Economic Growth And Development Of Nigeria Economics Essay

Economic Growth And Development Of Nigeria Economics Essay Agriculture is an important sector in the developing world. It contributes to economic growth and development as well as a major employer to majority of the people of Sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria, especially those in the rural areas. This study investigated the role of agriculture to Nigerias economic growth and development. Secondary data were used for the analyses and were obtained from various publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Variables used for the estimations included overall gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria, agricultural GDP, government spending on agriculture, credit to agriculture and the population engaged in agriculture. The data cover the period between 1981 and 2010. Growth and Cobb-Douglas production models were estimated. The results showed that overall GDP, agricultural GDP, and government spending to the agricultural sector of Nigeria generally assumed upward trends during the period. Credit t o agriculture and government spending to the agricultural sector were the factors found to significantly influence the contribution of agriculture to national economic growth and development. It is concluded that agriculture continues to play important role in the economic growth and development of Nigeria. It is recommended that policies should be formulated to encourage the flow of more credit to the agricultural sector of Nigeria. Besides, it is important that the government of Nigeria to increase its spending on the agricultural sector since this positively and significantly influence the contribution of agriculture to national economic growth and development. 1.1 Background to the Study Nigeria is one of the largest countries in Africa, with an estimated population of about 158 million (World Bank, 2010). The country has highly diversified agro-ecological conditions, which makes it possible for the production of variety of agricultural products. Furthermore, agriculture constitutes one of the most significant sectors of the economy (Manyong, et. al., 2005). Agriculture in Nigeria employs about 70% of the working population and contributes with about 60% to the national income (Oluwasanmi, 1966). Its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounted for about 40% in 2010 (CBN, 2011). During the early days of independence, Nigeria was and still is relatively self-sufficient in food production, and foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports have been used over the years to support in financing imports needed for economic growth and development (Anderson, 1970). The role of Agricultural production in Nigeria is not only to provide the food needed to feed the rapidly growing Nigerian population, but also to provide the money and materials needed for industrialization and for bringing the country into the industrial and technical age (Oyenuga, 1967). In order to carry out this role, the agricultural system needs to be reorganized and new techniques of production have to be introduced, such as the use of more efficient implements, improved seed varieties and fertilizers. To do this, the country not only needs to co-ordinate its agricultural research projects and provides capital but also to make available trained field staff who can ensure the acceptance of these innovations by peasant farmers (Oluwasanmi, 1966). This is because majority of the peasant farmers live in rural areas where there is a high level of illiteracy and they hardly accept change. Despite the fact that Nigeria is buoyantly endowed with agricultural and other natural resources, the agricultural sector is still growing at a very slow rate. It is only a little over half of the countrys agricultural land is under cultivation (Manyong et al, 2005). Increased use of mechanization will help, but this is not going to be easy given that about 63% of the farms in Eastern Nigeria and 45% of them in Western Nigeria are less than an acre in size and many of them are much smaller (Oyenuga, 1967). The agricultural sector remained weak during the oil boom decade of the 1970s, and this accounted largely for the declining share of its contributions to economic growth and development of the country. The trend of the share of agriculture in national GDP reflects a substantial variation and long-term decline from about 60% in the early 1960s through to about 49% in the 1970s and only about 22% in the 1980s. It is believed that unstable and often-poor economic policies (of pricing, trade and exchange rate), the relative abundance of the sector and the negative impact of oil boom were all important factors responsible for the decline in agricultural sectors contributions to national economic growth and development. Since the oil boom of the 1970s, there has been a severe increase in the incidence and drama of poverty in the country as a result of the unstable performance of the agricultural sector, which employs majority of the poor. As a result of the dwindling performance of agriculture in the country, government have over many years formulated and implemented various policies and projects aimed at putting back the agricultural sector to its vital place in the economy. But with evidence from empirical literatures, no significant success has been achieved due to several problems confronting the performance of the sector (Yusuf, 2005). However, the contribution of agriculture in both gross domestic product (GDP) and non-oil GDP increased in the 1981-2000 periods. The share of total bank credit going into the agricultural sector increased rapidly between the 1981-1985 and 1991-1995 periods and then declined in the 1996-2000 periods. The share of the federal Governments capital expenditure going to the agricultural sector declined immensely over the periods. The share of total employment by the agricultural sector also declined. Generally, there was unstable growth performance of the agricultural sector between the periods 1981 to 2000, with some evidence of inconsistencies of trends, probably due to uncertainties in policies and policy implementation. Some of the problems leading to poor performance of the agricultural sector in the country include technical issues, resource constraints as well as socio-economic problems and organisational constrains. It has been observed that in past policies of the pre-structural adjustment period, sector-specific agricultural policies were made to improve agricultural marketing, to cut down production cost, and to enhance product prices as incentives for increased agricultural production. Important policy instruments are for agricultural commodity marketing and pricing, input supply and distribution, input price, Subsidy, land resource use, agricultural research, agricultural extension and technology transfer, agricultural mechanisation, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural water resource and irrigation development. Macro policies, institutional policies and legal frameworks complemented sector-specific policies. The structural adjustment period was enhanced more by structural adjustment pol icies. Problems to agricultural policy strength include policy instability, policy inconsistencies, weak policy formulation, poor policy implementation, and harsh institutional framework for policy coordination (Idachaba, 2005). With reference from the dual economy model, early writers predicted economic development as a growth process that needs the re-allocation of factors of production from a weak, low-productivity agricultural sector to a modern and commercialized industrial sector with higher productivity and more returns (Lewis, 1954). As a primary sector, agriculture was seen to contribute significantly to economic growth and development by providing labor and food to the industrialization process. However, this idea was taken away by the era of the Green Revolution in Asia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The possibility of restructuring traditional agriculture into a modern sector shows agricultures capability as a growth sector and its effective role in emphasizing broader d evelopment (Adelman, 2001). Although the advantage of connectivity between agriculture and non-agriculture in achieving the growth and development process had long been recognized (Hirschman, 1958, Johnston Mellor, 1961), post-Green Revolution economists stressed the role of agriculture in rural growth and development (Haggblade, Hammer, Hazell, 1991; Haggblade, Hazell, Brown, 1989; Hazell Haggblade, 1991; Hazell Roell, 1983). The vital advantage of agricultural growth on rural development was found to be effective in countries (e.g. Nigeria and other developing countries) where small farms dominated agriculture (Rosegrant Hazell, 2000). Therefore, given massive rural poverty and small-scale farming in Africa, the conventional wisdom of agriculture emphasizes a strong role for agriculture in African growth and development. With reference to the conventional wisdom of agriculture, it is important that policy objectives to promote the role of agriculture in economic growth and development in Nigeria should be realistic and capable of transforming a backward agriculture, and at the same time would also encourage industrial growth and development. The experience of other developing countries has shown that policies that promote industrial development at the expense of agriculture have resulted in food shortages and economic stagnation. Given Nigerias present stage of development, a large-scale industrialization scheme that will tend to shut out 70% of the population who are engaged in rural pursuits is not the best for the long-term interests of the country (Adeyokunnu, 1971). This is contrary to the idea behind early development strategies advocated by Rosenstein Rodan, Nurkse, and Hirshman among others, who emphasized industrial development as the main source of economic growth and development and were biased against the agricultural sector (Schiff and Valdes, 1998). This work is principally concerned with showing empirically the role of agriculture to economic and development of Nigeria. It draws on the long standing empirical studies on the role of agricultural sector to economic growth and development across the world. Widespread rural poverty in Africa and the success of Asias Green Revolution suggests that agriculture is a key sector for African development. Since almost all rural households depend directly or indirectly on agriculture, and given the sectors large contribution to the overall economy, it might seem obvious that agriculture should be a key sector in economic growth and development. Most African countries have failed to meet the requirements for a successful agricultural revolution, and productivity in African agriculture lags far behind the rest of the world. This has recently led to renewed debate within the international development community concerning the role of agriculture in African economic growth and development. This study will therefore contribute to the debate. 1.2 The Problem Statement Decline on the role of the agricultural sector in terms of its contribution to Nigerias economic growth and development in the last three decades made the government to establish different agricultural schemes and programmes to enhance agricultural productivity in the country, which includes River Basin Development Authorities, National Accelerated Food Production Project, Agricultural Development Project, Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, National Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, National Special Programme for Food Security, Root and Tuber Expansion Project as well as National Fadama I and II programmes. This shows that aagriculture has been an important sector in the Nigerian economy for many years, and is still a major sector even with the oil boom. Basically it generates employment opportunities for the growing population, reduces poverty and contributes to the growth and development of the economy. Economic history provides sufficient evidence that agricultural revolution is important and a pre-condition for economic growth and development, especially in developing countries like Nigeria (Woolf and Jones, 1969; Oluwasanmi, 1966; Eicher and Witt, 1964). The basis of the problem in the Nigerian economy is as a result of poor concentration of the agricultural sector by the Government towards focusing more on a mono-cultural economy based on oil. Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery, exploration and exportation of oil and over dependence on its revenue for economic expenditure. Agricultural export was contributing to GDP with about 72% between 1955 and 1969 before it fell down to 35% because of the oil crises of early 1970s (CBN, 2002). Nigeria used to be one of the world leading countries in the exportation and production of some major agricultural products between 1940 and 1950. There is evidence from statistics which shows that the export of agricultural products in Nigeria accounted for over 75% of total exports in 1960 (Ekpo and Egwaikhide, 1994). This has changed in recent times as economic growth and development of Nigeria in recent times solely depend on the earning from oil exports that account for over 95%, but contribute with less than 25% in the real gross domestic product (RDGP). This over dependence on oil has affected the countries market forces as well as its economic growt h and development (Okoh, 2004). Because crude oil is an exhaustible asset, it is not advisable for Nigeria to depend on it for sustainable economic growth and development. Therefore, the need to push into competitive market in advanced countries with our agricultural commodities has to be considered, in order to achieve a prosperous economic growth and development in Nigeria (Thirlwall, 1999). Considering the large size of the Nigerian agricultural sector and its important role in the economy, positive reform and adjustment policies are needed in order to improve the overall performance of the countrys economic growth and development (Kwanashie et al., 1998). Besides the oil sector, agricultural sector contributes significantly to the Nigerian economic growth and development because of its rich resource base. Nonetheless, these endowments have to be used wisely so as to diversify the economy and reduce over dependence on the oil sector and on importation. As a result of unstable oil price and continues increase in the price of import goods, the Nigerian economy is not consistent. All these issues have negative effects on the countrys balance of payment, employment and other sectors productivity as well as the purchasing power of the people (Bukar, et al., 1997). At present, impact of the Nigerian agricultural sector to economic growth and development of the country is not as it was in the past periods (NPC, 2000). Nigerian agriculture is still traditional as it was in the pre-independence period (Adewumi and Omotesho, 2002). Even with the existence of the two major rivers in the country (river Niger and river Benue) the agricultural sector is still predominantly rain fed (NPC, 2004). Productivity in the Agricultural sector has declined seriously over the years and this has led to high incidence of poverty levels (Jeter, 2004). Results from the World bank data indicate that over 70% of Nigerians are living below the poverty line (less than $1 per day), showing that there has been an astronomical growth in the level of poverty in the country most of which is associated to poor agriculture since from independence up till today (Chigbu, 2005). Those engaged in farming are mostly rural people, cultivating small area of land using traditional tool s and getting low productivity (NPC, 2004). The problem therefore is that there is limited understanding of the role of agriculture in economic growth and development of Nigeria in recent times. This study seeks to address this gap by empirically examining the role of agriculture to economic growth and development of Nigeria. 1.3 The Research Questions The questions that this study sought to answer are: What are the trends and growth of agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) relative to the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria? What have been the commitments of successive governments in Nigeria to the agricultural sector in terms of public spending in the sector? What have been the contributions of agriculture to the economic growth and development of Nigeria over the past three decades? 1.4 The Research Objectives The main objective of this study is to examine the role of agriculture to economic growth and development of Nigeria. Specifically, the study seeks to: Describe the trends and growth of agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) in relation to overall GDP of Nigeria. Examine the trends and growth of spending of successive Nigerian governments on the agricultural sector. Estimate the contributions of agriculture to economic growth and development of Nigeria over the past three decades. 1.5 Justification of the Study Policy makers can make use of the outcome of this study in multi-dimensional form. This can be done in terms of interwoven nature of rural employment with agriculture, food security and agricultural productivity. This is because the findings will provide the basis that economic growth and development in Nigeria should be led by agriculture and that the success of plans and policies implemented in the other sectors are depended on agricultural developments for their successful implementation. The outcome of the study will also help policy makers to critically examine the various key possibilities of promoting economic growth and development in Nigeria with regards to the role of agriculture in economic growth and development. Some of these which are of relevant to policy may include issues of: How different alternative economic growth and development states can be achieved using agricultural sectors contribution with the view to decide which one is the best. How societal welfare can be improved from a lower stage to a better stage using agricultural sectors contribution to the economy. How to identify all areas in which the agricultural sector fails and to consider corrective measures. How to evaluate different policy options that have been used to improve agricultural sector as well as determine their implications and consequences on the economic growth and development of Nigeria. How to provide a framework in which different agricultural growth policies can be compared using value judgement and common sense. How to make a critique of different postulates about how agricultural development policies can be improved so that it can provide a menu for better policy measures. 1.6 Scope and Organisation of the Study The scope of this study is to look at the role of agriculture to economic growth and development of Nigeria spanning the last three decades (i.e. 30 years). The study is organised into five main chapters. Chapter one is the introduction which consists of the background to the study, the problem statement, the research questions, the research objectives, the justification of the research and the scope and organisation of the study. Chapter two is the literature review which consists of literature on Agricultural Production in Africa and Nigeria, Agricultural Production and Economic Growth and Development, Commitments of governments to Nigerian agriculture, Agriculture as a Source of Employment for Poverty Reduction, Finally, summary of the literature review and conclusions. Chapter three is the methodology employed in order to achieve the research objectives which consists of profile of Nigeria, the theoretical and model specifications, data types and sources of data. Chapter four is presentation of the results and discussions. Chapter five is the summary of the findings, conclusion and recommendations. After this are the references and appendix. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter presents an overview of the relevant empirical literature in the subject matter. The chapter is divided into five main subsections. The first subsection is presentation of Agricultural Production in Africa and Nigeria. The second subsection is presentation of Agricultural Production and Economic Growth and Development. Commitments of governments to Nigerian agriculture are presented in the third subsection. The fourth subsection brings to light literature on Agriculture as a Source of Employment for Poverty Reduction. Finally, summary of the literature review and conclusions drawn are presented in subsection five. 2.2 Agricultural Production in Africa and Nigeria There is a growing argument over whether agriculture is still playing important role in economic growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultures theorists explain that, in most of the African countries, only the agricultural sector has sufficient scale and growth-linkages to significantly influence aggregate growth and development. Achieving such growth and development will have to do with a large sector like agriculture, which accounts for one-third of gross domestic product (GDP) for the subcontinent as a whole, and an even larger share for two-thirds of African countries. Economists also explain that agricultures poor performance leads to inadequate investment and policies that are historically biased against the agricultural sector (Fan, Zhang, Rao, 2004; Schiff Valdez, 1992; Timmer, 2005). They show the large benefits from investing in rural infrastructure and agricultural technology, and the growth and development potential from catching up to the productivity leve ls of other developing countries. During the period from 1990 to 2004, African industry, including mining and mineral-based manufacturing, grew at 1.9% per year compared to 2.5% for agriculture (World Bank, 2006). This is an indication of the importance of agriculture to economic growth and development across Africa. By contrast, there are others who doubt whether or not agriculture can successfully generate sufficient growth and development in Africa today. This doubt shows the poor performance of agriculture, weak institutions for rural growth and development, and worsening agro-ecological conditions in most of the African countries (Collier, 2002; Ellis, 2005; Maxwell Slater, 2003). The large size of the agricultural sector may be the reason for Africas failure to grow and develop, especially since past experience forecasts a significant decline in the importance of agriculture over time in successfully developing countries (Collier, 2002). For those who argue that agriculture should not be put at the center of African growth and development, although the sectors sufficient growth and development linkages proved very strong during Asias Green Revolution, it may not be so much in Africa because of a more integrated global environment (Hart, 1998). Border prices determine food prices more than domestic supply when imports can enter freely, which reduces the need to invest in domestic agriculture to maintain urban food prices and real wages and hence industrial competitiveness. Under these conditions, it is difficult for agriculture to play important role of economy-wide growth and development as well as facilitating the economic transformation shown by theory or witnessed in the past successes of other developing countries. Agricultures skeptics therefore tend to be more concerned of African industry, emphasizing that mining and manufacturing may bring viable alternative sources of growth and development. Despite contrasting opinions on the relative importance of agriculture in generating overall growth and development, there should presumably be less contention surrounding the role of agriculture in poverty reduction, which is one of the key issues for achieving economic growth and development. This is especially so given the importance of agricultural incomes for Africas poorest populations. However, even among agricultures advocates, there are conflicting views over what should be the focus of an agricultural growth and development strategy for low-income Africa (Dorward, et al., 2004). Some suggest that the best opportunities for African farmers lie in high-value commodities and, given poor domestic demand in Africa, that production should focus on export markets. Small-scale farms are seen as irrelevant due to international competition and the growing difficulties of supply-chains for both domestic and foreign markets (Reardon, Timmer, Barrett, Berdegue`, 2003). It is argued tha t rural dwellers should plan on diversifying incomes away from agriculture (Ashley Maxwell, 2001) and focus on going to urban areas (Ellis Harris, 2004). On the other hand, others argue that rural income diversification has been a reality in Africa for many years (Barrett Reardon, 2000; Reardon et al., 2003) and has yet to achieve significant income growth. Furthermore, income diversification is not a significant positive phenomenon, especially if diversification is due to stagnant agricultural growth and development (Haggblade, Hazell, Reardon, 2002) or if migration is as a result of growth in low-productivity urban activities (Lipton, 2004). The biggest market benefits for majority of African farmers comes from domestic and regional markets for staples/food crops (Diao Hazell, 2004; Rosegrant, Paisner, Meijer, Witcover, 2001). 2.3 Agricultural Production and Economic Growth and Development Provision of sufficient food for the growing population puts agriculture at the center of current growth and development issue in developing countries. This is because the level of population growth in most developing countries is far more than the level of agricultural production and growth. Malthusian theory of population growth is becoming true in these countries; hence, the need to grow and develop agriculture to meet the food requirement of the people is very important. Looking at the Malthusian theory, if food supply fail to meet demand then food prices will rise. This will also have effect on workers wages and subsequently affect industrial profits, investment and overall economic growth and development in the society (Uniamikogbo, 2007). On the supply of raw materials to the industrial sector, agriculture have been seen as the major requirement for industrial growth and development because of the sectors role in providing the necessary raw materials for industries (Child, 2008; Uniamikogbo, 2007 and Abayomi, 2006). As a result of this, the need for increasing agricultural productivity has to be considered. There is the need therefore to put more emphasis on increasing domestic output rather than focusing more on the expansion of export to finance growing food export. This means that, agriculture is the most influential sector in developing countries. It should then make a significant contribution to the overall investment requirements needed by the industrial sector such as lowering the amount of raw materials supplied from abroad by increasing the output produced locally. Agriculture has been the main stay of the Nigerian economy providing employment and source of livelihood for the teeming population. It contributes with over half of the GDP of the Nigerian economy during much of post-independence in the country. Nonetheless, the role it plays in the economic growth and development of the country has gone down over the years due to the overwhelming and dominant role of the crude oil sector in the economy, on which the country extensively depends. With the high food demand in Nigeria, the country has to make use of its abundant natural resources and to take advantage of its current democracy to increase the volume of crop production towards satisfying the food and nutritional requirement of the rapidly growing population and to ensure food security in the country (Enoma, 2010) . Therefore, agriculture can be characterized as the source of national wealth and economic growth and development in Nigeria. Agricultural Development economists have researched significantly on how agriculture can best contribute to overall economic growth and development. Looking at Lewis theory of development, Todaro and Smith (2003) indicated that the underdeveloped economy consists of two sectors, which are the ancient and traditional agricultural sector characterized by zero marginal labor productivity and the modern industrial sector. In his historical approach to the process of economic growth and development, Rostow (1960) distinguishes five stages of economic growth and development, which are: Traditional society; Pre-conditions for takeoff; Take-off; Drive to maturity; and Age of high mass-consumption. According to Rostow, the take-off stage is the most important figure in the life of a society when growth becomes its normal condition. The significance and importance of the traditional society make a decisive breakthrough and a multiple interest gets built into the society structure with agricult ure playing significant role at this stage. From this theory, it is evident that agriculture plays a significant role in the first three stages of economic growth and development (Traditional society, pre-conditions for takeoff and takeoff stages). The agricultural sector greatly influences industrial and economic backbone from which a countrys economic growth and development can take off. Therefore, beyond reasonable doubt, agricultural activities are usually concentrated and more practiced in the less-developed countries where there is an urgent need for rural transformation, redistribution, poverty alleviation and socio-economic growth and development (Stewart, 2000). Indeed, agriculture has a significant role in an economy, without it a country will surely depend on importation from other countries to feed its population. The essential contribution of agriculture to economic growth and development has been an on-going subject of debate among development economist, several theorist argue that growth of the whole economy relies on the development of agricultural sector (Schuttz, 1964, Gollin, Parente and Rogerson 2002). The growth and development of the agricultural sector could result to national output increase through its effect on rural incomes and provision of resources for transformation into an industrialized economy (Eicher and Staatz, 1984; Dowrick and Gemmmell, 1991; Datt and Ravallion, 1998; Thirtle, Lin and Piesse 2003). Johnston and Mellor (1961) reported that agriculture improves and contributes to overall economic growth and development through various inter-sectoral linkages. Which include, provision of surplus labor to the industri al sector; supply of food for domestic consumption; creation of market for industrial output; provision of domestic savings and industrial investment and generation of foreign exchange from agriculture export earnings to finance import of intermediate and capital goods respectively. However, In addition to the above-mentioned direct market-based linkages, Timmer (1995) found out that agriculture indirectly contributes to economic growth and development through its caloric nutrient intake provision to the poor, food availability; stable food prices and poverty reduction. Going by all the debated arguments, it is clear that agricultural growth and development has played a historically important role in the process of economic growth and development. However, acts from developed countries as well as developing countries indicate that agricultural sector has been the engine that contributes to the overall growth and development of a countrys economy. Agriculture therefore plays an important role in achieving economic growth and development. 2.4 Commitments of Governments to the Agricultural Se

Dali :: essays research papers

The life of Salvador Dali was one of much eccentricity, but he was also one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century. The story of his life is an extremely interesting one, and greatly inspired his artwork. Dali’s childhood and his growing up process had a lot to do with the man he would become later in life. He had a brother who was born before him, who had the same name. He died of meningitis before the Salvador Dali we know was born. This had an obvious psychological effect on our Dali. It caused him to be very ambitious as he felt he needed to prove himself to his family. His deceased brother was very special to his entire family, and Dali always felt inferior to this â€Å"image.† Being the center of attention was always important to Dali. One year, when Haley’s comet was going through the air and his entire family was watching the sky, he kicked his sister because no one was paying any attention to him. Dali’s family was compromised of an increasing number of women, and his entire life he portrayed feminine attributes. The death of his mother at age seventeen traumatized him immensely. And to add to the shock, his father then married his mother’s sister. Before this, Dali painted gorgeous landscapes and portraits, but now he begins to paint his â€Å"tormented soul.† In 1921, Dali began to attend the University Residence of Madrid. There, he met friends like Federico Garcia Lorca (a famous poet). Lorca was gay and fell in love with Dali, who was immature sexually at this point in his life and scared of gay relations, but the two remained close for many years afterwards. One year after he started at the University, he got suspended a year. He was eventually expelled two years later for his problems with authority. He claimed that he was more qualified than the teachers and administration who examined him. Dali was still painting at this point, and became very much interested in Freud’s theory of the unconscious (ego, superego, id) and dream interpretation, where he believed dreams were ways to allow our unconscious to express itself in disguise. Dali met Freud in 1938 and Freud was not very impressed with Dali. Rejection set in, and he started to move away from Freudian theories. One of Dali’s friends, Paul Eluard, had a wife by the name of Gala, who Dali was enamored with.

Thank You for Smoking

Ethical issues brought up in the movie, â€Å" Thank You for Smoking† : When Nick Naylor appears on the talk show along side with the cancer patient and he basically turns the situation around so that the tabocco industry isn’t to blame for the young boy being diagonosed with cancer from smoking, and in fact by people dying from using their product the industry wouldn’t be making any profit. The â€Å"mod squad†, which stands for merchants of death, in the movie, all the people who are a part of this group are well aware that the products that they sell and promote are generally appealing to the younger generation that contributes to hundreds and thousands of deaths a year, yet they continue to defend them. In one scene Naylor is helping his son do homework, he teaches his son about how to argue something he is writing about. Naylor says ,† that’s the beauty of arguement, because if you argue correctly you’re never wrong†. This is teaching his son that no matter what he side he decides to be on, if he keeps on argueing and finds some usable facts to support his arguement he will always be right. Naylor doesn’t address the issues head on necessarily, in fact the way he approaches how to argue that tobacco is poison and that you shouldn’t smoke it etc, is he simply just goes with his theory of every individuals has the right to choose what they what to do, or listen too. When a member of the mod squad is visiting Nick in the hospital after he nearly died of a nicotine over dose, he places a gun on the table right in front of Joey, Nick’s son. Immediatly Joey is intrigued with the weapon, then retracts his actions and says, â€Å" gunsshould be treated with respect†. The other member swats his hand away, and is clearly annoyed by his behaviour which then makes me think of them as hypocrits. The captain sends a briefcase full of money to Naylor’s hotel when he is in California and tell’s him that he must visit â€Å"Marlboro Man†, Lorne Lutchwho has been diagnosed with Cancer. Naylor is to try and bribe Lutch into accepting the money in exchange for silence, and to retract all his previous comments towards the tobacco industry. In this scene Naylor is very good at convincing the Marlboro Man into taking the money, simply because he uses his best tactics of negotiation to lure him into thinking that by taking the money he might feel better about himself in the sense that now he has money to perhaps be able to pay medical bills to help him prolong his life. Give him the right reatment and he might just fight the cancer. Social Responsibility in Thank You for Smoking I think that the part when Senator Finistirre is doing his speech about putting the poison logo on every cigarette package is an example of social responsibility. Because as the Senator of Vermont, he is standing up against the tobacco industry and educating the younger generation as well as the older, of how harmful it is. Society as a whole will eventually embrace this campaign and learn how to educate others of tobacco use. In 1952, Readers digest slammed the tobacco industry by stating that it had some health risks associated with smoking. This then lead to the invention of â€Å"filters† in cigarette’s and thus resulted in more people buying the product. This is an example of social responsibility because when there were public outcry’s of how unhealthy it was smoking the cigarette’s (back in the 50’s) the tobacco industry improvised and came out with a solution to diminish the amount of chemicals being inhaled. Speaking to the press, Naylor swears he will clear the names of those mentioned in the Heather Holloway’s recent article, where she bashes Naylor as well as the Mod squad. (? ) Ethics and Social Responsibility – Tana In the movie Thank You for Smoking, there are quite a few examples where you will find how ethics and social responsibility is exercised, and not always in a positive way. The main character Nick Naylor, is a lobbyist who works for a Tobacco Company. Naylor is a smooth talker who slyly turns the words around in a conversation and turns it on the people who are against him. Thank You for Smoking Ethical issues brought up in the movie, â€Å" Thank You for Smoking† : When Nick Naylor appears on the talk show along side with the cancer patient and he basically turns the situation around so that the tabocco industry isn’t to blame for the young boy being diagonosed with cancer from smoking, and in fact by people dying from using their product the industry wouldn’t be making any profit. The â€Å"mod squad†, which stands for merchants of death, in the movie, all the people who are a part of this group are well aware that the products that they sell and promote are generally appealing to the younger generation that contributes to hundreds and thousands of deaths a year, yet they continue to defend them. In one scene Naylor is helping his son do homework, he teaches his son about how to argue something he is writing about. Naylor says ,† that’s the beauty of arguement, because if you argue correctly you’re never wrong†. This is teaching his son that no matter what he side he decides to be on, if he keeps on argueing and finds some usable facts to support his arguement he will always be right. Naylor doesn’t address the issues head on necessarily, in fact the way he approaches how to argue that tobacco is poison and that you shouldn’t smoke it etc, is he simply just goes with his theory of every individuals has the right to choose what they what to do, or listen too. When a member of the mod squad is visiting Nick in the hospital after he nearly died of a nicotine over dose, he places a gun on the table right in front of Joey, Nick’s son. Immediatly Joey is intrigued with the weapon, then retracts his actions and says, â€Å" gunsshould be treated with respect†. The other member swats his hand away, and is clearly annoyed by his behaviour which then makes me think of them as hypocrits. The captain sends a briefcase full of money to Naylor’s hotel when he is in California and tell’s him that he must visit â€Å"Marlboro Man†, Lorne Lutchwho has been diagnosed with Cancer. Naylor is to try and bribe Lutch into accepting the money in exchange for silence, and to retract all his previous comments towards the tobacco industry. In this scene Naylor is very good at convincing the Marlboro Man into taking the money, simply because he uses his best tactics of negotiation to lure him into thinking that by taking the money he might feel better about himself in the sense that now he has money to perhaps be able to pay medical bills to help him prolong his life. Give him the right reatment and he might just fight the cancer. Social Responsibility in Thank You for Smoking I think that the part when Senator Finistirre is doing his speech about putting the poison logo on every cigarette package is an example of social responsibility. Because as the Senator of Vermont, he is standing up against the tobacco industry and educating the younger generation as well as the older, of how harmful it is. Society as a whole will eventually embrace this campaign and learn how to educate others of tobacco use. In 1952, Readers digest slammed the tobacco industry by stating that it had some health risks associated with smoking. This then lead to the invention of â€Å"filters† in cigarette’s and thus resulted in more people buying the product. This is an example of social responsibility because when there were public outcry’s of how unhealthy it was smoking the cigarette’s (back in the 50’s) the tobacco industry improvised and came out with a solution to diminish the amount of chemicals being inhaled. Speaking to the press, Naylor swears he will clear the names of those mentioned in the Heather Holloway’s recent article, where she bashes Naylor as well as the Mod squad. (? ) Ethics and Social Responsibility – Tana In the movie Thank You for Smoking, there are quite a few examples where you will find how ethics and social responsibility is exercised, and not always in a positive way. The main character Nick Naylor, is a lobbyist who works for a Tobacco Company. Naylor is a smooth talker who slyly turns the words around in a conversation and turns it on the people who are against him.

Effects Of The Enlightenment On Modern America - 1592 Words

Regina Hamilton Dr. Ermus WOH1030 22 September 2014 Effects of The Enlightenment on Modern America There are many things that set America apart from the world. Most notably are our political structure, social structure, capitalistic ideals, and the free exchange of ideas and beliefs that were all born from the desire for freedom. After hundreds of years of being told what to do by the Church and the monarchy, there came a time when the people decided that it was time to come out from under the thumb of both, and to become something better. None of this would have been possible if The Enlightenment had not paved the way. The Enlightenment fueled formation of America and continued influencing the evolution of America in to what it is today. During the 1500’s a movement away from traditional Catholicism started to take hold. The most notable figure during this time was Martin Luther. He had ideals that, at the time, were extremely radical. As Gerald Strauss put it, â€Å"His doctrine of the two realms- the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, derived directly from Augustine – entailed the strictest segregation of things spiritual and things material† (22). He did not believe that the people of the church had any right to control the population at large. He believed that they were meant to be spiritual guides, not rulers, and that they wielded way too much control over the common people. One of the most radical things that he did, which was also the most influentialShow MoreRelatedThe Enlightenment Principles Of Rationalism And Universal Rights1684 Words   |  7 PagesThe Enlightenment period was a revolutionary time where scientific and rational thought became the chief values of society. Thinkers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were signposts of this era, inspiring populations locally and abroad. This revolution of ideas led to political and societal upheaval throughout the Western world. This essay will argue that the Enlightenment principles of rationalism and un iversal rights shaped modern Europe and North America through the rejection of absolutistRead MoreEssay on The Enlightenment1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe history of Western civilization cannot be neatly divided into precise linear sections. Instead, it must be viewed as a series of developing threads that combine, interact, and, at various intervals, take pervasive shifts. The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century was one of these paradigm historical shifts, challenging the traditional notions of authority by investing reason with the power to change the human condition for the better. This ecumenical emphasis on reason and independent thoughtRead MoreThe Enlightenment1278 Words   |  6 Pages World Literature The Enlightenment’s Impact on the Modern World The Enlightenment, Age of Reason, began in the late 17th and 18th century. 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These threeRead MoreThe Secularization of the Western World Essay1680 Words   |  7 PagesSecularization is a controversial form of social change in modern day society. Secularization is a concept derived from a Latin word meaning â€Å"the present age ,† the term is generally associated with modern, technologically, and advanced societies. â€Å"Secularism is a political tradition that has been evolving for eighteenth centuries. It shares important relationships with other traditions, sustaining complex ties with Judeo-Christianity, and maintaining a long-standing relationship with Islam† ( HurdRead MoreRoots of American Democracy Essay642 Words   |  3 Pages America is a country whose emergence is contributed to many sources. 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He believed that