Category Archives: Socials 11

Poverty Cycle: Discussion Questions

Explain how the person/people in each story from the documentary is trapped in the poverty cycle.

  • Danse: trapped in the poverty cycle because he needs a source of income to get housing, but he doesn’t want to go on welfare because he is afraid that if he signs government papers he is somehow giving up his aboriginal rights
  • Amanda: was stuck in the poverty cycle because she was in a toxic relationship, that involved drugs, she was also didn’t have any education which didn’t help her while trying to find a job. It was also hard for her because she didn’t have a source of income for a really long time because the process of getting welfare was long and difficult but she eventually got it.
  • Michael: was stuck in the poverty cycle because he had such an addiction to drugs and he didn’t have much money accept for his little flower business. He really needed others to step in to help him get some housing and a source of income.

Refer to the poverty cycle on page 404 of your textbook. Pretend that you are the government and provide an intervention at 4 different points of the cycle and explain how and why this intervention would break the poverty cycle at that point.

  • number 1: Give an allowance to families with a low source of income or no income. This would be able to help them because the family is not so focused on having to feed themselves but now they can also look for a home and or clothing. This would also help the family have a better health situation and would help the child to develop.
  • number 2: I would also give free medical care. This would help because not everyone can afford it so when it is provided they can get sufficient help and their money can go towards more important things.
  • Number 3: Free education and when it comes to university, it should cost less. I think this would go hand in hand with my previous statements of their money can go towards other important things. This would also help with the child’s literacy level which would help with jobs and economic success.
  • Number 4: Provide family plan: This could go hand in hand with medical care because it could teach you about contraceptives or it could help with how to find help from different charities or organizations.

What should be our general rules/attitude we should take when approaching the issue of solving poverty in our own communities?

  • I think we should be helpful when trying to solve poverty  because it is easy to get stuck in the poverty cycle and it is hard to get out of the poverty cycle. I think we should be more sympathetic and not jump to conclusions when we see a homeless person on the street because they may have or may have not gotten themself into the situation they are in.  I think we should pitch in and have more charities and organizations who could help, or we should at least spread word about these current organizations so we can all help people and break the poverty cycle, or lower the rate of people getting stuck in the poverty cycle.

Socials 11: Defining Poverty

  1. In your own words, explain the problems with measuring poverty (standard of living, absolute vs relative, HDI)
  • There are many problems when trying to define poverty. Many countries live in different situations, for example a less developed country may seem poor to a more developed country. This is called standard of living. Some countries like Canada have a higher standard of living than others. When comparing absolute poverty vs. relative poverty on one country compared to another it can be different. The needs of a person in a developed country is higher for example the low standard of living for a higher developed country could very well be the higher standard of living for a less developed country. Absolute poverty is when you do not have enough support or money to afford the essentials in life, and relative poverty is being able to afford your basic needs. Canada’s absolute poverty could be another countries relative poverty. This is why it is difficult to determine if a country is poor while being compared to another country.
  1. What do you think is the best way to measure poverty in Canada and the world.
  • I think the best way to measure poverty in Canada and the world is to use the Human Development Index. I think gathering number relative to that countries standard of living adding it together and then comparing it might help even out and help determine if a country is in actual poverty or not. Basic Human Needs, which includes medical care, sanitation, and shelter foundations of wellbeing, which covers education, access to technology, and life expectancy and opportunity, which looks at personal rights, freedom of choice, and general tolerance is a way that could help determine if a country is poor when all these factors are added up and compared.
  • I think that this would be better than just comparing the economic growth of a country because it adds more factors into effect and will be more accurate and comparable.

WW1: The Chain of Friendship

  • A: Serbia
  • B: Austria
  • C: Russia
  • D: Germany
  • E: France
  • F: Britain

Theme: Alliances

  • The people circled in blue (Serbia, Russia, France and Britain) have an alliance.
  • The people circled in yellow have an alliance as well (Austria and Germany)

Explain the History:

  • Austria blamed Serbia for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
  • Russia is shown to side with Serbia and goes against Austria.
  • Germany is in alliance with Austria so is opposed to Russia and Serbia.
  • France and Britain side with Russia because of the Triple Entente.

Explain the History of Serbia:

  • Serbia is shown as the little guy because they don’t stand against Austria until Germany supports them. Austria blamed Serbia for the assassination of  Franz Ferdinand (Archduke).

Theme:

  • Imperialism

Explain the History:

  • France and Britain attacked Germany because Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium in order to attack France, Britain then declared war on Germany to protect its ally Russia.

Explain the History:

  • Imperialism: because the Great Powers were struggling to expand their colonies around the world, they also fought over limited resources in Europe. Of particular were the Balkans, a culture promoted around the Adriatic Sea in southeastern Europe. Russia wanted to control this area and so did the Great  Powers who wanted to expand their colonies. 

Sequence of Events:

  1. Austria’s leader Archduke Ferdinand goes to Bosnia he is assassinated and Austria blames Serbia for this
  2. Serbia refuses to admit/give in to this accusation, Germany supports Austria and says that it will help with any military actions that Austria does.
  3. Austria goes at war with Serbia, because Serbia doesn’t accept the ultimatum, and Russia helps Serbia fight.
  4. Austria-Hungary and Germany tell Russia to not fight, Russia doesn’t listen
  5. Germany helps Austria and declares war on Russia and France
  6. Britain goes to help it’s allies Russia and France
  7. Canada as part of the British Empire is involved now too
  • A: I think that this could be in Russia’s perspective or may the other from the Triple Entente. Everyone else seems too weak and or too violent. The triple Entente were more of the good guys and would stand up for what they believe in and because they had more support from other countries. This makes them not afraid to say something.
  • B: The first country is depicted as a child because it is a metaphor that Serbia has little power and is no match to the other countries.
  • C: I think that the Title is ironic because they aren’t really friends, they are just allies who are protecting themselves. Each country had their own selfish purpose for getting involved. Germany wanted to build its empire and prove its army. France and Britain have have a grudge on  Germany and aren’t really that concerned for Serbia. As for Russia, their ideologies opposed Austria-Hungary’s seizure of Sarajevo and did not want Austria-Hungary expanding into the Balkans. So Russia agreed to join Serbia if Austria-Hungary attacked. They did not do all these things just to help their “friends” they did this because they were selfish.

Conserving Water

Why is it important to conserve water in Canada?

It is important to save water in Canada because the majority of our land is farmland. We need to cut down on our water usage so we don’t run out of it and lower our other resources. Another reason why we should conserve water is so we don’t create more waste water and have to use more energy to clean it, as well as keeping our environment clean because our environment can only take so much and if we continue to pollute it then we are hurting the environment and hurting ourselves.

Something I already do to save water is turn the tap off when i brush my teeth. A new way for me to save water that i am going to implement into my life is take shorter showers as well as wash my face in the shower instead of doing it in the sink with the water running.

 

Poverty Life Cycles

POVERTY CYCLE OF HIV

  1. Baby Born with HIV
  2. Mother dies giving birth
  3. Child is unable to receive treatment
  4. Child cannot attend school because child has to work to get treatment 
  5. Child will start a family at a young age because no education

Solution: to have charities that help fund countries with medical care for free so families can save money and increase survival rates and allow kids to focus on education and be able to obtain a good job in the future.

WOMENS EQUALITY POVERY CYCLE

  1. Woman born into inequality
  2. Not treated fairly
  3. Woman gets taken advantage of at a young age (Rape) gets pregnant
  4. Woman cannot get education
  5. Woman only works at home

Solution: Allow girls to get education and make the education more generalized for everyone about poverty and health as well as normal school subjects. This will allow both genders to be aware of the possibilities of having children at an early age and will allow for woman to put off children until after education, which will allow for the woman to build a family without getting stuck in poverty.

CHILD BORN INTO POVERTY

  1. Child born into poverty
  2. Family cannot afford food
  3. Child needs to work for family
  4. Child receives no education
  5. Child has kids at a young age sue to lack of education/ family planning

Solutions: Make laws that protect child workers  and force companies to provide education for student workers for them to receive and education and help their development instead of damaging it.

5 year Age Groups and Gender of Benin

  1. Find the dependency ratio, is it high or low?
    • 83.5% dependent. It is high.
  2. Describe the situation in the country based on the info in your population pyramid (births, deaths, health, age, male/female, type of pyramid, stage in DTM etc.)
    • High births, which are going to be dependent on the working age cohort, we have more kids than adults. We have less deaths than births; meaning they are getting an enhanced health care system/ everything is evolving. There are slightly more women than men in this country. This is an expanding pyramid. This is around stage 2.
  3. Explain what the country needs to prepare for in the near future and why you think that. (health, population, business, policies, etc. Connect this to your observations)
    • This country needs to keep making medicine, needs to increase food production, needs to make more schools and hospitals. They might need to make a policy of how many kids you are allowed to have if the population continues to increase at the rate its going. The health of these people are generally good but they die off around 80, but since there are high birth rates the death rate will increase later on so the country might want to make room for cemeteries and they might want to start businesses that help elderly people, like transportation or have more senior homes.

The Pros and Cons to Protesting Methods

Image result for protesting

Is Protesting Efficient?

The idea of politics can be very perplexing. The government may be in charge, but that doesn’t give them the right to neglect the needs and wants of the citizens in that country. The government is required to listen the people, unfortunately, the voice of the people is not always heard. Situations may be dealt with by civil disobedience, creating petitions, and even hiring lobbyists. These can have positive or negative impacts. On the most part, these are very efficient ways to overcome conflicts and cause movement for change.

Civil disobedience is typically an efficient way to attract attention to a problem. Civil disobedience is generally a person who accepts the consequences of breaking a law that they most likely, find absurd. For example, Viola Desmond, refused to sit in the designated colored area in a theatre in 1946. The situation escalated quickly, and she was then jailed for not listening to the rules of a theatre. This received attention and was advertised in local news paper and decades later a book was published, causing change with racial discrimination. The benefits of civil disobedience is, the situation draws attention, there is an increase in chance of change, and it is a non-violent way of protesting. Despite civil disobedience being efficient, there are cons to it. This way of protesting may result in jail time, causes a tougher resistance towards the issue, and may take some time to make change. In the end change may not occur, but an issue is being approached and it causes awareness. Civil disobedience works on the most part, depending on the situation that needs attention.

Creating petitions is another great way to voice opinions. Petitions are an easy way to show that many people have common feelings towards an issue. Change is typically made because it is a very formal and non-violent way to get a point across. For example, in 2008 HST was introduced and it replaced PST and GST. Many people found it was detrimental and was not placed to benefit the people. It took a few years to revert to PST and GST, but it eventually happened. The cons to petitions are, it may take some time, the issue must be serious, and it can be challenging to find the minimum number of people that share the same feelings to get the problem noticed. For the most part if the issue is serious the government should step in to keep the people happy and to keep a good reputation. Otherwise, the issue will be dismissed and left unresolved.

Lobbyist and pressure groups are very productive. Lobbyist are generally hired to persuade the government to see and make changes according to the people. NAFTA is an example that used pressure groups to enforce free trade. Benefits of using pressure groups is they use a democratic process, they daunt the majority as well as protect individuals and give them a voice to suggest and give their opinions. They are also able to persuade officials. Moreover, they can provide positive solutions, because of the skill and knowledge of being a lobbyist. Lobbyists are usually hired because they have many connections in which they can talk to, to get their points across. Consequently, pressure groups could lead to a higher resistance towards the issues, the breaking of laws may occur, and it is sometimes only beneficial to one side of the issue. Again, pressure groups are very productive but are not always the best choice of making change.

In the end, there are many ways citizens can go about to make change. Civil Disobedience, petitions, and lobbyists are effective ways to voice the need for change. These methods have been used for decades and still work today, but to each benefit there will be a negative effect from protesting. Governments may or may not fix an issue, but they are sure to approach one if it brings enough attention. Governments relatively like to keep people happy and keep a good reputation. If an issue occurs, be sure to know the pros and cons to each protesting method to ensure change.