General Categories of Sexual Harassment

As more and more women have entered the workforce in the last several decades, there has been a heightened awareness of the problem of sexual harassment. The recent spate of successful employee litigation in this area, combined with tan extension of an employer†s liability for acts of its supervisors and often its rank-and-file employees, has created an area of serious concern to employers. This is particularly so given the heightened awareness to the issue inherent in the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Justice Clarence Thomas. It is important for supervisor and manager to be familiar with the laws of sexual harassment. Their knowledge and actions will not only legally bind the company, but may also make themselves personally liable for violation the law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal prohibition against sexual harassment, defines sexual harassment as â€Å"unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.† The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC), which enforces state law, further defines sexual harassment to include: Verbal harassment, such as epithets, derogatory comments or slurs; Physical harassment, such as assault or physical interference with movement or work; and Visual harassment, such as derogatory cartoons, drawings or posters. Two General Categories of Sexual Harassment Over the years, the courts have separated sexual harassment into tow main categories: 1. â€Å"Quid pro quo† occurs when a supervisor or manager conditions an employment benefit or continuing employment on the employees acquiescence in the form of sexual behavior. 2. â€Å"Hostile† or â€Å"offensive† work environment sexual harassment. No employment benefits need be lost or gained, and this type of harassment may be engaged in not only by management, but also by coworkers or persons who are not even employed by the employer. An offensive work environment occurs where sexual jokes, suggestive remarks, cartoons, physical interference with movement such as blocking or following, and sexually derogatory comments create an offensive working environment. In determining when conduct is unwelcome, it†s important to determine is whether the victim indicated by his/her conduct that the sexual advance or conduct were unwelcome, not whether any participation was voluntary. The victim†s conduct may be totally passive, such as not laughing at sexual jokes. In determining whether a work environment is hostile, the conduct must be sufficiently severe and pervasive so as to alter the condition of the employee†s employment. Trivial or merely annoying conduct is not enough. A pattern of offensive conduct is generally required also. Unless severe, a single incident or isolated incident of sexual conduct or remarks will not be sufficient to show environmental harassment. Finally, the conduct will be evaluated from the objective viewpoint of a reasonable person facing the same conditions. The victim†s perspective will be used, not community standards or stereotypes of acceptable behavior. In California, an employer is strictly liable for the sexual harassing conduct of managers and supervisors in both the â€Å"quid pro quo† and â€Å"hostile environment† situation on the common law theory that holds an employer liable for injuries committed by employees during the course of their employment. The assumption is made that if the manager/supervisor did it, then the manager/supervisor knew about it, and therefore the company knew about it. The employer is liable for harassment of an employee by a co-worker and possibly even of non-employees, if the employer knew, or should have known, of such conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate action. Sexual harassment also may occur where employment benefits are granted because of one employee†s submission to a supervisor†s request for sexual favors, but where other employees equally or better qualified to receive the benefits are denied them. If the employer did not know of the conduct, the FEHC will consider that the employer had notice unless the employer can establish that it took reasonable steps to prevent the harassment from occurring. Such reasonable steps may include having a sexual harassment policy in place, as well as providing sexual harassment training to supervisors and managers. Supervisors, managers, and employees must know and follow the company†s policy against sexual harassment. If a violation of company policy is found, a prompt and effective remedy should be provided to the complaining employee and disciplinary action taken against the harasser. The company can only determine whether company policy was violated. Supervisors and mangers should avoid making any statements or conclusions that illegal sexual harassment has taken place.

Current debate on good governance and civil debate

IntroductionNon-government organizations are organizations that are not controlled by government and are non profit making. Their purpose is to provide a service or object in which they are formed for they offer social welfare services to workers and communities in which they operate they play a major role in the society because they determine family structures, family relation and also the education system that would produce effective man power for them and others. NGO, s has control over political power nationality and even power over borders. (Steve. Witt. (2005)They also contribute to the needs of the poor, deals with issues of the religion in a given area and hence impact heavily on the attitude and values that a given community adapts to. NGO, s helps in the contribution of the humanitarian affairs that serve the communities interests. NGO, s also deals with national and multilateral policy making and even local actions, .NGO, s provides employment to the citizens and assist in matters of dividing international authority, help to research, assess, report and publicize details on behalf of those accountable to them. (K.Rodman, (1998). They also deal with stability and security issues. Most non-government doesn’t depend heavily on the government for funding but the government may assist them partially with funds. They thus do not involve government representative within their organization and they also don't involve them in their decision making process. â™ «AREAS OF INEFFECTIVENESS, UNACCOUTABILITY AND   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ELITIST NATURE OF NGO, SNon-governmental organizations are supposed to be effective on their objectives and also accountable to those they serve. However, this non government organization have increasingly failed by being unaccountable to those they are supposed to work for, they have continually been ineffective in their performance and they have adapted to elitist nature whereby they segregate themselves from others and only work for their own selfish interest and for the interest of those whose status they consider important to their affairs and has influential power that makes them be treated preferentially this attitude can be termed as a mechanism of elite capture. (Steve. Witt. (2005) â™ «The ineffectiveness, the unaccountability and the elitist nature of NGO, s is evident among much renowned organization and this can be seen to be true when one assesses their performance with regard to the current debate on good governance and civil society. (K.Rodman, (1998).Roles of good governanceThe current debate on good governance and civil society emphasizes on peace building, democratization, quality leadership, responsibility and proper civil institutions. NGO, s should assist in helping in peace building in countries in which they are situated, they should be involved in the resolving existing issues in the country for example by  Ã‚   helping to find solutions to a countries conflic ting issues when they arise, mediating disputing groups when there are ethnic tensions caused by political instability, coming up with measures that will reduce tribalism, nepotism and corruption, help in recovering the economy when the country is experiencing economic depression, assisting the needy   in their surrounding environment for example when natural disaster arise such as flood, earthquake ,terrorist attacks among others,Stabilizing political turmoil being experienced in that particular country and many other issues. (K.Rodman, (1998).   However, the current non-government organization do not engage themselves with this issues on the contrary instead of doing this, the NGO, s have left this in the ruin of government and civil societies. Non-governmental organizations have also in some instances contributed to peace downfall by supporting one side of the worrying groups rather than being neutral.They tend to favor that group that have influential power and assumes those who are less powerful. This has made them to be unaccountable and untrustworthy and cannot be depended upon by both the government and the members of the societies who would have otherwise depended on them. The management allows political influences when making decisions which imposes a negative impact to all the organization stakeholders and employees who oppose the decision on the basis that they are not consulted and. this causes conflicts, lots of job turn over, redundancy and withdrawal and this leads to job inefficiency. (K.Rodman, (1998).They have been ineffective with regards to matters of enhancing democratization. This is because they have indulged in politics funding complains and supporting certain politicians who have influence upon them and this has contributed heavily in the reduction of democracy as they do not play their role as pressure group to pressurize the government to observe democracy.Non governmental organization have also been ineffective to help in matte rs of maturation of nation’s policy and economy other than participating in development and transformations, this organizations involve in the achievement of their own interest that is; what will benefit them other than what will be beneficial to all who are accountable to them, they pursue their own goals without incorporating the objectives of government and civil societies and this leads to lack of goals commonality hence retarding the government policies such as poverty and illiteracy eradication.LeadershipLeadership and quality management are important for any country or institution to have good governance. Non governmental organization are poorly managed because of lack of qualified staff because the recruitment of workforce is based not on technical competence and merit, but on favoritism and thus the management have no proper management skills, the employees under such management thus work with a lot of skepticism and heavy opposition and most of them resist changes a nd all the rules that the management enforces and this leads to difficulties in implementation of proper practices, policies and procedures that are fundamental in developing strategies that ensures that organizations objectives are met. (K.Rodman, (1998).This also has led to poor selection of policies and allocation of resources. The leadership style in current non-governmental organization is that of authoritative and bureaucratic which ignores human elements due to impersonality of interpersonal relations. This style of leadership imposes rules, norms and procedures to be followed. The leaders make decisions and demands everyone to follow, they do not allow the other members of staff to be involved when making decisions and they harshly react when the rules they enforces are not properly followed this causes slow development, work delays, inefficiency and frustrations to citizens, employees and any other stakeholders and this reduces the effectiveness of NGO, s as a whole. (Carri e Meyer, (1999),Corruption eradication is a key issue in good governance especially in Africa. . NGO, s are faced with issues of corruption where they demands bribery to assist in matters they were supposed to deliver to the citizens without demanding any form of payment and this makes them unaccountable to those who rightfully depended on their services. (sH.Englund, (2004) There’s also a lot of misappropriation of funds and lack of proper fund management.This causes inadequate funding leading to shortage of resources to implement their policies and this can also eventually lead to the liquidation of the organization. When organization funds are mismanaged it causes serious implications, which makes the organization unaccountable and inefficient, which leads them to a step back to transparency and accountability. This vice has passed on to civil societies and government at large.Environmental issues  NGO, s engages in activities that are harmful to the surrounding environm ent. This is by social unethical and unaccountable activities. For example, they may engage in activities that involves emissions of exhaustive gases that pollute the environment or even have technological machinery that produce disturbing noises around the environment they are situated in. They often do not take   proper measures and responsibility   to eradicate this implication arguing that since they are a non profit making organizations, members of the communities should take care of their environment and the fact that they are in needs of the organizations   services   they should allow them to deliver them respectfully without dealing with environmental issues. This causes negative impacts to the community and it has hampered the life of the society and animals especially where there is water and air pollution. They can be termed as negligence of the virtue of accountability to the society.( K.Rodman, (1998).NGO, s has turned into a mechanism of elite capture. They te nd to involve only the elite in formulation of their policies. (H.Englund, (2004) There is lack of representation of civil society as a whole and the marginalized social movements are sidelined. Regional consultative of African non-governmental organizations, s and civil society organization lay foundation for the governance forum stressed on role of women in leadership. It has been observed that there is evident gender inequality within these organizations. Few non government organizations in Africa have observed this as few women are employed or hold decision making positions in management of NGO, s. the elites in NGO, s have various skills that they can utilize in government running but they are trapped in the NGO, s. in addition, instead of involving the locals to do various jobs they subcontract them. (Carrie Meyer, (1999),NGO, s has been ineffective because of selective area of operations. They concentrate in certain areas than the others. This makes those sidelined areas not to enjoy their operations. The NGO, s may not operate in certain areas that have poor infrastructure, lack of effective communications and lack of technology. This has led to unequal distribution of resources. The NGO, s have not helped in establishment of proper running civil institutions and instead they leave this role to the governmentConclusionIn order to ensures that non-governmental organizations work effectively and successfully there is need to ensure that there is interactions of workers, formal and informal groups, government itself and any other influential factors to the organization. Democratic involvement by this organization should be considered as it is equally and critically important in enhancing the effectiveness of this organization. (Carrie Meyer, (1999),   They should be committed to implement their services to all interested stakeholders successfully. They should also avoid favoritism and avoid authoritative leadership and adapt to other ways of leading tha t will bring about motivation and morale of workers in the organization. Non governmental organizations should also ensure that they take responsibility and take the necessary actions required of them when their activities imposes harm to the surrounding environment. (Steve. Witt. (2005) They should also ensure that all non-governmental organizations are effective, efficient and accountable and are not expressed as mechanism of elitist capture. References:l Steve. Witt. (2005). Changing roles of NGO, s in the creation.l Sangeeta Kamat. (2002), development hegemony, American university pressl Carrie Meyer, (1999), The economics and politics of NGO, s in Latin American; praeger publisher.l Maha abreirahman, (2004), the politics of NGO, s in Egypt; the American university press 5H.Teegen(2003) international NGO, s as global institution; Journals of international managementl K.Rodman, (1998). Think globally; vol 12l Daniel .a. Bell and Jean Marc (2004) university pressl H.Englund, (2004 ), prisoners of freedom; human rights and Africa poor.l S, Goonahlak, (2006). Journal, foreign fundedl Lyal.s.Sunga, (2003), NGO, s involvement in international human rights monitoring

Hidden Connections

[pic] EMMANUEL KWAME ANTWI ID: UD16761BBU24478 SEMINAR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT I â€Å"D† THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (ESSAY) ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY HONOLULU, HAWAII DECEMBER 17, 2011 INTRODUCTION The Hidden Connections is a book authored by Fritjof Capra. In this book,  Capra relates today’s dynamic and complex human life styles to the symbiotic lives of  different interrelated and interdependent organisms. Specifically, he is trying to apply the ideology of obscurity assumptions to the close scrutiny of the magnitude of the interactions and correlations of mankind. He states in the book that if we are to maintain a future life, we need to learn to respect the rules of nature, the rules and principles that nature has inevitably adapted to advance and sustain what he calls the web of life. This book  explains and clears just how much the hypothetical thoughts and scientific theories which are much ignored by most of the world that operates outside the margins of science can practically be applied to resolving most of the problems that threaten the existence of this planet. This book brings to light the interrelation and interconnections of science in relation to our  societal and social organizations which most of us are not aware. This can be the reason why he titled the book ‘The Hidden Connections’, it is because most of the world’s population is either unaware f this understanding, or may be just negligent of its reality. According to a presentation by Darian Schiffman (academics, AIU) quoting from Capra (2002 p. vvi), the book basically has two goals, which are; to bring forth a new understanding of life through the presentation of a conceptual framework that integrates life’s biological, cognitive as well as social dimensions; and t o offer a clear systematic approach to some pertaining questions we have that negatively and aversively affect our world. This study purposes to critically analyze the message in this book, to look at every aspect of  human life that it addresses, I believe Capra himself being a physicist of prominence and an award winner in the science department, importantly with enough time, examined and fully dissected the theoretical scientific principles in every possible way and in their applicable nature, that in the end saw the connectivity of these scientific articulations to our own social lives today. At the same time, he saw in the most significant way the effect the things that we do as humans are going to later affect us if we do not change the organizational principles that govern and direct our lives today. The   book also   touches   almost   all   the   significant   aspects   of human   life   and   boldly substantiates just how each of these aspects affects the other if not well maintained. Generally, the book brings the world to understanding the extremes of destruction our current principles have on nature, making future life almost unimaginable. In the same vein, the book proposes the possible amicable measures that we can take to preserve our world, especially world leaders and world environmental organizations. For long the world has being striving towards globalization, this book addresses both the challenges and dangers of such a motive, addressing the complications of biotechnology and its nature. The book simply brings together the scientific world and our own social world, and pragmatically defining these worlds’ relationship and probable dependence. THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (THE BODY) The Nature of Life: Mostly, this would direct a person to the question â€Å"what s life? † a question which will clearly trigger an outburst of mental assumptions some driven by general thought, and some oriented by experience. An encyclopedic thesaurus Word Web, life is defined as being the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities, or  the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living. This may sound quite simple and brief, but Capra looks at it in quite broader perspective, and defines it in even more detailed way, pin-pointing specific aspects that make up the definition of life. Capra explains in some way that no man or organism is total island, in one way or another  every organism depends on other organisms, no wonder I personally a ‘symbiotic’ kind of  relation where one organism of a different specie cannot live without the other, the interdependence of organisms where each organism benefits from the other. The practical of  such relationship is that of plants and animals, animals basically cannot make their own food so they depend on the photosynthetic process of plants, through which plants make food, at the same time releasing oxygen which animals do need forth the process of respiration. Maturana and Varela (1980) quoted by Capra (2002), in their definition of life came up with the concept of ‘autopoiesis’ which factually mean â€Å"self-making†, this concept particularly amalgamates   two defining characteristics or aspects of cellular life which are the physical boundary and the metabolic network; and in contrast to the surfaces of crystals or large molecules, the boundary of an autopoietic system is chemically distinct from the rest of the system and it participates in metabolic processes by assembling itself and by selectively filtering incoming and outgoing molecules. Therefore, the definition of a living system as an autopoietic network means that the phenomenon of life has to be understood as a property of  the system as a whole, just as much as Pier Luigi (2008) mentions that life cannot be attributed to any single molecular component, not even to the DNA or RNA but only to the entire bounded metabolic network. ‘Autopoiesis provides a clear and powerful criterion for distinguishing between living and nonliving systems. For example, it tells us that viruses re not alive, because they lack their  own metabolism. Outside living cells, viruses are inert molecular structures consisting of  proteins and nucleic acids. A virus is essentially a chemical message that needs the metabolism of a living host cell to produce new virus particles, according to the instructions encoded in its DNA or RNA. The new particles are not built within the boundary of the virus itself, but outside in the host cell,’ Capra (2002). So, the autopoiesis th eory strongly supports and founds the Santiago theory in some way. It explains and provides answers to many other  questions that surround the issue life and its natural defining features and traits, it can as well symbiotic relationships, organizations, and social networks of organisms. During the process of respiration, animals release carbon dioxide which plants need for the process of photosynthesis, so plants need animals for the carbon dioxide, and plants animals need plants for the oxygen. We (animals) primarily need each other to survive. God created a world that nourishes, restores, and preserves itself it were not for human activities that have degraded to total ruin, for example, a livestock farmer lets his/her livestock feed on the pasture, as they graze, they drop dung on the pastures which will in the next rain season dissolve to nourish the soil as fertilizer, promoting an even better outgrowth of  pasture, therefore the soil nourishment depends on the livestock, and the nourishment of the livestock depends on the soil. Capra looks at life as not being solely determined by the inherent design but views it as an evolving process that engages a complete epigenetic network or external factors, making it continuously responding to both physical and chemical constrictions we exert on our environment. There is one common character that all living organisms share and this is unquestionable. They all have cells, be it animals, people, plants, or microorganisms such as bacteria, virus or  fungi, all of them have cells that build up to give a structure. Despite transitions and extreme conditions, the genetic blueprint of organisms has so far stayed intact in most cases, some have succumbed to the inevitability of evolution, but some have been the same for thousands of years and the dependence upon another species of organisms have been carried on and on. In his definition of life, Capra (2002:6) uses the bacterial cell to clearly delineate what life is all about, he states that when a cell is viewed under a microscope one can easily notice that inside it a metabolic processes that uses special macromolecules consisting of elongated chains of atoms, and two of such macromolecules are common in all living cells, and these are proteins and the nucleic acid (the Deoxyribonucleic Acid-DNA and the Ribonucleic Acid-RNA). Basically, there are two kinds of proteins as well; the enzymes act catalysts for most metabolic processes, where as the structural proteins form part of the cell structure. The DNA and the RNA within the cell work hand-in-hand determining that crucial bond defining the cell’s genetic and metabolic features. The Santiago Theory: Maturana and Varela (1980:13) in theoretical definition of the Santiago theory say all living systems are cognitive systems, and that living as a process is itself a process of cognition, and the two further cement that ‘this statement is valid for all organisms in spite of whether such organism got a nervous system or not. Initially in the world of philosophy Rene Descartes (1596-1650) emphasized the Cartesian View which promotes dualism as follows which suggests that the body operates like some kind of  machine, having material properties of extension and motion, that it operates within the doctrines of physics; and further articulates that the mind and soul on the other is kind of none-material, making it a unit without extension and motion, and follows not the rules of physics. Descartes stressed that it is only the human beings that have minds, and that the mind acts together with the body at the pineal gland, a tiny pine-like endocrine gland located close to the central part of the brain which produces melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating the patterns of sleeping or waking up as well as other seasonal functions. This understanding generally relates that it is the mind that basically and pragmatically controls the entire, and that at the same time the body can as well manipulate the reasoning of the mind, especially in cases where a person acts out of an emotional intuition. This theory looks at cognition as a component quite indispensable in the issues of systems, it practically implies that almost every activity that takes place or transpires in the system processes require cognition, which Capra stipulates as taking place in phases as follows, ‘Cognition, is not a representation of an independently existing world, but rather a continual bringing forth of a world through the process of living. The interactions of a living system with its environment are cognitive interactions, and the process of living itself is a process of  cognition. In the words of Maturana and Varela, â€Å"to live is to know†. As a living organism goes through its individual pathway of structural changes, each of these changes corresponds to a cognitive act, which means that learning and development are merely two sides of the same coin. The first type, known as â€Å"primary consciousness,† arises when cognitive processes are accompanied by basic perceptual, sensory and emotional experience. Primary consciousness is probably experienced by most mammals and perhaps by some birds and other vertebrates. The second type of consciousness, sometimes called â€Å"higher-order consciousness,† involves self-awareness—a concept of self, held by a thinking and reflecting subject. This experience of self-awareness emerged during the evolution of the great apes, or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"hominids,† together with language, conceptual thought and all the other characteristics that fully unfolded in human consciousness. Because of the critical role of reflection in this higher-order conscious experience, I shall call it â€Å"reflective consciousness. Reflective consciousness involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images, which allows us to formulate values, beliefs, goals and strategies. This evolutionary stage is of central relevance to the main theme of this book—the extension of the new understanding of life to the social domain— because with the evolution of language arose not only the inner world of concepts and ideas, but a lso the social world of organized relationships’ Capra (2002:38-39). According to Capra (2002:34) ‘the central insight of the Santiago Theory is the identification of cognition, the process of knowing, with the process of life. Cognition, according to Maturana and Varela (1980), is the activity involved in the self-generation and self-perpetuation of living networks. In other words, cognition is the very process of life. The organizing activity of living systems, at all levels of life, is mental activity. The interactions of   a   living   organism—plant,   animal   or   human—with   its   environment   are   cognitive interactions. Thus, life and cognition are inseparably connected. Mind—or, more accurately, mental activity—is immanent in matter at all levels of life. ’ This to me sounds more prudent and quite rational in comparison to the other perceptions, in opposition to Rene’s theories the Santiago Theory is more clearer and comprehensible even for low class students, it brings to life the real life situation that we all experience everyday, it makes one see the connection and dependability of organisms upon other organisms, taking into perspective, the biotic and abiotic factors on nature. According to the online encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2010) Descartes believed that this special gland was the ‘seat of the soul’ an understanding he purported with many reasons stated respectively as follows; firstly, he understood that the soul is unitary or one and this to him meant the pineal gland was an entity despite it being proven hemispherical; second to this he discovered that this gland was positioned near the ventricles making him believe the cerebrospinal fluid worked through the nerves to control the body, as well as regulating the processes manipulated by the pineal gland. and finally Descartes despite figuring-out that both human beings and animals had the pineal gland he still resolved that only humans had minds advancing in his mind the idea that animals cannot feel pain or are insensitive to pain. Unfortunately the Cartesian view gets questioned and in the process challenged by the Santiago Theory which takes a totally different stand from the philosophy o f Descartes. The Santiago Theory vehemently recognizes the reality of cognition, normally defined as the ability or the process of knowing, or the activity involved in self-generation and self-perpetuation of living systems, entailing that cognition is actually the life itself, Maturana &Varela (1980). The Santiago theory moves away from Descartes’ view of life and instead studies the mind from a systematic understanding and has so far given to the interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science; and according to Capra (2002:34), this theory holds the ‘Organizing activity of all living systems at all levels of life, is actually mental activity’. Therefore, the old perception of the mind as a ‘thinking thing’ has progressed into a view of  the mind as being a process where the ‘entire structure of the organism participates’ Capra (2002:37). Many other views have so far been brought forth to oppose Descartes view, but the Santiago Theory has so far been the first scientific hypothesis that has really questioned and practically overcame the Cartesian dissection of mind and matter, and from the optimistic point of view, this theory is believed to have far-reaching implications. Generally, this theory has brought the mind and body/matter together viewed as two harmonizing and complementary aspects defining the phenomenon of life. So far, the theory has already brought substantial knowledge and understanding concerning the beginning with a simple micro cell, the mind, the matter, the process and the structure at all levels which have so far proven to be inseparable and interdependent in one way or another, this unites the mind, matter and life. In the Santiago theory (Capra, 2002:34-36) it is clearly stated that as ‘a living organism responds to environmental influences with structural changes, these changes will in turn alter  its future behavior. In other words, a structurally coupled system is a learning system. Continual structural changes in response to the environment—and consequently continuing adaptation, learning and development—are key characteristics of the behavior of all living beings. Because of its structural coupling, we can call the behavior of an animal intelligent, but would not apply that term to the behavior of a rock. As it keeps interacting with its environment, a living organism will undergo a sequence of structural changes, and over time it will form its own individual pathway of structural coupling. At any point on this pathway, the structure of the organism is a record of previous structural changes. The Santiago theory advances the issue of higher order consciousness or ‘reflective consciousness which involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images’ Capra (2002:39). This inevitable capability gives human beings the repertoire to create a value system and act cordially. In the simplest of perception, this theory drives us take a person’s subjective and prejudiced experience into some version which has been conventionally ignored by science. The Santiago specifically states that mind is no thing rather a process operating through the brain relating that brain and mind is actually one between process and structure. It is also of some degree of importance to note that this eradicates the idea that the brain is the only compartment involved in the process of  cognition, clearly illustrating the fact that in all vertebrate organisms the immune system is actually a complicated network of unrelenting interconnectedness, just as much as the nervous system serving similarly the vital co-ordination purpose. According   to   the   Wikipedia   (2010)   on   the   Santiago   theory,   cognition   appears   as   a consequence of continual interaction between the system and its environment, delineating that the   continuous   interactions   between   system   and   the   environment   triggers   two-sided disturbances viewed as problems forcing the system to use its functional specialization routine to find solutions to the perturbations. It is of importance to note in this theory that the system slowly adapts to its environment positioning itself to face-up to the disturbances or  intrusion in order to sustain survival. This therefore means the resulting complexity  complicatedness of living systems is cognition emanating from the bilateral perturbations in the system/environment outline. The theory is really making the scientific world dig deep into these discoveries, eradicating misunderstandings and doubts, setting up the facts straight from experimental experience and observations. Extending the System Approach: Capra, resorts that the systematic understanding of life practically allows the world to see and comprehend the fundamental unity to life, that different living systems exhibit similar patterns of organization, Capra (2002:81),. This understanding can practically be applied to our communities, and the impact will definitely be significant. The defining blueprint of the systems is quite complicated, but can be understood, Capra (2002:81), when we extend this understanding and nowledge, applying it to the social domain we actually apply our ‘knowledge of life’s basic patterns and delineating principles of  organization, and specifically apply our understanding of living networks to social/societal reality’. The living networks in our social communities work just like the brain in its environment; the two diverse situations easily match and model each other. Capra views his extension of the systems approach to the social domain as exp licitly including the material world, which is quite unusual since traditionally social scientists were not interested in the world of matter. He basically mentions that ‘our academic disciplines have been organized in such a way that the natural sciences deal with social structures, which are perceived to be especially the rules of behavior; stating that in the near future this strict division will no longer be possible since the key challenge of this new century for social scientists, natural scientists and everyone else will be to build ecologically sustainable communities, designed in such a way that their technologies and social institutions, their  material and social structure do not interfere with nature’s hereditary ability to sustain life;†¦the design principles of our future social institutions must be consistent with the principles of  organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of life. A unified conceptual framework for the understanding of material and social structures will be essential this task’ Capra (2002:19). The Social Network: In every society or community there must be a distinctive social kind of  network and on the issue of this kind of network Capra states that social networks use communication, which normally takes place in multiple feedback loops, as some measure to reproduce itself and its culture, and thus its value and belief. This actually addresses social reality. Capra mentions that wherever there is social organization there is power courtesy of  the inevitable conflicts of interest, and it is in these situations where ‘power plays a central role in the emergence of social structure’ which happens to provide people with rules or  principles of behavior, Capra (2002:90). Normally the ‘social networks generate material structures buildings, roads, technologies, etc, which become structural components of the network; and they also produce material goods and artifacts that are exchanged between the network’s nodes. However, the production of material structures in social networks is quite different from that in biological and ecological networks. ‘The structures are created for a purpose, according to some design, and they embody some meaning; and to understand the activities of social systems, it is crucial to study them from that perspective†¦perspective of meaning includes a multitude of interrelated characteristics that are essential to understanding social reality. Meaning itself is a systemic phenomenon: it always has to do with context. Webster's Dictionary defines meaning as â€Å"an idea conveyed to the mind that requires or allows of interpretation,† and interpretation as â€Å"conceiving in the light of individual belief, judgment, or circumstance. In other words, we interpret something by putting it into a particular context of concepts, values, beliefs, or circumstances. To understand the meaning of anything we need to relate it to other things in its environment , in its past, or in its future. Nothing is meaningful in itself’ Capra (2002:83-84). According to Wenger (2006), organisms in an environment develop a common practice which characterizes the shared manner of how things are executed and relate to each other, a reality that allows such organisms to attain their unifying course, and in most cases after a while such practice turns to be a significant bond within the participants. This book clearly depicts from its author that when we try to extend this new understanding of life to the social domain, we immediately come up against a bewildering multitude of phenomena, rules of behavior, values, intentions, goals, strategies, designs, power relations that play no role in most of then on-human world but are essential to human social life, however though, these different characteristics of social reality all share a basic common feature that provides a natural link to the systems view of life developed in the other chapters of the book, Capra (2002:73). Normally this is how social networks come into being, and such communities have special aspects in common such as; that impeccable looking common understanding, the general involvement of the community members, the regular round of activities that the members become   accustomed   encompassing   the   accepted   rules   of   behavior,   attitude   and comprehension which are normally sustained in due course, Wenger (2008). It such attributes that end up becoming differentiating principles of a community, despite emanating from the ordinary; they primarily become the identifying traits for a specific community. From the most general of perspectives, the social networks of mankind are defined by minor  and major aspects that maintain and sustain the network, and the connectivity in the entire metaphor, the same critically resembles the systems in the human beings and most other  organisms. In any typical social network there are strict outlines that define and regulate behavior and attitudes a practice that results in the creation of ethics and norms that different societies resort to consider for societal order. Capra states that ‘at all scales of nature, we find living systems nesting within other living systems, networks within   networks. Their  boundaries are not boundaries of separation but boundaries of identity. All living systems communicate with one another and share resources across their boundaries’. This clearly shows the possibility of social networks in another living web of networks interacting just as normal. Organization and Change: In most cases where an effort to bring change has been made and proven to be futile due to feeling and assumption that people resisted the intended change, the general conclusion made is the people resisted is refused to buy into the introduced change, be it for their good and benefit. Capra defiles and contradicts this idea and calls it false, stating that people only resist having change if such change is not negotiable meaning if such change is simply imposed on them, normally societies or communities would appreciate and support change if their input on the idea is sort. It makes them feel part of that change, and part of a social community that operates systematically. When we transfer on the metaphor of  an organization from machine to the living systems we actually begin to view organizations as communities with collective identities that share common values. During an interview by Barbara Vogl (2010) with Capra mentioned in answer to he question concerning self-organization in our individual lives and organizations could be useful in helping us see how to get through the anxiety in our period of transition and passing into the  new paradigm thinking, he replied and said ‘Well I think self-organization and the newer  understanding of life and com plexity, when it is applied to the social realm and human organizations, can help people to find their authenticity as human beings The old paradigm model is a mechanistic model where people are seen as parts of a big machine and the machine is designed by experts who either sit at the top of the organization or are brought in from outside as consultants. Then this design of new structures is imposed upon the people who work in the organization and they are pigeon-holed in certain departments with well-defined boundaries. So the underlying model is that of a machine working very smoothly. What self-organization tells you, among many other things, is that creativity is an inherent property of all living systems. All living systems are creative because they have the ability to reach out and create something new. In the last 20-25 years we have begun to understand the dynamics of this creativity, in terms of emergence of new structures and in terms of  instability, bifurcation points, and the spontaneous emergence of order. This is the underlying dynamics of creativity at all levels of life. When people understand this they will realize that human individuals as well as groups of individuals are inherently creative. So when you have an organization and you want to design a new structure and you bring in outside experts and then impose this structure on the organization you have to spend a lot of energy and money to sell the idea to the employees and the manager. Since human beings are inherently creative they will not accept the idea as it is. Since this will deny their humanity. Therefore, you can give them orders and they will nominally adhere to the orders but they will circumvent the orders; they will re-invent the orders and will modify it, either boycott it or embellish it, adding their own interpretation’. This to me implies the fact that for anything to be of some level of importance and value to the people, the people need to understand it first, have some insight on its implications, put on balance the advantages and the disadvantages, enabling them to be able to define the situation in its true context. Organizations or companies with collective identities do exist in sharp contrast to the ‘economical company, whose priorities are determined by the purely economic criteria Capra (2002:105). In further expatiation of this situation Capra states that ‘organizations cannot be controlled through direct interventions, but can be influenced by giving impulses rather than instructions, Capra (2002:112). In most cases interventions end up causing tension and stampedes in communities, but impulses which are normally conditioning can gradually bring about the desired change. Capra continues to point out that it is the meaningful disturbances that normally trigger structural changes within an organization, instead of force Capra(2002:112). The general deduction is that if you intend to bring about change, it is best that you involve the people as the subject of that change, for such change will directly affect them so they should be consulted about the change before it is applied, so if you involve people in the creation of change, then definitely change will be come. Organization in an economy: Organization plays a major role in shaping the economy of  our social communities and the world at large. The Hidden connections discuses the most probing issues in the world today, starting with politics, sociology, education, ethics, philosophy and design, and the book’s main theme is change in these important aspects of our  lives. In an interview with Ecotecture (2002) addressing the issue of economy, Capra states that he calls for change of values, a change of politics, a change of attitudes, with the general goal of building a sustainable society and the future that is sustainable, and believable for our  children, and further explained as an example that ‘in order to change the economy in such away that it becomes sustainable, one needs to understand the world economy, which today is a network of computers, a network of flows of money and information and power that extends globally. So we need to understand how we can introduce a different set of values into the global economy. ’ He extends that ‘in order to do that, we need to understand the relationship between living networks and values and human choices and politics. So it needs certain kind of philosophy and†¦spiritual stance/background, but it also needs the scientific understanding. ‘He clearly stipulates that in addit ion to being living communities, organizations are as ‘social institutions   designed   for   specific   purposes   and   functioning   in   a   specific   economic environment’ Capra (2002:125). Economic Globalization: Global economics has been under promotion for two decades now, all in effort to encourage standardization in the rules that regulate and control international trading. Globalization literary refers to the process of making something gain global and internal recognition and acceptance, a transformational process of turn simple local or  national rule or principle into an international law, or understanding. It is a process by which people of the world are fused together into a distinct society that share a common understanding and work as an entity; it enjoins the economical, technological, and socio-cultural together with the political authorities of this world, Croucher (2004:10). Upon this Jagdish (2004) substantiates further that globalization is quite often used to imply economic globalization which means the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spreading of technology internationally. In chapter seven of the Hidden Connections Capra (2003) further explained and brought more light on the definition of economic globalization in the following statement during the conference; â€Å"During the past three decades, the information technology revolution has given rise to a new type of capitalism that is profoundly different from the one formed during the Industrial Revolution, or the one that emerged after the Second World War. It is characterized by three fundamental features. Its core economic activities are global; the main sources of productivity and competitiveness are innovation, knowledge generation, and information processing; and it is structured largely around networks of financial flows. This new global capitalism is also referred to as â€Å"the new economy,† or simply as â€Å"globalization. †   In the new economy, capital works in real time, moving rapidly through global financial networks. From these networks it is invested in all kinds of economic activity, and most of what is extracted as profit is channeled back into the meta-network of financial flows. Sophisticated information and communication technologies enable financial capital to move rapidly from one option to another in a relentless global search for investment opportunities. The movements of this electronically operated global casino do not follow any market logic. The markets are continually manipulated and transformed by computer-enacted investment strategies, subjective perceptions of influential analysts, political events in any part of the world, and most significantly by unsuspected turbulences caused by the complex interactions of capital flows in this highly nonlinear system†. However, Capra (2002) further extends that in order for the global economic automatization process called ‘automaton’ to properly work it has to be programmed by human actors and institutions giving rise to the new economy comprising of two crucial components, which are values and operational rules. Capra does not hide the fact that these automated global financial network processions do ‘†¦assign specific financial value to every asset in every economy’, he clears that this is no perfect measure though, because ‘it involves economic calculations based on advanced mathematical models, information and opinions provided by market valuation firms, financial gurus, leading central bankers, and other  influential analysts, as well as unregulated information turbulences’; which mean that ‘the tradable financial of any asset subject to continual adjustments is an emergent property of the automaton’s highly nonlinear dynamics. However, underlying all evaluations is the basic principle of unfettered capitalism: that money-making should always be valued higher than democracy, human rights, environmental protection or any other value†¦ in the process entirely changing the principle’. Basically, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was initiated the mid-1990s to watch over and determine economic globalization; so far politicians and business leaders promised that economic globalization would benefit all the people in all countries worldwide through the process of  free trade, but instead of really sticking by this promise the organization has been responsible for a ‘multitude of interconnected fatal consequences’ Capra (2002:129), that are affecting especially developing countries, that are still in their developing stage in most aspects; which brings me to the next question that Capra addresses in this book, and that is the consequences of economic globalization. Every decision one takes despite the level at which the decision is taken there will always be advantages and disadvantages, benefits and consequences and the process of economic globalization has not been an exclusion from this natural phenomenon, in this case most of  the powerful and controlling nations are benefiting the most, and the some nations are really suffering from the entire operation. According to Capra (2003), ‘The impact of the new economy on human well-being has been mostly negative. It has enriched global elite of  financial speculators, entrepreneurs, and high-tech professionals. At the very top, there has been an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, and global capitalism has also benefited some national economies, especially in Asian countries. But overall its social and environmental consequences have been disastrous. The rise of global capitalism has been accompanied by rising social inequality and polarization, both internationally and within countries. In particular, poverty and social inequality have increased through the process of social exclusion, which is a direct consequence of the new economy’s network structure. As the flows of capital and information interlink worldwide networks, they exclude from these networks all populations and territories that are of no value or interest to their search for financial gain. As a result, certain segments of societies, areas of cities, regions, and even entire countries become economically irrelevant. Thus, a new impoverished segment of humanity has emerged around the world as a direct consequence of globalization. It comprises large areas of the globe, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa and rural areas of Asia and Latin America. But the new geography of social exclusion also includes portions of every country and every city in the world’. Capra (2003) further explains that ‘According to the doctrine of economic globalization known   as   Ã¢â‚¬Å"neo-liberalism,†   the   free-trade   agreements   imposed   by   the   World   Trade Organization (WTO) on its member countries will increase global trade; this will create a global economic expansion; and global economic growth will decrease poverty, because its benefits will eventually â€Å"trickle down† to all. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed. Global capitalism does not alleviate poverty and social exclusion; on the contrary, it exacerbates them. Neo-liberalism has been blind to this effect because corporate economists’ have traditionally excluded the social costs of economic activity from their models. Similarly, most conventional economists have ignored the new economy’s environmental cost — the increase and acceleration of global environmental destruction, which is as severe, if not more so, than its social impact. One of the tenets of neo-liberalism is that poor countries should concentrate on producing a few special goods for export in order to obtain foreign exchange, and should import most other commodities. This emphasis on export has led to the rapid depletion of the natural resources required to produce export crops in country after country — diversion of freshwater from vital rice paddies to prawn farms; a focus on water-intensive crops, such as sugar  cane, that result in dried-up river beds; conversion of good agricultural land into cash-crop plantations; and forced migration of large numbers of farmers from their lands. All over the world   there   are   countless   examples   of   how   economic   globalization   is   worsening environmental   destruction;   and since money-making   is the dominant   value of global capitalism, its representatives seek to eliminate environmental regulations under the guise of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"free trade† wherever they can, lest these regulations interfere with profits. Thus, the new economy causes environmental destruction not only by increasing the impact of  its operations on the world’s ecosystems, but also by eliminating national environmental laws in country after country. In other words, environmental destruction is not only a side effect, but is also an integral part of the design of global capitalism’ Capra (2003). One can clearly see that in scientific perspective the world is not really benefiting from the issue of economic globalization considering the number of consequences the whole program brings and foretells for the future in relation to the benefits, personally I see more disadvantages and more consequences accumulated in the entire operation coming in the name of money making and development. The worst part of this whole motion is that its future impact on the natural vegetation of the world is really unpleasant, trees are being cut out in the name of development, and minerals are being extremely extracted at rate that the replenishment process is by many times left behind, fumes and harmful gases from factories and industries are being emitted in the atmosphere, marine resources have been exploited without the really consideration of the impact such activities may have o the world environment in the near future, or the impact on the biodiversity of lives in different habitats on the planet. So far the principles of ecology are not so difficult to comprehend and follow, Capra (2002) simplifies them as follows; Networks: As we have already seen in this essay the unrelenting networking of organisms, networks within networks. We also saw just how living systems communicate with one another and share resources even beyond the margins of their reach. Cycles: This must be gener al knowledge at this time in life, we generally should accept the reality that all living organisms feed on continual flows of matter and energy within their  environment to sustain life, and acknowledge the reality that all organisms produce waste. It is also of greater to note that the ecosystem itself does not produce any waste because one organism’s waste happens to be the next specie’s food, so in the end nothing really goes to waste, almost everything is useful in one way or another making matter cycle continually through the web of life. Solar energy: We all need sunlight, both plants and people. Sunlight is the common source of  vitamin D for animals, and green plants transform sunlight to chemical energy by the process of photosynthesis, making plants the ultimate source of food for both animals and human beings on the entire planet, running the ecological cycle accordingly. Partnership: It is of greater importance to note that the exchanges of energy nd resources in an ecosystem get sustained through pervasive co-operation, stating the verity that life came by co-operation, partnership and networking. Diversity: Under this aspect Capra mentions that ecosystems achieve stability and resilience through th e richness and complexity their ecological webs, and the greater the biodiversity, the more the resilience and buoyancy. These clearly show just how nature adapts and adjusts to its natural environment or any other factors that triggers reactions of the organisms. Dynamic Balance: Ecosystem is no stationery realms; they are actually flexible and ever  fluctuating, and its flexibility come as consequence of multiple feedback loops that keep the system in the state of dynamic balance. Therefore all ecosystem variables fluctuate around their optimal values. If only we stick by these principles, and do everything in careful consideration of the involved dangers we would really be on the right path by now. So far our ignorance and negligence is slowly making us pay through what we choose to call ‘natural catastrophes’ when in reality these are no more natural calamities but rather man-made, our activities are making our world prone to harm. I really wouldn’t say we do this unknowingly considering the level of both the general, social and scientific knowledge of the world at this moment. Everybody is educated today making it quite easier for any transmission of information. The people in the science departments of the world fully understand the consequences of the activities they invent and institute in the name of science and invention. This is what makes Eco-literacy and eco-design subjects of concern to the future-concerned citizens of this planet, for if we get the people to understand this reality the situation may improve towards a positive and conducive future. The Role of NGOs: Everybody that is an inhabitant of this planet is practically and directly involved in either destroying it or restoring it. In one way or another we all contribute to this paradoxical situation, each one of us fall into one of these categories, and this include the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The encyclopedic online dictionary Wikipedia, 2010) defines NGOs as follows, ‘A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or  legal lessons that operates independently from any government and a term usually used b y governments to refer to entities that have no government   status. In   the   cases   in   which   NGOs   are   funded   totally   or   partially   by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some wider  social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term â€Å"inter-governmental organization†, the term â€Å"non-governmental organization† has no generally agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are called â€Å"civil society organizations† or referred to by other names’. These   organizations   are   operated   separately   from   governments;   they   are   stand-alone organizations that globally strive for the betterment of the ordinary or common people world-wide. There are so far both local/national and international Non-Governmental Organization in the entire world established for a diversity of activities, as they see fit, sometimes according to local, national, international or even global needs; they can either be charitable orientation; service orientation; participatory orientation; or empowering orientation type, and are always non-profit making organizations. These organizations’ primary aim is to help promote and encourage collaborations, relationships or partnerships between NGOs in all countries throughout the world, so that together and as an entity we can more effectively cohort with the United Nations (UN) and each other so that we are able to create a more peaceful, serene, just, equitable and sustainable world for our generation as well as for the upcoming future generations. According to Capra (2002) ‘At the turn of this century, an impressive global coalition of  nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), many of them led by men and women with deep personal roots in the sixties, formed around the core values of human dignity and ecological sustainability. In 1999, hundreds of these grassroots organizations interlinked electronically for several months to prepare for joint protest actions at the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The â€Å"Seattle Coalition,† as it is now called, was extrem ely successful in derailing the WTO meeting and in making its views known to the world. Its concerted actions have permanently changed the political climate around the issue of  economic globalization’†¦ and furthers that ‘At the second of these meetings, the NGOs proposed a whole set of alternative trade policies, including concrete and radical proposals for  restructuring global financial institutions, which would profoundly change the nature of  globalization’. So far ‘the global justice movement exemplifies a new kind of political movement that is typical of our Information Age. Because of their skillful use of the Internet, the NGOs in the coalition are able to network with each other, share information, and mobilize their members with unprecedented speed. As a result, the new global NGOs have emerged as effective political actors who are independent of traditional national or international institutions. They constitute a new kind of global civil society. This new form of alternative global community, sharing core values and making extensive use of electronic networks in addition to frequent human contacts, is one of the most important legacies of the sixties; and if it succeeds in reshaping economic globalization so as to make it compatible with the values of human dignity and ecological sustainability,’†¦during the sixties the most important and enduring legacy of that the world community developed has been the creation and subsequent flourishing of a global alternative culture that shares a set of core values. Although many of  these values e. g. environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, global justice — were shaped by cultural movements in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, their essential core was first expressed by the sixties' counterculture. Therefore, many of today's senior progressive political activists, writers, and community leaders trace the roots of their original inspiration back to the sixties’ Capra (2002). This is basically the much the NGOs strives to do, to restore the world to its naturally vegetative state, to help the poor and the needy, and hope to help those ravaged by natural catastrophes such as flooding, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, famines and many other calamitous situations. Many countries that struggle economically or affected by any kind of difficulties have benefited from these non-governmental organizations in many ways such as in food relief programs, volunteer teachers from a diversity of developed countries, financially sponsorships, and further educational sponsorships, and many other  ways. Bunge (2002:233) mentions that the rational first step at the moment is to wade towards sustainability, and the second step being the one that involves Eco-design where ‘we need to apply our ecological knowledge to the fundamental redesign of our technologies and social institutions’ and as stated in process bridging the separating opening between the two,(technology and social institution). When we all work towards this idea, the idea of improve and caring for our world we would change a great deal of the happenings around the world; which could practically lead to the quick restoration of our planet before we bring it its total destruction. The reality that we are destroying our vegetation which is our natural source of  food and oxygen, we are actually putting ourselves at risk. Plants need us (animals) just as much as we need them, they depend on us the same way we depend on them. Upon this is part played by non-living objects such as water, air, the soil and all o ther abiotic matters that are vital to our sustenance of life. They form part of ecosystem even if they are non-living, they contribute greatly to self-sustaining abilities of our planet and form part of the web of  life in one way or another, without water plants would wilt, and animals would die of thirst, and without air both plants and animals would suffocate, and with no soil there wouldn’t be plants for us to feed on. So this is life in its real form, all contributing factors are vital to the sustainability of life in the future. Conclusion This essay is quite practically applicable in our real life situation; it fully conveys the primary hypothesis of the Capra’s book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. It simplifies the complicate and great amount of information he whole book contains, and most of all it is highly educative and reasonable, compromising of almost every component that matters in life on this planet. In this assignment, I learned the importance of understanding the trend of life as well as the flows of ene rgy within the unrelenting interconnecting chains of life. It is simple; I learned that plants need dead organic materials for food, herbivorous animals feed on those plants, and the carnivorous animals feed on those herbivorous animals and later they all die providing manure back into the soil which plants will suck-up once again to grow, simply explaining the theory of producers and consumers. I also learned in this study that despite the efforts made by Rene Descartes to define life and help the world understand there are some facts which would have helped him define it even better if only he paid more attention to important factors that save as the basis of life. The Hidden Connection is a book if taken seriously and put to action can bring back our world to its initial natural state. The book clearly defines just how we have destroyed our natural world. In the development of weaponry, back in 1945 atomic bombs were created with devastating long lasting effects on the environment, and the vegetation alike including all the living organisms within its reach. Wasn’t this supposed to be a scientific breakthrough in the science of war? But in the end this defined the ultimate weapon with which man will completely destroy the whole world. Technology so far came up with many efficient measures of doing things increasing productivity in the process, many cars and machineries that emit harmful gases into the atmosphere have been heavily produced, huge upon tremendous amounts of fossil fuel gases have been gushed out into the atmosphere sucking out the gases important to the maintenance of the ultra-violet ray protective ozone layer and this has resulted in extreme temperature in our world today. Technology once again increased productivity in the agricultural sector so as to sustain the world’s ever growing population, and so they introduced genetically modified products that also have effects on the animals that feed on them including human beings, thus breaking the natural rules of replenishment. This was meant to be a scientific break-through as well but later backfired. Fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and many other  chemicals meant to advance humanity and help prevent the world from starvation have turned out to fatal substances, whereby when washed down the streams during rain and flood seasons they affect the water upon which most wild organisms and animals depend for water, the animals drink such water and get affected, some die from the effects, while some develop resistance to the effects but continue to carry the resulting illness of which people will kill for meat, and eat the infected meat which will clearly cause negative consequences. If we want to save the world for our children, we really have to act now before it gets too late. Preventing our world from getting destroyed by our activities is a better alternative than trying to salvage the remaining patches after destroying. This is why Capra suggested the ecological alternative, repairing the world by us can be difficult, but the good thing is that our world has natural abilit ies to restore itself if given a chance of restoration. At this moment in time, there are millions of totally extinct species that once existed and defined the beauty of our world. We can still save and manage to replenish the remaining species if taken into serious consideration the suggestions made by Capra in his book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. Bibliography 1. Barbara Vogl, (2010). PATTERNS- Interview with Fritjof Capra. http://www. haven. net/patterns/capra. html (Accessed on 11/14/2011) 2. Bhagwati, Jagdish (2004). In defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University PressCC 3. Capra, Fritjof (2002b). Where Have All the Followers Gone? Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the Sixties, December 1, 2002. Mindwalk, http://www. terehesshu/english/capra2. html (Accessed on 11/13/2011) 4. Capra, Fritjof, (2002). The Hidden Connections. New York, USA: Doubleday a division of Random House Inc 5. Descartes, Rene (1644). The Principles of Philosophy (IX) 6. Europe Commission, (2011). Organic Farming: Good for nature, good for you. http://www. ec. europa. eu/agriculture/organic/organic-farming/what-organic_en (Accessed on 11/13/2011) 7. Food and agricultural Organization of United Nations, (2010). What FAQ Does: Food Forever (The Green Revolution). FAQ: United Nations, http://www. fan. org/kids/en/revolution. html (Accessed on 11/13/2011) 8. Goodstein, David (2004) Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil, W. W. New York: Norton and Company, p. 128 9. Laura De Francesco (2004). Profile: Capra Fritjof: Nature Biotechnology. San Francisco: Nature Publishing 10. Maturana, Humberto R. Varela, Francisco J, (1980). Autopoiesis and Cognition. The Realization of the Living. Dordrecht: Reidel, p. 13 11. Philip S, Wenz (December, 2002). Connecting With Fritjof Capra. Ecotecture. http://www. ecotecture. com/library_eco/interviews/capra1a. html Accessed on 11/14/2011 12. Pier Luigi, L (2008). The Emergence of Life-F rom Chemical Origin to Synthetic Biology. Cambridge University Press 13. Shiela L, Croucher (2004). Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity a Changing World. Rowman & Littlefield, p. 10 14. The Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, (1990). The Talloires Declaration. Washington, DC. www. ulsf. rg/programs_talloires_td. html Accessed on 11/14/2011 15. Wackermagel, M. , N. B. Schulz, D. Deumling, A. Callejas Linares, M. Jenkins, V. Kapos, C. Monfreda, J. Loh, N. Myers, R. Nargaard, and J. Randers (2002) â€Å"Tracking the Ecology Overshoot of the Human Economy, â€Å" Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences 99:9266-9271. 16. Wenger, Etienne. Communities of Practice. Healthcare Forum Journal/August: (1996). 17. Wenger, Etienne. Communities of Practice. Cambridge University Press 18. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2010). Non-Governmental Organizations. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/non-governmental_organizations. html. Accessed on 11/14 /2011idd

Analyse the Telecom Industry and Analyse also the company 3 mobile Essay

Analyse the Telecom Industry and Analyse also the company 3 mobile - Essay Example Depending on the supply chain and logistics of operation within the telecommunication industry, the analysis gives possible factors that have led to the flourishing of the industry in one way or another. The macro-economic factors are essential and each company ought to consider them in its strategies (Mithas, Tafti & Mitchell 2013, p 511). Beginning with the Political factors, it is worth noting that the telecommunication industry faces a number of government interventions, depending on the telecommunication laws of each country. Some of the areas where government policies play a primary role include the media, mobile telephony, and internet services. A country’s political system can determine the macro-environment under which the telecommunication companies will operate (Peng & Nunes 2007, p 230). Any fluctuation in the Economic factors can significantly affect the industry. For instance, change in interest rates, economic growth of countries, and inflation can either spell doom for some telecommunication companies or even signify abnormal profits. It all depends on a company’s strategy within the telecommunication industry, considering that economic factors are unpredictable are bound to change according to other factors beyond control by any company or country. In this regard, global recessions may lead to increase in the prices of telecommunication products by some companies. Other companies will attempt to gain competitive edge by limiting their distribution of the latest mobile devices to some countries only, just as Apple Inc. has done (Peng & Nunes 2007, p 231). Social factors are fundamental macro-environmental factors within the telecommunication industry, considering the diverse attitudes and preferences within the industry. Safety while operating or working with telecommunication equipment and network is

Roe versus Vade Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roe versus Vade Case Study - Essay Example Critics of the judgment have commonly made their arguments based on individual ethical beliefs which are immaterial when examining the language of the Constitution. The point of view that is opposed to the Roe decision can be promptly invalidated by the legal definition when evaluating the specific wordage contained within the Constitution in addition to understanding past precedent of constitutional decisions reached by the Supreme Court. However, there are legitimate questions regarding the Constitutional matters of the Roe decision that warrant answering. The word â€Å"abortion† is not contained within the Constitution but merely because the word itself is not present, the Constitution remains the source of legal precedence for this matter. The justices’ interpretation of the Constitution is the central focus of this subject. Since the Supreme Court is more conservative today in terms of general ideology than in 1973, many think that soon its interpretation of the i ssue will nearer resemble former Justice William Rehnquist’s dissenting opinion concerning Roe v. Wade. â€Å"The Court must be wrong to find any basis for this right in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the Amendment† (Pavone 2005). Understanding that courts do undeniably have the power to intercede in decisions involving personal rights citing Constitutional precedence, could laws precluding abortions still be justified despite of what many consider an egregious encroachment on the civil rights of women? After all, constitutional rights are not absolute. Why shouldn’t the federal government be concerned with protecting the rights of persons yet to be born? The Fourteenth Amendment definitively answers this question. The Amendment begins by referring to â€Å"All persons born ... in the United States† (â€Å"Fourteenth Amendment†, 2011), signifying that the protections guaranteed by the Constitution refer to those persons who have already been ‘born.’ When many people criticize the Roe judgment, they base their opposition entirely on moral grounds but lawyers, scholars, and particularly judges who denounce the high court’s decision should do so based only on constitutional grounds. If they wish to voice their moral concerns they should draw a clear distinction between the legal and moral objections. The legal argument in opposition to the decision should address both the Fourteenth and the Ninth Amendment which states, â€Å"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people† (â€Å"Bill of Rights†, 2011). Persons opposing legalized abortions have stated that the ninth, and all other amendments, does not expressly refer to an abortion proced ure consequently the Constitution does not apply when attempting to establish the legitimacy of abortion rights. This point of view, however, very apparently contradicts the statement of the Ninth Amendment which undoubtedly promotes the recognition of abortion rights and all other personal rights in addition to what is specifically contained in the Constitutio

The Seeking of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) Essay

The Seeking of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) - Essay Example Consequently, this had resulted in endeavors to make the directors more liable for their strategies and actions. The inclusion of non-executive directors in the board of an organization has an imperative part to play in this context and will be the subject of concern in this study (Stewart, n.d., p.2). The non-executive directors (NEDs) perform multiple functions in an organization. In accordance to the Combined and the UK Codes of Corporate Governance together with the UK Stewardship Code, the NEDs seek to challenge the chairman and the executive directors in the board, offer expertise, knowledge and insight to the board, elevate principles of corporate governance, and guide the board on business strategy (Lewis, 2010, p. 5). The role of the non-executive director The latest financial disaster and the resulting bail-out of many financial organizations have impelled the discussion regarding the position and efficacy of non-executive directors (NEDs) in context of corporate governance . ... Fundamentally, the role of a non-executive director is to offer a resourceful contribution to the organization by presenting objective criticism to the board. The non-executive directors seek to bring in independent opinion on matters associated with strategy, resources and performance of the organization. Additionally, it is also expected that the NEDs would provide their independent verdict on key appointments to be made in the organization as well as its standards of conduct. The non-executive directors are inducted in the board of an organization owing to their wide range of experience, their apt competence and meticulous personal attributes. Furthermore, the NEDs might possess some expert knowledge and understanding that would aid the board by endowing it with helpful insights or key contacts in associated businesses. Nevertheless, the utmost objective of having the non-executive directors in the board is their independence with respect to the organization’s management as well as its involved parties. This implies that the NEDs bring in an extent of impartiality to the board’s discussions and negotiations, and hence play a crucial task of monitoring the management of the organization. According to the Combined Code of Corporate Governance (2008), the board of any business organization should comprise of ample number of autonomous non-executive directors having adequate calibre, so that their opinions carry considerable weight in the discussions of the board during strategy formulation and other important issues. In addition to providing added competence, proficiency and perspective, the introduction of NEDs in an

Conception of the Citizen in Book Three of Politics Essay

Conception of the Citizen in Book Three of Politics - Essay Example His area of study remains mostly the Greek states but he also includes as a part of his study the states that were in contact with Greece at that point of time. Aristotle was a part of ancient Greece and many of his worldviews may appear to be outdated and outmoded to any contemporary observer. However, the value of his contributions lies in the fact that they enabled a discussion of the relative worth of different modes of government. This played a great role in shaping future conceptions of governments and the state. The role of the citizen within such structures is also something that Aristotle discussed at length in his book. The importance of such discussions in the contemporary world lies in the fact that they enable the modern political commentator to be aware of the origins of democracy, which is the most favored form of government in today’s world. A deep understanding of the origins of this form of government and the earliest objections to it and the earliest appreci ations of it is necessary for the smooth working of democracies in today’s world. Aristotle’s understanding of these political structures and his meticulous research into the roots of the problems that he discusses reveals an urge to understand the problems of the Greek states and press for a solution. This displays an objective and non-mercenary approach to the problem of politics, something which may again serve as a model for present-day commentators. The concept of the role of the citizen in a state is what is discussed at length in Book three of Aristotle’s work, Politics. This paper shall seek to analyze the concept as it is put forward by Aristotle. The analysis in this paper shall also seek to understand the reasons that Aristotle may have in conceptualizing the citizen in the way that he does. The class leanings and the misogyny in the conceptions of the citizen that Aristotle holds shall be made clear in this paper. An attempt shall be made to look at the conditions in ancient Greece that made it necessary and in a certain sense, inevitable for Aristotle to hold the views that he does in Book three of Politics. The arguments that shall be used in this paper shall employ modern theoretical frameworks such as feminism and Marxism as well, for the analysis of Aristotle. Aristotle’s conception of the citizen depends greatly upon the kind of state that a person lived in. in certain cases, he argues that the very question of a person’s citizenship had to be questioned for it to be determined eventually whether he or she was a citizen or not. He details the characteristic of a democracy, an oligarchy and a monarchy and the merits and demerits of each, according to the role that the citizen was expected to play in each of these forms of government. Who would be considered to be a citizen and who would not, would also depend heavily upon the character of the government, according to Aristotle. Aristotle thus, destabilized th e notion of geographical citizenship. According to this notion, a person would be considered to be a citizen of a particular place as long as that person would be present within the geographical boundaries of that state. By doing so, Aristotle makes the status of citizenship extremely contingent upon the needs of the state and also upon the responsibilities and duties of the citizen towards the state. In this

Meth Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Meth Study - Essay Example Hence in a long term user of methamphetamine, there is the likelihood of having experienced methamphetamine in its various forms (Christophersen, 2000) Methamphetamine can be administered through several routes inclusive of smoking, snorting, orally and intravenously using its crystalline form (Methamphetamine Information: history of methamphetamine). Effects of methamphetamine use could vary depending on the route of administration. For example when crystalline form of methamphetamine is used intravenously, there is a rapid increase in blood pressure. Repeated intravenous use of methamphetamine could thus enhance the risk of arteriosclerosis (Berankova, Habrdova, Balikova & Strejc, 2005) These two factors increase the relevance of the history of the misuse of methamphetamine in a long term user, in studies related to methamphetamine misuse. This is the main limitation in methamphetamine misuse studies, as reliable history may not be available. According to Colfax (2005), confusion is demonstrated by individuals addicted to methamphetamine. This means that reliable history of misuse cannot be got from the concerned individual. Tests and analysis of blood and urine are not capable of providing sufficient information relating to the history of the misuse. This limitation on the availability of sufficient and reliable information makes it difficult to correlate reliably the results available to the toxic effects demonstrated by the long term use of methamphetamine (Berankova, Habrdova, Balikova & Strejc, 2005) Ferri (2006), points out that methamphetamine has a highly and almost immediate addictive nature. Animal studies confirm the highly addictive nature of methamphetamine and indicate the effects of the long term use of methamphetamine. Results from animal findings have led to the hypothesis that long term use of methamphetamine causes reduction in the dopaminergic activity. This drop in dopaminergic activity is believed to be due the

Teacher Satisfaction and Student Academic Achievement Essay

Teacher Satisfaction and Student Academic Achievement - Essay Example It is a mixed study that was conducted to gain a better understanding of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers concerning job satisfaction from the viewpoint of small school district teachers. It is a study that attempts to understand more clearly the factors and reciprocal influences that affect teacher job satisfaction, particularly in the context of the operation of small schools, faculty stability, homegrown and transplanted teachers, teacher quality, and the relationship between teacher job satisfaction and student achievement. There is general consensus that small district schools exist in a unique environment as compared to the balance of other types of schools in public education (Anschutz, 1987, Arnold, 2005, Belsie, 2003). Small district schools operate working under the same laws and with comparable expectations and goals as their urban and suburban counterparts, but absent of the same quantity or quality of support and resources available from the school's central organization or the local community. Ultimately, it remains a school district's responsibility to provide a quality and appropriate education to the youth of their community. To accomplish this, teachers are the main vehicles that set the climate, offer encouragement, and deliver the curricula that students require, in pursuit of successfully meeting the expectations set by state and federal legislation, as well as the local administration, regardless of the functioning condition of the district. Consistently, the most valuable and accessible resources located within a school district are the teaching staff. Despite having teachers as an easily available resource, schools often do not include teachers as a resource at the levels desired or expected by

Children and parents Essay Example for Free

Children and parents Essay A new age man is a man that a man that believes in equality and shares all household chores with is partner exactly and contributes equally as much as the women. This is different from a house husband because this is a man who has had a complete role reversal and takes on the traditional role of a house wife and stays at home full time. We cannot generalise about role relationships across society because changes in role relationships have not occurred at the same pace or to the same extent through all sectors of society. Role relationships vary according to social class and ethnicity. Home based entertainment, for example DIY give spouses things in common which gives them a friendlier and more loving relationship. Contraception has allowed couples to have children later and also it means that a lot of couples choose to have smaller families or no children at all. This does not apply to some religions such as Catholics who do not believe in using contraception. Women can now plan when to start their families and to have children resulting in them planning them around their careers. Feminism is an approach that fights for the equal rights of women. This is a large factor in the changing equality in the home because more women demand to be treat as their partners equal. It has lead to the rejection of the housewife role. There is an increase in male unemployment more men have become more involved in domestic tasks. Jane Wheelock (1990) conducted research into this topic and found that men undertook a lot more housework and childcare while unemployed. One survey showed that mothers that also worked outside home had it worse because they still spend more hours on housework a week then they do at their paid place of work. On average these women spend 62 hours a week on house hold tasks were fathers who also worked only spent 23 hours on house work. Another survey shows that some traditional gender role are still being passed down to the younger generations( 1992-93) such as girls still taking more of a part in cooking, cleaning and child care but boys are doing more things for themselves like cleaning their own rooms, making beds and washing their own clothes. Sometimes sociologists say that social class and ethnicity change role relationships. It is suggested that working class families are more male dominated (patriarchal). Evidence proves that middle class conjugal relationships are more equal than working class ones but it is also said that working class fathers are more involved in childcare. It is believed that Asian families are usually based on unfair patriarchal relationships. Westwood and Bhachu (1988) challenge this idea arguing that images of the Asian family are usually based on prejudice and prejudgement. They point out that Asian families are in fact British families and are a strong source of resistance against the racism of British society. In reality there are ethnic differences between Asian people in Britain according to religion and social class, which makes it hard to generalise about the Asian family. Henriques and Slaugher talk about the patriarchal relationships between men and women. This means that the relationship is male dominated. They talk about the two different segregated roles. Relationships between children and parents have changed over time but it has always varied between working, middle and upper class families. Throughout the nineteenth century life chances varied a lot for different classes for children. A paid employee such as a nanny would often look after higher-class children. This would often separate their children from their parents and so it would be harder for them to develop a strong bond. Working class children on the other hand, especially boys would often have to start work very young. There was a wider range of jobs for boys were available but girls would often have to work in cotton factories. The hours would be long and the pay and conditions would often be unfair. Poverty prevented parents sending their children to school and sometimes they would only send their boys but keep the girls at home to teach them how to be a good housewife. Mothers would often have a close relationship with her daughter. People used to have children so they could send them out to work to earn money for the family. Sometimes parents thought that education just blocked this. Another reason why people used to have children was so they had someone to take care of them in old age. Factors that changed these relationships included the growth of the welfare state, which meant people no longer needed children to look after them in old age. Parents could no longer send children out to work at such a young age because of protective legislation, this meant that law including factory and mine acts stopped it. There was a growth of the meaning of childhood and they remained children for longer because of the state of education in 1870 meant you had to attend school. Children were given more attention by parents, media and toys invented a new childhood and children and parents spent more time together. Today the relationship is usually warmer and more caring than in the past. Children are seen as more important and taken a lot more seriously. There have been changing attitudes towards discipline and laws against hitting children in Scotland. It is now seen as wrong to hurt a child, if they do organisations (social services) get involved. There is more of an emphasis on freedom and childrens rights. Relationships are more children centred and because family sizes are smaller children get more attention. In 1976 a law was passed to say that the minimum age of leaving school was 16 and though a child can work before then the hours and law restricts times. This means that children are financially dependent on their families for long periods of time especially if they go on to further education. Children are fully dependent on their parents and this can sometimes bring stress and tension to the family. Not all relationships between child and parents have improved as sadly cruelty to children is still widespread and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) estimate that around 600 children are intentionally harmed by their parents each year.

Moral and Ethical Role of Government

Moral and Ethical Role of Government Ethics and morality form a central position in the functioning of the government. Under normal circumstances, it is the role of the government to ensure a just society where order and harmony exist. As a result the government has to establish and enforce ethical and moral standards so as to ensure that the society functions well. Decision making is the governments chief role. Therefore it must make ethical and moral considerations in order to make decisions that are in line with the welfare of the society. Ethics and morality are used interchangeably. The two terms are related in several ways. Nonetheless, there is an inconsequential dissimilarity linking the two. Most commonly is the fact that morality goes deeper than ethics in defining human behavior and conduct. Ethics refer to the standards that make the society a better place of all while morality provide for more deeper considerations that amount to religion and spirituality. In order for the government to ensure that ethical standards are adhered to, ethics and aspects of morality are entrenched into the law. This makes it conveniently possible to enforce ethical standards and ensure that all people conform to the law. However, certain aspects of ethics and morality cannot be made legal. This will make the society more complicated since certain morality aspects and ethics are perceptive. This brings into perspective the facet of belief and religion which formulates different people to hold diverse views on the concept of ethics and morality. The upshot is that, the government plays a significant role in enforcing ethics and morality. As a result it is expected that the leaders ensure that the society is just and orderly for all. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the role of the government in morality an ethics. To succeed in this endeavor, the paper will discuss different aspects of morality and ethics. Role of Government One of the central purposes of the government is to enforce the law. The law represents the will of the people who have their own cultural and ethical perceptions of reality. As a result the government enforces the ethical and moral values of the people it governs. In other words it can be rightly said that the government serves to accomplish the peoples perceptions of reality as represented in their ethical and moral values. This makes the role of the government more complex not forgetting that not all values of ethical and moral consideration can be enforced by the government. However, the government remains the prime custodian of peoples values. Ethics and moral values have a great influence on the operation of the society. It is therefore true that the government exercises control over the society. This is true in light of the task of enforcing laws. In order to get a better understanding of the role of the government as far as ethics and morality is concerned; more focus should be on the law (Preston Bishop 2000). The law is the governments instrument of power. To perform its functions, the government relies majorly on the law. On the other hand the law is perceived as being representative of the ethical, cultural and moral values of the people. Therefore as much as the law might not be the perfect tool of enforcing ethical and moral values, it remains the governments chief weapon against unprincipled practices and immorality. The law describes what is right and acceptable in society and therefore provides a blue print towards an ethical and just society. In order to affirm their quest for a just society, citizens are expected to adhere to the provisions of the law. Therefore, the law binds the society together bringing harmony among different people. Failure to conform to the law is perceived as breaking ethical standards established and is thus punishable. Therefore, the law is perceived as the peoples will to be enforced by the government. There are a lot of challenges the government faces in its ethical and moral roles. First and foremost are the different perceptions of ethics and morality. This is coupled by the practical reality that the law does not fully represent ethical and moral standards. Perceptions are a great threat to the governments role. This is due to the fact that certain parameters which are legal are sometimes perceived as violating ethical and moral standards. A good example is the issue of abortion. As much as abortion might be legalized, it still remains a debatable ethical issue. This is due to the fact that it is seen by some members in society as unethical. Other issues include divorce and promiscuity. These conflicts underline the fact that the law is not a sufficient tool of enforcing ethical and moral values. It underscores the failure of the government to ensure a just society through enforcing the law. Ethical and Social Obligations Ethics and a society are inseparable, due to the fact that ethical standards are the adhesive of a healthy society. Therefore there can never be a society without standards that define behavior and conduct. A just society can only exist in line with a set of values that represent the ethical and moral values of the people. A society on the other hand is governed by a group of leaders through the institution of government (Kizza, 2010). Therefore, it is obvious that it is the role of the government to ensure that the society is just and orderly. This is what is referred to as social obligations of the government. In essence the government is a tool of the society. It is established by the society to govern it and enforce laws that are deemed to represent the wishes, values and convictions of the people. The governments social obligations are nothing but the functions of ensuring that ethical and moral standards are adhered to accordingly. This involves the task of ensuring that the laws set represent the ethical and moral values of the people. Conversely, the government needs to go beyond the institutional role of enforcing laws to more welfare operations. This is line with the fact that the law in itself is inefficient as far as ensuring the enforcement of ethical and moral obligations is concerned. Decision Making A critical look at the origin of government points at the true essence of the institution. Several theories outline the origin of politics or government. Nevertheless, the contract of social theory is much relevance to the governments decision making role. Under the social contract theory, members of the society came together and surrendered their freedoms in exchange for order. In order to achieve this objective, the people established a government which was to govern the state on their behalf. Among the principal roles given of this institution was that of making decisions on behalf of the people (Cremer 2009). Therefore the governments most significant role is that of decision making. The role of making a decision is supposed to be in line with the interests and values of the society. This underscores the big role played by the government in ensuring a just society for all. Therefore in making a decision the government plays an important part in enforcing ethical and moral standards. Apart from enforcing the law which is perceived as the will of the people, the government has the authority to make decision that affect the functioning of the society. Therefore in making these decisions the government ought to put ethical and moral obligations in prime focus. In this role the aspect of public trust emanates. The government has been given the public trust which must be reflected in every decision it makes. Therefore public officials must make decisions that not only promote ethics and morality but also represent the same. In making decisions the government needs to be guided by two principal aspects. First and foremost is respect of the law. The law is the supreme guarantor of morality, ethics and justice. Therefore due importance should be granted to the law in the process of making decisions. Decisions that are contrary to the provisions of the law should be discouraged. The law should be the common denominator of all government decisions. This will protect the people from leaders with evil intentions. Another critical aspect of consideration is that of ethical consideration beyond the law. This should be interpreted in a positive manner to mean that the law should be upheld in high esteem but should not be the end of ethics. Certain aspects of morality and ethics are not entrenched in the law but should be upheld in decision making. This regards appointments and other aspects of governance. This calls for integrity on the part of state officials in the discharge of their duties. Need For Appropriate Actions Leadership is a delicate affair which involves a lot of aspects. Since leadership involves the tasks of vision, direction and governance a lot of care must be made to ensure that ethical and moral; standards do not take a back seat. The government is bestowed with a daunting task of ensuring order and justice in the society. This is to be achieved through the enforcement of laws that represent the ethical and moral values of the society. This is also done through the making of legal and ethical decisions. The government therefore plays a primary role in the whole concept of ethics and morality. Through its actions, decisions and operations the government has a lot of impact on the functioning of the society. There is need for appropriate actions on the part of the government so as not to undermine ethics and morality (Kiel Lennick, 2007). Since the success of a society depends on the manner in which ethical standards are adhered to, the government officials ought to be careful in th eir actions so as to promote a just and orderly society. It is against this background that governments need to put several measures in place so as to ensure that the aspect of ethics and morality plays an important role in its functions. This will result in a justly moral and ethical society which is what will make life better for the people. As far as the governments role in achieving justice and order in society is concerned, a number of considerations are necessary. Caution must be exercised in the process discharging the functions of the government. State officers ought to conduct their activities in manner that does not undermine ethical and moral values. To start with, it will be necessary to vet people before appointment to such positions. This will ensure that all those who get these positions are people of integrity. This will go a long way in ensuring that the role of the government in guaranteeing ethics and justice is not undermined by the quality of personnel in its ranks. Suggestions The ethical and moral role of the government is instrumental in ensuring justice and order in the society. Therefore it is upon the officials in the government to ensure that their actions and activities go in line which fostering harmony among the people. This will be achieved if all the laws are enforced in line with the peoples ethical and moral values as envisaged in the law. On top of these, the decision making arm of the government must be fully used to enhance ethical and moral values in the society. It will be against the purpose of ethics should state officials make illegal and unethical decisions. Apart from that state officials must be men and women of integrity so as not to compromise the values of the society. In order to succeed in this endeavor it will be appropriate for the government to classify its moral obligations into two. These are institutional duties and the social responsibilities. The former refers to the use of laws and structures of governance to enforce total adherence to moral and ethical values. This will call for the enactment of laws that represent the ethical and moral values of the people (Fisher 2003). Through the law, the government will ensure that there is justice and order in the society. Those who break the law should be liable for punishment. These will dissuade offenders and make society orderly and harmonious. Social responsibilities refer to those roles that affirm ethical values in the cultural set up. Through this arm, the government will set up and fund several organizations and commissions to cultivate tolerance, orderliness and ethics among the society. This will call for equity and equality so that all sections of the society feels taken care of. On to p of this is the decision making role f the government. The government should use its authority to make decisions in promoting justice, order and ethics. Conclusion The government is the chief custodian of morality and ethical values in the society. It is the role of the government to ensure that moral and ethical standards are maintained in the society so as to assure order and justice. The political system gives government the sole responsibility of ensuring stability, harmony and conformity in the society. It is along this line that the government plays an immense role in guaranteeing ethical and moral values. This role can be performed in many ways. Most commonly the enforcement focuses on the enactment of laws that represent the cultural and ethical values of the people. These laws are enforced so as to ensure conformity. Those who break the law are liable to punishment in accordance to the law. Through exercising the provisions of the law, the government achieves its objective of creating a just and orderly society. However, since ethics and morality are relative terms, not all aspects of ethics and morality can be entrenched into the law. This poses a challenge to the governments role of fulfilling ethical obligations. Therefore, it vital for the government to come up with other means of achieving justice and orderliness through ethics. Through its social obligations the government enforces ethical and moral standards in the society. This can be through its decision making arm and also through the establishment and funding of agencies and organizations that cultivate a culture of ethical values. The government also guarantees ethical values by granting freedom to the people to exercise their spiritual and religious convictions. Moral and ethical as pects have spiritual and cultural connotations, therefore through equality and freedom the government ensures justice in the society. The government plays a central role in ensuring ethics and morality in the society.