Cuba and China Essay Example for Free

Cuba and China Essay Democracy, or the power of people, is rather old form of rule. While the word â€Å"democracy† originated in the Ancient Greece in 5th century BC, this form of rule had existed even before this, found in ancient India republics before 6th century BC. However, it was the city-state of Athens in the Ancient Greece that presented this word in the sense which resembles, in some features, the modern vision of democracy. In Athens, people had the right to vote, to take the most important decisions, influencing the political situation of their state. Of course, not all the population could vote – women and children could not vote as well as disabled people. In fact, only one forth or one sixth of the citizens of Athens could vote and participate in a political life of their state. However, it was the first form of democracy and it had many aspects in common with today’s notion of democracy. For example, all the citizens of Athens, poor or rich, powerful or powerless, had the right to vote, they were equal in this right. The democracy, in the form in which it existed in Athens and in the Ancient Greece, was not preserved until our time. Moreover, great changes took place in Europe in 18-19th centuries, in the form of revolutions. The right to vote and to participate in the political life of a state directly is not the main factor characterizing democracy in the modern world. Democracy in the modern sense includes such basic postulates as the basic freedoms: of speech, of expression, of the press, of association et cetera. The democracy in the western world is much more associated with the notion of free market and free trade. However, these preconditions are not exactly true for some countries, for example for China, where free market and free trade can coexist with the lack of democracy, where there are no basic freedoms (for example, the freedom of association – the assembly of Falun Gong in China was violently dispersed by police and banished for practicing in China). Cuba which has made some steps toward the free market economy, opening some part of its economy for the US dollars, does allow the internationally recognized organization of the Red Cross to its prisons, where political prisoners are kept in big numbers. The rule of Communist Party as the only party in the country is observed both in Cuba and in China. And this excludes another characteristic feature of democracy – pluralism, the possibility of many political parties to take part in the political life of the state. Before we proceed to explain the lack of democracy in Cuba and China, it is necessary to understand what democracy means and why China and Cuba should become democratic. In the twentieth century, democracy has gained such popularity that most world rulers describe their rule as democratic. However, most countries were not democratic, and some even became totalitarian. Generally speaking, the term â€Å"democracy† is misused in two ways. First, democracy is expanded into a laundry list that contains almost all kinds of good things. Second, democracy is modified by adding an adjective to the term. Since Western bourgeois democracy is the prototype of modern democracy, modifications are made along two lines. Either rulers characterize their systems not as bourgeois democracies, but as â€Å"people’s democracies,† â€Å"proletarian democracies,† or â€Å"socialist democracies,† or they emphasize local characteristics of their system, such as â€Å"Burmese type of democracy† or â€Å"African type of democracy. † What is democracy? Etymologically, the term means rule by the people. Democracy originated in Athens more than 2,500 years ago, when Cleisthenes allowed all citizens of Attica to preside over the affairs of the city. Athenian democracy took the form of direct democracy. Citizens, which excluded women, slaves, and resident aliens, participated directly in making laws. Moreover, regardless of their properties and talents, rulers were selected not by ballot but by lot. Not surprisingly, virtually all famous Greek scholars were no fans of democracy, regarding tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as corrupt forms of government. Democracy includes two forms: popular sovereignty and individual liberty. This paper defines democracy in terms of political freedom, which involves both positive and negative aspects. Positive freedom refers to a situation in which people have the ability to participate in government; negative freedom means a situation in which people are free from arbitrary interference from government. Modern democracy adheres to the dual principles of popular sovereignty and individual liberty, but has its own distinctive features. Ideal as the principle of popular sovereignty may be, it is technically impossible to let the people in a nation-state decide everything. As a result, modern democracies are representative, not participatory (or direct). The principle of popular sovereignty in modern times hinges on two major mechanisms: the separation of powers and the competitive election. While the ruled choose their rulers during an election, rulers are mutually checked and balanced before and after the election. In determining the nature of a particular political system, the competitive election is more important than the separation of powers. A division of labor is employed in any government, particularly a modern one. Despite the importance of liberalism for modern democracy, popular sovereignty precedes individual liberty. Popular sovereignty talks about the purpose of government; individual liberty comprises the notion of government. The term that means â€Å"people† has undergone great changes in terms of class, education, gender, race, and age. Besides, individual liberty is historically and culturally specific. In the twentieth century, democracy and totalitarianism are regarded as two ends of the political spectrum. To put it in terms of ideal types, a government respecting both popular sovereignty and individual liberty is democratic; a government violating them is totalitarian. Falling somewhere in between, most systems are neither democratic nor totalitarian in the strictest sense of the terms. Some may respect popular sovereignty but violate individual liberty; others may violate popular sovereignty but respect individual liberty. Today’s Islamic Republic of Iran and eighteenth-century Britain are cited as respective examples of these two types. Throughout human history, not many regimes have ever been totalitarian and most have been authoritarian. Compared with totalitarian regimes, authoritarian regimes are less willing and less able to damage people’s rights and interests. The United States of America when compared to China or Cuba, presents the example of â€Å"democratic† democracy towards which China or Cuba should strive. Because now, when we took a closer look at the notion of democracy in the modern world, we are going to analyze the kind of democratic situation and democratic changes that took place in two of the most controversial countries in the world: China and Cuba. To reach conclusions as to the qualitative aspects of Cuban politics in the post-transition era, we will examine aspects of political culture as they relate to the formation and practices of civil society in democracy. From this angle one can interpret some key dimensions of politics in particular settings. Transition to democracy (and its consolidation) depends on a multiplicity of factors, including elite decisions, institutional arrangements, pacts between competing social actors, a constitution and organizations typical of liberal democracies, a favorable moment in world history, supportive international structures, and a measure of good luck. Political and economic factors also impinge on the likelihood of democratic transitions and survival. But political and economic factors determine neither transition to democracy nor democratic stability. The impact of the economy on democracy is not automatic, unidirectional, or necessarily predictable. According to Mattiace and Camp (1996), democracy is the product of multiple causes working together. In contexts where the system confronts unresolved foundational issues and consensus is elusive – on such matters as how the political community is defined, who has authority, what the rules of the game are – political questions become an affair of the heart, lending themselves less to compromise and pragmatism. As a result, democracy tends to be endangered, particularly in places where institutional democratic norms are weak and personalism is high. This is likely to occur in Cuba after Fidel Castro (as it has before and during the socialist years). Though democracy will be established in Cuba sometime in the future, Cuban democracy will not conform to normative models of liberal democracy. Democracy in the way it is in Cuba will be characterized by features of incivility in civil society. The democracy that is most likely to emerge on the island will be far from perfect, will share striking continuities with the past, and will dash the hopes of many who dream of democracy. The cynicism about democracy also has a long genealogy in Cuban intellectual history. As far back as the nineteenth century cultural pessimists on the island have remarked on the frustration that has followed modern projects of independence, nationalism, republicanism, and democracy. Democratic aspirations have a long history on the island, as long as the trajectory of their frustration. The notion is not as alien to Cuban soil as many believe (Dealy, 1996)

Religion Essay -- Morality

While the degree of religious fervor has flourished and waned in various civilizations, religion itself has never ceased to be a point of interest. At times, it has enjoyed effusive praise while at other times it has met cold reception. Religion as explored in Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and The Stranger by Albert Camus is openly criticized. Under the harsh, bald statements of realism, religion loses its ethereal wonder and under the hostile stare of absurdism, religion renounces its meaning. Flaubert’s protagonist, Emma, and his other characters more often than not possess only a superficial understanding of faith, essentially precluding any of religion’s positive impact. Meanwhile, Camus derides religion as a futile endeavor in an indifferent world and casts an unfriendly light on the religious magistrate, who is juxtaposed with the protagonist, Meursault. Thus, Camus depicts the futile proselytizing of an absurdist man, who disregards religion, while Flaubert illustrates the failure of religion to save a woman consumed by romanticism. In both cases, religion is criticized for falling short of delivering its purported salvation. Morality, the pride of religious followers, is much heralded as a virtue, yet Camus and Flaubert depict a different reality where religion fails to prevent immorality, much less promote morality. Camus calls into question the definition of â€Å"morality†: on what basis are other people deemed to be moral or immoral? on whose consensus is that morality then heralded? From the prosecutor’s point of view, the fact that Meursault â€Å"hadn’t wanted to see Maman, that [he] hadn’t cried once† during her funeral is sufficient evidence to condemn him (Camus 89). As the title of the book The Stranger suggests... ...bert unflinchingly peels back the social niceties to display religion as it has evolved into an inadequate, superficial interest for his characters. As represented in both books, religion is more a distraction than a panacea for life’s hurdles. It fails to moderate the passion of Emma, who clings to religion with the same pitiful desperation as she did with her affairs. Meursault refuses to conform to any sort of religious nexus and in the process, ironically opening himself up to the hostility of the world and die joyfully. While the defiance of Meursault against religion results in his absurdist happiness, the turmoil of Emma’s life, caused by her romantic urges, her encumbered social position, and the repeated failures of religion, end in death by rat poison. Two deaths thus signify very different lives, but religion as found in both texts is condemned.

Comparing web applications Essay

It’s the technology used for how web browsers submit forms and interact with programs on the server. It’s used for simple interactive applications and can be used with any programming language. CGI applications are often called â€Å"CGI Scripts†, they run in the server not in the web browser, and they must follow server requirements for running applications. ISAPI: It’s an N-tier API of IIS and consists of two components: extensions and filters. These are the only two types of applications that can be developed using ISAPI, they must be compiled into DLL files which are then registered with IIS to be run on the web server. ISAPI extensions are true applications that run on IIS, ISAPI filters are used to modify or enhance the functionality provided by IIS. SSI: It is a tool that you can use to eliminate repetitive types of information on your web pages. It is a file the server includes in a web page before sending it out to a browser. It uses headers, navigation panels, and footers. It’s useful because you only need to change one file and every web page using that element picks up the update. ASP: This technology allows a web server to change the information that is  presented to the visitor in a website based on different criteria. It is a scripting language that is embedded in a code on the page that the web server can look at to change the information on the webpage. It works similar to HTML. ASP.NET: ASP.NET is a web application framework developed by Microsoft to build dynamic data driven Web applications and Web services. ASP.NET is a subset of .NET framework, a framework is a collection of classes, and ASP.NET is the successor to classic ASP. ASP.NET web pages, known officially as Web Forms, are the main building blocks for application development, and these web forms are contained in files with a â€Å".aspx† extension. References: Zacker, C. (2009). Lesson 7: Deploying Web Applications. Windows server 2008 applications infrastructure configuration (70-643) (). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. http://itt.coursesmart.com/9781118550861/firstsection#X2ludGVybmFsX0J2ZGVwRmxhc2hSZWFkZXI/eG1saWQ9OTc4MTExODU1MDg2MS8xMTc Internet Server Application Programming Interface. (2014, July 5). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 12, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Server_Application_Programming_Interface

Environmental Issues and the Industrial Revolution Free Essay Example, 1000 words

The immediate effects are that the oil film coats all the surfaces that it comes into contact with. Coating of the water surfaces results in the death of aquatic animals due to lack of oxygen. The oil also coats birds and other animals as well as plant surfaces and thus interferes with the normal functioning of the organisms. The long term effects of oil spills are realized in the ecosystem as the oil particles are incorporated through animals and plants. Ingestion of oil particles by animals has resulted in massive deaths especially in marine life and hence a reduction in the amount of marine life (Marsh, 2004). Before the year 1948, concern for the environment was little. However, as industrialization continued, so did the negative effects on the environment which called for a plan for action. The environmental movement was thus created and it was concerned with the conservation of natural resources through addressing environmental issues. It was in the 1970s that the relevant aut horities began to sensitize people on matters to do with the environment. In April 22nd 1970 an earth day was held and that marked the start of the fight against environmental degradation. We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Issues and the Industrial Revolution or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now What followed is a wave of legislations and creation of bodies by the government to regulate pollution of the environment through control of emission of toxic waste, dumping in the ocean and protection of wildlife. For instance, in the year 1972, the clean water act (CWA) was passed to oversee water pollution. The overall effect was increased awareness of the damage that industrialization was doing to the environment and thus controls were put in place by the governments which made the industries more accountable for their emissions (Sher, 1998). There are many laws that have been enacted to control environmental pollution. The most significant law put in place to control oil pollution is the oil pollution act of 1990. The act required all relevant companies to have a `plan to prevent oil spills that may occur` and in addition to that they should also have a `detailed containment and cleanup plan`. The act also banned sea vessels that had caused oil spillages that amounted to more than 10 million gallons from the 22nd of March 1989 from operating in Prince William Sound (EPA, 2014). After the enactment of this law, the number of oil spillages drastically reduced because companies became more responsible I their undertakings. The clean air act was first enacted in 1970 and was followed by subsequent amendments in the years 1977 and 1990.