From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines human trafficking as: Continue reading
Slavery in the Modern World
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: When many of us think of slavery our minds often focus on African Americans toiling on cotton fields in the south of the United States; or perhaps we envision slaves in the ancient world, usually building monuments dedicated to the glory of the Pharaoh. In fact slavery still exists and flourishes around the world today. In 2005 the International Labour Organisation estimated that there at least 12.3 million people in forced labour (slaves) globally. Continue reading
Cheap Chinese Labor: How Can U.S. Businesses Compete? Part II
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: In the first part of this article we saw the many difficulties that American manufacturers are faced with in trying to compete with their Chinese counterparts. It is difficult, if not impossible, to tell an employer who is forced to lay off a large number of workers or close his or her business that he or she should try to understand the situation in China and see if there are any opportunities there. However the reality is that China is a nation with over 1 billion consumers. Continue reading
Cheap Chinese Manufacturing: How Can U.S. Businesses Compete? Part I
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: For at least a decade now American manufacturers have been fighting what in most cases has been a losing battle against a tidal wave of cheap Chinese imports. There are a number of reasons why Chinese imports are so much cheaper than goods made in the U.S., and pretty much every other nation as well, these include: very cheap labour, an undervalued currency that is pegged to the greenback, and an inexpensive supply change (ranging from components to cargo handling). Continue reading
A Herman & Chomsky Approach to the Joy Behar Show
Submitted to Thinking Outside the Boxe from a Pennsylvania Correspondent
Herman and Chomsky suggest the media is made up by elitist for elites. What does this mean? In their book Manufacturing Consent they structure a “propaganda model” which purposes five filters that sift through the media before it is distributed to the general population. The first filter: Ownership of the networks that distributes the media. Owners are extremely wealthy individuals or corporations that support their own interest along with the interest of other wealthy individuals or corporations they are partnered with. The second filter examines advertising. Continue reading
An Examination of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Beyond Vietnam
Submitted to Thinking Outside the Boxe from a Pennsylvania Correspondent: Beyond Vietnam was written by Martin Luther King Jr. and presented on April 4, 1967 at Riverside church in New York City. The intention of the speech was to examine our effort in the war, “our” being the United States of America. The title itself expresses a need to analyze the reasons we were there and the repercussions of our actions. Many American’s believed King was losing direction, they felt that civil rights and peace are separate entities, this belief strengthen King’s conviction. Continue reading
Disaster Aid & Relief: Government Responsibility or Private Funds?
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent
The question of Government pouring millions of dollars into disaster relief is increasingly coming into focus as major economies face difficulties in supporting their own citizens. The seemingly endless tragic disasters that we see on the tv news has also contributed to a sense of donor fatigue. This prevailing attitude has been summed up by one individual in a petition to the UK Government who wrote: Continue reading
The American Dream
Submitted to Thinking Outside the Boxe from a Pennsylvania Correspondent
It can be said that the American dream came alive before the country itself was founded. This particular nation was built by people determined to flourish outside the means their society of origin provided. “Whenever one’s needs require more than what can be granted, or even merely something of a different sort, they will be under continual friction and only function painfully….” (Durkheim 1897). It is inherit for all civilizations to aspire to prosper. When society is no longer able to uphold their end of the agreement, individuals will abandon the regulations of their society. Continue reading
Is U.S. Agricultural Policy Economically Damaging?
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s London Correspondent
Every year, the U.S. government gives out about $25 billion in subsidies to farmers around the country. Considering the current budget deficit problems in the U.S., is it worth paying out so much to farmers, or is the current system only damaging the economy even further? Continue reading
Is a Modern National Rail Service in the U.S. Feasible?
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s London Correspondent: The U.S. transport system has not been updated since the 1950s, when President Eisenhower created the federal highway system. Many things have changed in the 60 years since these renovations were made: the population of the U.S. has almost doubled, making gridlock a daily reality for millions of commuting Americans, and as this population ages, many individuals who are unable or unwilling to drive are becoming trapped in areas with little or no public transportation. Continue reading
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