What is Power?

When I looked at the definition in the dictionary for power it stated that power was “the ability or authority to control people or nations”. From my studies during this year I feel I am able to conclude that this definition is far too concise to encompass all forms of power. When you think of power you think largely of political and military power but there are several other forms of power including personal power and economic power. In this essay I am going to talk about these three forms of power and how together they make up the definition of power. To provide a text to world context I will also include how each form of power is seen today or has been seen in history.

History is dotted with political struggles for power and the use of military to achieve this power. During the Cold War the West (America, Britain, and France) competed with the East (Soviet Union) for the control of Germany. The West wanted to control the East as they wanted to destroy communism which believed in shared ownership of property and equality. The East wanted to control the West as they wanted to destroy capitalism which believed in the production of wealth by individuals to benefit themselves. Both sides disagreed with the way that power was held and controlled in the opposing side. So in an attempt to correct the wrong they wanted to re-establish power as was established in their own countries. The Cold War though a good example of a political struggle is only an ok example of using military to achieve their goals. This is largely because there was no hand combat during the War but only threats of atomic weapons. A far superior example of military power achieving countries goals can be seen during Imperialism. When colonizers were able to enter countries and to a large degree take over because of the superiority of their weapons. When power is talked about you largely thing about political and military power but there is also economic power which fuels military power.

Without economic power a country would not be able to fuel the growth of their military. Without military power a country is unable to have the opportunity to voice their opinion on world issues and be involved in resolving a problem if it arises. That is why throughout history and even today you see countries investing large sums in the growth of their economy. The Industrial Revolution would be a good example of this with countries such as America and England experiencing large economic growth. This large economic growth was due to new technologies which allowed earlier processes to be completed on a far shorter time period increasing productivity. To be able to sustain the Industrial Revolution countries had to leave there own borders in a search for resources and new markets to sell their produce in. This is how Imperialism came about with world powers finding to be able to continue to prosper had to undermine more underdeveloped countries such as Africa and India. Economic power can be found to be more important than other forms of power.

The last form of power is personal power which gives an individual power to decide on their own future. This form of power is only seen largely in democratic lead countries. An example would be people able to vote for the leader of their country and if the leader is unsuccessfully being able to remove them from power. Personal power is vital for the economy to prosper as if people are undermined it is less likely they will be productive while working. This could lead to the decrease in the quality of political and military power. Overall to be able to understand power you have to look at all these factors.

Control in Hunger Games

I see the theme of control in the Hunger Games in several occasions. The most relevant example would be the 12 districts not being allowed to communicate with each other meaning people create false pretenses about the other districts seen on page 202 when Katniss and Rue are talking. “I’d have thought, in District Eleven, you’d have a bit more to eat than us. You know since you grow the food,” “Oh no we’re not allowed to eat the crops.” Another example of control is when the districts are forced to compete in the hunger games seen on page 12 when Katniss is giving her opinion on the purpose of the Hunger Games. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District thirteen.” I believe this part of the novel illustrates how the people of district twelve are completely at the capitols mercy. The other main example I see as control in the novel is once Katniss and Peeta have one the Hunger Games and they are taken from the compound of the Games but are still under the capitols control seen on page 347. Petrified, I lunge for him, but I’m caught and thrust back into another room, and a glass door seals between us. I pound on the glass, screaming my head off. Everyone ignore me except for some Capitol attendant who appears behind me and offers me a beverage. This proves that even though they are the hero’s of the game and went against the capitol they are completely still under their control of the capitol no more than two little weak contestants. I think control is evident throughout my novel and is one of the main themes.

Population Project Feed Back

The three most valuable things that I learned during the population project were how to examine data for possible trends and how to write a proper data analysis with the information gained from the analysis. Secondly how to undertake research in an ordered manner in terms of citing sources and taking down major points which could later be used in a research paper. The third major thing I learned was how to conduct a proper interview with a professional and the proper procedures to follow before and after the interview had taken place. Population Project will help me in the future with understanding how to complete a data analysis, research paper, interview and research. It also had provided me with knowledge about a problem associated with India's growing population.

Net Effect of Globalization:

"Globalization is the growing integration of economies and societies around the world" (World Bank). The net effect of globalization has been debated throughout the world; with leaders, doctors and the average men all having different stand points. Globalizations impact on the world has been both positive and negative. On a national scale, it has created jobs in 3rd world countries such as India; seen in the movie 30 days. For people who are hired for these jobs the income that is earned is substantially helpful in their fight for survival. With a constant increase in jobs over time Globalization is going to be helpful in reducing poverty. On a business scale, it has decreased the cost of employment making productivity higher and overtime boosting the economy. Secondly it has improved the efficiency of services such as referrals which improves customer service. Due to outsourcing an increase in the following of western habits and traditions can be seen worldwide. Lastly it has improved products such as the Google Search Engine, Facebook and Hotmail that connect people worldwide in the sharing of ideas and concepts.

Globalization has also had a negative effect on the world economy. On a national level, places such as America are experiencing a decrease in the availability of jobs due to them being outsourced oversees. A good example of this would be Chris's job in the technology business was outsourced to the TATA Company in India as it was profitable. It is also creating larger gaps in classes with the rich companies in American becoming richer while the poor peasants in India are becoming poorer. As well a change in cultures in India and China are being seen with people working in out sourced jobs experiencing westernized cultures which influence their own traditional eating, dressing and behavioural habits. Both these reasons are causing conflict and aggravation between classes worldwide. On a business scale, the reliability of products is less due to them being manufactured oversees without proper supervision of their production. Lastly the growing dependency on technology such as Hotmail and Google is shrinking our world from a size large to a size tiny described in the “World is Flat”. In short Globalization is essential to the growth of the economy in today’s decline but its negative effects need to be evaluated.