Westboro Baptist Church or Current Controversial Topic Essay

Westboro Baptist Church or Current Controversial Topic - Essay Example Later, in his testimony during the court case about the WBC’s deplorable actions—actions that should be stopped by community action and by legislation—Snyder stated, â€Å""They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family. They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside† (â€Å"Father† n.p.). The Westboro Baptist Church, located in Topeka, Kansas, has been protesting at funerals since 1991. As of 2009, they claim to have participated in over 41,000 protests in over 650 cities, and spend an average of $250,000 a year on picketing. They travel all over the U.S. to picket the funerals of anyone associated with gay people. For example, they picketed at the 1998 funeral of murder victim Matthew Shepherd and the 2010 funeral of Elizabeth Edwards because she supported gay people (Borger n.p.). The WBC also protests at funerals of slain military personnel like Snyder’s.Why would the WBC participate in such activities—activities that even Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly calls â€Å"evil and despicable† (Cohen n.p.)? ... They picket at funerals to express their views, and to get the word out about their opposition to gay rights, the Catholic Church, Jews, and other topics. They believe that anyone who is opposed to their way of seeing things is going to hell, and they feel compelled to make sure that people know this. Several weeks after Matthew Snyder’s funeral, for example, the WBC denounced Snyder’s family for raising their son Catholic. There have been many responses to their actions. One of these is through the courts, which is what the Snyder family did. Later in 2007, they sued Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, and two of Phelps’ daughters on several legal grounds, including defamation and invasion of privacy. The suit claimed that Phelps’ religious views did not expose the Snyders to public hatred or scorn. The WBC’s main defense, in addition to exercising their constitutional right to free speech and free assembly, was that they had complied with al l local ordinances regarding picketing and had obeyed all police instructions. The picket occurred 1000 feet from the funeral site, in a location cordoned off by the police, and could neither be seen or heard by the funeral participants. The judge, in his instructions to the jury, said that they needed to decide â€Å"whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection† (Donaldson-Evans n.p.). This is the crux of the argument against the WBC, and perhaps explains the outcome of the case: the jury awarded Albert Snyder almost $3 million in punitive damages for invasion

Privacy and Misuse of Private Information Essay

Privacy and Misuse of Private Information - Essay Example More specifically, the essay will address whether Clive can prevent publication of information regarding him, based on the law on breach of confidence and protection of personal information. Privacy and misuse of Private Information According to Crone et al (2002, p 93), the enactment of the law on breach of confidence and protection of personal information resulted from the need to protect personal secrets. In the recent years, people have used the law to prevent the publication of confidential information, especially in the mass media. In Clive’s case, the Daily Scandal wants to publish information about him. An action for breach of confidence can be the most appropriate to prevent against publication of personal information. Clive can easily obtain an injunction restraining the publication of information regarding cheating on his wife and attending the notorious club. He should take legal action, in which the court will apply an action called ‘blanket ban’ that prevents the magazine from publishing the photos. Under the law of breach of confidence, the Clive can prove several facts to prevent the daily scandal from publishing the information. One of these facts can be showing that the information contains adequate quality of confidence. The daily scandal has threatened to publish secret information about Clive, without his authority. ... This gives Clive the opportunity to take an action against them on the basis of ‘imputed confidential relationship.’ The court will grant the action of injunction since the differences between Clive and wife have not featured in the public domain (Aplin 2007, p 145). Tanya (2007, p 334) asserts that a person has the right to prevent the publication of this information since it does not affect the public in any way. Under this law, the media should not publish information about a person if the information does not touch on the public. Matters regarding marital unfaithfulness can be considered to be private. As such, they should not be made public; the information only refers to Clive and his wife. The media do not have an obligation to make public Clive’s personal information. Aplin observes that the law states that secrecy should not be exposed; instead, Clive and wife should be allowed to settle their differences using the due court process. Publicizing the wrong s of Clive will only worsen the relationship with his wife. As such, he can be in a position to deter the daily scandal from publicizing his photos and other information about him (Aplin 2007, p 150). He has the right to prevent the newspaper from publishing information regarding him since the information cannot be considered to be of public interest. Therefore, the ‘daily scandal’ cannot defend itself on grounds of ‘iniquity.’ The court does not intervene in the publication of public information concerning an iniquity (Stanley, 2009). In this case, the information concerning Clive attending the club and cheating on his wife cannot be regarded to be of public interest. Based on this, the daily scandal does not have an obligation to expose Clive’s conduct. Thus, they should not publicize the

Enzyme Kinetics Laboratory Report

Enzyme Kinetics Laboratory Report How the changes in substrate concentration (PNPP), changes in temperature, changes in pH and the presence of an inhibitor (phosphate ions) effects the rate of reaction of the reaction between PNPP and water catalysed by the enzyme acid phosphates which produces PNP and phosphate as its products . Using spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance of the products formed through hydrolysis of substrate. Abstract: The purpose of this scientific paper was to replicate earlier findings of experiments in enzyme kinetics and to see if enzyme behaviour and activity is influenced by 4 factors- change in substrate concentration, temperature, pH and the presence of a competitive inhibitor. In the first section where the substrate concentration was altered whilst the enzyme concentration was kept constant the relationship was found to be hyperbolic this can be explained using the Michaelis -Menten equation and the Lineweaver burk plot which was also used to obtain Km values of 0.25 and Vmax values of 0.12UNIT. The increase in [S] increased the rate of reaction at first but when [S] too much the initial velocity started to decrease. The increase in temperature led to a general increase in the initial velocity until the temperature reached 347 K where the enzyme denatured. The optimum temperature of the reaction was in the range 310 K- 323.2 where the rate increased at its fastest. The third section was the effect of pH on the enzyme activity. The optimum pH of the reaction was 5.5. This pH gave the highest reading of absorbance which means that the rate of hydrolysis was at its highest. Finally the last section of the experiment was the effect of competitive inhibitor on the rate of reaction. The investigation showed that the inhibitor used (phosphate ions) was a non-competitive inhibitor. The inhibitor did lower the initial velocity of the reaction when it attached to the enzyme at random. Introduction: This laboratory report is on the topic of enzyme kinetics, previous work in this particular field was carried out in the 1700s, when biological catalyst enzymes were discovered and studied. As understanding of enzymes increased scientist carried out basic laboratory experiments such as the conversion of starch to sugar by saliva to increase their understating of enzymes and how they function. However the first actual incident where enzymes were understood in detail was in 1897-by Edward Buchner .Since then on, till this period of time factors which effect the velocity/ rate of reaction and enzymes have been studied widely by many scientists globally. The modern scientists have a deep understanding of enzyme kinetics. The purpose of this laboratory report is to confirm previous findings covered in various sources of scientific literature and journals. Enzymes are often described as organic catalysts which increase the rate of reaction of a bio-chemical reaction ( David L.Nelson etal 2008). Enzymes increase the rate velocity of various reactions that occur in a biological system such as the mammalian digestive system. Enzymes can have functions including transfer, synthesis or breakdown of molecules. It is important to mention that enzymes are proteins which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up themselves i.e. they are reusable. Enzymes have a very specific active site which is complementary to a specific substrate 3 dimensional structure. The specificity is due to the complementary hydrophilic/hydrophobic charge, electrical charge and shape of active site on the enzyme. The binding of an enzyme with an specific substrate produces an enzyme substrate complex (ES).The rate at which the enzyme substrate complex is formed is dramatically increased or decreased in changes in substrate concentration, temperature, pH and presence of an competitive inhibitor the effect of these 4 factors on the enzyme activity is known as enzyme kinetics (Jeremy M. Berg etal 2006).Enzymes work on the concept of transition states. Transition state of enzymes is the phase where the substrate is not a yet a product and not a substrate. Enzymes reduce this phase .The difference between the free energy of the reactants and the free energy of the transition state is the activation energy (Ea).The minimum energy required for a success full reaction to occur. Enzymes speed up the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy barrier. A typical enzyme substrate reaction can be simplified and be written as: The enzyme studied in this investigation was acid phosphatase. This enzyme can be identified by its Enzyme Commission Number (EC number) which is 3.1.3.2. Now I will briefly discuss the enzyme kinetic properties of acid phosphatase. The enzyme acid phosphatase catalyses the removal of phosphate group from organic molecules. Its primary mechanism of action is to bring a substrate molecule into contact with a molecule of water .This results in catalysis and the removal of phosphate group. Finally an hydroxyl group is attached to the substrate molecule. An example of this is the reaction shown below. This reaction was studied in this laboratory investigation. Acid phosphatase p-nitrophenylphosphate (PNPP) + water phosphate + p-nitrophenol(PNP) In the reaction above PNPP is the synthetic substrate, which is described as chromogenic.At. At high purity this compound is completely colourless. PNPP is hydrolysed by the enzyme acid phosphatase this produces phosphate and PNP. The product produced is yellow and can be measured using a colorimeter. The first part of the investigation concerns the effect of substrate concentration on the rate of reaction. I predict and expect that at an increase in substrate concentration (PNPP) will lead to an increased rate if reaction/initial rate. The reason for this is that an increase in substrate concentration increases the chances of a successful collision occurring between the enzyme and substrate increasing the likelihood of ES complex and product (PNP) formation results in an overall increase rate of reaction. This will produce a fist order reaction on a graph. However it is important to mention that at high substrate concentration the enzyme will be fully saturated this will reduce the rate of reaction as the there are too many substrate than enzymes. On a graph this would show a plateau. The maximum velocity of the reaction or the Vmax would be expected to be close to this region. Therefore I predict to see a hyperbolic relationship on a graph. Section B of this investigation concerns the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction. I would exepcet to find that an increase in temperature would result in an increase in the rate of reaction. The reason for this phenomenon is that as there is increase in kinetic energy being applied to enzymes and substrates it increases the chances of collision occurring so more product (PNP) is formed per unit time. However I also believe that temperatures above 50 -70 degrees Celsius would denature the enzymes active site and the 3 dimensional structures. At this stage the enzyme will not be complementary in shape to the substrate. This would mean that no reaction can be completed so the rate of reaction will decrease. It is important to state that the enzyme is going to have an optimum temperature at which the ES complexes and products are made at the fastest velocity. The increase in temperature increase the amount of molecules which have higher energy than the Ea barrier this in turn increases the amount of molecules which can react increasing the rate of reaction or initial velocity. I believe the optimum temperature is going to range between 20-40 degrees Celsius. The third part of this lab report is based on the effect of pH on the rate of reaction again I believe that at extremes of pH such as acidity or alkalinity will affect the rate of reaction. This may cause the enzymes structure to denature and will cause a lower rate of reaction and lower rate of product formation because the enzyme will not be complementary to the substrate. I would expect this enzyme to have a low optimum pH of around 5-2 as it is acid. Finally the last section of this investigation concerns the effect of a competitive inhibitor (phosphate ions) on the rate of reaction. Inhibitor in this case the phosphate ions will compete with the actual substrate PNPP for the active site of the enzyme acid phosphatase. These inhibitors can only attach to the active site of the enzyme due to their complementary properties. The concentration of the inhibitors will be kept constant and the concentration of the substrate PNPP will be altered. I believe that as the concentration of PNPP increases the rate of reaction will increase this is because the PNPP can out- compete the competitive inhibitor and reverse the effect of the inhibitor. Materials and Methods: All procedures were carried out as described in the lab schedule. No alterations were made to any of the procedures carried out throughout the experiment. Discussion: The first section of this lab report relates the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity. I shall briefly discuss and explain what my data shows and means. Graph 3 which is the graph of Michaelis Menten of collected data. The relationship between the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction and the substrate concentration can be describes as hyperbolic. The graph and tables 2 show that as the concentration of substrate (PNPP) increases from 0.00 Mmols to 0.20 Mmols of substrate the initial velocity or the rate of reaction shows an increase in too. The relationship can be describes as fist order as the [V] rises almost linearly with the increase in [S]. However after the concentration increase from 0.20- to 3.00 Mmols the initial velocity shows a gradual increase and then gradually levels of or slopes here graph shows 0 order relationship. This supports the prediction I made in the introduction. The graphs indicates that as the concentration of substrate increase the rate of reaction increase this is because of the increase chances of a collision between a substrate and an enzyme. This in turn increases the rate at which ES and P are formed. However after the concentration increase after 0.20 3.00 Mmols the rate stars to level off. The reasoning behind is this is that there are too many substrates than compared to enzymes an all enzymes are described to be fully saturated .At this phase the reaction is at its Maximum velocity and cannot increase in rate unless more enzymes are added therefore enzyme concentration is the limiting factor. I can tell that the data I collected from the experiment in the lab is accurate and valid as the graph which compares the theatrical data and the collected data show similarities in the trend line the Vmax the km and as well as the points and there is no anomalous data point on either of the 3 graphs. My findings support the findings of many previous investigations and journals as the graphs show a similar relationship as to the findings to previous work. The implications of this investigation can be used widely to determine the Vmax and KM. These values can be used for medical purposes since the enzyme acid phosphatase is manufactured by the body to remove phosphate groups. The limitation of Michaels Menten plot is that the Km and Vmax cannot be accurately determined. Therefore a Lineweaver burk plot is plotted. The Lineweaver burk plot shows that the KM and Vmax are very similar to the ones from the Michaelis Menten plot. Finally KM is an approximate measure of the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate.A small value of KM indicates a high affinity of the enzyme for the substrate. From my graphs (1 +2) I can tell that the KM was 0.24 and therefore small. This means that the enzyme acid phosphatase has a high affinity for the synaesthetic substrate PNPP. This means that small concentration of substrate PNPP is enough to run the reaction at half of maximum velocity (1/2 Vmax). The next section of the investigation concerns the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction. I predicted an increase in temperature will increase the rate of reaction or the initial velocity of the e reaction until the enzyme denatures and the protein sequence becomes damaged an unravels. The actual reason for why the protein sequences unravel is that the protein has too much kinetic energy and the amino acids vibrate and this causes the non covalent forces to be weakened. There is an increase in the rate of reaction as the temperature increases from 278 -323 K the increase is almost linear. However after the temperature 323 K-to 347 K the enzyme denatures and unravels. This is proved by the last point on the graph which doesnt fit the line of best fit. Overall the graphs and data all prove my predictions correct. There is no other anomalous data present. The third section concerns the effect of pH on the rate of reaction. As we have discovered before the enzyme used was acid phosphatase so the pH at which it works at best the optimum temperature will be in the acidic pH regions. I can confirm from my graph that the optimum pH of the reaction is in the region 5-5.5 which is indeed acidic. pH of 5.5 gives the highest absorption value, this therefore means that the rate of hydrolysis was at its fastest. A possible explanation for the change in the experimental design is that the pH may denature the enzyme if the enzyme was added first the active site and 3 dimensional shape of the enzyme could be altered at extremes of pH such as 2 which is quite acidic. The pH does not affect the substrates 3 dimensional structure in the same ways as the enzymes. Therefore to obtain valid results /data the design for this part of the experiment was slightly altered. pH has a very strong effect on enzyme activity .This is because enzymes work on the basis of mechanisms such as induced fit hypothesis and lock and key . The enzymes have a specific active site due to the complementary 3 dimensional active site with the substrate. According to the induced fit hypothesis the enzyme can undergo some change in the 3- dimensional structure in order to fit the substrate. However a change in pH changes the enzymes active site structure. An increase in H+ ions can change the active site structure due to the fact that h+ ions can interfere with any polar molecules on enzymes protein structure. Amino acids side chains can be protonated and may be damaged due to the extreme pH (concentration of H+ )this may result in the protein sequence to unravel which means that the active site is not complementary to the substrate and the rate of reaction decreases as no or little ES are formed which results in little products formed. The final section concerns the effect of a competitive inhibitor (phosphate ions) on the rate of reaction. From my graph I can tell that the inhibitor present was an non-competitive inhibitor. I can tell this by looking at the Lineweaver Burk plot where the trend lines cross the 1/Vmax intercept at different values but cross the 1/km intercept at the same values. This means that this type of inhibitor does not affect the KM but does lower the Vmax values. Non competitive inhibitor has the same effect as lowering the total volume of enzyme. This type of inhibition is reversible. It binds to a site away from the enzymes active site it denatures the active site so no other substrates can bind to the active site. This in turn lowers the rate of reaction and the rate at which products are formed. However this type of inhibitor also binds to the enzyme substrate complex I can therefore conclude that the non competitive inhibitor does lower the rate at which the products are formed. References: Books: David L. Nelson et al (2008) Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry ,W.H Freeman and Company Jeremy M. Berg et al (2006) Biochemistry, W.H Freeman and Company Lab schedule (2009) Enzyme Kinetics MODULE LSC10034 EXPERIMENT 4 Lecture Notes: Lectures notes (2009) Dr John Mills- Module LSC-10034 Proteins and Enzymes lectures 9, 10, 11 (Figures 1-5) Absorbance values- Table 4 and Table 6 Emma Ezekiel Web Pages: EC Number -http://www.brenda-enzymes.org/php/result_flat.php4?ecno=3.1.3.2 Seen :20 November 2009

Aldous Huxleys novel, Brave New World. Essay -- English Literature

Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World. In Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, John the Savage is a combination of the two societies in which he exists. He is also an outsider in both. By having such a removed character, Huxley is able to create the perfect foil that brings out the flaws within the societies. As an outsider, John sees some of the paradoxes that exist in the New World. Upon coming to the New World, John sees religious influence in certain objects and customs although Mustapha Mond says that religion has become unnecessary. Mond claims that the society is "independent of God," (p. 233) however there are still strong undertones of religious sanctity and ritual within the society. In essence, the sign of the T that is made with reverence is the same ritual as crossing oneself with the sign of the cross. The symbolism of the T in accordance to Ford may be in honor of the assembly line and efficiency that produced the Model T. The very act of crossing oneself with a T over the stomach, as opposed to the heart, implies that the act is performed in homage to greed and desire. Another seemingly religious act is the usage of the word "Ford." As with the T, the word "Ford" is connected to Henry Ford and is used as a term of expression or blasphemy. The word is used throughout the text in the exact same context that the old society uses "Lord" or "God." And, it just so happens that the word "Ford" rhymes with the word "Lord," which further relates the two sayings. Within the New World, the rites of the Solidarity Group resemble the Christian communion rites. The President begins the ceremony, as would a priest, with a hymn and begins passing the communal cup of soma along to the members of th... ...ery change is a menace to stability" (p. 224) and one "can't make tragedies without social instability." In a world like this, there seems to be no hope for change. Even though The Controller admits to Helmholtz that "I like your spirit as much as I officially disapprove of it," (p. 229) it is a private admiration that will never have the courage to let itself be known to the obeying public. By trying to preach to the new society about freedom, John became a martyr in a society where there should be no martyrs. John essentially fulfilled his desire to be sacrificed when he realized that "they might be killed if he didn't help them, and that he might be killed if he did," (p. 214). Essentially, John became a figure similar to Jesus Christ in a society that refused to admit His presence. Sadly, the cost of a life was not enough to change a stubborn society.

Village Election and Corruption

Village election and Corruption in China Background (problem): In China,the election system refers to the election of deputies to the people’s congresses at various levels, which includes general local election and the election of deputies from the armed forces, in the special administrative regions. There are two kinds of election: direct election and indirect election. 1. Direct election means voters directly elect deputies to the people’s congresses by casting their votes.Direct elections are applicable to the election of deputies to the people’s congresses of the counties, districts, townships and towns, which China's authoritarian(the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)) regime has allowed, encouraged, and required to be held at the village level,but not at higher levels. 2. Indirect election means deputies to the people’s congresses at the next higher level are elected by deputies to the people’s congresses at the next lower level. Indirect elections are applicable to the election of deputies to people’s congresses above the county level and deputies among the armed forces at the same level and deputies to the NPC(National People's Congress) elected from special administrative regions. In this essay, I will focus on the direct election(village election). Since the problem of corruption in the village election is very common in China,such as buying-votes, treating to dinner to persuade by promising private goods and so on. Mainly comes from the following aspects: 1. In a small electorate, campaigning is not an effective strategy to win an election.In contrast, vote buying—corruption—can easily be an effective means to win an election with a small electorate. A Chinese village is small enough a community for each villager to know all the other villagers in person as they interact with each other on a daily basis and voters may already know whether the candidate has the intention and ability to provide public goods, which could become the condition of perfect information, in other words,in a village election, voters and candidates know each other personally, and voters may easily acquire personal information about the candidates.Therefore, because under the conditions of perfect information, it is not costly for a candidate to seek office by treating a subset of the electorate to dinner or to give private goods to voters. On the other hand, it is relatively costly to attempt to sway voters by stating policy proposals that promise the provision of public goods for the whole electorate. 2.In China village elections, officials in the position of monitoring village elections do not have a strong incentive to regulate the elections because implementation of fair village elections is not considered an important criterion for the evaluation of local officials by higher authorities (Edin 2003; O‘Brien and Li 1999; but Kennedy 2007). 3. the cost of punishment for the corru pt act of buying votes is low in the case of China‘s village elections.Even with formal rules stipulating severe punishment, if people do not believe that cases of corruption are revealed and formal rules are enforced, the punishment will not be considered a cost of the illegal act and will not deter it (Tsebelis 1989). Therefore, it is not puzzling that candidates compete to buy votes by providing private goods in campaigns for Chinese village elections. Model setting: The model describes the electoral competition between two candidates as a noncooperative simultaneous-move game.In the model, two candidates compete to win an election,and at equilibriums, electoral competition would increase the probability of vote buying in electorate. In other words, electoral competition gives strong incentives for candidates to buy votes, but not to form an organization for mobilizing votes in a electorate. 1. The Candidates’ Choice of Strategies and Payoffs Assume: 1. If both candi dates adopt the same strategy, Candidate 1 will have a chance to win the election with the probability of p and Candidate 2 will have a chance to win the election with the probability of 1 – p (0 < p < 1).And we let 0 < p ? 0. 5,which means the candidate 1 is weaker. 2. if one candidate buys votes while the other candidate does not,the candidate that has bought votes will win. Utility: The utility of the candidate gaining from winning the election is denoted U (U > 0). Strategies: Each candidate has two strategies: buying votes (BV) and not buying votes (NBV). Cost of buying votes (C): the multiplication of the cost to buy one vote (? ) and the number of votes needed to buy (V). C= ?V suppose that C1>C2 (the cost of buying votes to win is higher as the candidate is weaker. ) Competitiveness:we can define the competitiveness of an election as the difficulty with which one can predict who will win, the election whose value of p is closer to 0. 5 will be considere d more competitive. candidate2 Buying votes candidate1 Buying votes Not buying votes (pU-C1), (1-p)U-C2 0, U-C2 Not buying votes U-C1, pU, 0 (1-p)U The matrix in shows the incentives affecting candidates in a village election. . Solution of the model Since assume that 0 < p? 0. 5 and assume without loss of generality that Candidate 1 is weaker. Candidates 1 and 2 must choose their strategies simultaneously. Thus, neither candidate is certain about which strategy the other candidate will take. (BV, BV) will be equilibrium if: U? C1/p (NBV, BV) will be equilibrium if: C1/p? U? C2/p (NBV, NBV) will be equilibrium if: U? C1/p (BV, NBV) can not be equilibrium, since we can not find any U that satisfies U? C1/(1-p) and U?C2/(1-p) as well. Because C1/(1-p)? C2/(1-p). As an election becomes more competitive(p is closer to 0. 5),the range where at least one candidate always buys votes,U? C2/p is larger. Moreover as p is larger,the range where neither candidate buy votes,U? C1/p is smaller . Overall, candidates are more likely to choose the strategy of buying votes as an election becomes more competitive. In the villages where each candidate's expected value of winning an election is high, the candidate is tempted to buy votes.Proposal: Would electoral competition prevent a corrupt candidate from being elected? From the model, we can see, candidates are more likely to choose the strategy of buying votes as an election becomes more competitive, which may generate the following new hypothesis: effective informal institutions would make it easier for villagers to reach a pre-electoral consensus, make a village election less competitive, and give candidates less incentive to promise the provision of private goods.How to reach a pre-electoral consensus? Since a Chinese village is enough small that could lead to kinship system in village. In multi-kinship villages, whether pre-electoral consensus is reached and hence an election is not corrupt would depend on the relationsh ip among kinship leaders.If the kinship leaders are in conflict, villagers would fail to reach pre-electoral consensus, an election would be competitive, vote buying would be more likely; meanwhile, if relations among kinship leaders are cooperative, the village would succeed in reaching pre-electoral consensus, an election would not be competitive, vote buying would be less likely, and public goods would be properly provided. Therefore,how to prevent a vote-buying candidate from getting elected is a major policy question for China's village elections.

Science Fiction and Empire on Environmentalism

One of the main aspects of science fiction that sets it apart of almost all other genres is its ability to influence the direction of humankind. By stimulating a reader’s thoughts of the possibility of different futures, not only does science fiction serve as a popular source of entertainment, but it also encourages one to analyze the possible prospective effects of the generation’s powerholders’ and their decisions.As a science fiction writer himself, Isaac Asimov once said, â€Å"Intelligent science fiction writers attempt to look at world trends in science and technology for plot inspiration and, in doing so, they sometimes get a glimpse of things that later turn out to be near the truth† (Asimov, page 79). Through the use of empires as the powerhouses of society, SF books like War of the Worlds and Foundation dig deep into the question of what would happen if societies continued to allow the progression of destructive and commercial technologies.Frank Herbert’s, Dune, also questions the future of the universe while shining a spotlight on the clash between humanity and the environment. By providing a glimpse of the future as a product of current technological change, science fiction helps an audience examine which way they want to shape the progression of human kind, and therefore provides a unique service to the world. Since the beginning of time, the purpose of technology has been to enable one to do something that otherwise would be impossible.Technology is an incredibly powerful tool, but with great power comes great responsibility. Serving as a symbol of power, positive technological development will generally distinguish a good empire from an evil one, in both the real world and the world of science fiction. In the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, a Martian invasion leaves a previously invincible British Empire in ruins. The aliens violently expressive a total disregard for human life and the environment of earth. Weapons, called Heat-Rays are used against the humans and completely destroy everything in their way.These laser guns were a good prediction of future military technologies, resembling those of mass destruction known today. The book’s use of mass destruction of both the human race and the environment draws attention to our own planet’s possible future if nuclear weapons were ever to be placed in the hands of enemies with merciless hostility. Perhaps one of the most famous SF writers of all time, Isaac Asimov has also expressed his distaste for destructive technologies. â€Å"The Earth faces environmental problems right now that threaten the imminent destruction of civilization and the end of the planet as a livable world.Humanity cannot afford to waste its financial and emotional resources on endless, meaningless quarrels between each group and all others. There must be a sense of globalism in which the world unites to solve the real problems that face all gro ups alike† (Asimov, page 5). However, his book, Foundation, serves as an interesting contrast to the imperialistic warfare from The War of the Worlds. Focusing on a trend that the ideal progression of civilization may one day reach, this book introduces a pacifistic society in which violence is considered the last refuge of the incompetent.However, the environments depicted in Foundation are inconsistent with Herbert’s conception that a peaceful universe will also be rich in ecology. Given that violence was spoken as a thing of the past, and taking into consideration the environment of planets like Trantor consisted of civilization under a steel dome, this may further imply that violence and mass destruction have already taken their toll on universe of that time. This may suggest that total destruction of nature, by evil technologies, was what finally convinced humanity to become a pacifistic universe.Asimov’s use of ecology as a sacrifice made in order for peace among mankind questions if future pacifism will be possible before the misuse of technology annihilates Mother Nature forever. Conserving the environment seems to be a popular theme in SF, especially after the publication of Dune in 1965. This book depicts a future universe where even though a nuclear holocaust of the human race is not an issue, other powerhouses’ affairs continue to dominate in priority over the environment of planets. Dune encompasses an interesting parallel that would almost exactly predict current issues.Global wide controversy that major industrial accidents have significantly negative impacts on global environmental degradation is one of the main concerns among environmentalists today. These risks include human induced climate change, ozone depletion, and the loss of biodiversity, and if remain ignored will lead to the inhabitability of earth. Dune’s harsh desert environment may not have been a result of human interference with nature, but the f ailure to proliferate a lush green ecosystem, because of an empire’s concern of profit off the spice trade, does express concerns of global industrialization.This planet, originally known as Arrakis, is described as the empire’s wasteland, while at the same time being the most valuable planet in the universe. This inverse relationship between commercial gain and ecological richness advocates a need for major change in the distribution of power in a globally economy, especially aiming to put a halt to exploitation of earth’s natural resources by industrial power-head’s. Dune ultimately criticizes commercial empires for valuing profit over concerns for ecology, and above all pressures for change that will benefit the common good of humanity. What distinguishes us human beings from all the less advanced forms of life on earth is that, having at last become conscious of the challenge of survival, we have consciously undertaken to shape our own future. This re quires us to look ahead, even beyond the span of any single generation† (4). This quote, published by the Council of Foreign Relations in a journal for Foreign Affairs, surprisingly has no intentional relationship to SF. It does, however, coincidentally represent not only the current impact of science on progression of humanity, but also embodies the underlying theme of Foundation.Foundation is focused around a character named Hary Seldon, who uses the science of Psychohistory to predict the future of mankind. While conducting his research, Seldon discovers that the Galactic Empire, which is currently in power, will soon fall, and a new empire will not arise for thirty thousand years. Knowing that the time between empires will be nothing but barbarism, Seldon initiates a plan to create a compendium of all human knowledge, called the Encyclopedia Galactica, that will ultimately decrease the time of the dark age to one third of its original prediction.Seldon’s goal to imp rove the quality of life for the people of the collapsing empire, through knowledge, is significantly similar to environmentalists’ research efforts to prevent the demise of earth’s ecosystems. Considering that crisis aversion through science has very much come to life, it can be concluded that SF can, to some extent, predict the future. A nuclear physicist, by the name of Dr. Ron Nielson, coincidently posses many of the characteristics of Seldon in Foundation, almost as if Hary had come to life. In 2005, Dr. Nielson published a book called The Green Handbook: Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet, which he described as an essential reference for anyone who cares about the future of the planet. It surveys not only the deterioration of our physical environment but also economic, social, and political trends that give an understanding as to how these critical issues can be addressed. There are many similarities between Dr. Nielson and Hary Seldon, but the most me aningful quality would be that both scientists advocate change in humanity for a cause that they will not be alive to redeem the benefits of.Unlike industry officials, who are only interested in immediate commercial gain, these two men embody the characteristics of a true SF hero; one who protects of the progression of the future of humanity. The hero of Dune, Paul, is a character of interesting complexity that also strives to change trends in the ecology of his planet, much like Dr. Neilson. Paul is different from his family and social class in the sense that he feels a great connection to the environment, similar to those of the native people of Arrakis, called Fremen.The Fremen dream of a surreal utopia in which the harsh desert environment is metamorphosized into a lush self-sustainable ecosystem, in which the scarcity of water is no longer an issue. With the help of the Fremen and an ecologist named Kynes, Paul is victorious against his greedy rival, the Baron Harkonnen. Paul e xhibited characteristics exactly opposite of the Baron’s ruthlessness. When a sandstorm endangered workers in the spice mines and a large shipment of spice, Paul did not hesitate to sacrifice the spice for the lives of his people.The book places a special stress on the absence of a sense of altruism and respect for nature in the antagonist’s character and empire. Herbert’s characterizations, that embody the struggle of good versus evil, are suggestive that drastic policy changes must be met by either a change in morals and values of the people in charge, or a complete overthrow of authorities by advocates who have righteous intentions for the future of mankind. The association of the word ‘utopia’ with the notion of nature makes the theme of environmentalism even more obvious in this novel.The novel is strongly suggestive that environmental problems of today cannot be ignored any longer. Frank Herbert and Dr. Neilson share a common objective of advo cating environmentalism through their writing. The difference is that Herbert incorporates it into fictional pieces of literature, while Neilson chooses a more scientific and direct path of expression. Herbert’s use SF literature, to push for a green movement by society, shows how SF can be used as a tool to improve scientific literacy and knowledge of future concerns associated with our current usage of technology. Science fiction ses a blend of entertainment and science to create, what some might, call more effective means of scientifically educating an audience. The impact of science fiction does not just stop at a mere introduction of scientific problems to the public. Plots of science fiction often offer possible plans of action to induce change and progression in a positive direction. In both Dune and Foundation, government or politics was used to bridge the gap between what was happening and what needed to happen. In these novels, as well as in real life, possesion of high political power is almost always a requirement for initiating radical change.In Dune, Paul inherited his father’s position and power. By joining forces with the Fremen, Paul became the leader of a mini-empire in hopes to put an end to the exploitation of the planet’s resources by the evil Harkonnens. It was not until Paul was named the new emperor of the universe, however, that his plans to change the planet into a garden paradise could finally begin. Dr. Neilson chose to end the preface of his book encouraging policy-makers, decision-makers, and journalists to use their influences and lifelong experiences to help steer away from the future taking an undesirable course of events.However, this encouragement does not give a concise solution the problem he lists in The Green Handbook. Applying concepts from the three SF books being analyzed, the process to change the course of the seven trends that Neilson feels are slowly degrading our planet, a high position of pow er among policy changers must first be obtained. A book by Michael Howes, called Politics and the Environment: risk and the role of government and industry, gives intense incite to what further needs to be done to save our planet.This book focuses on meeting the challenge of undoing environmental risks with more technical innovation and economic reform. It also shines a light on the roadblock that people who deny that there is any serious risk are causing, mainly those who benefit from industry. The struggle between those interested in commercial gain and those who attempt to advocate change to benefit the environment is realistic problem often portrayed in SF. Dune, Foundation, and War of the Worlds all express a common concern for what impacts destructive technologies, like weapons and exploitative industries, may have on the future of mankind.These books also seem to preach that good motives and compassion for humanity are qualities of good empires, while evil ones are still focu sed on the use of violence and greed. The power placed in the hands of the most influential people of the empire is also a symbol of responsibility of those to always make decisions for the greater good of humanity. Governments of today’s nations could effectively avert future ecological crisis on earth by balancing power scientists and big industry officials. The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom† (Asimov, pg 13). By taking a glimpse into the future, politicians that value the earth’s well-being can be the change needed to save the planet, ultimately making them heroes like Paul and Seldon. In this case, science fiction may also be useful tool in impacting the public to push for changes from politicians. The ability of the genre of SF to really impact the future of technology makes it the most relevant type of literature in current time.