The relevance of Marxism in Understanding
I am of the opinion that Karl Marx’s views on are relevant in understanding capitalism and the capitalistic tendencies that a majority of the Western states have employed. Marxism describes value as a relationship existing between two persons who have been able to create a social relationship. He further describes capitalism as a state where value appears in a somewhat “fantastic form” that happens to be a relation between two things(Marx and Engels). Marxism depicts the truth about capitalism; where people have their own interests and engage in transactions (through the use of inanimate items) for sale and not the other way round. Commodity fetishism is the term that Karl Marx uses to describe this appearance.
Value as per The Marxist sense is neither a physical nor natural quality of the commodities in question. The Marxist critique of the nascent capitalism that was slowly gaining traction came to be proved right by events that took place in recent times around the world. Free-marketers were in vogue during the capitalist boom but the theories that had developed on the “equilibrium” of economics were soon shattered during the great financial crash of 2008. The recession saw the biggest financial calamity of over-production of goods since the 1930s. Such events have come to show that capitalism, despite the mathematical niceties that come via its equilibrium model, was far from reality and also from individual’s everyday life.
The “revolving door” practice
From the documentary on the revolving door phenomenon, I learned that the adoption of this paradigm occurs as there is a sense of the development of better policy makers and regulators. Additionally, the revolving door practice is thought to enhance communication between stakeholders and the government of the day (In Wasko, et al.). There are experts who also argue that the revolving door a prospect for future employment in the private sector which would attract some of the best candidates to public service positions that are lowly paid. During other occasions, it would ostensibly incentivize the civil servants to have to work harder to prove their worth and mettle to land jobs that are much lucrative later on in future. In the documentary, it was underscored that there is a rapid growth in the phenomenon is detrimental to society and the quality of services that these individuals provide. A large number of people get offers of employment, not on merit or competence, but for the networks that they have, their connections and the exceptional access that they acquire during their stint in government, casting considerable doubt on the whole hypothesis of schooling.
The gold standard in the Bretton Wood System and the future of the US Dollar
After the Second World War, negotiators present at Bretton Woods ended up betraying an outstanding optimism regarding the prospects of monetary stability around the world. There was an existence of a pegged rate regime that would act in bias against the many frequent changes in the value of currency. All this would stem from the fact that states were to demonstrate the presence of a so-called fundamental disequilibrium even before they had a chance to later their own par value. The only instrument they were thus left with was capital control and liquidation. The International Monetary Fund was also shrunk to the small-scale operation and was considerably unable to provide loans like before. The United States would then step in as a stabilizing force. Since most nations had reserves that were nearly reaching their exhaustion level the rest of the world was ready to hoard and accumulate dollars.
Due to the scarcity of gold in the central bank and beyond the United States, few prospects for the production of new gold the United States essentially became a residual source of growth in global liquidity mainly by means of the deficits found in its balance of payment. Additionally, the United State would decide to pledge the convertibility of the dollars they held into gold but at a fixed price (the dollar became a near perfect proxy for gold (Bordo and Eichengreen, 203). The Bretton Woods system was responsible for making the US Dollar a symbol of prosperity and stability. The dominance of this currency has however been questioned since the currency system collapse of the early seventies. Questions into the dominance of the US Dollar would persist during the 2008 recession but up to date, this particular currency has been dominant globally. It is thus safe to say that the US Dollar will defend this leading position for a long time in the foreseeable future.
Rodrik’s political trilemma view in capturing the political difficulties in handling socioeconomic conflicts resulting from economic globalization
The “impossibility theorem” that Dani Rodrik would develop on democracy would posit that national sovereignty, democracy, and the global economic incorporation are reciprocally incompatible. It is noteworthy that a deep economic integration often requires that nations do away with transactional costs that financiers and traders face during cross-border dealings. It is, however, important to note that it is the nation-states that are the source of the transactional cost. To deal with this debacle, nations can decide to downgrade their ambitions especially concerning the level of economic integration that they expect to achieve. Nations would thus be going for the globalization of a limited version as per the Bretton Woods regime. An example of the political trilemma in play was in the Greek financial crisis. Greece would receive a $140 billion so-called support package to deal with the political trilemma of economic globalization, the state of political democracy together with the nation-state being mutually irreconcilable(Rodrik). Thus, its democracy is only compatible in an environment of national sovereignty, but only if nations restrict globalization. For a nation to achieve democracy together with globalization, it must be ready to shove its own nation-state aside to strive for a higher international governance.
The future of the EU in terms of political power structure
After the Maastricht Treaty, member state governments in the European Unaccepted to Europeanize issues that were traditionally very close to the country’s national sovereignty. At the same time, the Europeanization did not imply to the strengthening of those supranational institutions. The institutions of power in the European Union are the European Court of Justice and the Commission (Kelemen, 170). The discussion of important issues ends up being decided in the Council of Ministers or the European Council. Intergovernmental decisions thus happen to take the shape of political as opposed to legal acts. It is important to acknowledge that in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty fully institutionalized the intergovernmental constitution. Countries such as the United Kingdom acknowledge that integration should advance without going the supra-national way. The future of the European Union looks bleak with the United Kingdom voting to leave the union through a national referendum. The United Kingdom has formally triggered Article 50 which marks proceedings on the steps to be taken to leave the European Union.
President Trumps intention to withdraw from NAFTA and protectionism’s the ripple effect
President Trump has shown his utter dedication to ensuring that the United States withdrew from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). His intentions to withdraw from NAFTA was due to the opinion he holds that this decade-old deal was “hurting” the United States workers. One of his pledges during his presidential campaign was to create employment opportunities for his citizens and withdrawing from NAFTA would be the first step. NAFTA was set up in 1994 with the sole intention of removing taxes on all the goods that were traded between Mexico, Canada and the United States (Lemco, et al.) President Trump aims to recast the American economic policy and bring back the manufacturing jobs that were able to relocate to Mexico under NAFTA’s terms due to the availability of cheap labor. On the flipside, this form of protectionism would have negative effects in the United States. One effect would be the risk of trade wars that would significantly hike the price of American consumer goods. The withdrawal from NAFTA would also cripple American producers such as corn farmers who would have a local market, saturated with the same product and with lower prices.
Discuss either two (2) civil liberties or two (2) civil rights events. One event must be from within the last two years, and the other may be from the past. Select events that have influenced a sense of social responsibility in the American government today. Provide examples to support your answer. In your response, consider how the events influenced the way state, local, or national political leaders or agencies responded in a socially responsible or ethical manner toward the community. Please cite your sources
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Discuss two (2) media events (past or present) that have positively and/or negatively influenced the public’s opinion of a government agency. One event must be within the last two years, and the other may be from the past. Provide examples to support your answer. Consider how a news story or media coverage of an event positively or negatively changed the public’s opinion (or perception) regarding how responsible a government agency should be towards meeting the needs of its customers (i.e., the American people). Please cite your sources
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Discuss two (2) differences between the Republican and Democratic parties that may have an ethical impact (positively or negatively) on the American people. Provide examples from the past 2 years to support your answer. Consider the different ideologies, values, morals, and/or goals held by the Republican and Democratic parties, and their different views on the ethically or morally right way to govern and make the best policies for the people they serve. Determine if your example presents any type of ethical concerns for or against the public best interest of the American people. Please cite your sources.
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