International Relations. Approaches To Poverty, Environmental Issues Essay

International Relations. Approaches To Poverty, Environmental Issues - Essay Example These set the framework within which the State, International Organisations and Non-State Actors work together. The State The state is the most important and the most central element of International Relations. This is basically because International Relations attempts to examine and evaluation the relationship between countries in the 'family of nations'. As such, the nation or the state becomes the fundamental actor that constitutes the basis of the various activities of International Relations. International Relations aims at creating a framework through which nations relate to each other. The world 'international' could be construed as a set of bilateral and multilateral systems that are used to analyse and evaluate the contact and transactions between nations and states. As such, the state forms the basic unit through which the framework for International Relations can be created and prepared for various levels of analyses and evaluation. As such, the Sovereign State becomes the basic element of International Relations. A state has permanent populations, occupies a defined territory, has a central government and is independent of other states with similar governments. As such, the government of each state has the duty of maintaining its own structures, systems and institutions. By International Law and International Convention, each nation's government is autonomous. As such, International Relations gives these governments an avenue to interact with each other. This again confirms that without states with defined boundaries, International Relations would be impossible in both the theoretical and practical sense. Although the State is the main Actor in International Relations, it is by no means the only Actor. There are other Actors that are woven into the theory of International Relations through various situations and circumstances. Basically, these Actors come to play because of the role of International Law and International Convention. They include Int ernational Organisations and Non-State Actors. International Organisations International Organisations are those organisations that have the force and authority to operate because of agreements between various nations. In other words, they come to being through international conventions and treaties. They are meant to supervise certain defined interest and requirements that allow International Relations to be carried out. Such entities vary in their authority and scope. Whereas some are very powerful and are more or less like states, others are less powerful and are set up to attain defined ends. Thus, an international organisation like the European Union, which has a supranational authority and is a system through which states have ceded a level of their authority becomes a crucial actor that has a similar merit as a state in International Relations. On the other hand, there are some other players like the World Trade Organisation, regional groupings like the South African Developm ent Community amongst others. By far, the United Nations seem to be the most powerful of International Organisations. This is because it has the mandate of almost all nations around the world and it co-ordinates the activities of major international organisations and defines the territorial integrity of nations around the world and International Law. Non-State Actors Aside States and International Organisations, there are other actors that are often called Non-State Actors in International Relations. These are entities that have or promote ties between two or more nations around th

Love & Friendship text analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Love & Friendship text analysis - Essay Example To her, Robbie is a sex-crazed maniac who is out to hurt her sister. Her accusation lands Robbie a jail-term. However, with age she comes to terms with her mistake and leads her life wishing for atonement, and this makes her writes to the end. All the events in the novel can be attributed to the failure of the older generation. Therefore, this paper shall seek to explain the extent to which the older generation’s failure contributed to the events of the story. The novel centers on the youth and adolescents facing challenges as a result of their parents’ failures. For instance, Briony’s cousins’ Lola, Pierrot, and Jackson visit the Tallis’s home for summer since their parents, Cecil Quincey and Hermoine are having problems in their marriage. They are giving their parents time to work out their differences and probably revert back their idea of having a divorce. It is during this visit that Lola gets raped and Robbie is accused of the crime. Chances are high that if Lola’s parents were in a healthy relationship, then they could have not visited the Tallis’s home during summer since they could be spending time together as a family. On the other hand, if they had not visited Tallis’s home, then Lola could have not been raped and Robbie could not have been sent to prison. The Talli’s family members are not happy as a family since their parents are not always there for them. Jack Tallis, the head of the family is always in London working and does not get time to visit or spend quality time with his family. McEwan asserts, â€Å"†¦and the old man is staying in town. He might come later† (48). The whole household misses his presence, and everything that goes wrong is attributed to the fact that he is not around. Briony explains that her father’s presence always changed the family’s atmosphere. She asserts, â€Å"Whenever he was around, the house settled on a fixed point† (McEwan 122). In as much as he spent his time at home in the library

Animals with a saccade and fixate eye movements strategy. Why should Essay

Animals with a saccade and fixate eye movements strategy. Why should this be so - Essay Example In animals the visually elicited spikes have been supported by the modulation in Neuronal excitation. Naturally movements of the eye introduce artifact recordings that are done by the electroencephalographic commonly known as the (EEG). The saccade is the word use to refer to the fast eye movement. The eye being on organ in animals can be referred to as a device the same as in a machine that is very useful with the issue of providing sight to the animal as per that matter.When these simulations are done in a quick movement then this is termed as Saccade where both the eyes do move in the same direction. The focus that comes with the eyes moving straight to the area of interest or concern has been researched as being the fixation. For instance animals are able to detect danger and keep a sharp eye focus on the enemy or at times it might not necessary be danger but the animal has spotted its prey. This will cause more concentration as there is need for food (Johansson, 2001).. The eye at this point has been used for locating the food and then the hunting will take place. This strong focus is what is being referred to as fixation. There are always some small eye vibration that so important in visibility moreover to stand still objects. There is circular kind of movements that will be of great importance in giving a clear and stable image. When we refer to the issue of visual fixation we do refer to the starring of a given point. There is need for the co-ordination of the eye the head and other body parts that will bring Saccade and visual fixation to inter-marry. These bring about speed of responding to events and situations. Let’s take an example of a cheater hunting a gazelle in the field. The Saccade will occur when the cheater will focus and move as close as possible to the prey and the fixation of the eyes will be that it won’t change its focus on the prey (Regan, 2000). On the other hand when the gazelle notices the enemy it will moves with spe ed to save its life as the cheater remains focused to the prey to keep it alive or else it will die of hunger. Now the mechanics on the three fixations does occur when the eye movement is given the category of ocular drift. There are micro saccades and then the ocular micro tremors (Brain, 2006). Their function is to perceptual. Oscillation that occurs from this kind of fixation has not been well detected. The cat family, the primates the avian such as the eagle and owl has been reported to have the best fixation practices. They have a very sharp connection between the eye and the brain that helps the to be well adaptable their environment. They connect the neurons in various different visual parts and connect to their brain perfectly (Brain, 2006). This shows that the text processing is ‘on-line’ on a fixation by the fixation basis. In a similar way, difficult words often result in longer fixations. This indicates that cognitive process operates within single fixations . Like music playing, copy typing has a motor output. According to (Butsch, 1932),a typist of any skill levels always attempt to maintain the eyes about one second ahead of the letter he is currently typing. This is much the same as it is in music reading (Butsch, 1932). In both musical sight-reading and text reading, the gaze must move progressively to the right side. However, it is more complicated in that there are two staves -for key board players- from which the notes are must be acquired. As recorded by Weaver (1943), eye movements of trained pianists gets their gaze alternated severally between the lower and upper staves. This alternation clearly shows that notes that are to be

Discussion 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 9 - Essay Example Scholars argue that although it is possible to learn about other cases through a similar case, it does not mean that cases studies are only used in making generalizations. On the contrary drawing inferences about a population from a case study is not justifiable (Creswell, 2003). Case studies are similar to other types of research and involve the identification of the problem, the collection of data and the analysis and reporting of results. As in other types of techniques, the approach and the analysis depends on the nature of the research problem. Case studies can be descriptive, interpretive or evaluative. The defining characteristics of a case study therefore are a deeper, intensive study of a single unit through detailed collection and analysis of many sources of information (Kumar, 2008:Babbie, 2010). In the first article titled â€Å"The impact of internet usage: A case study of delta state tertiary institutions† the objective of the study was to investigate and evaluate the impact of internet usage in institutions of higher learning in Delta State in Nigeria. The methodology used in this case is a case study that used questionnaires to solicit information from students and staff of four higher institutions of learning in Delta state in Nigeria. The questionnaires were randomly distributed to staff and students in four institutions of higher learning and later collected and analyzed (Ureigho, Oroke, & Ekruyota, 2006). It is possible to see a link between the research objective and the methodology taken as this study involved an in depth analysis of the impact of internet usage in institutions of higher learning. The most suitable approach to conduct this study was thus the case study methodology as it would lead to a lot of information about the problem in question. A focus group is an informal discussion among a group of selected individuals about a particular topic.

Moses And Jesus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Moses And Jesus - Essay Example The birth of Moses came under the oppressive rule experienced by the Israelites while serving as workers in Egypt. They were under Pharaoh2. The aspect of external powers (Not Israelite rulers) that controlled Israelites at their births makes their lives different. The two leaders’ births occurred during oppressive regimes of the leaders controlling the Israelites at the different moments. During the birth of Jesus there was a decree running that ordered the oppression of all male new born children, should they be males. The decree was among the reasons as to why the information on the birth of Jesus remained secretive to many. The birth of Jesus, therefore, occurred at a time when there was fear of the possibility that the child may face the law and, therefore, subjected to death at a young age. After the birth of Jesus, his parents had to find avenues of hiding the child to avoid the child from facing the wrath of the law that required that he dies at a young age, being a ma le child and a Jew3. The birth of Moses, likewise, occurred under circumstances when the regime was oppressive to male Israelites who were just born. The mother of Moses feared that the child would be killed4 because of the oppressive regime of pharaohs that required that all boy children born to the Israelites face death at a tender age. The decision by Moses’ mother was similar to that of Jesus’ parents since she hid the child to escape the provisions of the rule. The two, Moses and Jesus, were lucky to survive despite the strict provision of the law that required their killing at their young ages. Since the parents of the two newborn male children had to escape the killing of their children, they sorted for refuge. The mother of Moses hid her baby in the same country where she gave birth to him, Egypt. The parents of Jesus however, sort refuge in a foreign country. They flew the child to Egypt where they hid the baby for three months. This makes Egypt a common place in the life of the two as a country from which the parents sort refuge. Hence, the life of Jesus and Moses share a commonality since they survived when they sort refuge from Egypt. At birth the two children’s’ parents used a manger and a basket where they placed the babies. Mary wrapped her baby and placed him in a manger since they had little space to accommodate the child at the place where the birth occurred. The manger protected the new child. The wrapping of Moses and the decision to place him into a basket by his mother was to protect him from any external attack at the place where they positioned the child. The proficiency and leadership skills of the two were identifiable from their young ages. Both had traits that displayed efficient leadership skills that turned effective when they started their roles of salvation as well as leadership. A commonality in the lives of the two relates to the favor of God that they had during their early stages of life. Mosesâ⠂¬â„¢ early life experienced the favor of God when the daughter of pharaoh saved5 him from the place where his mother hid him, near the river bank. He brought the child out of the hiding place and elevated him to adopt the royal life at the pharaohs. This came as a sign of favor of God since his stay at the pharaohs played a core role in nurturing leadership characters in him. Jesus experienced God’s blessings at his early life stages. At the age of

The secret police Propaganda and the cult of personality Essay Example for Free

The secret police Propaganda and the cult of personality Essay The following were equally important reasons why Stalin was able to hold on to power in the Soviet Union: The purges and show trials The secret police Propaganda and the cult of personality Stalins economic policies Explain how far you agree with this statement There are a number of reasons why I partially agree with this statement, however, I do not believe it would be correct to say that it is totally correct. The fact that Stalin was extremely politically cunning enabled him to combine the above techniques, in order to minimise opposition, and maximise support and production in the soviet state. Stalins techniques can be classed into two main methods of winning support: the use of fear, and the use of propaganda and success in order to persuade. After Stalin achieved power in 1928, he became increasingly paranoid of any opposition. His initial aim was to ensure that his position in power was totally secure, and risk free. In order to achieve this, Stalin used two of the methods mentioned above: the purges and show trials, and the secret police. These two methods were very closely linked and intertwined. From around 1930 onwards, Stalin gave the Secret Police (NKVD) the right to arrest anyone suspected of opposing, or having the potential to oppose Stalin. However, this did not simply include party members who had previously opposed Stalin, for the police would arrest scientists, doctors, actors, teachers, artist and any ordinary people or workers whom Stalin felt threatened by. Naturally, this was an enormous task, and could not be managed by Stalin alone. Instead, a vast army of informers were released into society, to tip off the NKVD of any opposition. Such was the extent of the spying that went on in the 1930s, and Stalins terror of opposition, that children were even encouraged to inform on their own parents, and neighbours would condemn each other, in order to deflect blame from themselves. The situation became extremely similar to that of the Nazi police state, with the Gestapo, in which Hitler used to spy on the public. In addition to this, Stalin even took the extreme measures of executing any members of the NKVD, who were either inefficient at rooting out counter-revolutionaries, or who he suspected of knowing too much about his plans, and posing a potential threat to his position. A number of show trials were also held under Stalins command. These were court cases of predetermined verdict, which were greatly publicised in order to boost support for Stalin. By doing this, Stalin aimed to ward off criticism for having killed millions of Russians as a result of the purges. In 1934 Kirov, a popular leading communist was assassinated. Historians today are quite convinced that Stalin was at least partially responsible for the murder. However, on 13th march, 1936, sixteen old Bolsheviks, including Zinoviev and Kamenev were faced with charges of having been responsible for the death of Kirov, and having plotted against Stalin. Whilst historians today believe that it is extremely unlikely that the two loyal Bolsheviks had anything to do with the assassination of Kirov, all sixteen of the accused were sentenced to be executed on 24 August. This shows how Stalin was able to carefully twist purges and show trials into a form of propaganda, in which he could present himsel f as a great leader, and make it impossible for people to oppose him. In the following years, up to 1938, many more show trials were held. Stalin was extremely quick with dealing with the army, executing over 90 percent (some 25 000) of all Soviet generals in order to make it totally incapable of leading a putsch against Stalin. The Communist party had been purged of anyone likely to face up to Stalin, and all of the old Bolsheviks of the 1917 revolution were gone. History books were rewritten in order to erase any memory of these counter-revolutionaries. By 1939, Peoples lives were crippled with fear of the NKVD, as over 20 million Russians were now in labour camps, 12 million of them dead. To prove this, in 1989, a mass burial pit was discovered, containing the bodies of over 80 000 people who had been executed under Stalins command. However, in the meantime all knowledge of Stalins purges was being erased, and the myth of his greatness being created. Stalin had finally achieved what he wanted, and his position in power was totally safe, with the army incapable of opposing him, and all opposition amongst the communist party, and throughout the Soviet Union removed. This was an extremely important step taken by Stalin, in order to preserve his leadership, however due to the huge cost of these actions, Stalin found the economy under a great deal of stress. It is my belief that Stalin used his economic policies for two main reasons. Firstly a successful economy would cause him to look good, and help him tighten his grip on power. Secondly, the international situation was becoming fairly gloomy for Russia, it was seriously threatened by famine, and it could not compete with other industrial countries, increasingly towards 1938, after Stalins costly purges and show trials. Stalin said in a speech to the first conference of workers, we are fifty to a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make up this gap in ten years. Either we do this or they crush us. We can therefore conclude that it was becoming vital for Stalin to introduce a change in the system in order for Russias economy to survive. After realising that Lenins idea of trying to persuade the Peasants to join collective farms was not working fast enough, Stalin decided that a far more ruthless process was required, in order to produce enough food to support an increasing amount of workers in industry. To begin with, Stalin tried Lenins tactic of persuading peasants, however after they heavily resisted, Stalin became far more brutal. Over 5 million kulak families are thought to have died in labour camps, along with anyone who tried to defend them. Eventually, Stalin achieved the results he wanted, and by 1935, 94 percent of agricultural land had been collectivised, and the kulak class eliminated, however the brutal way in which this process was carried out meant that it was greatly resented by many. On the industrial front, Stalin set about introducing the first Five-year Plan, from 1928 until 1932. This was a regime intended to last for five years, in which GOSPLAN, the State planning Commission constructed a list of ambitious targets to develop industry, power supply, and transport. The basic aim of the plan was to shift Russia away from agriculture slightly, and move more into industry. After having successfully swayed Russia from being an agricultural country, to an agricultural-industrial country, Stalin introduced the second Five-Year plan. This plan involved increasing the production of machinery, such as tractors to keep up with the collectivisation of farming, water supplies and transport. In little time at all, Russia had become the worlds third biggest industrial power, which was an enormous success. These five-year plans were an extremely important method of keeping Stalin in power, as people would become proud of their country and leader, and be reluctant to change. However, this boost in industrial strength came at a heavy price, and the importance of these plans is shown in the tight discipline exercised by Stalin. Managers could be prosecuted, and arrested by the NKVD for failing to reach targets, as it was actually made to be a crime. Every worker was required to have a permit in order to change jobs, and was instantly sacked if absent for more than a couple of days. Alternatively they could be briefly sent to prison! Anyone leaving school had no choice of where they worked, and they were simply allocated to jobs where employees were needed. By the time the third five-year plan was introduced in 1938, Stalin was able to start producing consumer goods, such as radios, bicycles and household goods. In my opinion, these consumer goods were a clever trick played by Stalin, to convince the public that their standard of living was improving, in order to win support. In reality, it was quite the opposite, and living standards generally declined. People were regimented, lost their personal freedom, and were very closely supervised and intimidated by the NKVD. In general, this economic revolution was a fairly important step for Stalin to remain in power. Firstly, although they may have resented the way in which the economy was boosted, it would have triggered a large amount of support from the Russian people, who felt unstable in their economy, and surrounded by hostile neighbours. Many people also shared his view that rapid industrialisation was the only way for Russia to survive, and so would have been extremely impressed after Stalin caused Russia to become second to only the USA in industrial production. Stalin was also extremely aware of the importance of his image, and how the impression he made on people affected the way in which he could govern. He realised that in order to maintain his domination of Russian people, he would be required strictly monitor and regulate all aspects of the media, and promote his qualities which won him respect, so he set up a tight propaganda program, which eventually brainwashed the minds of Russian people. Stalin ensured that all arts, films and books were carefully controlled by the state. Artists were forced to adapt their work so that it glorified the state, and positively projected its policies. Through the careful control of films, Stalin was able to promote himself as running the state as a haven of the good-life for all workers, showing workers having free holidays and happy lives. Films also promoted hard work, by glorifying workers such as Stakhanov, who exceeded his factory quota. Authors were also kept under strict regulation, being forced to promote the state and Stalins policies, and those who wrote anything critical of these thins were arrested by the KGB ( ) and thrown into prison, or disappeared into labour camps. Another way Stalin promoted himself was by presenting himself as the Father and protector of the Soviet Union. Stalin tricked the public into believing that he had been close to Lenin, when in fact, Lenin left a list of complaints of how he disliked Stalin in his testament. In general, I feel that this is a moderately important step towards keeping power in the Soviet Union, as it reduced opposition to his policies, however it would have provoked aggravation amongst people involved in the production of films, books and arts. Stalin a Drawing to a conclusion, I believe that the way in which Stalin sustained his grip on power was extremely complex, and it is therefore very difficult to put a finger on one particular technique and say that it is most important. Realistically, the four main methods used by Stalin; the purges and show trials, the secret police, propaganda and the cult of personality, and Stalins economic policies were all carefully intertwined. For example, Stalin used the show trials, in which he had many counter-revolutionaries falsely accused of murder, as a means of propaganda, to deflect criticism from himself. The secret police were also heavily involved in the three other methods of maintaining power. They ensured that Stalins propaganda campaign ran smoothly, arrested anyone failing to keep up with the pace of Stalins economic policies, and were actively involved in the purges and show trials, to such an extent that some became victims and were exiled or executed. I also believe that Stalins economic polices were partially due to the stress placed on the economy by the costly purges. It is therefore possible to see how all of the reasons why Stalin was able to hold onto power in the Soviet Union were very much dependant on each other. However, I do believe that propaganda was a rather unimportant contribution to Stalins success, after he had achieved power in 1924. Whilst Stalin did a good job of controlling the media and presenting himself well to the Russian people and the rest of the world, many Russians were not really given a choice in the first place. Therefore I believe that even without propaganda, it could have been possible for Stalin to maintain power, due to the way people were strictly monitored and intimidated by the secret police.

An Analysis Of The Dumbest Generation English Language Essay

An Analysis Of The Dumbest Generation English Language Essay The Dumbest Generation, How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Dont Trust Anyone Under 30) is a critical analysis on the effects of the prolific spread of information and communication technology on the youth of today. In it, Mark Bauerlein argues that while this technology could have been used to increase access to knowledge and therefore improve the minds of children, it has only been used to distract them from useful knowledge and skills which he strongly implies, although rarely explicitly states, only currently come from books and exposure to art. The book at its core is a research paper, using hundreds of facts and an eight page bibliography to support his thesis, and free from having to defend his beliefs on a philosophical level, Bauerlein spends much of his paper explaining his many cited statistics and presenting his conclusion about what would happen if the trend was allowed to continue. Besides the obvious and repeatedly stated concl usion that an unchecked spread of technology would cause a completely ignorant generation, Bauerlein concludes his paper with an explanation of how an informed society is necessary to uphold a democratic government. Hidden more subtly throughout the book is the hidden message that technologys isolation of its users from the outside world and contact with the kinds of people we might not enjoy being around causes the psychological maturing process to slow, rendering a generation raised in the digital era perpetual children. Although his book is intended to be read by a wide range of audiences, Bauerleins target audience is the adults of today, or more specifically, the educators of today. His solution, placed in the final chapter of the book, where he was no doubt aware that only those with a personal stake or a love of knowledge would reach before putting it down, is to encourage children to read and learn for their own edification. He mentions several counter arguments to his, but doesnt refute their logic as much as drown them in empirical data showing that they have little to nothing backing them up. Through this book Mark Bauerlein jumped into a national debate already brought up by another similar book, The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby. But who is Mark Bauerlein? His most obvious feature is being a professor of English at Emory University, as stated in his web page at Emory Universitys official website and on the cover of his book. Also according to the same sources, he took a break for a couple of years to be a Director of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts, showing that he does have experience in both gathering and interpreting the data with which he generously fills his book. His own personal website reveals that he is a fairly prolific writer himself, from such topics as racism and literary criticism itself, but for the most part Bauerlein writes about the humanities. While this information would obviously lead to Bauerlein having a personal stake in the state of American literacy, it does not really offer any evidence of bias either way for whether or not there actually is a literacy deficiency. Bauerlein uses his credentials well, relying only on his own credibility to properly evalua te data and to extrapolate the results, allowing the actual risk of misinformation to lie with his sources. For the most part, his information consists of surveys of participation in certain activities and tests of academic skill, primarily the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is a program run by a subdivision of the U.S. Department of Education (Bauerlein 14-5). Where Bauerlein seems to falter in his credibility is in trying to avoid sounding reactionary or out of touch, discussing the information revolution as a form of Youth Rebellion (Bauerlein 178), making sweeping comments such as Young people have too much choice (Bauerlein 156), and showing disdain for the design of websites conforming to the whims of their readers, whose compositions include large bold headlines intended to grab audiences and putting the broad, useful information first to keep the reader paying attention, while completely ignoring the existence of these tactics in newspapers and within his own book. However, one can understand why the condescension was included. A moderate book doesnt sell, and an English Professor knows this better than anyone. But despite some issues regarding his relationship to the subject, the book does successfully display the flaws of the so called dumbest generation, and it certainly accomplishes its retroactively stated goal, to open up the issue to some sober skepticism, to blunt the techno-zeal spreading through classrooms and libraries (Bauerlein vii), found in the preface of the paperback edition. The purpose of the book is plain, and stated in its title, sub title, and sub-sub title. Bauerlein uses statistics and logic to show that the current generation of children will be incapable adults in order to convince parents and educators to encourage the children to read books, learn history, experience liberal arts. Like any good research paper, Bauerlein begins his exploration of the effects of technology with a moving introduction. In it, he sympathizes with the struggles facing the ambitious youth, who have to tirelessly fight to be the best out of millions just to progress to the next step in their lives. However, near the end he suddenly shifts to his own images about the average American student, which are quite grim. The introductions lack of relevance to the main subject was most likely added to pull in someone who would naturally expected the opposite of what is depicted in the first part of the intro based on the title. Also, by conceding the efforts and hardships of the young academics, he does not alienate them, in a way separating those potential readers from the sweeping accusations made later in the book. The pleasantries aside, Bauerlein dives into the fray with his mountains of data, citing over one hundred statistics in the first chapter. He uses several kinds of statistics; so me to show that children do not pass subject material exams, some to show that a large amount of children do not know a specific fact that one is normally expected to know, and some to show that other factors one might consider for causes of a lower average intelligence such as school time (Bauerlein 30), finance (Bauerlein 31), and leisure time (Bauerlein 32) have only become less restrictive over time. After having thoroughly proven that todays students dont know what they should, he moves on into the next chapter to discuss why this is. Bauerlein simply says that children dont choose to learn enough. His weapon of choice now is the survey of students in which he shows that children do not read literature or participate in the arts. The main survey he brings up is a report from National Endowment for the Arts, Reading at Risk, in which Bauerlein show that the reading of any kind of literature is declining, and especially so in children. However, the survey asked about voluntary reading, not reading required for work or school (Bauerlein 45) and despite assertions that to be considered a reader one merely had to read any work of any quality of any medium-book, newspaper, magazine, blog, Web page, or music CD insert (Bauerlein 47), it is unlikely that most of the people who said that they did not read were aware of or understood this qualification, and in all likelihood disregarded a ny reading they did do as sufficient. Bauerlein goes on to give several examples of the positive effects of a zeal for reading such as Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman, which serve more to emotionally touch the reader rather than to logically prove his point, as the last section did. Back to the facts, Bauerlein sends out scores of numbers indicating that the youth of today spend a disproportionate amount of time on screen technology. However, instead of merely analyzing the data, he takes the time to bring up counterarguments. He shows how other authors such as Steven Berlin Johnson have explored the special social and thinking patterns that could only occur in a world of instant communication and interactive digital worlds in such books as Everything Bad is Good for You, and doesnt actually protest their reasoning, and even gives us his own visions of an ideal world where the technology created a vibrant massive community seeking knowledge and obtaining true enlightenment. And then Bauerlein caps it off with an answer to the rhetorical question Why, then, should bibliophiles and traditionalists carp so much? with the short maxim, Because that glorious creation of youth intelligence hasnt materialized (Bauerlein 107). He shifts once again to his statistics, now not only showing poor scholastic performance but poor job performance as well, painting a new picture of a generation of perpetual children who know little and know nothing practical. Not only do the digital medias have less complex vocabulary (Bauerlein 128-9), but they foster peer absorption (Bauerlein 133) and poor attention spans (Bauerlein 148). He describes the newest batch of young adults as twixters (Bauerlein 160) who despite financial stability, technology, and readily available education, do not settle down and wander through life fairly aimlessly. The solution, according to Bauerlein, is for the educators of America to rise up and promote reading and arts instead of technology alone, which has been shown to be ineffective by itself to promote learning and knowledge. In the final chapter, Bauerlein compares an ignorant adults that the ignorant children would become to Rip Van Winkle (Bauerlein 204-9), knowing nothing that they need to in a world that suddenly demands their attention and participation, and unaware of how to feel about the issues surrounding them. Bauerlein closes with a conclusion that if uncorrected, the trend of an unintelligent youth would undermine democratic society, and that only by reintegrating tradition into learning could we save society from the sovereignty of youth. (Bauerlein 223) brought about by a freedom from material that challenges what they think. The overall structure of the book is designed for a broad range of readers. An interesting introduction pulls in readers of all sorts, and then a series of facts puts the issue of childhood ignorance freshly onto the minds of concerned adults. Specific proof of his claim trails this to counter those who doubt the validity of his claim, followed by acknowledgement and rebuttal of claims to appease those more enlightened on the subject, and he finishes the book with a powerful, almost alarmist message that exploits the fears of a society of idiots and their patriotism to swing to his side his colleagues, students, and critics. Of course, Bauerlein is certainly not the first to comment on the rising ignorance among todays young adults. Just three months before The Dumbest Generation was published, The Age of American Unreason, a book by Susan Jacoby, hit the shelves with a similar conclusion, that the digital age has caused the current youth to become self absorbed and ignore what goes on around them; Bauerlein mentions it in passing. For long years it has been suspected that digital technology would not improve education. In an essay by Michael Schrage from 1997, aptly named Computers Will Not Transform Education, shows doubt about the young internets ability to revolutionize education, and points out that neither the radio nor the television had a great impact on student performance. This sentiment was also expressed in another essay that year, Computers Cannot Replace Good Teachers, by Clifford Stoll, who makes the calm assertion that most learning isnt fun. Learning takes work. Discipline. Responsibilit y-You have to do your homework. Both of the predictions of a high amount of spending on technology by education and an insignificant change in performance are evident in The Dumbest Generation. However, Bauerleins presentation of poor performance seems to contradict the Flynn effect, the rise of IQ over time, but instead of contesting it, he lets it sit, and in some ways appears to ignore the elephant in the room when discussing the relevancy of new visual learning techniques, relying nearly entirely on test performance. However, not all of the data works in favor of Bauerlein. According to The Nations Report Card, the official web site for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Mathematics scores for 9- and 13- year-olds are higher than all previous assessment years and that Reading skills at all three ages improve since 2004. Furthermore, according to the charts on the long-term trend section of the web site, average scores overall have increased gradually but constantly since the first test in 1978. So while Bauerlein may be correct that the number of students who pass the test may be decreasing, this is mainly due to the level of competence being raised faster than the children are getting better, a much less frightening scenario. In fact, On both the reading and the math tests, and at all three tested ages (9, 13 and 17), the lowest-ever scores in the history of the NAEP were recorded by children born between 1961 and 1965 (Neil Howe). However, the raw score increase has not gotten any faster in thirty years, the increase is most likely due to increased incomes, higher teacher to student ratios, better health, and many of the other improvements that Bauerlein points out rather than technology, which would have shown higher improvement in recent years, when the information revolution started. Of course, all of this is only relevant if you put your faith into NAEP tests, which according to Jim Hull of The Center for Public Education in The proficiency debate: A guide to NAEP achievement levels, you cant. Hull shows that NAEP standards for proficiency in a subject are higher than nearly all of the state regulated proficiency tests, and the tested material often widely differs from state curriculum. One of Bauerleins main sources is Reading at Risk, a report explaining the results of a 2002 survey of reading habits by the National Endowment for the Arts, which he states indicates decreased reading in all age groups and a large decline in young readers. However, the 2008 results were released in January 2009, as a sort of sequel titled Reading on the Rise, which bared the unexpected news that the percentage of literary readers had actually gone up, and even more astoundingly, Literary reading has increased most rapidly among the youngest adults. This isnt just contradictory to the trend of 1992 to 2002, from which Bauerlein draws proof of a non reading public; it completely turns it upside down. And while the report was published eight months after The Dumbest Generation, the survey itself was taking place as Bauerlein was finishing his book, and that the miraculous return to literature had begun and reading rates were rising as Bauerlein was writing about how the reading rates w ere falling, and he didnt notice the complete reversal happening right under his nose, or chose to ignore it. Most people who picked up The Dumbest Generation were probably expecting a lot of expanded logic and presumptuous reasoning like what makes up the counter arguments to this book such as Everything Bad is Good For You, which do not have much true evidence. I was personally delighted to find that Mark Bauerlein had taken the time to find not just adequate data, but a tremendous amount of information. For the most part, his logic is sound; however, his main struck a bad chord. Because technology has increased while the intellectual performance of the newest generation has gone down, technology must be causing the newest generation to be the dumbest. Post hoc ergo proptor hoc. While he briefly explains why several other possible causes for lower test scores havent happened, he doesnt ever find a factual link between technology and the change in scores other than the times in which both occur. As far as books and technology, print reading would naturally decrease as web usage went up, sim ply due to the limits of time. In fact, Bauerlein doesnt have any proof of high literary reading from before twenty years ago; we are simply expected to believe that those before us spent all of their free time reading. What Bauerlein fails to address is the fact that social networking is not the result of technology on reading, but the effect of technology on actual, face-to-face social interaction. Ill jump to agree with the assertion that a decrease in performance could be based on the ability to choose not to succeed, but it is society, not technology, that facilitated this shift. The children of today arent expected to read literature much, and dont gain anything concrete from it, so most of them dont and I would expect it. Am I supposed to believe that the students of yore read The Divine Comedy for fun? They didnt, and for the most part, people read only what they like to read or what they have to read. And when children dont have to read much, they mostly read whats fun, eac h other, and other frivolities like video games. In The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Dont Trust Anyone Under 30, Mark Bauerlein uses out of context information to convince readers that our advancements have made my generation the dumbest, when really it is simply not expected to do more, and its opinion is valued as important as the instructors. Indeed, with discipline, technology can be and already is used for incredible feats in learning. Without the photocopier, the online databases paid for by my school, and the internet, I would know nothing more on this subject than what is in this book. If more was expected of students, both student knowledge and beneficial use of technology would rise, to the point where English professors like Mark Bauerlein would stop separating published content into the categories of print and web. And quite frankly, Im insulted he used the title The Dumbest Generation when a title more fitting to his thesis would be The Laziest Generation. An alarmist book, The Dumbest Generation was written to sell a malformed idea that an English professor had a lot of published work already invested in, and was written to sell a lot of books. In both of these he succeeded.