Small Steps toward Making a Difference in Our Country

This blog post was inspired by:

Clown set for Brazil's Congress after passing literacy test (CNN, December 1, 2010)

Ignorance is a burden on society…

For the country of Brazil to elect Tiririca the clown to enter Brazilian congress, there is a lot of nothing going on concerning the political awareness of the society. Since it is mandatory by law for all Brazilian citizens that are of age to vote, many vote for a name that seems familiar to them. These votes are not necessarily going toward the best candidate of choice or even the candidate these voters would be in agreement with if they would inform themselves prior to voting.

Unfortunately, this is not a problem only facing the country of Brazil. Although it is not mandatory to vote here in the U.S., many voters vote out of ignorance, not knowing much of anything about any candidates running in the election. 

Serious consequences come out of placing the wrong people as leaders of a country. 

Some questions I would like “INSIGHT” on: 

What can be done to minimize this problem?

Should taking an examination be mandatory regarding each candidate prior to voting?

Should the voting process stay the same?

Should voting in Brazil be optional, like it is here in the U.S., or is the approach Brazil is taking to get the entire country to vote a more correct stance on making political decisions?

Many opinions will arise, but the ideal desire is to confide that each citizen will take it upon themselves to make educated decisions for the better of their country. Disappointingly, since we cannot depend on this as a true statement, I would like to make a proposal, and I hope it will be used intensely.

Instead of the government battling within themselves for power between parties, they should be more concerned with what the people feel is best for their country. To do so, advertisements around the time of elections should be organized to motivate the people to educate themselves on ALL candidates prior to voting. The advertisements should strongly push that there are negative consequences that amount from making decisions out of ignorance. If necessary, give an example such as Tiririca the clown entering Brazilian congress.  We can laugh now, but we will surely be upset later when the damage is done. As a country we will all reap from those consequences if we do not familiarize ourselves with those we elect as our leaders. After all, they will be the chosen to guide the direction of the future of our country. Choosing our leaders is of the utmost importance that is not taken as seriously across the board as it should be.

I believe that by pushing voters to better themselves through gathering “Insight”, not only will there be a pattern of change in how the country views making voting decisions, but this will also lead underdeveloped countries in their journey to development.

Ideally, there will be no more cycles of corrupt politicians advertising empty promises. No more disappointments in those whom we have placed as our leaders. There will also be an increase in the overall patriotism of the country. Wouldn’t that be nice?

The CHANGE in the World's Population...

YouTube short video on Dr. George Friedman’s “The Next 100 Years a FORECAST for the 21^st Century”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2e2p8IE_k

The above video is a must watch. Let us get some feedback on feelings about the decline in population. The fertility rate is declining all around the world. What is there to come? Watch the next videos.

“The Decade Ahead: Changing Dynamics in the Middle East” (Dr. George Friedman)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rosZm1JPyMY

“Next 100 Years - STRATFOR - George Friedman - Part 1” (Dr. George Friedman)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIwZsbBXpNQ

With all the important points touched upon:

·         - warfare

·         - rising alternative energy source (solar power)

·         - middle-eastern immigration and

·         - the decline of the current strong cultures

What is Insight you can contribute to this post? Thoughts, feelings…

To reiterate the point of the declining fertility rate, over the next decade where will the declining cultures stand? It is intimidating to think that mathematically, some cultures are forecasted to almost vanish.

From a previously viewed video that I have chosen not to disclose because of religious debate, but thought these points significant to get my point across.

In order for a culture to maintain itself for more than 25 years, the required fertility rate is 2.11 children per family. Historically no culture has ever reversed a 1.9 fertility rate. A rate of 1.3, impossible to reverse, because it would take 80-100 years to correct itself, and there is NO economic model that can sustain a culture in that time. In other words, if two sets of parents each have one child; there are half as many children as parents. If those children have one child then there are one fourth as many grand children as grandparents…

As these populations shrink, “so do the cultures!”

As of 2007 according to the video quoted above,

Fertility Rate:

·         France 1.8

·         England 1.6

·         Greece 1.3

·         Germany 1.3

·         Italy 1.2

·         Spain 1.1

Across the European Union of 31 countries, the fertility rate is 1.38 “Historical research tells us these numbers are impossible to reverse!”

“Out of all population growth in Europe since 1990 90% has been Islamic immigration”

The reason for the population not declining in Europe is because of Islamic Immigration.

The video also goes on to say the following and much more…

In France: Islamic immigrants are having 8.1 children per family, as compared to the native French who are having 1.8 children per family.

In the last 30 years the Muslim population of Great Britain rose from 82,000 to 2.5 million, a 30-Fold increase… In the Netherlands 50% of all newborns are Muslim.

“The fall in the (German) Population can no longer be stopped. Its downward spiral is no longer reversible… It will be a Muslim state by the year 2050” (Germany Federal Statistics office)

           

Statistics like the above are also true for Canada and the U.S. How does this make declining cultures feel? 

My view on this is that through the years and increasing women entering the workforce and having fewer children, this was bound to happen. Although as a woman I greatly value my independence and hard work ethic, I am afraid to think of the future women sharing the same culture as mine. Will all other cultures wipe out all together? It is a frightening thought.

As a touchy subject I ask that all responses please be respectful, unbiased and insightful. Thank you for reading Ella A. Insight.

Ella A. Insight Purpose

One thing that I continue to learn over and over is that you can never make everyone happy with everything. There is always going to be opposition somewhere along the line.

I ask that the Ella A. Insight blog be a place of open minded debate and does not pose as a personal, religious, or cultural offence, because that is not my intention.

I thank all whom have participated thus far. I hope that I brought up some thinking points to those who have been reading, as those who have posted have brought constructive thought to my mind.  Thank you all for your Insight, and thank you for all your attention.

ABC News "Ground Zero Mosque Opponents, Supporters Turn Out to Demonstrate"

Ella A.
10/20/2010

(NOTE: PLEASE ALSO READ THE COMMENTS TO THIS POST AS THEY ARE OF HIGH IMPORTANCE!)

*Many opinion oriented statements below have changed, and I ask that everyone read the entire blog including comments before making a judgment and or comment. Thank you.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Politics/ground-mosque-opponents-supporters-turn-demonstrate/story?id=11455698

There is a topic of HUGE debate over having an Islamic Mosque built at the Ground Zero location in Manhattan New York.

I can understand that this fight is not against Muslims; but the occurrence of 9/11 is of national sympathy. Many loved ones were lost on this tragic day, and the scar that remains from this happening may never fully heal.

Let me put this in a different perspective. Hypothetically, what if this story was reversed and a Christian denomination took the lives of many in an Islamic area. How would these Muslims take to this same religious group, Christians, wanting to build a Church exactly where the tragedy occurred? It is obvious that this would not even be of a topic of debate for the Islamic groups. So why then, may I ask, is this of debate in the current circumstance at hand?

My stance, as an American born Christian, is to love all equally. The fact that there is a push to build a Mosque in the Ground Zero location, the same location that was destroyed by an association of the Islamic religion feels to me like a slap in the face, or more over, a symbol of triumph. This is the obvious feeling of those whom are in objection of this actualization.

I once had to give advice to someone whom needed to debate this topic during a University lesson. The people on this person’s debate team had to debate on the (Pro-Islamic Mosque Building) side, per say. At first, just hearing about this on ABC news toward the end of the summer, I was at a heated anger for those whom were supporting this idea of this Mosque. Then I tried to think of anything possible to be unbiased for a moment. As hard as I tried, I could not.

Although I have nothing against those whom are Muslim, and have many friends in all religious and cultural backgrounds, I was just offended of the idea, and felt it to represent a sign of victory for such a tragic memory in the lives of all Americans.

I just cannot comprehend how this proposal came about. It will cause riots if this continues to be an open idea! This is a topic that will hurt the hearts of many to even ponder!

The U.S. in the Global Market

Ella A. 
09/23/2010

One main ethical issue dealing with politics is by a simple raise in taxes can totally wipe out certain businesses. When I think about interest rate control, I think about Ben Bernanke. I feel if he says up, interest rates go up, if he says down… Well, you get the idea. My point is, we are supposed to live in a “free trade market”, but this is just what the government wants us to believe. We are living in a free trade market of what the government will allow permissible.

What’s the point of going from 5 to 100% interest on that bath oil company? To watch the company struggle and go out of business, because our government can’t simply state the true reasons of why certain interest rates are going up! This is protectionism within the government that is masked with high interest rates to keep money circulating in our economy and not shipped out even more than it already is. Seriously now, how much money do we owe China??? I’m not saying it is wrong to have some kind of protectionism, but just increasing interest rates on these small business owners out of the blue is definitely not ethical or socially responsible! It’s like the government saying, we need to make this decision “for the good of the economy”, and so we are going to make your life hard until you decide to go out of business. This is what happens every day! The problem is, if the government would be more straight forward and socially responsible, maybe giving out subsidies to closing small to medium sized businesses because of ridiculous government enforced interest rates. Maybe then, they can get a heads-up, and start planning in a different direction to stimulate the economy instead of pushing up that unemployment percentage.

I understand, this is not something that would be accepted with open arms, but wouldn’t we rather be told the truth than believe in a lie? Wouldn’t we rather know what the government has planned in advance and plan out how that will directly affect the lives of so many? How many more jobs need to be lost before there is a change in sincerity? This may seem dramatic now, but it is all seeming to get more and more out of hand as the once “weak” countries rise up to the competitive global market. The truth can sometimes be harsh to hear, and I hate to be dramatic, but how bad is this economy going to get before there is a turn around. What happened to the president who had “A Change!”? The only change I’ve seen thus far is an increase in unemployment and more money spent in the health care reform which doesn’t seem to be the same reform plan we were promised. It’s obviously not easy to change, and we will go through hard times before it gets better, but things need to be more honest and especially ethical to the public. Why do we take ethics in every single one of our college classes in the first place; to lead out country like this? We need honesty, even if it’s not what we want to hear! Not defending communism by any means, but at least they are straight forward with their people. They say, look we don’t want this in our country, so we are not having it. Here in the U.S. we just get tax and interest rate increases for things that the government wants to control. I’m confused, because to me, it’s sounding like the same thing (just saying it in a nicer more tolerated “American way”).

Ironic Marketing

Ella A.
July 03, 2010

Strategic management has become so important to today’s corporations because there is a search to the answer of: “How does a company become successful and stay successful?” (p. 1, text). With increasing technology innovations coming into the market over time, companies always need to review and restructure their strategies to not only become successful, but to also stay successful. In today’s market, as soon as one company finds a way to success another is planning on finding a better way to success to knock out competition. A company must always be prepared for immediate advancement, and plan on making it happen. This is where building a strategy comes in.

Strategic management has now evolved to the point that its primary value is to help the organization operate successfully in a dynamic, complex environment… Because it takes less and less time for one product or technology to replace another, companies are finding that permanent competitive advantage does not exist. (p. 3, text)

A recent personal example I came to realize is as follows. I bought a Nook, which is a Barnes & Noble e-reader back in February. When I bought it, it was mainly for reading, this was the time when its main competitor was the Kindle the Amizon.com e-reader. Both these e-readers were close in technology, with the exception that the Nook has page-like reading screen technology where the screen looks like the page of a book, so unlike the Kindle it wouldn’t give off a glare in the lighting. A short time later after my purchase of the Nook, the Apple i-pad comes into the market. This introduces not only an e-reader by Apple, but also internet and many other features. Just last month, my Nook gets a message about a software update, after I go through the update, my Nook now has internet browsing capability and room to upload music and pictures. This brought to my attention that the entire time this piece of equipment (my Nook) had the capability to have all these features, but it wasn’t put out onto the market until its competitors did so as well. This is a perfect example of strategic management. The innovation of the Nook “technology” was withheld until a PLANNED time for it to come out.

Another New product line that came into market that made me see the strategic planning behind it was the 4G Apple i-phone. Just when it seems like technology is at a point where it can’t get any better for a while; a problem is discovered with the phone. Since the internal antenna was built mainly around the sides of the phone one normally holds on to while having a conversation, there was a reception problem. One actually had to hold the phone vertically making it awkward to use. This is pushing an innovation in the 4G i-phone. Was this an accident? I don’t think so. I think it was purposefully done to be able to come out with another version or a “fixed version” faster. With all the cell phone technology that has been out, this seems like too much of a “dumb” mistake to make.