Commentary on Different News Articles - Coursework Example

Commentary on news articles Name: Date: Introduction Different news items or articles have a specific theme or subject area or areas that it is dealing with. For instance there is business news, political news and sports news. This paper is a media journal that gives commentary on different news articles. The articles have been carefully selected and deal with issues relating to topics learnt in class. Article: Margarita Murillo: Another Victim of Neo-liberalism in Honduras? In this news item, the murder of Margarita Murillo, a peasant activist is reviewed with the intent of the author being to discuss the possible motive behind the killing. The focus of the writer is to prove a possible link between the murder and neo-liberal economic policies in Honduras. Mrs. Murillo, who had recently been named the president of a window production peasants association, was involved in a tussle that pitched her against a large land owner. The author reviews the Honduran economic policies that led to the concentration of large fertile tracts of land in the hands of a few individuals and left the majority of the population with little or no land. Caceres (2014) opines that the 1992 agrarian modernization laws that transformed land into a liberalized market commodity are solely to blame for this. In this law, land as a factor of production is viewed by many as commodity and its distribution is determined by the powers of demand and supply. In this kind of a liberalized environment, the result is that state intervention on the distribution of land is limited and influential or wealthy individuals and large corporations acquire the main share of land. The effects of neoliberalism can be viewed from different perspectives. While noting that it is a theory that will support the free circulation of capital, the theory has more harm to the poor than it poses any good. Due to the limited nature of land, neo-liberalism in Honduras has pushed the population to the extreme limits. Such killings for instance can be viewed to be direct consequences. The negative attitude of neo-liberalism at individual level is noted by Richards (1999) as individuality and personal interest guiding any action that is taken by the same individual. To this point, the killing of Mr. Murillo could be a direct consequence from this school of thought that is propagated by neo-liberalism. It describes the application of this theory in a workplace society as the main source of demoralization and the corrosion of societal values and symbols. Organizations such as the one headed by Mrs. Murillo which is the symbol of the society become irrelevant and are inconsequential to the capitalist in neo-liberalism. The only thing that matter in this case is the satisfaction of the individual The struggle for land between the poor and the influential in this society is taking a direction where the poor continue to sink in poverty and the influential gain more parcels of land. As this happens, individuals are assigned a pleasure value by the neo-liberal system. In the case where the individual causes more harm to the pleasure of the capitalist, such individuals have to bear the consequences of their action which it pitching them against the capitalist. The end result could be ruthless action by the capitalist on the subject to maintain their position. This idea is also echoed in Rey (2006). The pleasure of the capitalist is construed as limitless and the possibility of excesses is not envisioned. For the group that accommodates this school of thought, the result is continued wallowing in poverty as the capitalist grabs more and more of the available wealth. The state remains to have little or no control over this system. Article: UNEP releases global environmental outlook report The article by Bashir (2014) reviews the contents of the report released recently by the world environmental body UNEP. In the report, the environmental body focuses the on the impact of the global environmental degradation on small island developing states. It notes that in these island states, the frequency of environmental disasters is a possible indication of the environmental trend in the planet. For instance the rise in the level of the sea is an indication of the average rise in global temperatures. In the report, recommendations have been drawn in line with the global agenda of sustainable development after 2015. The main recommendations that are included in the report concern issues dealing with disaster preparedness, sound environmental policies, food security, transparent financial systems and socially inclusive growth. These frameworks will rely on both the forces of the global markets and the government policies to make corrections to achieve a sustainable future. According to Raskin et al (2002), the forces of a competitive market can respond to the social and environmental challenges. In this scenario, globalization fuels the self-correcting logic to mitigate the social and environmental problems. An examination of this condition proved that in the wake of these challenges, the urgent need for sustainability would occasion the normal forces of the market to develop a situation in which the challenges facing the environment are prioritized and corrected. In the case where government policy is used to correct this situation and provide sustainability, changing incentives would be the most probable way in dealing with the challenge. Regulations that promote environmentally friendly policies can also be enacted to provide guidelines to achieve environmental sustainability. While noting that human input in this challenge, the only possible remedy could be achieved through education of the population by the relevant arms of government. This is done with the aim of instilling behavior change in the people to adopt environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in their activities. Renner (2002) notes the challenges to policy reforms. For instance it specifically cites the lacks of political will that hinders the development of frameworks that will reduce global resource use with bigger margins. The market forces model described by Raskin et al (2002) does not take into consideration the interest of all species in the environment. As such Lowe (1994) suggests that it cannot be left to deal with the challenges of the environment in entirety. The likelihood of the interests of the forces being skewed to favor the human race is very high. It is therefore wise to develop a concrete plan and exercise effective decision making strategies to achieve sustainability and mitigate the challenges of the environment. In this article the input of the island states in environmental for both regional and international is highlighted. It is important to note that these for a are crucial in developing action plans to achieve sustainability on the environment. Since the impacts of global environmental challenges are most felt on these states, their advocacy is crucial to ensure that the international community adopts frameworks that will help mitigate the challenges of the global environment. Article: key moments in the independence debate. In this article, the author examines the key events that took place in the UK during the era of Margaret Thatcher. In the early 1980s the recession hit the UK and many people lost their jobs. To further compound the problem, a yearlong miners’ strike took place that continued to cripple the industrialization of the UK and Scotland in particular. The Scottish national party then crafted a resistance to try and find ways of dealing with the problem of lack of jobs and the closure of industries. The party wanted to read out a declaration at the Scottish assembly detailing what the government should have done to alleviate the suffering of the masses. The group also called for political strikes and civil disobedience by the people of Scotland. However before the group could make real their threats they were arrested and put in police custody. Woodroffe and Ellis-Jones (2000), explains that the counter power is a result of the person countering a resistance protecting some interest. It illustrates the government’s counter to resistance in the global wide protests over IMF as a bid to protect the rights of the institution and forego its nominal role to the people. In this article, the Scottish resistance is against the government of UK is occasioned by high rate of unemployment and the government’s inability to handle the situation. The masses having lost the confidence in Thatcher’s administration are justified to resist her rule. They actualize the resistance through strikes and civil disobedience. The governments counter action is to arrest some of the prominent and vocal proponents of the movement. The intention of the government’s move is to protect some form of interest. The government wanted the status quo to be maintained but the Scottish team of activists felt that the transformation of the system was long overdue. In the devolution battle, the resistance was from the Scots. The people wanted a different government system from that of the UK. The people wanted to choose for themselves the type of government and have the one imposed on them by the UK government withdrawn. The people felt that they had a sovereign right to make these choices. The counter resistance that existed here again emanated from the prime minister and the government by extension. The government felt that it was of no use having a different form of governance e while they existed under the same jurisdiction. Swanson (2014) carefully plans his review of the events that preceded the devolution of governance in Scotland. The main ideas of conflict are highlighted and the resistance as posed by the activists is well choreographed. The counter power is also well outlined for every resistance action that is listed in this article. The effectiveness of resistance is documented in Ellner (2011). It notes that for the resistance to be effective, it is important for the masses to participate in the course so that the government can take notice. It also appreciates the fact that the leadership of a resistance must remain steadfast in their actions in order to succeed in advancing their ideals. From the point of view of the counter action, the driving force is the threats of losing out on their interest should a transformation succeed. Reference Bashir, I. (2014). UNEP releases global environmental outlook report. Retrieved from Caceres, M. (2014). Margarita Murillo: Another Victim of Neo-liberalism in Honduras? Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marco-caceres/margarita-murillo-another_b_5744476.html Ellner, S. (2011). "Distinguishing Features of Latin America's New Left: The Chavez, Lowe, 1. (1994) 'Global Climate Change and the Politics of Long-Term Issues', inSustainable Energy ~stem" Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Morales and Correa Governments:' Marxist XXVII: 4 (October-December 2011), p. 15. Print. Raskin, R., Banuri, T., Gallopin, G., Gutman, P., Hammond, A., Kates, R. and Swart, R.(2002) Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of Tinws Ahead, Boston: Stockholm Environment Institute. Rennel; M. (2002) 'Lessons of Afghanistan: Understanding the Conditions that Give Rise to Extremism', WOrld Watch, March/April: 38. Rey, O. (2006). Awild solitude. Paris. seuil publication Richards S. (1999). The corrosion of character. The personal consequences of work in the new capitalism. New york. Norton publishers. Pg 22 print Swanson, I. (2014). Thatcher’s policies fuelled calls for devolution. Edinburgh. Retrieved from http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/thatcher-s-policies-fuelled-calls-for-devolution-1-3535550 Woodroffe, J. and Ellis-Jones, M. (2000). States of Unrest: Resistance to IMF Policies in Poor Countries, London: World Development Movement Read More