Supply and Demand

 Word count: 619

Supply and Demand

Human trafficking is the third largest international trade in the world; follow by illegal drug trade and arm trade. Human trafficking occurs in factories, fields, and mines, in offices, restaurants, and homes, and on the streets of nearly every country in the world. There are 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international border annually. There are 2.5 million of people being trafficked around the world by human trafficker in any given time. Human trafficking has been skyrocketed in the past few years. Human trafficking is a multi-billion enterprise. According to ILO (International Labour Organization) it can make approximately 32 billion profit per year, which is more than Nike, Google and Starbucks combine. How come human trafficking is one of the biggest industries in the world nowadays? Why is human trafficking growing exponentially? The reason why human trafficking is growing bigger is due to demand of the consumer and employer.

For instance, in China there is more man than women due to the one child policy. Every 117 man in china; there are 100 women. By the time it goes to 2020, there will be 30 million single Chinese man facing “ bride shortage” against 24 million woman. Therefore, the market of human trafficking emerged. Lots of Chinese men started to get bribe from Southeast Asia. Particularly Kachin women have become the target for the trafficker. Since they are a profitable source for the trafficker. The highest price for a Kachin wife is up to 6500 dollars. Therefore, Chinese businessman will be the typical buyer. This example exemplified that because the demand of wife from the consumer urges the human trafficking industry.

Yet, the human trafficker still aren’t satisfy, they found out that average Chinese worker couldn’t afford high price Kachin woman. Therefore, human trafficker decided to offer these average Chinese men women from Myanmarese families struggling on a dollar a day. Furthermore, buyer usually pays 150 dollars or even less as the dowry for the wife’s family. This example demonstrates that the fact that consumer wanted a bride but a cheaper one led to the prosperity of human trafficking industry.

Another example that demonstrate that the demand of consumer promote human trafficking industry is that there are human trafficker traffick children to Thailand. Usually these children have been rented out from their parent. Three months old toddler to ten years old is the typical age to be rent out, since the employers believe they are the most appealing in that age. Brokers generally offer 100 to 224 dollars a month for their children. Yet, a children could make 15 to 100 dollars a day which is why this is so tempting for the buyer, since buyers have high returns. Because of the high returns that buyer can get, they are more likely to employ (rent) a child rather that an adults. This is exactly why human trafficking making mass amount of profit out of the consumer.

This is like the ongoing cycle, due to the demand of consumer; the traffickers supply these human resources to the buyer. The unwillingness of buyer paying minimum wage to an adult makes the human trafficker find the opportunity to make profit out of it. The unbalance of boys and girls in china led to more purchase of foreign bride. People who can’t afford expensive bride can still purchase cheap bribe from some poor family who can hardly made a dollar a day. Overall, the only way to prevent children from working nonstop for the employer or the bride getting beat up or disrespect by her husband is all depend on the buyer action. If the buyers stop showing demand of cheap labor or bride, human trafficking will inevitably discontinues.

MLA citation:

Carasso, S. C.. N.p.. Web. 11 Nov 2013. <http://fightslaverynow.org/why-fight-there-are-27-million-reasons/economics-and-human-trafficking/>.

 “UN Says Human Trafficking Appears To Be Worsening” Radio Free Europe., February 13, 2009

<http://www.rferl.org/content/UN_Says_Human_Trafficking_Appears_To_Be_Worsening_/1492561.html>

Asma, Masood. Foreign Policy Journal, 06 Jul 2013. Web. 11 Nov 2013. <http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/07/06/the-economics-of-human-trafficking/>.

Solution for Human Trafficking

Solution for Human Trafficking

Word count: 623

Human trafficking occurs around us everyday. In fact, modern-day human trafficking is ten times greater than trans-Atlanta slave trade was in the 19th century.. This is the third largest trading industry in term of profit in the global. 700,000 to 2,000,000 women and children are trafficked yearly worldwide and approximately 2,000 to 6,000 women and children are trafficked in daily basis. Ultimately, how do we solve this worldwide tragedy?

Some people advocate that countries who have human trafficking issues should work together with neighbor country to fight human trafficking. Yet, this isn’t pragmatic. For instance, China and Vietnam decided to fight this crime together, but they’ve had limited success. The Chinese have only rescued 1,800 Vietnam trafficking victims on the China-Vietnam border between 2001 and 2005 meaning only 450 victims were rescued a year. There are far more victims who haven’t been rescued from the government than who have. Moreover, prosecuting trafficker with neighbor country isn’t the ultimate way to solve this issue, since there will be numerous other human traffickers trafficking other victims while we prosecute one human trafficker.

The ultimate ways to solve this controversial issue is by educating these victims and creating better job opportunities for them. Since the victims of human trafficking are typically teenagers between the ages of 15 to 17. Therefore, we should definitely go into high schools and educate high school student about human trafficking to raise awareness of human trafficking. However, human traffic education wouldn’t just be limited to teenagers; women factory workers need to be educated as well. Since women factory workers have limited wages to survive on, human trafficker usually coax these workers with a better job in another country, yet they usually end up sold by human trafficker to factory owner as a slave. For instance, Moe, lives in Hinthada Township, comes from a family who struggles to survive on only $2 a day. She was persuaded by a neighbor to work in China in order to support her family financially. Yet, she ended up being sold by a human trafficker to a factory owner for 5,000 dollars. This example demonstrates that this victim clearly didn’t have enough knowledge about human trafficking. According to Nwe, director of Best Industrial Company Ltd, "We warn them that many perpetrators of human trafficking are close to their victims. They may be relatives or their neighbors." If she learned the fact that human traffickers are usually people that you trust or someone like your neighbor, she wouldn’t necessary trust that neighbor and set her up in that situation.

In addition the other way to solve this issue is to make sure everyone have a decent job. "Human trafficking happens when there are no decent jobs. We need to create decent jobs for them here in the country", said Nwe. Human trafficker usually target people with limited of wealth and people who aren’t satisfy with their current job. Victims of human trafficking tended to be people from poverty country. Often time these victims are receiving limited wage or even unemployment which is why they are more likely to be coax by human trafficker if they offer a better job opportunity in other country. Therefore, the most pragmatic way to solve this issue is providing people with a better job. If people have a decent job that pay off their living, people less likely to believe human trafficker when they tried to coax them with a better job opportunity.

Lastly, human trafficking is inevitably a global issue that worth our attention. Tremendous amount of people are suffering in tragic. The only two ways to prevent human trafficking are educating potential victims about human trafficking and creating better job opportunity for these potential victims.

MLA citation:

Iris, C. Gonzales. "Myanmar Garment Factory Tries to Mend Trafficking." Women's eNews. Women's eNews, 28 Aug 2013. Web. 21 Nov 2013. <http://womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/130827/myanmar-garment-factory-tries-mend-trafficking

Carasso, S. C.. N.p.. Web. 11 Nov 2013. <http://fightslaverynow.org/why-fight-there-are-27-million-reasons/economics-and-human-trafficking/>.

 “UN Says Human Trafficking Appears To Be Worsening” Radio Free Europe., February 13, 2009

Asma, Masood. Foreign Policy Journal, 06 Jul 2013. Web. 11 Nov 2013. <http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/07/06/the-economics-of-human-trafficking/>.

Solutions to Food Security in India (660)

Solutions to Food Security in India (660)

Can Xu

       The Indian government has asked U.S for support to get World Trade Organization’s legitimacy for the flagship program, the Food Security Law, at the Bali ministerial meeting to hold next month. It is a good solution to solve food security in India.

       Earlier this year, the Indian Parliament passed the Food Security Law which promises to provide 5 kilograms of subsidized food grains per month to nearly 820 million Indians. It includes rice at Rs. 3 per kilogram (about $49 per ton), wheat at Rs.2 per kilogram (about $33 per ton), and millets at Re.1 per kilogram (about $16 per ton) until 2016. The average wholesale price of rice stands at around $450 per ton in October 2013.

       The stockpiling of food grains is vital to ensure food security in countries like India. It should be exempt from subsidy limits proposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Also, food stocks should not be used for exports. One of the solutions is encouraging science technology to enrich crop productions to help more than 10 million farmers in India. It can increase their profit and improve their livelihoods.

       India is seeking space to perform this public policy. But at the same time, other WTO member countries are also worried about the trade distortions caused by this program. According to the WTO agricultural agreement, the government has certain limit to administrative price purchase of agricultural products. In recent years, the prices of agricultural products rises, so India feared they would violate WTO for subsidies to farmers agricultural agreement.

      World Trade Organization (WTO) members are close to reaching a deal on the continuous issue of food security with India. The WTO director supports and encourages solutions over the legitimacy of India’s Food Security Law, the world’s largest food security program. “I doubt immensely that we are going to have a finalized solution on all aspects of this issue in four weeks. From up front rejection, we now are building an environment for a very constructive engagement that will try to address this issue in a positive manner."

        However, Pakistan wants the WTO to block India’s Food Security Law because of the program may let subsidized rice entering the global market chain and harm rice exports of countries such as Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. The consequence is India’s Food Security Law may distort international trade. In the Bali meeting, all the members should follow the "peace clause", the promised members will not dispute settlement mechanism to appeal to India in a certain period of time. This solution allows members to find solutions to the problems in India after the meeting.

       At present, the Indian government is trying to find a solution to improve the food security, but the fact is it is not been taken seriously. Food security is a serious problem in India. It let people suffer. I think it is a good idea to create laws about food security. If the government monitors the process of food, it will prevent food insecurity. In addition, food producer and seller must promise the quality and safety of food. It is also a kind of social responsibility. Also, it is important to create a food security system to educate people. As the final consumer, they should know how to use laws to protect their rights about food security.

        In a word, food security is related to our health and life. The government and also citizens need to take actions, cooperate and do about best to solve the food security issue.

Work Cited

"India may settle for compromise solution to Food Security issue at WTO." Hindo Business Line 01 10 2013, n. pag. Print. <http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/india-may-settle-for-compromise-solution-to-food-security-issue-at-wto/article5210230.ece>.

"WTO chief raises concerns over India food security law." Hindo 07 07 2013, n. pag. Print. <http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/wto-chief-raises-concerns-over-india-food-security-law/article5210505.ece>.

Admin, . "Food Security Bill is not a permanent solution to India’s hunger problem: Harsh Mander ." Twocircles.net. N.p., 25 10 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://twocircles.net/2013oct25/food_security_bill_not_permanent_solution_india’s_hunger_problem_harsh_mander.html>.

Should There be a Solution for Dictatorship in Third World Countries?

    number of words=635

    In the twenty-first century dictatorship is viewed as a menace. Most people think that dictatorship means an abuse of people's rights, which makes dictatorship a problem. The best way to solve this problem is said to be '' democratization''. In a democracy, the people choose the leader they want which means that the government doesn't have total control over the people. Most of the time poverty in third world countries is blamed on dictatorship, yet “ One group of economists found growth induced democracy in East Asia; democracy did not lead to growth”(The Economist). This proves that the development of a country doesn't depend on whether it is democratic or not.

       Democracy is not a solution to dictatorship in third world countries. Democracy is not for all countries, it is a western idea of government. Just as the western culture, Asian cultures and African cultures are different it should be obvious that such differences would lead to a different way of country and political organization. In many third world countries especially in Africa, there are many tribes and the introduction of democracy led to tribal competition to getting government power. “The challenge to democracy in Africa is not the prevalence of ethnic diversity, but the use of identity politics to promote narrow tribal interests. It is tribal”(''How Tribalism Stunts African Democracy"). As the Westerners thought of bringing democracy into the third world countries, they never thought of the consequences and the cultural differences. The Westerners developed the idea of democracy, they were not forced into or imposed on with democracy; it was an idea that took time to grow and insert in their society. This is why they should stop imposing it on third world countries.

          The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had introduced a policy that would lend money to the developing countries that have ''good governance'' that could allow economic growth. Today the policy of good governance broadly involves the idea of having a democratic institution. In most of third world countries democracy leads to tribal rivalry, then the promotion of democracy would lead to tribes fighting therefore war in the country will not be stable enough for development. Some developing countries tried to adapt democracy into their political system and most of them have failed. The reason why those developing countries failed is because they were trying a western political way to run a country that didn't have a good understanding of western ways or cultures. An example to this would be Egypt, two years after the fall of their dictator Mubarak the country is still in chaos trying to adapt the democratic system. '' The events in Egypt show that there is no quick and peaceful transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic politics'', said Pushkov in the Israel national news. The chaos in Egypt led to economic crisis because the investors were not comfortable going to start business or invest their money in an unstable country. If democracy can not be a solution to dictatorship, then what is? Perhaps dictatorship doesn't need a solution. Dictatorship could just be the right way to govern those third world countries.

        If the problem as many mention is that dictatorship could lead to poverty. They could perhaps look at South Korea as an example. South Korea has not always been a democracy. In the 1960's to 70's, South Korea was ruled by autocrats and during that time, Korea went from a state of poverty to a state of prosperity. It is not until Korea had prosperity that democracy came along. This example shows that it is not only having a democratic government that leads to a prosperous country. A dictatorship might just be the right way of some countries to develop so democracy shouldn't be imposed to all the countries in the world.

Resources

• "Russian Official: Democracy Not Good For Everyone - Global Agenda - News - Israel National News."Israel National News. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169583>.
• "Participatory Development and Good Governance."Participatory Development and Good Governance. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/doc-jica_gg.html>.
• Juma, Calestous. "Viewpoint: How Tribalism Stunts African Democracy."BBC News. BBC, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20465752>. 

The Power of the People

Rachael L                                                                                             November 20, 2013     Words: 756

The extinction and endangerment of animal and plant species across the world is a major issue, and is tied with many other problems such as climate change, pollution, and human infrastructure. As it is such a big issue, it is impossible to solve the problem with just a few solutions. Rectifying this issue will take many years, many people, and many different approaches. Although there are many people and organizations working on the problem, the general public needs to get involved with the issue or else solutions and conservation efforts could come too late.

One of the biggest problems for endangered species is loss or pollution of their natural habitat. Approximately half of the land on Earth has been changed for human use, which leaves less than half for natural ecosystems, much of which is contained in inhospitable places such as Antarctica. The International Union for Conservation of Nature identifies habitat loss as the main threat to 85% of the hundreds of threatened or endangered species on their red list. Half of Earth's original forests have been harvested, at a rate ten times higher than regrowth rates, a critical loss as at least half of all species on Earth live in tropical forests (WWF Global). Two-thirds of all rivers have been altered and regulated, draining the wetlands many rely upon, and many more rivers are polluted beyond use (US Fish and Wildlife Services).

It is no wonder that one of most effective solutions to endangered animals is the preservation of remaining habitat and the designation of new, clean areas for use. Permanently protecting habitat in national parks, nature reserves, and wilderness area is a huge benefit, and many organizations are working across the world to encourage governments to do just that. Another problem for endangered species is pollution and the resulting climate change, which often has much greater impacts on the plants and animals in an area than the humans. Well-known organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservatory, and governmental organizations like the US Fish and Wildlife Service raise billions of dollars each year to help preserve habitat, slow pollution rates, and protect endangered species.

However, all these efforts are not enough. No matter how much money these organizations raise, the vast majority of people across the globe do not know about the problem or do not contribute to solving it. To help endangered species survive, everyone needs to pitch in. People need to be educated about the problem, its solutions, and what they can do to help. When people band together to help an threatened animal, species, or habitat, they can get extraordinary things done. In Colorado Springs, a large natural area with beautiful views and important wildlife habitat was slated to be bulldozed and turned into huge condo complexes. The people of the town rose up and refused to let this happen, fighting the city for rights to the land. Eventually, the area was preserved as a public park and wildlife area.

Ordinary people play critical roles in helping identify threatened species and making sure that they receive the necessary protection, as proved in a study conducted by Berry Brosi, a scientist at Emory University, and Erik Biber, a professor of law at University of California. The government often takes a long time to evaluate the risk to the species and even longer to allocate resources to make sure they are protected. Individual people and groups working together can change this.“Calls to streamline the Endangered Species Act and to rely exclusively on Fish and Wildlife Services to identify and list species might mean that a significant number of species that deserve legal protection -- especially those that are politically unpopular because of the potential to obstruct development projects -- would be left out in the cold.” (Huffington Post)

This is why the actions of people are so important. It is our duty to make our voices heard to protect endangered species and their habitats, especially since they cannot do it themselves. State and government conservation agencies are also affected by policy changes and budget cuts that are put into place by legislators. Getting involved in legislation, whether it be by lobbying or contacting representatives and urging them to vote on certain issues, is crucial. Even little things, like organizing community gardens and parks, limiting chemical usage and pollution, or volunteering at local parks and nature preserves can be extremely helpful. The people are the ones that need to pave the way for protection of endangered species, for if we don't, who will?

Sources:

• "Impact of habitat loss on species." WWF Global. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 16 Nov 2013. <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/>.
  
  
• "People Power Essential to Saving Endangered Species."Huffington Post. 22 Aug 2012: n. page. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/noah-greenwald/people-power-essential-to_b_1819398.html>.

• United States of America. Fish and Wildlife Services. Finding Solutions to Habitat Loss. Print. <http://www.fws.gov/birds/documents/HabitatLoss.pdf>.

A Continued United European Union 653

            The European Union has been in a time of economic crisis for a number of years. Already, there have been numerous attempts to help countries out of debt and to try to solve the economic problem at hand. Greece has already been given enormous bailout plans, of which have not solved the issue. Currently, there is talk of a possible break up of the European Union, at least economically. However, a break up of the Eurozone would be detrimental to all countries involved, so instead there should be more effective policies and reforms for competition for the countries in the Eurozone, instead of ineffective bailout plans and other policies.

            One of the first steps to solve the European Debt Crisis would be to lessen the debt of each sovereign nation. Greece, one of the countries affected the most by the crisis, has already seen some attempts to reduce its debt. Greece received a 110 billion euro bailout in 2010 and another 130 billion euro one in 2012. Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Cyprus have also received large packages (Associated Press). Now, Greece may be looking for yet another bailout package. This goes to show that bailout packages are not an effective way to curb debt in this situation, and the European Union needs to look to something else to lower debt.

            With a lot of distress and tensions arising from the problem of the debt crisis, there is a lot of talk about a break up of the European Union. As Thomas Brockhoff puts it, “Disintegration is a lazy response to a nuanced current problem. It puts both peace and power at risk” (Brockhoff). The European Union was created to keep peace through a monetary union, so what would happen to that peace if it broke up? The European Debt Crisis is not a problem that can be solved simply by taking the easy way out and breaking up the union and changing currencies.

There have been some suggestions for a breakup that do sound reasonable, even though not desirable. One such suggestion is to divide into two currency zones, the North and South. The north would contain countries such as Germany, who had emerged rather successfully from the crisis, whiles the south would contain countries that had suffered from the crisis. The benefit of this situation would be the currency devaluation. Supposedly this would create healthy competition that would enable those countries to be able to export more, since their currency would be valued less. (Eavis). However, this solution still calls for a breakup of the existing European Union, which, although it could possibly solve some of the economic problems, would still end the political union that has kept the peace since the Second World War. This situation would be also be slightly detrimental to countries such as Germany, who would get the short straw because of increased competition with southern countries.

            So how then, can the European Union stick together and solve its problems? The answer is not an easy one, as the problem has not been solved yet. Most economists agree that the solution lies in economic growth of the countries. (Protopapadakis) There needs to be more economic competition between the countries to renew that growth in countries with massive debt. A healthy solution to the crisis would be some reform or policy that enables this competition without the breakup of the north and south, and one that would not harm countries such as Germany too much.

            There is no easy solution for the European Debt Crisis. Several bailout packages have already been given to countries in need, and still there is a severe problem. Although there have been some suggestions for a divided European Union, in the end it would not be desirable. Instead, countries should establish policies and reforms that enable healthy competition to lead to economic growth in the countries devastated by debt.

Associated Press. Eurozone’s 5 bailout packages at a glance. Financial Post. 25 March 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/25/cyprus-bailout-eurozone-rescue/>

Brockhoff, Thomas. It must adapt, not disintegrate. NY times. 28 Jan 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/28/should-the-eu-stick-together/the-european-union-must-adapt-not-disintegrate>

Eavis, Peter. 3 Unorthodox ways to solve Europe’s Debt Crisis. Deal Book. 12 Dec 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/3-unorthodox-ways-to-solve-europes-debt-crisis/>

Protopapadakis, Aris. The European Debt Crisis, an alternate solution. Huffington Post Economics. 18 July 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2013. < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aris-protopapadakis/the-european-debt-crisis-_b_1683646.html>