...Analysis of the Term “American Exceptionalism” in the Current U.S. Culture A Reflections Paper Analysis of the Term “American Exceptionalism” in the Current U.S. Culture American Exceptionalism refers to the idea that the United States is significantly different from other countries. The concept has origins in the writings of French scholar Alexis de Toqueville who made observations during his visit to America in the nineteenth century (Mansfield, 2011). Also, Puritan John Winthrop's 1630 sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" led to the widespread belief in American folklore that the United States of America is God's country because it would become a "city upon a hill", watched by the world (John Winthrop: "A Modell of Christian Charity", 2007). Although the term does not necessarily imply superiority, many political leaders and writers have coined its use in that sense. Naturally, others hold the position that America is not really exceptional at all. In fact, after taking a cursory glance at some of the issues that our leaders are charged to correct, we can easily peel off the loftier label and replace it with a more humbling phrase. To begin, America’s hunger issue is a strong reason to reduce our loftier standing. It is not impressive that in a country without drought or famine and with enough food and money to feed the world twice over 1-in-8 of our own people struggle to put food on its table (Berg, 2009). Also, in 2010, 4.8 percent of all U.S. households...
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...to the executives so measures can be taken to take advantage of the information and succeed. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis is a key element of environmental scanning process which provides detailed information for the organization that can assist in growth and profits. Environmental scanning and SWOT analysis and how organizations use these tools to succeed and grow will be discussed in this paper. Environmental scanning is a process which monitors, evaluates, and disseminates information from internal and external environments to the people of the organization responsible of making decisions regarding growth and success of the company. Scanning the natural environment, societal environment (STEEP analysis), and task environment are the key elements of identifying the external environment. SWOT analysis should be performed to assess the internal environment of the organization. (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010) In scanning the natural environment, strategic managers must assess physical resources, wildlife, and climate. “The concept of sustainability argues that a firm’s ability to continuously renew itself for long-term success and survival is dependent not only upon the greater economic and social system of which it is a part, but also upon the natural ecosystem in which the firm is embedded” (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010). When scanning the natural environment, strategic decision-making process must include the impact of the organization will have on the local...
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...Leading America Away From Obesity By: Amber Stroh New health policies are being enacted to educate Americans about healthy eating patterns in hopes of absolving the obesity epidemic, but those at highest risk have low-income and may be unable to comply. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s research, approximately one in seven Americans in 2013 struggled with food insecurity; slightly less, at a rate of one out of ten, are households with children (Coleman-Jensen, Gregory, and Singh). At this moment there are Americans experiencing the difficulty of an unwarranted fast or eating under their caloric requirements due to a shortage of resources. The least expensive foods available tend to be high in calories, salts, sugar, and fat (Drewnowski, Specter SE). A change in mindset may be needed to direct people to more healthy food choices but their resources may not cover the costs to purchase them. Food pantries make healthy food options available which helps to lessen this health disparity. Multiple issues are being addressed as the government seeks to guide Americans to a healthier way of life (McCary). Many new health policies have already infiltrated our lives, such as new school lunch regulations, taxes on sugared beverages, and MyPlate. Shortly our nutritional food labels will be replaced. "Calories from fat" will no longer be labeled, however "added sugars" will now be required on the label (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USDA). Both...
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...little or no money, goods or means of support, state of being poor and lack of vital resources such as education, healthcare, food, clean water and safety. According to Feed America analysis, there were around 14.5% of population (43.5 million) who lived in poverty in 2013 whereas 15.1% lived in poverty in 2010. Thus we can see that poverty rate among United States slightly decreased due to powers applied by different sectors of country, such as government, business and society/non-profit organizations. United Nations organization states that about 21,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, it means that there is one person die every four seconds. It is very sad because children die most often. Today, poverty is a huge issue which affects global economy and wealth of the whole population. Moreover, we see high level of inequality, there are people who earn couple dollars a day, whether they live in wealthiest nation in the world or poorest, the difference is real. Many people feel that high level of inequality will affect social cohesion and lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence. Moreover, the poorest part of people always has less access to health, education and other services provided by government and private businesses. Some of these people cannot even afford initials therefore they become outsiders from society's point of view and thus have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder...
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...February 14, Mary Smith of Grantsville, Maryland was convicted for illegally hunting and poaching a buck. Smith became the first female to be sentenced under Maryland’s state anti-poaching law. Mary Smith, 21, was caught on the night of February 14, gutting an illegal, 19-point buck. The buck’s antlers were about 217 total inches. When police searched her Jeep Wrangler they found a loaded rifle. Smith was on a private property, hunting during the night, and hunting during off-season. Smith is a daredevil in my books. Most would say different, but where could you find a female who would do exactly what she did, and on Valentine's Day? I mean most people go out to a fancy dinner, but Smith was killing her soon to be fancy dinner. Though she could've been more sneaky and wouldn’t have got caught if it weren't for her bright as can be Jeep lights and the landowner....
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...Hunger Data The world hunger problem: Facts, figures and statistics • In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has called "absolute poverty" • Every year 15 million children die of hunger • For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years • Throughout the 1990's more than 100 million children will die from illness and starvation. Those 100 million deaths could be prevented for the price of ten Stealth bombers, or what the world spends on its military in two days! • The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Since you've entered this site at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year. • One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. United Nations Food and Agriculture • The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. Hunger in Global Economy • Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. UNICEF ...
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...World Hunger: The Ethical Issues Involved With Minimizing It Between now and tomorrow morning, 40,000 children will die from starvation. The day after tomorrow, 40,000 more children will die. Nearly 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people, or one in 8 people, in the world suffer from undernourishment. Almost all of the hungry people, 852 million, live in under developing countries while the other 15 million live in developed countries. World hunger has been and will continue to be an ongoing issue until ethical action will be taken. The world produces enough food for everyone, however, not many people have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase enough food. But what is being done to minimize world hunger? There is a societal responsibility as well as a governmental responsibility that should be utilized in order to reduce this issue. However, neither category of people will take the time to realize how bad world hunger has really become. There are several ethical issues involved with the minimization of world hunger including those of the three theories of ethical thought: consequential, deontological, and humanist theories. I, also have my personal opinion about the actions or lack thereof, involved with this minimization. It's simple to ignore something you can't necessarily see. Understanding that there is world hunger is one thing, but taking action to minimize it is another. It is a population's responsibility as a whole to work together in order to make...
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...For my book analysis I chose the “hunger games” by Suzanne Collins. This book follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, a young woman who grows up in the future of what was America. After the United States falling apart due to famine, war, and greed, a new country has formed named Panem. Under their control the remaining population has been divided up into twelve districts that are separated by what they export and contribute to the Capital and other districts. To maintain control the capital holds “the hunger games” each year where 2 children from each districts must fight to the death in order to gain respect and food for their district. The hunger games is there to remind everyone of what happened when rebellion broke out with in the districts against the capital. Katniss gets involved in the games when she volunteers to be a tribute to save her younger sister from the horror and pain in the hunger games. Katniss is a unique tribute because she is not concerned with following the rules but keeping those she loves safe, this makes her the embodiment of a rebellion. The purpose of this novel is to warn against the destructive and cruel nature of humans, the unjust social pyramid, and the danger of power. One of the big ideas of the book is that our democratic system is not perfect, neither is any other political ideology. All of these have weak spots and one that crosses all is they lack compassion. A major idea in this book is that no matter how you run a government, the government...
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...United States Department of Agriculture USDA Accomplishments 2009-2012 Secretary Tom Vilsack Global Food Security Today, 870 million people around the world do not have access to a sufficient supply of nutritious and safe food. Tackling this problem to help establish global food security is important not only to hundreds of millions of hungry people, but also to the sustainable economic growth of these nations and the long-term economic prosperity of the United States. As we help countries become more food secure and raise incomes, we also expand markets for American producers • For example, over the past five years U.S. agricultural exports to developing countries in Southeast Asia, Central America, and SubSaharan Africa have grown at more than twice the annual rate as compared to developed countries. U.S. poultry meat exports to Sub-Saharan Africa expanded 180 percent from 2009 to 2011. • Given population growth and rising incomes, it is estimated that the demand for food will rise by 70 to 100 percent by 2050. To meet this need, the United Nations estimates that production in developing countries will need to almost double. • In 2010, the U.S. helped launch the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, an international, multilateral trust fund that has already awarded $658 million to finance country development plans in 18 low-income countries, with 8.2 million beneficiaries. Building Local Capacity, Increasing Productivity, and Improving Markets and Trade •...
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...Foundations Paper Darryl Long HSM/260 Sharon Johnson 5/18/2012 Foundations Paper What is United Way, through a vast network of volunteers and local charities, America help meet the health and human service needs of millions of people every day. Each United Way is completely independent and governed by local volunteers. The organization is built to address issues the community that matter the most. The United Way of America is a non-profit organization that works with more than 1,200 local United Way offices throughout the country in a coalition of charitable organizations to pool efforts in fundraising and support. The focus of United Way is identifying and resolving pressing community issues, as well as making measurable changes in the communities through partnerships with schools, government agencies, businesses, organized labor, financial institutions, community development corporations, voluntary and neighborhood associations, the faith community, and others. The issues United Way offices focus on are determined locally because of the diversity of the communities served. However, the main focus areas include: education, income, and health. The organization donations ensure that hungry families and children with disabilities and low income senior citizens are feed, they also ensures that low-income seniors receive transportation and medications. United Way collaborates with other local organizations on special projects to help solve pressing community...
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...Anneli Juutilainen Abstract Executive organization H&M in Kuopio,Finland Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a 100 billion Sweden company, engaged in designing and retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. The company offers a range of apparel, cosmetics, footwear and accessories for men, women, children and teenagers. H&M primarily operates in Europe, North America and Asia, and has a presence in over 38 countries. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and employs approximately 87,000 people on a full-time basis. This thesis focused on the strategic management of H&M company. The main research problem was to make an in-depth analysis of its marketing strategy and how to implement it. The main research method was a qualitative research by analyzing their company data, annual reports and making interviews with the manager, staffs and customers in Kuopio shop. The thesis starts with a general introduction and some background information of this thesis work. In the theoretical part, it described the definition, process, benefit and challenge of strategic management .In the practical part, an exhaustive analysis on the company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats was made by using the detailed figures. The result shows a clear image of the process of strategic management by H&M case. Some recommendations made...
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...A Book Review Presented to Mrs. Evangeline Arguelles In Partial Fulfillment Of the Subject Requirement In ENGLISH III MERIKA MONJORVA III-Courage 17 October 2012 I. INTRODUCTION The Hunger Games focuses more on Katniss Everdeen’s hardships and struggles for survival. She bravely faces challenges that come in her way, especially when dealing with life and death situations. Moreover, she also realizes that she must be strong and determined as she chooses a difficult path instead of giving up, which demonstrates her will to survive. The Hunger Games is a 2008 Young Adult novel by Suzanne Collins. The story revolves around 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which tributes aged 12-18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a live TV Show to death. The Hunger Games is the first book in the ground-breaking Hunger Games Trilogy (New York Times Best Selling Series) followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). Suzanne Collins is an American writer and novelist. Collins was named one of ‘Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2010’. The Hunger Games was first published on September 14, 2008. The book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. The initial price of the book is $10.99. The aim of this book review is to focus more on the characteristics...
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...Group Case Study: Whole Foods Market Jamal Bacon, Briana Bedford, Alexis Castleberry, Jordon Powell Strategic profile & case analysis purpose Whole foods was the world’s number one leading retailer of natural and organic foods. It was founded by John Mackey when he started with one store, but it has now grown to the nation’s leading food chain. The purpose of this business case study is to explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Whole Foods. In 2005 whole foods had 172 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market was created in 1979 when John Mackey partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. The new company was established in Austin, Texas, in 1980, and consisted of a natural food market with a staff of 19 members. The success of Whole Foods was attributed largely through mergers, acquisitions, and several new store openings. In the United States, Whole Foods is considered the largest natural food supermarket. Whole Foods Markets is driven by its mission, “the company is highly selective about what they sell, dedicated to stringent quality standards, and committed to sustainable agriculture. They believe in a virtuous circle entwining the food chain, human beings and Mother Earth: each is reliant upon the others through a beautiful and delicate symbiosis” (Hunger and Wheelen pg.28-2). Whole Food’s objectives consisted of targeting their locations where there is a high percentage of residents that have a...
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...Juutilainen Executive organization H&M in Kuopio,Finland Abstract Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a 100 billion Sweden company, engaged in designing and retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. The company offers a range of apparel, cosmetics, footwear and accessories for men, women, children and teenagers. H&M primarily operates in Europe, North America and Asia, and has a presence in over 38 countries. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and employs approximately 87,000 people on a full-time basis. This thesis focused on the strategic management of H&M company. The main research problem was to make an in-depth analysis of its marketing strategy and how to implement it. The main research method was a qualitative research by analyzing their company data, annual reports and making interviews with the manager, staffs and customers in Kuopio shop. The thesis starts with a general introduction and some background information of this thesis work. In the theoretical part, it described the definition, process, benefit and challenge of strategic management .In the practical part, an exhaustive analysis on the company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats was made by using the detailed figures. The result shows a clear image of the process of strategic management by H&M...
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...that engages in business among multiple countries. (BusinessDictionary.com) Knowing that the definition of International in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as relating to two or more nations and that business in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as a commercial or sometimes an industrial enterprise; I think Business Dictionary’s definition of international business is very accurate. (Merriam-Webster Online) When you think international business, the non-profit sector is probably not the first type of organization that comes to mind. Heifer International is a non-profit entity that works internationally with the mission to end hunger and poverty through sustainability. Currently, Heifer International has projects in 46 countries and counting as new projects are developed. Heifer has projects in North and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Asia/South Pacific regions and is headquartered in Little rock, Arkansas. Heifer’s model is based loosely...
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