Modernization Theory and Dependence Theory Analysis

Modernization Theory and Dependence Theory Analysis In this day and age the rapid development of the word and the growing assimilation of countries can hardly fail to affect the development of new theories which attempt to explain the relationship between countries and the existing inequality between developed countries and countries of the third world. Two theories which analyze the development in third world countries are the modernization theory and the dependence theory. These two theories, while being rather different, still have several similarities in their views on the modern world and relationships between developed and developing countries. As Alvin So explained, there are three chief and historical essentials which were constructive to the foundation of the modernization theory of development after the Second World War.First, the United States rose as a superpower.While other Western nations, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, were undermined by World War II, the United States came out of the war stronger then before, and became a world leader with the execution of the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Western Europe.[2]Second, the idea of communist began to move throughout the world.What was once the Soviet Union spread its influence to Eastern Europe, China, and Korea.Third, there was the breakdown ofEuropean colonial empires in Asia, Africa and Latin America, creating numerous new nation-states in the Third World.These budding nation-states began searching for a form of development to support their economy and to improve their political independence. The modernization theorys intellectual lineage has been traced back to Aristotle. Aristotle first recommended that states, just as plants, went through a natural pattern of growth. Just like Aristotle, Americans in the early Republic assumed that if societies grow in a natural manner, they must also perish. The thought that the progression of human development could be understood and controlled dates to the early nineteenth century, when France and Britain were struggling to bring back their trade empires. Since then it has tended to reappear at times and places where systems of dominance required explanation and rationalization. The modernization theory looks at the internal factors of a country with the assumption that, with aid, â€Å"traditional† countries can be developed in the same way more developed countries have. The modernization theory tries to recognize the social variables which cause social growth and development of societies, and then tries to explain the social evolution. In order for a country to have a profitable, sophisticated, modern economy the country must follow a pattern of development. This is a very systematic theory as it means do one thing and another will happen. In order for this to happen, there need to be prerequisites for takeoff that will lead to takeoff in which will lead to mass-consumption(Mahler 45). A missing component of this theory is that the modernization theory assumes all countries will follow the set path to development. There are actually numerous variables in which will affect a states ability to in fact develop. An example of this is the fact that Mexic o is geographically designed in a way that will cause it to have a weak economy due to the deserts, forests, and mountains. This makes it so that only 12% of the land is arable. The fact that there are no major rivers doesnt help either. These issues all help to making it tricky for Mexico to develop because it restrains transportation, which in turn weakens the possibility of exporting and importing goods in a proficient manner.Another problem with the modernization theory is that it assumes that all states have the necessary preconditions to develop. This is not true as many states do not have proper leaders and government. The explanation for this is that if a state is controlled by weak leadership, it will in turn influence its ability to develop. For example, Saddam Hussein, made it so that his country could not develop because he took all of the wealth for himself. Perhaps, if Hussein had spread the wealth throughout his country, this will have helped education and increased i nvention. This could have made it so that his country developed in a more efficient manner. One policy implication the modernization theory suggests is that the third world countries should look up to the developed western nations, while the Western countries should pass on more modern values, institutions, technology, and financial investment to the Third World countries. Another implication is that in order for the third worlds to develop, they should be moving along the path that the United States has traveled, hence move away from the ideas of communism. (READING) A theory in which is opposed to the Modernization model which was created largely as a response to it is the Dependency theory. Dependency theories developed in opposition to the optimistic claims of modernizationtheory which saw the less developed countries being able to catch up with the West. They stressed that Western societies had an interest in maintaining their advantaged position in relation to the LDCs and had the financial and technical wherewithal to do so. A variety of different accounts of the relationship between the advanced and less developed states evolved within the broad framework of dependency theory, ranging from the stagnationism and ‘surplus drain theory of Andre Gunder Frank (which predicted erroneously that the Third World would be unable to achieve significant levels ofindustrialization), to the more cautious pessimism of those who envisaged a measure of growth based on ‘associated dependent relations with the West. The major contribution to dependency theory was undoubtedly that of Frank, a German economist of development who devised and popularized the phrase ‘the development of underdevelopment, describing what he saw as the deformed and dependent economies of the peripheral states-in his terminology the ‘satellites of the more advanced ‘metropolises. InCapitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America(1969), he argued that the Third World was doomed to stagnation because the surplus it produced was appropriated by the advanced capitalist countries, through agencies such as transnational corporations. Frank himself insisted that growth could only be achieved by severing ties with capitalism and pursuing autocentric socialist development strategies. According to the dependency theory, the Global North exploits the Global South. One reason for this is that the south is highly dependent on the wealth of the north; therefore unable to advance themselves because of the vicious cycle that then ensues. An example of this vicious cycle can begin with a country being very poor and/or economically unstable. They then allow a multinational corporation to set up camp in one of their cities. This leads to many new jobs for this city, but the people are hired for very poor wages. Then the products that are produced get siphoned off by the Global North, in turn preventing that states â€Å"mass-consumption† abilities which is a generalized way that the south gets exploited by the north and the multinational corporation comes out making huge profits at the expense of desperate people just trying to survive and willing to work for pennies. The depencde theory has several implications. First, Promotion of domestic industry and manufactured goods. By imposing subsidies to protect domestic industries, poor countries can be enabled to sell their own products rather than simply exporting raw materials. Second, Import limitations. By limiting the importation ofluxury goodsandmanufactured goodsthat can be produced within the country, the country can reduce its loss of capital and resources. Thrid, Forbidding foreign investment. Some governments took steps to keep foreign companies and individuals from owning or operating property that draws on the resources of the country. In conclusion, both theories admit the leadership of western countries and their currently dominant position in the modern world, while undeveloped countries are characterized by socio-economic and political backwardness. At the same time, the two theories agree that the cooperation between western countries and developing countries is constantly growing and leads to their integration. However, it is necessary to underline that Modernization theory views such cooperation and integration as a conscious and voluntary act from the part of developing countries, for which modernization in the western style is the only way to overcome the existing backwardness, while supporters of Dependency theory argue that such cooperation and integration is imposed to developing countries by more advanced western countries, which simply attempt to benefit from their cooperation with developing countries and their westernization becomes a way of the establishment of control over and growing dependence o f developing countries on developed ones. Regardless, the existing differences, both theories still raise a very important problem of relationships between developed and developing countries and the dominance of western countries and western civilization in the modern world.

Health In your own hands :: essays research papers

In response to the question of what I am most thankful for, I said I am most grateful to god for leaving me with great health. Maintaining good health and preventing illness is not an easy task and requires major responsibility. Health is with the individual when they take that first breath and with them when they take the last. In that sense, it is the individual’s responsibility to maintain good health since they are with it all the time and it plays a crucial part in their well being. Good health is a privilege that can be altered or taken away at any instant. Good health comes with responsibility. Responsibility requires time, knowledge, maturity, and determination. Responsibility is defined as the social force that binds you to your obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force (Princeton University, 2003). Moral questions arise when health and responsibility come together: How much does a person value his or her health? Do they have a desire to live? If the answer to both of these questions is no, then that person creates a greater risk in putting their health in jeopardy. If the answer is yes, then the individual must take advantage of the tools provided to them to sustain good health. The modern world has provided literature, internet sources, gyms, health food stores, and most importantly the men of wisdom; physicians. One concept that is beyond the capacity for any person to understand is that the human body is just an encasement, or compartment for a phenomenon known as the soul. It’s a driving force that recycles itself every time we make a conscious decision to direct an action. The body can be compared to a machine: it contains pumps, filters, electrical currents, receptors, tubes, and many other functions. It needs to be maintained just like a vehicle. And like all vehicles, they need to be taken to be checked up and given maintenance by a mechanic every few thousand miles, or as often as it breaks down. Our mechanic is our doctor. His job is to make sure that our fluid levels are correct, diagnose if necessary, and treat if science allows him to. The only thing that separates us from machines is that the engineering and mechanics of our bodies are not fully understood. This dilemma stirs up many questions on how a doctor can and should perform his work.

Original Writing: How Grave Am I

How grave I am, for sprouting the seed of my loins, little knowing the ill fate that you would ultimately suffer, my son. If I was able to gather my thoughts and brag to how life was golden, I wouldn't be able to, as your life ended as soon as it started in a way, as you were not even given the opportunity to live it; now you leave me with a loneliness feeling like a long descent into nothingness – I am empty. No justice, no peace, the pain and suffering have forcibly left me unable to eat or sleep; as with each passing moment I cannot stop thinking about you and missing you. The attempts to block out this ache have been in vain because of the fact that I cannot and will not stop thinking about you and that day. Let's face it; my own guilt has been the driving force behind my state now. My ignorance was your downfall and I blame myself; now you are up there with your head in the clouds looking over me, a broken man. You're looking over me and seeing that the one father you used to look up to has been influenced into an all but complete state of insanity since I am now finding myself sitting in a room as dark as where this nightmare lives within me. Stuck in between a rock and a hard place, is what I am, this has given me the feeling that death is a necessity and a journey should not last forever. However, death can be an end; a time to let go. The latter of which is easier said than done, as whenever I see your pictures on the wall, it's drowned out into the weeping walls. Your eyes in these photos have been gone to be filled with hope and innocence into vicious oceans of darkness and sorrow. Your death has broken my heart and the border between my guilt and regret, but one thing that that the passing of you cannot break is the memories of all those happy times we had together and the bond we have. From this, I'm left thinking to myself, why did it not happen to me? I remember him at the tender age of six, his smile and eyes aglow, he was the light from the sun. What I wouldn't give to have you in my arms again, I reminisce over when you were younger, the days where I watched you sleep to see your chest fall and rise and how I always used to feel your heart beat underneath my touch as you slept, to hear the harmony that would also send me gently to slumber; the rhythm was magnetizing. At this age you were so very innocent, hadn't a clue about the world around you. I recall the days where I could hear you playing outside and your childlike giggling would make my heart melt like the steel at a blacksmiths. And after a hard day, seeing your face and the smile you softly used to fill the silence like a speech made my day a whole lot better. But as they do, his heart grew cold as if it were the cold breath of his grave. With age comes detachment, by the time he was in his teens we were two separated souls; it was like the end of infinity. It was as if the chapter of all our memories and brilliant times together had been finished and disposed of as if it were a book that was slashed and torn like a broken saw. But, I had to respect that an unwritten chapter had began for him, until that fateful day. All I could imagine what had happened was that the memories of his smile and his face filled with bliss had reverted into a shadowy face, which showed his emotions in a whirlwind of his worst nightmares. I'm left to dwell over, why did it not happen to me? I got introduced to heartbreak on that day. I was so proud of him, when he was alive he had the heart of a lion, however I suspect on that day, he had that heart trod on and spat out by his own fear. I blame myself. If it hadn't been for my own ignorance and plain stupidity, he would still be here right now. If I had not argued with him that morning, then it may not have happened. Over an insignificant argument, he went to college that day and didn't want to come back home, and paid for it, as did I. It is so unjust; it reminds us, of just how worthless our lives are to the justice system. When will scum like this get off the streets? Getting caught up in someone else's business is the worst way to die – dying from crossfire of bullets during a petty gang war. How could this happen? He was only seventeen in a mad man's dream and an innocent boy's nightmare. His life had just begun; all of a sudden it was taken away, fading like a cloud in the horizon. Only God could see what happened to him, but I can imagine the vicious blood-curdling scream of anguish, set out to break his soul. A sense of fear must have run through his nerves like the chill of an icy wind, it must have felt like a moment of obscurity, where all of his worst nightmares were realised in a blur, sending him into his grave. Thinking about the way you died, will drive me even closer to insanity and my eventual demise, it has left me reeling. Your nightmare has become my most horrible nightmare which will never leave me as it is engraved within my soul. I will never stop thinking about you and missing you, and thinking about the way you died, it was so unfair. This nightmare is breaking the bond between me and you, but I will not stand down, as I will remain a soldier until the war is won, and your spirit will live long in the memory. If only it wasn't a memory. You could still have been here reminding me of the hopes I had for you, with your face lit up by a smile like a pale wintry sunshine. But I'm left pondering, why did it not happen to me? I am in a state of darkness where negative thoughts of pain and sorrow are clouding my judgement; I'm being forced to sit in a room and dwell on my regrets. This state of darkness is all I know at the moment. All I hope is that he is in a better place; at Heaven's Gate which is made of the finest threads of gold, glistening into the shimmering silver which lines each and every cloud in this picturesque place. I envision the face of God himself as clear as I would in a mirror, taking care of my son in a manner in which I'll be proud of. God and death are similar; they both come forth to carry you home, so I thank you God for that. However, there is another face to God and death; it's a velvet cloak, impossible to resist thus disguising the revealing truth that being with gods in the clouds can bring such misery and sadness to the people below them that can break down any man. I ask you God, why did have to be him? I wish it was me now. I wish it was my soul resting up there. Hope is sometimes all we have and that is when people look to you God. But, you always give people false hope as the truth is, you have the grimmest face, like a carved mask and all you bring to people is misery and sorrow as sad as seeing your own son die. Coping is something I am unable to do. My state is one of insanity and it's been expressed in this entry. To end my son, your spirit will always live on in the memory and I will endeavour to not let your death phase me, and I will live my life in peace and harmony. I will never forget the times we had together, even though we drifted more and more apart, I still can never forget your face at that young age, so full of hope and promise. I love you.

How to Become a Critical Reader

Whether you are reading for pleasure or for school, its important to understand basic structural and content elements about the text you are studying. These questions and idea generators should help you to become a more critical reader. Understand and retain what you read!   Steps to Becoming a Critical Reader Determine your purpose for reading. Are you gathering information for a writing assignment? Are you determining whether a source will be useful for your paper? Are you preparing for a class discussion?Consider the title. What does it tell you about what the book, essay, or ​literary work is about?Think about what you already know about the topic of the book, essay, or play. Do you already have preconceived notions of what to expect? What are you expecting? Do you hope to learn something, enjoy yourself, be bored?Look at how the text is structured. Are there subdivisions, chapters, books, acts, scenes? Read over the titles of the chapters or sections? What do the headings tell you?Skim the opening sentence of each paragraph (or lines) under the headings. Do these first words of the sections give you any hints?Read carefully, marking or highlighting places that are confusing (or so wonderful that you want to re-read). Be careful to keep a dictionary close at hand. Looking up a w ord can be an excellent way to enlighten your reading.Identify key issues or arguments the author/writer makes, along with important terms, recurring images and interesting ideas.You may want to make notes in the margin, highlight those points, take notes on a separate sheet of paper or notecard, etc.Question the sources that the author/writer might have used: personal experience, research, imagination, popular culture of the time, historical study, etc.Did the author effectively use these sources to develop a believable work of literature?What is one question you would like to ask the author/writer?Think about the work as a whole. What did you like best about it? What puzzled, confused, angered, or irritated you?Did you get what you expected out of the work, or were you disappointed? Additional Tips The process of reading critically can help you with many literary and academic situations, including studying for a test, preparing for a discussion, and more.If you have questions about the text, be sure to ask your professor; or discuss the text with others.Consider keeping a reading log to help you to track your perceptions about reading.