Detailed Advantages of School Uniform Policy

Implementation of school uniform policy is not easy. Court battles have been fought to stop it. The matter is even made political. Despite this, it is hard to ignore the various advantages that this policy brings to schools and students.

1. It dramatically reduces offenses in school
Most studies show students in uniform attract less physical fights, discipline referrals and police reports. Meanwhile, schools get to see a decreased rate in vandalism and gang related activities. This tells us that school uniforms save lives and eliminate much headache tied to monitoring students through other expensive methods.

2. It helps students blend in
One of the main arguments of the anti-uniform group is that children should be allowed to express themselves in school through fashion. This is the opposite of what reality shows. In schools, students who dress with such objective are usually shunned. Good example of this is someone choosing to go goth. In school, this person is forced to be with handful of those who make the same choice. None can avoid criticism from the teachers. As for the rest, they go for what is in vogue. The truth is that very few kids understand the connection between fashion and expression. They want to get along with each other through blending. This is best done via uniform.

3. It kills criticism and discrimination
Uniforms can shut off judgments. As mentioned before, children wish to blend in with their peers. This is because they do not want to be criticized and discriminated. In schools, you will find people who are very much open about the fact that they make friends based on on the price tags their clothes have. In fact, according to our history, uniform policy was implemented somewhere in the 70s to stop violence related to designer clothes and gangs. What all this means is that normal clothes bring in judgments that children are scared of. To still push normal clothes on them, thus is nothing more than child abuse. Uniforms free them from this nasty thing.

4. Schools can free themselves from worries about certain clothes
Normal clothes do force schools to have policy on what students can wear. That is why, nationwide, they ban hats assuming them to be symbols of gangs. Teachers can have their own policy also right in their class rooms. We had a math teacher who actually threw t shirts at girls coming to his class in tank tops. None of them is necessary when uniform policy is implemented.

5. It saves money 
You can buy a few sets of uniforms and wear them for years. This way it is possible to save a lot on clothing. But that is not all. In today's time, schools are trying their best to make uniforms as affordable as possible.

6. It saves normal clothes from damages
The less one wears his favorite clothes the more he saves it from damages. Maybe most students understand this logic, but peer pressure ovrrides it. Those who are concerned about it will always find uniforms as the best shield. Good thing is that the schools around the world are now moving towards fabrics that are stain resistant. Plus in our country, schools are trying their best to make uniforms as affordable as possible.

7. It saves time
Uniform cuts the time needed to get ready. This means students get to sleep a little bit more in the morning or eat better breakfast.

8. It helps students focus on education
Once the worries about what to wear each day is gone, students finally get to actually study with much ease. Let’s remember children are sent to school for education.

9. It can clean up the image of the school in public
People interpret the quality of a school based on what uniform its students wear. There is no way to avoid it since media does cover news about schools. No student wants to be associated with the one that has bad reputation. They know uniform will get them identified. Because of that, it is likely for them to personally take precaution to not tarnish the name of their school. This can show up in the form of effort to maintain good grades and behave properly in public especially when they are still in their uniform. This is a win-win situation for both students and the school.

10. It keeps strangers out of school
In a school that has no uniform, employees are left to play detective to keep strangers out. Have you ever tried overhearing them? I did once after school. One employee went heavily confused about a guy who just entered the premise. She did not know what to do. She was suspicious that he was not from our school. But she could not just directly go to him. The solution she had was to ask other employees if they ever saw him there before. No one seemed interested in creating a scene for which they decided to just watch his moves. Something like this can be solved just by the simple introduction of uniform. Some people think that strangers can still get inside by wearing one. The truth is that nowhere school uniform is sold with easy access. Even the design is made distinct to prevent imitation.

11. It makes field trips easy to manage
Nobody wants to be lost, but it happens. Both teachers and students are aware of this. Detection is not simple especially when students are in their casual clothes near children of their age not belonging to the school. Surely, teachers can memorize all the faces, but that does not eliminate the danger of students losing their group in the crowd. This is where uniform works as the best secure option. Teachers no more have to memorize faces. They are free to focus on the main goal of the trip. And when some students are left behind they can manage to get inside the group again by tracking their classmates’ uniform.

12. It turns student body into a warm family
Uniform sends out the message to students that they are all part of a big family. Most friendships become lifelong. Even if you have a bad history with someone you just don’t find yourself continuing with it. In fact, even after graduation, you can’t cut off the attachment you will grow while in school.

13. Implementation is becoming more democratic
The mixture of technology, marketing and growing respect for students' taste has made implementation of uniform policy more democratc than ever. To design the uniform by keeping style in mind, schools can now easily get advice from designers. They can even directly approach Tommy Hilfiger. Moreover, many big stores now participate in the program for which students no more have to worry about their uniforms going out of stock. Ordering is possible online. Some schools now allow students to individually choose the fabric type they are comfortable with. 

Massive Welfare Program Luring People into ISIS: The Real Story

It seems the media hasn't done a good job of exposing why people who never met a Muslim in real life are accepting ISIS' invitation to an extreme version of Islam and then moving to Syria to wage jihad to create an already doomed caliphate. It isn't elementary to rationally justify that a gore side of a religion can quickly transform simple minded western folks into baddies of 120 days of Sodom.

In a strange turn of events, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the new national security adviser of Trump administration has made it clear that he isn't interested in scapegoating Islam to fight terrorism. In fact, he hates the term "radical Islamic terrorism". He says that the terrorists have changed the religion to fit it into their agenda. What he has mentioned should not be taken as some sort of politically correct statement. The answer to why people have been joining ISIS has always been sitting in front of us, but we have completely overlooked it by gluing our eyes to Islam.

Research confirms that financial benefits are at play, but how much of it would get someone to brutally kill those who don't agree with them while declaring that the world is in need of their extreme Islam? One single post by a female terrorist has the answer:

We will debunk her so called facts below

Federal Regulations on Advertising

Advertising is all about creatively getting consumers to buy a product. But can this creativity be misleading? Of course yes and to fight it we have Federal Trade Commission. This independent agency has guidelines on permitted and prohibited contents to be used in the advertising. Companies are expected to voluntarily abide by them. In case of failure, they risk being in trouble.

Typically, whether an ad is deceptive is decided through three steps formalized by FTC. They are:
1. Ad Contents or actions that are false, partially true or carry some form of exclusion
2. May dupe
3. An objective consumer

Also consider the following to know how the ad contents can be presented:

Puffing: Puffing means using general statements or exaggeration in an ad. FTC allows it to some extent. But to make sure it is being used correctly, an ad should contain subjective instead of objective statements. They should be such that lab test of the product is not needed.
"Gone are the days of desktop computers"
"It tastes like chicken"
"As cute as kitten"

Ad substantiation: Ad substantiation means showing validity of a claim in the ad through experts, studies or any other visible proof. FTC allows this only if the company truly documents as backup. Also any studies mentioned in the ad must be those that are done through valid scientific method. Failure to do it means the ad has half truth and thus, deceptive. Examples of ad substantiation are:
"It is clinically proven"
"The product most dermatologists recommend"
"Top rated"
"It comes in 7 different sizes"

If the ad here is factually correct it adheres to FTC rules on substantiation

Bait and Switch advertising: In simplest form, bait and switch ad is the mismatch between what is shown and given to the consumers. Say that you come across an ad showing a $200 red laptop. You go to buy it, but the company tells you that since it is no more available, you may try buying their other laptops priced over $200. In the virtual world, it is called bait-and-click advertising. In general, FTC prohibits it in all forms.

So what happens if the FTC rules are violated? Consumers can report the business entity to the agency. Multiple complaints means investigation. If FTC finds proof of deception a letter containing the complaint is sent to the business. If they reject it FTC takes the case to court. After evaluating it, if the judge finds the violation to be true FTC is allowed to hold cease-and-desist order against the business to terminate their deceptive practice. Of course, things do not need to end there. In fact, the business can challenge the order by taking the case to FTC commissioners. If this does not work they can go to both circuit and supreme courts respectively. But complete rejection of  cease-and-desist order prior to this can either get the business banned or fined. The amount is decided by looking at the number of violations. Each may require a payment as high as $10,000.

To avoid this situation, the business has the option to end the dilemma through the consent order as soon as the first FTC complaint letter is received. The advantage of taking this route is that the business does not need to admit the guilt. However, breaking of the consent can still get it penalized.

Original Jurisdiction and Appellate Jurisdiction Made Simple

Jurisdiction is basically the word that describes the power to do something legally by an authority. But to get a clear picture, it is important to split the word. What we get out of it is juris and diction in Latin. While the first one means law, diction means speaking. From this, we get "law speaks".

It would be easier to just convert it into "authority to take action legally". Now think about courts.They hear cases and give verdicts. Thus, they are related to jurisdiction. Under it, we have:

Courts of original jurisdiction

It basically decides which court will hear the case first. Generally, its other name is trial court. It is possible to bring both civil and criminal cases to it. Evidence and testimony of witnesses are mainly used here to facilitate verdicts. Federal court titles them as district courts. On the other hand, in the state court system, they are termed as courts of common pleas or county courts.

U.S. Supreme Court can also be court of original jurisdiction to hear cases of this specific kind:

• State versus person
• State versus state or its resident
• US government versus citizen(s)
• American citizen versus foreign government

Courts of appellate jurisdiction

These are also known as appellate courts. No trial is used here. The work of the appellate court is to look into cases which already have been brought to trial courts.

In general, the judge  goes over the transcripts of the above court to see if the verdict given had error. In short, if a party is not happy with the judgement of the trial court he has the option to allow the appellate court to review it with the hope that the verdict will be on his side.

However, he will not get the feature of the previous trial checked here in the form of questions of facts. The judge of appellate court can actually only check whether the verdict of the trial court was based on the correct application of the passed laws. Thus, it is said that they deal with questions of law. What this should hint is that the appellate courts have the right to overrule any wrong verdicts given by the trial courts and this pretty much has affects the questions of fact.

What are the Aims of Laws?

Laws are so much part of everyone's life that it is common to take them for granted and not question why they exist. Traditionally, they do have some basic aims and they can be listed as:

1. Substitute for savagery: Humans, just like wild animals, are capable of violence. It is still considered a preferred method when two groups cannot see eye to eye. This preferred method is called war. If all in a country begin to pick that we will see nothing but savagery.

On the top of that, we will have the most powerful usually defeating the small guys. One of the aims of laws in a country is to prevent that from happening. They are substitutes to solving every problem with arguments and riots.

2. Strengthening of equity in the society: The synonyms  of equity is justice, fairness, honesty, righteousness and so on. Although most of them are more personal in nature the laws aim to strengthen their roots to maintain a fair society. By using fairness, it is possible to remind all that they may not use their bad intention to hurt others.

3. Bringing about a hope for metamorphosis through logic: We humans have realized that favorable situations can happen from the use of logic. Laws aim to do just that. The main intention here is to look at a problem and its solutions from a logical point of view. We have many systems in place to help laws make it possible. Just think about how when a business ends up hurting many people a new law is enacted to prevent it from happening in the future. That is a hope for metamorphosis.

4. Blueprint for morals: Lawmakers do not have time to teach people to be moral. But passed laws can to some extent serve as guidelines for people in decisions related to moral and immoral routes.

5. Providing freedom to individuals: By having right laws, it is possible to help individuals enjoy personal freedom. In short, they protect rights of what citizens can do. Our American Bill of Rights is an example of this. Below we ten are displayed.

What do Interest Groups Do?

To satisfy the principles of democracy, national or state level policies in the United States are to be based on what the citizens want. The reality shows something different. There is actually no way to comprehend the real opinion of all the citizens. The media and politicians try to rectify the situation by depending on the polls. Another balm is interest group. Don’t fall for this singular term. The truth is that they are many in number. Their core identity relies on the idea that they represent the citizens. With this in mind, they try to influence the policies. To some extent, they are powerful, but divided by their ideologies. Basically, they represent different sections of the country or society. Some of these sections are given below.

Corporate: For this, we have the business groups. Although it is possible for an interest group to work for a single business organization the ones who come from a single industry enjoy the most power. They have more money, skilled influential characters and strategies. The following are some of the businesses and industries having the most active interest groups:
Oil companies
Pharmaceutical
Automobile

Professional: This one has a wide variety of interest groups, for we have a wide variety of professions in the country. Their examples include:

• American Medical Association
• National Society of Professional Engineers
• American Society of International Law

Labor: It has to do with labor unions. Its focus is rights of the workers. Examples coming under the labor group are:
Service Employees International Union
Public Employees Union
California Teachers Association

Officials from the government: They work as mostly lobbyists. They can be divided into:
Representatives of the states
US Conference of Mayors
National Governor’s Association

Public interest: This is connected to saving the health or rights of the public. The interest groups falling under it can have a variety of topics to focus on. Some examples of public interest groups are:
Greenpeace
US Public Interest Research Group
Consumer and Environmental Groups

Interest Groups are active almost in all the policy phases. Their activities can be slit in the following ways:

Conservation of the benefits: The main aim of an interest group is to make sure that they are not hurt by the policies.
Agenda setting: This is not the most important factor for the interest groups, but yes they can utilize it by either promoting or blocking a new agenda to be used for policy formulation. They also have the power to bring a unique one to the table.
Regulatory: Depending upon the ideology, an interest group here tries to either shrink or increase the size of a regulation. Some may even promote privatization of certain government programs. Generally, private businesses are most active here.
Election: Within this, the interest groups have the freedom to financially support their favorite candidates. They can donate money for the campaigns or do direct advertising. Some even promote voter registration.
Lobbying: Interest groups are typically popular for lobbying. The most general meaning of this is pleading. The word signals drama which is not so positive for a formal discussion. The game has to be played in the gentle manner. Another word used to explain lobbying is influencing the policy of the government. No matter how delicate this sounds, strategies used by some of the groups have been quite effective.

Those that are highly serious and financially secure have offices dedicated to lobbying. They can hire professional lobbyists to work on their behalves. They can pay the congressmen to do the same. Lobbying can also include influencing the judgement of the citizens with the aim to make them support or block a policy. Under this, the lobbyists usually can use advertisement or mails calling for action.

Sources of Bureaucratic Power in Public Agencies

Despite all the inefficiencies, why is it so hard to get rid of bureaucracy from the government agencies? The truth is that they have a power and this is the reason why the element is not removable. But what gives them the power? There is no definite answer to it. However, we can identify the sources responsible for it.

1. They have the Knowledge and skills: Public agencies spend great amount of time studying the environment they are made for. They have the money to do it. In some cases, they can also fund university research programs. The knowledge gained from such factors is like treasure. No private organization can ever have the luxury to have its hands on it. Same can be told about the skills.

Private organizations cannot  provide goods and services deemed important for all, but negative for their financial well-being. Under such circumstances, public agencies are the winners. They gain the skills for public gains, making them highly important in the society. Both knowledge and skill can get their carriers great power to exercise bureaucracy. They know people want them no matter what.

2. They know how to implement a policy: A bill signed into law is never complete. Moreover, sometimes it is intentionally kept vague. It is actually the job of the public agencies to fill it up by the power of discretion. The traditional notion is that they are skilled at exercising it, instantly giving them the right to have bureaucratic power.

3. They have the freedom to make decisions for the nation: Traditionally, it is held that the government wants the best for its people. That belief helps the public agencies gain trust. What they say is easily taken as serious by all. This trust is another source for their bureaucratic power.

4. They have the ability to control different aspects of a nation: This is pretty much connected to the above point, but in a twisted way. Public agencies have the power to create rules and regulations. Citizens who do not abide by them can be penalized. What this means is that the public agencies have the ability to control through force which cannot be always challenged.

5. They have support from the special interest groups: They are always trying their best to influence public policies in a way that they favor what they believe is right. To make it happen, they work with public agencies and sometimes even promote them.

6. They have support from the politicians: Without public agencies, work of the government will not go anywhere. Both legislative leaders and president know it very well. Hence, they are the biggest source of the bureaucratic power that the agencies enjoy.

7. They have support from the nonprofit groups: As we know by now, when a public agency decides something everyone has to adhere to it. This is where it becomes beneficial to nonprofit groups. When going gets tough  they can reach a public agency to do something about it in the form of new policy. Majority of the time, they use lobbying to make it happen.

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4 Faces of Bureaucracy in the Structure of the Government

Bureaucracy is a heated topic for many. But the talks often show variant in what it is, confusing those who have little idea about its elements. This can be disappointing. It is very necessary to know its four faces because of its importance in organization theory. Moreover, academic contents of public administration often revolve around their issues. Approach them analytically by going over the four faces of bureaucracy:

1. An Organization that has hierarchy: Hierarchy basically refers to an arrangement of departments according to their rankings. Those at the top make all the decisions which the employees of the lower departments implement without questioning. This is the elementary definition of bureaucracy which Max Weber wrote about. But technically, in order for an organization to qualify as a bureaucracy it must be huge and its heads have to be less aware about what is going on in departments below theirs. This is found in private companies. But public organizations are still different kind of bureaucracy in the sense that they do not compete in the free market.

2. The sum of all the offices of the government: Through this, bureaucracy says that no matter what, the system of the government is here to stay. The public servants will continue to serve the people. The new elected leader will not have any impact on this. So the main keyword is permanence.

3. All working in the public sector: This is the personified version of the bureaucracy. In this situation, ranks of all the public servants are dissolved. Typically, anyone who works for the government is placed here. Examples include the military, cops, public school staff and so on. However, those are elected are not considered part of the bureaucracy. In fact, for one to qualify for this position he has to be non-elected public servant.

4. The inefficient: Honor here is lost. Because bureaucracy has a tendency to slow down work it often is used as an insult to describe an organization that just does not wish to move or has a tendency to do several mistakes. Then think about how people view public servants. The most common misconception about them is that they do not exactly work. People love to joke about them. The irony is that even through bureaucracy, US has managed to remain supreme in the world. Also the public servants have stable jobs and in many cases, very good pay similar to what is paid by the private countries.

List of Things Citizens Want from the Government

We are so surrounded by debates over which government official is right that we often fail to see the picture clearly. We are divided by our own values and wishes. But at the end of the day, whether we are rich or poor, we all want the same things from the government. It does not matter how much we disagree with one another. See below:

Justice: Some public policies make losers and winners. Think about what happens when sales tax goes up. This does not always hurt the rich. But for poor, it is a burden. Citizens wish government would be fairer with decisions.

Trust: Citizens want government to be trustworthy. They do not want lies. They do not want the government to break promises.

Value for money: Citizens do not want their tax money to be wasted by the government. They do not want them to go in useless causes.

Safety: All cities must have enough law enforcement officers. Citizens want government to reduce crime rates.

Access: Citizens want the government to be transparent about decisions and programs.

Democracy: Citizens want the government to promote their values and interests. They also wish to participate in public decision making agendas.

Accommodation: Think about DMV's. The lines are always long there. Think about general hospitals. Unless it is an emergency, there is no way one can get an early appointment there. Citizens want government to make things convenient.

Sound economy: Economy can make or break a country. Citizens want government to make sure economy is always stable.

Peaceful: Citizens do not want the government to turn into a tyrant. Citizens do not want their freedom to be manipulated by government for fictional reasons.

Ways Government is Different from Business

Private business is seen as highly efficient. Many wonder why government can't function like that. The answer to it is that public administration has some limitations and at the same time, its structure is not same as private businesses. There is actually a huge amount of differences between government and business. Have a look:

1. In businesses, owners have the freedom to select any organization structure they deem appropriate for better efficiency. Some available options are bureaucratic, functional, matrix, divisional, virtual and so on. They can also design one independently. For government, bureaucratic structure rules the day. In other words, power flows from top to bottom and all job positions are clearly defined.

2. Being socially responsible is mere an option for a business. Most often, it is utilized to brush up the reputation of the company. For government, being socially responsibly is the main religion. In fact, all its goals are designed to provide benefit to the society.

3. Businesses focus only on a few products and services. Government has to focus on more than 100 products and services.

4. In addition to selling products and services, businesses can raise money by issuing stocks, bonds and taking bank loans. Government's  main revenue sources are taxes and bonds. It too has certain parts that can generate money with sales. But they are less in number. 

5. Government has the right to set rules for businesses. Businesses do not have the same right on the government. They can only influence laws by lobbying.

6. Main government officials are elected for 4 to 8 years and thus, they have very limited amount of time to work on their goals. Businesses can have 25 years or even unlimited amount of time.

7. Due to strict rules and regulations, and agreement with labor unions, Government cannot hire and fire employees easily. Businesses have better control on employees and offices. Hence, they can hire and fire without much constraint. 

8. Government makes laws under heavy pressure from sub committees, judiciary branch and interest groups. Businesses make laws without such struggle.

9. Government is always under the scanner of the media. Thus, it is more transparent. Businesses have privacy and do not need to be transparent about what they do.

CEO's don't have to tell the general public about business issues
and strategies.

10. In a business meeting, the main topic is always related to making profit. Meanwhile, in government meeting, the main topic is always related to what has been done for the public, what kind of complaints came in and how to solve more social problems such as homelessness.

11. Government laws are intentionally kept vague so that agencies can interpret and apply them to a wide variety of situations. Laws made by businesses are clearer and specific.

12. Believe it or not, government can practice monopoly. There can't be two federal governments at the same time. There can't be two state or local governments either in the same place. Sure two states can compete, but they cannot invade each other. Businesses do not have the same luxury. If they practice monopoly they can be taken to court. However, they can buy or merge with other businesses.

13. Government is always under pressure to be fair with the public. Businesses need to please mainly the customers.

14. Evaluation of how government performs is not easy to do because of its focus on a huge number of issues and inability to achieve every goal. Some of the programs started by the government take years to show result. For businesses, profit and loss is the way to evaluate performance.

15. Decisions are usually slower in the government sector. In businesses, they can be taken quicker.

16. Despite having limited fund for most programs, waste in the government sector is common. For businesses, every dollar is valuable.

17. Majority of the government programs are free or promise some kind of discounts to public. Businesses like to sell. They can provide free products but in very limited quantity and only for a limited time.

18. In the government sector, the pay is less, but the jobs are mostly secure. In business sector, the pay maybe high, but jobs are not secure.

19. Government accounting is all about budget. Business accounting is mainly about profit and loss.

20. Government can respond to a problem when it becomes a big issue for the general public. Businesses respond to any problem deemed bothersome for a limited number of customers.

21. Government employees are not expected to work harder. In fact, doing so may mean getting lectured by another employee on how it makes the rest look bad. In business organizations, employees are not only expected to work harder, but also give their best.

22. It is not easy to be hired by the government. But once in, the job is pretty much secure. In business organizations, it is easy to get hired, but despite its permanent status, it has no security at all.

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How does Government Influence the Economy?

American economy has seen both stability and instability. During an economic crisis, general public traditionally criticizes the government. This is followed by demand for solutions. Some would just keep quiet thinking that government intervention in capitalistic economy equals to socialism. Our America actually does not work that way.

In fact, our government has full power to control the economy through various methods. See below:

1. Imagine, prices of goods and services are going up and currency value is going down in the form of inflation. Government can take care of this with tax hike and slow spending. The mission here is to lower the supply of money in the nation so that the currency value once again goes up and prices fall.
2. Prices have fallen, but now we have an economic crisis and severe unemployment rate. To solve this problem, government will pump up more money into the economy and also speed up spending. In some cases, taxes are also reduced. What this does is put more money in the hands of people, making them more active in their shopping spree. This increases demand for more goods and services which then influences the businesses to hire more people to produce and supply them. This is how jobs get created and economy begins to see the dawn.

3. Government can also influence the economy through bills provided they get enough votes from the House. For instance, in order to bring back the outsourced jobs, few democrats introduced Bring Jobs Home Act. It failed to turn into law because the senate republicans blocked it.

4. Government can start programs like highway renovation to hire unemployed workers. The mission here is to put money into the pockets of people which in turn encourages them to spend and warm up the economy.

5. Similar to above is the policy of buying goods and services from certain businesses deemed too small to compete with big corporations. This is how government aims to help them make money. But the businesses first must show that they are truly disadvantaged by meeting the criteria set by policy of Women-Owned (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Business (EDWOSB).

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Is Government Service Needed in Capitalistic Economy?

The world knows United States mainly by its private companies. They have produced products that remain memorable and attractive to foreigners. Even within the United States, most Americans not just work in mainly private companies, but also depend on most goods and services produced by them. Much of its credit goes to capitalism which allows businesses to stay unique and competitive for maximum profit. Interestingly, what is private does not have to have connection to bank account. Many companies have been socially responsible enough to give away scholarships to eligible students to farther their education.

Besides, if we look around we will notice that United States has many world renowned private schools. So in a way, the private sector is doing much more than we have ever imagined. Americans trust them immensely. On the other side of the line, we have the government sector which often becomes the victim of criticism from general public. Some complaints include inability to focus, endless waste and of course, slowness. The only division that still gets honor is defense. But the two wars have already made it look somewhat crippled in the eyes of Americans.

Since last few years, due to economic crisis, there have been multiple debates on how the government is not being efficient. Many think the crisis would push the country towards socialism. Hence, there are urges to see many jobs and even government fields going to private hands. Libertines have religiously wanted the power of the government to shrink. Meanwhile, young people are so used to the services of private companies that they wonder whether there is even a need for the government sector in the matrix of capitalism. It is easy to generalize that there is a need because the government is the only one who can provide national security and maintain foreign relationships. Also a country does need leader. But this is where the public work cannot come to an end. As a matter of fact, within the relationship of private sector and their customers, government plays the most important role. If we look back in the features of capitalism and history of businesses within it we will understand the role even better.

Adams Smith

Going back in the basic, Adam Smith, the man behind the idea of capitalism, did have aversion to government intervention in the economy. Yet he admitted that private businesses did not have the power to provide what an entire city or town needed. We no more live in his time, but what he said remains true even today. Private businesses do take part in social work, but if they embark on taking care of every human in the country, they will end up hurting their profit. In fact, they will not make any of it. This is where government’s role starts. With tax coming from various sources, many different divisions of the government look into providing people goods and services as common as transportation and airports. In general, one of the core features they have is that they are either free or can be used at a very low cost. Consequently, they can be used by those who do not have enough money. Logically, if a country is handed over fully to private hands, such people will not just end up starving, but also become homeless.

Capitalism is generally criticized for the amount of inequality it generates within the society. Even the most successful academic people residing with this system have voiced against it. Previously, we predicted the lives of less fortunate people in a nation controlled by private businesses. Truth to be told, government focused on public service can easily take care of them even when the time is bad. One good example of this is Social Security act during Great depression. It was mainly signed into law to help the needy, but today in amended format, it provides Americans unemployment benefits, disability and old age insurance, and many other welfare programs. Most of them have turned into entitlement. In other words, no matter what happens, when an American citizen is in trouble he will get financial assistance from the government. In the system of capitalism, private businesses cannot make such promises. As mentioned before, this is because they cannot risk their profit and what does not help the business is not a part of their mission. That said, when a businessman ends up being bankrupted and goes down the poverty line he too is given full freedom to take advantage of the entitle programs. In brief, by using redistribution effort, government is able to make sure that the equality is not completely dead in the capitalist system.

As stated earlier, private business are driven by the mission to make profit. When intervention from higher power is absent, this specific objective garnished with greed tends to make even the most successful businesses do enormous mistakes. Eventually, the price gets paid by everyone living in the country and followed by the entire world. Both Great Depression and Recession of 2007 to 2008 clearly highlight this. Generally, to explain both the situations, people blame the Federal Reserve or government for luring businesses to borrow and invest on other projects for double income. We cannot deny the fact that majority of the companies tried to take full advantage of the loans connected to low interest rate. What is often overlooked in this dilemma is their unusual inability to think about the long term consequence. At the end, we saw that their mess was cleaned up by the government. Great depression gave birth to many regulations which made sure that businesses no more went to extreme level to make profit. According to President Roosevelt, the idea was to respect social values because they were more “noble than monetary profit”.  His words indirectly explain the psychology of business owners. When no regulation is in place, they do not mind overriding social values to make profit. In brief, they have a tendency to invite corruption and manipulation.

The worst happens when a company starts to expand and become powerful. Perhaps, Adam Smith did not predict it for which he forgot to give solution about this in his books. History has shown us that big companies use their power to block entry of others willing to do business in their field and even fix prices to destroy stable rivals. This still happens today, but is seen as a crime due to the fact that government has banned it all through Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The punishment of breaking this law is not only breaking down of the company, but also jail time for the executives. So in a way, government is not completely against private businesses. The ultimate truth is that because of such laws small businesses are still alive.

Prosperity in capitalism tends to rely on the amount of demands being fulfilled. Sadly, when not monitored, this can persuade businesses to create wear and tear in the natural resources and environment. Once again, this compels the general public to feel the heat. American dust bowl of the 30’s is the leading example of this. Sure much of it was a natural calamity and no big companies were associated with it, but investigators do not shy away from revealing that inappropriate use of land for farming was one of the reasons behind this dust bowl. The consequence of this was many Americans becoming completely homeless. However, this did force the government to start Natural Resources Conservation Service agency and pass legislature that allowed states to start their own conservation programs. Today they provide information and assistance on water and soil conservation to all including private organizations. Interestingly, after 20 years of making the agency, businesses began taking the idea of corporate social responsibility seriously. The term itself was designed in the 50’s. But the hidden agenda behind this was to influence people to believe that the company practicing it was moralistic and hence, it needed help in maximization of profit. Overall, corporate social responsibility is mere an act. It does not have connection to compassion for the planet and lives.

In summary, capitalism cannot sustain long without the aid of higher power which in this case is either the state or federal government. Also businesses tend to be artificial about morals and they tend to make mistakes which end up hurting the general public.  Business administration major is not new. Professionals in the corporate world hold immense degrees and success.  But these factors are not powerful enough to keep corporate crimes and the mistakes away. One mainstream unofficial statement holds that the most educated people tend to be most corrupted. In the corporate world, Martha Stewart, Enron executives and many others proved this to be true. Many of their crimes had nothing to do with the Great Depression and recession of 2007 and 2008. Corruption done in the corporate world gets caught almost every year. Under such circumstances, it would be completely wrong to think that government size must be shrunk and public jobs should go to private farms. Also thinking that help of government equals to heading towards socialism is meaningless, for the term’s basic meaning is that government owns everything and takes decision on the lives of people.