Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Positivism

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Positivism Critical Essay on Positivism with Special Reference to the  Hong Kong Special Administrative Region[S1] Introduction The[S2] word ‘positive’, as used in jurisprudence, is derived from the Latin word positum, meaning â€Å"having been laid down†. Its foundation consists in the pedigree thesis, separability thesis and the discretion thesis[S3]. The positive law school has its main pillars, such as Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, H.L.A Hart, Hans Kelson. This essay will study their views with reference to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR[S4]). 1. The Pedigree Thesis Every society has some form of social order, some way of marking and encouraging approved behaviour, deterring disapproved behaviour, and resolving disputes. The pedigree thesis asserts that legal validity is a function of certain social facts[S5]. 1.1 Bentham and Austin: According to Bentham and Austin[1][S6], law is a phenomenon of societies with a sovereign;: a determinate person or group who have supreme and absolute de facto power. The laws in that society are a subset of the sovereigns commands: general orders that apply to classes of actions and people and that are backed up by threat of force or â€Å"sanction[S7].†. This imperatival theory is positivist, for it identifies the existence of legal systems with patterns of command and obedience that can be ascertained without considering whether the sovereign has a moral right to rule or whether his commands are meritorious. Imperatival theory has two other distinctive features, monism and reductivism. The mMonism: the theory represents all laws as having a single form, imposing obligations on their subjects, though not on the sovereign himself. The Reductivism: the theory on the other hand maintains that the normative language used in describing and stating the law talk of authority, rights, obligations, and so on can all be analyszed[S8] without remainder in non-normative terms, ultimately as concatenations of statements about power and obedience[S9]. Imperatival theory does not accord with the complexities of the present time:. fFor example, in Hong Kong (HK), according to the Basic Law Article 1,[2][S10], HKSAR is an inalienable part of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Under the system of ‘One Country, Two System’, sovereignty of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) belongs to PRC. PRC delegates power (executive, legislative and final adjudication power) to HK through Basic Law (‘commands’). The Basic Law has the feature of being reductivist, as it is concatenations[S11] of statements about power and obedience. Basic Law Article 22 states that Basic Law is not only binding on HK, but also binding on PRC’s institutions (sovereign),[3], therefore it does not haves the feature of monistic[S12]. In addition, the law is not backed up by threat of force or â€Å"sanction† from PRC. HK citizens agree with the Basic Law because they realise[S13] that the law provides various advanta ges to them all, other than by fear. 1.2 Hans Kelsen: Hans Kelsen, as a positivist, presents a normative approach and is concerned with what the law was and not what it ought to be, and sought a science of law free from metaphysical elements (hence a pure theory). In addition, Kelsen retains the imperativalists monism but abandons their reductivism[S14]. On Kelsen’s view, law is characteriszed by a basic form and basic norm. The form of every law is that of a conditional order, directed at the courts, to apply sanctions if a certain behaviour (the â€Å"delict†) is performed. On this view, law is an indirect system of guidance;: it does not tell subjects what to do,; it tells officials what to do to its subjects under certain conditions. In HK, if Cap 210 Theft Ordinance s24 creates an offence of handling stolen goods which has penalties attached to it and the defendant handles stolen goods then the judge ought to apply the appropriate penalty[S15]. For Kelsen, as opposed to Austin, this is not just a case of the official being under a duty, but also having power or discretion in such situation. What we ordinarily regard as the legal duty not to handling stolen goods is for Kelsen merely a logical correlate of the primary norm which stipulates a sanction for handling stolen[S16] goods [4]. For the imperativalists, the unity of a legal system consists in the fact that all its laws are commanded by one sovereign. According to Kelsen[S17], it consists in the fact that they are all links in one chain of authority. For example, a by-law is legally valid because it is created by a corporation lawfully exercising the powers conferred on it by the legislature, which confers those powers in a manner provided by the constitution, which was[S18] itself created in a way provided by an earlier constitution. The very first constitution’s authority, says Kelsen, is â€Å"presupposed.†. Kelsen’s will view is that an HK Ordinance is legally valid because the Basic Law confers members of the Legislative Council[5] and the HK Government[6] the power to propose new legislation,, in the form of bills, which are considered by the Legislative Council for enactment.[7]. The Basic Law confers those powers in a manner provided by the Chinese Constitution Article 31,[8], whi ch was itself created in a way provided by an earlier constitution, Organic Law.[9][S19]. However[S20], it is not easy to identify the basic norm in HK society as Kelsen’s idea of the nature of the basic norm is unclear. Since basic norm does not have a specific content, and since it is primarily presupposed, its role in the validation of the other norms in the hierarchy can be fraught with obscurities. 1.3 H.L.A. Hart If law cannot ultimately be grounded in force, or in law[S21], or in a presupposed norm;, on what does its authority rest? H.L.A. Hart comes up with an answer for the above question,question[S22]; he resembles Kelsens emphasis on the normative foundations of legal systems, but rejects Kelsens view of authority in favour of an empirical one[10]. For Hart, the authority of law is social. The ultimate criterion of validity in a legal system is a social rule that exists only because it is actually practiced. Hart makes use of two types of rule – primary and secondary[S23]. Primary rules are those of obligation, which state what must or must not be done;. tThese are duty-imposing rules. Secondary rules are those of recognition, change and adjudication;. tThey are power-conferring rules designed to supplement the primary rules. The secondary rules affect the operation of the primary rules. People obey the primary rules under the legal system and the administrators of the system woul d also have to accept the rules of change, adjudication and recognition. It is an important feature of Harts account that the rule of recognition is an official custom, and not a standard necessarily shared by the broader community. If the imperativalists picture of the political system was pyramidal power, Harts is more like Webers[S24] rational bureaucracy. In HK, by looking at the legislation, we can identify many ordinances as primary rules. Examples are to be found from Cap 200 Crimes Ordinance and Cap 210 Theft Ordinance, etc. Hart[S25] tells us that these primary rules are needed concerning the free use of violence, theft and deception to which citizens are tempted but which they must, in general, repress if they are to coexist in close proximity to each other. The rule of recognition, classified as a secondary rule, is the ultimate rule which determines the existence and validity of other rules in a legal system[S26]. The rule of recognition resolves the problem of uncertainty as to the legality and validity of rules. HK’s rule of recognition can be found in the General Principles Chapter One of the Basic Law. For example, in the chapter, Article 2 of the Basic Law mentions that the National Peoples Congress (NPC) authoriszes the HKSAR to enjoy legislative power. Article 2 states that HKSAR shall safeguard the rights and freedoms of HK people. Article 8 states The laws previously in force in HK shall be maintained[S27]. Article 11 states that legislative and judicial systems, and the relevant policies, shall be based on the provisions of the Basic Law. No law enacted by the legislature of the HKSAR shall contravene the Law. Another type of secondary rules, the rules of change, enables changes to be made in the legal obligations which people may have under the duty-imposing primary rules of a legal system. There are two types of the rules of change: Private rules of change: these rules enable changes to be made in the legal relationships between private persons, for example, the rules of contract law and Cap 26 Sale of Goods Ordinance. Such rules confer power rather than imposing duties on HK residents in their private capacity. Public rules of change: these rules give public legislative officials the power to change the primary and other rules of a legal system. In HK, the main part of this rule lies at Article 73 of the Basic Law where it states that the Legislative Council has the power to amend laws in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law and legal procedures[S28]. The last type of secondary rules, the rules of adjudication confer power on judicial officials to carry out the process of adjudication where a law has been breached or a dispute has risen. In HK, the rules of adjudication can be found in Article 2 of the Basic Law which states that the NPC authoriszes the HKSAR to enjoy independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication. In addition, Article 84 of the Basic Law confers the courts to adjudicate cases[S29]. 2. The Separability Thesis Positivists insist on the importance of the separation of law from morality. This thesis comprising the foundation of legal positivism is the separability thesis. This abstract formulation can be interpreted in a number of ways:. tThe most common view is that the separability thesis is interpreted as making only an object-level claim about the existence conditions for legal validity[S30]. As H.L.A[S31]. Hart describes it, the separability thesis is no more than the simple contention that it is in no sense a necessary truth that laws reproduce or satisfy certain demands of morality, though in fact they have often done so.[11]. According to Kelsen’s Pure theory of Law[S32], all elements impure or extraneous to law had to be split off, to leave a remnant of material which is essentially legal. Accordingly, all natural law, moral, religious, social, and other accretions that are not strictly law had to be eliminated. More recently, Klaus Faber[12][S33] interprets it as making a meta-level claim that the definition of law must be entirely free of moral notions. This interpretation implies that any reference to moral considerations in defining the related notions of law, legal validity, and legal system is inconsistent with the separability thesis. Based on these views, we can come to a conclusion that the object-level interpretation of the separability thesis denies that there are moral constraints on legal validity;, it implies the existence of a possible legal system in which there are no moral constraints on legal validity. In HK, it is beyond doubt that moral considerations bear on legal validity:. Ffor example, in the discussion of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill 2006 at the Bills Committee and the judicial review on the age of sexual consent for homosexuals, moral played an important role on legal validity. 3. The Discretion Thesis Discretion thesis is the view that judges make new law in deciding cases not falling clearly under a legal rule. A judge cannot decide a case that does not fall clearly under a valid rule by interpreting or applying the law; he/she must decide the case by creating or promulgating a law that did not exist prior to the adjudication.[13][S34] The discretion thesis does not belong to positivisms theoretical core, but many positivists regard the discretion thesis as a contingent claim that is true of some, but not all, possible legal systems. For example, Hart[S35] believes that there will inevitably arise cases that do not fall clearly under a rule, but concedes a rule of recognition could deny judges discretion to make law in such cases by requiring judges to disclaim jurisdiction or to refer the points not regulated by the existing law to the legislature to decide[14]. In HK, an example can be found in the case of HKSAR v Ng Kung Siu Others[15] (decided on 15 December 1999) (Ng Kung Siu). In this case, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) has to decide whether s7 of the National Flag Ordinance and s7 of the Regional Flag Ordinance which criminalise the desecration of the national flag and the regional flag are inconsistent with the guarantee of the freedom of expression (Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 39 of the Basic Law). The court finally decided that Freedom of expression’ is not absolute and subject to certain restrictions: (a) respect of the rights or reputation of others; (b) the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals. Further, it created or promulgated a law by stating that it is common ground that the burden [of proof] rests on the Government to justify any restriction[S36]. 4. Conclusion From the above discussion, we can see that Positivism’s Imperatival theory cannot explain why HK citizens agree with the Basic Law. In addition, it is not possible to identify the basic norm in HK society as Kelsen’s idea of the nature of the basic norm is unclear. Also, in HK, moral did play an important role on legal validity. Positivism theory can hardly fully explain the current HK legal system. Kelsen, Hans (1945). General Theory of Law and State, trans. A. Wedberg, repr. 1961. New York: Russell and Russell, p.61 Footnotes [1] Austin, John, The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) p166. [2] Article 1 of the Basic Law: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the Peoples Republic of China. [3] Article 22 of the Basic Law states: No department of the Central People’s Government and no province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Govt. may interfere in the affairs which the HK SAR administers on its own in accordance with the Law. [4] Kelsen, Hans (1945). General Theory of Law and State, trans. A. Wedberg, repr. 1961. New York: Russell and Russell, p.61. [5] Article 74 of the Basic Law. [6] Article 62 of the Basic Law. [7] Article 73 of the Basic Law. [8] Chinese Constitution (CC) Article 31: CC will not apply to HK directly, except CC Art 31 from which HK Basic Law was derived. â€Å"the state may establish special admin regions when necessary. The systems to be instituted in special admin regions shall be prescribed by law enacted by the NPC in light of specific conditions. (therefore BL apply to HK, without any other explicit endorsement from NPC). Art 31 for HK, Macao and Taiwan. [9] Organic Law of the National Peoples Congress of the Peoples Republic of China was adopted by the Fifth Session of the Fifth National Peoples Congress on Dec 4, 1982 as Chinas Constitution. [10] Legal Positivism, First published Fri 3 Jan, 2003, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [11] Hart, H.L.A., The Concept of Law, Second Edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) pp. 181-82. [12] Faber, Klaus, Farewell to Legal Positivism: The Separation Thesis Unraveling, in George, Robert P., The Autonomy of Law: Essays on Legal Positivism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 119-162. [13] Dworkin, Ronald M., Taking Rights Seriously (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977), p.17. Ronald Dworkin describes this thesis as follows: â€Å"The set of these valid legal rules is exhaustive of the law, so that if someones case is not clearly covered by such a rule . . . then that case cannot be decided by applying the law. It must be decided by some official, like a judge, exercising his discretion, which means reaching beyond the law for some other sort of standard to guide him in manufacturing a fresh legal rule or supplementing an old one. [14] Hart, H.L.A., The Concept of Law, Second Edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), p. 272. [15] Ng Kung-siu Anor v HKSAR [1999] 1 HKLRD 783, 2 HKC 10 (Court of Appeal) and HKSAR v Ng Kung-siu Anor [1999] 3 HKLRD 907, [2000] 1 HKC 117 (Court of Final Appeal). [S1]You must have a title, it acts as a focus for the first page. [S2]Indented paragraphs look better. [S3]You must cite your source for everything you say like this. The marker must have the option of checking facts. [S4]A longer introduction required, elaborate more on what positivism is and what you intend to argue for. [S5]OK, true enough, but you must cite your source. [S6]Good use of footnotes, excellent. See end for my notes on what to put in a footnote though. [S7]good [S8]Don’t use American spellings [S9]Good, but you need to cite a source. [S10]The footnote should always come after the punctuation. [S11]Consider re-writing, good to use words like this, but used in slightly the wrong context, perhaps sentence structure needs work. [S12]Again wrong word, probably monasticism. [S13]Good to use the English spelling here when you did not earlier. [S14]Cite your source. [S15]Are you intending to imply that this does not happen on occasion? [S16]Good. [S17]You must cite the reference. [S18]Looks untidy having two whiches like this in the same sentence. [S19]This paragraph contains good information, but the English needs cleaning up a little, it does not read well. [S20]Should not start a paragraph with however. [S21]â€Å"or in law† doesn’t make a lot of sense. [S22]Cite your source. [S23]Source. [S24]Cite weber [S25]Where? cite a reference. [S26]Good. [S27]If you are quoting, use quotation marks â€Å" â€Å", not ‘ ‘. [S28]Good [S29]Again, good. [S30]Good. [S31]No need to use his initials, Hart will suffice. [S32]Cite your source. [S33]Good, you cite your source here but not elsewhere!!! [S34]Good. [S35]Reference. [S36]Good.

Who is responsible for Willy s demise

He cannot accept the fact that he is no longer a successful salesman, that his sons are not successful as Charley son (Bernard), also that he has been unfaithful to the only person who ever loved him no matter what, his wife Linda. His reason to committee suicide may have been influence by the factors in his life that I just mentioned. Wily is the only one who takes actions of desperation and hopeless. It is his hubris, his inflated pride and ambition o consummate the American dream that leads him to his destructive action, his inability to remember the value of his own life.He thinks that he can't longer maintain his families future, and that he is worth more dead than alive. Pressure society also can be blamed for Wily Loan's demise, claiming to be the best of all in the salesman or business world and earning great amounts of money†¦ Wily Leman was just another man stuck with this dream but in some way the salesman or business world took a big part of his life from him. When h e became a salesman at an age around eighteen or nineteen and he dated in this business up to the point of his death, which is the same day he was finally fired by Howard from the company where he was working as a salesman.When he was fired he was at the age of sixty-three this unfortunately happened. This means that he put a greater amount of his life into the salesman world, in the pursuit for richness and respect. Approximately 45 years of his life were spent on pursuit of these things, but unfortunately his pursuit of richness and respect, never have been effective, he wasn't successful at all. Do you think that this is tragic? Of course yes!. But he needed to face the truth of his peripatetic. Perhaps these things are which led him to try committing suicide numerous times in the car by trying to crash and hoping that he dies.Wily was a very unsatisfied and mainly unhappy man, who had lost most part of his hope. How ever Biff is notice to embody everything that Wily admires: he has great personal charisma, is very popular with other boys, is a leader, demonstrates physical strength but not just as a sportsman also in his body image and demonstrates confidence. The allegations between father and son is loving, warm and full of mutual admiration. He'd invested a lot of this hope into his son Biff too, who unfortunately let him down as well.Wily had such high hopes for Biff becoming the success he himself could never achieve, however Wily failed to take into account what his son desired, which was the outdoor American dream. Another reason why Will kills himself is because would be that Biff discovered his affair with the woman, disinterment which ruined Biffs future this made Wily feel in some way painful and miserable because he made Biff to going back to summer school to graduate, also because he was unfair with the only person that actually loves him and care for him, her wife Linda.Wily Leman was a never success The American Dream guaranteed things to Wi ly that he would never have had before. However to achieve to have these things he had to spent his whole life work hard to afford them and not being rewarded for that hard work, it was a factor that led to his end. So who really is to blame for Will's hamster, and can the fault be relied on Charley, Biff, Linda and Howard the nest that through society carried the job to tear apart Will's dream, hopes and his character or personality and eventually his life.As we know that Wily makes his son embody all his negative values that here passed on by Ben to Wily, his sons will also be a failure as Wily. Not so much in the case of Biff but more in the case of Happy. This is because we can notice how Willis temperament and characteristics resembles on to Happy. Happy has the same younger example of what Wily was as when he was growing up. Maybe the reason why Wily treated Happy as he treated him was because his way was the way that Will's father treated him and paid more attention to his el der brother Ben.

Agriculture and Desertification Essay

The world’s drylands, contrary to popular misconceptions of being barren unproductive land, contain some of the most valuable and vital ecosystems on the planet. These dryland environments have surprising diversity and resiliency, supporting over two billion people, approximately thirty-five percent of the global population (UNEP, 2003). In fact, approximately seventy percent of Africans depend directly on drylands for their daily livelihood (UNEP, 2003). However, these precious and crucial areas are at a crossroad, endangered and threatened by the devastating process of desertification. There are over one hundred definitions for the term ? desertification’, however the most widely used and current definition is as follows: desertification refers to the land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions due to human activities and climate variations, often leading to the permanent loss of soil productivity and the thinning out of the vegetative cover (UNCCD, 2003). It is important to note that desertification is not the expansion and contraction of deserts or hyper-arid territories, which grow and decrease both naturally and cyclically. French ecologist Louis Lavauden first used the term desertification in 1927 and French botanist Andre Aubreville, when witnessing the land degradation occurring in North and West Africa in 1949 popularized this term (Dregne, 242). The causes of desertification include overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation and poor irrigation practices. Climatic variations, such as changes in wind speed, precipitation and temperature can influence or increase desertification rates, but they are not catalysts to the process- it is the exploitative actions of humans that trigger desertification (Glantz, 146). The most exploited area historically has been Africa. In the Sahel (transition zone between the Sahara and the Savanna) of West Africa during the period of 1968 to 1973, desertification was a main cause of the deaths of over 100,000 people and 12 million cattle, as well as the disruption of social organizations from villages to the national level (USGS, 1997). As a result of the catastrophic devastation in the Sahel, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1977, where an agreement was reached to eradicate desertification by the year 2000. Obviously this goal was not achieved. Countries and organizations, notably in the industrialized world, have been unwilling to provide significant and sufficient financial and economic aid to countries most impacted by this issue (Mainguet, 2003). Consequently, desertification is out of control, threatening the sustainability of the world’s environment, disrupting social structures and well-being, and impairing economic growth. This crisis reaches beyond the local, directly affected communities, impacting and jeopardizing world stability. Environmentally, desertification reduces the world’s freshwater reserves due to water over consumption and irrigation mismanagement, decreases genetic diversity through soil erosion and plant destruction, and also accelerates the carbon exchange process by damaging carbon ? sinks’. Socially, desertification causes population displacement as people search for better living conditions, often leading to conflicts and wars. Another social consequence is a dramatic reduction in the world’s food supply due to the depletion of vital dryland vegetation and a decline in crop yields. Desertification is also linked to a number of health issues such as malnutrition, as clean water and sufficient food resources are extremely scarce. Economically, income potential is lost because land is unproductive, and monetary funds are devoted towards combating desertification, compromising economic growth and development. Crisis management becomes more important than achieving economic goals. Furthermore, increasing levels of poverty have resulted due to dire economic conditions. The international body must devote more time, resources and energy to find effective and long-term solutions that will benefit not only directly-affected areas, but the world at large. The devastating environmental, social and economic ramifications of desertification must be addressed immediately, cooperatively and without hesitation, before the window of opportunity is lost. Desertification has created and encouraged a number of major environmental problems, and has endangered the sustainability of a diverse and clean global environment. Through the use of poor irrigation practices and exploitative human actions for profit, water has been over consumed and desertification has occurred near areas surrounding fresh water supplies, reducing or depleting these reserves. In the desertification process, the shorelines and the aquatic land and soil becomes eroded, salinized and degraded. Thus, feeder rivers decline in quantity and supply, river flow rates decrease and ultimately freshwater reserves are polluted and/or reduced. The reduction of river flow rates and the lowering of groundwater levels leads to the â€Å"silting up of estuaries, the encroachment of salt water into water tables, and the pollution of water by suspended particles and salination† (FAO, 2003). These problems are particularly evident in the Aral Sea in Asia, which at one point was the fourth largest lake in the world (Aral Sea Homepage, 2002). During the Soviet era in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the communist central planners had little regard for water conservation, and over consumed this resource. In order to meet the demand for agricultural irrigation the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) â€Å"diverted water from rivers that flowed into the Aral Sea† (Pacific Island Travel: Desertification, 1999). These exploitative actions dropped water levels by one-third because feeder rivers could no longer replenish the large lake, as illustrated in Appendix 1 (Pacific Island Travel: Desertification, 1999). Not only has the shorelines of the Aral Sea declined, but Lake Chad in Africa has followed a similar fate. Desertification in the Lake Chad region has dropped water levels far below the average dry season amount of â€Å"10,000 square kilometers to only 839 square kilometers† (Earth Crash Earth Spirit, 2001). The reduction of water levels in Lake Chad and the Aral Sea decreases their ability to moderate the local climate, resulting in more extreme variations in temperature and precipitation. Therefore, local ecosystems are disrupted and even destroyed, as the climate becomes more continental in nature, and vital water supplies are scarce or depleted. Desertification reduces the biodiversity and genetic diversity of dryland ecosystems, impairing the sustainability of plants, animals and even humans in these regions. As a consequence of desertification, the soil of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas becomes eroded, resulting in unproductive and literally useless land. This disrupts the habitats and food sources for many organisms, making sustainable life in these areas very difficult (FAO, 2003). Furthermore, because of freshwater and food scarcity, the life expectancy and actual existence for many species is threatened. This grave consequence was evident in the western African country of Mauritania, where the desertification process, from 1970 to 1980, â€Å"killed approximately 15,000 people and over 500,000 various plants and animals were eradicated† (CIESIN, 2003). Unfortunately, as the severity of desertification escalates in countries like Mauritania, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain biologically diverse ecosystems needed to support the lives of plants, animals and humans. Through the ecological destruction and imbalance caused by desertification, the carbon exchange process is accelerated. Dryland vegetation and soil are crucial storage devices for carbon, and contain â€Å"practically half the total quantity of carbon† (FAO, 2003). Once these elements thin out or become unproductive due to desertification, carbon is released into the atmosphere. It is estimated that for every hectare of dryland vegetation or soil that is depleted or unusable, 30 tonnes of carbon is no longer stored and is released into the atmosphere (FAO, 2003). This elevation of atmospheric carbon contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Desertification also has major social consequences, disrupting the social fabric and standard of living for many traditional and Native peoples. On a global level, it threatens the stability and health of a growing population. In the desertification process land is degraded, making it extremely difficult to maintain a successful career and livelihood. Consequently, individuals are forced to relocate to areas with more livable conditions and stronger economic opportunities. This population displacement is evident in the migration of Mexicans to the United States: â€Å"Some 70 percent of all land in Mexico is vulnerable to desertification, one reason why some 900,000 Mexicans leave home each year in search of a better life as migrant workers in the United States† (Environment News Service, 2003). However, in the developing countries of Africa and Asia, impoverished individuals have no option but to become refugees, abandoning their previous livelihoods and simply struggling for survival. United Nations Secretary Kofi Annan stated that in sub-Saharan Africa, â€Å"the number of environmental refugees [refugees due to environmental issues like desertification] is expected to rise to 25 million in the next 20 years. † (Environment News Service, 2003). These refugee movements and population displacement have often caused political and social unrest, and even wars. As a result of desertification, countries fight for control of the scarce natural resources, since previous deposits are depleted or unusable (UNCCD, 2003). The strong, positive correlation between desertification and armed conflict is illustrated in Appendix 2. The population displacement, refugee movements and relationship to wars make desertification devastating to the social security of individuals in affected regions. Desertification has caused a crisis in the world’s food supply, creating concern over the sustainability of an increasing population. Dryland areas are home to some of the most important crops and â€Å"genetic strains of cultivated plants which form the basis of the food and health of the world’s population† (FAO, 2003). Some of these products include cereal crops, oil seeds, grain legumes and root crops. In drylands affected by desertification, land that was once agriculturally viable can no longer be used, as it is essentially a wasteland. Even if agriculture is feasible, the nutrient poor soil makes it extremely difficult to grow a large quantity of a certain crop. This has crippled the food supply, at a time when its sustainability is already in question. According to the United Nations: â€Å"a nutritionally adequate diet for the world’s growing population implies tripling food production over the next 50 years under favourable conditions. If desertification is not stopped and reversed, food yields in many affected areas will decline† (UNCCD, 2003). Thus, desertification creates uncertainty as to the adequacy of the world’s food production, endangering the supportability of a growing population. There is a strong, positive correlation between desertification and serious health concerns and diseases. The increasing rate of desertified areas has created a crisis in the world’s food and water supplies. As a result, food and water are extremely scarce, and â€Å"malnutrition, starvation and ultimately famine will result from desertification† (UNCCD, 2003). This has prompted concern and anxiety within the World Health Organization stating, â€Å"we [the WHO] is becoming increasingly worried with the consequences of desertification, such as malnutrition and famine† (WHO Denmark, 2003). Desertification is also indirectly linked to many severe epidemics, notably in Africa. The drying of water sources due to desertification forces people to use heavily polluted water, leading to disastrous health problems. According to the World Health Organization, â€Å"desertification and droughts can increase water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and diarrhoeal diseases† (WHO Denmark, 2003). Recent research and studies have also suggested that malaria incidences have escalated significantly in desertified areas. The strong, positive correlation between malaria and desertification is depicted in Appendix 3. Furthermore, soil erosion and land degradation has resulted in the creation of dust storms and poor air quality. This has had a very negative toll on human health and â€Å"results in mental stress, eye infections, respiratory illnesses and allergies† (UNCCD, 2003). Therefore, desertification is strongly associated with dust storms, poor air quality, malnutrition, famine, and epidemics, all of which are enormously hazardous to human health. In an attempt to combat and rehabilitate desertified land, precious economic funds are required and exhausted. Consequently, resources are drained, resulting in the weakening of local economies and the compromising of national development goals. As the desertification process continues, attention and money is spent on crisis management, not on growth and development. Due to the depletion of natural resources, desertification contributes to decreased income levels and productivity losses. This is specifically true in agricultural regions and severely stunts economic growth. The worldwide cost of desertification, expressed as income foregone amounts to approximately $11 billion for irrigated land, $8 billion for rainfed cropland, and $23 billion for rangeland, for a total cost of $42 billion (CIESIN, 2003). This value may not seem astronomical for developed countries like Canada, Britain and the United States, but for nations in the developing world, these figures are devastating. According to an unpublished World Bank study, â€Å"the depletion of natural resources causing income loss in one Sahelian country was equivalent to 20% of its Gross Domestic Product† (UNCCD, 2003). Desertification has thus crippled present earnings as well as income potential in the future, hurting not only individuals but also entire economies. In an effort to improve future conditions, developing countries devote significant amounts of their limited monetary resources to combating and rehabilitating land affected by desertification, severely impeding their economic growth. Land rehabilitation costs are those incurred for stopping further degradation and to restore the land to something approaching its original condition. Unfortunately, this requires a significant amount of investment that could have been used for economic development, as opposed to just repairing land. On a per hectare basis, it is estimated that â€Å"a cost of $2,000 is needed to improve irrigated land, $400 for rainfed cropland, and $40 for rangeland† (CIESIN, 2003). To people living in the developing world, these costs consume much, if not all of their incomes, obviously crippling their careers and livelihoods. Although there is the potential to repair and rehabilitate almost all land affected by desertification only â€Å"52 per cent (1,860 million hectares) can pay back the cost of rehabilitation† (CIESIN, 2003). Thus, many farmers and individuals reclaim land, but because of huge overriding costs, they actually lose money as productivity remains stagnant. Therefore, limited monetary funds are spent towards crisis management, sacrificing national development and economic growth. Desertification is directly linked to the mass poverty occurring in the developing world. Individuals consistently endure an impoverished lifestyle because income potential is foregone, and resources are devoted towards rehabilitation, therefore scarce economic funds are depleted. United Nations Secretary Kofi Anna states: â€Å"Because the poor often farm degraded land, desertification is both a cause and consequence to poverty? Fighting desertification must be an integral part of our wider efforts to eradicate poverty† (Environment News Service, 2003). If the desertification process continues to grow exponentially, mass poverty will also increase both in size and in severity. Thus, in order to address poverty, desertification must be contained and controlled. Currently, desertification affects over 250 million people and a third of the earth’s land surface (4 billion hectares) (UNCCD, 2003). In addition, the livelihoods of over one billion people in over 100 countries are indirectly threatened (UNCCD, 2003), as shown in the map in Appendix 4. It is estimated that in the next 50 years, another billion people will fall victim to the wrath of desertification and its related environmental, social, and economic ramifications (CIESIN, 2003). The depletion and contamination of fresh water sources, the reduction in biodiversity, and the acceleration of the carbon cycle make desertification devastating to the sustainability of the environment. Socially, desertification forces people to migrate which may eventually lead to wars or conflicts, creates a major catastrophe for the world’s food supply, and is scientifically correlated to major health concerns, even epidemics such as malaria. The economic status of developing countries impacted by the desertification process is jeopardized as high levels of income are foregone, and resources are devoted towards rehabilitation, not towards growth and development. Furthermore, poverty in African and Asian nations has grown exponentially due to this process, creating humanitarian and economic crises. The world’s future is at stake, and it is imperative that the global community acts now. Desertification is a preventable process, but requires a coordinated approach involving effort from the local, national and global communities. Local and national governments must implement methods of soil and water conservation, and utilize traditional agricultural systems that support positive environmental strategies. The industrialized world must supply the economic and technological aid necessary for these conservation techniques (UNCCD, 2003). Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology is a modern technique that can be effectively used in combating desertification. GPS satellites can actually pinpoint and locate areas vulnerable or prone to desertification, acting as excellent early warning signs. This allows governments to implement various techniques and policies to prevent damage done by desertification. As former United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated in a letter to governors on February 26, 1937, â€Å"a nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself† (Dingle, 2003). The battle to combat desertification is a war that can be lost, but must be won. Now is the time to win the fight before this glimmer of hope disappears. Appendix 1: Time-Series Photos of the Aral Sea Source: Aral Sea Homepage, 2002 These pictures were taken using LANDSAT TM satellite technology. The reddish shade represents the vegetation around the Aral Sea. The northern part of the image is the shoreline of the sea. Notice how in 1979 the shoreline is quite large, while in 1989 it is non-existent, illustrating the decreasing water levels. What is also striking is the white shade on the satellite photo from 1989. This represents an artificial saltpan, caused by desertification and desiccation. Appendix 2: World Map of Armed Conflicts and Desertification Source: CIESIN, 2003 Most of the armed conflicts occurring from 1989-97 are in highly desertified areas. Thus, there is a strong positive correlation between desertification and armed conflict. Appendix 3: Map of Desertification Vulnerability and Malaria Risk in Africa For both maps, red represents the highest severity, followed by orange, yellow, green and lastly white. In desertified areas, much of the population is at risk of malaria, thus there is a strong, positive correlation between desertification and malaria. Appendix 4: World Map of Desertification Vulnerability Source: CIESIN, 2003 Works Cited Aral Sea Homepage. â€Å"Aral Sea Region: Kyzylorda Oblast, Kazakhstan. † 2002. . CIESIN: Center for Earth Science Information Network. â€Å"Global Desertification Dimensions and Costs. † 29 July 2003. . DEWA: Divisions of Warning and Assessment, United Nations. â€Å"Desertification and Drought Identification. † 2002. . Dingle, Carol, et al. â€Å"Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotations. † 2003. . Dregne, H. E. , et al. Desertification of Arid Lands. New York: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1983.

The Search for Health Care Services 2019

There is a lot of information to consider when searching for personal health care services. The possibilities and choices available to patients and clients are endless and, at times, overwhelming. However, personal health care services and plans are a must in todays world. How can an individual searching for information simplify their quest for personal health care services? For some Americans, personal health care services are provided directly through employment and, in this case, it is important to be educated about what personal health care services are extended to you. If you are not provided with personal health care services through your employer, the next option is obtaining an individual health care plan. Individual health care plans provide personal health care services at a higher cost than through employers, but for some people, like the self- employed, this is their only option. Personal health care services are provided through the federal government to seniors, pregnant women, low-income families, and the disabled through Medicare and Medicaid. It is especially important to have access to personal health care services if you or someone in your family suffers from a chronic or severe medical condition. How does one go about obtaining personal health care services? .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211 { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211:active, .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211 { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211 .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211 .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u62806deb2408d18dd71cf0e9c2816211:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ The Development of Information TechnologyThere are a few options for those seeking health care coverage. The important factors to consider when choosing a provider of personal health care services are services offered, provider choices, location, costs, and quality. What is most important to you and your family when seeking personal health care services? What services are covered? What services are limited? What doctors are part of the plan? Do you need to choose a primary care doctor? Does the personal health care service offer locations near my work or home? What are the deductibles? What are the co-payments? How does the personal health care service provider deal with quality control and complaints? These are several important questions to ask before pursuing your choice in personal health care service p roviders. You may also need to consider what personal health care services are most important to you and your family and if they are included in your prospective plan. Personal health care services to consider could include physical exams, health screening, specialist care, hospitalization and emergency care, prescription drugs, vision and dental services. Other personal health care services you may want to ask about are mental health counseling and care, drug and alcohol treatment, gynecological care, disease care, physical therapy and rehabilitation, home health and nursing home care, chiropractic care, and experimental or alternative treatments such as acupressure and acupuncture. Some personal health care services may not be offered for a pre- existing condition until after a certain waiting period. Pre-existing conditions qualify as conditions that existed prior to health care insurance coverage. New laws have recently passed requiring some personal health care providers to waive the wait ing period if the patient has had previous insurance. .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd:active, .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u1e8a3d89bfe882b775c8714aed48e1dd:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Careers For Those With a Criminal Justice Bachelor's DegreePersonal health care services are essential to everyone. If you are seeking medical insurance coverage for personal health care services, the good news is that your options are endless with a wide array of managed care and indemnity plans to choose from. Related ArticlesHealth Care Administration CareersOnline Nursing Class Programs Employment in Long-Term Care Expected to GrowRN to BSN Degree Labor and Delivery Nurses Care for Women, Families, and NewbornsHealth Care Employment OpportunitiesFocused Health Care Planning For Students10 Job Search Rules You Need to Break