Saturday, February 29, 2020

A Proposal for the Solution to Economic Abuse in Puerto Rico

A Proposal for the Solution to Economic Abuse in Puerto Rico How to Start the Ending of Economic Abuse in Puerto Rico Through the years, Puerto Ricans have been living the era of Economic, Social, and Political Crisis in the island. Most of the society does not pay attention to those situations or to the problems presented. All the three types of crisis connect at one point. Through my proposal I want to explain and expose the cause and effect of two situations that Puerto Rico has and is going through, and those are the increase of the salaries of different city mayors, and the abuse of those who â€Å"need† financial assistance. On February 23, 2009, the Autonomous Municipalities Act was created in order to ensure more control over the different mayors’ decision. It was set out in Article 3.012 of the Act, the concerns dealing with the authorization of increases in salaries of mayors. In this part of the Act, Hernà ¡ndez (2009) states the following: â€Å"A mayors salary will be established depending on the time of its term and the population of his municipality. A mayor, in his/her first term, can earn a salary of three thousand ($ 3,000.00) to five thousand dollars ($ 5,000.00)†¦ In a municipality with a population over one hundred thousand (100,000) occupants, one Mayor re-elected may earn a salary of five thousand ($ 5,000.00) to nine thousand dollars ($ 9,000.00).† A serious problem with this Act is that it provides too much freedom or autonomy to those municipality leaders who do not have the capacity of attending in a correct manner the financial needs. A couple of examples to support this statement are the case of the mayor from Villalba, who was conducted in an investigation for using the money to go on a trip to New Jersey; the increase in the salary of the mayor of Rio Grande, Eduardo Rivera Correa, from $3,900 to $7,500 because he thought that the salary he earned at first was not enough for his living expenses. According to Fonseca (2013), â€Å"the ones who can lower the salary of the mayors are the legislators, and they will not want to confront the mayor of the municipalities. But, how can these mayors say that their salary is not enough for their cost of living when the income per capita of any citizen is of $1,600 to no more than $3,000 monthly.† He does have a point. Most mayors do not have the expenses that most of the cit izens have. If the money they receive was used to better the status of their municipality then it would be understandable that their income would be increased, but the facts do not prove that. In the case of the mayor of Rio Grande, it was found that the municipality had $2.2 million dollars in deficit in 2010-11, after the increase of his income. The mayors are one problem, but the society is another. Puerto Rico provides financial assistance for those who needed. But the question would be, do they truly need that help? One of the most famous helps that the government gives is the Nutritional Assistance Program also known as PAN, which is a family credit card that receives a monthly payment where part of that money can only be used for grocery shopping. Out of 3.7 million people that compose the population, 1.5 million receive this help. Those 640,000 families receive a payment of $150 up to $650 monthly, where 25% of that money can be taken as cash for other expenses. Most of the people that receive this financial assistance live in public housing or as we Puerto Ricans call them the residenciales. In 2009, the Project 894 was presented which established the â€Å"Special Law for Justified Tariffs for Utilities for Public Housing† that presented the ways the different funds would be used for the maintenance of the r esidential. The funds provided $70,438,000 were $68,728,000 came from federal funds, and the other $1,710,000 came from loans and bonds. Most of that money can be used for the improvement of other difficulties like for schools, roads, community programs, etc. Those people, besides receiving the financial assistance they get, they live in the public housing with fixed monthly payments in two appeals: water and electricity. Their monthly payments on water is only $19.71, and on electricity just $30, which in reality most of them do not pay because they put a trap o better known as un pillo de luz y agua which gives them the â€Å"privilege† of having no expenses. All of these problems stated have an effect on the future society, especially on college students and the ones who soon are going to go into college. Although most of the college students receive financial aid like scholarships and grants, most of them try to find a job during their first four years or their bachelor years so they can start saving money for their masters and doctor’s degree. There is the problem. Society today is suffering a crisis of unemployment where the facts state that 30% of the populations of 15 to 24 years old are unemployed because most of the jobs presented today have high requirements that most of them do not have, like having a bachelor’s degree in the specific branch the job asks for. The solutions I want to present are simple but require more effort in the work of those who control the salaries of the mayors, which would be the legislature, and those who control the financial assistance, which would be the Family Department. The solution I provide is that do not approve a request without first making a background investigation of the person. Investigate the cause or reasons the person wants that money, what that person wants it for, how will they use it, etc. If the background investigation presents valid reasons then approve the request, but do not stop there. Keep a watch on that person to see if he/she is truly worthy of maintaining that support or financial assistance. If after a month or two the person shows bad use of the money, then cancel that support and give it to somebody else. But stop wasting money on things, in this case people that do not deserve it because they do not know how to properly use the money they are receiving. Money is not something to give away especially when the country is suffering an economic crisis. The economic abuse that the people, from the poor to the ones in the power, have over the money that the government does not have would be consider the biggest part of the base of the economic problem in Puerto Rico. The government should take better control over the money that is left or that they receive, and learn how to handle it that would benefit the people and the country’s status. But the society needs to learn that they cannot abuse of the money they receive, because they have the â€Å"privilege† of receiving that financial aid when they do not truly need it. There are families out there who NEED that help but they are not among the poor, they are instead hidden among the middle class of the society.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Gender identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Gender identity - Essay Example According to Devor, in all social categories, gender is the most transparent. The acquisition of gender roles come early in life making it hard to relate them to lessons taught and learned. He states that gender has nothing to do with socialization but, everything to do with nature. He further suggests that our ideas of being male or female are socially related. He clearly states that gender identity is a lifelong process. A story of my body: By Judith Ortiz Cofer. Cofer believes that the body plays a major role in different cultures and contexts. She goes on to reflect on how different societies have interpreted her appearances. To an extent, the story of her life is intertwined in this story. Her story brings out interesting comments on cross-cultural perception and gender. The thesis of this paper is generalized as gender identity. It tries to establish what comprises and defines gender identity. The two authors mentioned above have different perceptions about gender identity but all come to social factors. For instance, according to Devor, gender is determined by the roles one plays while on the other hand, Cofer perceives gender identity to be determined by the cultural standards. All these converge to the society which means that gender is identified by interacting with the society. Devor on Gender identity and generalized and significant others The generalized others acts as a kind of measuring or monitoring device through which people in a society judge their actions in reference to the generalized conceptions on how society members are expected to carry out their actions. In that way, individuals monitor their behavior in reference to what the society considers to be right or wrong. Therefore, these people have standards that censor their behaviors which may be either approved or disapproved by the society. Hence, the tension gives rise to the definition of self (Devor, pp 6) Although all others do play a significant figure in people’s lives, an d not everyone is of equal effect on self-development. Any individual is entitled to be part and parcel of the generalized others, but some people, by the sense of time volume spent in interacting with someone, or through particular interactions, would be more vital in the shaping of individuals’ values. The significant others are more influential in the creation of an individual’s self-image, goals, and one’s ideals. In that way, they weigh disproportionately on an individual’s generalized other. Hence, the individualistic impulses of children are outlined into a form that is socially acceptable by specific people and general pressure to adaption exerted by society members. Gender identity is, therefore, a focal point in the development of self-sense (Devor, pp 6) Cofer on generalized and significant others In contrary to Devor’s opinion on generalized others and its effect on one’s gender identity, Cofer argues in a completely different wa y. Coffer perceives one’s identity to be influenced by various aspects the body by different communities. He argues that different communities in their cultures define gender identity differently. For instance, Coffer, while she was in America skin color, had a diverse opinion depending on where one was. The Italian (butcher) at the supermarket discriminated her as she was darker compared to them while on the other hand, the Latinos considered her to be colored.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Report to the presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report to the presentation - Essay Example From the two aspects, success is assured for your presentation (Tolley & Wood 2011). This paper, therefore, seeks to compare two group’s case studies for their presentations. For case study six presentations, the presentation is about the role of the government while case study seven, talks about Ethics and globalization. The paper seeks to compare case studies’ six and seven. For a well written report presentation, it is essential that the group members do a thorough research on the subject matter. The group members should, therefore, read lots of sources to gather information concerning the subject. The reason for this is because having the ability to present a subject area with confidence affects the audience directly. In turn, this gives the audience an impression that will capture their attention. For instance, for case study six, the topic the role of government is clear and readers can easily tell what the presentation is all about. Similarly, case study seven’s topic is also clear and easily communicates the information to its audience. For this reason, both groups have shown strength in explicitly making the subject matter of their presentations simple for the audience to have an idea of what is to be presented. Both case studies discuss ethical issues and leaves questions on h ow to solve the ethical issues. The aspect of researching for a simple and easily understandable subject is essential in capturing the audience’s attention. For both presentations, the members did a lot of research, and this could only be achieved through teamwork and a high level of cooperation (Tolley & Wood 2011). Teamwork and cooperation are vital components that ensure successful presentations, and this is portrayed in case studies one and seven. Another similarity between the case study six and seven is that they leave the reader with an open mind of making an ethical decision in solving the problem at hand. However, both case studies