...In the last few decades, humanity has propelled itself into a world where quality of life and economic success have become dependent upon technology. Many technological advancements made within the farming industry have increased both profits and food supply in the past century. As this industry is challenged with fluctuating environmental conditions as well as increased demand for specific foods, many new innovations arise that increase the food supply, making many of these advancements safe and inexpensive assets to the farming industry. One of them, however, poses a great threat to our society. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are foods that have been genetically revamped to enrich desired traits such as resistance to various pesticides, or greater nutritional values. Although GMOs help increase the output of desired foods, they are an unhealthy and dangerous system that spawns severe health and environmental risks. The genetic adjustments that are being made are neither natural nor safe. This process causes severe damage to normal genes, leading to transformations that give rise to new toxins, diseases, and viruses. The effects of GMOs are more risky than beneficial for our society, and thus...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS Introduction Technological transformations occur daily, affecting many groups of people. Two groups of people that were most affected before 1900 were farmers and physicians. The advancement in technology for both farmers and physicians has made impact for all. The advancements for farmers helped them to cover more land, producing more goods and at the same time lowering the cost to take care of a farm. Physicians were able to expand their knowledge and give better care to those in need. The machines and tools were able to give them a better idea of what was wrong with a patient. There were many inventions that helped in making everyday tasks that they were performing daily much easier thus opening the door for more advancement in farming and in the medical field. Farming There were many inventions that impacted the work load of farming, one of which was the steel plow. The steel plow was invented by a blacksmith named John Deere. Farmers were not able to use the old style plow which was made of cast iron and was used more commonly in the eastern states. John Deere decided to make steel plows because the cast iron plows would easily break due to the soil being rich and thick in the Great Plains. Farmers were now spending more time harvesting land instead of fixing the cast iron plows. The steel plow had a wooden handle and was attached to a horse. The plow would dig the soil and turn it over in preparation for planting...
Words: 1677 - Pages: 7
...adjustment. Similarly, at times it is difficult to separate the socio-economic impacts resulting from environmental changes and those resulting from the forces underlying environmental change. Such dilemmas prevail because socio-economic impacts are products of overall transformation processes, which involve simultaneously both the environmental variables and the factors affecting them. Hence, we may talk more comfortably about the socioeconomic impacts of change (i.e. transformation process) with a special focus on the environmental components of this transformation. Accordingly, in the first place, the transformation processes have disrupted the overall production base and interlinkages of land-based activities, which evolved through adaptations to specific conditions of mountain habitats (tables 4.7-4.10). Ineffectiveness or infeasibility of several traditional production and resource-management practices due to the above changes may be treated as manifestations of socioeconomic vulnerabilities. The changed status and productivity of environmental resources are important factors behind such vulnerabilities. As a consequence of the marginalization of age-old and well-tested components of traditional farming systems, the mountain communities (most of which depend on agriculture) are...
Words: 4106 - Pages: 17
...Before the people discovered the cultivation of crops, the land was not being used and was not legally owned by any single tribe. The geographical change in history began with the forest land. It was expanded and claimed as agricultural land for farming and grazing. They learned that fertile land was appropriate to successfully grow crops. The people were used to being nomads, not having a steady home. Once they became educated farmers, they learned to settle on land. Living in the same spot aided them in planting crops and keeping a regular farming schedule. By staying in a single area, the people were able to raise animals, allowing them to travel by horses and wagons. Survival was more stable because they could rely on the nearby rivers for water. Animal hide, bricks, and mud were utilized for the people to construct a safe shelter. They used their natural resources to create homemade tools. Considering all of the geographical elements, they experienced major changes during this...
Words: 747 - Pages: 3
...Before agriculture, population of the human species was around 6 million. After the introduction of agricultural farming, population grew to about 250 million (35). A growth in population led to humans splitting off from groups, forming new ones. Groups that became too dense were prone to less stability. New settlements provided more space for living and farming, promoting population growth even more. Agricultural technology allowed for constrains on farming to be removed, producing more crops for a bigger population size. This was one of the biggest shifts in human population history because subsistence farming became a thing of the past. ??? It became a thing of the...
Words: 1833 - Pages: 8
...From the era of Reconstruction to the end of the 19th century, the United States underwent an economic transformation marked by the maturing of the industrial economy, the rapid expansion of big business, the development of large-scale agriculture, and the rise of national labor unions and industrial conflict. An outburst of technological innovation in the late 19th century fueled this headlong economic growth. However, the accompanying rise of the American corporation and the advent of big business resulted in a concentration of the nation's productive capacities in fewer and fewer hands. Mechanization brought farming into the realm of big business as well, making the United States the world's premier food producer--a position it has never surrendered. But still the land hunger of white Americans continued unabated. This led to wars against the Native Americans of the Plains and the "second great removal" of indigenous peoples from their ancient homelands. Indispensable to this growth and development were an unprecedented surge in immigration and urbanization after the Civil War. American society was in transition. Immigrants arriving from southern and Eastern Europe, from Asia, Mexico, and Central America, were creating a new American mosaic. And the power of Anglo-Saxon Protestants--once so dominant--began to wane. What many thought of as progress, however, others regarded with apprehension. Agricultural modernization disrupted family farms, for example, provoking...
Words: 280 - Pages: 2
...There were very deep holes that were dug in search of the gold. Trees were cut down to clear the fields and to take care of the huge demand for wood that was used to power the steam engines that ran the lifting cables. The rapid destruction of the forest triggered soil erosion in the fields. The miners were less concerned with the consequences of their acts to the environment, for them, America was a place to exploit gets your wealth and leave. There was a rapid population growth in American west; this was as a result of the many migrants who came to the gold mines (Limerick, 1998). This image is much importance in the development of American West. The gold rush brought about very many immigrants who contributed a lot to industrial transformation. Domestic market grew as a result of the gold mines. The miners reinvested the profits made back into the economy. Successful miners...
Words: 2699 - Pages: 11
...Research Paper “The Neolithic Revolution” Contents: 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..3 2. Literature review……………………………………………………………………..4 3. Neolithic revolution…………………………………………………………………..6 4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….9 5. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………10 Introduction The most important technological development ever to occur in human history was the domestication of plants (agriculture) and animals (pastoralism). Together these developments are called the Neolithic Revolution. To understand how the Neolithic Revolution occurred it is necessary to understand the economic system it replaced. Until the Neolithic, and in most areas for a long time after, all humans engaged in an economic activity called "hunting and gathering". This system is called "food extraction" as opposed to "food production" by agriculture and pastoralism. This period, which occurred between 12,000 and 8,000 years ago, brought along many profound changes to human society and culture, including the creation of cities and permanent dwellings, labor specialization, the baking of bread, personal property, more complex hierarchical social structures, non-agricultural crafts, slavery, the state, official marriage, personal inheritance, and more. I’ve chosen this topic because we can’t imagine our life, if there were not such a revolution. What would we be without the Neolithic Revolution? I think without the Neolithic...
Words: 2680 - Pages: 11
...world from the Song dynasty (960-1279) up until the latter half of the Qing dynasty (mid-1800's)? -Why did China fail to maintain her technological advantage after the mid-fourteenth century while advancing economically? Part One In the first section of the book, the author elucidates the staying power of the Chinese empire was due to the following factors. The economics of defense in relation to the size of empire and the power of its neighbors never became an extreme burden that it rendered the state impotent for any consecutively long period of time. It was always able to reformulate itself after a short disunity or rule by a foreign power of the whole, which only happened twice within a two thousand year period (Mongol and Manchu rule). Two other factors that contributed to the continuity of the Chinese state include a relatively isolated existence from the rest of the Eurasian landmass and the important placed on cultural unity, beginning with the first emperor's destruction of local records in order to quell local loyalties (pp.21-22). Both of these factors had been built up over time through a revolution in communication and transportation. Part Two The second section of the book analyses the causes of the economic revolution that occurred between the 8th and 12th centuries and the technological growth that accompanied it. The transformation of agriculture, especially in the south, was the major impetus that fuelled the economic growth of this period. This revolution in...
Words: 843 - Pages: 4
...Winter Economics 13 Winter Economics 13 The Changes to Capitalism January 28, 2013 Sarah Evelyn Johnson Assignment 1: Econ 1020 The Changes to Capitalism January 28, 2013 Sarah Evelyn Johnson Assignment 1: Econ 1020 08 Fall 08 Fall Although capitalism has only been around for two short centuries, it has vastly changed the way that society functions from the pre-capitalist era of economics. The world has taken a trip to a completely different way of working and functioning through what is just for people, what commodities are and the way people use their resources. The first major economic system that is traceable is that of the primitive economies, the early eras of society. Human behavior has evolved along with the rest of the world and how people act is directly responsible to what time period that they lived in and how they changed economics. First, in primitive economics, the main driving force was having enough supplies to survive and to strengthen communal bonds through cooperation of the tribe. During this time period resources and material wealth were largely shared with all members of the community to support reciprocity, everyone had equal income and would preform tasks for each other. Along with reciprocity, the chief or shaman sometimes redistributed goods for fairness and there was a division of labor. According to Polanyi, “Division of labor, a phenomenon as old as society, springs from differences inherent in the facts...
Words: 1370 - Pages: 6
...of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth ... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior is mentioned by the classical economists, even as a theoretical possibility."Robert E Lucas, Jr. When and how did the Industrial Revolution come about? Broadly speaking the complete transformation of manufacturing processes in industries especially textiles and iron marked the boom period of this era. The advent of newer and more efficient forms of technology meant that production leap-frogged generating revenue surplus for the economy. It also meant that the demand for raw materials increased multifold, which translated into more demand for colonies for their supply. Thus, technology boosted economy, which in turn impacted the foreign/strategic policies of the countries in question. Quite expectedly, the Industrial Revolution started in Britain and spread to other countries subsequently. Another facet of the Industrial Revolution was the social...
Words: 1611 - Pages: 7
...Sustainable Development and Planetary Boundaries BACKGROUND RESEARCH PAPER Johan Rockström and Jeffrey D. Sachs with Marcus C. Öhman and Guido Schmidt-Traub Submitted to the High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda This paper reflects the views of the author and does not represent the views of the Panel. It is provided as background research for the HLP Report, one of many inputs to the process. May 2013 Draft for Discussion Sustainable Development and Planetary Boundaries Draft for Discussion Background paper for the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda Prepared by the co-chairs of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Group on Macroeconomics, Population Dynamics, and Planetary Boundaries: Johan Rockström Executive Director, Stockholm Resilience Centre Professor of Environmental Science, Stockholm University Jeffrey D. Sachs Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University Director, The Sustainable Development Solutions Network Special Advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the Millennium Development Goals with Marcus C. Öhman Associate Professor and Senior Researcher in Ecology and Environmental Science, Stockholm Resilience Centre Guido Schmidt-Traub Executive Director, The Sustainable Development Solutions Network 15 March 2013 1 Draft for Discussion The world faces a serious challenge, indeed one that is unique to our age. Developing countries rightly...
Words: 10566 - Pages: 43
...Not only does the denial of access to culturally embedded culinary practices cause a “slippage of subjectivity” into something else, but the food itself does not seem like food at all, eliminating a bodily need that was constitutive of individual identity and destabilizing the donor identity as it interrupts its biological processes. More than forcing different cultural standards on the Prakesh family’s consumption habits, Ginny has seen to it that they receive only nourishment that has been so mitigated by technology that it no longer resembles food in any “natural” sense at all. Rather than rice, fish, or potatoes, their kitchen is stocked with “multi-colored pellets” and a specialized “cooking device.” The kitchen itself, as a space highly productive of identities marked by difference, has been “dismantled.” Concerning this food-stuff Detsi-Diamanti writes, “Being constantly monitored and fattened like the proverbial lamb before the slaughter, the characters begin to lead antiseptic lives, eating multicolored pills instead of food, avoiding human contact for fear of contamination” (italics mine, 115), of which one should note the animal comparison. In this fashion, Ginny does not merely invest in her donor population, but rather erases their own domestic identity, and replaces it with the sterilized version suitable to her commodification of their bodies and organs, as she has ordered that the guard “cleans and swabs the entire area.” Similarly, in factory farm environments...
Words: 2260 - Pages: 10
...concentration of economic power and wealth.[3] Much of the history of the past five hundred years is concerned with the development of capitalism in its various forms, its condemnation and rejection, particularly by socialists, and its defense, mainly by conservatives and libertarians. PRE-HISTORY OF CAPITALISM The Crisis of the 14th century and the "pre-history of capitalism" According to some historians, the modern capitalist system has its origin in the "crisis of the fourteenth century," a conflict between the land-owning aristocracy and the agricultural producers, the serfs. Manorial arrangements inhibited the development of capitalism in a number of ways. Because serfs were forced to produce for lords, they had no interest in technological innovation; because serfs produced to sustain their own families, they had no interest in co-operating with one another. Because lords owned the land, they...
Words: 915 - Pages: 4
...Comparing Two Similar Businesses Terry Tillery BUS 302 Strayer University Professor David Fish CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I Terry N. Tillery certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance received in its presentation is acknowledged and disclosed in the paper (at the end). I have also cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Terry N. Tillery, Strayer University, South Charlotte campus, Charlotte, NC. After the Civil War, black Americans encountered a new world of opportunities. After years of enslavement, or at least the perpetual threat of enslavement if they had already freed, African Americans confronted a new question: what does it mean to be free? What does one do after the bonds of slavery have been broken (pg. 275). African Americans in the South demonstrated their freedom in numerous ways, large and small. Many bought dogs, some purchased firearms, and several held mass meetings without white supervision, all actions that were often denied them under slavery. While ex-slaves explored a life based on the free-labor vision, members of the defeated Confederacy sought to maintain as much of the old order as possible. To this end, they worked to prevent ex-slaves from acquiring economic autonomy or political rights. (pg. 276), this is how the diversity issues began between the North and the South, because the growing northern...
Words: 908 - Pages: 4
