Reforms in progressive era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reforms in progressive era - Essay Example People in progressivism believed that problems within the society such as violence, poverty, racism, poor health, class warfare, and greed could be addressed through the provision of a safer environment, good education, honest government, and efficient workplace. Progressives were people living in cities, had a college education, and were of the idea that the government could be an agent of change (Schlesinger, 2003). Key reforms One of the areas that were of target for reforms by the progressives was the direct or indirect impacts of the high wave of immigration and industrialization in the 19th century. From 1900 to 1910, about 8.8 million immigrants entered the US, many of whom were from regions, religions, and ethnic groups that were different from American immigrants from Western Europe. Those coming from southern Europe offered cheap labor that supported the rapid growing industries and were in their high numbers in densely populated urban areas. Politicians and political parti es started to target these immigrants to pursue their own goals. On the other hand, the poor health care, housing, and sanitation, as well as the increased use of child labor in factories and homes became a focus for reformers (Schlesinger, 2003). ... As a result of this, legislation establishing minimum safety and housing standards were introduced (Schlesinger, 2003). One of the most dominant people of the progressive era was Theodore Roosevelt. He is on record for bringing reforms that changed people’s welfare and the economy at large. One such reform is the expansion government powers within the economy by creating new power for organized labor to manage and exert leverage against employers. By doing so, Roosevelt played direct roles in ending labor disputes, and in some occasions threatened to use the army to settle disputes between coal mine owners and miners (Schlesinger, 2003). The new deal The new deal was an idea created by Roosevelt when he started expanding the government in order to come up with institutions that would protect different groups of citizens such as farmers and workers. This was mainly to protect people from the great depression and material crisis by enabling citizens to question the powers of cor porations. In doing so, Roosevelt strengthened the executive, influenced political formation and defined agendas for future political debates (Schlesinger, 2003). Reform in the new deal Social security Act This was a legislative act, which formed social security system in the US. The act was signed into law by Roosevelt in 1935, and it created a social insurance program meant to pay retired works aged 65 years or older some income after retirement. The act formed a system of insurance for the unemployed, disabled and the aged based on the employer and employee contributions. Much of the funding came from taxes existing workers (Schlesinger, 2003). Tennessee valley authority This is a federally owned corporation

Critical analysis worksheet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical analysis worksheet - Essay Example Low nutrition expensive food is in the market not because of farmers’ equipment prices have soared, the consolidation is the real evil behind it. When someone walks into a shop, they see a huge number of brands selling different food products. This might seem like a good thing as more players enter in a market, competition increases and hence the quality and price remain under control. However the reality is far from it, those thousands of brands represent only a handful of companies, their parent companies, their real owners. There is one major distributor of organic food in the country and United National Food Inc. (UNFI) and Whole Foods are its major customers (Breaking up the Foodopoly, 2013). Companies use food science to make people addicted to the processed food – fat, sugar and salt are put in perfect combination so that the brain reaches nirvana, and releases dopamine; the brain sets up a neuro-circuit of eating food as a reward. Consolidated companies and food quality boards control everything, even the nutrition requirements, politicians are involved in it too, but there is still hope as things are improving. While such news would not get spotlight on mainstream media channels but with the boom of social media people can talk and create awareness. Along with voting with fork, people also need to vote for better politicians that are interested in people’s health rather than corporate profits. 2. What questions would you ask the author (at least 2 questions) The two questions I would ask the author would be; 1) How can average American (or anyone in the world) create active awareness regarding foodopoly? What do you suggest people should do other than updating statuses on social media websites and liking news articles such as yours? 2) What can be done to develop a board or a committee that can keep an eye on the standard of food and food prices? The companies involved in this business are very strong and they can hire lawyers that can win them any case, so how do we fight on this platform that we need an independent board (independent of politics and corporate influence) that would make decisions about food pricing and quality solely on scientific and economic reasoning? 3. Do you agree with the main premise of the reading? Why or why not? What evidence or personal experience would you offer to? I completely agree with the premise of the article, there is consolidation; there is food-monopoly (foodopoly). One doesn’t need to be an expert to realize what is going on in the food market. A little search on the internet reveals the massive scale on which consolidation is being done in the food market. Corporates controlling food industry is devastating, people can’t avoid food, and it’s not a luxury. People get hungry and they need to eat. So controlling (or consolidating) the market means one controls people’s hunger and their wants and needs. Corporates can put up a television comme rcial showing a doctor telling the public how important it is to have an egg in the breakfast and some cereals and wash it down with milk. Everyone knows it’s just a commercial to sell milk, cereals and eggs, but the subconscious takes it all in, the brand name too. So when it comes to