Dumping Unsellable Products to the Third World free essay sample

While Americans might grumble about the lengthy advertisements at their local cineplex, most would also contend that mass commercialization poses less more of an annoyance than an actual threat to those who live in developed countries. However, as commercialization infiltrates every aspect of our society, Americans find themselves in the middle of a moral dilemma: should everything have a price? Are certain things, like health care, basic human rights that should never come with a price tag attached? More specifically, should blood be treated as a commodity? A closer look at the differences between the British and American blood marketing systems demonstrates the advantages and disadvantages of each. The British maintain an adequate blood supply by relying wholly on voluntary donations. Because of the necessity of blood for survival, the British have resisted placing monetary value on that which has been freely given. The American system, in contrast, relies both on voluntary donation and a commercial system in which blood â€Å"is bought and sold like any other commodity† (Shaw, 2005, p. 75). Economist Richard Titmuss evaluated both systems and concluded that the British system is superior in terms of both â€Å"economic and administrative efficiency† (Shaw, p. 75). The American system suffers from high costs, frequent shortages, and an inequitable burden placed on those whose health conditions require frequent transfusions. Additionally, when blood becomes a commodity, the purity of the supply often suffers as unscrupulous suppliers rush to market blood that has been inadequately screened. When blood offers no potential profits, screeners are motivated to value the quality of the supply rather than the quantity. Some might argue that the American health care system operates on a for-profit basis, and the blood supply should be treated no differently. Prescription drugs, physician consults, and hospital stays all come with a price tag. Why should blood be free? The simple answer is that blood can be freely given. The donor loses nothing but his time and a pint of blood that is quickly replenished in a healthy body. Medicine requires costly research and development, and physicians undergo rigorous and expensive training before they are able to earn money as practicing professionals. Hospitals must pay for equipment and the salaries and benefits of their employees. Each of these components adds to the cost that the consumer assumes when he or she receives medical care. Some would further argue that if blood is offered for free, donation would cease. Those who have been compensated for donating blood in the past would refuse to continue doing so in the absence of a monetary reward. Again, the British system tells a different story. Philosopher Peter Singer explored the motives of those who donated blood in the British system. He found that because blood had no price, the donors had the opportunity to behave altruistically. As Singer noted, â€Å"when blood is a commodity, and can be purchased if it is not given, altruism becomes unnecessary, and so loosens the bonds that can otherwise exist between strangers in a community† (Shaw, 2005, p. 76). Additionally, the United States’ system currently draws approximately 40% of its supply from donation. Even if donors stopped receiving compensation for their blood, one could assume that at least some percentage of the paid donors would continue donating for free because blood donation has simply become ingrained in their lifestyle. Those who posit that people would stop donating blood if they were no longer compensated accept the psychological egoism theory of ethics which holds that â€Å"self-interest is the only thing that ever motivates anyone† (Shaw, 2005, p. 45). Proponents of psychological egoism contend that people are naturally selfish, and as a result, even seemingly altruistic acts are rooted in a selfish motive. Those who believe in this normative theory of ethics would point out that although Britons who donate blood are not compensated, the self-satisfaction that stems from the altruistic action is their reward. However, deeper reflection reveals that the benefits of behaving altruistically do not adequately compensate the donor for his or her loss of time and the sometimes painful needle insertion requisite to blood donation. A proponent of psychological egoism might then assert that the donors give their blood because they believe that in doing so that are accruing â€Å"points† that will put them at the front of the line should they ever need blood. However, the British system eliminates such favoritism outright by ensuring that â€Å"donors gain no preference over nondonors† (Shaw, p. 5). Another normative theory of ethics contends that people â€Å"should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions† (Shaw, 2005, p. 46). Utilitarians equate goodness with happiness and pleasure and use both as a way to measure the success of the outcome. Because of the subjective nature of happiness and pleasure, some utili tarians assert that a desirable outcome can also be measured in terms of â€Å"the satisfaction of people’s desires or preferences† (Shaw, p. 7). Ultimately, utilitarianism asks its adherents to make moral judgments based on the choice which will maximize favorable outcomes for all those affected by the decision. Using utilitarianism as a guide, one can assert that the British system of maintaining its blood supply prevails over the American system for several reasons. Primarily, the British system eliminates the shortages that the American system frequently experiences. Because the British system offers no possibility of compensation for blood donation, it eliminates the flaw in the American system that prevents some donors from giving blood because they know that others are being compensated for performing the same act. Additionally, the utilitarian theory supports the British system because no one benefits from contaminated blood. In the pursuit of benefiting the largest number of people, the British system offers the better alternative. Research shows that a system of paid donors inevitably leads to greater instances of blood contamination (Shaw, 2005). If suppliers seek to increase profits by eliminating the screening process in their rush to market, contaminated blood finds its way into the supply far more frequently. By removing the profit motive, suppliers have no reason to eliminate the screening process. Some segments of the population require more frequent transfusions due to medical conditions. Often these medical conditions are congenital and not the result of lifestyle choices. By putting a price on blood, the United States’ system unfairly burdens those who have such conditions. The utilitarian theory again supports the more equitable British system which offers blood to anyone who needs it because it allows the most people to benefit. America prides itself on its history of free market capitalism. Consumers understand that when they want to purchase an item they must find the means to pay for it or qualify for the credit necessary to make the purchase. Americans generally accept that certain inequities exist in such a system where some consumers can afford expensive, top-of-the-line merchandise while others must settle for products of lower quality. Proponents of capitalism argue that such inequalities are a necessary consequence of living in a free market economy where goods and services abound. However, even the strongest supporters of capitalism struggle with the inequality of health care in the American system. Once again, the utilitarian theory favors the British system where those who need blood donations are all given equal access to the supply, regardless of their ability to pay. Because the British system allows the most people to benefit, it supports the utilitarian ideal. The utilitarian theory of ethics is not without its detractors. Some criticize that attempting to measure such subjective qualities as happiness and pleasure unnecessarily complicates the theory. Certainly such measurements pose a challenge, but the more quantifiable calculations of cost and efficiency used in comparing the British and American blood supply systems lend themselves to utilitarian analysis. Additionally, some theorize that even if happiness and pleasure can be measured, truly utilitarian analysis requires speculation about the potential outcome of any given choice. Since those analyzing the situation could easily err in their prediction of outcomes, the analysis itself offers little benefit. In the particular case of comparing two systems of blood supplies, analysts must assume that if the American system copied the British system, the resulting outcome would be the same for both systems. The similar outcome might or might not occur, but at this point the analysis seems to lean in favor of introducing an entirely donor-based system in the United States. As denizens of the world’s strongest economy, Americans have become accustomed to the prevalence of mass commercialization in their lives. For most, the benefits of choice and availability counteract the annoyance of intrusive advertising. However, when it comes to the blood supply, a comparison in the American and British systems reveals many advantages to preventing blood from becoming just another commodity. References Shaw, W. H. (2008). Business Ethics (6th ed. ). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Think for yourself Essay Example For Students

Think for yourself Essay What does it mean to think for yourself?Even as the seemingly monolithic infrastructure of the post-war world comes crumbling down around our heads, homogeneity continues to spread like some vast, insidious fungus across the cultural terrain of the Western World. We are told that the interactive, five-hundred-channel universe is causing us to break down into ever more insular clans; isolated tribes centered on coincidental collective interests. They tell us we are becoming strangers in our own communities. We ignore our neighbors in order to hold long e-mail discussions about the injustice of Australian gun laws with some invisible digital kid from Singapore, or we go on chat-lines and debate the ethics of Kirks alteration of the programming for the Kobiashi Maru. Politically, they tell us, we are breaking down into smaller, more aggressive special interest factions, hell-bent on getting the vast, innocent, Norman Rockwell majority to bend over and accept some wild, anarcho-communist -feminist-homosexual-ecoextremist agenda. On the other side of the coin, we have a bunch of illiterate yokels, armed to the gills, burning crosses in barren fields, pumping round after round into dummies dressed like ATF officers. We are, the pundits say, going through a global identity crisis. We will write a custom essay on Think for yourself specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now And yet take a look around you. On your way to work today, count the corporate coffee boutiques. On your way back home, count the Walmarts. Spend a minute going from station to station on your FM dial. Sameness creeps. The corporate beast sweeps individuality under the carpet, replacing it with vacuum-packed, heat-and-serve, psychometrically-tailored franchise outlets. And we fit so easily into these preordained slots because, since birth, we have been twisted and massaged and compacted in a vast, generation-spanning, collective molestation. We have been told that we dont share enough in common, but the majority of us are as indistinguishable from each other as the assembly-line cylinders of chunky-style dogfood that we have become. They know that allowing people to think for themselves can be a dangerous thing. For instance, thinking for ones self can lead to long, lonely nights in the basement, converting semi-automatic rifles to full auto, mixing up home-made napalm, and thinking up ever more explosive and/or virulent methods of outwardly expressing ones vague yet undeniable rage and disappointment at a society seemingly oblivious to the wishes of all but the wealthiest of the power elite. They do their best to supply any potential loose cannons with an endless stream of mind-numbing, stultifying opiate in the form of round-the-clock television programming. You cant build bombs if youre busy watching Friends. Youll never find the time to develop that new strain of anthrax when youre otherwise preoccupied by the pseudo-sexual shenanigans of Niles and Daphne. These days media-fed paranoia to the contrary acts of cultural rebellion are so rare as to be statistically insignificant. They are very good at what th ey do. Aristotle said that any man who is truly alone is either a beast or a god, but certainly not a man. As we struggle to make our way through the psychic flux of everyday life, the key to true, liberating independence of thought lies not in total independence from your fellow man, which is an impossibility. It lies in learning to recognize the difference between being enlightened and having your chain pulled. It lies in developing the skills necessary to accurately judge information based on facts, logic and reason. It lies in learning to let go of beliefs that you know to be false, but to which you cling out of either habit, convenience or superstition. .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .postImageUrl , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:hover , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:visited , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:active { border:0!important; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:active , .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4fb11056c2135c6abe807e1535d6f37b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Black Beauty EssayIgnorance is bliss. Thinking for yourself is hard work. Bibliography:

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens essays

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens essays The additional amnesties proposed by the Mexican government should be rejected. Amnesties are never-ending, open-ended rewards for illegality. Amnesty for illegal immigrants world, rewards lawbreakers. Illegal aliens harm the American workforce. Illegal aliens displace an estimated 659,00 American workers every year, at a cost of 3.5 billion a year. The cheap labor that illegal immigration provides depresses the wages and working conditions of the working poor. Under a device invented by the courts, many illegal aliens are allowed to receive welfare without fear of deportation. Other illegal aliens get welfare the same way they get jobs, document fraud. In many cities, false documents can be bought on the street for as little as $40. With false documents, an illegal aliens right to work or welfare goes unquestioned. With the cost of displacing American workers, the cost of giving welfare to needy illegal aliens, and the cost of providing them general services, it is estimated that the annual cost of illegal immigrants is 19 billion. INS study after ten years in the united states, that average amnestied illegal alien had only a 7th grade education and an annual salary of less than 9,000 a year. Encourages more illegal immigration: amnesties always lead to more illegal immigration, and aliens around the world will sneak into the united states to be part of the next amnesty. We granted amnesty to 3 million illegal workers in 1986, only to see the number of illegal aliens rise to an estimated 11 million in 2000. Amnesty is not a cure for illegal immigration; it is a cause of illegal immigration. Rather than simply granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, American policy should focus on incentives to illegal workers to return home. They arrived here with out our help; they will leave the same way if we dont dangle another amnesty before them. The interests of immigrants and the concerns of American busi ...

Emilie Du Chatlet Essays - Fellows Of The Royal Society, Free Essays

Emilie Du Chatlet Essays - Fellows Of The Royal Society, Free Essays Emilie Du Chatlet EMILIE DU CHATLET Born in Paris on December 17, 1706, Emilie du Chatlet grew up in a household where the art of courting was the only way one could recieve a place in society. During her early childhood, Emilie began to show great improvement in the area of academics that soon she was able to convince her father that she needed attention. She studied Latin, Italian and English. She also studied Tasso, Virgil, Milton and other great scholars. In spite of her talents in the area of languages, her true love was mathematics. Emilie's cleverness was outstanding in other areas as well. At the age of nineteen she married a man named Marquis du Chatelet. Emilie had conquered the heart of Voltaire, one of most intriguing and brilliant scholars of this time. As Voltaire notes We long employed all our attention and powers upon Leibniz and Newton; Mme du Chatelet attached herself first to Leibniz, and explained one part of his system in a book exceedingly well written, entitled Institutions de physique. However she soon abandoned the work of Leibniz and applied herself to the discoveries of the great Newton. She was extremely successful in translating his whole book on the principals of mathematics into French. The years Emilie spent with Voltaire at Cirey were some of the most productive years of her life. When there were no guests both of them remained tied to their desks. In the spring of 1748, Emilie met and fell in love with the Marquis de Saint-Lambert, a courtier and very minor poet. This affair, however, did not destroy her friendship with Voltaire. Even when he found out that she was carrying Saint-Lambert's child, Voltaire was there to support her. With the help of Voltaire and Saint-Lambert, she was able to convince her husband that it was his child she was carrying. In early September of 1749, she gave birth to a baby girl. As Voltaire describes it: The little girl arrives while her mother was at her writing desk, scribbling some Newtonian theories, and the newly born baby was placed temporarily on a quarto volume of geometry, while her mother gathered together her papers and was put to bed. On September 10, 1749 she died suddenly at the age of 43. As many authors note, during the course of her short life, Emilie was a truly unique woman and scholar. Among her greatest achievements were her Institutions du physique and the translation of Newton's Principia, which was published after her death along with a Preface historique by Voltaire. Emilie du Chatelet was one of many women whose contributions have helped shape the course of mathematics. Bibliography TITLE: Mme. Du Chatlet PUBLISHER: Berg Publishers, Incorporated PUB. DATE: March 1987 TITLE: ADA Byron Lovelace PUBLISHER: Silver Burdett Press PUB. DATE: July 1994 TITLE: Emmy Noether PUBLISHER: Birkhauser Boston PUB. DATE: October 1980 TITLE: The Great Mathematicians PUBLISHER: Barnes and Noble Books PUB. DATE: May 1993

Ecological - City Sprawl field trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ecological - City Sprawl field trip - Essay Example As will be seen in this brief essay, economic development need not always engender all of these negative attributes; however, re-purposing a site oftentimes has many negative effects (although oftentimes less negative than allowing the site to remain in use). Accordingly, this brief essay will consider but a few of these factors with relation to the field trip that was engaged upon by our class outing to the Millbrook Marsh site earlier in the semester. The site itself was formerly a farm. When individuals consider a farm they oftentimes wrongfully assume that such a â€Å"natural† business endeavor will likely engender few if any ecological impacts. However, this is far from the truth. High levels of bio-waste associated with animal waste and/or improperly disposed of chemical or pesticide waste can severely damage the ecology of a region for many years to come. With respect to the Millbrook Marsh field trip, the farm itself was originally reclaimed from a wetlands area that included multiple smaller wetlands that were built over and covered so as to provide suitable farming land. As was often the case prior to a more full and complete understanding of the environmental impacts associated with wetland destruction, wetlands were oftentimes viewed as wasted land that could and should be reclaimed in order to serve a more useful purpose; in this case – to provide the community with additional arable land. Upon disuse of the farm, the community leaders and civic entities responsible for parks and recreation decided to reclaim the wetlands which had been destroyed in order to provide but a positive environmental impact to the region as well as provide the community with an additional park within the region. Accordingly, a centrally designed plan was created to reclaim the wetland and provide a park and a location for environmental

Case Study Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case Study Report - Essay Example alue of the Napster brand, and our revenues could suffer if we are not able to maintain its high level of recognition in the digital music sector and c) We may not successfully develop new products and services† (Napster, 2010). These have been chosen from the list as provided in the case. A set of recommendations have been set out for the company based on the above mentioned risks. Firstly, to improve the customer retention and to use churn models along with customer relationship marketing to reduce the customer attrition to a great extent. Secondly, it is advisable that the company considers a brand extension to be able to keep up their market position and brand image. Napster has brought about a new brand and a very useful programme for friends and family to share music online in a simpler and effective manner. The company was started in 1998 and 1999 by a young Shawn Fanning and the system was then known as Peer to Peer. Although the company only operates within United States, the company was a big hit among the customers and there was a clear interest in people across the world as this was a very effective way of sharing music online. However, the success of the company was short lived and the company was faced with a number of lawsuits by the recording companies and others. The main aim of this paper however is to focus on the marketing techniques and marketing mix of the company and to assess the company’s marketing mix. The paper will deal with each of the 7 P’s of marketing and will evaluate the company’s performance based on the same. Also the paper will develop strategies for the company to be able to deal with the perceived risks and will help provide recommendations to the company. The next section will deal with the evaluation of the marketing mix used by the company. The aim of this section is to discuss the 7 P’s of marketing and the position of Napster in the markets based on the 7 Ps. The section provides a clear analysis of the

Environmental Distractions to Study Habits Essay Example for Free

Environmental Distractions to Study Habits Essay Every student is required to study the lessons given by the teacher. By means of proper time management, a student becomes successful in his entire intellectual endeavor. But what if there are environmental distractions in his study habits? What will happen to his learning activities? Environmental distractions in study habits make a student at a disadvantaged position if it cannot be fully determined and avoided. Therefore, environmental distractions are a hindrance to the intellectual development of a student. Environmental Distractions In order to avoid environmental distractions, it is required that a student must identify the things that gives problems to his studies. After all, how could he be successful in avoiding environmental distractions if he may not be able to identify them? Hence, correct identification of environmental distractions that might hinder the student from studying should be done. The environmental distractions to study habits may include emotional, physical and external distractions. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community mentioned that physical environment of the study area of a student relates to external distractions (â€Å"Improving Your Memory†). In other words, if the environment is noisy and unorganized, study habits of a student may be hampered. Since we are aware that studying includes memorization, a student cannot effectively study when there television is opened or used within his environment, when there are any people chatting around him and when sound effects around him is very disturbing. Therefore, the best way for a student to avoid external distractions is to find a place conducive for learning like a noise-free room. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community also mentioned that the study area of a student must have quite surroundings or those places that really intended for studying (â€Å"Improving Your Memory†). Moreover, Glendale Community College stated that a good study environment must be free from distractions that might hinder memorizing and understanding reading materials (â€Å"Study Skills†). There should also be rules to follow like having a desk intended totally for studying; not using television, radio and telephone while studying; closing the door of the study room so that people passing by it cannot distract a students attention; the study area should not be cluttered and unorganized and that the study environment should be clean and spacious (â€Å"Study Skills†). If all these can be followed, there is no doubt that a student can study properly. Lastly, a student must not dwell long to problems of the family and friends and even personal situations that can surely affect study habits. The environment should be free from emotional distractions so that the mind of a student will remain fresh and able to absorb new ideas being studied daily. Conclusion   A student needs a study area that is free from environmental distractions. This paper mentioned that environmental distractions involved emotional and physical distractions as well as external ones. Emotional distractions include family problems while physical and external distractions include television, radio, noisy environment and unorganized study area. Finally, the best way to attain an environment that is free from distraction is to identify the things that can distract a student and avoid them all. References Glendale Community College. (2008). Study Skills. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from   http://www.glendale.edu/new/services/counseling/study.htm. Learning Support Center Paradise Valley Community. (2008). Improving Your Memory. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/lsc/services/tips _improving_memory.htm.