Society’s Favor for Mental Labor
A claim is a statement made to influence others to accept a certain point of view. In her essay "Science, Facts, and Feminism," Ruth Hubbard presents various claims criticizing the way scientific epistemology works as a separate, exclusive entity. Hubbard’s claims suggest that the way society perceives and values science ought to be reevaluated. I agree strongly with two of her claims.
One of these claims states that "this society values mental labor more highly than manual labor" (121). This claim is fairly straightforward in meaning; it says that the Western culture places a higher priority on mental labor than manual labor. In the Western culture, positions which require completion of stringent educational requirements rank higher in status, both in terms of respect and monetary rewards, than those which require physical work.
In America people working in mental occupations are often paid higher salaries than those working in manual positions. The number of letters following one’s name that indicate educational achievement often dictates the amount of respect he or she receives. People sometimes look down upon jobs requiring intense physical labor. The people who see mental labor as superior sometimes cite the fact that anyone could work outside all day in the sun, but it takes an educated professional to work in a laboratory. This outlook exemplifies the value society places on mental work.
While I agree with Hubbard’s claim, it is a bit naïve in assuming that every occupation is either all manual or mental. While most jobs are viewed by society as wholly manual or mental occupations, manual occupations cross over into mental occupations (and vice versa) every day. Farmers, for instance, must have knowledge in the areas of business, biology, and mathematics, to name a few, in order to run a profitable operation. However, most farmers, thought of as "manual" workers, do not attain the same respect as a business person or scientist, "mental" workers.
My personal experiences have demonstrated to me the truth in Hubbard’s claim that society places a higher value on mental work than manual work. I have lived on a farm my entire life, so I feel I am acutely aware of society’s devaluation of manual labor. While most farmers work hours that would breach those of almost any "day job," they are still, on average, paid far less than, for example, an engineer that has set weekday hours and rare weekend work.
One of the more disconcerting aspects of Bill C-31 is the newly adopted Designated Country of Origin (DCO) legislation which has permanently labeled particular nations as “safe”. Consequently, individuals claiming refugee status who originate from these countries no longer have the same rights and privileges afforded to their refugee counterparts from other nations (“Overview of C-31,” 2013). In turn, this has led to a dichotomy between those who view this change as necessary in order to diminish the influx of embellished and falsified refugee claims and those who view this policy as discriminatory and prejudiced towards people originating from certain nations.
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E-commerce is an emerging area that encompasses the process of indirectly or directly buying, selling, trading products and services electronically (Yasin, Mario, Czuchry, & Lisboa, 2010). As a result of market placement advancements in the realm of technology, there have been a growing number of organizations that have re-engineered the way in which they operate so as to maintain consistency with the emerging e-business model. The internet has been growing at an unprecedented rate, and as such, the facets of the way organizations perform e-commerce has been changing to meet economic demands. One of the most important factors for an organization is to understand what contributes to effective e-commerce as this provides them a competitive edge. According to a study conducted by eMarketer Inc, the internet has become a dynamic virtual medium for buying and selling services and products and sales have been approximately 32.4 billion in both the public and private sectors in 2005 (eMARKTER INC, 2006). This paper will briefly explore the importance of Canadian e-commerce by closely examining the key trends.
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people in this world will say that they don't want to work with a mental patient, because
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