Ethics Awareness Inventory Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics Awareness Inventory Discussion - Essay Example For example as the result implies that I look into a person's actions beyond its direction hence this can help me in judging actions in a much broader and appropriate way reaching into the deeper meaning of someone's action and then judging them right or wrong. This gives me an edge in my professional life as my thinking abilities and decision making skills go one step ahead of simply making decisions that are based on facts and proofs. This kind of thinking can trigger personal and professional morals. Education helps in developing this kind of thinking. I have experienced greater comprehending ability on complex situation and view them from different prospective to solve ethical ambiguities. The type of strong ethical character I posses will be my weapon in solving complex conflict situations involving people with different ethical norms and beliefs. My decision-making skills in regard to my strongest ethical characteristic would make me spend a little more time in analyzing situations and making decisions and they might seem wrong to people who believe in right or wrong according to the actions but in reality the decisions that I would make will be yielding right results.

Leadership Issues in Ethical Perspective Assignment

Leadership Issues in Ethical Perspective - Assignment Example Different cultures around the world instill various adaptations of those values to the youth as they mature. Some societies place a higher emphasis on certain values than other cultures do (Barnes, 2007). The process of learning wrong from right remains the same through the application of rewards and consequences being associated to the choice. Advancements in travel have allowed people from different cultures around the world to converge and share ideas and values. Many businesses have entered the global market and experienced a plethora of value variations that international competition brings to the organizations. The contrast of prioritized values differs with each culture’s traditions. Exposure to another culture’s values may influence an individual’s beliefs and values and create the need for change or evolution of current opinions and ideals (Barnes, 2007). Learning in Action The idea of learning in action allow for the opportunity to take a look at person al values and decide how those values might fit into different scenarios. The first thing was to find out how personal values were perceived and the quality of each value. This was accomplished by taking a Pre-Self-Evaluation survey to determine strengths and weaknesses. A Post-Self-Evaluation allowed for comparisons between the perception at the beginning of the project and then again at the end. It was noted that some of the value areas had changed. Interviews were the next step in learning about ethical values and social responsibility. The themes that emerged once the analysis was complete allowed for different variations of attitudes and opinions to surface. A priority list of personal values was created with the pre and post evaluations. This list allowed for the comparison between the beginning of the project and the end results. The collection of articles dealing with ethical behavior in business allowed for even more analysis and comparisons to be accomplished. Pre and Post Self-Evaluation Survey When the learning in action assignment was given, the recorded answers for a Pre-Self-Evaluation Survey were carefully considered. Recording the answers for the magnitude of understanding and application of each ethical value would be important later on as the comparisons with a Post-Self-Evaluation could be implemented. The comparison of the two evaluations showed considerable differences as knowledge and practice was incorporated into the project. Some values remained the same and those were ones that could be continually worked on to show improvement in the future. Interviews When setting up the interviews, asking permission to record a person’s answers seem socially responsible. All participants agreed that as long as the answers remained anonymous, each person approved the inclusion of their answers in the final report. Three questions were asked, so during the analysis of the responses, all the answers for question one were combined and the same patter was maintained for questions two and three (see Appendix 5). Twenty individuals were asked to participate in the interview process. Five of them were close friends, five were classmates, five were professors, and five were co-workers. The themes, which emerged from question one were to watch others, follow one’

Roman State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Roman State - Essay Example The Romans usually described by their cultural-identity in very simple terms, which included the use of Latin language, regard for traditional Latin literature, loyalty to Roman laws and hereditary civilization. Else - everyone who wasn't a Romanian and didn't want to share this way of life - was barbarian (P.J. Geary, 2001, pp. 107-109). By the similar gauge, all persons who lived inside the borders of Rome were, theoretically, tied by their widespread contribution in Roman culture (P.J. Geary, 2001, pp. 107-109). Following the fall of Alexander and the rejection of Greek domination in the 3rd century BC, the Illyrians twisted their fates to piracy (P.A. Brunt, 1976, pp. 161-74). Carrying out their invasions from the isolated waterfronts of the coastline, they devastate the shoreline of Italy along with Greece and victimized the commerce of the Adriatic. In return to help calls from Greece, Rome demanded a termination of the piracy, but the Illyrians discarded. This negative response caused two consecutive trounces in the Roman wars of 229 and 219 BCE. Illyria, but, remained an influential Empire with its center at Skodra, until 180 BCE, when the Dalmatians stated themselves autonomous of Ruler Gentius (P.A. Brunt, 1976, pp. 161-74). ... They, but, opposed to yield Romans annexation until the earliest part of the 1st century CE. They tied in an endeavor with the Pannonians and to set free their provinces from Romans in 6 C.E. and they were not finally controlled until 9 C.E. by Augustus and Tiberius (P.A. Brunt, 1976, pp. 161-74). From that time on, the entire of Illyria was occupied and unified as the Roman territory of Illyricum and finally developed to be one of the major employing grounds for the Rome's army. Finally, as it developed into highly-Romanized, it was acknowledged as the hometown of some Emperors counting Diocletion. After the demise of King Prasutagus (AD 50-60), though, the Roman overseers in Britain made the Iceni a subject populace. In Iceni, Boudicca was a true combatant ruler. In 60-61 A.D., she enthused and directed the biggest rebellion in opposition to Romans in Britain. Rome had got the wrong impression about Boudicca and the Iceni. Instead of yielding to Romans, Boudicca lifted up a massive army and guided them in opposition to Roman's forces in Britain. Nine out of ten Rome's legions were busy in Wales, combating with Druids. There was less-effective resistance as Boudicca and her territorial army swept into the business centre of Londinium on the Thames (Guy De La Bedoyere, 2003, pp. 64). Rome routed the Britons in one of the very old world's most blood-spattered massacres. The Romans way of life was not as good as all over the place than it is nowadays, mainly for the minor classes. The command was an armed domination - a benevolent one, but domination however. Possessing complete Roman nationality, the former soldiers were at the peak of the 'totem pole' amongst citizens. This was particularly significant as the essential feature of Romanization demanded the

Infant mortality Essay Example for Free

Infant mortality Essay Infant mortality simply refers to the number of death amongst the young ones per 1000 births. In this historical study, infant mortality rate between a range of time starting from 1750 to 1917 is studied. Its rate varies from one century to another with the 18th century recording the highest number of deaths among the young. Progressing towards the 20th century, there has been a drastic decline in the death rate of infants. Some medical professionals believe that this is because of the social health reform and medical improvement during the 19th and 20 centuries. On the other hand, some scholars, like Thomas McKeown, strongly suggest that this is mainly attributed to the improved nutrition and sanitation of the infant’s environment (McKeown, 121). Thomas McKeown is the scholar who spearheaded the well known McKeown Thesis. There has been an ongoing debate between the two ideas about which played the main significant role in checking the rampant death of the infants for several decades featured in countless student reading, so who actually saw the truth between the 19 and the 20th centuries? Infant mortality reduced over the centuries starting in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States. The highest rate of death among the infants was observed in the first half of the 18th century (McKeown, 65) , this high rate of infant mortality was viewed as caused by societal break-down and poor policies rather that specific pathological organism. This was considered as a reflection of a poor frame work in the society. Between 1750 and 1800, the infant mortality rate was at the peak with many of the infants succumbing to their diseases. At the time, the technical aspects in undertaking comprehensive investigation to establish the actual cause of the diseases and finally finding the cure had not been successful. Many infants therefore died in large numbers. The community attributed all this to the broad and unfortunate societal problems. Many major countries had areas with indecent housing, flooded basements, contaminated water supplies and poverty, resulting in diseases such as typhoid, scarlet fever, tuberculosis and typhus to thrive (McVeigh). This in the end challenged them to actually think of ways to handle these problems. What they have come to conclude was that prenatal and postnatal diseases were ultimately influenced by external factors such as food deficiency, alcohol and tobacco use (Mudd, 117). While diseases and disabilities that are determined during conception or after birth are invariably different, both their origins can still be potentially controlled. In the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the government of the United States came up with efforts to curb this menace. They recommended the removal of infants in the cities; this was considered a major success since most mothers who were residing in the city end up having their young ones dying at a tender age. Some prenatal diseases, for example was due to exposure to harmful toxins in the environment, thereby affecting the child’s development in the mother’s womb (Mudd, 117-118). This was viewed that the city exposed the young to unhealthy environment hence exposing them to diseases. The congestion in the city was also found to facilitate the spread of contagious diseases among the young. Various forms of pollutants were rampant in the city and therefore the infant could easily contract infections. Many women at the turn of the 18th century were working in gas lit factories and sweatshops, which may affect their pregnancy (McVeigh). The mothers were advised to settle in their rural homes where these hazards were considered to have minimal consequences on the infants. It was fortunate that legislations were finally passed during 1848 to promote genuine concern for public health (McKeown, 66). Similarly, international city in Great Britain during the era, as well as an important location throughout Europe and the rest of the world in terms of international trade and human transit. Because of so many international produce, goods and people arriving in London daily, it became clear to medical professionals that foreign bodies can often be the bearers of disease; from London, such illnesses were doomed to spread throughout the rest of the country. In helping London’s citizens stay healthy, infant mortality rates were automatically dropped simultaneously. By exploring London’s newspaper archives, as well as other contemporary newspaper articles and even the correspondence of health care workers during the era, the information concerning infant mortality rates can be gathered and compared. In contrast, some scholars, such as Thomas McKeown, strongly suggest that this is mainly attributed to the improved nutrition and sanitation (Colgrove). The milk supply was improved among the young one, because the milk handling and supply of edible products was improved by the government. This government strategy has been significant in preserving the life of infants at the time. Child hygiene was another factor considered in checking the high rate of infant mortality. A child hygiene program was established by the government to ensure the infants were provided with the highest quality of hygiene . With the advancement on the technological innovations, infant mortality reduced in significant proportions over the centuries. The discovery of the various medical equipments and apparatus including the microscope and the stethoscope in the late 19th century boosted the medical field’s capabilities to handle these challenges (McVeigh). Simultaneous to this, great strides in the improvement of education of interns started happening in Europe. The scientist who specialized in medical microbiology studied deeper and discovered very many minute microbes which were found to cause high rate of infant mortality. These microbes were found to thrive on unhygienic conditions therefore causing high rate of infant mortality. They were found to be rampant especially in poorly handled milk and other foodstuff. With these discoveries of stethoscope and the microscope in the 20th century, many diseases were kept under control. This was because scientists had become knowledgeable about health matters. Before this tremendous discovery, many minute microorganisms causing several diseases amongst the young ones were at large and scientists were puzzled with unchecked high rate of infant mortality. The electron microscope with high magnification enabled these scientists to recognize the various disease causing organisms including viruses and bacteria. They managed to know the specific diseases that these microorganisms caused and the appropriate control measures needed to keep them at bay. They came up with antibiotics to cure infection in the infants. Antibiotics such as penicillin were also discovered in the early 20th century. At this time, due to these discoveries and appropriate measures taken by the government, the infant mortality drastically reduced. Medical attention to the infants was considered a priority and hence reducing the rate of infant’s death. Another important factor in curbing infant mortality is the development of obstetrics and the rise of gynecology in that time (McVeigh). It encompassed all aspects of pregnancy, and allowed sanitary and safe conditions for the mother and child. Arguably, poor sanitary conditions during childbirth are also one of the main causes of infant mortality in earlier centuries. McKeown’s views on public health sparked controversy during the 1970’s and 1980’s with its focus on allocation of medical resources. While the foundation of his empirical views might be considered flawed today, it spearheaded studies of where should public health practitioners should focus their efforts and the most important determinants of a society’s mortality (Colgrove). The thesis he authored was about the explanation of the dramatic population growth from around 1770 to the present (Szreter). It stated that it was because of the domino effect of improved economic conditions: better standards of living and enhanced nutritional status that strengthened infant resistance to most diseases. His works have been about the synthesis of these advanced ideas and later on his works began getting much attention because of its profound content (Szreter). It was curious to note that it attracted more audiences during its later years, even though it didn’t substantially contain any new information. It was probably the stronger awareness in public health that caused this. However, McKeown will always be considered a figure of importance because of his role in shaping contemporary systems to prevent infant mortality. Other factors that can be attributed to a precipitous decline in infant mortality rate starting from the late 19th and early 20th century include the improvement in economic growth, improvement in nutrition, new sanitary measures by the government and advances in knowledge about infant care in the united states of America (Colgrove). Though little is known about how each of this factors contributed in the reduction in the infant mortality rate, a systematic review of the data from the specific period stressed that providing clean milk in market was the main contributor to this decline in the infant mortality . However, the writer of this journal was biased in the sense that handling milk supply and milk hygiene was not the only cause of infant mortality. It‘s important to note that the both technological advancement and improved nutrition played a very crucial role in checking the infant mortality rate starting from the late 18th to early 20th century. The perception that the high rate of infant mortality was due to societal problems and poor policies could not help in reversing the trend in the first half of the 18th century. Technological advancement saw the discovery of the various medical apparatus and equipments in the 20th century which helped in the reduction of high infant mortality rate. The scientists discovered the actual causes of these deaths being pathological organism which could be controlled. The economic growth and education enabled this scientist to conduct further research and hence control measures were devised which came up with cure for various diseases affecting the infants.

Free Things They Carried Essays: Syntactic and Paratactic Interpretation :: Things They Carried Essays

Syntactic and Paratactic Interpretation of The Things They Carried  Ã‚  Ã‚   The syntactic and paratactic styles of interpretation are both needed to interpret Tim O’Briens â€Å"The Things They Carried†.   The syntactic aspect of interpretation deals with the imaginary or the things that aren’t said, but that are implied or that happen outside of what is said.   Paratactic interpretation deals with the concrete details that stand out and are specifically stated.   The media, although it didn’t change the outcome of the war much because it provided coverage of both negative and positive aspects, it was the first war to be covered by the media and therefore what it did cover, people believed. This can be observed in Tim O’Briens novel on the coverage of how the war started and how it was covered after the war started.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The historical approach to this novel with respect to the syntactic aspect can be observed if one looks at what the media said had started the war.   The media stated that the war had been started because U.S. ships had been fired upon in friendly waters by hostile warships. Paratacticly this makes sense and should have started a war in which we sent over troops that felt that they were protecting their country, which might have actually changed the outcome of the war.   Syntactically, though, the story was that we had been in two previous tiffs (Cuba and Laos) and had lost.   This caused the president to be looked at in an unfavorable light, which made him and others in power, to stage a war that he thought we could win.   In reality there were no known hostile ships anywhere near the area that our ships went down and he was blindly following a belief that communism should be contained in order not to have a domino effect.   The media later portrayed t his portrait of the war, but it was too late for many young teenagers that had just gotten out of high school. Another example of syntactic analysis is where the media reported a death count.   Paratactically the death count represented the number of bodies dead, but this is misleading.   The death count, for one thing, is misleading because the entire country was covered with mines and these explosives killed both friend and foe. After they had gone off, there was little left of the body.   This leads to miscounting because if the body is blown into microscopic pieces it is hard to tell if one, two, or three people died, and who’s side they were on.

Wheelchair Experiement

The Wheelchair Experiment Why do people feel that it is acceptable to judge others? Why is it so difficult to lend a helping hand? During my brief time in a wheelchair, I discovered that hate and judgment towards individuals with disabilities still exists. For this project, I visited a local Target location and used a motorized wheelchair to navigate around the store. Through my time in a wheelchair, I discovered how difficult life could be if I were dependent on a wheelchair. As an able bodied adult, I did not like being immobile.My new found immobility left me feeling judged and alone in the world. At the age of twenty-four years old, I have never felt more judgment in my entire life than I did while I was in Target. I got many glances from children, and some adults glared at me as though it was my fault that I was in a wheelchair. I completely understood the daily challenges that go along with being disabled. Simple tasks like going to the restroom, trying on clothes, and reaching the top shelf for items became stressful and tiring.These tasks were made even more difficult when able bodied adults were not willing to assist me. Within the first thirty minutes, I had attempted to use the restroom and the fitting rooms. These were probably the most difficult tasks I attempted. While trying to get into the restroom, I noticed an employee laughing at me. Once he realized that I noticed him, he immediately stopped. Because the employee made me feel ridiculed, I left the area and did not go back. Shortly after the restroom incident, I attempted to use one of the fitting rooms.While attempting to use the fitting room, I noticed that the employee at the counter was not very helpful. She was not willing to remove carts that were obstructing the pathway. The fitting rooms clearly have handicap access, but because of the employee’s unwillingness to assist me I was unable to take advantage of these facilities. The situation left me feeling so uncomfortable, that I gave her the clothes in my cart and went to another part of the store to continue my shopping. During my final thirty minutes in the store, I noticed a couple that kept howing up on the same aisles as me. The couple consisted of a man and a woman who was using crutches to maneuver around the store. Because the woman was on crutches, I assumed that they would be understanding and helpful to someone else who also had a handicap. I noticed that the man willingly assisted the woman whenever she needed help, but he would photograph me struggling to reach an item on the top shelf. His actions left me feeling confused, helpless, and embarrassed about being in a wheelchair.As my journey through Target was coming to a close, I had lost hope that genuinely nice people still existed, until two employees proved me wrong. As I approached the register and checked out, the cashier assisted me by removing the items from my cart. After I checked out and paid, she graciously placed the purchased ite ms back into my cart. Immediately after I checked out, a security guard approached me and asked if I needed any assistance. The security guard walked me to my car and helped load my purchases into my car.Before this experiment, I did not recognize how mean and heartless individuals could be to someone with a disability or handicap. This experiment has taught me to always help others. Regardless of how someone physically appears, everyone is the same on the inside. Everyone has a heart and emotions, and both can easily be destroyed by another’s inconsiderate actions. Because of what I have learned through this assignment, I will always try to lend a helping hand to those in need. Wheelchair Experiement The Wheelchair Experiment Why do people feel that it is acceptable to judge others? Why is it so difficult to lend a helping hand? During my brief time in a wheelchair, I discovered that hate and judgment towards individuals with disabilities still exists. For this project, I visited a local Target location and used a motorized wheelchair to navigate around the store. Through my time in a wheelchair, I discovered how difficult life could be if I were dependent on a wheelchair. As an able bodied adult, I did not like being immobile.My new found immobility left me feeling judged and alone in the world. At the age of twenty-four years old, I have never felt more judgment in my entire life than I did while I was in Target. I got many glances from children, and some adults glared at me as though it was my fault that I was in a wheelchair. I completely understood the daily challenges that go along with being disabled. Simple tasks like going to the restroom, trying on clothes, and reaching the top shelf for items became stressful and tiring.These tasks were made even more difficult when able bodied adults were not willing to assist me. Within the first thirty minutes, I had attempted to use the restroom and the fitting rooms. These were probably the most difficult tasks I attempted. While trying to get into the restroom, I noticed an employee laughing at me. Once he realized that I noticed him, he immediately stopped. Because the employee made me feel ridiculed, I left the area and did not go back. Shortly after the restroom incident, I attempted to use one of the fitting rooms.While attempting to use the fitting room, I noticed that the employee at the counter was not very helpful. She was not willing to remove carts that were obstructing the pathway. The fitting rooms clearly have handicap access, but because of the employee’s unwillingness to assist me I was unable to take advantage of these facilities. The situation left me feeling so uncomfortable, that I gave her the clothes in my cart and went to another part of the store to continue my shopping. During my final thirty minutes in the store, I noticed a couple that kept howing up on the same aisles as me. The couple consisted of a man and a woman who was using crutches to maneuver around the store. Because the woman was on crutches, I assumed that they would be understanding and helpful to someone else who also had a handicap. I noticed that the man willingly assisted the woman whenever she needed help, but he would photograph me struggling to reach an item on the top shelf. His actions left me feeling confused, helpless, and embarrassed about being in a wheelchair.As my journey through Target was coming to a close, I had lost hope that genuinely nice people still existed, until two employees proved me wrong. As I approached the register and checked out, the cashier assisted me by removing the items from my cart. After I checked out and paid, she graciously placed the purchased ite ms back into my cart. Immediately after I checked out, a security guard approached me and asked if I needed any assistance. The security guard walked me to my car and helped load my purchases into my car.Before this experiment, I did not recognize how mean and heartless individuals could be to someone with a disability or handicap. This experiment has taught me to always help others. Regardless of how someone physically appears, everyone is the same on the inside. Everyone has a heart and emotions, and both can easily be destroyed by another’s inconsiderate actions. Because of what I have learned through this assignment, I will always try to lend a helping hand to those in need.

Latin America Transformed

This work focuses on four different areas for understanding the dynamics of Center America and the Caribbean. The first is the comparative evaluation of development policies in the region prior to neoliberalism. The second involves analytical work that combines the nature of the neoliberal model applied in the Caribbean and Central America. The third is the study of the role of migration and trading blocks in contemporary Caribbean and Central American development. The fourth considers the Cuban exception as a socialist state in a capitalist sea. The republics of Central America and the Caribbean share many historical characteristics. All of these countries formed part of the Spanish colonial system for three centuries or more. However, both regions have inherited highly unequal distributions of agricultural land (Gwynne & Kay 104). Although the countries spun out of the Spanish colonial orbit at different times and in different contexts, Spanish colonialism established important elements of coherence that helped lay the foundations for the challenges of nation-state construction after independence. Furthermore, Central America and the Caribbean have shared, since the late nineteenth century, the strong political, social, and economic influence of the United States and the development of agro-export economies. Either through the direct creation of classic enclave economies (mining, sugar, timber, bananas, and so on); the development of export infrastructures; or the less visible participation in the production and marketing of other products, such as coffee, cattle, or food, foreign -especially U.S., German, and English – entrepreneurs helped connect the region firmly to the North Atlantic economy. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century, national elites struggled to channel and contain social and political movements in order to promote the kind of order and progress they and foreign investors depended upon and also to construct memories, histories, and images of nations that were functional to their political and economic projects and their dreams of national power and stability. At the same time, foreign political and economic control and their own internal weaknesses and contradictions led them to seek, at least rhetorically, national unity and independence and to make strategic concessions to popular classes in an attempt to form nationalist or populist alliances. This kind of opening both influenced the ways popular struggles came to be defined and created situations in which popular forces could effectively make their voices heard in the national political arena. CBI should be seen as a vanguard policy for a reconstituted US regional hegemony under neoliberalism (Gwynne & Kay 105). Caribbean governments in the context of their efforts at promoting economic and social development and with the external debt crisis hanging heavily over their heads had been stressing the need for a meaningful, coordinated program of emergency assistance in the form of aid and market and investment preferences. Indeed as early as 1979, Edward Seaga, then the opposition leader of Jamaica, proposed the need for a mini-Marshall Plan and a Puerto Rico-style relationship between the US and the Caribbean. CBI could therefore be regarded as a response to those appeals. The most salient studies in Cuban history written in the 1970s and 1980s focused on the transition from slave labor to free labor in Cuba's plantation economy and were led by the research of Manuel Moreno Fraginals into Cuba's plantation sector and Rebecca Scott's work on the abolition of slavery and its impact. Since then, studies have addressed issues of racial and ethnic formation and identity, immigration, and social banditry, as well as the women's and labor movements. Jorge Ibarra has begun a process of revision and reconsideration of the classic themes of Cuban historiography, including the island's social structure. Since the nineteenth century Cuba has essentially had a one-crop (sugar cane) exporting economy with the concomitant vulnerabilities of output and price fluctuations and deteriorating terms of trade (Gwynne & Kay 118). Cuba is now almost totally isolated and potentially a source of future conflict and violence. Cuba has ceased to be the totalitarian state it once was as the state itself was severely weakened by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Spurred on by the international climate favoring regional trading blocs, Middle American countries have recently formed the Association of Caribbean States, but beyond several regional summits have taken no firm steps towards region-wide economic integration (Gwynne & Kay 100). The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) encompasses 200 million (plus) inhabitants of the region and, along with free trade arrangements between CARICOM and Venezuela, Colombia, and the Southern Cone countries, represents the consolidation of a Caribbean strategy to participate as fully as possible in the movement toward hemispheric free trade. Ironically, the Caribbean is moving in the direction of the foreign conception of the region in that U.S., European, Japanese, and other external policy-makers have long dealt with the Caribbean programmatically as a seamless, if culturally diverse, unit. Regional academics and policy-makers, however, depart from this programmatic view in recognizing that certain aspects of sub-group uniqueness must still be maintained. For example, the existing Caribbean Community (CARICOM) integration area will for the foreseeable future co-exist with the ACS. For both the Caribbean and Central America, the version of import substitution adopted to a large extent involved US multinational corporations (MNCs) relocating production facilities within the region to serve customers there, rather than a dramatic expansion of domestically-owned industries (Gwynne & Kay 100). Both liberal, free-market rhetoric and collective bodies of capitalists (domestic holding companies and multinational corporations) spearheaded the drive to enter foreign areas. The ideology praised individualism and free market values, but the actual agencies of penetration were collectivized planning organizations. U.S. businessmen and politicians looked first to Central America for markets because that region had long been expected to become a closer economic partner. But U.S. officials conducted little study of the Central American economic situation and entered into no systematic consultation with Central American leaders because the U.S. vision expressed in the doctrines of Manifest Destiny and the Open Door was restricted to resolving U.S. domestic problems, not meeting Central American needs. The Americanism initiated in the 1880s, which was expected to create the market conditions necessary to assure U.S. commercial expansion, also exposed fundamental differences between the U.S. and Central American visions. While the United States proposed mainly commercial programs, the Central American delegates often struggled to include political, social, and cultural affairs. Among the alternatives available, it seems that the neoliberal model has begun to prevail. This model, which is well known and well supported from outside, substantively modifies the structure of Central American countries. Its hallmark is the absence of attention to social aspects. In the case of Central America, it eliminates what little economic equilibrium had existed before, producing a growing concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, and a progressive pauperization of the rest of the population. Consequently, it will crumble democracy throughout the region. Neoliberalism puts pressure on already highly-trade-dependent Middle America to export more (Gwynne & Kay 104). The progress or modernization pursued by the Latin American governments required increasing sums of money to import the machinery, railroads, luxuries, and technology that would be used to try to transform their nations into replicas of the European nations the elites and middle class so much admired. To earn that money, the Latin Americans increased their exports, the foods or minerals they traditionally had sold abroad. The export sector of their economies received the most attention. In that sector, they increasingly concentrated investments, technology, and labor, leaving the domestic economy weak and increasingly inadequate. The number of those exports was limited. The highly prized railroads, built at staggering expense, opened new lands for exploitation but always were linked to the export sector, rushing the material products of the interior to the coastal ports where ships waited to transport them to Europe and the United States. Most of the modernization concentrated in the export sector. It contributed to some impressive growth but did little to develop Central America. In fact, modernization contributed to deepening dependency. Central America and the Caribbean is a region of small, economically vulnerable and trade-dependent countries surrounded by larger and more industrialized countries that are moving more aggressively towards economic integration (Gwynne & Kay 99). From one perspective, global transformations create challenges and opportunities for policymakers who can adapt to changing environments and prudently recalculate basic questions of survival, viability, and effectiveness. There is reason to believe that this process is under way in Cuba, though the nature of these calculations and their long-term consequences are unknown. For example, Cuba must carefully calculate its interests in a context of rapidly changing balances and one in which its currency – defiance, moralism, anti-imperialism – has lost much of its value. Systemic reasons rooted in a command model and a series of blunders and poor decisions by government largely explain Cuba's economic predicament. It is increasingly recognized in Cuba itself that its substantial economic, financial, and trade dependence on the former communist world actually deprived it of the advantages that would have accrued to it had relations been expanded with more capitalist countries. Unfortunately, Middle America denotes a region anxious about, and reacting somewhat defensively to, hemispheric movements towards trade alliances to its north and south. Spurred on by the international climate favoring regional trading blocs, Middle American countries have recently formed the Association of Caribbean States, but beyond several regional summits have taken no firm steps towards region-wide economic integration (Gwynne & Kay 100). The revival of the integration movement has been encouraged by the perceived world wide trend to form trading blocks spearheaded by the European Community (EC). This development led to a perceived need in the United States, Canada, and some Latin American countries to form a hemispheric economic block in order to counterbalance the strengthened European integration movement. Once the NAFTA movement got underway, some LAC countries realized the need to participate in it to avoid the possible negative economic effects that NAFTA may have on their economies. The Central American Common Market (CACM) consists of five countries with a long history of linkages: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Gwynne & Kay 121). Together, the original CACM members experimented with the development strategy known as Import Substitution Industrialization, or (ISI). This strategy called for a change in the nature and structure of demand – away from imported consumer goods and toward imported industrial goods, which could then be used to produce domestically the same goods that would formally have been imported. During its initial stages, ISI was considered quite successful and was often credited with the economic â€Å"boom† that swept the region at the time of its inception. In reaction to neoliberalism, a growing number of people have tried to emigrate to North America and Europe, where about 5 million Caribbean islanders have gone since 1945 (Gwynne & Kay 120). For example, Salvadorans initially migrated to San Francisco, while Hondurans migrated to New Orleans. Migration has been such an integral part of the Eastern Caribbean culture that almost every Eastern Caribbean citizen has a relative or friend living in a major country. This factor is significant when analyzing both the political and economic system of the Eastern Caribbean. Since 1979 there has been significant changes in migration patterns and, notably, in the volume of people leaving Central America. Not surprisingly, Nicaragua and El Salvador, both of which suffered tremendous damage from war and social unrest, witnessed one of the most dramatic migrations of their people to other Central American countries, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. To cite an extreme example, for every five people born in St Kitts and Nevis and alive today, two now reside in the United States (Gwynne & Kay 120). Neoliberalism, in particular, has made a major contribution to the dynamic and contradictory processes of globalization in the Caribbean and Central America. One important conclusion that comes from this study is that the neoliberal structural adjustment programs are very limited. Although export agriculture has produced some wealth, it has also created massive structural problems of inequality, and it has not achieved self-sustained, modernizing growth over the long run. In conclusion, a feature of Caribbean and Central American migration that deserves further exploration and research is the potential for continuous and circular migration, principally between the islands of the Caribbean and the United States. This phenomenon has important implications for labor markets in regions of origin and destination.   Many of the people now returning to their homelands are bringing with them the wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience. This should significantly enhance the level of human capital in these Central American economies and serve as an important element for the growth and development of the region. Works Cited Robert N. Gwynne, Cristà ³bal Kay. Latin America Transformed: Globalization and Modernity. Arnold: London, 1999.