Judaism and the Chosen People of God Essay

Judaism is one of the first monotheistic religions currently surviving. It followers, the Jews, believe that there is only one God who is Almighty and Everlasting. Inscribed in the Torah is the name of God, with four consonants and no vowels. They have high respect for the Lord that they consider his name â€Å"too holy to be pronounced† (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). In their daily conversations and prayers, the Jews use different words pertaining to God. Everyday speech include â€Å"the Holy One† and â€Å"Blessed be He† while prayers include Adonal, or the Lord, and shomer Yisrael, or Israel’s guardian. These demonstrate how the Jewish perception of the Lord, as seen in the book of Genesis where the stories of the Patriarchs are written (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). The Jewish understanding towards their relationship with the Lord the worship is in accordance to their Covenant. God gives His promise to be their God who guides and protects them, while requiring them to follow the Mitzvot or His commandments. God chose the Jews as His chosen people. This is not because He favors them with privileges, but because He endowed them with a responsibility of being the priest people. It is actually a difficult task and the literal translation of the word Israel is â€Å"one who struggles with God† (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). One of their most basic beliefs is that they have the responsibility to worship God and recite prayers, which is called Tefillah. They should also express their gratitude and thanks to the Lord for his love and greatness, which is shown through the Amidah or the prayer of18 blessings in praise of God recited while standing. They also see themselves to have the task of responding to God through both repentance and search of social justice (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). History of Key Sacred Texts The Torah, or Law, is the commandment given by God to His chosen people. It was originally pertained to the Ten Commandments, and eventually became the Pentateuch. The Torah is the most important text in the Jewish religious life, as it contains the revelation from God. It is God’s gift to His people given to Moses at Mount Sinai. However, the original texts given by God to Moses did not survive the raid of Jerusalem during 6 BC. Also destroyed were the other Scriptures written by different Prophets, with high relevance to the Jewish faith. But after the release of Israel from Babylon in 5 BC, the Prophet Ezra revived the accounts on the life of the Patriarchs and the history of God’s chosen people. And between 4 and 2 BC, other authors wrote down the different Scriptures of other Prophets that existed long before. Prophet Jonah, who lived during the 8th century BC, was found to have his scriptures written during this period while the Psalms were written after five centuries. The sources of these authors are however unknown (Mirza, . Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments contain the fundamental laws that God requires His people to abide. These state the different religious and moral obligations of men, revealing God’s will on man’s duties to Him and to the rest of His creation. God’s commandments are written in the Pentateuch twice, as it is found both in the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. God himself carved the words on two stone tablets as sacred texts handed to Moses (Bellaflore, 2007). The Ten Commandments are God’s covenant with the Israelites. The first three laws concern man’s relationship with God, as it states what man’s responsibilities are to his Lord. While the remaining seven laws are about how man should live with others, as they should not transgress each other’s rights as human beings and equal children of God. The first commandments directly state that there is only one God, the monotheistic notion of an Almighty Creator. The people should not worship other Gods, and therefore should not commit idolatry and other forms of polytheistic practices. The other two commandments teach the people to not commit blasphemy, or take the name of the Lord in vain, and to always observe the Sabbath day. The rest relates the basic commandment that one must not wrong his neighbor, that he must not commit murder, adultery, thievery, and bear false witness. Children are also expected by God to always honor their parents (Bellaflore, 2007). Jerusalem This city is the most important city to the Jews. Upon their migration to the Palestine, many other tribes and populations have already occupied area and cities have already risen. King David seized one of the cities in 1005 BCE and converted it into his capital city Jerusalem. This is where both religious and political affairs were concentrated, where the Temple of God was built. But the Temple and most of its contents perished during the conquest of the city by other empires. The Romans destroyed the last Temple and only a single wall survived until today. It is now known as the Wailing Wall and is one of the holiest Jewish places both in Jerusalem and the entire world (Imhoof, 2008). The Nation of Israel The State of Israel is a country found in southwestern Asia established on May 14, 1948 with David Ben Gurion as its first prime minister. The land was formerly part of Palestine conquered British, and was handed to the Jews and marked the success of the Zionism movement. This movement campaigned for providing the Jews their own place at the land of their ancestors. As sanctioned by the United Nations, this sovereign nation was created and gave home to many Jews from all over the world. But because displaced Palestinians formerly occupy Israel, there rose an Arab-Israeli conflict. The Muslims protested against the handing of the land to the Jews while the Arabs were left landless (Davison 375; Grobman, no page; Israel, no page). Different Sects of Judaism There were numerous Jewish sects during the first century AD, each primarily in search of the messiah. To them, the messiah is both a religious and political leader who would save them from Roman captivity. These sects include the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and even the Christians. In 70 CE, the Second Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed along with these sects. However, Christianity survived this disaster and separated itself from Judaism as a different religion. The Pharisees, on the other hand, is now the remaining form of Judaism called Rabbinic Judaism (Jewish sects and denominations, no date). A fraction of the Jewish population of the 8th century rejected the oral law included in the Mishnah as followed by the Pharisees, as done by the Sadducees. But eventually, they themselves developed their unique oral traditions that greatly varied from those of the Rabbinic Jews. They are called the Karaite sect, and are still in existence but in a less population number (Jewish sects and denominations, no date). The Holocaust The Holocaust is also known as the Shoah in Hebrew, or the destruction of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. During the German conquest of Europe, an approximately six million Jews died as they were systematically killed by the fascist and anti-Semite regime of Hitler. The casualties represent the destruction of two-thirds of the entire population of Jews in Europe and one-third of the world. They were deliberately and methodically exterminated through the gas chamber, the crematory ovens, forced labor, hunger, and poor sanitary conditions. This is Hitler’s plan as his answer and â€Å"Final Solution to the Jewish Question† (History of the Holocaust – An Introduction, 2008). Sacred Practices and/or Holidays Two of the most important Jewish holidays are the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is known as the Jewish New Year while Yom Kippur is known as the Day of Atonement. Both of these holidays are expression of the Jewish belief on the judgment of God and that they need to both repent and forgive. Yom Kippur is an entire day where Jews contemplate and reflect, making amends to their sins, and ask God for His forgiveness by fasting (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). Customs and practices of the Jews include circumcising the boys during their eighth day. When the boy reaches age 13, he takes participation in a ceremonial rite where he becomes bar mitzvah. From here on, he is considered an adult who will take on his religious responsibilities. Other religious congregations perform a similar ceremony for girls of age 12, called the bat mitzvah. Jews also recite different kinds of prayers in the morning, afternoon and evening. They perform these either at home or the synagogue. Once every week, the Jews celebrate the holy day of Sabbath, from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown. They also observe strict dietary laws called the Kosher and their spiritual leader is called the rabbi (Grobman, no page; Wenner, no page). Judaism Today Due to the constant changes in human life, there is a tremendous technological advancement in the modern world, prompting people to adapt. These changes bring about questions on the Jewish laws, and whether they should be retained. It is therefore the responsibility of the spiritual leaders to adapt and reinterpret the Jewish laws according to the call of times. In our modern world, there are three main divisions among the Jews – the Orthodox, the Conservative, and the Reform Jews. Orthodox Jews are still abiding by the strictest Jewish laws, and are confined within tradition. The conservative Jews consider the orthodox Jews as too Jewish while they do not consider reform Jews as practicing Judaism. Reform Jews, on the other hand, are very liberal and recognizes their religion as progressive. (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, 2008). References Buchanan, J. , and Halliwell, K. (2008). Judaism. Slamnet. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www.slamnet. org. uk/re/judaism. htm. Bellaflore, M. L. (2007). â€Å"The Ten Commandments. â€Å" New Advent. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/04153a. htm. Davison, Michael Worth. When, Where, Why, and How it Happened. London: Reader’s Digest Association Far East Limited, 1993. Grobman, Gary M. â€Å"Who are the Jews. † 1990. Remember. Retrieved 25 February 2008 from http://www. remember. org/guide/Facts. root. whoare. html â€Å"History of the Holocaust – An Introduction. † 2008. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/jsource/Holocaust/history. html. Imhoof, D. â€Å"Judaism. † February 23, 2008. Susquehanna University. Retrieved March 5, 2008 http://www. susqu. edu/history/medtrav/jerusalem/jewish. htm. â€Å"Israel. † 2007. Information Please [Database]. Retrieved 25 February 2008 from http://www. infoplease. com/ipa/A0107652. html. â€Å"Judaism. † One Little Angel. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. onelittleangel. com/wisdom/quotes/judaism. asp? level=4#. Mirza, M. â€Å"History of the Torah. â€Å"Ummah. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. ummah. net/what-is-islam/scriptur/scriptt. htm

Modern Virtue Ethics Essay

To what extent do modern virtue ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teaching on virtues? (35) Virtue Ethics looks at a person’s good traits, known as ‘virtues’ and negative traits, known as ‘vices’; a person is considered to be a good person if they are virtuous and a morally bad person if they have developed lots of vices. Deontological and teleological ethicists argue that good or bad behaviour is far more important than a person’s good or bad characteristics whereas Virtue Theory argues it is only by becoming a better person that we will engage in the ‘right’ behaviour; Virtue Theory looks at the agent in itself and rather than the action. The key concepts of Virtue Ethics were first penned by the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle and in more recent times have been adapted and added to by Alasdair MacIntyre. Aristotle’s theory is made up of many key features, including Moral Virtues, The Doctrine of the Mean, Eudaimonia, and Friendship and the Community. According to Aristotle, everything has a purpose, for example, pens, their purpose is to write, if the pen fulfils its purpose and writes well, it is a good pen. In the same way, if we equate Eudaimonia to the pen, Eudaimonia is the supreme goal of human life, if a person reaches Eudaimonia, they are a considered a good person as the purpose was to be happy, therefore they have reached their purpose, just as the pen reaches its own. He also argued that every action comes down to this aim, every human being desires to be as happy as possible. An example of this is to ask a Doctor or a Lawyer why they chose such professions, the majority would answer that they chose this profession because it pays well and they believed that being paid well would lead to an easier and happy life, or Eudaimonia. Aristotle’s theory also says that relationships and friendships play a very important role in how we behave as people and how our actions are determined; we should all aim to individually achieve Eudaimonia, which would therefore achieve the greatest good for society as a whole as everyone would be happier; Aristotle sees our communal friendships and relationships as a vital part of our moral code and flourishing as a virtuous being. As previously mentioned, a good life involves developing a good character and these are known as moral virtues which are cultivated by habit; one must practice these good virtues in order to adopt them. Some of the key virtues Aristotle spoke of include modesty, generosity, patience, truthfulness and friendliness. Aristotle also spoke of Intellectual Virtues and Cardinal Virtues. Aristotle believed that we should aim to be virtuous people and avoid vices. Aristotle’s theory is centered around the concept of The Doctrine of the Mean; this states that there are two different vices that accompany every virtue- the Vice of Deficiency and the Vice of Excess. The Vice of Deficiency refers to a distinct lack of virtues, whereas the Vice of Excess refers to too much of the virtue being present. For example, modesty, if there is a distinct lack of this virtue, it may result in shamelessness and if there is too much of this virtue, it may result in shyness. Aristotle argued that the ‘Golden (or Virtuous) Mean’ is the middle of these to extremes and that is what people should aim to have. Aristotle’s theory is very logical and encourages people to adopt good characteristics which in an ideal world would result in every individual being as happy as possible; however there are many criticisms of this theory. For example, it is somewhat unclear of what is considered a virtue and what is considered a vice and it is also unclear of who is responsible for deciding these; as well as this, it could be argued that it is not possible to measure these virtues. It could also be argued that if every individual had exactly the same characteristics, everyone would be the same and the world be become mundane and monotonous. Virtue Ethics also does not provide clear guidelines or rules of how to act in specific circumstances and is vague and subjective. Alasdair Macintyre is a Scottish philosopher, whose writing dates to the 20th Century CE. He made an attempt to alter Aristotle’s theory in order to make it more relative and contexualise the ideas. Macintyre felt that morality had become lax and felt that they had become far hypothetical. He felt that people focused more on how an ethical theory would hold up under uncommon and unrealistic circumstances rather than situations where morality counts. He believed that we should understand the context of ethics before attempting to fix modern moral dilemmas. Macintyre’s belief in context as the central part to ethical decision making shows us that he is relative in his ideology. He believed that virtues would change over time naturally, for example, bravery for us is a person that confronts a gang of youths, throwing rocks at windows, or a police tackling a burglar, however 2000 years ago, bravery was considered as a man dying in battle, for his country. This is an attempt at addressing a weakness of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, as it would encourage the person to look at the time and place before deciding whether the character traits are good or not. It has to be said that what may be considered good in the Congo may not necessarily be considered good in Brixton, London. Finally Macintyre addresses the issue of External and Internal goods. Internal Goods are what he calls, the qualities of a person’s character. The External Goods are the things that a person relies on, for example,food or a decent living arrangement. He states that although these are valuable to the human nature, they can be considered good or bad. However the Internal Goods are the most important. This gives more relativism than Aristotelian Virtue Ethics which can be considered an improvement. In conclusion I feel that Alasdair Macintyre has made a good attempt to improve and change Aristotle’s version of Virtue Ethics, however we can still see some weaknesses. For example, it is even more relative than Aristotle’s version and this can lead to ambiguity when facing a moral dilemma. This has not been addressed, in the modern version by Macintyre. It also does not eliminate the idea of universal virtues to achieve Eudaimonia. This is problematic. So, I feel that his attempt must be congratulated but I do not feel that it has been entirely successful as there are still elements which could be improved further.

The Womans Role as the Helper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Womans Role as the Helper - Essay Example As the religious experience within the Judeo-Christian cultures has been founded on a philosophy of the inferiority of women, the role of women has been to take a secondary position to men or launch a battle to fight through the stereotypes to become leaders. In a book published in 1917, Helen Bennett wrote that â€Å"Every demand is made upon the secretary’s imagination, her ingenuity, her versatility, her adaptability, her genius. That her shorthand must be rapid and accurate, her typing correct and artistic, her office methods modern and efficient, her knowledge of detail and of her subject matter endless† (167). Bennett wrote of nurses, newspaper women, and secretaries, giving them all the roles of helpers, but with an understanding that in those roles they would do the work that made the difference. Women have been working in roles that were defined conceptually as helping roles throughout history. These roles have included those of wife, secretary, nurse, elementary education teachers, and as love interest. All these roles have had a cultural insinuation as being roles of support to the male needs so that the male could be free to rule the world in whatever capacity his vocation would deem. This role, however, has been always seen as inferior. This has led to lower wages and lower levels of respect for work that has been done. Sexuality-based theory in regard to the work place suggests that â€Å"the main engine of misogyny is the way in which intercourse has been constructed so that the man is the aggressor and is on top, (while) the woman is passive and is beneath the man† (MacKinnon and Siegel 162).

RFID Impact on Supply Chain Management Research Paper

RFID Impact on Supply Chain Management - Research Paper Example RFID works using small (sometimes smaller than a fingernail) pieces of hardware called RFID chips. These chips feature an antenna to transmit and receive radio signals. So-called passive RFID chips do not have a power source, but active RFID chips do. RFID chips may be attached to objects, or in the case of some passive RFID systems, injected into objects† Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology to recognize objects. This technology is for eternity classified as a technology similar to Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). AIDC consists of Barcodes, Biometrics and Smartcards. Apparently, RFID and Barcodes technologies are considered as one of the key drivers in supply chain management operations to categorize objects or merchandize at various workflow stages. In the intervening time, Biometric and Smartcard technologies are employed for access control procedures, banking and communication industry. The prime advantage of RFID technology is its ease of use and minimalism. RFID replaces barcodes and is a time saving, effective and reliable alternative. That is the reason why it is adopted and deployed in multipurpose applications i.e. Supply Chain Management (SCM), Inventory Tracking, Theft Protection, Location based Services, Electronic Health Monitoring for health care systems, RFID integrated travel documents, payment systems and context-aware applications. In recent years, this technology is flourishing robustly due to its extensive usability in upcoming technologies i.e. Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing, or Ambient Intelligence Solutions. RFID technology comprises of transmitters spreading electromagnetic technology in the environment to send and receive signals. The communication is conducted between two elements, transceiver and transponder. The radio waves propagation is emitted the form of electromagnetic waves and promulgate in speed of light. The applications of radio waves consist of Radar systems, Fixed Mobile and Satellite Communication, Media Broadcasting and Computer Networks. Radio waves can utilize different band of frequencies measured in Hertz (Hz) which represents the natural process of oscillation in waves. RFID technology utilizes Low Frequency (LF), High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) from the electromagnetic spectrum. Light waves have certain limitations when passing through objects. On the other hand, radio waves travel through solid objects and opaque materials. RFID is implemented in many domains to improve business processes and supply chain management. RFID Usability Factor There is always a logical concept of analyzing RFID as a better substitute for the barcodes systems. However, the consideration of difference between these two technologies is imperative in order to deploy them successfully. Undeniably, RFID technology does not entail a line of sight to read the tags as compared to barcodes, where it is mandatory to identify the tag optically to scan it within a squat distance. Furthermore, in RFID technology, the space for data in a tag can be more than 100 bytes, which is far greater than the maximum space available in barcodes. The available storage space provides the freedom to assign identification numbers not only to a brand but also to each item individually. The valuable functionality of identifying multiple tags concurrently enhances the efficiency in any operational environment employing this

The Abolition Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Abolition Movement - Essay Example The start of the American Abolitionist Movement happened in 1831 when William Lloyd Garrison began circulating the abolitionist newspaper Liberator, which promoted the instant abolition of slavery, and the full equal rights for all African-Americans (Ottawa Citizen, 2006). After sometime, the American Abolitionist Movement disintegrated into different factions because the members and the leaders within the movement had different outlooks on the best way or best means on how to achieve their main goal. Garrison and his followers continued to uphold the abolition of slavery via moral persuasion emphasizing that slavery is not proper and immediate release of all slaves must be done (emancipation). Such methods gained support from the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian anti-slavery movements; and in the legislative reforms of the government (Ottawa Citizen, 2006). However, the other more fanatic factions of the movement perceived that violence was the only way to accomplish the instant abolition of slavery (Ottawa Citizen, 2006); but the steps taken to implement such tactics failed. It is the same for The American Colonization Society and the UNIA by Marcus Garvey, from 1820 – 1830, who simultaneously suggested that returning to Africa was a better option than emancipation because black people will have a hard time establishing their rights in the United States.

Brave Software Companys Main Rivals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Brave Software Companys Main Rivals - Assignment Example Also, most of these firms were founded long before Brave Software Company came into being. Therefore, their brands are better positioned in the market than Brave Software Company’s brands. Also, most of the Brave Software Company’s competitors have a bigger workforce than that of the Brave Software Company. Nevertheless, Brave Software Company’s competitors have weaknesses too. Most of these firms have been perceived as being less ‘technologically conscious’. Also, these competitors charge a relatively higher price on the software-based products and rely more on the traditional methods of advertising to reach out to their customers in the market. This is a plan aimed at reaching out to a particular segment of the market by developing a unique product that is more appealing to the customers (Simons, 2000). Different firms may, therefore, produce a similar item but they cannot sell exactly the same product in the market. Each of these firms has to package, price and even quantify the product in such a way that it looks different from the similar products on the market. In this case, Brave Software Company has embarked on a low-price strategy. Following the fact that most of the other companies in the industry charge a relatively high price on the software-based products, Brave Software Company has embarked on producing similar products at relatively lower prices. Further, these products have been developed in a way that they target a specific market and not the entire market. The company has also capitalized on specific advertising mechanisms to reach out to the specific group of customers in the market. Further, the company ha s a strong brand positioning statement. Having been established in the year 2010, Brave Software Company has worked towards providing the best software solutions to its respective customers. The company also aspires to grow beyond the geographical borders of the international market.

Social work methods work with families Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Social work methods work with families - Essay Example Murdoch adds that a family stays in a common household, shares economic interdependency, and is involved in sexual and reproductive relations (Lamanna & Riedmann 4). Today however, a lot of societal changes have occurred that the definition of a family has likewise evolved (Lamanna & Riedmann 5). Family members do not have to be bound by legal marriage, consanguinity, or adoption. The family now includes commuter couples, no custodial parents, parents with adult children living elsewhere, extended kin such as aunts and uncles, and adult siblings and stepsiblings. The emphasis has been placed on spontaneity, individuality and intimacy rather than the customary heterosexual married-couple social roles. In fact, federal regulations have now qualified unmarried low-income heterosexual and homosexual couple as families and have consequently allowed them to live in public housing. Some courts have considered unmarried heterosexual gay or lesbian couples, elderly people and their caregivers, institutionalized handicapped people living together and even co-resident groups of students as families (Lamanna & Riedmann 6). Furthermore, single-parent households and childless unions are also considered families. With this, the family could be any number of people as long as they are bound together by feelings of love and care for each other (Aymer). In the workplace, specifically in San Francisco and New York, special privileges have been granted to families with domestic partners who may not be married but share each other’s lives in a committed relationship and in the expenses of daily living (Bishop qtd. in Lamanna & Riedmann 10). On the other hand, these changes in the family set-up are consequences of the challenges that families have encountered in the past decades. The family has been bombarded by a lot of problems that have adversely affected the very purpose for which it was

Should Prostitution Be Prohibited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should Prostitution Be Prohibited - Essay Example Furthermore, it promotes the growth of an immorally-based community. Based on the above underpinning evidence, it is justifiable to strongly say that prostitution ought to be prohibited in our society. Prohibition of prostitution will reduce the high number of incidences of adultery. Prostitution gives men the opportunity to cheat on their girlfriends and wives in an easy. Therefore, if it is prohibited cheating men will suffer extremely consequences since the law will be on their toes. As a result, the number of men who take advantage of prostitutes, wives, or girlfriend will decrease dramatically. Indeed, prostitution ought to be prohibited since it gives rise to many problems in relationships and marriage as well as pave way for many other crimes. Prohibition of prostitution will create a friendly environment for all; especially the children. This is because prostitution makes it hard to explain to children the difference between money and sex, and love and sex since it make them believe that money is more worthy than self-esteem and love. Prostitution immensely affects the morale of a society or community. This is because it makes such a society ignore and become immune to graphicness of sexual images that are thrown in its members faces daily. As a result, members of a society hardly understand the significance of private and personal relationships. In fact, prostitution lowers women dignity since it makes them send the message to men that it is alright to be treated like sexual objects. Connectively, many women are subject to wrath of sexual pressure in order to measure up to hookers. Prostitution, breaking up of ethical and social barriers that many women have worked on in order to reduce sexual harassment occurs. Prohibition of prostitution will help reduce the mentality harbored by many men that women can easily be bought and sold like goods or services. Prohibition of prostitution will help avoid turning sex into a full-blown business. Prostitution has a high likelihood of making sexual services commercial; hence, making them likes any other consumer and entertainment goods. For instance, there many casinos, in Australia where prostitution is legal, which deal with sexual favor chips that, are cashed in at various local brothels (Weitzer 67). Commercialization of sex will be eliminated upon prohibition of prostitution. Prohibition of prostitution will also reduce the large number of crimes rates that are sky-rocketing. According to Weitzer (87), most prostitutes sell their bodies since they are in dire need of money to purchase illegal drugs. In connection to this, prohibition of prostitution will cut down the rate of illegal drug trafficking. Governments that have legalized prostitution on ly serve to promote street or underground prostitution to avoid paying taxes that these governments charge. These prostitutes feel fail to pay taxes since they believe that they did all the work alone; therefore, they should reap their profits and benefits alone. This, in turn, increases the number of crime and abuse against hookers since it put quite a number of them on the streets. Prohibition of prostitution will further will reduce or eliminate the number of advertisements for sexual favors that pop up on every street; even in places that families and parents strongly oppose them to be. As a result, incidences of children developing immune to the promiscuity of their society and

Health care reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health care reform - Essay Example hon $350 billion per year, or 20-25 per cent of American citizens hard earned dollars away from its doctors, its hospitals as well as its patient care into the pockets of their executives, administrative employees, shareholders and politicians.1 U S medical reforms should allow all Americans (including Veterans) as well as the 40 million or so uninsured American citizens into the Medicare Health Insurance Corporation. Since almost all American physicians, Hospitals, and clinics in the Country already accept the current operations of the Medicare Insurance Company, hardly any infrastructure investments on the health care delivery end will be necessary. 2 A much required medical reform in the U S would be to allow Medicare, much like the current Veterans Administration System and every private health insurance company and government health care system around the world, to bid on medications from pharmaceutical corporations for its Medicare drug formulary. Every physician or doctor, not to mention pharmacists recognizes that the U S does not actually require a choice of a dozen needless medicines in each pharmaceutical category. For instance, American citizens require only 2-3 statins for countering the adverse affects of high cholesterol, a few types of antibiotics for common sorts of infections, two kinds of beta-blockers for hypertension / high blood pressure, and several generic types of painkillers.3 The present quality of contemporary medical records software lags at least two decades behind business software used for similar purposes. Thus, the U S government should attempt to fund as well as to challenge America’s best software corporations to finally develop standardized electronic medical records software. Up to date and fully functioning computer software for use in doctors’ offices and hospitals is required in order to increase the efficiency as well as the over all productivity levels of physician charting, billing and prescribing.4 In the

Gentrification and how it is affected by Racism Essay

Gentrification and how it is affected by Racism - Essay Example The scenario now known as gentrification is a growing trend today and a headache for the policymakers. This entry of the rich into the urban centers is even changing the culture of these centers. Gentrification is bringing a lot of pain and even fuelling conflicts in many cities. Dimensions in which gentrification takes place are into demographics characterized by increased income and even differentiation along racial lines (Grant). A racism class cannot be complete without learning about gentrification. For years, this has been a very sensitive issue. For years, racism against the blacks and the Asian immigrants has been taking place. According to Jones (p3) gentrification is a class welfare with an aspect of racism in it. Therefore, in learning racism, there is need to learn about gentrification. This topic helps me as an art student understand what racism is all about and what forms racism takes in the society. San Francisco has long struggled to meet housing needs. Policies in San Francisco in the past have always limited the owners of the rental units from raising rents. The result in San Francisco was a low to high fault evictions. These evictions were mostly due to legitimate reason such as improving safety of the old buildings built in the World War I. In the wake of gentrification over the year, property owners are now abusing policies in order to undermine these rent control laws in order to convert the rental properties into higher valued properties. As a result, the low-income and middle-income citizens are being pushed out of the areas they have grown in and moving to other neighbour hoods in the city. (Stover, p5) Another form of gentrification has been in the form of technology. Luxury buses provided for the technology professionals of Valley companies such as Google and Apple are blocking regular buses, and this does not sit well with the locals. (Stover, p8) Another form of gentrification brought about by

Prior Knowledge Deficit Essay Example for Free

Prior Knowledge Deficit Essay Prior knowledge comes from visual experiences, seeing those mental pictures of a subject. Prior knowledge comes before understanding what readers read, or understanding the subject. A deficit in prior knowledge inhibits student learning by taking away their educational experiences and replacing them with standardized testing. To begin with, prior knowledge plays an important role in enabling students to learn to read, and to read to learn. First, learning to read starts in kindergarten and continues through third grade, where teachers use books called primers. Primers teach students how to read because they tell stories about subjects that students already have visual experience with, such as family, friends, food, pets, or games. Since students know the basic information about such subjects, when they are being taught how to read, they understand the primers. Finally, when students enter fourth grade, they begin reading textbooks to learn about science and social studies. These students developed prior knowledge of science and social studies from kindergarten through third grade, when they attended field trips to zoos and museums, watched educational films, and completed science projects. If they learned this basic information about the natural world of science, and about the human world of social studies, students are able to understand their textbooks. As a result, they can add new knowledge to further their education. Additionally, many students struggle with the prior knowledge deficit because of standardized testing. First of all, standardized testing takes time away from educational experience by using all the time and money on the tests. Teachers use the time on teaching students how to become test takers, instead of educating them in different experiences of the world. In the past, schools would take students on field trips to teach them mostly about science, and social studies. However, such field trips cost a lot of money; money that is currently being used on standardized tests. On one hand, traditional education consisted of students reading and writing to understand and explain the knowledge of the world. On the other hand, now day’s students are test takers, and they use their reading and writing skills for the test, just like knowledge is used to memorize all the information without understanding it. Teachers need to focus on this method because they are evaluated by the student s test scores. To summarize, prior knowledge deficit hinders students learning by taking away their educational experiences and focusing their time on standardized testing. A solution to the prior knowledge deficit is for teachers to dedicate more time on teaching students about subjects that will be used later on in further education, rather than teaching students how to become test takers.

Environmental factors affecting McDonalds management functions

Environmental factors affecting McDonalds management functions Executive Summary This analytical study aims to investigate and analyse the various environmental factors that can affect the working of McDonald’s Corporation and provide strategic recommendations for the enhancement of its organisational effectiveness, profitability and competitive advantage. The operations of the firm, especially the globalised nature of its working and its extensive geographical reach, make it subject to various environmental influences. The writer has accordingly shortlisted 12 important environmental factors, namely Customers, Products and Services, Competitors, Employees, Technology, Political Factors, Economy, Environmental Factors, Culture and Religion, Globalisation, Legal Issues and Shareholders and analysed them in detail. The writer has thereafter made use of the TOWS framework to provide several strategic recommendations for the enhancement of the firm’s productivity, profitability and competitive advantage. The main recommendations pertain to the utilisation of organisational resources for expansion of the nutritional value of the firm’s products, the creation products for elder age groups and the expansion of the customer base of the organisation. It is recommended that the organisational management of the firm should specifically focus upon removing prevailing perceptions about the nutritious value of the firm’s products and thus remove important customer associated apprehensions to future growth. Table of Contents S. No Contents Page Executive Summary 2 1. Introduction 4 2. Product Line 4 3. Environmental Analysis 6 3.1. Customers 7 3.2. Products and Services 7 3.3. Competitors 7 3.4. Employees 8 3.5. Technology 8 3.6. Political Factors 9 3.7. Economy 9 3.8. Environmental Factors 10 3.9. Culture and Religion 10 3.10. Globalisation 10 3.11. Legal Issues 11 3.12. Shareholders 11 4. Strategic Analysis and Recommendations 11 4.1. SO Strategies 12 4.2. WO Strategies 12 4.3. ST Strategies 12 4.4. WT Strategies 13 5. Conclusions 13 References 14 1. Introduction This analytical study aims to investigate and analyse the diverse environmental factors that impact the management and marketing functions of McDonald’s Corporation and thereafter provide strategic recommendations for the future. McDonald’s Corporation, founded in 1940 as a barbeque restaurant, has grown over the years to become the largest global chain of fast food restaurants (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p. The organisation has operations in 119 countries, approximately 440,000 employees and more than 36,000 retail outlets (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). McDonald’s is one of the world’s most successful business corporations and its operations have been studied in detail by various researchers (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, .p.: Kennedy, 2014). The organisation has become a symbol for American business enterprise and corporate globalisation (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.: Kennedy, 2014, n.p.). The comparative price of a McDonald’s burger has been used to compare the purchasing power of different countries (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). The firm owns approximately 15% of its outlets and operates them directly, the balance being operated by others through diverse franchising and joint venture organisations (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). The corporation operates in extremely challenging environmental conditions, characterised by intense competition from several large global food retailing firms and differing environmental conditions in its various markets (McGrath, 2013, n.p.). The firm has faced criticism from various groups of activists for its products and HR strategies (McGrath, 2013, n.p.). The next section of this structured analytical study provides details about the organisation’s products; this is followed by sections on environmental analysis and strategic analysis and recommendations. The study ends with a summative conclusion. 2. Product Line McDonald’s is known to be a hamburger fast food restaurant, which also sells soft drinks and a variety of sides (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). The organisation has however over the years developed a wide range of food products that can be categorised into six segments: Burgers and Sandwiches Drinks Snacks and Sides Desserts and Shakes Salads Breakfast (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.) The following table provides the details of its products and product mix for the US market. Table 1: Details of McDonald’s Products and Product Mix Product Segments Details Product Segments Details Burgers and Sandwiches Angus Snacks and Sides Wraps Big Mac Apple Slices Quarter Pounder Fruit Hamburger Fries Cheeseburger Desserts and Shakes Ice Cream Crispy Chicken Sundaes Grilled Chicken Mcflurry Fish Shakes Mcribs Cookies Drinks and Beverages Milk Pies Water Salads Side Salad Juice Premium Salad Coffee Breakfast McMuffins Ice Tea McGriddles Coke Products Biscuits Cinnamon Melts Bagels Burritos (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.) McDonald’s has also recently introduced Its McCafe range of coffees, chocolate drinks and smoothies (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). The firm also provides meal bundles like favourites under 400 (calories) Dollar menus, Extra Value Meals, Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p.). The corporation is attempting to broad-base its food products to cater to diverse types of customer food needs (McGrath, 2013, n.p.). 3. Environmental Analysis McDonald’s has to operate in an extremely complex environment on account of the internationalisation of its operations and the intense competition it faces from diverse firms in the fast food business. The business environment of an organisation has several internal and external environmental factors that can influence and impact its working and shape its organisational strategies and policies. McDonald’s environment contains various elements, the more important of which are depicted in the following chart. Each of these factors is taken up for detailed analysis below. 3.1. Customers McDonald’s has retail operations in 119 countries and serves the needs of millions of customers (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014). Whilst researchers have tried to segment McDonald’s customer base in various ways, the organisation primarily caters to the needs of children, young people, parents, and business customers (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008). Each of these customer segments has specific needs and the organisation has to fulfil them as much as possible (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008, p 2). Children, for example love to visit McDonald’s because it is a fun place and McDonald’s responds to their needs with various toys, special facilities for birthday parties and other fun things for children (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008, p 3). It aims to provide nutritious meals for parents with children and has affordable menus for teenagers (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008, p 4). Business customers are provided with quick and affordable meals that fit in with their working schedules (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008, p 3). The organisation is constantly focusing upon the enhancement of customer satisfaction (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014 n.p.). 3.2. Products and Services McDonald’s provides a range of food products to its customers in clean, well designed and attractively laid out retailing environments (Frenchman, 2014 n.p.). The organisation aims to provide customers with a range of tasty and nutritious food, delivered swiftly and at affordable prices (McDonald’s, 2008, p 4). The organisation’s products and services constitute its strongest attraction for customers and the organisation very obviously has to ensure that they meet customer needs and continue to delight them (Frenchman, 2014 n.p.). 3.3. Competitors McDonald’s has several competitors, each of which is constantly seeking a greater share of the market (Raphel, 2014 n.p.). It is important to recognise that the organisation faces competition from various large organisations, like for example Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC and Subway and also numerous small fish and chip and fried chicken establishments (Raphel, 2014 n.p.). It also faces competition from strong firms like Starbucks, Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza (Raphel, 2014 n.p.). Each of these competitors is constantly working on its quality of food and service, as well as on diverse other options and strategies to attract customers (Jargon, 2014b, n.p.). It is important to appreciate that competition for McDonald’s has increased significantly in the past two decades, which in turn has resulted in the slowing of the organisation’s growth and some reduction in its market share (Jargon, 2014b, n.p.). The nature and intensity of the competition faced by the organisation very clearly shapes its organisational strategies. 3.4. Employees McDonald’s is overly reliant upon its employees for both the preparation of its food and for the quality of its customer service (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). Restaurant workers form the largest group in the company’s employment structure (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). Each McDonald’s restaurant has average workforce strength of 50 employees; many of these employees join at the entry level and as part-time workers (McDonald’s, 2008, p 3). McDonald’s has been subjected to substantial criticism in the past for its low wages, as well as for the high turnover of its restaurant employees, who comprise teenagers, transitional workers, students and working mothers (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). The effective deployment and marshalling of its employees constitutes one of its most important organisational objectives (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). The organisation provides vocational training to all of its employees as well as the opportunity for securing promotions to higher positions, including executive positions in the organisational hierarchy (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). McDonald’s has constantly worked upon its HR management strategies and attempts to motivate its staff with diverse rewards and incentives (McDonald’s, 2008, p 3). All employees in the top 10% of McDonald’s restaurants receive bonuses on the basis of mystery shopper scores. The organisation also rewards its outstanding employees with awards and trophies at Gala functions. Neal Blackshire, a senior official at McDonald’s, states that the organisation recognises employee behaviours, ensures that recognition and reward are right for the workforce and understands what employees wish and value (Lovewell-Tuck, 2013 n.p.). 3.5. Technology Technological advancements are affecting every aspect of the social and business environment and McDonald’s takes care to ensure appropriate use of technology for achievement of organisational objectives and competitive advantage (Baldwin, 2013 n.p.). It works on technology constantly to enhance the optimisation of its operations (Baldwin, 2013 n.p.). The preparation of a big Mac,for example,now takes 60 seconds and is processed in three stages, including packaging (Baldwin, 2013 n.p.). The organisation is making use of several types of technology for storage of food, regulation of temperature, preparation of food, control of supply chain and financial management and reporting (IncisiveMedia, 2004, n.p). McDonald’s is linking different responsibility centres through appropriate communication systems in order to enhance optimisation of efficiency and productivity (IncisiveMedia, 2004, n.p ). 3.6. Political Factors McDonald’s operates in several countries, many of which have different political systems (Han, 2008, p 73). It thus has to cater to various types of political pressures in order to ensure the meeting of its objectives (Han, 2008, p 73). Various governments are currently attempting to increase their control over the fast food sector on account of health associated issues; some of them are restricting the issuances of licences to franchisees (Han, 2008, p 74). Local political pressure has also been applied on the firm from time to time for its perceived role in the dilution of local culture (Han, 2008, p 75). The corporation thus has to constantly anticipate the political environments of the different locations in which it works and take appropriate proactive or reactive action. 3.7. Economy The general economic environment plays an important role in shaping the organisation’s business strategies and policies (Thompson, 2002, p 36). The economic climate can affect discretionary incomes, customer footsteps, market brand, availability of labour and the prices and availability of materials (Gasparo, 2012, n.p; Gould, 2012, p 608). The organisational management of McDonald’s, both local and central has to thus constantly work towards anticipating and overcoming diverse types of economic challenges (Gasparo, 2012, n.p; Gould, 2012, p 608). It is important to however appreciate that the demand for affordable food products is by and large inelastic and stays high, regardless of the health of the economy (Gasparo, 2012, n.p; Gould, 2012, p 608). McDonald’s makes use of this benefit by ensuring that people can come to its outlets when they wish and purchase affordable meals for themselves and their families (Gasparo, 2012, n.p). The organisation has shown remarkable resilience during the recent recession and has protected its profit margin by balancing its low priced menus with premium products (Gasparo, 2012, n.p; Gould, 2012, p 608). 3.8. Environmental Factors McDonald’s, as the largest food retailing chain in the world, has to deal with several types of environmental factors (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p; McDonald’s Corporation, 2010, n.p.). The firm makes significant use of beef, packaging materials, napkins, carry bags, oil, water and power. Its operations also result in generation of substantial amounts of solid waste (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p; McDonald’s Corporation, 2010, n.p.). The firm has over the years worked towards the enhancement of operational sustainability and improving the ecological soundness of its operations (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014, n.p). It has tied up with the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF) to ease the company’s environmental burden (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014,n.p; McDonald’s Corporation, 2010, n.p.). It has introduced policies for enhancing the recycled content of its packaging material and for reducing the use of polystyrene (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014,n.p). It has developed a rain forest policy and adopted beef purchasing practices that do not lead to deforestation (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014,n.p;). 3.9. Culture and Religion McDonald’s has to necessarily work in diverse countries with different cultural and religious environments. It has taken the lead in offering customers taste and appearance variations in accordance with the demands of local cultures and religious customs (Cheek, 2014,n.p). It followed up its entry into India, where Hindus do not eat beef and Muslims do not eat pork, by introducing vegetable McNuggets and a Maharaja Mac with lamb meat (Cheek, 2014,n.p.). It has furthermore obtained certification for Halaal food for Islamic countries like Pakistan, Malaysia and Morocco and has advertised it on its menus (Cheek, 2014,n.p.). The firm’s menu in Morocco offers dates, milk and cookies during the holy month of Ramadan (Cheek, 2014,n.p.). The organisation has taken care to ensure the standardised structure of its menu, even though it has provided for several local variations (McDonald’s Corporation, 2014,n.p.). 3.10. Globalisation Economic and cultural globalisation essentially involves the economic and cultural intermingling of different cultures (Salisbury, 2014,n.p.). McDonald’s, as an eminent food retailing organisation, is a leader of globalisation and has spread the American food culture across the world (Salisbury, 2014,n.p.). It has, whilst doing so, had to take account of various social, cultural and global issues and respond to them with sensitivity, cultural sensibility, economic foresight and wisdom (Salisbury, 2014, n.p). The adoption of such carefully thought out approaches have helped it to overcome strong resistance in various areas of the world and establish successful operations (Salisbury, 2014, n.p). 3.11. Legal Issues McDonald’s has over the years been challenged by various legal issues in different countries. Its success has led many businesses to copy its name and logo and the firm has responded by taking legal action in several trademark associated cases (Petersen, 2014, n.p). The organisation has also been involved in several litigations involving its employees and worker rights (ABC News, 2007, n.p). Some of these cases have gone against the organisation, leading to penalties and fines (ABC News, 2007, n.p). One customer was awarded several million dollars after suffering from third degree burns because of spilling a hot cup of McDonald’s coffee on herself (Petersen, 2014, n.p). The corporation very clearly has to pay great attention to the legal aspects of its operations (Petersen, 2014, n.p). 3.12. Shareholders Shareholders comprise one of the most important stakeholders of the firm. McDonald’s has rewarded its shareholders well over the years in terms of market appreciation and dividends (Jargon, 2014a, n.p). The firm plans to increase its payout to shareholders by 10 to 20% over the next three years, even when it is under pressure to enhance sales performance (Jargon, 2014a, n.p). 4. Strategic Analysis and Recommendations This section entails the conduct of a strategic analysis and the provisioning of appropriate recommendations. A TOWS analysis involves the analysis of organisational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and the subsequent utilisation of strengths and minimisation of weaknesses for the exploitation of opportunities and countering of threats. 4.1. SO Strategies SO strategies entail the utilisation of strengths for exploitation of opportunities (Henry, 2008, p 42). McDonald’s is a global brand with a strong global presence (Lesser et al., 442). It has economies of scale, a strong real estate portfolio, branded menu items and one of the world’s most recognised logos (Research and Markets, 2013, n.p.). It also paradoxically has high employee turnover, a customer base that mainly comprises children and young people and is yet to develop a reputation for healthy and nutritious food (Research and Markets, 2013, n.p.). The firm should thus very clearly use its resources for expanding its customer base and for enhancing the nutritious value of its products (Lesser et al., 442). It should focus on developing a range of food products that are targeted at elderly people who are likely to have health conditions associated with blood pressure, blood sugar and the heart (Lesser et al., 443). The development of products for this customer segment will help McDonald’s in opening up a completely new customer segment and in the development of truly healthy products (Lesser et al., 443). 4.2. WO Strategies McDonald’s has numerous opportunities for enhancing its organisational effectiveness, success and competitive advantage (Research and Markets, 2013, n.p.). The growing population of the world, along with changing lifestyles and improving economies provides the organisation with significant opportunities for greater growth (Jurevicius, 2013, n.p.). It can reduce the weaknesses in areas of nutrition to target customers across its different segments (Jurevicius, 2013, n.p.). McDonald’s does have some salads on its menu, which offer health eating options to customers. The organisation however continues to be perceived as a purveyor of high calorie products that can lead to obesity and other health problems (Lesser et al., 445). It can take several more steps, like the introduction of hummus and tahini paste, feta cheese, and olive oil in its product range (Research and Markets, 2013, n.p.). Such efforts will certainly help the organisation in attracting more customers and enhancing sales. 4.3. ST Strategies ST strategies involve the utilisation of strengths for the reduction of threats (Williamson et al., 2003, p 109). McDonald’s currently faces threats on account of the continuance of economic difficulties, foreign currency fluctuations, intensifying competition, nutrition associated issues of its products and perceptions about the unhealthy attributes of its food(Lesser et al., 445). The firm can use its organisational strengths to enhance its supply chain management and improve its operating margins (Jurevicius, 2013, n.p.). It can engage in significant and focused advertising and outreach campaigns to focus upon its commitment to various customer segments (Jurevicius, 2013, n.p.). 4.4. WT Strategies WT strategies involve the reduction of weaknesses for the avoidance of threats (Thompson, 2002, p 32). The firm can engage in specific advertising to reiterate its commitment to health, fitness and sports (Lesser et al., 445). The sponsorship of sports programmes across schools, college and universities can assist the firm in enhancing th

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: Corruption in the Government

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: Corruption in the Government Introduction: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, a known politician, businessman and currently serving as the 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan, he was also elected as Prime Minister in 1990 to 1993 and 1997 to 1999. Sharif is the president of Pakistan’s largest political party known as Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) which has formed government in 2013 (Crilly, 2013). The case which I will discuss in this paper is related to the corruption in government sector. In this case Prime Minister Sharif is the key person who has misused his positions, authority and power throughout his political career. Sharif moved into politics in early 1980’s and in 1985 he was appointed as Chief Minister of Punjab the most populous province (Hindustantimes, 2013), his political career was just started and he realized the concept of getting rich through stealing money from national asset. History evidently says that he used different strategies to add up in his personal wealth which include kickbacks, bribe a nd stealing from public funds, money laundering, tax evasion and misuse of official resources and using them for personal use. All these acts has led Sharif Pakistan’s 4th richest person (Khan, 2013). The corruption: Sharif was already involved in his family business – Ittefaq Industries before entering to politics, but during his political control in Punjab in 1980 and early 1990’s Ittefaq Industries raised up from its original single manufactory into 30 businesses producing paper, sugar, steel and textiles with total $400 million of income, became one of the largest private multinational company in Pakistan (Baker, 2005, pp. 82-83). To enrich his personal wealth first thing he did upon becoming prime minister in 1990 was build a long super highway from Lahore to Islamabad city, the estimated cost of the project was 8.5 billion rupees, the project gone through 2 biddings. Daewoo a Korean company fortify its proposal in secret meetings, the job was done well but the cost of project went over 20 billion rupees. In actual the money over 8.5 billion was in the pockets of both the minister and the construction company. The same kind of scandal was done in wheat deal, Sharif purchased wh eat from a private US and Canada company which were close partner of him and paid $58 million from national asset which were way more than market value. By purchasing wheat from his associate benefits Mr. Sharif and half of the money were kept by him and his partner (Baker, 2005, p. 84). Another major scandal in which Sharif involved was of bribery. He and his fellows were involved in taking bribery. Lt. General Naseerullah Babar, the interior minister had revealed and prove evidence that the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) distributed money to acquire the loyalty of various politicians including Nawaz Sharif to control the elections of 1990 and bring about the defeat of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (another political party). This case is still pending in Supreme Court of Pakistan for the last 24 years (Jhootay Log, 2011). Tax evasion and unpaid bank loans were also the favorite ways for Sharif to get rich. On his loss of power the upraising political party came up with the list of 322 largest loan defaulters representing $3 Billion out of $4 Billion owned to banks. Sharif and his brother was labelled for $ 60 Million, Mr. Sharif was expanding his business and properties internationally by using public funds, 3 in British Virgin Islands by the names of Nescoll, Nielson, and Shamrock and other in Islands known as Chandron Jersey Pvt. Ltd. How things Revealed: In 1994 Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency started looking into financial affairs of Sharif and his family, the inquiry was supervised by Rahman Malik, Director General of the agency, the inquiry took 5 years and they came up with the shocking revelations in 1998. The records, includes signed affidavits from Pakistani officials, property records and bank files and other government document stated that Mr. Sharif and his family benefited from national wealth and all above scandals were revealed at that time. The report in the end state that â€Å"The extent and magnitude of this corruption is so staggering that it has put the very integrity of the country at stake.† (Baker, 2005, p. 84). Rahman Malik in an interview said that â€Å"No other leader of Pakistan has taken that much money from the banks. There is no rule of law in Pakistan. It doesn’t exist.† (Wwiner LeVine, 1999) The consequences: After things were revealed General Pervaiz Musharraf (former chief of army) and other political leaders and legislators convicted Sharif and penalized to life prison, but in 2000 deported him to Saudi Arabia. His wrong actions motivated other politicians to continue on the same track of corruption with the nation as later in 2008 another corrupt politician Asif Ali Zardari (former Prime Minister) appeared and looted the nation the same way Sharif did. The trust of people on politicians flew away as their money was misused by those with power and authorities, patriotism decreased and now people are more interested in personal growth rather than cumulative growth as nation. In addition to this mess in 2013, Sharif again become the Prime Minister of Pakistan and all the charges were cleared by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to let him take part in election , this has showed the nation that money and power speaks more than anything else. (Nasir, 2013) Ethical Issues: The key ethical issues which were violated in the case were betraying to the citizens of the country, misusing and stealing of national assets, theft, taking and giving bribe to accomplish personal interest and unethical use of power and authorities. The Prime Minister in a democratic country is elected by its citizens as they trust them and give the responsibility to use national assets for the growth of country and value the basic understandable principle and ideology of the nation but in Sharif’s case he did many unethical act for which he was supposed to be guilty but somehow he managed to escape and pushed the values and feeling of citizens into stake. His duty and principles ruined the phenomena of ethical politics his decisions in political career were neither systematic, self-conscious, or reflective nor well-reasoned. As it is said â€Å"Ice melt from the top† his acts also let other government officials to escape through the hands of law and continue to work u nethically. Laws are not made to break and in the eye of legislation everyone is equal. But in this case equality has disappeared like smoke in air. What’s greater than a loss of trust from citizens of a country towards it’s appointed leaders, current political condition had made a great impact on a nation’s social ethical dimensions, things that were supposed to be ethically wrong has now become a part of system, adding to this mess lack of literacy has contributed to choose a wrong political leader. References Baker, R. W. (2005). Dirty Money at Work. In Capitalisms Achilles Heel (pp. 82-83). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Crilly, R. (2013, May 11). Pakistan elections: Nawaz Sharif eyes return to power. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10046017/Pakistan-elections-Nawaz-Sharif-eyes-return-to-power.html Hindustantimes. (2013, May 12). Once exiled, Nawaz Sharif makes triumphant return to Pak politics. Retrieved from http://www.hindustantimes.com/: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/pakistanpolls2013/once-exiled-nawaz-sharif-makes-triumphant-return-to-pak-politics/article1-1059015.aspx Jhootay Log. (2011, Dec). Retrieved from http://jhootaylog.wordpress.com/: http://jhootaylog.wordpress.com/nawaz-sharifs-corruption/ Khan, E. (2013). Top 10 Pakistani Richest People. Retrieved from http://www.wonderslist.com/: http://www.wonderslist.com/top-10-pakistans-richest-people/ Nasir, J. (2013, Apr 9). NAB, FBR clear Sharif brothers on charges of tax evasion. Retrieved from http://www.aaj.tv: http://www.aaj.tv/2013/04/nab-fbr-clear-sharif-brothers-on-charges-of-tax-evasion/ Wwiner, T., LeVine, S. (1999, October 21). Former Leader of Pakistan May Face Corruption Trial. New York Times. [Dirty Money of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif] – June 20141 The South-East of England: Land Development Issues The South-East of England: Land Development Issues Pressure on development land in the South-East of England: The need for sustainable architecture. Introduction Chapter One Literature Review Chapter Two Development Land Chapter Three Sustainable Architecture Chapter Four South-East of England The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss and evaluate the pressure on development land in the South- East of England, and how that pressure relates to the need for sustainable architecture. The reasons for there being pressure on development land in the South-East of England will be described and analysed, as will any differences with the other regions of Britain. The reasons for setting aside or using the available development land and why sustainable architecture should be adopted in the South-East of England will be fully evaluated. As will be demonstrated there are various and competing factors that apparently increase the pressure to make full use of all available development land in the South-East of England. The available development land in the South-East of England is in high demand to be used for the construction of domestic housing, as well as for commercial, leisure, and industrial building programmes. To a large extent central government and local authorities have attempted to control the construction of such new building programmes through systems of urban planning, as well as building regulations that have applied across the whole of Britain. The reasons why the South-East of England should have a need for sustainable architecture will also be examined in depth. The case for making all the new construction projects designed around the concepts of sustainable architecture shall also be examined, to discuss whether more environmentally focused building designs will lessen the impact of new construction programmes, as well as reducing long-term pollution. Introduction Sustainable architecture and the use of development land are closely linked with the practices and theories of what form the basis of urban and rural planning, as well as ideas concerning the necessity for long-term environmental sustainability. Urban, and to a lesser extent rural planning, became more widespread in their application throughout Britain after 1945, when increased levels of central government intervention were experienced in many social and economic fields. Planning was deemed to be the best way of solving Britain’s housing problems (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). Increased levels of urban and rural planning were justified at the end of the Second World War due to the need for extensive post-war reconstruction. The South-East of England in general, and London in particular had suffered from widespread bomb damage, which meant that fully or partially destroyed houses, factories, and retail units had to be replaced by well planned buildings which would be an improvement upon the previous buildings. In the immediate post-war period it was believed that a systematic use of town and country planning would be essential for the reconstruction of Britain, with a much higher standard of building to match higher employment, the welfare state, and the National Health Service. The purpose of these policies and institutions was to prolong life and promote good health throughout the whole population (Meller, 1997 p67). The increased use of urban and rural planning was not intended to protect the environment in an ecological way, or indeed to promote sustainable architecture, rather it was greatly expanded in scope to make the most rational use of scarce development land. However, there would be measures adopted which would conserve large areas of countryside, and give protection despite the need to re-house millions of families in 1945 (Southall, 2000 p. 336). There were groups that wished to conserve specific areas that supported rare forms of animal and plant life, and even groups that wished to preserve old historical buildings, as well as buildings distinguished by their architectural styles (Meller, 1997 p67). When added together such groups did not equate to an ecological lobby that intended to change agricultural, architectural, or industrial practices to protect the environment. These groups however, were able to heavily influence the decision to restrict urbanisation taking over the countr yside. Post-war reconstruction was the catalyst for the largest programmes of publicly funded construction in Britain. Public expenditure was needed due to the sheer scale of reconstruction required, with London and the South-East of England being a major beneficiary of those programmes. Architecture and planning were used for these large-scale programmes rather than just for individual buildings. The involvement of central government in the promoting and funding of large-scale public building programmes and the use of development land was high until the early part of the 1970s (Greed, 1996 p. 35). Such wide-ranging building programmes were not only intended to replace the buildings destroyed during the Second World War. The post-war building programmes were also intended to replace the slums in the inner cities of London, Birmingham, Liverpool, as well as elsewhere. The construction programmes were intended to make the South-East of England a much more hospitable place to live in, just as the rest of Britain was also intended to be like (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). New construction and renovation of existing houses was an imperative, as â€Å"2 million of them condemned and another 3 million lacking in essentials† (Southall, 2000 p. 337). The South-East of England also benefited from the construction of new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage that were planned as entire towns with purpose built domestic housing and business premises. The Atlee government was so keen upon the creation of new towns to solve the post-war housing shortages that it regulated such construction through the New Town Act of 1946 (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). The construction of the New Towns was considered to be essential for both high economic growth and for solving the national post-war housing shortage. The Atlee government regarded the new towns as being highly beneficial to people’s health as they moved away from major cities and industrial areas to places with cleaner air (Meller, 1997 p67). In ecological terms such construction was harmful to the environment as more land was built upon and it meant a greater amount of pollution from traffic emissions, though of course nobody understood such implications at that time. Improvements in transport infrastructure and increasing levels of car ownership meant that the new towns were economically viable, as well as allowing their inhabitants to commute to the major cities to work in them (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p. 147). Urban planning was thus considered to be very useful for the progress and development of Lo ndon and the South-East of England, which traditionally has been the most populous and prosperous region of Britain. Urban planning was also intended to increase the prosperity levels of the other regions in Britain to be as high as possible to match the levels achieved in the South-East of England (Southall, 2000 p. 337). Controlled expansion of urban areas into the new towns was intended to solve the immediate post-war housing shortage and revive the British economy, whilst leaving the great bulk of the countryside untouched by new housing construction (Taylor, 1998 p.3). Previous improvements in agricultural techniques meant that farming became more efficient nationally which had quickened the pace of urbanisation in Britain as a whole. Urbanisation in Britain had already had a strong impact upon the environment that went beyond the replacement of the countryside with polluting factories and unhealthy slum housing (Southall, 2000, p. 335). Higher crop yields from less land had the consequence that more land in rural areas became available to be used as development land. The greater availability of former agricultural land meant that is was easier to find enough land to construct new towns or expand existing cities across Britain. Urbanisation was a process that was accelerated by the need of industrial towns and cities to find workers to continue their expansion (Goudie Viles, 1997 p. 5). To begin with, the majority of new homes were traditional style houses that formed large council house estates right across the country, in architectural terms there was very little innovation or thought given to making the new housing stock architecturally sustainable or environmentally friendly. More attention was instead devoted to making all new houses comfortable, clean, and ensuring they were being built to last (Greed, 1996 p. 35). The new homes were intended to be better and larger than the ones that they had replaced. The majority of large cities and the new towns in Britain had millions of council houses built in their areas between 1945 and the early 1970s. However, it was much harder to find adequate amounts of development land in inner city areas which led to the building of high rise tower blocks which allowed a greater number of people to be housed without increasing the total area of the development land required (Sheail, 2002 p. 62). Unfortunately, high rise tower bl ocks constructed during the 1960s and the 1970s in the South-East of England, as well as nationally failed to be an adequate form of long- term and sustainable architecture that allowed people to be housed in safety or comfort. The failure of many high rise tower blocks to be sustainable forms of housing had the affect of increasing the pressure on development land. It has also meant that tower blocks have had to be refurbished or more frequently demolished (Meller, 1997 p. 63). As the picture below shows the 1950s and the 1960s also witnessed the construction of low-rise apartment blocks which have proved to be longer lasting than tower blocks built during the same period of time. The picture is of apartment flats constructed in Ham Common in Richmond between 1955 and 1958 (Frampton, 1997 p. 266). Although the amount of new housing construction was considerable not all the available land had been developed or built upon. Land remained set aside for agricultural purposes, whilst other land was left un-built upon and not always used for farming. The land that was left alone and was set aside and thus not allowed to be used for domestic housing or industrial sites were referred to as the green belt. The green belt was created to act as a buffer zone between urban and rural areas as a means to limit urbanisation (Greed, 1996 p. 82). Central government set aside areas that were designated as green belt zones to preserve the countryside nationally as well as solely in the South-East of England. Although, it was possible to build on green belt land the process of gaining planning permission from central government and the relevant local authority was a long drawn out one which deterred most property developers and construction firms from doing so. Local interest groups have often bei ng highly vocal in their opposition to any schemes that have been suggested (Clapp, 1994 p. 138). Clapp estimated that with national parks and designated green belt zones that in England and Wales â€Å"more than a fifth of the countryside now has stringent protection against development† (Clapp, 1994 p. 140). Therefore, the bulk of available development land was concentrated in urban areas, often referred to as brown field sites (Greed, 1996 p. 82). For central government there are advantages for using brown field sites (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). For instance, using such sites allows for economic regeneration, employment creation as well as less pressure to build on green belt land. Recycling land on brown field sites is a method of preserving rural areas being used as development land (Clapp, 1994 p.139). The pressure to use greater amounts of development land has arguably increased significantly in recent years throughout Britain as a whole. The pressure to use development land has risen due to a combination of social, economic, and political factors. For instance, in social terms the demographic changes to the British population have had significant, and it could even be argued, profound effects upon the demand for development for new construction programmes. These demographic changes have occurred as a consequence of the British population ageing, the increasing number of adults who live on their own, as well as the major increase in the number of immigrants who have settled in Britain in the past decade or so. These changes have meant that more people within Britain are seeking a higher number of places to live in. Another reason for the raised levels of pressure upon development land is caused by the potential financial gains from building new houses, as well as new retail or ind ustrial complexes. The level of financial gains that could be made has been boosted since 1979 by the shifting away from the publicly funded housing programmes to a market led approach to determining the rates of new housing construction and the ownership of existing housing (Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 5). Of course even greater numbers of domestic homes and retail premises has a knock on effect on the amount of infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and roads which are required in Britain as a whole. The building of new forms of infrastructure will only increase the environmental impact of new construction programmes (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). A fuller explanation and a more comprehensive examination of the increased pressures on the development land in Britain in general will be presented in the specific chapter on development land. The more detailed evaluation of the pressures upon development in the South-East of England will be presented in the specific chapter about the South-East of England. Not only has there been pressure to use more development land in Britain generally and in the South-East of England in particular, there has been more pressure for new construction programmes to use building techniques and technology linked with sustainable architecture. Sustainable architecture may have been a concept, which started in the United States, yet it could be very important to put its ideas into action across the globe (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). The notion of sustainable architecture is in itself influenced by ideas about making or enabling architecture maximise the utility and the subsequent life span of all new construction, whilst minimising the amount of resources needed in the initial construction and the maintenance of buildings. Sustainable architecture, when possible, uses resources that is renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. There are various motivations for adopting sustainable architecture when it comes down to the construction and the completion of all new building programmes. Motivations that include the minimising of development land used, as well as making use of new technology to conserve energy, the conservation or recycling of finite resources, as well as reducing the levels of water consumption. Reducing the level of pollution and attempting to slow down the consequences of global warming are also factors in the promotion and implementation of sustainable architecture (Kim, Rigdon, Graves, August 1998 p. 5). Of course, there is the influence of legislation upon the use of sustainable architecture techniques to reduce the environmental and ecological impact of new construction programmes. Property developers and construction firms have to comply with measures to protect the environment introduced by the British government and the European Union (Hough, 2004 p. 190). As will be shown in the specific chapter about sustainable architecture the majority of methods used to improve environmental sustainability are relatively straightforward to incorporate into the designs of new building programmes, and in some cases into existing buildings. Sustainable architecture could be achieved by using construction materials that are less damaging to the environment, or materials that have been obtained from recycled and renewable resources. Making buildings as environmentally sustainable as possible during new construction projects (as will be examined in greater depth) will achieve the over all objectives of those that practice and argue for the implementation of sustainable architecture. It is most practical to install features or equipment which enhances environmental sustainability during new construction projects rather than afterwards. The pressures to adopt sustainable architecture in many ways are contradictory, yet are also connected with the pressure s to raise the levels of development land used up for new building programmes. Other motivations for adopting sustainable architecture include applying measures that are requirements for gaining planning permission, as well as ensuring that all new buildings comply with all the minimum standards for safeguarding the environment set by the British government and also by the European Union. The British government has set standards for domestic and retail buildings since the 1950s. For instance, to rid London of its previously renowned smog and fog by reducing smoke emissions from domestic homes and factories alike under the auspices of the Clean Air Act. The European Union has taken a greater interest in promoting environmental sustainability since the 1980s, believing that such actions to protect the natural environment on a regional rather than a national basis would be far more effective in doing so (Hough, 2004 p. 190). Chapter One Literature Review ‘Urban Planning and the British New Right’, by Allmendinger and Thomas was primarily used as a source of reference for the ways in which the Conservative governments between 1979 and 1997 altered housing and economic policies in Britain. This book also contained information about the introduction of more extensive government environmental protection policies, which were started during that period of Conservative administration. The book demonstrates the contradictions between the strong Conservative support for free market economics and the increasing understanding that central government needed to act to protect the environment. Brian Clapp’s ‘An Environmental History of Britain from the Industrial Revolution’ is a good source of information with regard to development land and the impact of the green belt zones on limiting building programmes to already urbanised areas. The book provides a useful insight into the establishment and the continued maintenance of green belt zones in modern Britain. ‘An introduction to Human Geography – Issues for the 21st century’ by Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, and Sidaway proved a useful source of information about development and the environmental impacts of human activity such as constructing buildings and using fossil fuel in buildings. The book assists in explaining why such impacts on the environment would provide a catalyst for sustainable architecture. ‘Modern architecture – a critical history’ by Kenneth Frampton was used as a source of pictures and reference for information about architectural styles and building materials. There was also a brief section concerning the planning of the new town constructed at Milton Keynes during the early 1970s. ‘The Earth Transformed – an introduction to Human Impacts on the Environment’ by Goudie and Viles was used to obtain information about development land and the impact of unsustainable architecture and building techniques upon pollution levels and global warming. The book contained information about the harmful consequences of global urbanisation and industrialisation. ‘Cities Natural Process – A basis for sustainability’, by Michael Hough was a useful reference book for discussing development land and issues that relate to enhancing environmental sustainability. This book was also useful because there was a greater focus upon Britain within it. The book contained suggestions and examples of how sustainability could be achieved with the help of sustainable architecture. ‘Postwar – A history of Europe since 1945’ by Tony Judt was solely used for information about immigration into Britain in the last decade or so. ‘Sustainable Architecture: Introduction to Sustainable Design by’ Kim and Rigdon is an article which explores the theoretical and practical background to sustainable architecture. It was used to gain information for the chapter, which dealt with sustainable architecture specifically. That information was also for the chapter concerning the need for any new construction programmes in the South-East of England to embrace sustainable architecture. ‘Pollution Prevention in Architecture – Introductory Module’ by Kim, Rigdon, and Graves provides further theoretical and practical insights into the ideas contained within the notion of sustainable architecture. This article contained strong arguments as to why sustainable architecture should be implemented across the world and not just in a single specific region of one particular country. This article proved a sound reference for the chapters concerning sustainable architecture and the necessity of its use in the South-East of England. ‘Towns, plans, and society in modern Britain’ by Helen Meller was used to gain background knowledge of the establishment of a more vigorous and restrictive planning regulatory framework brought into operation after the end of the Second World War. That information was then included within the introduction and the specific chapter dealing with the pressures upon the use of development land. ‘Urban and Environmental Planning in the UK’, by Yvonne Rydin provides useful information concerning the protection of the environment through planning regulations and restrictions. Provides good reference material as to how the British government and the European Union have attempted to reduce environmental damage through restrictions on development land and building or other regulations to cut pollution and enhance sustainability. ‘A History of Britain 3, End of Empire 1776 – 2000’, by Simon Schama was used to gain information as to why the Conservative party did not overturn the extended provision of council houses introduced by the Atlee government until after 1979. The book also had information about the ideological changes that Margaret Thatcher brought into Britain and the consequences of such changes. ‘An Environmental History of Twentieth Century Britain’ by John Sheail was a book, which discussed the developments within the environment of Britain between 1900 and 2000. Sheail examines how the understanding of environmental issues in Britain developed in the latter part of the twentieth century. The book was informative in relation to the development of policies that were intended to protect the environment and promote sustainability. ‘The City – In time and space’ by Aidan Southall was a book used to assist with the description and evaluation of the use as well as the restrictions placed upon the availability of development land within Britain. Southall’s account in particular provided information concerning the effective regeneration of brown field sites within the immediate vicinity of London besides providing an insight into the construction of the new towns in the aftermath of the Second World War. ‘Ecological Architecture: A critical history’ by Steele provided some useful practical and theoretical information about the concepts and the designs of sustainable architecture. ‘Life Cycle Analysis for Automobiles’, by Sulivan and Hu was used solely for the data concerning the amount of energy needed to produce aluminium, polyethene, PVC and steel, comparing the consumption to produce the materials new with when those products are recycled. ‘Urban Planning Since 1945’ by Nigel Taylor was a highly useful source of information with regard to the development and the continuation of planning restrictions as well as building regulations. The information about the uses of town and country planning besides the motivations for the establishment and the continuation of green belt land areas was of great use. Taylor also included some succinct information about environmental sustainability within this book. Brenda Vale’s ‘Green Architecture: Design for a Sustainable Future’ is a good introduction to the concepts and the designs most strongly linked with sustainable development. Chapter Two Development Land Prior to the start of the twentieth century there was very little formal or legal regulation or planning undertaken when it came down to the use of development land. There was in effect little to prevent the construction of new building programmes, let alone notions about limiting the size and the scope of such programmes to protect the environment or promote ecological sustainability (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). Central government by and large did not intervene to prevent individuals, businesses of various sizes, or indeed local authorities from using development land in any way that they wished to do so. The central government was willing to permit any parties to construct new buildings upon such development land, especially if the party responsible for constructing such buildings already owned the land, which was been built upon (Greed, 1996 p. 2). The freedom with which new buildings could be built was demonstrated by the ability of the majority of landowners to choose the style of archi tecture in the construction of their homes, factories, or shops. Landowners had the option of making their buildings as grand as possible or as cheap to construct as possible (Kim Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5). They did not have to consider that their right to build on their land would be restricted by the location of that land in relation to the nearest city or its place in the countryside. Landowners and their architects did not believe that there was any profound need to change what they built or how they built it in order to protect the environment and promote sustainability (Sheail, 2003 p. 2). Those building regulations that did exist were generally very minimalist in their actual nature, and were usually introduced on an ad hoc basis. Architecture and the development of land were more likely to be influenced by changes in technology or improvements in economic development, as well as change in fashion and styles (Meller, 1997 p. 63). For instance, these houses started to have gas, electricity, and water supplies installed. These supplies of utility services were regulated by the central government (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Those services were also supplied to factories and shops, which were increasingly subject to health, and safety standards that were intended to prevent accidents, yet paid no attention to the land that they happened to be constructed on (Sheail, 2003 p. 2). The nineteenth century witnessed a quantum leap forward in the amount of land, which was built upon due to a raising population as well as increased levels of industrialisation . These factors happened to coincide with the development of improved infrastructure such as roads, railways, sewage systems, public hospitals, and schools. The development of such infrastructure required large quantities of land, labour, and resources to be successfully completed, whilst in turn promoting higher levels of industrialisation and the migration of people from the countryside to the expanding cities. Some cities and regions benefited economically from such industrialisation more than others did. In Britain, industrialisation benefited the regions surrounding Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Over all though London and the South-East of England retained their position as the most prosperous region within Britain. Industrialisation came at a cost, namely pollution and greater levels of social inequality (Southall, 2000 p. 335). The development of gas, electricity, and water supplies alongside sewage systems made domestic houses more comfortable to live in an d factories more productive due to having greater efficiency (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Before a system of urban and rural planning were introduced there was no specifically set aside development land. Market forces determined the use of land and what if anything was built upon it. If landowners found that their land was most profitably used for agricultural purposes then it would remain as agricultural land (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). If, however more money could be made from building houses, shops, or factories on their land, then that is what usually happened to that land. Landowners could also be tempted to sell their land to property developers, construction firms, or industrial enterprises if they were lucky enough to own land that those other parties felt in urgent need of developing (Meller, 1997 p. 62). It was market forces that drove the industrial revolution in Britain as well as also promoting the process of urbanisation. The processes of industrialisation and urbanisation meant that cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow greatly expanded in ter ms of both their geographical areas and their total population levels, which led to shrinkage in the size of rural areas in Britain as a whole (Southall, 2000 p. 335). It was also market forces that determined the location, size, and scope of housing, factories, and commercial buildings. There were no limitations to the size, location or scope of such buildings, and absolutely no attention was given to the environmental consequences of these building programmes (Sheail, 2003 p 2). The absence of building regulations and restrictions on the use of land meant that there was a great deal of unhealthy and substandard slum housing, which caused widespread illness. Illness occurred besides reflecting the poverty of those people that were unfortunate enough to have to live in such areas (Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, Sidaway, 2005 p.115). Planning regulations would have undoubtedly improved conditions, for instance introducing proper sanitation into the slums or having substandard housing replaced by higher quality houses for people to move into (Southall, 2000 p. 335). In rural areas fears that heavy industry and unsightly slums would eventually over take all the land within their close proximity prompted the foundation of organisations dedicated to the physical preservation of the countryside, the rural way of life, and its wildlife (Clapp, 1994 p. 138). The countryside preservation organisations would eventually have a strong influence on the establishment of the gree n belt zones and the restricted availability of development land in the more predominantly rural areas of Britain (Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 55). It was after the end of the First World War that the central government and local authorities took a greater interest in the construction of housing and how land was actually being used in domestic housing and industrial or commercial construction programmes. The role of the market in deciding how many houses were built and the location of where those houses were constructed was reduced with the development of council houses (Taylor, 1998 p. 3). The provision of affordable housing built by local authorities and subsidised by central government funding meant that there was increased public involvement in the determination of land usage. The use, abuse, or the non-use of land was no longer solely determined by market forces. The involvement of central government and local authorities was intended to reduce poverty, ill health, and social exclusion. At no point in the inter-war period were measures taken to introduce town and country planning with the intention of protecting the environ ment or promoting sustainability as nob