Final Case Study - Fukushima Nuclear Accidents

Infographic -


The food warned by the Japanese government to be contaminated with radiation and dangerous to eat



Sand lance, kakina, turnip, cauliflower, cabbage, ostrich fern sprout, Korean lettuce, shiitake mushroom, celery, bamboo shoot, bok choy, parsley, broccoli, spinach, milk, garland chrysanthemum, and tap water

 

 

The problems that current nuclear plants have - can we overcome them?

            Since the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, people and governments in many nations have been acting to shrink the nuclear power plant industry. The Japanese government has requested the Hamaoka nuclear power plant, which was not damaged in the 3.11 earthquake, to be shut down. Although the power plant is undamaged by the quake, it has a high probability of being hit by one in the future - in fact, there is 87% probability of magnitude 8 earthquake hitting the region within 30 years, according to the Japanese government. Although this decision made by the prime minister is not purely because of that - the government has been struggling with the poll, after the accident in Fukushima that affected the people and the economy greatly. This action of stopping a power plant might be a move to try to bring back or prevent the further loss of popularity of the cabinet. In other countries such as Germany, there have been multiple demonstrations demanding to stop the nuclear power plants within each country.
           It might be a natural course of action to require the shutdown of power plants that can prove to be so harmful, as shown by the Fukushima or the Chernobyl from quarter of a century ago. But it cannot be put into action so easily. In many of the countries that have nuclear power plants, they are one of the major sources of electricity. For example, France relies as much as 80% of its electricity on nuclear power. Other countries such as United States rely on the nuclear power plants greatly. If all of the nuclear power plants are to be stopped in the regions, as some of the populace wants, there would be a great shortage in the electricity generation. In fact, there has been some shortage in the Kanto region of Japan, where people used to consume the electricity from Fukushima Daiichi. In the Kanto area, the energy crisis is predicted to be a bigger issue by the summer, when there is more electricity demand.

Many people want to get rid of the nuclear power plants that are proven to do great harm, but there would be a great lack of energy if we simply do so. Even if we replace them with power plants that use other energy sources, there would be other problems; if we were to replace them with non-renewable resources, the resources would be depleted faster than before, and would soon be gone. Also, nuclear power plants are known for emitting less carbon dioxide than those resources - that means that there would be more carbon emission, if we replace it with less eco-friendly ways of producing electricity, such as oil or natural gas. If we replace them with only renewable resources - there just won’t be enough energy. For example, one wind turbine generates around 1 to 8 MW of electricity, while Fukushima Daiichi with six reactors was generating 4696 MW while it was fully operational. There would have to be around 600 to 3000 wind turbines built to replace Fukushima Daiichi. That many turbines will need a vast area of land and much investment; they will not be efficient enough alone.

Then, what would be a realistic way to replace the nuclear power plants with safer, but yet still eco-friendly and cost effective? Is there ways to make the nuclear power plants safer? Actually, there is a safer way to use nuclear power to generate electricity. The leakage of radioactive substance from Fukushima Daiichi was caused by an explosion from a meltdown. There is a way to use nuclear power, but have no danger of a meltdown: nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a technology of generating energy by fusing two water molecules (one deuterium and one tritium) to form a helium molecule and a neutron, and getting heat as the byproduct. In contrast, the nuclear fission reactors that we use now in all of the nuclear power plants produce energy by splitting the atomic nucleus. Unlike nuclear fission, fusion reactors do not produce radioactive waste that has to be kept safely for thousands of years. Nuclear fusion is a carbon-free energy source as well, and it also has the potential to be used to stabilize the radioactive wastes that has been produced by the use of nuclear fission reactors. The only reason we cannot use nuclear fusion now is that we still do not have the technology to keep the nuclear fusion reaction to continue at amount and efficiency high enough for commercial use. It is estimated that it would take couple more decades for the technology to advance to that level. Meanwhile, we can start replacing the fission reactors with renewable resources little by little.

What does Fukushima Daiichi look like now?








Presentation Reflection


I saw the presentations done by my classmates (B block) and the ones who went at the grand finale. I also got to see the recording of Allen's presentation, thanks to Herbert.

Konig - starvation in the world
He told us about how many people are starving in the world, some even starving to death, while we take more than we can eat and waste much of it. He made a nice contrast between us - who have too much food - and the people starving - who have too little food. The graph that he made by actually measuring the amount of wasted food was convincing. Although he could have made the connection between us wasting less food and more people getting food more clear, his presentation was successful in making us reflect upon ourselves. "If you don't eat all the rice in the bowl, you will marry a woman with many pimples." I'll remember that.

Kitty - Nanjing Massacre
She talked about the Nanjing Massacre, in which the Japanese imperial army slaughtered the populace at Nanjing. Her presentation reminded me again that even though it is my responsibility to know about my cultural and historical background, I know so little about it, so I have to gain more knowledge and understanding about those events. She talked about the incident and its cause in great detail. I have to know about these historical events, so that they will not be repeated again.

Grace - Education in Finland
Her presentation was on how the teenagers changed over time, and why the education of Finland has been so successful. In Finland, unlike other places such as Taiwan or Korea, there is little difference in scholastic ability among the students. This is due to the fact that education is offered freely and equally to everyone in Finland. Also, there are less restrictions on the teachers. I wonder what would happen if everyone on the planet had the equal opportunity to get education. It might come true in the near-future, with the help of the internet. What would happen then? Would there be a harder competition?

Annie - Human Trafficking
Her presentation was on a topic that had rarely come to my mind - human trafficking. Since I had never really thought much about it and possessed no knowledge about it, the story she told us was new and surprising to me. The facts such as 27 million people are being trafficked, many people in United States are buying those 'slaves,' and that it is not a problem in somewhere far away from us, but is happening here in Taiwan too, were surprising to me. She told a story of a particular girl being sent to US, and a specific example such as that was very effective.

Sean - Roman Soldiers
He told us about what the lives of Roman soldiers were like, and what it meant to be a Roman soldier in that time period. I was not so clear about what time period he was talking about, since he never mentioned it and I possess too little knowledge to know it without being told, but his talk about the armor and disciplines was interesting. He could have made it even more effective by making connections to our own lives, and telling us about the similarities and differences between them and us.

Celine - Kids in Cambodia
Mr. Kinzer is going to take us to Cambodia next summer, according to Celine. She talked about how the lack of education in the poor population of Cambodia in places such as Angkor was preventing poor people from getting out of poverty. It is shocking to know that less than half of the kids finish the primary school, when you are living in a country where way over half of the people graduate from college. She proposed several actual plans for giving those kids opportunities to learn, and that allowed us to think about what we can actually do to help.

Jennifer - Loss of Culture in Tibet
Her presentation was on how the people in Tibet are losing their culture more rapidly than ever before. She named the oppressive rule by the Chinese Government as one of the main causes of it. The Tibetan people are discriminated because of their race, and it is hard for them to compete against Han people and be successful economically, even when they have high level of education. It seemed to me that the loss of culture is not the only major problem the Tibetans are facing right now - there are other problems such as lack of opportunity to get medical treatment. Different cultures need to find a way to coexist; nothing will come out of hatred against one another.

Veronica - Stray Dogs in Taiwan
I have seen many stray dogs near my house, sometimes in large groups like eight or ten. I had been wondering where those dogs are from, and where they will go. Her presentation answered many of my questions concerning the stray dogs in Taiwan. They are the result of many irresponsible owners, and the future that would  be waiting for them is 安楽死, or mercy killing. Veronica argued that it is not merciful at all to have many dogs born, and killing them off when they are no longer wanted and we want to get rid of them. I have never had any sort of pet bigger than a goldfish, so I can only imagine what it feels like to be an owner of a dog, but I must make right decisions if I were to be one in the future.

Austin - Taiwanese Baseball
He talked about the causes of decline in the popularity of baseball in Taiwan - multiple match fixing and bribery. Match fixing has been a big problem in the Japanese sumo recently. These scandals make the fans and supporters feel betrayed, and make them dislike or lose interest in the sport. However we could see that Austin has not given up on Taiwanese baseball yet; he talked about a big game which will be held in Kaohsiung in July. I just hope the baseball does not betray fans like him again.

Jessica - Global Issues
Yes, I do like to eat beef steak. What's wrong with that? Well, cows produce much methane gas. Since methane is 23 times as harmful as CO2, cows can do more harm to the environment than the exhaust from the transportation. That is an interesting fact to think about, since when we think about cows and all the other organic stuff, we consider them good for us and the Earth. But in fact they can be harmful; what can we do to solve this problem? The only solutions that I can come up with is to biologically engineer the cows to produce less methane (but who would want to eat mutant cows?) or to find substitutions that taste like cow meat but are more eco-friendly.

Lika - One-Child Policy
Lika talked about probably China's most well-known policy. It is sad to think that many girl babies are aborted (or killed right after birth in rural or less developed areas) because of 男尊女卑 or the sexism against women. The fact that the kids in China now are excelling academically because they are the only kids of the parents who also were raised under one-child policy. Will all these smart Chinese population boost the economical development of China even further? It would be hard for us to keep up with them.

Porque Esto es Africa

The Presentations

Rule over Libya

1800-1884

During the 19^th Century, Libya was ruled by a Turkish empire called the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans divided the Maghreb into three provinces: Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.

Ahmed Karamanli, an Ottoman cavalry officer and son of a Turkish officer and Libyan woman, seized power and founded the Karamanli dynasty.

During the 19^th Century, Libya was involved in two wars against United States. (1801, 1815) The wars began from pirates of Northern Africa attacking upon American merchant ships.

The rule was handed back to the government of Mahmud II, the Sultan of the Ottoman empire in 1814. Even though there were these rulers, the distance from the center of the empire to Libya caused it to have a sense of anarchy.

The map – drawn by Guillaume Delisle, a French cartographer in 1707.

1884-1950

Italy and France makes a secret agreement in 1900, in which Libya was left for Italy to take.

In 1911, Italy invaded the area in a war called Italo-Turkish war and made Libya a colony, giving it its name. The colony consisted of the Provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan.

Since then, Libya takes the shape it has today.

The two world wars had affected Libya in positive ways.

Shortly after the occupation by the Italy, World War I begins. During the war, the control over Libya was handed back to Senussi zawiya, so that the Italian army could fight the war in other places.

One Senussi leader called Mohammed Idris tries to keep the control by compromising with the Italians. He is given the title of emir in 1920, by admitting the Italian control over the coast of Cyrenaica.

Few years later, the Italian governors start to take strong actions against the people, such as concentration camps. This causes Idris to flee to Egypt. As the World War II caused the fascist countries to weaken, their control over the African colonies got less effective. After the war, the army of Italy is driven out of the Northern Africa.

   1943-51

For the few years after the war, Libya is administered by the Allied nations while the United Nation discussed on what to do with it.

Tripolitania and Cyrenaica – administered by Britain

Fezzan – administered by France

In 1949, the United Nation stated that Libya should become independent.

1950-present

Libya achieved its independence in 1951, and was proclaimed a constitutional and a hereditary monarchy under King Idris. Idris was elected by the representatives of three provinces as the king.

His rule was had no democracy, and the poor economy relied on foreign aids and revenues from airbases.

The situation changed when oil was discovered. The king starts to slowly remove foreign forces from the land of Libya.

A military-led coup overthrew the rule by the king in 1969 – led by Mu’ammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi.

The country was transformed into Libyan Arab Republic by the Revolutionary Command Council. Gadhafi has no official position since 1977. Gadhafi has been the “de facto” ruler since then, since he has full control over the army.

Under Gadhafi’s rule, Libya fought in many occasions such as the Libyan-Egyptian War and Chadian-Libyan conflict, both in 70s and 80s.

Due to Gadhafi’s foreign policies, US designated Libya as a state sponsor of terrorism and bombed Libya in 1986. Since then, Gadhafi stopped encouraging terrorist attacks.

In February of this year, anti-government demonstrators took control of the second largest city, Benghazi. The government sent elite troops to the city, resulting in casualties. Similar conflicts are occurring in many cities, and over 1000 people have been killed.

The UN has authorized no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi from using aircrafts for carrying mercenaries and bombing civilians.

Many nations such as France, US and UK has been supporting the military actions of the rebels, and the conflict is still going on today.

Soccer in South Africa

Soccer was brought to South Africa by the European missionaries, soldiers and merchants. In the late 19th century, the football associations were divided by race. The separation by race continued until late 20th century due to the apartheit. In 1991, South Africa Football Association was formed to unite the separated soccer players. Currently, many of the African players - up to 80 percent of them - are taken to Europe to play. I find it interesting that soccer was originally brought from Europe, and now all the good African players are being taken back to Europe. I believe this is happening due to the amount of money the European teams can afford on the players, but wouldn't the players want to play on the land they were born?

Hotel Rwanda

The movie takes place in Rwanda. The story is about a conflict between two races - Tutsi and Hutu.

During the colonial age, the Tutsi were given privileges by the Germans and the Belgians. The western empires used Tutsi to enforce their rule over their African colony. Even though the Tutsis were minorities and occupied only 14 percent of the population, a Tutsi king ruled over the country. In 1926, an identity card to differenciate Hutus from Tutsis. This draws a clear line between Hutus and Tutsis. After the independence of the nation, the Hutus revolt against the ruling Tutsis and take the control over the nation. The Hutus massacre thousands of Tutsis in the 1960s, and the genocide occurs in the 1990s again.

In the movie, which is based on a true story of a hotel manager who saved many lives, there are many characters with different backgrounds and perspectives.

Paul, the main character, is a manager of a high-ranked hotel with many guests from western countries. He is a Hutu, but his wife is a Tutsi. When the conflict occurs and the Hutus start to kill Tutsis in massive numbers, he decides to protect his wife and her family in the hotel. So there are different perspectives within the Hutus; the ones who are sympathetic to the Tutsis, and ones who are hostile against them. One of the major reasons that Paul is not against the Tutsis is that the his wife is a Tutsi. But since more than one in every eight people are Tutsi, so those Hutus who are killing many Tutsis are very likely to have Hutu families and/or friends. Do those people turn against their friends and family just because they are Tutsis? I do not understand why they have to turn against one another when they have been living together in the same place for centuries. What differenciates Paul, who saves over a thousand lives of Tutsi and Hutu refugees, and the Hutu fighters who take away in total millions of innocent lives? One element that had taken a significant part in turning the Hutu people into merciless killers was the influence from the media. The nation's radio station repeatedly called out to the Hutus to act against the "Tutsi cockroaches." The radio also informed people of the assassination of the Hutu president, making people think that it was done by the Tutsi rebels. The media had definitely poured oil into the fire devouring millions of Tutsis.

During the conflict, it seemed that the Europeans were not trying to solve the conflict, but just protecting their own people. They saved the Europeans who were in Rwanda at the time, but not the Africans. They explained that they could not cost European lives to save Africans. Even though they have so much power, they cannot save those who are really in need of them. The conflicts still continue in many parts of Africa today. But what are we doing? What am I doing? What should we, what will we do for the people who need our help now?

This Gapminder graph shows the life expectancy and income per capita of Rwanda over past 100 years. Prior to 1990s, Rwanda was rather doing well in both categories, although there were some sudden drops, such as the one in 1963. But in 1990s, the life expectancy drops rapidly due to the genocide. For three years during the genocide, it was below 30 years, even shorter than what it was over 100 years ago.

David Livingstone

Pictures drawn using Inkscape, the movie edited with Windows Movie Maker.

Adventures of David Livingstone

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and explorer who explored the continent of Africa in the 19th century. He was born into a poor Scottish family, which had little money, but was very religious. At the age of ten, Livingstone had to work at a cotton weaving factory to support the family. He was a hardworking student, who studied theology and many languages. He applied to the London Missionary Society at the age of 25.

In 1840, the London Missionary Society sent Livingstone, who was 27, to the southern Africa. There, Livingstone began his actions as missionary, traveling hundreds of miles from town to town, and gaining confidence of the native Africans by his medical treatments. During these trips, he gained understanding and sympathy for the Africans, which later led to his anti-slavery actions.

In 1843, while setting up the new mission, Livingstone was mauled by a lion which injured his left arm badly. However, his life was saved due to a distraction by an African teacher Mebalwe, who was bitten in the thigh by the lion. Livingstone’s arm became stiff, and it caused him pain for the rest of his life. Despite his injury, Livingstone continued his expeditions.

While exploring the Zambezi River with more than 100 tribesmen, he came across an area that the natives called “smoke that thunders.” The columns of vapor could be seen from miles away. As they approached, they realized that it was a great waterfall; Livingstone was the first European to discover the Victoria Falls. A year later, he travels back to England, and publishes a book about his adventures, which brings great fame to him. Then he returns to Africa in the end of 1858.

With the objective of discovering the source of the Nile, Livingstone begins a journey to the central Africa in 1866. For the next few years, he made little contact, which made the public believe that something had happened to him. The news had spread across ocean to the United States, where George Bennett, the publisher of the New York Herald, had called for English newspaper reporter, Henry Stanley, to find Livingstone.

Henry Stanley

Stanley took 200 men with him on the expedition in 1971. He entered Africa from the eastern coast, and headed to the central part of the continent. After eight months of journey across the land of Africa, Stanley found Livingstone in a small village of Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.

When Stanley finally sees Livingstone, he pushed through the crowd, stood in front of the famous explorer, and asked this legendary quote: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” By the time Stanley got there, Livingstone was suffering from dysentery and was half starved. Stanley urged Livingstone to return to Britain for treatment, but the explorer was determined not to leave the continent until the completion of his mission.

In August 1872 a new party started toward Lakes Tanganyika and Bangweolo. Soon, Livingstone’s condition worsened and he was no longer able to walk. He was carried by stalwarts on shoulder and on a litter. He reached a village of Chitambo, where he passed away from dysentery and malaria. His heart was buried in the land of Africa, and the body was sent back to England to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

In total, Livingstone traveled 29,000 miles in Africa, exploring more than one million square miles of the unknown regions. He discovered many lakes, rivers and falls—such as the Zambesi River and Victoria Falls. He became famous in the Britain for his explorations, and as a missionary martyr. 

Read Livingstone's "Missionary Travels" online:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1039/1039-h/1039-h.htm


Maps of Africa -before and after the European influence-

BEFORE THE EUROPEAN INFLUENCE

 

1. A Masai warrior jumping - Masai warriors have jumping contests to decide who can leap the highest into the air without bending the knees. Whoever can jump the highest gets to pick the one to marry.

2. A lion in savanna - The African tribesmen have been living with wild animals for generations. In some tribes, in order for young men to prove that they are worthy of being recognized as an adult, they must kill a male lion on their own.

3. Victoria Falls - Famous for being the largest waterfalls in the world, the Victoria Falls were referred to as Mosi o Tunya, or "the smoke that thunders," due to the roaring sound it makes and the spray of water that rises from it. David Stanley, the Scottish adventurer, was the first European to witness this wondrous fall with the people from the local tribe.

4. Ethiopian food - Their food consists of injera, a sour bread made from grain such as teff, wheat, barley, corn, and rice, and a thick stew that is eaten with, made from meat and spicy vegetable.

5. Masai beadwork - The beadworks were traditionally made of seeds, skins, copper, bone, gourd, and wood. After the trade with the Europeans began in the 20th century, they started incorporating the colorful plastic and bead into their traditional necklaces, making the ornamentation more popular among the young people. Different colors in the ornaments have different meanings, such as unity represented by the color red.

6. Ahmet II - A sultan (emperor) of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish empire that ruled over the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea including the northern Africa. The empire lost its power when the modernized European countries started advancing into Africa and other parts of the world. Many of those African areas were colonized, and were under the European rule until their independence in the late 20th century.

7. Bushmen tribe - Their traditional way of hunting and gathering to make living was a way for many African tribes to coexist with the nature. The traditional method, unlike the agricultural way of living, kept it unable to store the sustenance and thus kept the population growth in check, thus allowing them to continue their method for a long period of time, until the Europeans came. 

AFTER THE EUROPEAN INFLUENCE

1. Pumpjack on an oil well - In the late 20th century, many oil wells were found in several African nations, allowing them to gain a considerable amount of wealth in a rather short time. However, the money gained were often not distributed equally among the people. Instead, the limited people with social power, such as the dictators, got all the profit from it, leaving the ordinary citizens to be in the poverty. This was one of the reasons of the people revolting against the dictator in some African nations.

2. Skulls of people killed in Rwanda genocide - When the Germany and Belgium colonized Rwanda in the 19th and 20th century, they use the Hutu and Tutsi's relationship to make their rule efficient and effective. They placed the Tutsi as the privileged class and Hutu under them, which caused the gap between the two races to widen. In 1990s, decades after the independence of Rwanda from Belgium, assassination of the Hutu president and other incidents caused the two to go against each other, which resulted in genocide of the Tutsi and the Hutu sympathizers. More than 10% of Rwanda's population were murdered in this tragedy.

3. Muammar Gaddafi - He has been the dictator of Libya since 1969, when he took the control over the country from the king who had been ruling since the independence from the Italian colonization. He had gained wealth through the oil production in Libya, and he is using it to hire mercenaries to fight against the rebels.

4. Slave trades - European colonial powers such as Portuguese started the slave trade in as early as 16th century. They used the slaves in agriculture in the New World, including the continents of America and the Caribbean islands. In total, 12 million slaves were purchased from the western Africa. In 19th century, European nations and the US abolished the slave trade, which eliminated the slavery.

5. Deforestation - In many of the African countries, the deforestation is occurring very rapidly. In many cases, the government instead of the local citizens has the control over the land, and they allow the industrial loggers to cut down the trees for money. The rate of deforestation is four times as fast as the speed in other parts of the world. Some forests are clear cut so that the land can be used for agricultural uses, which produces more profit than forests for the owners of the land. Also, the fact that most of the continent's population uses wood as their main fuel for daily lives is another cause of the rapid deforestation. The increase in the population causes more trees to be cut down and used as fuel. 

6. Colonization - During the scramble for Africa by the imperial Europe, most of the African continent was colonized by them. The local people were put under the European rule, and some went through harsh battles and concentration camps. Those areas did not become independent until the end of the last world war, most independence occurring in 1950s and 1960s. Even though those nations are free of the imperial rule, they are still suffering the aftermath of the colonization, including poverty and diseases from it. Many countries have dictators who do not give the people much right.

7. Apartheid - After the World War II, the South African government led by Afrikaner National Party enforced a system to control over the economy and society by segregation by races. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required citizens to be classified according to their race: white, black, or colored (mix). The laws enacted by the government limited the non-whites in many facets of their social life, including marriage and occupation. The segregation continued until 1994, when national election removed the National Party from the rule.

World Simulation

Our nation is called the "Kneedles."

View our nation profile

An "aerial photograph" of Kneedles (without the cities)

Created using SimCity 4.

Our flag

The leaves represent the citizens of Kneedles and the equality among them,
the lizard represents the government,
and the tree represents our nation, which is supported by the government and the people.
Drawn using Inkscape.


Lorenz Curve

Lorenz Curve is a curve that shows how wealth is distributed among people.

The y-coordinate of a point on the curve is the percentage for the total income owned by top x% of population with lowest income. If y = 30% and x = 50%, that means that the poorer half of the population only has 30% of the total income, and the rest of income, which is 70%, is gained by the richer half of the population.

What happens when everyone gets an equal amount of income? Since there would be no gap between the rich and the poor, so any A% of population would have A% of the total income. When you graph that, it becomes a straight line of y = x, where the percentage of population, x%, is equal to their total income, y%. The Lorenz Curve for a perfect socialism would look like this; it would not be a ‘curve’ anymore. Since our nation is a communist country, the Lorenz Curve for the nation of Kneedles would be a line as well. Are we sure that it is a line? Of course we are. Absolutely. You're not even allowed to question that, are you...?

The difference between the Lorenz Curve and the line of equality is the area of inequality. Larger the area is, the larger the gap between the rich and poor.


References:
http://www.maxi-pedia.com/lorenz+curve
http://ingrimayne.com/econ/AllocatingRationing/MeasuringIncomeDist.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenz_curve



Responses of the Head of State to the crises

There has been a huge earthquake and a serious oil shortage in the nation of Kneedles. The Head of State addresses these two issues and shows us how we can recover from this situation.

Short-Term Response

Good day to all of the citizens of Kneedles, as well as the people of our neighboring nations. I have come to make a very unfortunate announcement about a tragic event that has just taken place in Kneedles. Earlier today, at around 9:00A.M., a massive earthquake with a 9.0 magnitude hit Kneedles, most seriously around Konig City and its surrounding villages, destroying the buildings in many areas and harming many people. The earthquake will soon be followed by a tsunami. As you can see, situations are grim, and the full extent of the damage caused by this earthquake will not become clear for weeks to come. However, under the earthquake and tsunami prevention policy designed by the Kneedles government with the cooperation of many experts, many people have safely evacuated, and are even now currently being evacuated to centers located closer to the center of Kneedles, where the tsunami will not reach. As of now, the damage assessment shows that no highly dangerous power plants, such as nuclear power plants, have been destroyed. Konig City, thanks to its advanced infrastructure, has received minimal damage to infrastructure, though it is still too dangerous to live in. The two villages close to Konig City, however, have almost been wiped out, and rescuers are even now trying to find the 30% of the villagers that failed to evacuate after the earthquake alarm sounded. The process of evacuation has gone well in most areas, with over 80% of all citizens in affected areas evacuated, but for things to proceed efficiently, we will need the help of all the nations in La Peace. As of now, Kneedles has, as an emergency measure, adjusted the trading and import laws of our Nation to allow food imports to come in at a quicker pace. As such, I greatly encourage that all nations contribute to saving the victims of the earthquake by importing in food and other items necessary for survival. Our media will also provide an updated and accurate account of the damage caused by the earthquake regularly. This is because the nation of Kneedles understands that in such situations, hiding information from the public will do no good, and that we must inform our citizens of the truth of the events taking place, as it is their right to understand what is happening and thus take preventive measures. Once again, I tell all the nations of La Peace: we must work together to recover from this earthquake, as though Kneedles was affected the most by it, all of the nations in La Peace will also be damaged by the earthquake.
The earthquake also raises concerns about the state of Kneedles’ economy, as many businesses have been stalled or otherwise negatively affected by the disaster. However, the earthquake’s damage to the economy will not be a major source of worry, as this damage will be short-lived. However, this earthquake has brought into attention another problem that will damage our economy: in the recent year, the oil reserves in Kneedles have been depleted to a point where we are forced to consider the consequences of this event, and the measures we must take. As of now, economists predict that the Consumer Price Index to rise from 106.54 to 108.6708, rising by about 2%. Economists also predict that there will be inflation. As of now, we have taken measures to fight this possible economic downturn by investing in companies that research and develop sustainable energy resources. We are also going to adjust our foreign policy to encourage more imports and exports with neighboring nations. The media and educational systems are also encouraging the use of non-fossil fuel based products. As of now, the government doesn’t plan to solve the economic issue through gigantic spending plans, as borrowing money from other countries will push up the value of the dollar and make Kneedles’ businesses internationally uncompetitive. As a short-term measure, Kneedles is planning to increase imports of oil from Allied nations, such as Isonomia, though this will most likely not be a permanent measure.

Long-Term Response

Dear fellow Kneedlians, I am here today to address the two major challenges that the nation of Kneedles has been facing recently. One is the horrible disaster that took the lives of tens of thousands of the loyal Kneedles citizens. And the other, is the crisis that our economy is facing due to the lack of petroleum production. With these issues, it might seem like the darkest time we have ever experienced in the long history of Kneedles. But I am here to reassure you that we must, and we will recover from this situation we are in. All of us are in a deep sorrow for the ones who were lost in the terrible disasters. But we must stand up and start acting towards tomorrow, as that is our duty – the burden put upon the shoulders of the survivors, and we, united as one nation, can recover from this tragedy and bring our nation back to a bright day – in fact, a day brighter than any of the days in our glorious past. 

Here is a portion of the plans toward the reconstruction of areas damaged by the series of horrible natural disasters. We have already started building tens of thousands of portable houses in the northern and eastern parts of the nation, where the people who have lost their homes can be sheltered and protected. Meanwhile, the Kneedlian army and police forces are out in the coastal area hit by tsunami and earthquake, clearing debris and searching for the missing people. After the removal of rubble from the Konig City and its surrounding villages, which is to be completed by the end of next month, we will begin the reconstruction of the city and the villages. First, we will rebuild a sturdy, reliable infrastructure in the damaged areas: roads, power lines, and water supplies. Not only will we rebuild infrastructure and facilities that were there before, but we also are building a set of structures that would protect the citizens from the danger of future aftershocks and tsunamis: there will be 15-meter tall walls of cement just outside the harbor of Konig City, that will protect the harbor and the city from tsunamis. There will be facilities for the purpose of evacuation, strong enough to bear earthquakes. After these construction works, Konig City will become safer and cleaner than it has ever been.

Let me explain briefly about the second problem that we are facing. Since the end of last fall, the amount of petroleum produced in the northern islands has been dropping continuously. This is thought to be due to the massive subsidence occurring in those areas. Some of you might be worried that this would bring decline to the economy of Kneedles. But there is no need to worry. There will be clean, eco-friendly power plants using nuclear fusion power, placed on the land of Kneedles with the funding from the government of Kneedles. This will be more than enough to supply the needed electricity within the nation – we are planning to export energy, just as we were supplying oil to other nations. So my fellow Kneedlians, there is no need for any of you to worry: a bright future awaits the blessed nation of Kneedles.

The Rest of the West

An Essay on Economy

There was a considerable change in the economics during the 19^th century caused by many different factors such as the industrial revolution. The change in the physical world caused alterations in the mind of those living in it. This allowed them to have new ideas about the economy that might boost the quality of their lives.
          The industrial revolution led to the appearance of new forms of productive capitals, such as factories with machines. This allowed the capitalists to gain much profit. On the other hand, the workers were living by selling their only capital, labor at a cheap price. This was the rise of capitalism, which had many problems. The issues capitalism held included poor working condition and low salary for the workers, unemployment, economic instability, and expanding the market through imperialism. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels stated that these would cause inner tensions, and that would destroy the capitalism. To replace capitalism, he suggested socialism, which in theory would create a society where everyone is happy and equal.

           Their ideas led to the emergence of communist countries in the 20^th century, like the Soviet Union and China. The communism was gaining support until the 1970s, when it became conspicuous that their development of economy was falling behind the capitalist countries. Now, many countries take the form of mixed economy, which developed from capitalism after the Great Depression and the World War II. In a mixed economy, governments have greater influence over the market, and try to stabilize it. You can see some similarities between the mixed economy and communism, such as the redistribution of wealth for the alleviation of gap between rich and the poor.

How would the future economy be different from the one we have right now? The globalization of the economy would continue, and more people would be connected with all the people around the world by the use of the internet. The market would expand not only because of the spreading of the internet, but by the growth of the total human population itself. The human population is expected to increase by another two billion in next four decades. Imagine a world where all those people are connected by one internet – nine billion potential customers for your product.

Of course, the forms that the capital and products take would change. The capital in the 19^th century after the industrial revolution has mainly been the machines owned by few rich capitalists, and physical labor offered by poorer workers for little payment. The main structure of economy has been that way for the past couple centuries. There were the capitalists who were getting richer, and the poor struggling through tough lives. The gap between the two has existed since the first civilizations emerged, but the capitalistic economy has widened the gap, making it more clear and visible. But now, the new ways of presenting information – the internet – has changed the way of the economy, making information the new main product of the market. There is something unique about information; unlike other main products of the past, such as mass-produced goods and the fossil fuels, information is not limited by the scarce capitals. There would be new ideas being constantly produced, as long as there are humans.

           Will the unlimited nature of information provide everyone unlimited amount of wealth? Or would the information, like the capitals before, be possessed by limited number of capitalists? We have to wait and see to know the answer to that. Meanwhile, we must remind ourselves again that life is not all about money.

        French Revolution Cartoon

The Directory and Napoleon Prezi

The Directory and Napoleon on Prezi

Sustainable Economy

Malthus gave the limitations that we have on natural resources one of the reasons the population would not increase forever.  If we use up all the resources, we would not be able to keep our lives and just die, won’t we?  Right now, we seem to be heading straightly in that direction.  The depletion of resources such as oil and natural gas has become a serious global issue.

Yesterday in class, Mr. K shared with us an interesting quote by Richard Sears: “The Stone Age ended not because we ran out of stones.”  What this means is that when the Stone Age ended, people had greater ideas and technology that was more advanced than just stones.  We can use this way of thinking to solve the problems we face today.  For the problems with energy, we can find a way that is far more efficient and sustainable than burning oil; that might be the solar power, or the nuclear fusion.

Right now, it is much cheaper to use oil than to build solar panels or nuclear reactor.  But we must realize that when we say that oil is “cheap,” we are ignoring the externalized costs that it brings.

World where “everyone does what they like to do”... how would this work out?

Pros:

• People would be happy and feel less stress than when they are doing jobs they do not want to do
• The productivity would rise since people are doing what they like to do
• There would be advance in technology, since people would be doing research and experiment out of interest.

Cons:

• Unbalance in the supply of the items: if everyone does whatever they like to do, then the things that everyone likes would be oversupplied, and the things that no one likes to do would lack sufficient supply.

Motivation of the Workers





I have not been feeling motivated lately.  This might explain the reason why.