daunting proportions.† (Sandel, 87) In criticism, it is difficult to reconcile the arguments of Sandel against genetic engineering when deconstructing th e logic he uses with regard to pharmaceutical medications such as the use of Ritalin to improve academic performance. Since Ritalin does not affect the apparent telos of academic performance and focuses all of one’s learning ability, reducing contingencies unrelated to education or healing the mind of ADD, it is not clear why does Sandel not regard it in the same manner as he does running shoes. Furthermore, in his â€Å"Chariots of Fire† example, even Sandel concedes that finding the exact telos for personal interpretation within a complex system of competing philosophies is sometimes difficult for the individual and subjective. Thus, the telos of an action may be very different in the views of different people. In this example, Sandel is rejecting Ritalin not on the logic of telos as related to healing but on the preservation of inequality as he defines the morality. Because, in his view, only the differences among people allow them to appreciate life, and due to the ambiguity of telos as he defines it with subjective bias and interpretation at its root, Sandel’s argument against genetic engineering is less about telos and perfection and more a case against equality in society when assisted by technology. The logic of this argument is not consistent with the evolutionary changes of human consciousness, nor does it represent the new paradigm of human civilization represented by the Information Age. Sandel titles his book â€Å"The Case Against Perfection† in order to show his stance against the â€Å"Promethean aspiration to remake† human nature. (Sandel, 26) He argues for a concept of the giftedness of life opposed to genetic enhancements by stating that as people begin to enhance themselves to the limits of engineering, the variability in human talents decrease collectively and the playing field is leveled. Though it is important to note that differences between the choices that people make still exist, â€Å"we [would] a ttribute less to chance and more to choice,† and personal responsibility would increase to daunting proportions as people become ethically and morally responsible for every aspect of their lives. (Sandel, 87) Yet even though he fears that genetic enhancements would position too much pressure on the individual’s decisions, Sandel is fully in support of healing the unfortunate. The problem lies in that allowing the healing of the unfortunate implies that same normalization of abilities that enhancement does. Once Tiger Woods has the same perfect eyesight as other golfers

Saturday, February 1, 2020

The American Exchange Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The American Exchange - Term Paper Example The American exchange was influenced not only by Europe and Africa, but also by Asia. Moreover, it had an effect on the Asian commerce. The American exchange not only led to commercial growth but also had impacts on environmental and demographic changes1. Discussion Colonialism had a great impact on the American exchange between 1500 and 1800. The kingdoms of Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, France and Dutch each sought to gather wealth for their countries through colonies and advantageous oversees trading arrangements2. This also involved frustrating ambitious rivals from doing the same. In the American exchange, America was the colony, which included the entire western hemisphere. This area attracted a lot of interest because of the sugar islands of West Indies and the silver mines located in New Spain and Peru3. The triangular trade between America, Europe and Africa marked the beginning of the American exchange. According to this triangle, colonies from eastern America furnished t he raw materials while West Africa provided the labor needed to produce these raw materials. The mother country would in turn ship these manufactured products to both countries, that is, America and Africa. This partly led to the American Revolution as they protested against the colonial countries as they took raw materials from them, made them into finished products and then sold them at higher prices4. The Atlantic commerce paradigm takes into account coastal inhabitants of the three continents as they exchanged people and goods. In the Atlantic scheme, historians look at the contribution of the African kingdoms to the slave trade with Africans comprising a higher number of transatlantic immigrants compared to Europeans. The Atlantic commerce scheme also takes into account the Indian nations. The Indians supplied the American regions with skins and fur while they consumed manufactured goods and alcohol from the American regions. The Indian nations also introduced new agricultural products to the American farmers. Indian populations were also an important source of cultural identity and labor in some American regions. The Indians were able, until eighteenth century, to keep the colonialists at the coastal regions and away from the American continent5. Short-term consequences of American exchange The commercial system that existed at this period, with America producing the raw materials and colonial government selling them the finished products, led to the American Revolution. This was mainly due to the taxes on products such as tea, British manufactured goods and sugar products. There were protests by the consumers of the products6. The consumers could relate to the problems associated with goods from the empire. They were seen as a means of the colonial government exerting their rule on the American region. This was especially problematic considering they did not have representation in parliament back in London. Their mass consumption led to resisting of sta mp, sugar and Townshend acts7. They also boycotted tea and pledged non-importation, ultimately declaring independence. The principle of demand and supply is credited as responsible for the revolution and independence as it placed them at par with the colonial governments. The American colonies mobilized in an attempt to put an end to imperial state meddling, which would