Short stories free essay sample

Examines theme of individual confronting society in three short stories. Red Convertible ( Louise Erdrich ), Bartleby the Scrivener (Herman Melville ) AP ( John Updike ) (more)

Governing document of the United States Essay Example

Governing document of the United States Essay Example Governing document of the United States Paper Governing document of the United States Paper There is no right to healthcare, at least not in the sense that there is a right to freedom of speech or freedom of religion. It is not an enumerated â€Å"right† in the Constitution or in the Bill of Rights. However, the Supreme Court has held that the rights listed in those documents is not meant to be inclusive all rights and that other rights could exist and be added as time progresses. Furthermore, whether it is a listed right in the governing document of the United States, it is reasonable to assume that we have implied a right to healthcare for our citizens by creating ever-growing social programs to provide healthcare since the advent of Social Security. : And, as the last industrialized nation in the world that does not provide universal healthcare, it is the shame of a nation that a growing number of citizens do not have access to basic health necessities. Moreover, the right to healthcare should probably be viewed as a fundamental human right, as a necessary part of the freedom to live. The simple truth of the matter is that the American health care system is the best in the world. We have the technology and facilities and health care professionals needed to see that every man, woman and child in the country has access to healthcare. The problem appears to be in the distribution of these facilities and professionals and the cost of the technology.   And, the secondary consideration is how much health care is enough? At some point the determination must be made of how much healthcare people have a fundamental right to expect. This may, in fact, be a place where having access to the best medical care in the world is a drawback and not an advantage.   Where do we draw the line between what is necessary healthcare and what is luxury? For example, if an 84-year-old woman from a family that generally lives well into their 90s needs rotator cuff surgery, should she have as much of a right to the surgery as a 40-year-old man who needs the same surgery to do his job?   Should expensive treatments or experimental drugs be covered in a basic health plan that covers everyone in the nation? Or, should the health plan only cover the most basic needs, like immunizations and wellness checkups? The answer lies somewhere in between.   It is not financially feasible for the government to provide unlimited access to healthcare for all the citizens of the country. Other countries have tried and often find their more wealthy citizens seeking out health care in the United States rather than wait for access to the needed healthcare in their own country. The fine balance between capitalism and socialized medicine is a difficult one. The government must still encourage capitalism among drug companies and doctors as the competition leads to progress in medical care. However, the government must also control the rising costs of health care so that it can afford to provide universal health care. So, who gets to decide what coverage the average citizen is entitled to and where the limits apply?   Who decides what health care is necessary and what is frivolous? And, if we have socialized medicine, and some medical treatment is considered a luxury, would it not simply create and even more two-tiered for health care than already exists? If some health care is considered a luxury, is it not even more a case of the haves and have nots than currently faces Americans. And, does that mean we value the lives of young more than those of the old or the lives of the rich more than the lives of poor? The reality is that a commission of medical professionals such as though who currently determine what Medicare covers could be put in charge of determining what health care people have a right to. The only fair way to provide health care would be to provide each and every citizen with whatever health care they need. However, this kind of a requirement places a responsibility of the citizens that goes hand in hand with the rights. If there is a right to health care, an inherent responsibility to try to do everything we can to make our lives more comfortable, healthy and lengthy, then there is a universal responsibility to pay for the health. Countries which have universal health care pay taxes considerably higher than Americans are used to paying. In short, there may be an inherent right to healthcare, but if so, it comes with a deep responsibility to every taxpayer to work to fund the system. This is in many ways what is wrong with the current proposals in California and Illinois for healthcare for all citizens. The proposal seek to extend healthcare to the working poor, and the unworking poor, but make no provisions to be certain that those people pay a share of the expense. One way to deal with this might be a system similar to Switzerland’s where the country provides healthcare for everyone but there is a cost to each citizen. Those who do not pay their share face criminal charges and jail time.

Ricardo and Marx both had theories of a falling tendency of the rate Essay

Ricardo and Marx both had theories of a falling tendency of the rate of profit in the development of capitalism. What were the different theoretical bases for t - Essay Example It ws, rther, the expression under cpitlism of the incresed productivity of lbour. ccording to Mrx, lw of the tendency of the rte of profit to fll (LTRPF) is theory developed by Mrx in the third volume of Cpitl to explin the occurrence of economic crises within cpitlist economies. ccording to the LTRPF, s cpitlists invest in ever more cpitl-intensive production, the rte of profit flls, since profit cn only be generted from the surplus vlue extrcted from living lbor, which is declining proportion of the cpitlist's outly. However, securing lrger shre of the mrket offsets the lower rte of profit for the individul cpitlist. Eventully the flling rte of profit wekens the incentive to ccumulte on the prt of the cpitlists until eventully the mss of profit begins to stgnte. t tht point n economic crisis begins s cpitlists decline to invest. The LTRPF explins long-term fluctutions in cpitlist economies. There my be long periods of expnsion before the LTRPF ffects the mss of profit, during which the effects of the LTRPF cn be offset by vrious countercting tendencies, such s lower wges nd incresed intensity of exploittion in the lbor process. Eventully, however, there will be period of stgntion nd crisis in which lrge proportion of existing cpitl is destroyed before reinvestment nd renewl cn strt over gin (see Shikh 1991). The importnce of the LTRPF for Mrxist poli... The LTRPF ws of prticulr significnce in this regrd in the 1970s nd 1980s, when it ws widely rgued, nd sometimes ccepted on the Left, tht the economic crisis nd unemployment of the time resulted from excessive wge demnds tht hd generted infltion. Proponents of the LTRPF could mintin tht economic crises would occur even if workers ccepted the cpitlists' clls for wge cuts. If it is ccepted tht the LTRPF is inherent in cpitlist economies, nd tht crises re unvoidble, then the only wy to prevent further crises is to remove the constrints of cpitlism (see Hrmn 1984; Mndel 1981). Citing Mrx in the Cpitl, "the progressive tendency of the generl rte of profit to fll is, therefore, just n expression peculir to the cpitlist mode of production of the progressive development of the socil productivity of lbour. This does not men to sy tht the rte of profit my not fll temporrily for other resons. But proceeding from the nture of the cpitlist mode of production, it is thereby proved logicl necessity tht in its development the generl verge rte of surplus-vlue must express itself in flling generl rte of profit. Since the mss of the employed living lbour is continully on the decline s compred to the mss of mterilised lbour set in motion by it, i.e., to the productively consumed mens of production, it follows tht the portion of living lbour, unpid nd congeled in surplus-vlue, must lso be continully on the decrese compred to the mount of vlue represented by the invested totl cpitl. Since the rtio of the mss of surplus-vlue to the vlue of the invested totl cpitl forms the r te of profit, this rte must constntly fll." (Krl Mrx, Cpitl Volume 3, chpter 13) In nutshell, this lw sttes tht the tendency of the socil cpitl to