Panel 2

Panel on Bridging the gap

What was the main theme of the panel?
The main theme of this panel was to discuss the repercussions and solutions to events of Trumps presidency on the rights of women, all races and ethnicities, and the LGBTQ community.

How valid was the theme of the panel?
This theme was very tied to current events and valid considering the nationwide fear felt by many Americans in recent months.

What are the main points that each side makes in their arguments? Who are the panellists and do they provide sufficient evidence in proving their points?
The panellist did not really provide opposing prospectives, rather they were a semi-diverse group of people who wanted to provide potential solutions to current social issues. I came in late and missed the first part of the panel, but the points I saw made revolved around the current situation of racial and gender equality. They talked a lot about the hate which the election spread and the detrimental effects on national unity which resulted. The panel was comprised of Annita Sarkisian

Do you think their information is accurate?

From whose perspective is this argument being made?

Are a multiplicity of perspectives given?

Are any key prospectives left out?


Was this a good panel?


Would you recommend this panel why or why not?

Booker T. Washington v. W.E.B. Du Bois

Although I believe the best plan would be somewhere in between the two plans, I think Du Bios recognises the vital importance of education. Education is the most important aspect of empowering an oppressed people. Booker T. Washington advocates for starting at the bottom with manual labor before reaching for political power, however, I would argue that education is the bottom because it is the foundation for freedom and power. Without actively reaching for Education African Americans could not hope to rise effectively into political power. Although Du Bios's plan is not perfect, he puts a strong focus on the importance of using the new opportunities in political power, civil right and education to improve the lives of African Americans which are essential for further progression.

Tom Mauser

            Tom Mauser became a gun control activist after loosing his son in the tragic Columbine High school shooting and now works to promote reasonable gun safety legislation in the state of Colorado. In his speech at Dawson he made many points relating to gun safety and legislation, but the points that were the most impactful were on fixing the loopholes in the Brady Bill and background checks. Mauser discussed several legal methods of purchasing a gun, some of which involve background checks and others did not. Before his speech, I had been unaware there were legal ways to acquire a gun without a background check, and I was shocked to find out that the shooters at Columbine High school acquired their gun through a method which did not require a background check. Mauser took an impressively moderate and reasonable stance on his issues and combatted his opponents criticisms with well thought out rational and facts. I left his speech knowing more about gun legislation than I ever had and simultaneously feeling infuriated by those who refuse to support reasonable gun legislation. I feel, similarly to Mauser that reasonable gun legislation involves background checks and training before obtaining a conceal and carry permit. 

I didn’t feel like anything was missing from his speech and my only question left after his talk would be “ why would anyone oppose background checks on all gun purchasers”. Mauser’s talk reinforced my opinions on the need for gun control and also shed a new interesting light on concealed weapons. Before his talk, I thought I would probably feel safer around people who had concealed weapons. After he made the point about the caos that could have potentially happened if ten people had possessed concealed weapons in the Aurora theater shooting, I realised that more guns wouldn’t make things safer if those people had no training. I am very grateful that we were able to listen to such an informative and fascinating speaker. 

Letter to the Editor

Mr. Editor,
        I was absolutely aghast by the appalling autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave By Fredrick Douglass. The book illustrates the atrocities we northern abolitionists must be fighting harder against. The images of suffering slaves depicted in his book should make even the hardest of hearts ache. Douglass talks of a slave owner stepping upon his little brothers head “till the blood gushed from his nose and ears” and of the poor raw emaciated bodies of fellow slaves who lived on the edge of starvation. These are clearly no ways to treat fellow humans and these images only strengthened my abolitionist conviction. I implore you to publish excerpts from Douglass’s book in order to show people the atrocities they have been turning a blind eye to for so long.
        Slaves are dehumanized. Often slaves are treated as if they are the intelectual inferiors of white men, but the writings of this black slave proves otherwise. He writes with the skill and intellect of any college graduate and illuminates the hypocrisy which live in our Christian nation. He details the irony in our countries Christianity, as many of the most brutal slave owners call themselves God-loving men. Our nation cannot continue under the false pretenses of being a Godly country when people continue to starve, beat, and murder their fellow men. Douglass’s narrative should be seen by every eye in the nation. Upon reading it, abolitionists will show new conviction, and any slave owner should feel shame. We can no longer pretend slaves are too dumb to deserve basic human rights, but even a beasts should not be treated with the brutality with which a white man treats his slaves. You would not kick a dog who lays at your feet nor step on its head with your boot. Why then do we treat intelectual beings with such cold-hearted violence? As a northern newspaper, you owe it to the people to publish excerpts of this narrative and unmask the atrocities of the South.

The American Revolution and American Identity

             America is often characterized by an unfailing national pride. This patriotism is viewed as a foundational cornerstone which our nation was built on; however, this is not entirely the case. Although many people think of the American Revolution as a strong, unified effort by a people united in their cause with shared goals, values, and identity, on the eve of the Revolution the America we know today was still in its infancy. Despite the ideas of Revolution in the minds of the population, the colonies remained largely divided by loyalties and varying degrees of outrage or agreement with British actions throughout the Revolution. By the 1750s, the American identity had certainly been born, but despite the newly emerging idea of Americanism, the colonies struggled to unite due to varying personal views and a lack of connection between the colonies.

             Despite colonists' objections to British policies like the Stamp and Sugar Acts along with various other forms of taxation implemented by the British during the 1750s, many colonists remained loyal to the crown. This created three relatively equal factions among the colonists: Patriots, Loyalists and those who remained neutral. In 1781, Peter Oliver recorded a history of Massachusetts which recounts “The Origin and Progress of the American Revolution to the year 1776.”  In this history, he details that the rebellion did not occur because of consensus “but to gratify the Pride, Ambition & Resentment, of a few abandoned Demagogues.”  In fact “the generality of the People were not of this Stamp, but they were [weak] & unversed in the Arts of Deception” (Document F). Oliver’s words provide an interesting insight into the dissension among the colonists regarding British sovereignty, society was split. As Oliver suggests, the Revolution was even viewed by some people as a war led by a very small population who influenced the public. Much of the public remained divided by opinion throughout the 1700s. Mathers Byles noted in his writings that although British rule was tyrannical, American rule was similar to being governed by “three thousand tyrants not a mile away” (Document D). His comparison was not inaccurate, and lack of consensus proved to be a huge obstacle of an early autonomous America. 

             In addition to the range of personal patriotism or lack thereof, young America was also faced with disunity between the individual colonies. Unlike post-constitutional America where the 50 states combine to make one nation, the colonies had no connection to each other besides that of physical proximity and a shared mother country. In 1754, Benjamin Franklin, a patriot, respected inventor, and politician published a powerful piece of propaganda through his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. The image illustrated the disconnection between the colonies using a chopped up snake. Each labeled segment of the snake was representative of at least one part of the Thirteen Colonies. The Gazette illustrated their message with the help of a popular myth that if you put the pieces of a snake back together before sundown, the snake would come back to life. The large text “Join, or Die” across the bottom powerfully conveyed the message that the colonies needed to unite or risk falling individually. The illustration was published the same year as Franklin released the Albany Plan, a plan to join the 13 colonies through a unified government. Unfortunately, the Gazette’s propaganda was not as effective as Franklin might have hoped. The Albany Plan failed to be effective and eventually fell apart due to conflicting interests and values between the colonies. Although Franklin may have been an early proponent of an autonomous America, he was not alone in his observations about the disconnect between colonies. Parliament also recognized that the colonies were completely separated leading up to the eve of their Revolution. In 1766, in his notes for his speech to Parliament, Edmund Burke expressed that the notion of governing the disconnected American colonies from across the ocean was ridiculous (Document B). Burke’s acknowledgment of the disconnect between the American colonies is important because it supports Franklin’s observations from a British perspective. Both the works of Franklin and Burke are helpful in illustrating how dysfunctional America was leading up to the eve of its Revolution, because they both corroborate the same fact: America was anything but united. 

            Although the colonists had serious disagreements about British sovereignty and possessed no autonomy between the colonies, they all possessed one thing in common. All the colonists were immigrants or descendants of immigrants who gave up European society to be part of America and were thus Americans. This gave the colonies a central trait in common which allowed colonies to band together when the British enforced things such as the Coercive Acts. A bond between the colonies is clear when examining the list of “Contributors of Donations for the Relief of Boston” of 1774 and 1775, which was recorded by the Massachusetts Historical Society. The donations displayed in the list were sent to Boston by other colonies after the Boston Tea Party triggered England to implement “the intolerable acts” (Document G). These donations illuminate an undeniable bond between the colonies. The donations were not sent because the other colonies were required to do so. They were sent from Americans to fellow Americans in need. The idea of the American identity was a key unifying factor among colonists. As Hector St Crevecoeur states in his “ Letters from an American Farmer, composed in the 1770’s” A man “Becomes an American by being received in the brand lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men” (Document H). These two documents reveal that although the colonies were not unified, they were united under the American identity to some extent by the eve of their Revolution.

            Although somewhat lacking in unity, Americans had clearly developed an undeniable bond through their mutual American identities. The “lack of unity” and yet simultaneous ability to maintain the American bond is a powerful aspect of America.  The ability for the two to be mutually exclusive is what made America so successful throughout history. Even though the citizens may not be united in supporting an unpopular war effort such as the Vietnam war, the bond between fellow Americans and pride as an American citizen almost never disappears. 

AP US History Blog

The Agrarian Ideal in American Culture

Over the decade's American opinion of agricultural communities has undergone a significant shift. Perception of the previously valued farming lifestyle has been diluted by the media and an unjustified superiority complex held by many urban dwellers. Examples of this transition can be seen throughout pop culture from it's prevalence in country music to its appearance in stand-up comedy routines. Farming has shifted from being a highly respected profession to being a punch line of jokes made by many comedians. Two such comedians who belittle agricultural lifestyles are Jeff Foxworthy and Daniel Lawrence Whitney more commonly known as Larry The Cable Guy. Both popular comedian's routines capitalize on jokes about the "Redneck" lifestyle. Foxworthy has based a large part of his career off of a joke series titled "You Might be a Redneck". In these jokes "Redneck" is synonymous for, uneducated, uncivilized and backward. These unfair depictions of millions of Americans contrast sharply with both the views of Jefferson and Slatin, who believe farming is not only an honorable profession but an essential one. This transition is reflective of a shift in the public perception of agricultural which came with the urbanization of America over the decades. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STypFtRdnc8

Linkage Activity

Linkage Activity

Using the 5 terms below write a paragraph of no more than 6 sentences that explains the connection between.
Virginia
Tobacco
Indentured Servitude
Bacon's Rebellion
Slavery

Virginia first settled in 1607 by the British was founded by the London Company in the hopes of finding mineral riches, instead settlers discovered the value of tobacco which became the chief crop and currency. The settlements were inhabited and worked largely by indentured servants, people who agreed to have their passage to America had been funded by investors to whom they would then belong to for a matter of time (5-7 years) under indentured servitude. Eventually, the growing need for work hands lead to the purchase of African American workers who's indentured servitude often turned into full-fledged slavery. After years of unfair treatment of the slaves and servants Bacon was unsatisfied with the elite upper class and angry that the governor would not legitimise a group of men to go kill Indians. Bacon rallied a group of white and black armed men to fight Indians, the governor  and eventually burn down Jamestown. After the end of Bacons rebellion, stopped by newly arrived soldiers, the government decided to move away from using white slaves, who were entitled to gun ownership in order to prevent future uprisings from the African Americans whose rights they could easily design.

Final Project

For the final project I read, "The Demon In the Freezer" By Richard Preston. This book was written about smallpox and its eradication and the possibility of it being used in the future as a form of biological terrorism. You can find more about this book on my webpage by clicking here or by copying and pasting this in to your browser: http://demoninthefreezerbookreview.weebly.com

Chapter 14: Globalization and the Geography of Networks

Article: Globalisation protests turn violent in Milan as Expo 2015 opens
somebody wanted but so then

The Italian government wanted to host the worlds fair in 2015, but many people saw it as a chance to protest globalization in Milan so the begun to protest, then the protests turned violent and resulted in many torched cars and 11 injured policemen.

Maps: These are the remaining maps I had left uncolored in my book.

Europe 

South America 

United States 

Central America 

Chapter 13: The Humanized Environment

Article: US Refuses to Sign Pact to Stem Global Warming

Many wanted to stop the imminent global warming, but the United States refused to sign the Kyoto agreement along with several other treaties that would help the environment so if the United States continues to release ungodly amounts of pollution into the air as they plan on doing then climate change will be unavoidable in the future.

Essay:
Readings: Chapter 13 "The Humanized Environment"
"Population and Natural Resources"
"The Future of Energy" by Douglas Fox

Essay Question: How will the way humanity has treated the environment effect our world in the future? What practices can and or will have to be implemented in the future to reverse the effects of our carelessness?

Since the Industrial Revolution humanity has made thousands of technological advancements which make our lives much easier, but when you take a step back and look at what we have done to our world it makes one question if these so called technological "advancements" were really better or if they were actually a step backwards. In recent years scientists have discovered that the practices we have adopted to make our lives easier are really destroying the planet and the future of our progeny.

One of the practices that has caused an incredible amount of waste and pollution is beef farming and the unequal distribution of protein consumption per capita. Beef farming is one of the most inefficient methods of food production. In order to make 1 kilogram of beef it takes 100,0000 liters of water to produce. In addition to the insane amounts of water it takes to produce just a little beef it also takes an incredible amount of energy.

Cattle consume 16 times more grain than they produce meat. This makes cattle farming one of the most inefficient forms of food production. Cattle farming is not only inefficient, but it is also bad for the environment. Cows produce gasses from their digestive system that contain methane with is a pollutant which contributes to the Green House Effect. In addition to the harmful gasses they emit they also produce tons of Solid Waste. A cow can poop up to 15 times a day and it produces 65 lbs. of manure daily which is 12 tons a year. Many scientists would even say that the gasses cows add to the air are more harmful to the environment than cars, but is there a way to fix this problem? Obviously killing all the worlds cows in an attempt to reduce green houses gasses is not only inhumane, but it is also not practical, however we could reduce cattle farming by limiting the amount of beef Americans consume. The United States is only 5% of the worlds population and yet it consumes one forth of the worlds resources  We consumes 122 killos of meat per capita which is 9 kilos more than the next highest meat consuming country on the list (Cyprus) and 22.4 less kilos than France which is number 10 on the list of the worlds top meat consumers. In the future it may become vital for us to limit meat consumption in certain countries in order to reduce the harmful byproducts that cattle produce and limit reduce the resources we waste by farming them in such large quantities. 

Another reason humans are destroying the environment is because of our ever growing need for oil to support our energy inefficient lifestyle. After a period of time in the 80s where oil prices where cheep President Ronald Reagan withdrew funding for research on renewable energy sources. Oil is by no means a renewable resource. We consume oil 100,000 times faster than the time it took to form. Although with recent technological improvements our machines have gotten more efficient and require less oil to preform, the number of machines and thus the demand for oil has still risen

exponentially. Oil drilling is extremely harmful to the environment. In recent years fracking has become common which is extraordinarily bad for ground water and the surrounding environment. Unfortunately the renewable energy resources we have discovered so far are really not substantially better. If we were to harness all the wind energy in the world it would still only replace around 30 percent of our need for energy. As of right now it appears that our energy in the future will come majorly from solar power, however solar power is very inefficient when it comes to space. Solar panels take up an incredible amount of space in comparison with oil drilling. With our growing need for energy also comes a growing need for space to put these centers for energy production. The fix for this is the fact that solar panels can go on the tops of buildings and in the uninhabited desert. Today the solar power industry is growing by 50% each year and by 2030 it is said that 20% of Americans power will come from solar. This is a bright outlook for the future of energy. If solar power continues to grow in popularity there may just be a chance for us to stop the destruction caused by humanity's thirst for energy. 

Map: I chose to color a map of China because China has recently surpassed the US in CO2 emissions.

Extra Credit Video: Man

This video essentially depicts the destruction man has caused over the years in a short animated film. At first I thought it was a little dramatized, but the more I thought about it I came to the realization that it really isn't too far off from reality. In the video the animated welcome man is shown having complete disregard for his actions and killing many animals and trees for things such as boots, pianos, and coats. Although the video may be a tad dramatized I feel like it does a fairly accurate job of representing how man treats the environment. 

Agriculture Chapter 12

Extra Credit:

Shipping container houses have many advantages. They are a relatively cheep alternative to building an entire framework for a house. They are hard for the shipping company to dispose of so you can buy them for around 5,000 and they will deliver it to your desired location. They provide strong structures and easy to add onto an existing structure to bring a unique look to any home. 


Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/fracking-campaign-contributions_n_4311016.html

The Fracking industry wants pro-fracking politicians in office to support their growing industry, but in order to get these politicians into office the industry needed to up their donations, so they nearly quadrupled there political donations from the previous year then republican candidates received over 12 million dollars in donations.

Map:

I chose Russia for my map because it is the worlds number one producer of oil and it has several regions of major industrial activity. 

Essay:

Readings:
“Chapter 12: Industry and Services,” Human Geography
“Services: The Next Big Thing,” The Economist

Essay Question: Why is outsourcing bad for our economy and why is it starting to stop?

The goal of every company is to make a profit. Since the beginning of industry companies have always been trying to improve their profit. Almost every large company has special employees purely dedicated to making sure the company is run as efficiently as possible. Decades ago some of these such employees and administrators realized that the cost of labor was much higher in the United States than it was in other countries such as India. In order to take advantage of this difference in labor cost many companies began to shut down their american factories and technical support call centers and moved them overseas this process is called Outsourcing.

Due to the vast difference in labor cost companies were willing to pay a little more money to transport their goods from overseas and disregard The Friction of Distance. Outsourcing became the obvious and smartest thing to do for many companies to improve their profits, however it was not so helpful for the American Economy. Outsourcing or Offshoring meant that American workers would loose their jobs to people on the other side of the world and the out flow of us money from our economy into that of other countries around the world began to be noticeable after several years. To stop companies from outsourcing the government created high taxes for all goods made out of the United States which drove some companies back. In more recent years the factors that have driven companies back however where not the terrifs on goods, but the raise in wages in other countries and the american people themselves. Many consumers have recently expressed anger about having to talk with people not in their country for tech support and goods not being made closer to home. Although many call centers have started training for their employees to perfect American accents to fool the consumer, many companies have also begun to move back home. Another factor that has driven companies back to the US is that the difference in labor cost is starting to dissolve and it is quickly becoming almost equally as expensive to have call centers in the US as it is in India. Additionally many companies appreciate american ideas and think that bringing their agglomeration back into the US might bring new innovative ideas that are closer to what America needs.

Chapter 11: Agriculture

Extra Credit:

After hearing the Extra Credit assignment I thought it would be extraordinarily hard to locate a farm with a sewage pool on google earth. I was shocked by the fact that it took me only minutes to find several. It is impossible to look around Sampson County, North Carolina without running in to at least 10 of the massive factory farms in only minutes of looking. 


Article: 
A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops by Amy Harmon 

Many citizens in Hawaii wanted GMOs to be labeled or even made illegal, but many members of the government only see the potential benefits of them so the bill to make them illegal never passed now people continue unknowingly eat unlabeled GMO foods. 


Von Thünes's Model Drawing 

Von Thünes's Model was developed in order to display how agriculture is grown in relation to space, spoilage rate and transportation cost.  The closer to the center, the more valuable the goods grown there should be because that is where the most perishable items are typically grown and the products that are the hardest to transport must be closer. The next ring is the forest because wood is expensive to transport large quantities. The third ring contains grains that aren't as hard to transport because they don't really spoil. The final ring contains ranching and livestock. 


Map: I chose the Western United States because California is home to the most fertile soil in the nation and brings the most farming revenue to the U.S. 

Chapter 11: Agriculture: Food Ark: Katie, Charlotte, Seth, TJ

Our article was Food Ark by Charles Siebert. My slides were 1-5 in which I talked about heritage farms and heirloom seeds. If you are unable to access the video we have on slide 5 click here to watch it. Also here is the link to our presentation on google drive for better image clarity.

Development in the Dominican Republic

I recently was given the opportunity of a life time and I got to go to the Dominican Republic and Build schools, while I was there I noticed some very interesting things about the developing country. 

The most interesting thing I saw was that all their advertisements featured non-dominican looking people. I never saw an advertisement which displayed anything other than caucasians.  This was extraordinarily interesting to me because when advertising you would think you would want to display people like the consumer so that they could picture themselves buying the product, but there are very few caucasians in the country. There are so few that in fact that many of them hadn't seen many, if any white people at all. When I was working children kept coming up and asking me if my hair was real and if they could cut off some and keep it. As a group of 56 white and hispanic americans we gathered a small crowd every day of people wanting to watch "The yellow people" work. The dominican dream seemed to be to acquire a green card. Multiple little children asked me if I would pick them up when they got their papers. The dream of leaving the country to go to America was even in the minds of children at the age of 5. This to me was a clear example of lack of independence. Idealizing another country or group of people through advertising is not helpful for a developing country. 

(this picture was taken off the internet because I was only able to take pictures in a moving vehicle and most of the billboard pictures were blurry)

One area the country did show strong characteristics of development was politically. The D.R. is a democracy similar to that of the united states. The largest advertisements were almost always political. Many billboards featured the faces of one of the representatives running for office. Politically the country is quite developed, although it holds little global power because it is a relatively small country. Additionally the country has its own currency that is not tied to the dollar unlike many other Nations in the Caribbean.

This is a billboard for Julio Romero who is running  for political office. (Although not likely win due to recent sex scandal)

The Dominican Republic has a GNI of about 5,000 per capita which compared to the U.S. GNI per capita of 53,500 is startlingly low although it is about mid range for the Caribbean islands. One of the reasons for this is its huge informal economy due to street vendors who don't pay sales tax (although some do) and an alarmingly large drug and slave trade run by the dominican Mafia, who we actually came in contact with twice on the trip. While we were working one day the several men from the Mafia pulled up to the work site in a purple mustang and pointed to one of the high schoolers in our group and offered us $50,000 in cash on the spot if we would sell him. Another day two men came up and asked again if they could by two of us for $75,000. Both times we said no we are americans and thankful they left without any trouble. Prostitution is also a huge business in the Dominican and many of the guys in our group were approached on more than one occasion. One of the people in our group even had a pimp flash a gun at him after accidentally bumping into a hooker on the sidewalk. Unfortunately I decided asking a hooker or one of the men in the purple mustang if I could take a selfie with them probably wasn't the greatest idea so I don't have any pictures for this section.

Street venders selling fruit

Another way people in the D.R. try to avoid taxation is by leaving buildings "unfinished". Due to the building taxation laws the government is unable to tax unfinished buildings. In order to take advantage of this law many people leave huge lengths of rebar sticking out of the tops of their houses and storefronts claiming they are planing on building a second level and therefor the building is currently "unfinished" and not taxable.

Notice the rebar at the top of the building. This means the owner is not paying property tax. 

Chapter 10: Development

Article: Women as a Force for Change by Nicolas Kristof

The United Nations has made a goal to empower women, but unfortunately this has not been incredibly effective, so it is still legal in many countries such as Dubai for rapists to receive custody of children fathered by rape, then the women who were raped can also be prosecuted for having extramarital sex while being raped. 


Model: This is Rostow's Model of development. The model discusses the stages of development a country will go through.

Map

 I chose Mongolia for my map because it has been top ranked on the list of the world fastest-growing economies since 2012. It earned its spot on the list almost entirely by selling natural resources to China in recent years and it is fighting to continue its growth. 

1. 
   "Chapter 10: Development," Human Geography

Essay 
Readings:


"Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated?" Jeffery D. Sachs
"The Grameen Bank," Muhammed Yunisa

Why are people impoverished and what can we as a society do to help end extreme poverty?

            We live in a world plagued by poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. In recent years it has become apparent that we are closing in on the possibility of eliminating extreme poverty, however one in ever six people on the planet still are having to survive with only one dollar a day.  Throughout the centuries people have attributed poverty to numerous things: religion, race, gender inequalities,  diseases such as malaria and even the laziness of the poor themselves. But what is the real reason for extreme-poverty? Muhammad Yunus the founder of the Grameen Bank believes the reason is they are not

given the opportunity and resources to grow. He is of the opinion that “People.. [are] poor not because they were stupid or lazy. They worked all day long, doing complex physical tasks. They [are] poor because the financial institution in the country did not help them widen their economic base.” If what Yunus believes is true and the problem is so simple to fix why haven't we fixed it already? 
            The root of the problem truly comes down to a flaw in the economic system and a flaw in humanity itself. Humankind is propelled by greed. Capitalism is based off of the goal of making a profit and in order to make a profit corporations often exploit people in developing countries. When large companies take advantage of people in countries with no minimum wage it creates an incredibly unequal distribution of wealth. The problem with our capitalist system that the pieces of the proverbial pie are vastly unequal. Unfortunately the fix for this inequality has been proposed in the past, however it developed into communism. What if there was another way we could help end extreme poverty without all things being exactly equal like in the communist system? The solution is for each country to give a higher percentage of their Gross National Product toward ending extreme world poverty. Currently the United States gives only .05% of out GNP toward foreign aid, which is extraordinarily low considering we are the largest economy in the world.  If the United States along with the other core countries in the world all raised the percentage of their national budgets designated toward ending extreme world poverty would not only be in sight, but it would be in reach. 

Chapter 10: Development- Colorado Case Study and Field Work -- Per Capita Income, Poverty Rate, Unemployment Rate, Percentage of Smokers, Life Expectancy, and High School Diplomas in Denver, Huerfano, Prowers, Montezuma, Jackson, and Lake Counties

Date Table:

Indicator	Per Capita Income	Poverty Rate (below poverty line)	Unemployment rate	Percentage of Smokers	Average Life Expectancy (years)	High School Diploma (percentage of students that didn’t receive)
Denver	$30,806	19.1%	4.2%	20%	75.9	22.7%
Huerfano	$23,139	20.6%	6.5%	31%	76.3	39.3%
Prowers	$18,429	23.3%	2.9%	19%	75.7	22.9%
Montezuma	$24,616	19.3%	5.3%	19%	74.8	37.5%
Jackson	$23,814	8.9%	1.6%	25%	81.3	40.4%
Lake	$29,836	14.3%	4.1%	15%	80.1	25.8%

**This data table includes statistics on Per Capita Income, Poverty Rate, Unemployment Rate, Percentage of Smokers, Life Expectancy, and High School Diplomas in Denver, Huerfano, Prowers, Montezuma, Jackson, and Lake counties in Colorado.

***NOTE: all of the lines of best fit in these graphs are oppositely reflected due to technical difficulties

This graph generally shows the correlation between unemployment rate and per capita income. Conclusively, the correlation is very weak. It should be concluded that when the unemployment rate increases the per capita income decreases. However, these counties contain outlying information that disrupts the correlation. This could be due to the fact that certain jobs pay less than others, and a high percentage in people in a county might have a job that pays low wages.

This graph generally shows the correlation between the percentage of people below the poverty line and the percentage of people who did not receive high school diplomas. In Denver, Prowers, and Lake Counties and Montezuma, Huerfano, and Jackson Counties, the  lower percentage of people who did not receive high school diplomas, the higher the poverty rate. These two clusters analyzed together do not share a lot of information. However, when observing the two clusters individually, date analysis is simpler.

It is almost common sense to assume that the more smokers a county has, life expectancy decreases. With three outliers, Huerfano, Jackson, and Lake counties, the graph seems to barely have a correlation. This is most likely because other factors come into play that may affect the average life expectancy of an area such as high-crime, bad diets, or other diseases. The average life expectancy are very closely clustered, which leads to difficulty in analyzing the graph.

***Note: the data in these graphs is very inconclusive due to the low amount of counties that were used for data, and extra circumstances that lead to outliers in the date

Section VIII – Write up - In this section you will be writing a few paragraphs explaining which county you feel most needs help developing. You should be able to give four reasons you chose the county you chose. Use statistics to support your decision.

Prowers, Colorado is one of the counties in Colorado in need of the most help in regards to development. Even though five other desperate counties are in need of help as well, Prowers is at the bottom of the deep hole. With a per capita income of $18,429, Prowers is the definition of poverty compared to the rest of the state. In 2012, the United States median household income was $51,017 with members of the middle class usually earning 50% higher or lower than that value. Therefore, middle class members usually earn $25,500 to $76,500 per capita as income. Based on this analysis from USNEWS.COM, Prowers contains a majority of lower class citizens. Lower class citizens are the most impoverished. These communities are in the most need of help with development. In fact, One of the main indicators of economic development is the Per Capita Income of an area. This highlights the income a person has to put towards purchasing necessities. Prowers, Colorado has the highest rate of citizens under the poverty line out of the six counties analyzed above. Out of every 100 of Prowers’ citizens, 23 earn less than the poverty level (23.3%). This means that these citizens are officially considered impoverished. This high rate is alarming and needs to be lowered as quickly as possible. “For example, a four-person family with two adults and two children is poor with annual cash income below $23,283; the threshold for a four-person family with a single parent and three children is $23,364.” This data is taken directly from the Institute for Research on Poverty. This high percentage of poverty is a burden to the successful development of this county.

Huerfano is also in need of a lot of help in terms of development. The percentage of smokers is the highest in Huerfano compared to the other counties. The high percentage of smokers can lead to many health issues, which is a huge burden to development. If the percentage of smokers would be lowered with aid efforts, development would most likely be more successful in Huerfano. Huerfano county has the highest unemployment rate (6.5%) among the other counties we chose in Colorado. This year the recorded average unemployment rate in the United States is 5.7 %. Therefore, the unemployment is worse than the national average. This means that Huerfano is failing compared to the other counties across the nation in terms of the unemployment level. A high unemployment rate means that a county has many people that are unemployed. Unemployment is a huge burden to the development of counties. If there is a large number of citizens that do not have jobs, the development of the economy occurs slowly or not at all. Job security allows for a citizens to have a higher per capita income. Once this development occurs, other factors such as percentage of smokers, percentage of people failing to receive high school diplomas, poverty rate, and average life expectancy, turn for better in a change reaction.

Works Cited

Williams, Geoff. "What It Means to Be Middle Class Today." US News RSS. U.S. News and

             World Report LP., 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.               <http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2014/04/24/what-it-means-to-be-middle-class-today>.

"What Are Poverty Thresholds and Poverty Guidelines?" Institute for Research on Poverty.    

           University of Wisconsin, 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.     

<http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq1.htm>.

"StateBook International." StateBookBeta. State Book, 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <https://www.statebook.com/search_results/?state=&q=boulder>.

"United States Census Bureau." Huerfano County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.

            U.S. Department of Commerce, 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08/08055.html>.