WAR – Is the prospect of World War III thinkable?

World Wars I and II claimed millions of victims, caused suffering to even more, and massive destruction occurred. However, these statistics do not matter to many countries and societies which still continue to engage in destructive conflict and war. Will another World War ever occur?

The root cause of World War II was the madness of Adolf Hitler. He wanted to expand Germany and had a plan for world domination. In addition he had allies in Japan and Italy and the democratic powers were passive in allowing Germany to build up its military strength and to recover from WW I.

In my perspective, I do not think WWIII will occur.

Globalization and the increasing economic dependence between countries make war too risky and too expensive. There is a conditional loyalty that exists that maintains this social order. Countries that commit atrocities will attract international intervention, usually led by the United States, but it will not lead to war. This can be seen from the human rights abuses by the Burmese junta on protesting monks and civilians which only attracted strong diplomatic urges from the United Nations and US, and no use of force.

Terrorism, which is “the deliberate targeting of more or less randomly selected victims whose deaths and injuries are expected to weaken the opponents’ will to persist in a political conflict” (Turk, 2002) is today’s major problem in the evolution of war. More specifically, a war of ideology is taking place between the US (and the Western world) and Islamic terrorism. The conflict between the two adversaries had been ongoing for years before it came to a head on September 11, 2001. Since then the US has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, purportedly to eliminate terrorism. Islamic terrorists have also carried out various bombings in Madrid, London and Bali to target Westerners. As allies of the West, some Asian countries also become potential targets of terrorist attacks. One may argue that this may lead to a world war. I believe a world war is already taking place, because the world is against terrorism, but it is not a total war of mindless destruction. Instead, because of the enemy is always in hiding and its operations clandestine, a war of total devastation may not happen.

The number of countries with nuclear capabilities is ever-increasing. Countries include the US, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan. As a legacy of the Cold War, a sense of insecurity exists between these countries that one will mount an attack on another, especially since George W Bush’s administration exercised a policy of pre-emption – attacking an adversary in expectation of what might be done in future – in attacking Afghanistan in 2001. A nuclear war may abruptly erupt. But I believe these countries proliferate their nuclear weapons only as a form of deterrence, having the weapons to ensure the other side did not use theirs to in a stalemate of mutually assured destruction.

Therefore, as seen from above, a third World War may not arise even with the global threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

References

Fuller, Richard, 2006, Causes of the Second World War, http://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/history/6.html

Turk, A. T., 2004, "Sociology of Terrorism." Annual Review of Sociology

Crime - caused by inequalities

In my perspective, with globalization and thus urbanization, the root cause of crime in urban society is inequalities.

With the shift to high technology and knowledge-based economies, employment opportunities favour those who have more formal academic skills. Those who are less educated will find it difficult to gain employment. These are usually the poor and they experience dislocation. The easiest way to make a living is through street crime. This can be seen in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Brazil is a country with extreme inequality, with a small elite controlling the wealth and power and a huge powerless under-class living at subsistence level (http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata194.htm). This has led to low street safety, kidnappings, and widespread organized street crime.

When the dislocated urban poor turn to drug consumption to seek temporary solace and to quell hunger, this creates a demand for illegal drugs such as heroin. When they are unable to afford to support their addiction, they rob in order to obtain money. A much more severe problem arises when gangs seek to control the movement and sale of drugs. Sao Paulo’s main and most notorious gang, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) reputedly controls the majority of illegal contraband and drugs coming in and out of the prisons in the state.

The poor are also by no means the only ones to break the law and try to achieve success using illegitimate means. The passion of people to improve their condition means the rich also try to get richer. Politicians and government officials who accept bribes, stockbrokers who deal illegally and employers who do not protect employees from hazardous waste are examples.

Physical inequality causes women and children of the dislocated poorer class to suffer abuse from men who are unable to find unemployment because they are not skilled enough. They are unable to vent frustration on the abstract intangible forces of globalization and thus may use violence on their family members who are at hand.

I agree with sociologist William J. Wilson that the solution to decrease crime is to support education and provide employment opportunities to the marginalized. It is often from lack of legitimate opportunities that crime arises. In addition, salaries of police forces in places such as Sao Paulo can be raised to stem out corruption.

References

Overseas Security Advisory Council, Brazil 2007 Crime & Safety Report: Sao Paulo, https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=62452

Sernau, Scott, 2006, Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace and Sustainability, Pearson Education

Zona Latina, 2001, http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata194.htm

Gender and Family – The women always suffer

Around the world and through history, immense changes have taken place in the roles of men and women, and the relationship between work and family. More often than not, it is the women who somehow suffer the most whenever these changes happen.

From the 1800s till today, in the idea of the male playing the “good provider role”, men who fail to live up to this role have the option of deserting their families because they cannot provide for them. In a sense, they have more privileges relative to the women. They can move and start over, while the women are left to raise families with no source of income and little support.

The changing global economy is displacing men who are from lower income group and of the working class and rely on strong backs and arms with industrial automation and mechanization. Women are becoming more employable than men in say, assembly or textile plants. They have limitless patience and are willing to work without complaint. The men can only take up odd jobs. As such, women become the major wage earner of the family. The men also find it difficult to step into traditionally female roles – child care and domestic work – or, being a “househusband”. As such women still mend these tasks and have a double burden. In addition, women are the subjects of family abuse when these displaced men take their frustration and violence out on their wives or sisters.

Even when women go out to work, they face discrimination and handicaps. Women around the world face relatively larger barriers in gaining access to skilled positions in the labour market. Data from the International Labour Office for 1995 show that even in the 30 most developed countries in the world, the average percentage of female managers is less than 30%. For Africa and Asia, rates are lower than 15% (Esteve-Volart, 2004).

A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has said women across the OECD countries are 20% less likely than men to find a paid job, and they earn on average 17% less. Similar gaps are found for ethnic minorities throughout the OECD. The authors attributed one-third of the wage gap between the sexes and 8% of the difference in gender employment rates to discrimination. In Japan its large reserve of well-educated female workers is squandered. Only 67.4% of Japanese women aged 25 to 54 have a job, compared with 93% of males in the same age cohort. Even when hired, Japanese women can expect to receive lower pay than their male colleagues. South Korea was found to have the widest wage differential between men and women. On average, pay for Korean women is about 61% of what the opposite sex earns (Chen, 2008).

With the phenomenon of rising divorce rates after having children, and pre-marital pregnancies, single parenting is the single greatest risk factor for poverty in the US. Single mums are more likely to face poverty than single dads (Sernau, 2006). Births to teens are increasingly to unmarried teens. A teen unmarried mother is likely to be lowly-educated and unprepared for parenthood.

References

Esteve-Volart, Berta. 2004. http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:g5aJM89e1xkJ:www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2004/esteve-volart.doc+women+discrimination+labor&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=sg&client=firefox-a

Sernau, Scott, 2006, Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace and Sustainability, Pearson Education

Chen Shu-Ching Jean. 2004. OECD: Japan Wasting Its Female Labor Power
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/07/03/japan-employment-gendergap-markets-econ-cx_jc_0703markets03.html