Essay --

Depression. The lifeless force that makes a home on the top of your back, weighing you down completely taking you over like a parasite; you see what it wants you to see, a world of gray blobs doing meaningless tasks day after day. Everything is trite. Nothing excites you. You are in a rut that gets deeper and deeper with each passing day, and as time passes, the possibility of escaping dwindles. You have empty feelings, there is no hope; you are fatigued by daily activities and suffer insomnia or restlessness. The thought of food disgusts you. Or perhaps it’s the only thing you have to comfort yourself. More than 20 million citizens in the United States suffer from depression; this is the life they have to look forward to. (â€Å"Depression† n.d.) Society is quick to judge on any kind of discrepancy: fashion, intellect, monetary class, and personality. What is everyone going to think when you have to skip your weekly luncheon and mani-pedi with your girlfriends for a depression counseling session? You have to cut corners on all expenses to pay for your treatment and it isn’t going unnoticed. A 2012 study by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and the University of South Florida sought to find answer this: Dopeople judge me for spending money on Depression treatments? Two situations were created: in Experiment 1, random participants read a paper written by a student struggling with academic stress and school-related issues who would set aside a large sum of money to pay for depression treatment (Hong, Lishner, Gum, & Huss, 2012, p. 878). In Experiment 2, participants read another paper written by a depressed student who opted out of seeking treatment or received free treatment (Hong et a.l, 2012). Results found that pa rticipants we... ...They also found that there was a significant difference between depressed college students who were physically active and those who were not. Physical activity has been known to improve emotional self being like depression, anxiety, stress and self-esteem (Taliaferro, L. J., 2009). Practicing physical activity at least three to four times a day reduces the chances of being depressed.Till this day depression is one of the highest causes of death in young adults (Taliaferro, L. J., 2009). Depression is a major health issue, and will continue to be so unless we take action. Instead of feeling that lifeless force pushing you down get up and try doing some aerobic exercises. Fight to feel happy again. Life is a gift, never believe that you should take away your life in order to not feel pain and always have hope for the future. After all, we are responsible for ourselves.

The Underground Railroad Essay -- UGRR Slavery

Introduction Imagine yourself a slave, hungry, beaten, and sick with grief at having had your freedom, family and all that makes you human stripped from you. But then, you get word of a way out of it all. It will separate you from all whom you love, it will endanger your life, but that is the price for freedom from the slavery of the south. Fellow slaves begin acting strangely, gathering tools, clothing, and food. You look around, and all you see is a freshly washed quilt hanging out to dry. Then you begin to realize that there is a new quilt every few days, each with a new pattern, and with each quilt, your fellow slaves correspondingly perform more and more preparative tasks. So you join them, realizing this is your only chance to become human again, your chance to dupe the system and win your freedom as the ultimate prize. Finally, now that you’ve caught on to the messages contained in the quilts and spiritual songs, you see that long awaited pattern, â€Å"tumbling boxes,† and you don’t look back. From here on out, it is all relying on your instincts, and your wit. There are people that will help you, but twice as many that want to kill you. Good luck and god-speed, you have just joined the Underground Railroad, see you in Canada! The Underground Railroad was neither a railroad nor underground. It was a complex network of freed slaves, black sympathizers, and northern abolitionists. Famous names that adorned the railroad were Harriet Tubman, William Still, and Frederick Douglass, to name a few. In the heart of the South, there was an informal, yet highly complex system evolving. The institution of slavery had wrenched the hearts of too many, and now they were quietly rebelling. Named during the steam engin... ...W. Norton & Company, 1996 Siebert, Wilber H. The Undergound Railroad from Slavery to Freedom New York: Russell & Russell, 1898 Tobin, Jacquline L. Hidden in Plain View New York: Doubleday, 1999 Internet Sources: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/ http://afroamhistory.about.com/ http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/Diversity/Specific/Race/Specific/African_American_Resources/Bibliographies/ugrrbib.html http://www.cr.nps.gov/aahistory/ http://www.geneseo.edu/~brl1/Photos.html http://jfg.girlscouts.org/Talk/whoami/Culture/AfricanAmerican/FreedomSquares2.htm#Crossroads http://www.histori.ca/search.do?config=htdig-en&words=underground+railroad http://www.state.vt.us/vhs/educate/urbiblio.htm http://www.ugrr.org

Natural Gas as an Alternate Energy Source for Transportation :: Alternate Energy Sources

Natural Gas as an Alternate Energy Source for Transportation Petroleum, the oil that is refined to create gasoline and diesel, and that as of now is the main energy source powering transportation worldwide, releases too many pollutants into the air and is not very far away from becoming a depleted resource. As global warming becomes a larger threat, gas prices rise, and the air in cities around the world becomes increasingly polluted, it is becoming more apparent that an alternate, and cleaner, source of energy is needed for use in transportation. The best option for a replacement to petroleum is natural gas, also known as methane. Today, twenty-four percent of the total energy consumed in the United States is natural gas, which means a change is already in progress (though due to a lack of technology in natural gas recovery and stubbornness of consumers, it is happening slowly) [Pros and Cons]. However, the important question is, â€Å"why is natural gas so much better that petroleum?† To begin, natural gas is much better for the environment than petroleum. If natural gas vehicles (NGVs) were to become the norm, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be alleviated by ninety percent and hydrocarbon emissions could be reduced by eighty-five percent [NaturalGas.org]. This is very important, because it is the elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that are responsible for the large increase in the greenhouse effect, which is thought to be causing global warming. In addition, natural gas produces only ninety-two pounds of nitrogen oxides (NO2) and one pound of sulfur dioxide (SO2) per billion Btu of energy, as opposed to petroleum’s 448 and 1,122 pounds, respectively [NaturalGas.org]. The significance of these figures lies in the fact that it is nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides that cause acid rain [Pros and Cons]. However, converting to natural gas would help more than just the environment. From an economic viewpoint, the widespread use of natural gas for transportation purposes as opposed to petroleum in the United States would not only relieve American reliance on foreign oil, but would also help the economy. This is because eighty-seven percent of natural gas consumed in the United States is â€Å"domestically† produced, which means it is produced in America [NGVC]. Therefore, using natural gas instead of petroleum as an energy source for transportation would help the environment and the American economy. Natural Gas as an Alternate Energy Source for Transportation :: Alternate Energy Sources Natural Gas as an Alternate Energy Source for Transportation Petroleum, the oil that is refined to create gasoline and diesel, and that as of now is the main energy source powering transportation worldwide, releases too many pollutants into the air and is not very far away from becoming a depleted resource. As global warming becomes a larger threat, gas prices rise, and the air in cities around the world becomes increasingly polluted, it is becoming more apparent that an alternate, and cleaner, source of energy is needed for use in transportation. The best option for a replacement to petroleum is natural gas, also known as methane. Today, twenty-four percent of the total energy consumed in the United States is natural gas, which means a change is already in progress (though due to a lack of technology in natural gas recovery and stubbornness of consumers, it is happening slowly) [Pros and Cons]. However, the important question is, â€Å"why is natural gas so much better that petroleum?† To begin, natural gas is much better for the environment than petroleum. If natural gas vehicles (NGVs) were to become the norm, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be alleviated by ninety percent and hydrocarbon emissions could be reduced by eighty-five percent [NaturalGas.org]. This is very important, because it is the elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that are responsible for the large increase in the greenhouse effect, which is thought to be causing global warming. In addition, natural gas produces only ninety-two pounds of nitrogen oxides (NO2) and one pound of sulfur dioxide (SO2) per billion Btu of energy, as opposed to petroleum’s 448 and 1,122 pounds, respectively [NaturalGas.org]. The significance of these figures lies in the fact that it is nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides that cause acid rain [Pros and Cons]. However, converting to natural gas would help more than just the environment. From an economic viewpoint, the widespread use of natural gas for transportation purposes as opposed to petroleum in the United States would not only relieve American reliance on foreign oil, but would also help the economy. This is because eighty-seven percent of natural gas consumed in the United States is â€Å"domestically† produced, which means it is produced in America [NGVC]. Therefore, using natural gas instead of petroleum as an energy source for transportation would help the environment and the American economy.

COT: Commerce in the Indian Ocean Essay

In the Indian Ocean region from 650 C.E. to 1750 C.E., commerce changed in that there was a shift in dominance over trade, and the demand of certain products changes, and a continuity was the Europeans’ demands for goods from Asia. A change in commerce from 650 C.E. to 1750 C.E. was the changing of control over trade. Around 650 C.E., the Swahili dominated the trade, especially since there were so many coastal forts of the east side of Africa. Trade then switched amongst the Muslims of the Middle East, China and then the various European groups. This was a change because the Swahili were native to Africa, and sold ivory, gold, iron, slaves and exotic animals for silk in Persia and porcelain in China while power shifted multiple times until Europeans steadily began dominating sea trade, especially with the high demand and cheap expense to sell the slaves to the Americas, Asia, India, and parts of Europe. Another change in the Indian Oceans regions’ commerce was the demand of certain products such as crops from the Americas, cotton textiles from China, and slaves (and etc). Certain crops from the America’s became high in demand, especially maize, for those in the Eastern part of the world. Cotton textile became of decently high demand in the response towards everyone who has and will buy the textiles, and slaves became higher in demand as more people found them cheaper and more hard working than those who were paid. They could’ve come from the east coast of the African continent, from the Philippines, or the small islands there. This was a change because before slaves, the goods that were wanted were gold, silk and many other goods from all over. Something that continued was that the Europeans always demanded a lot of goods from Asia. In China, European merchants would spend lavish amounts of money on silk and spices, even when in the long run it hurt their own economy. They took on the attitude opposite of mercantilism, where instead of closing importation and focusing more on their own country/ kingdom, they chose to only really import goods. Most Asians weren’t really interested in getting anything in return goods-wise as Europeans didn’t have much to offer, but they probably wanted the European’s gold or silver coins that came from the mines in Brazil. This was a continuation by European merchants trading with Asian traders because even when European explorers just barely discovered China, they already wanted to buy the foreign goods and spend lavishly on many unique and never seen before treasures. Some changes that occurred from the time 650 c.e. to 1750 c.e. in the commerce of the Indian Ocean region were the shift in dominance over trade, and the on-demand goods change; something that continued was Europeans’ over eagerness to buy from the Asians.

Analysis of Food Inc. Essay

Studies have shown that many people all over the world are unaware of where their food comes from. When an individual goes to consume a food product, he or she could be completely oblivious to the methods of manufacture, processing, packaging or transportation gone into the production of the food item. It is often said that ‘ignorance is bliss’ – perhaps this rings true in the case of food, its origins and its consumption as well. In such a scenario, eating well could seem like an unlikely prospect. The definition of ‘eating well’ in modern times seems to have gone from eating healthily, to eating ethically. The manner in which food is produced and consumed has changed more rapidly in the past fifty years than it has in the previous ten thousand years (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). With this swift transformation, various ethical issues came to the fore. Food production is now done large scale in factories, rather than in farms. Mass production of various types of food, from crops and vegetables to seafood and meat, is very much the norm. The fact that food is mass produced nowadays is already something that a lot of people do not know about. The reason behind this is that food producing firms do not want the consumers – their customers – to know too much about the food manufacturing industry (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008), in the fear that customer loyalty could be lost upon their finding out various truths. To retain their customer base, according to documentary film ‘Food, Inc.’, narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, the image associated with food in th e United States of America is that of an American farmer. Various motifs plastered all over food packaging and advertisements for food products, such as green pastures for grazing cattle, picket fences, the typical farmhouse, vast meadows and, most importantly, the farmer, lead consumers to believe that their food still comes from farms, or at least a pastoral version of small time cottage industries. With these motifs constantly pervading the sensibilities of the average American consumer, it is little wonder that the consumer continues to ‘eat unethically’ – they are simply in the dark. Because what these motifs represent could not be further from the reality. The apparent crop central to all mass food production, as shown on ‘Food Inc’ (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008) and alluded to in Pollan’s book, ‘In The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ (2006), is corn. Corn is used in a vast assortment of ways in the food manufacturing industry. Bes ides, of course, being a food crop for direct consumption by humans, it is used to make a range of additives in processed food too, such as high fructose corn syrup, ascorbic acid, xanthan gum, et cetera. Corn is also a significant constituent of animal fodder, and is fed to almost all kinds of livestock. These include animals that are not meant, by evolution, to eat corn, such as cattle and fish (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). The massive demand for corn is only counterbalanced by the massive supply of corn in the United States. This is due to the American government subsidising the cost of production of corn, encouraging corn farmers to produce more than the amount is truly required. Because of such heavy subsidies, corn becomes extremely cheap, produced at merely a fraction of its cost of production, and results in an enormous scale of production of corn. This manner of overproduction and consumption of corn alone raises a few ethical issues. First of all, the feeding of corn to cows and fish – not the natural food of such animals – causes immense problems to these animals, which could bring about serious repercussions to humankind as well. Take for instance, the feeding of corn to cows. Because corn is produced extremely cheaply, meat manufacturers are inclined to use corn as their choice of feed for their livestock, in order to cut down on the selling price of meat. Studies have shown that feeding corn to cows has brought about the emergence of a new, acid resistant strain of E.coli bacteria (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). This, coupled with the terrible rearing conditions of the cows, causes the new strain of E.coli to get into the meat meant to be eventually sold. This strain of bacteria has proven to be dangerous, having claimed the lives of many people. Knowing this, the expected public reaction would be an outcry against the food manufacturing industry, demanding answers and greater, better checks of food producing companies. However, even such reactions may not yield any permanent solutions. According to ‘Food Inc.’, food regulatory bodies are being led by people from the very firms they are meant to regulate. This has appeared to cause certain food monitoring measures to become relaxed, such as a sharp decline in number of chec ks conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, from 50 000 in 1972, to 9164 in 2006. One woman’s constant lobbying for better checks and regulation after her son, Kevin, passed away due to contaminated food brought about a ‘Kevin’s Law’, which, six years into her efforts, still had not been passed (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). There is little surprise that the food produced nowadays is getting more and more dangerous for consumption. Given these circumstances, ‘eating well’ has become even more unlikely – the general public’s efforts to control the quality of their food gets constantly thwarted by powerful corporate and political institutions. Still, all does not seem to be lost. Some farmers are recognising the need to ‘de-industrialise’ the production of foodstuff. Michael Pollan’s ‘All Flesh is Grass’ talks about a ‘grass farmer’, Joel Salatin, who is a non industrial producer of food, and whose methods of production revolve around grass. (2006). ‘Big Organic’, another article by the same author, describes how food products in the whole foods aisle are properly farmed, as opposed to mass manufactured, therefore being processed or refined as little as possible. There are two downsides to be noted in both instances. For one, Joel Salatin produces foodstuff only for the local population, and expressly refuses to supply meat and other animal by-products from his relatively healthier farm animals all over the country. As a result, his ideas of rearing animals, as opposed to manufacturing them, by feeding them what they are meant to instead of cheaply obtained corn, are restricted to the borders of Swoope, Virginia (Pollan, 2008). On the other hand, to supply such products to various parts of the country, or the world, would fly in the face of the idea of sustainable food production practices. This presents quite a paradox. Another downside would be the added expense of consuming whole foods in the place of processed and mass produced food. One of the core reasons for choosing to malnourish animals by blanket feeding them corn, despite the negative implications, was the resultant driving down of cost of production of meat. This is how the average American consumer is able to put away two hundred pounds of meat every year (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008), otherwise such large quantities of meat may not be as easily produced. People nowadays have the option of buying meat and animal by-products derived from ‘freerange animals’ – referring to animals that are left to roam freely to feed, instead of restricting their movement in enclosures – for slightly more money. In economic terms, consumers seek products that minimises costs while maximising benefit. In this case, consumers are ostensibly unmoved by the prospect of consuming meat and other products from ethically raised animals, favouring instead, the cheaper, corn fed, mass produced alternatives. With this mentality to begin with, ethical eating habits would be difficult to foster. Completely giving up consumption of animal products and by-products entirely (i.e. becoming vegan) has becoming a rising phenomenon all over the world. It seems, to many vegan converts, to be the move that could galvanise the promotion of sustainable agriculture and animal welfare into action. However, according to an article on The Conversation, ‘Ordering the vegetarian meal? There’s more animal blood on your hands’, turning vegan, or even simply vegetarian, could be more detrimental than helpful (The Conversation, 2011). To provide the extra plants required to feed the changing diets of Australians alone would mean clearing native flora and fauna off arable land ‘the size of Victoria plus Tasmania’ (The Conversation, 2011) – already killing off a vast amount of animals and native plants to make way for plant based food. The above scenarios only serve to confuse the consumer even further. Most consumers do not have any way around purchasing food off the supermarket shelves that are, more often than not, tainted by ethical quandaries such as animal welfare issues etc. They also don’t exactly have the option of changing their diets to spare the lives of animals, as the result could be more damaging that the current situation. As such, an ostensible impasse seems to present itself regarding this issue. In my opinion, ‘eating well’ – ethically, and with as little animal blood on consumers’ hands – will never truly be viable in modern society. Bibliography: Pollan, M. (2006), ‘All Flesh is Grass’, In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Penguin Press: New York, pp. 123-133 Pollan, M., Schlosser, E., 2008, ‘Food Inc.’, Available at: [Accessed 19th May, 2013] Pollan, M. (2006) ‘Big Organic’, In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Penguin Press: New York, pp. 134-184. The Conversation, 2011, ‘Ordering the vegetarian meal? There’s more animal blood on your hands’ [online] Available at: [Accessed 19th May, 2013]

Confidentiality, Multiple Relationships, Conflict of Interest Essay

You are a counseling psychologist. One day, a 19 year old daughter had knocked on your office door and asked for some advice. You notice that she is Lily, your nephew. She is almost crying when she entered your room. It is important to note that this nephew of yours had become an intern in your clinic 6 months ago. This made you hesitant to accept her in your counsel. However, you decide to let her in. After some 10 minutes of just crying, she told you that she was raped by her boyfriend one week before that consultation. Upon hearing that, she urgently told you that you don’t want to tell that to her parents, meaning your sister (you and her mother are sisters). She decided not to pursue any criminal charges against her boyfriend and will just leave and forget the issue. She still loves her boyfriend and decided to stick with him despite the crime. She told you that she only consults you because she just wants someone who is professional that she can share her burden who can guarantee that the secret will not be told on other people. You suddenly remember that you already met her boyfriend in one family affair. At that time, you have a feeling inside that that guy has some mental abnormality. Subtlety, you are against their relationship. At this moment, you are undecided about the issue. You are unsure if you are going to keep the confidentiality of the case of your client which turned to be a former intern in your clinic and at the same time your nephew.

Urbanisation Is Sea

SE1101E Group Essay Rural-Urban migration, or â€Å"urbanization†, has led to a better life for a majority of Southeast Asians. To what extent is this true? Discuss your answer using examples from at least three different Southeast Asian societies to illustrate your points. ____ Introduction For the longest time, Singaporeans lived in a relative urban oasis – coined, praised and awarded as the ‘Garden City’. Even so, in the last 2 years, Singaporeans have experienced the stress of continued urbanization, created primarily through migration.This stress has been manifested physically as inadequate infrastructure, socially as rising xenophobia and politically as rising discontentment, leading to the long-ruling People’s Action Party to face its worst electoral performance since independence in 1965. It is this backdrop that propelled our group to comparatively examine the urbanization experiences of three of Southeast Asia’s largest countries, an d evaluate the outcomes. Firstly and most importantly, it is important to delineate the two key terms – â€Å"rural-urban migration† and â€Å"urbanization†.While â€Å"rural-urban migration† is a subset of â€Å"urbanization†, urbanization as a process is far more encompassing, as Terry McGee has noted to include the expansion and encroachment of urban regions into formerly rural areas through land-use conversion practices. For the scope of this essay, we will limit our arguments to the process of â€Å"rural-urban migration†. The process of migration is simply defined by Zelinsky as â€Å"a permanent or semipermanent change of residence†.Petersen offers a sociological perspective, defining migration as â€Å"a spatial transfer from one social unit or neighbourhood to another†. Extending these, rural-urban migration can be broadly defined as the movement of people from rural home locations to urban locations, which results in socio-economic impacts for â€Å"both the origin and destination societies†. This includes circulatory migration, where rural migrants return to their home location after a period in the urban location, and permanent relocation from the rural location to the urban location.Further to this, to achieve a manageable scope of discussion, we have elected to focus on (domestic) rural-urban migration, where the rural and urban locations are located within the same country, as opposed to the processes of transnational (and regional) rural-urban migration. In this essay, we will argue that while the process of rural-urban migration has created a better life for some, it has not necessarily created a better life for the majority of Southeast Asians especially when evaluated on a holistic level. Specifically, we will use the case studies of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to support our argument.These three countries were selected as their combined populations of over 400 millio n, consist a majority 65 per cent of Southeast Asia’s 620 million people, in addition to their relative comparative congruence within the extremely diverse Southeast Asian region. Secondly, this essay strives not to be an ideological critique of the processes of â€Å"rural-urban migration† and â€Å"urbanization† but rather, serve as a comparative exposition on the impacts of rural-urban migration in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines and provide an objective evaluation of whether this process has created a â€Å"better life† for the â€Å"majority of Southeast Asians†.Aptly congruent, Tjitoherijanto and Hasmi describe urbanization as an expression of â€Å"people’s desire for a better life† and â€Å"must be recognized as a natural modern process by which humans attempt to improve their welfare†. The central themes of what is â€Å"a better life†, has rural-urban migration created it and for whom, form the framewo rk of our discussion. Case Study: The Philippines In our first case study, we analyze the Philippines. The state of urbanization in the Philippines is comparatively the most advanced of the three case studies, with 33 highly urbanized cities and 4 surpassing the 1 illion-population mark. While the 2010 census depicts the state of urbanization in the Philippines, it does not describe the flow of domestic rural-urban migration. From 1970 to 1990, the percentage of the Philippine population identified as â€Å"urban† surged from 36% to 52%, which further increased to 59% by 2000. Not all of this growth can be attributed to rural-urban migration. In fact, 47. 2% is actually due to reclassification of formerly rural areas as urban and natural urbanite population growth.While explicit data is sparse, Hugo provides a basis to assume that the remaining and majority 52% of this urban growth, is likely due to rural-urban migration. In tandem with rising urbanization, cursory economic i ndicators also rose. GDP increased from USD 6. 6 billion in 1960 to USD 199. 5 billion by 2010. Even with considerable population growth, GDP per capita also grew during the same period, from USD 692 to USD 1,383. Nakanishi forwards that the rural sector conditions in the Philippines, where peasants do not own their land, are â€Å"insupportable† and conditions in the city, though not the best, are an improvement.Knight and Song, who compute the Philippine’s urban-to-rural income ratio to be 2. 26, give further credence to the possibility, that perhaps, rural-urban migration might create a better economical life for rural migrants, and for all Filipinos too. These quantitative indicators are, however, quickly problematized as overly simplistic. To begin, consider the Gini coefficient, which measures the inequality of income distribution. For the Philippines, this stood at 0. 46 in 2010; the income share held by the top 10% was 36% while the income share held by the bot tom 10% was only 2%.This significantly unequal distribution of income evidences that the benefits associated with economic growth has not reached and has not benefitted a vast majority of Filipinos. Also, counterintuitively, higher income levels in urban areas do not actually lead to economic improvement on all accounts, as the Harris-Todaro model establishes. Simply put, the wage differential between the urban and rural areas (2. 26 in the case of the Philippines) compels rural populations to igrate to urban areas despite urban unemployment which further, and continually, increases unemployment, as long as urban wage levels continue to exceed that of rural areas. This thesis holds true in the Philippines context, where even as unemployment rates rose from 5% in 1980 to 11% by 2000, rural-urban migration continued to rise. This self-perpetuating cycle is particularly significant as it confirms that rural-urban migration, far from leading to a better life, actually results in the opp osite. Rising unemployment creates further problems.One is the creation of urban slums, where the poorest rural migrants generally live. In fact, from 2000 to 2006, urban slums grew at a rate of 3. 5%, faster than the urban population growth rate of 2. 3%. This evidences that rural-urban migration (which generates the majority of urban population growth) creates negative socioeconomic ripple effects, which compound with time, noting that rural-urban migration began in the 1960s in the Philippines. In Manila alone today, 35% of the 12 million population live in slums.Urban slums, which are â€Å"characterized by poor sanitation, overcrowded and crude habitation, inadequate water supply, hazardous location and insecurity of tenure†, have been recognized to lead to widespread environmental degradation. Most prominently, the lack of proper sanitation and sewerage services in slums contaminate citywide and nationwide water supplies, creating over 38 million cases of life-threateni ng diarrhea in the Philippines every year. This is despite the percentage of urban population with access to sanitation in the Philippines increasing from 69% in 1990 to 79% in 2010.This contradiction recalls Ulrich Beck’s pithy quote â€Å"smog is democratic†; that environmental impacts (linked to rural-urban migration and its ensuing employment) created by a small segment of the population can degrade the quality of life for a significant majority, in a ripple-like effect. However, ripple effects can work both ways, and in a positive sense too. One common example is that of the increased literacy rate as a result of rural-urban migration. From 1980 to 2000, the literacy rate increased from 84% to 93%. The literature is clear; generally speaking, a higher literacy ate and education level are two of the most significant positive externalities of rural-urban migration. The causation link between rural-urban migration and literacy is primarily due to the higher accessibi lity of schools in urban regions, which allow rural migrants in urban centers to more readily access schooling. This causation is however, problematic in the Philippines, where there is no wide disparity in literacy rates between rural and urban areas that would support such a causation thesis. The primary school net attendance rate in rural areas was only marginally lower at 86%, compared to 89% in urban areas.Some theorists have hypothesized that a strong historical cultural emphasis on education in the Philippines is one reason for this comparative equality in literacy rates in both urban and rural areas. Regardless, the lack of causation between rural-urban migration and literacy rates in the Philippines, further evidences that rural-urban migration, has not led to a â€Å"better life† for a significant majority of Filipinos. The discussion thus far surfaces a most important facet of the discussion – that of policy responses to rural-urban migration.It is apparent that the impacts created by the process of rural-urban migration might not be as deterministic as Harris and Todaro implied (their simplifying assumptions have been widely critiqued). It is crucial to note that the impact of the rural-urban migration process, whether positive or negative, is molded through the lens of government policy responses. In the case of the Phillipines, the indicator of increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, was contradicted by a highly unequal distribution of income and rising unemployment.Policy intervention is thus required to equalize this. Also, the formations of slums are not a direct result of rural-urban migration but due to inept city planning and a lack of sufficient public housing, again demonstrating the collision between policy and process as fundamental to our discussion on the impacts of rural-urban migration. In sum, one last indicator, mentioned in passing at the beginning of this case study, of increased life expectancy, exempl ifies one of the themes stated at the outset – what constitutes a better life?Does increased life expectancy constitute a â€Å"better life†, or just a longer one? Based on the evidence presented, we are inclined to think it is the latter. While Philippines represent a country in a highly urbanized state, Thailand represents one on the other spectrum. As such, our next case study will examine the rural-urban migration pattern in Thailand. When we analyze the rural-urban migration of Thailand, we can roughly translate it to the rural-urban migration to Bangkok. This is due to Bangkok’s dominance and influence in the country’s political and economical landscape.The size distribution of cities in a country roughly abides to the â€Å"rank-size rule†: The second largest city is half the size of the first largest city and the third largest city is half the size of the second. In Thailand’s case however, the second largest city is a mere 6% the si ze of Bangkok. As such, it is not an overstatement to describe Thailand as a one-city state. Thus in this case study, we will examine the urban landscape with reference to Bangkok as a comparison. Thailand’s urbanization rate is at a low 38% , significantly lower than their peers such as Indonesia (53%) and Malaysia (71%) (percentage not accurate as of 2012.Need comparison and citation). This figure has stalled since 2007, only changing by 0. 8% between 2002 and 2009. This is because Bangkok has stopped growing. In fact, it has shrank by 1% between 2007 and 2009. As of late, Thailand’s urbanization trends began shifting away from Bangkok to the peripheral provinces such as Songkhla; Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani. As such, while the top 10 cities in the vicinity of Bangkok grew collectively by 17%, a 1% decrease in Bangkok has dropped that urbanization growth to a mere 0. 8%. These reflect how this single city is able to impact the country’s economy.As such we shall analyze the impact of urbanization by using Bangkok as our case study. The growth of Bangkok brings about social and economical progress, with economical taking priority. National income statistics from the NESDB have shown that though contributing a mere 15. 8 per cent of total population in 1988, Bangkok and its vicinity generated more than 50 per cent of the gross domestic product. Socially, the Bangkok and its neighboring region has enjoyed better health care (2. 12 hospital beds per residents, compared with 0. 38 per 1,000 residents in Sri Saket, the poorest province of Thailand. and higher access to water (About 12 percent compared with 1. 2 percent in North, 1. 4 percent in the South, and 0. 9 percent in the North-east. ) While the figures reflect an improvement in the quality of life, this may not translate into an improvement for the people. There exist an overlying assumption that there would be a trickle down effect to benefit the less well off. Dr. Puey, a famo us Thai economist observed otherwise. Thailand’s pursuit of economic growth has widened the rich-poor disparity where urbanized regions in Thailand have experienced economic benefits at the expense of villages.Furthermore, it is alleged that there has been a social tension within the rural community between the few who have benefitted and the majority who have not. Critics of these distributions of wealth have blamed the monopoly of capitalism from emerging corporations in finance and banking centered in Bangkok. On October 14, 1973, a student led uprising threw the exploitation of rural villagers in the spot light, highlighting the dissent over the rich-poor divide. Furthermore, Thailand has traded a social benefit for a social problem.As Bangkok swelled as the only go-to urban destination in the 1970s, Bangkok’s infrastructure failed to expand at the same pace as its growing population. Overpopulation and congestion were frequent social issues that the government had to address. The high influx also led to pollution, and by consequence, disease. As such, it may be argued that while the urban population enjoyed better health care services, there was also a higher propensity to get sick due to more frequent interactions and mass pollutions. As such, while the face value of urbanization reveals measurable benefits, the real value actually shows a decrease.This aforementioned issue indicates a situation where rural-urban migration works too well. Bangkok grew haphazardly without an official city plan until 1992, a growth necessitated by Economic interest. Accompanied by poor city planning is its poor infrastructure of roads, leading to massive traffic jams. BBC has ranked Bangkok as having one of the top ten worst traffic jams in the world. For residents in this urban landscape, such issues have become so commonplace that they have come to accept these problems as part of their everyday lives.The process of rural-urban migration, at least until 200 7, has played the role of an instigator that negatively impacted the lives of those living in the urban landscape. Hence, rural-urban migration has its pros and cons. However, while it is important to weigh the different opportunities offered due to rural urban migration, we should also consider how these citizens perceive these opportunities offered and whether they consider themselves better off. Here lies the paradox. Both rural and urban parties perceive themselves as beneficiaries to the rural urban migration.A collection of data from six rural villages in the Nong Muun Than and Phon Muang communes revealed that villagers overwhelmingly felt that they had came up on top compared to their urban counterparts. Villages were perceived to be better in terms of standard of living, the friendliness, the working conditions and the environment to raise children although they conceded that urban areas posed a better environment to specialize. On the contrary, urban areas felt that they b enefitted from better facilities, higher pay and wider job opportunities.As such, while visible problems exist in both rural and urban states, they remain predominantly contented. This approach, however, comes with its own associated problems. It fails to recognize social identity which compels participants to be more biased towards their own home society, and it also assumes all Thais are well-informed of the opportunities and problems offered in both societies. For example, villagers in a rural area may be contented with life, but they may still be unable to comprehend the benefits urban areas provide.Their contentment hence lies in their simplicity of thought rather than the effect of rural-urban migration. As such, we turn our attention to more obvious indicators while still taking account, albeit more cautiously, people’s perception of such benefits. Recognizing the growing rural-urban divide, the 9th developmental plan of Thailand explicitly tackles such rural-urban lin kages in the country. Longitudinal studies on migration patterns conducted by the Nang Rong Project and Kanchanburi Demographic Surveillance System (KDSS) were used to evaluate emerging problems faced by Thailand.It concluded that economical pull factors were the main cause of migration towards urban areas, although their search for financial stability came with a string attached. According to the DFG Bangkok Migrant Survey, (2010), 67 percent of migrants reported an improvement in living conditions since leaving rural areas while 60 percent of migrants reported stable income. However, 70 percent of migrants do not possess a written work contract and 80 percent of respondents have no insurance at all.Most of these migrants consist of family members forced to find work in urban areas due to rural poverty and hence migration was influenced not out of choice but rather that of necessity. As such, although they travel to urban regions in search of better prospects, their nature of trave l is necessitated for survival and their trip comes with little or no social safety net. Another issue they face is not simply acquiring employment, but rather quality employment. 70 percent of migrants earn less than 300 bahts (or $8) a day.While these still represents an increase in pay as compared to their rural counterparts, they also face a higher cost of living in an urban environment and therefor tend to spend more. Hence, most migrants aimed for quality employment, but only a mere 2 percent earn around 2. 3% fall in this category. 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