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Political Theory Questions

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Choose one stanza from “Song of Myself” and discuss the political implications. PAGEREF _Toc379017933 h 1Describe Nietzsche’s epistemology and discuss possible political implications of such thought PAGEREF _Toc379017934 h 4

Choose one stanza from “Song of Myself” and discuss the political implications.Song of Myself is a poem by an American poet Walt Whitman that is published among other works in his work Leaves of Grass. The poem is filled with numerous, significant details, although this paper will look only at one of them found in the sixth stanza of the poem. The following is a section derived from the poem. It is the sixth stanza, which the first section of the paper will base its arguments on.

A child said what is the grass. Fetching it to me with full hands, How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic, And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, Growing among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass, It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men, It may be if I had known them I would have loved them, It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mothers’ laps, And here you are the mothers’ laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, Darker than the colorless beards of old men, Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues, And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women, And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceas’d the moment life appear’d.

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

A child asks the narrator of the poem to explain what grass is (Whitman, 1955). To answer this question, the narrator has to use his own utilization of imagery and symbolism and his incapability to break down things to crucial principles. The bunches of grass the child is holding thus becomes a symbol of the nature of regeneration. Nevertheless, they also indicate or signify a common material that connects all the different individuals throughout the United States.

Therefore, one can view or understand grass as an excellent example or symbol of democracy, because it grows everywhere even on top of graves. In the era and age of civil war, the same grass reminds the author of the poem of graves (Whitman, 1955), and even though the graves hold dead people, grass does not discriminate as it grows even on their graves. This also points out to another implication that everyone will have to die eventually. The natural roots of grass or democracy, in this matter, also are mortal, and they are vulnerable to death whether, as a result, of bloodshed and killing found in warfare or because of natural causes. While in other cases Whitman succeeds in this kind of imagery and symbolism, in this case it troubles him a little. He says that he could be able to interpret or understand where the boundary of the difference that exists between saying nothing and covering everything starts or ends.

The difficult the author experiences in trying to explain to the child what grass is means that even he cannot describe the democratic nature fully and especially if he is explaining it to individuals who cannot quite understand or comprehend it. Democracy here is shown as a complicated and challenging issue that individuals have to see how it works, and observe it so as to understand it. The only thing the author can tell the child is that he sees and experiences grass or democracy in young women and men (Whitman, 1955), meaning that democracy can be present in all people.

The author then takes this metaphor explanation further by telling the child that even the grass that has died (Whitman, 1955), or democracy that has diminished and the one that is forgotten is part of the whole, and is not treated separately. The poem Song to Myself explores and balances the themes of collectivity and individuality as two essential components for democratic experiments in the United States. The sixth section of this poem, therefore, is one of the essential ones in the whole text. This is because grass here is used as a symbol of hope and democracy. The poem and the author most likely wanted to liken grass to democracy because just as grass reaches every part of the world, so does democracy. When allowed to grow, democracy expands and covers all people including men and women.

Describe Nietzsche’s epistemology and discuss possible political implications of such thoughtThe two fundamental notions and ideas in understanding epistemology and metaphysics of Nietzsche are the will to power and perspectivism. Perspectivism can be described as the view or notion that our understanding and knowledge are conditioned or determined by how we view it. Therefore, to see something, one must be in a certain time and in a particular place and view or see it from a certain perspective. One, therefore, cannot see s thing from any perspective all the time. Therefore, we cannot see the thing, but its perspective then knowledge only occurs within a certain perspective (Nietzsche, 1882).

For this philosopher, this destructs knowledge, as it is traditionally understood. Knowledge is only knowledge of the whole, not just some part of the whole, because seeing and understanding knowledge as such is illusionary and deceptive. Another perspective of this idea is that whatever knowledge we have is just and nothing else but human knowledge. This knowledge is conditioned by and based on our human faculties and human processes. This, however, presents a problem to Nietzsche. The issue with his perspectivism is that they conclude or derive from the fact that real knowledge is impossible and that humans only have and are left with only some parts of knowledge and not the whole knowledge (Nietzsche, 1882).

The other major part in the epistemology of Nietzsche is the will to power. Most his work is build around this idea. The will to power is generally a force within individuals that drives them to live and survive. People live and survive by forcing other individuals and reality to obey and succumb to their power. The will to power drives individuals to think about the others and the world in the way that they do. They subscribe order, meaning, understanding and knowledge to the world because of the will to power (Nietzsche, 1882). In a sense, the philosopher anticipates pragmatism.

In his view, truth is not what corresponds or goes in line with reality, rather what allows individuals to attain their power and goals. Reason, therefore, only represent the expediency of a particular species or race, their utility is their only truth. Reason, truth and knowledge have little to do with the real world. They only affect how well individuals and other species control others to survive. As the philosopher argues, the real world could be completely different from what our understanding and reasoning points out and from what our minds hold as the truth, however, this has little to do with anything. So long as truth and reason enable is to have control and power, which is still essential and relevant. The criterion of truth, thereby, resides in the enhancement of power feelings (Nietzsche, 1882).

In Nietzsche’s epistemology, the will to power indicates that real things are the things that people can have power over and the things that individuals do. The classical ideas of knowledge and truth, therefore, are ineffectual and passive. For Nietzsche, there are signs and meaningless of weakness. Strength comes in actively to create one’s reality world. One of the interesting things in this theory is that the philosopher takes all of reasoning and experience and claims that it does not lead to any sort of real or true world. Trust in reason and its functions and valuation of logic prove only its use in life (Nietzsche, 1882).

References

Nietzsche, F. (1882). The Gay Science: Twilight of the Idols. New York: Vintage Books.

Whitman, W. (1955). Song of Myself. New York: Democratic Vistas.

My Favorite Course Topic

My favorite course topic was the Gender Wage Gap. I found the topic very interesting and educative as well. It enlightened me on some of the challenges that emerge from the gender wage gap. I learned that the gender wage gap, to an extend, is beyond women’s control. I felt like this chapter prepared me for my future as a woman. I intend to pursue a technical profession in the future. Going through this chapter was an eye-opener for me on what to expect in this labor market sector. It gave me a vivid understanding of how women are disadvantaged in the workforce compared to their male counterparts. The topic has equipped me with the right knowledge to apply in my career path in the future.

My Growth from Taking a Social Work Course

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My Growth from Taking a Social Work Course

Since I started taking this course, I have gained a lot of knowledge pertaining to social work, which I did not have before. I have learned about what the job of a social worker entails and how to professionals are expected to behave. My experience in field placement was not only exhilarating but also eye-opening. The internship exposed me to the ideal work environment and showed me the good and the ugly side of social work. I interacted with many professionals in this line of work and I was lucky to get a mentor from the workplace. Having a mentor is an added advantage because I have an experienced person by my side to hold my hand and guide me as I venture into the social work career. The experience was quite fulfilling because I had an opportunity to participate in trainings and group sessions for recovering drug addicts. Seeing people receive help and get better by the day gave an individual joy and a sense of fulfillment (Snowden, 2018). Without a doubt, working with an instructor that did not have access to blackboard was challenging. At first, I was frustrated and did not know what to do. However, as time passed, I managed to get creative and found alternative ways to communicate with the instructor. I managed to get the instructor’s email from the department official and I reached out to him. We were able to communicate through email, which made the internship experience, including assessment, easier.

Covid-19 had a grave impact on my field placement. To begin with, I had difficulties finding a suitable organization to accept my internship placement. At the time, most institutions were not in full operation. Some were partially open, and most of them were working remotely. The number of available internships was rather limited because of the disruption caused by covid-19 (Toros & Madar, 2015). When my internship was accepted in one of the institutions I had applied to, I experienced difficulties settling in. It was a new environment for me so it took me some time to get used to working in an office space. The field placement experience taught me a lot of things, including how to dress as a professional and how to carry myself in an office environment. When going for my internship, I was very clueless that I did not know phone call etiquette. By the time I was leaving the institutions, I had grown both as a person and professionally. Before taking the course, I knew little concerning the code of ethics; however, thanks to this course, I have learned more about why dual-relationships are prohibited. I realize that they can hinder patient recovery and cause relapse.

References

Snowden, F. (2018). The formation of the Black medical movement and its implications for social work, part I: African American physicians. Urban Social Work, 2(2), 159-175.

Toros, K., & Medar, M. (2015). Social work students’ thoughts on self-reflection: A qualitative study based on reflective journaling. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 5(3), 89-96.

Matrix

My favorite movie of all time is the Matrix. The Matrix is a visually dazzling cyber-adventure, full of kinetic excitement. It is not only an action packed film with a variety of special effects, but it also has an amazingly interesting story line to it. The Matrix has the conventional conflict of good conquering over evil. The Matrix involves an evil computer world with accompanying bad guys controlling the real world versus the good in the human spirit. The good triumphs over evil keeping the film morally correct. The movie “The Matrix“ brought an exciting new technology, never before used, to the cinema screen. The scene I am talking about is the action where an agent from the evil world is firing a conventional weapon upon Neo, the main character.

This scene is when Neo and Trinity go to save Morpheus, whom agents are holding. An agent shoots bullets at Neo, at which time the filming becomes slow motion as he bends backward 90 degrees and dodges every bullet coming at him, with the camera moving in a complete circle around the two opponents. The bullets are shown as rippling waves through the air, with a clear view of the bullet as it splits the air. As the camera moves in a counter clockwise motion, you see the characters and action change from viewing it in one direction to coming straight at the audience, before slowly moving away again. This scene length was close to one minute in which movie filming was changed from the realistic to the fantasy. The technology of the 360-degree camera shot was spectacularly introduced to the general movie going public. The camera was rotating around the character, Neo, in a 360-degree pattern while showing the bullets fly past him on all sides as the camera moved to show his front, side, back, side views. A music score without dialog kept the scene a visual experience. This technology lead to a whole new standard of filming for movies.

When I saw this scene in the movie theaters, I was astounded by the miraculous event that just took place. The audience was in utter shock, everyone was whispering to each other about what they just saw. I have never seen anything in the movies that could even resemble the sequence in the movie. The scene only lasted a few moments, but that image stuck in your head like a rewinding video.

Many kinds of movies, ranging from comedy to action, are now using the 360- degree viewing to enhance scenes and raise the levels of filming to adjust to the technology of the current times. This type of filming has generated a wide variety of uses. The first mimic, of course, was other movies. The movie Deuce Bigalow Male Gigilow had a scene where a character did the same scene as Neo in the Matrix, but was intended to make fun of it. This filming technique was even used in a more current film that came out, Swordfish. The opening scene where the girl is forced outside the bank with an explosive vest on her used this technology. When she blew up it showed the explosion in a 360-degree turn like the Matrix, but instead of a two character shot, this scene involved a slow motion view of the entire street area reacting to the impact of the explosion.

Graphic artists are using the 360-degree view for developing new building construction, landscaping, architectural development, and advertising. This type of filming has quickly become a standard for high tech projects involving new products, medical diagnoses, vehicle accidents, and law enforcement. The 360 view has been employed to recreate disasters, military maneuvers, and natural phenomenon to study and learn ways to protect the public, or to prevent future disasters.

The technology was in existence but this was the first time a movie had the chance to use it in a major film. The action packed science fiction of the Matrix made it possible to use this technology. The Matrix was the first movie that had the budget and foresight to incorporate this technology effectively. This technology became possible due to the advances in the computer industry in the last ten years. Without the many people involved in developing new programs, this type of technology would not be a reality at this time.

The best part about the Matrix is that it took place in the present and the story could be true about us, without our knowledge. Our society has made such tremendous advances in the computer era in the last decade, that few people know the extent and scope computers play in our daily lives. The human imagination has the capacity to dream up ways that computers affect our lives that sound more like science fiction than reality. That this movie could in fact be telling the world a true fact is not beyond the general public’s imagination. Initially, a person would deny that computers could be so advanced as to take over the human population, but subconsciously, there may be a small doubt that maybe, just maybe, it could possibly be true. People have been bombarded in the last few years with stories, real or imagined, of computers doing what was totally unthinkable to the last generation. With the knowledge that the general population knows so little about the high tech end of computer science, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the individual would begin to doubt that what his eyes see is in truth reality. The story was so intriguing that when people were exiting the movie, they were talking about how that concept could be true right now. During the scene when Neo dodged those bullets, everyone was in utter amazement. All the people in the audience were whispering to their companions about the event that just took place.

The artifact derived when Neo and Trinity went to save their companion. They were on top of the police building when an agent showed up, leaving only Neo, Trinity and the agent. It was an ideal time to show that Neo could move like an agent and begin to surpass his friends. The movie was starting to come to a conclusion, and there needed to be some recognition of Neo being the one (the one with the ability to remake the Matrix as he sees fit). The scene or rather the artifact showed the first step of Neo becoming the one. It was very significant since the first step to becoming the one is to match the agent’s skills and soon surpass them. Another significant part of the scene was that Trinity was there to witness it. Later in the movie it tells you that it was her destiny to fall in love with the one. Since Trinity was there to witness the event, it gave insight to her eventually realizing that he was the one. She learned that her feelings towards Neo were actually feelings of love. It showed the public that even with our lives depending on computers, either in the movies or in reality, that the human emotion of love is still an extremely powerful aspect of every life. I have come to realize that that scene not only played an important part in the movie, but also gave the first bit of insight into what Neo was to become.

The Matrix has become a big part of our pop culture because of the innovative film techniques used to make it a milestone for all other action movies. The 360-degree, slow motion scenes were filmed with such outstanding results; it set a standard for future movies to adhere to. This technology was quickly employed by a wide variety of graphic designers from a variety of professions, including construction and medical. The majority used it to display views for the improved understanding of how a product was perceived. The advances in this type of filming were welcomed by the general public as a superior visual component that would enhance their viewing. It has opened a door to the future where three dimensional viewing and filming c will only improve our way of life.

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My Ideal Learning Environment

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My Ideal Learning Environment

As an instructor, it is important to come up with a suitable plan to employ in the course of teaching. The plan should align with the course objectives and be a good fit for the learners. For effective learning, the environment should be conducive for both the teacher and learners. It is important to understand the nature of learners to come up with the best way of handling them. Teachers deal with different personalities because they deal with learners from diverse backgrounds and upbringing. It is upon the instructor to get creative on the most practical way of handling the students considering their different personalities and abilities. The teacher should develop ways of establishing boundaries among learners and with the instructor. This text discusses my vision for an ideal learning environment for an English class, a grade 11 class with most students ranging from 16-to 17 years.

Creating and Maintaining a Respectful and Collaborative Class of Actively Engaged Learners

There are various strategies I can employ to create a mutually respectful and collaborative class of actively engaged learners. Mutual respect is important as it creates an environment for safety, motivation and respect for students. First, I will establish a clear expectation on the first day of interaction with the learners. Communicating clear classroom expectations from the onset is important as it provides a chance to set class rules and procedures with the learners (Driver, Zimmer, & Murphy, 2018). The rules should be written down on the wall everyone can see. It is important to consider having one single rule –observing respect. The learners will be required to respect each other, their instructor, themselves, and their property. Additionally, instructors should convey their expectations to their learners at this juncture. Furthermore, another way of maintaining a respectful class is modeling respectful conduct at all times. As a teacher, it is important to lead by example as it goes a long way in pushing learners to become respectful too. Respect can be shown to learners by addressing them in a calm voice. Teachers should speak to their manners in a way they would expect them to also speak to them. Also, teachers should address support staff and administrators with the utmost respect. Another way to ensure students remain respectful is being consistent with them. This means enforcing rules with fairness and without favoritism and administering punishment as warranted. When administering punishment, it is important to do it privately to protect the students’ dignity. The teacher should explain the reason for punishment calmly before finishing with a positive comment such as “You knew there would be repercussions when you were interrupting class. I look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow. To create collaboration, instructors should encourage their students to learn from each other. Discussions can help confused students to understand concepts better and view them in a new way. If a student reports a case where interactions such as group studies have yielded a good result, teachers should make reference to the incident as an example. This will encourage top-performing students to pair up and want to help average learners in a bid to boost their performance in that subject.

Building Relationships

As a teacher, there are various strategies I can employ to build stronger relationships with my students. The first strategy is to show the learners that you care for them. It is unfortunate that there is a growing trend that most students that drop out of school believe that their instructors do not care for them. The first step to making the teacher-learner relationship stronger is communicating feelings in a manner that shows empathy. Teachers should mind the way they talk to students, particularly in the presence of their peers. Additionally, telling them good morning and goodbye every day is important. Also, teachers can show students they care by paying attention to students that seem withdrawn, display high emotions, and disrupt class (Claessens, van Tartwijk, van der Want, Pennings, Verloop, den Brok, & Wubbels, 2017). Moreover, to strengthen the teacher-student relationship, teachers should always consider their learners’ perspectives. Just as a teacher encourages students to be empathetic towards each other, so should they demonstrate understanding of their situations. Teachers should put themselves in the student’s shoes and try to understand their situations from their perspective. Teachers can better understand their students by asking them what goes on outside the classroom and how they feel about the teacher. Giving students constructive criticism and offering them words of encouragement goes a long way in establishing mutual respect and trust and building their relationship with their instructor.

Ideal Classroom Organization

To ensure that all the students’ needs, including those with special needs the first step would be to designate the various learning areas and zones in the classroom. When thinking about different zones within the classroom, they should ensure they match the seating locations with the learning styles. While some students function best if positioned next to their peers, others work best if positioned alone and away from other students. Furthermore, other students have sensory or special needs, so they will need to move. For example, students that have sensory needs can be provided with a bouncy chair that allows them to bounce as their work. They can also use a disk-o-seat cushion which is an inflated cushion which provides core balance and sensory solution. Students can be able to move with this cushion. Foam pads can also be employed on the chair surface or ground surface to make disabled students more comfortable. In terms of organization, I will keep them power cords, electrical cords, and other wires away from walkways. Desks will be kept away from walkways to prevent hazardous situations. In case of an emergency, learners should be able to move around. Furniture and other obstacles should not impede students from exiting the classroom in the case of a fire or any other emergency. Moreover, in the arrangement, I will ensure to incorporate different learning zones and areas. One way to classify the classroom for maximum functioning is to have at least four areas. Area 1 would be for individual desks. These are the most traditional desks and should be reserved that function well alone and have a hard time pairing with their classmates. Area 2 should be reserved for small groupings and tables. Students in this sector are those that find it easy to cooperate. Area 3 should be left for a flexible seating area. These areas should be a combination of students that fit in all other areas. Area 4 should be left for students that require to be moved around frequently, the stander and the pacers. Such students seem to perform best if constantly moved around the classroom.

Behavior Management Plan

My behavior management plan supports this vision because it considers the most important aspects that comprise effective learning. Creating and promoting respect is important as it helps set boundaries, which is an important foundation for learning. The plan supports the vision of having an effective learning environment as it explores the aspect of building a solid teacher-learner relationship. Moreover, physical organization in a classroom contributes heavily to students’ learning ability and performance. By working on the behavioral and other issues mentioned here-in, both learners and teachers would benefit heavily from the learning process.

References

Claessens, L. C., van Tartwijk, J., van der Want, A. C., Pennings, H. J., Verloop, N., den Brok, P. J., & Wubbels, T. (2017). Positive teacher–student relationships go beyond the classroom, problematic ones stay inside. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(5), 478-493.

Driver, M., Zimmer, K., & Murphy, K. (2018). Using mixed reality simulations to prepare preservice special educators for collaboration in inclusive settings. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 26(1), 57-77.

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China’s Transition from the Mao Era to Neoliberal Post-Mao Market Reforms

A lot has been said about China and how it transitioned from the Mao era to a neoliberal post-Mao market economy. Evidently, China begun the transition to a market economy from the late 1970s and in the early 1980s using a systematic approach to its major industries including the agricultural sector, opening up itself to foreign investments, and allowing entrepreneurs to conduct businesses. Previously, Mao had instituted a socialist education campaign and in 1966 formed a cultural revolution aimed at removing counter-revolutionary aspects in the Chinese society. In a movement that lasted 10 years, Mao saw China descend into class struggles, unprecedented elevation, and widespread destruction of various cultural artifacts unique to China. Mao’s agenda was to preserve communism in China through a process of purging capitalist remnants and all traditional aspects for the society. Due to the radicalness of the Mao era, its abrupt end and the transition to a neoliberal market reform afterwards is quite remarkable. Notably, the most compelling elements identifiable in China’s transition from the Mao era to neoliberal post-Mao market reforms include economics as a key to the country’s agenda, reduction of trade barriers, partially free market conditions, and the partial control and deregulation of the capital markets.

One of the key hallmarks of China’s transition from the Mao era to neoliberal post-Mao market reforms was the reversal of some policies made under the Mao era. Ping highlights how the movement from socialization to privatization of housing and other property markets in a reversed policymaking period reflected development ideology in the post-Mao period (6). As a mark of neoliberal politics and thinking, the housing sector was prioritized in the economy driven new approach that has seen China rise ever since to its current status. Today, expansive economy driven policies have seen urbanization account for a majority of China’s success in the post-Mao era (The Guardian 1). These developments are clear indications of a change in policy, one that would not have been possible in a nationalized Mao-era government. At present, powerful national identity and the strong sense of social purpose, as identified by Meisner (413), have been replaced by a country focused on an economy-driven political ideology, one that focuses on an overall welfare of its society through enabling entrepreneurs to drive the economy, removing barriers, and protecting domestic industries from external rivalry that is harmful. Yet, in the current post-Mao market reform era, the government has retained some level of control not evident in countries in the same economic development level as China.

While it is easy to focus only on the economic development of the country following the end of the Mao-driven reforms, it is important to also note that the post-Mao Chinese state play a vital role in governing and regulating people’s everyday life. Yu presents a case of how girls in the traditional Chinese society were forced to bind their feet in order to marry city elites, in a display of a Chinese culture that was very unequal, influenced largely by the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century (1). Here, the influence of the reigning political class shows how policies affect the daily lives of the people in China. The post-Mao Chinese state has similar effects, albeit not as extreme as the foot-binding girls, but all the same noteworthy as the activities and policies held by the government controls and regulates how people interact with others through business, social, political, ideological, and in economic realms. At present, the post-Mao Chinese state offers freedom in relation to entrepreneurship, a phenomenon that has created jobs for various industries, improved the livelihood of the people, led to a rise in middle class status for a majority of the citizens, and seen an unprecedented wave of internal rural-urban migration. According to Miller (1), migration in China, titled Farm to City, is the story of the movement from the Mao era to a more liberal post-Mao period that has seen the lives of many people transformed. Urbanization, largely due to government interventions and policies, has led to better health care, overall improvement in education and its quality, opening up of more rural economies, and an overall better employment opportunity. While some problems exist, including unemployment and overpopulation in some cities, and the problem of a middle-class economy, the role of the post-Mao Chinese state has been one that has facilitated positive change to improve the everyday lives of the Chinese people. Therefore, through its efforts to improve the economy, the post-Mao Chinese state has enabled better outcomes for people, even where poverty, joblessness, increased migration, and a rising middle class exist.

The role that the government has played in governing and regulating the everyday lives of the Chinese people has been converted into rapid urbanization and the formation of a middle class xiaokang society. Ping is conscious of the problems and limitations that have risen in China due to the rapid urbanization of the country including changing patterns of human activities, social structural changes, and migration (7). In China today, rapid urbanization and building a middle-class xiaokang society have given rise to high population density especially in the cities, a lack of affordable housing, poverty, inadequate infrastructure in some regions of the country, pollution, crime, creation of slum dwellings especially for those migrating into the cities, and congestion. Meisner’s view of the concept of cultural revolution also points to a change in culture where Chinese people are gradually adopting capitalist ideologies in various critical sectors and in the act of building and maintain a vibrant middle-class society (293). Overall, the problems and limitations of China’s rapid urbanization and building a middle-class xiaokang society continue to expand as the nation rises in terms of economic development, social structures, and the adoption of more economy-driven political ideologies.

Due to the rapid urbanization and the rise of a budding middle-class society, China has progressed unevenly. This has meant that the nation has seen many people move from the countryside to the urban dwellings in the cities in search of greener pastures. The effect has meant that migrant workers have increased significantly, a condition that Miller has expressed to be a disaster in waiting as the country expands in ways that even the government has not been able to control (3). Migrant workers earn better than those that stay behind in farms and the twin processes of industrialization and urbanization mean that the national Chinese economy is able to provide jobs, even at minimum pay, for migrant workers (Miller 3). However, life for these workers is uncomfortable insecure, and unfair. While the economic rewards are better than the life in the countryside, mass migration means that housing and other critical components of human living are critically inadequate. The plight and struggles of the migrant workers will continue in the next several years as mass migration continues to happen amidst an expanding Chinese economy.

In conclusion, China’s transition from the Mao era to neoliberal post-Mao market reforms has meant rapid development, industrialization, and urbanization. While positive elements exist, including a better overall living condition and more wealth distribution in the country, it has also meant that a majority of people have been affected. While the government struggles to provide the best living conditions for all its citizenry, some elements cannot be controlled. For example, migration into the cities have meant poor conditions and insecurity for migrant workers. Nonetheless, the transition from the Mao era to neoliberal post-Mao market reforms has been a positive era for China, one that has seen it rise to global status.

Works Cited

Meisner, Maurice, and Matthias Meisner. Mao’s China and after: A history of the People’s

Republic. Simon and Schuster, 1999.

Miller, Tom. China’s urban billion: the story behind the biggest migration in human history. Zed

Books Ltd., 2012.

Ping, Lei. “Demolition of a Distinctive Chinese Habitus: Controversies of Urban Sustainability

in Shanghai.” Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 61.6 (2019): 4-17.

The Guardian. “Chinese construction firm erects 57_storey skyscraper in 19 days: Company

claims to be world’s fastest builder after assembling Mini Sky City at a pace of three floors a day.” The Guardian. 30 April 2015: Web.

Yu, Kongjian. “Beautiful big feet: Toward a new landscape aesthetic.” Harvard Design

Magazine, Fall/Winter 10 (2009).

China’s economy could shrink for the first time in decades because of the Coronavirus

By Laura He, CNN BusinessUpdated 1702 GMT (0102 HKT) March 4, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN Business) The novel coronavirus outbreak has been brutal for China and could plunge the country’s economy into its first contraction since the 1970s.

Economic activity sharply declined across the board in February as companies struggled to reopen for business or hire workers during a government-mandated shutdown, according to official and private surveys released in recent days.

Wednesday revealed shockingly lousy news for services in the world’s second-biggest economy. Chinese media group Caixin said its purchasing managers index for the sector plummeted to 26.5 last month from a reading of 51.8 the month before — the lowest figure recorded by the survey since it began in 2005. A reading below 50 indicates contraction rather than growth.

“China’s economy is in a very bad way indeed,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale. That data — which mostly follows small and medium-sized companies — largely tracked with a government survey of primarily state-owned firms in the services sector released over the weekend. China’s factories also recorded their worst month on record in February, according to government and Caixin data, as companies face extended closures to contain the virus, or struggled to fill jobs because of travel restrictions.

“The virus outbreak has put the government into a difficult situation,” said Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ. “On one hand, the lockdown policy is the most effective way to contain virus spreading out. On the other hand, the health measures are hindering economic activity.”

The gloomy picture painted by the data is reinforced by evidence from coming from big companies. The world’s biggest brewer, ABInBev (BUD), said it had lost $285 million in revenue in January and February in China, while iPhone maker Foxconn (HNHPF) said Tuesday it didn’t expect production to return to normal until the end of March.

The fallout could be crippling for China’s economic growth this quarter. Macquarie Group chief China economist Larry Hu suggested that the country could be in for a historic economic decline.

The data “suggest that things are really bad and the government is willing to report that,” Hu wrote in a note after the official data was released at the weekend, adding that growth for the first quarter could come in well below estimates currently running at around 4% (down from 6% in the fourth quarter of 2019).

“It’s even possible that the government will report negative growth for [the first quarter], the first time since the end of Culture Revolution,” he added.

China’s economy contracted 1.6% in 1976, when Communist Party leader Mao Zedong’s death ended a decade-long period of social and political tumult in the country. Since then, China has boomed, growing at an average annual rate of 9.4% between 1978 and 2018 as it embarked on a series of economic reforms.

Hu wrote that China will likely enact more policy measures to help the economy, but added that it’s too early to expect a big stimulus package from Beijing.

UBS economists also suspect that China’s economy contracted in January and February, noting the poor PMI data in a Tuesday research note.

“The next two weeks will be critical to track the path of new confirmed cases of coronavirus and the pace of economic normalization,” wrote Ning Zhang and Tao Wang, economists for UBS.

Bad news for jobs

The recent data suggest that Beijing’s efforts to shore up employment this year are in jeopardy. China’s services sector represents about 360 million jobs and accounts for 46% of the labor market, making it the largest source of employment in the country.

Government authorities have been pushing hard to keep unemployment low, wary of the fallout that could happen otherwise. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last month that officials are “closely watching the employment issue and will try to prevent massive layoffs.”

He also said stabilizing employment is the government’s primary task, and placed special emphasis on new graduates and migrant workers. China’s 290 million migrant workers are among those most exposed to a slump, since they often travel from rural areas to the cities to take on construction, manufacturing, or service jobs that would have been tough to find during last month’s widespread shutdowns.

Only 80 million migrant workers had returned to work by mid-February, according to the government.

In recent days, Beijing has also urged college students to join the army and ordered all public colleges to expand their advanced degree programs — efforts meant to reduce the number of job seekers.

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China’s Economy Could Shrink For the First Time in Decades Because Of the Coronavirus

The article China’s Economy could shrink for the First Time in Decades Because Of the Coronavirus by Laura He discusses the economic recession state of China due to the spread of the Coronavirus. China is the second-largest economy in the world. China’s industrial progress could shrink progressively with the rampant spread of the Coronavirus leading to a drop in the stock market and higher unemployment rates. It is evident through the hardships Chinese firms face to reopen for business or hire workers after the government-mandated shut down in February as a measured policy to contain the virus. In micro-economics, an economic recession happens when the economy is on a downward spiral for two quarters in a row. A drop in revenues generated by large and medium-sized business organizations in China indicates that the Coronavirus has led to a contraction of China’s economy. Various global organizations operating in the country have reported a drop in their revenues where ABInBev (BUD) lost $285million, whereas Apple maker Foxconn expected its production to decline until the end of March (He, 2020). The country experienced its last economic contraction in the 1970s. It is a clear indication that the virus has seen most of the country’s economic activities shutting down due to extended measures to contain the virus or inability to fill in the job vacancies due to travel restrictions.

Coronavirus jeopardizes China’s combined efforts to contain unemployment. The virus has led to unstable employment levels in the country, with the government straining to create job vacancies for new graduates and migrant workers. During the shutdown, the workers face barriers of moving from rural to urban centers in search of construction, manufacturing, or service jobs. Out of the 290 million migrant workers, only 80 million have returned to work in February (He, 2020). The government has urged students to join the army as a measure to curb the unemployment rates in the country.

Work Cited

He, Laura. China’s economy could shrink for the first time in decades because of the Coronavirus. CNN Business, 4th March, 2020. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/04/economy/china-services-employment-coronavirus/index.html

HYPERLINK “javascript:void(0);” o “Click to watch this video”

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My Favorite Thing To Do

My favorite thing to do is to read and discover new information generally. Growing up, I always had an interest in reading novels. I am the kind of pupil who would sneak on novels and read them during class. Years down the line, nothing has changed. I still love books the same way I did years ago, only that my love for knowledge has only grown.

There is something about discovering new knowledge that tickles my fancy. My personality can be best described as calm and curious. I find joy in discovering new information for some reason. Reading books keeps my mind active and at ease. Whenever I start reading a new book, I feel happy and rejuvenated. Reading books gives me something to look forward to. I know that I have to find time to read the book if I want to see how the story ends. I am the kind that carries a book to read on my way to work. I do not mind reading two pages a day as long as I keep going. My thirst for stories is unexplainable. The same way I love reading stories is the same way I enjoy telling them. Not to toot my horn, but I am a good storyteller. I tell stories with a passion. Maybe that explains why I look forward to reading other people’s stories.

My favorite topics to read about include motivational books and books about financial freedom. I love these topics as they are of interest to me. Books about financial freedom and literacy have molded me a lot. I have learned about the saving culture, growing money, and investments. They have also taught me important life lessons such as working smart, living below my means, and paying myself first. Seeing that I struggle to manage my finances and make informed decisions, books on financial freedom has taught me invaluable lessons that I will hold onto for life. Motivational books have also helped me grow significantly as an individual and professionally. Currently, I read up to three books every month, which I intend to raise to five.

My Feeling Towards Research

The research paper has been quite a challenge as well as a motivator in the field of medicine. It has been a challenge because I had to look for information from several books and internet and try to relate with whatever happens in real life in a short period of time. On the other hand, it has really expounded my knowledge in the field of medicine in that I have come to know that communication is very important when it comes to the client who is the patient and the medical practitioner. As I was doing the research I have been acquired a lot of knowledge that I will be able to apply in the field of medicine. I have learnt that it is very important for nurses to have open channels of communication so that once the clients have confidence with them, they can be in a position to open up and tell them of their problems which will even make it easier for the nurses to come up with the solutions or best cure. This is because they are in a position to obtain the history of the patient which they later use to analyse the main problem.

My feeling towards the entire research is that I have tried my best because as it was an extensive research and I had not done such a paper earlier on. I am very delighted to have completed it with the short period of time allocated and am quite sure that given enough time to do research I could do better as I would even engage the medical practitioners to be able to gain more information that is on the ground.

I therefore would take this opportunity to compliment my Lecuters who have been very much supportive in guiding me through the entire process of schooling. You have been of graet importance to me as I could not have reached this far. I finally would want to kindly request the person marking this essay to kindly accept the fact that I have done my level best given the challenges faced while doing the research as time was limited and therefore relied only on secondary data and that am still learning on how to conduct research . I therefore request that you kindly consider awarding me better marks which will enable me achieve a better grade and move ahead.

Choice For STEM Course

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Choice For STEM Course

Even though it is true that art and such kinds of courses are essential to life, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses are the courses that have the biggest impact on life. This can be proven by the medical field as it is a STEM-related field and it is a very important part of life as through medical research, drugs, and other related parts of the whole the human person has been made better and has been enabled to operate with very few sicknesses. Even those sicknesses that exist most have a cure and they can be healed effectively through science. Nursing is one of the courses under STEM and my choice for the course can be related to my desire to impact lives in a positive manner. I have always wanted to get in contact with people and help them in the best manner possible. However, this has not been possible and through nursing, I am hoping to impact people’s lives positively through nursing.

Another reason I chose nursing which is a STEM-related course is the fact that nursing even though more inclined towards medicine has some elements that make a human a full human being. That is the human contact that is needed for nursing and the warmth with which the nurses are supposed to have towards their patients. The fact that special care can contribute towards the healing of a patient is astonishing and apart from science nursing is like a calling and that is what made me choose the course. It combines science with the art of caring. These two make nursing adorable and desirable as people wish to be cared for.

A STEM college education will enable me to achieve personal goals like the desire to be part of a community or a noble profession like nursing which I have always desired. Through stem education, I will get to understand the basics of the human body and science in a general manner as well as understand what it takes to be a nurse as through the process realize the full nature of the profession as well as what goes into it. This was any disrespect or lack of appreciation for nursing I ever heard or had before will be done away when I become one. Another thing is that through nursing I will impact my community positively as I will serve to my best ability and help patients recover and go through the different illnesses with ease. By doing this I will have achieved my goal and dream of becoming a nurse which I had even when I was young. This came along as a result of my admiration of a nurse who took care of me when I was sick as a young child. Just like she took care of me I promised myself to take care of more people who were in a difficult situation and I would like to achieve that by studying nursing.