Chapter 4
In this chapter, Lakoff (2010) raises concerns regarding the laxity of the government in acknowledging health concerns affecting the citizenship. According to the author, despite diseases such as HIV/AIDS being a threat to humanity, governments are not serious at arresting the problem and are rather engaging in debates on the concerns over restricted trade and intellectual property rights. The author is indeed right in his assertions as evident in the government’s decision to focus on other concerns at the expense of the health of their citizens. For example, in February 12, 2018, President Trump released his proposed budget for the year 2019 in which he prioritized on other programs such as the military, ignoring and effecting steep cuts to other federal programs that include Medicare and Medicaid (Matthews, 2018). Unfortunately, the budget showed that Trump did not regard HIV/AIDS as an urgent matter due to his lack of committing sufficient funds towards programs that fight the pandemic (Wang & Cahill, 2018). This is a worrying trend especially given the status of the U.S, being one of the world’s most developed countries, serves as a learning point to other developing countries. The author asserts that people who have been most affected are those from developing countries where over three million people have continued to suffer (Lakoff, 2010). This can be attributed to the stigma associated with the disease in these countries and the fact that the governments in these countries prioritizes other things including politics over the health of their citizens. These countries have, thus, not had the capacity in terms of productivity, budget, or political will to fight the pandemic. Looking at this chapter, the Lakoff has done a commendable job in exposing the danger of HIV/AIDS among other health concerns in most countries and most notably in developing countries. The only concern regarding the information presented in this chapter concerns is with referencing. There are some sections where the author has quoted some statistics without noting the source of the information and this puts to question the validity of the assertions. The author should also have done more in giving examples of developing countries with high prevalence of the disease and what has been done so far in handling the problem. Instead, the author has talked in a more generalized manner about developing countries and this scant information does not provide guidance on the specific countries where focus should be directed. Despite these shortcomings, the author has done a commendable job in painting a general picture of what transpires in different countries in terms of forces at play and which determine what should be accorded priority over the other factors.
Chapter 5
In chapter 5, Lakoff (2010) talks about climate change, its impacts and what different countries are doing to avert the causes of climate change. In this chapter, the author posits that climate change is one of the major factors of concern across the world that has elicited calls for appropriate interventions from various quotas and especially from the political front. The author is right as evident by many countries coming up with measures to reduce emissions to the environment and to curb the wastage of energy. These efforts can be seen from the local levels where institutions, such as Edinburgh, have come up with a means of ensuring energy conservation by determining the energy bills and assessing the emission of carbon dioxide to the environment. As pointed out by Lakoff (2010), these means of measurements “have become part of the European Union Emission Trading System and thus are part of the microcosm of what may become worldwide carbon market” (131). The author employs a good example of the assessment of emissions of Edinburgh University as this shows that an institution or a sector that sector that is believed to be a less contributor to the emissions may in fact be significant contributors to the emissions. and hence the need for appropriate and inclusive measures to assess all sectors that have a potential to emit carbon among other environmental polluters. Other sectors that have also done commendable efforts in limiting the amount of emissions is the motor sector whereby, through standards such as the Euro emissions standards, automotive that do not meet certain standards of emissions are not permitted to enter the market. The UK has set trends for the measures to curb carbon emissions and hence reduce global warming. However, the question now remains on what is being done to curb these emissions especially in the developing countries. A point of concern in this regard is that these third world countries have become dumping sites for old automotive that pose the greatest danger towards global warming. Without any strict guidelines on the compliance of these vehicles before being allowed to be exported to third world countries, any efforts being undertaken by the UK and other developed countries are being watered down.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In this chapter, the author has done a good job in sensitizing the public against global warming and its effects. However, in my opinion, there are some areas that the area should have improved in it report. One of these areas has been to provide a comprehensive coverage of global warming has multiple effects and since those in the developed countries are on the same planet as those in the developing countries, the effects brought about by emissions in the developing countries will still affect those in the developed countries. To curb this challenge, there is a need for comprehensive sensitization and education regarding the science of global warming. As pointed out by Lakoff (2010), “the science of global warming is not straightforward” (132). This implies the need for more efforts to educate the masses and come up with collaborative efforts that will see an adoption of measures to curb such emission and save the environment. Therefore, despite the small differences in the analysis of global warming, the authors does a good job and if the improvements highlighted are incorporated, it would be a very good source for future guidance.
References
Lakoff, A. (Ed.). (2010). Disaster and the Politics of Intervention . Columbia University Press.
Wang, T., and Cahill, S. (2018). Trump's New Budget Sticks it to People Living with HIV. Plus . Accessed on February 11, 2018 at: https://www.hivplusmag.com/stigma/2018/2/17/trumps-new-budget-sticks-it-people-living-hiv
Chapter 4
In chapter 4, Lakoff (2010) paints a gloomy picture of the healthcare sector in different countries. According to him, not many governments have treated healthcare with the seriousness it deserves. In raising his concern, the author talks about HIV/AIDS and the lack of commitment by governments in handling the issue. I concur with the author that there are several factors that determine the priority accorded to different programs and unfortunately, healthcare is not accorded the necessary priority. While the author does not quite specify the major factor that determines the priority, in my view, the major determining factor is politics. Others as highlighted by the author include social factors, economic factors, and cultural factors. For example, in my view, the debate on repealing of the Affordable Care program dubbed Obamacare was more political. The author also raises concerns that HIV/AIDS has been killing more and more people without being taken seriously and that the most affected countries are the developing countries as there are many more factors affecting decisions in these countries and hence access to healthcare does not receive the seriousness it deserves. I concur with the author that countries with a healthy population tend to be more successful compared to those where the masses are at risk of diseases. Unfortunately, health in most countries has not been accorded the necessary attention. For example, the purchase and administration of ARVs has remained a matter of “whether”, rather than “when” as people continue to suffer. The chapter opens up our eyes and minds on how the society works. The author does a good job in the way he presents the issues of concern and cites appropriate sources to support his claims. His use of actual numbers helps in presenting an actual picture of the situation at hand and helps the reader draw a comparison with other sectors such as the military sector. For instance, in his recent proposal, President Trump had large funding increases to the military and effected significant reductions in the funding for other programs, notably Medicare and Medicaid.
While the author has done a commendable job in this chapter, I think there are some areas that needed improvement. For example, the author should have presented some statistics on the trend of HIV/AIDS that would allow the reader to assess the rate at which the disease is increasing and whether there is a need for urgent attention. The author also quotes statistics regarding prevalence of the disease but fails to point out the source of some of these findings. Therefore, in my view, the author fails to highlight various aspects regarding the prevalence of the disease and thus the need for further research on the topic.
Chapter 5
In this chapter, the author highlights how global warming has continued to elicit concerns about the future of the environment. While some countries have put in commendable efforts towards managing the problem, other countries have been left out of this effort which implies that the little efforts being put in place may have little impact. As pointed out in Lakoff (2010), countries including Europe and the United States have pulled their efforts together and are working towards securing the environment by ensuring that every sector is monitored of any possible emissions. Institutions as well as the manufacturing sector has not been left out and all are being monitored to determine the amount of emissions and their levels of compliance to the set guidelines of carbon emissions. Among the effects of global warming have been climate change where there have been extreme cases of cold weather during the winter or extreme cases of heat during the summer leading to a rise in the sea level, with ripple effects in other areas. Every year, farmers have continued reporting reduction in their yields as a result of extreme flooding or extended periods of summer that has destroyed their crops. A UN report showed that farmers in West Africa and India are the most affected by global warming and that they are likely to see their agricultural production fall. On the other hand, the report pointed out that Canada, Russia, and the U.S, are likely to increase their exports and output by 2050 (Reid, 2018). These findings are attributed to climate change that is a result of global warming. It is worth noting that developed countries such as Canada, Russia and the U.S are more concerned about global warming and have taken appropriate measures to reduce their emissions. The result of their efforts is shown through their projected increase in output of their farming activities. On the contrary, third world countries, among them being those in West Africa and India, are the least concerned about global warming. The effect of extreme emissions in these countries is in turn evident through the projected decrease in their productivity in farming by the year 2050. Significant steps have been put in place to curb the challenge of emissions and as proven by the U.S’s idea of an emission market (Lakoff, 2010), curbing the emissions should not be an expensive affair and so no country has an excuse of not putting appropriate measures to regulate emissions. The most affected in this sector are the third world countries which act as dumping sites for some products that have a potential of being huge carbon producers such as old cars. Therefore, there is a need for appropriate efforts that are inclusive to ensure that all countries focus on reducing environmental pollution.
The author does a good job is shading light about the aspect of saving energy. Unfortunately, whereas the author highlighted the different projects, however, there are certain areas that the author should have improve. One of this is shading more light on the various non-energy saving technique that some people use in their daily activities. The author should also have highlighted how the third world countries can be incorporated into the energy regulatory bodies to ensure that all countries abide by the requirements to maintain low emissions. Otherwise, the chapter has been quite informative.
References
Lakoff, A. (Ed.). (2010). Disaster and the Politics of Intervention . Columbia University Press.
Reid, D. (2018). “UN report identifies where global harvests will rise and fall by 2050.” CNBC . Accessed on February 11, 2018 at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/17/un-report-shows-climate-change-effect-on-farming.html
