Changes in our culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Changes in our culture - Essay Example It reminds of a simpler time in history when one has to catch food in order to eat or plant crops to be harvested for sustenance. That time of having the familiarity of building a house with one’s own hands or with the help of neighbors. All of these virtues and values are at a lost in today’s world where we open cans, lids, pouches, or any of other similar make for our so-called nourishment. But this is what our evolution has come to be. This is the era of conveniences and expediency. The availability of all modernity does not impose relentless clutch on all that it offers but it provides for a choice, because ultimately how one lives is according to how he desires to. I have to admit that I was born in a time where I can no longer imagine having to live without all of the tools that are easily available to me. There is no question that I am thrilled and relieved even that I only have to pop something in the microwave for a couple of minutes in order to satisfy my hunger. There is no hesitancy that my laptop is most cherished and adored of all the tools that great minds have invented. This is especially true because of the internet which has now been declared a basic human right by the United Nations, raising its rank along the same level as food, clothing, shelter and education (as cited by Chipchase, par. 5). Google is a dear old friend who virtually knows everything I need to know when I have to finish an assignment. Email is especially welcome in how it has made communication such a breeze. Losing my mobile phone feels almost like losing an arm. But in all the exigencies that this state of constant sprint that we are in, the choice remains ours in whether to follow the flow of the current, go against it or simply remain still. In however positive or negative opinion we have of these changes in our culture, we cannot deny the fact that this is actually where our

Microfinance Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Microfinance - Dissertation Example The foremost significance of microfinance institutions lies in their pro-poor feature Most of the developing nations are characterised by a majority of the population dwelling in poverty-stricken rural areas. Hence, microfinance institutions help to bail them out of dire situations arising out of low investment potentials and opportunities mirrored through a poor economic growth rate. Secondly, the fragile financial systems of developing economies are too poor to confront the risk of lending out to the rural poor; rather, they tend to advance their services to the more organised or formalised sector. Hence, investment lending is indeed negligible for the rural areas in developing economies. Lastly, the rural poor in developing economies often are discouraged to avail lending options in commercial banks, where they need to deposit collateral while taking credit unlike in microfinance institutions, where they are allowed to accept loans collectively that does not expose any single indi vidual to huge liability stakes. In addition to alleviating poverty, reducing inequality of income and generating employment, microfinance institutions also help to boost up economic growths through increased production and reduced dependence on externally produced items (Woller & Parsons, 2008). The situation in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia could be distinguished exclusively as an oil-producing giant that draws almost all of its income from exporting the fuel around the world. However, the rise in economic growth rates has been recorded as 1.25 percent between 1981 and 2000 in contrast to a fall of 2.5 percent in GDP per capita, implying a rising inequality in the distribution of income (Raphaeli, 2003, p. 1). The nation is also characterised by an extremely skewed tax structures favourable mostly for the richer section, while the same cannot be said for the poorer population who derive their incomes out of primary activities such as farming or fishery. The modestly developed financia l sector of Saudi Arabia cannot is quite unfavourable for the rural poor who have to strive hard for loans. Furthermore, the national government exhibits little effort in development of infrastructure in these regions (Islamic Development Bank, 2010, p. 3). These loans could prove to be foundations for setting up of small scale industries conducive for the economic growth and employment generation in the nation. In addition, microfinance institutions could also bail