The Rights of Immigrants to Have an Education Essay Example for Free

The Rights of Immigrants to Have an Education Essay Since the founding of the United States, more than 55 million immigrants from every continent have settled here. Every wave of immigration has faced fear and hostility from both ordinary citizens and government especially during times of economic hardship, political turmoil or war. Coming to the United States, Immigrants do not receive the same amount of rights that actual citizens do. One of the many things immigrants lack in the United States is the right to an education. Today immigrants face a great amount of troubles. These troubles are very similar to the ones the Jews faced during the Holocaust. These troubles have definitely gone against the catholic social teachings that are in todays society. In todays society there are major Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. â€Å"The Churchs social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society† describes how important these principles are (www. usccb. org). Some of these include; dignity of a human person, Community and the common good, and Rights and responsibilities. Dignity of a human person is described when people are sacred, made in the image and likeness of God. People do not lose dignity because of disability, poverty, age, lack of success, or race. The emphasis is on people over things, being over having. Community and the common good is when the human person is both sacred and social. We realize our dignity and rights in relationship with others, in community. As Saint Paul said, We are one body: when one suffers, we all suffer. We are called to respect all of Gods gifts of creation, to be good stewards of the earth and each other. Rights and responsibilities have to do with people having a fundamental right to life, food, shelter, health care,education, and employment. All people have a right to participate in the decisions that affect their lives. Like Ronald Reagan once said â€Å"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. † A couple more principles of catholic social teaching are Option for the poor, Dignity of work, and Solidarity. Option for the poor is the moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of any community. We are called to look at public policy decisions in terms of how they affect the poor. â€Å"As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a preferential option for the poor, namely, to create conditions for marginalized voices to be heard, to defend the defenseless, and to assess lifestyles, policies and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor† is a great quote which describes what is done for potion for the poor (socialconcerns. nd. edu). Dignity of work is when people have a right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private property, and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around. Work is important even though it isn’t always appreciated by everyone, like Abraham Lincoln once said: â€Å"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. † And finally solidarity is that we are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic, and ideological differences. We are called to work globally for justice. All of these principle make up what we as catholics are supposed to follow in our everyday lives. However sometimes these principles arent followed correctly. One of he ways that the principles of catholic social teaching were violated would be during the holocaust. The Jews were part of the largest genocides in history. A genocide is a mass killing of a specific race. The killing of the Jews totally went against the principles of catholic social teaching. Principles like dignity of a human person, Community and the common good, and Rights and responsibilities were all violated during the holocaust. Jewish people were being killed in large amounts and by the end the Jewish race had their dignity taken away from them. The quote â€Å"It is a very specific term, referring to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group† describes how a genocide has such a negative impact (www. ushmm. org). The Jews had lost a sense of community as well. They had their rights broken and the Jews did not receive national unity that was known as solidarity. Largely the Jews were denied a right to life. This mass killing was a horrible event for the Jewish people and it is still spoken about and studied today. Similar but not exactly like Jews, Immigrants were denied rights. A right in specific that they were denied was the right to an education. â€Å"Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights† which shows how education is an extremely important right to humans (www. unesco. org). Immigrants have come into this country for thousands of years and they have not fully received the rights they deserve. The right to an education is one of he largest rights they are denied. Education for a person is one of the most important things there is. Being denied the right to an education effects the person not only right then but in the future when they are trying to get a job and live on their life. Immigrants such as children were impacted the most due to the fact that at such a young age education was most important and as they grow up education is what they need most but is what they will get least. One major principle of catholic social teaching that this violated was rights and responsibility which was immensely violated in this situation. That violation is very similar to they way the Jews rights and responsibilities were violated. Both Immigrants and Jews were denied the right of something which had a large impact on their lives. Just like in the past when the Jews and Immigrants were denied rights it also happen today. Today both Immigrants and Jews are denied those same rights. However things have evolved so the denial of these rights doesnt happen as often but that doesnt mean that its nonexistent. John F Kennedy once said â€Å"The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened† which relates to how Jews and Immigrants were denied rights. Because of what happen in the past makes it happen in the present. If the events with the Jews and Immigrants didnt happen than today there would be no chance for their rights to be denied today. However there are other injustices that occur today. The principles of catholic social teaching are violated everyday. Events like getting laid off or not getting hired because of specific trait that person observes violate dignity to work. Also people look down on the poor and don’t look for ways to help them which violates option for the poor. Another principle that is violated in todays society would be dignity of a human person because of reasons like when a person is mistreated criminally. And finally community and common good can be violated when a person goes against the rules that are set down to keep things in order. This topic of the Rights of Immigrants to have an education does have a personal connection to me. When my uncle was around my age he came to America from Ireland. He was only trying to make a better live for himself, however he believed education was important. Being as young as he was he had trouble getting and education which limited his chance for a bright future. However he was determined to get a good education. By his 20s he had succeed in getting a education which lead to him getting a job and making a living. My uncle Denis believed that education was one of the most important things in life and he still does. He once told me that â€Å"Education is what will get you far, noting else† and he was right because of this attitude he was able to get a great job as an owner of a company. He has been successful in his business an has been given several awards. He admits that getting an education was difficult and it was only because of his attitude that he was able to get an education. As catholics we are thought to live up to the Lord. One of the ways to do so is by following the catholic social teachings in todays society. Many things go against these catholic social teachings even though they are valued principles. These principles have been broken in the past and will continue to be broken in the future. For example things like the holocaust and immigration have been prime examples of these principles being broken.

Conclusion and Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Conclusion and Recommendation Essay Moral implies conformity to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong or the basic moral values of a community. Ethical may suggest the involvement of more difficult or subtle questions of rightness, fairness or equity. While legal is sanctioned by law or in conformity with the law especially as it is written or administered by the courts. (Merriam-Webster) Relating the results of the gathered data of the study about the dog eating practice in Baguio City and La Trinidad to morality and the legal aspect of which, the researchers were able to come up with conclusions and recommendations. Regarding the moral aspect of the practice of dog eating, the study revealed that it is accepted to consume dog meat. The prevalent reasons are that dogs are basically meat for food and dogs are used in the cultural and ritual practice. Dogs are made as offerings and were eaten for health reasons. Law enforcers admitted that dog meat consumption is a right as guaranteed by our constitution. They too believed that consumption of dog meat will continue. However, trading dog meat is prohibited with the advent of the Anti Rabies Act and the Animal Welfare Act. In legal parlance, as stated above that dog eating is presumed to be legal for the the act of trading dog meat is prohibited. Even the constitution entitles everyone to our basic needs which include food, shelter and clothing. Eating dog meat is then legal for the fact that it is considered as food. But with special laws being passed which condemned the trading of dogs for consumption purposes made the eating practice seemingly illegal as well. Knowing now that the trading and not the eating practice is illegal, the researchers recommend a deeper investigation on the source of dog meat supplied in the city and the capital town. Our law enforcers like the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police should coordinate to be able to put to an end the trade of dogs. Cases filed against trading of dog meat in courts were dismissed due to the open interpretation of the law. The researchers would therefore recommend for our lawmakers to revisit the Anti Rabies Act and the Animal Welfare Act. For our lawmakers to clearly define animal cruelty and other silent parts of the law which are open for individual interpretations.

Causes Of The European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay

Causes Of The European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay Europe currently experiences a severe sovereign debt crisis. The debt crisis in some member states of the euro area has raised public uncertainty about the viability of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the euros future. While the execution of the euro in the year 1999 created many interest in regional monetary integration and even monetary unification in several corners of the world, the present crisis had the opposed effect, even raising expectations of the euro area breaking up. The crisis has illustrated the problems and tensions that will ineluctably arise within a monetary union when imbalances build up and become unbearable. The causes of the European crisis will be further review below. Also, we would describes why the Greece crisis could cause so much havoc to the global economy. CAUSES OF THE EUROPEAN SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS European countries had just weathered the 2008-2009 crisis and were set up hopes for recovery. However, on November 2009 George Papandreous newly elected Socialist government in Greece revealed that the predecessor government had lied to the public about the true picture of Greeces public finances, that the budget deficit for 2009 would be 12.7% instead of 4.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as previously reported. That revelation created a panic atmosphere among lenders or bondholders, as credit agencies lowered their ratings of Greeces sovereign debt, which is the first time in 10 years that Greeces rating falls below the investment grade. The country has then realized itself hardly to borrow or even roll over existing debt except at prohibitively high interest rates. The disclosure of the actual Greek fiscal condition raised serious doubts about the countrys ability to meet its obligation. The following downgrades rating and ever rising interest rates led to an exacerbation of Greeces capital markets access that made it even more difficult and nearly impossible for the government to refinance itself, leading a downward spiral for the Greeks economy. Therefore at that point, the government forced to appeal to its European Union members and IMF for bailout. However, the bailout failed to recover market trust in the Greek economy. In addition, it failed to cease contagion of the crisis to other nations in the euro area. Precisely, the crisis of Greek and the hesitant political response from the other European nations raised issues over the debt condition and the structural and competitiveness problems of the economically weaker periphery member countries of the euro area, named PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain). As a result, the costs of borrowing for the PIIGS lifted significantly and the cost of insuring sovereign debt against default soared as their creditability to repay the debt have vanished. The crisis also creates awareness of the existing imbalances in the euro area, which form a serious problem. The below are the major causes of the crisis: Banking crisis fuelling sovereign debt crisis and vice versa It is wrong to assume that the European debt crisis is actually caused by thriftless government spending, especially because of the luxurious social security systems. Rather, the origins of the European debt crisis can be traced back to the global financial crisis occurred in 2008-2009, which spilled over into a sovereign debt crisis in various euro area countries in early 2010. In order to offset the rapid falls in output, euro area governments responded with counter-cyclical fiscal policies that lifted fiscal deficits. Then, fiscal positions become worse as the tax revenues fell and transfer payments grew larger due to the increased unemployment rate during the crisis. In many countries, government bailouts of banking systems also contributed to an increase in public debt. Private debt turned to public debt, be it through banking crises or the burst of housing bubbles, leading to the sovereign debt crisis. Between 2007 and 2010, the debt to GDP ratio of the euro area increased from 66.3% to 85.4%. Greece is a unique case in the sense that the Greek debt level had already been relatively high before the crisis, which is 107.7% of GDP in 2007. Greek debt, which has been on a continuous rise since 2003, has arrived at a level of 144.9% of GDP in 2010. Similar to Greece, Italy had a debt level more than 100% of GDP prior to the crisis, but the debt to GDP ratio fell between Italys adoption of the euro in 1999 and 2007. Among the countries in euro area, the most dramatic increase in public debt occurred in Ireland, where the countrys debt problems can be clearly arise to the countrys banking crisis. Ireland did not face a fiscal or debt problem until the year 2008. Accordingly, the Irish debt to GDP ratio fell gradually over this period from 64.3% to 24.9%, with Ireland being one of the EU countries with the least public debt burden. The condition changed in the course of the Irish banking crisis in September 2008 when the European governments and institutions and also the US government guaranteed most liabilities of Irish-owned banks. As a result, the Irish deficit ballooned and the debt to GDP ratio shot up from 24.9% in 2007 to 94.9% in 2010. The ensuing exacerbation of Irelands access to capital markets in the autumn 2010 led it to seek for international financial rescue package by the IMF and the EU of over à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬90 billion in November 2011 to finance its borrowing and bank recapitaliz ation needs. Similar to Ireland, Spain did not face a fiscal or debt problem before 2008. Spains destiny changed when the global financial crisis put a sudden end to the long cycle of high growth that had been accompanied by a construction and real estate boom. When output contracted in 2008, the Spanish housing bubble burst and hence destabilized the entire banking system. Even in Portugal, which had seen a steady rise of its debt to GDP ratio after joining the euro area in 1999, which its debt stood at 49.6% of GDP, which is so far the largest increase of public debt happened during and after the 2008-2009 crises, with debt soaring from 26.6% in 2007 to 94.9% in 2010. Therefore, the sovereign debt crisis has been directly connected to the global financial crisis and the ensuing problems of European countries banking sectors after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. With exacerbating public finances, sovereign risk has increased and deteriorated banks balance sheets. The interdependence between sovereign credit and banking systems has been at the key of the crisis as sovereign debt of euro area countries are held in large quantities by euro area banks. Mispricing of risk and misallocation of capital A key element that led to the crisis was a mispricing of risk by capital markets and an ensuing misallocation of capital in the previous years before the outbreak of the crisis. European monetary unification brought about a convergence of interest rates among euro area members. Spreads of sovereign bonds of the PIIGS over Germany narrowed rapidly in the run up to EMU membership and almost gone once they had become the euro area members. Sovereign risk of all euro area countries, including the PIIGS, was priced more or less the same as German sovereign debt. This is due to the risk of euro area central government bonds was weighted at zero in regulatory capital calculations and because the Euro treated such debt as risk-free collateral when these were offered as collateral for repos and other collateral financing trades. It is now apparent that the availability of cheap credit brought to an unbearable accumulation of private (as in Ireland, Portugal, and Spain) and public (as in Greece and Portugal) debt in todays crisis countries. The decrease in real interest rates in the periphery countries after they join the euro area and the inflowing capital supplied unbearable developments, including excessive credit dynamics and real estate bubbles in Spain and excessive fiscal spending in Greece. It also decreased the tension for economic reform to enhance competitiveness within the monetary union as countries could simply finance their current account deficits through a plenty of capital inflow. Imbalances in the euro area A high level of public debt is not a problem, as long as the government can refinance itself and roll over its debt. This requires public debt and the interest burden to grow slower than the economy and the tax base. This is no longer the case in the PIIGS anymore. Current debt crisis in the PIIGS is hence not merely a debt crisis; it is first and governing a competitiveness and growth crisis that has contributed to structural imbalances within the euro area. The structural imbalances, caused by high current-account deficits of the periphery countries and matching surpluses in core countries, are at the origin of the current problems since a lack of competitiveness impedes the periphery countries chances of growing out of the crisis. Essentially, deficit countries need to become surplus countries to service their debt. However, the fact that the PIIGS are members of a monetary union and hence competitiveness cannot be recovered by means of currency devaluation makes the adjustment much difficult. Lack of trust in European governments crisis responses The crisis is not just an economic disaster, but also a political disaster, arises from erratic responses and pressures among euro area governments, representing surplus and deficit countries with contradictory interests. European leaders were believed that a balance of payments crisis was impossible within a monetary union. Since such a problem was not considered a priori, no crisis resolution mechanism had been taken into account. European policymakers hence faced the challenge of crafting a crisis response in the midst of crisis. The worries of the surplus countries, led by Germany, that an easy bailout of Greece would set a negative precedent and create moral hazard problems with other deficit countries, especially the larger euro area members Italy and Spain. Fears of moral hazard and a transfer union, where deficit countries would have to be financed permanently, made surplus countries also refused to advocate proposals such as those for Eurobonds. The slow negotiation processes between governments, which have needed to safeguard support from their domestic constituencies, have evoked the impression of a European political system was ill-equipped to overcome any financial crisis.

The Obvious is Absent in Mother Courage Essay -- Mother Courage Essays

The Obvious is Absent in Mother Courage    Brecht's intentions when writing Mother Courage were to communicate his beliefs and make people aware of two major issues facing society: war and capitalism. According to Brecht, people deserve the wars they get if they subscribe to a political system that is unfair and favors a specific sector of society, namely capitalism, in which it is up to the individual to secure his own means of survival. In other words, if the system is unjust in any way, war and conflict is inevitable. For this to be understood, it would be essential that the audience see the play for what it is, as opposed to becoming engaged in its story. This means that they would have to be alienated from the play, and made perpetually aware of it as a play and nothing more. To do this, Brecht jolted audiences out of their expectations and deliberately avoided theatrical techniques that would make appearances realistic. In this way, people were forced to confront the issues at hand and decipher the meanings behind what they were being shown. The "obvious" being referred to by Brecht is what is clearly seen, what one cannot miss. It does not require reflection and arouses no thought. By alienating the audience in this play, they see that nothing is happening at an obvious level, and can gain true understanding of the characters' reasons for behaving as they do, and of the background against which they exist. Brecht incorporated alienation techniques in the methods of staging used in performances of Mother Courage, firstly by keeping a very bright white light trained evenly upon the set throughout. This eliminated any opportunities for creating an atmosphere; any magical or romantic views of ... ...rinciples Brecht believed in: unless man has food and shelter, he does not have freedom. This tenet is what Brecht asserts in Mother Courage, and whose understanding can only be gained when audiences realise that the obvious is an irrelevance, that this play should be seen not as a tale but as a presenting of issues. By using the aspects of character, song, structure, style, inevitability, and staging, Brecht ensures that the audience remains alienated, and that their expectations are not met.    Works Cited and Consulted Brecht, Bertolt. "Mother Courage and Her Children." Worthen 727-751. Cook, Ellen Piel, ed. Women, Relationships, and Power. Virginia: American Counseling Association, 1993. Hwang, Henry David. "M. Butterfly." Worthen 1062-1084. Worthen, W.B. ed. The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama. 3rd ed. Toronto: Harcourt, 1993.

The Power of Motivation :: leadership, motivation theories

Inside an organization, people are expected to their best work. Best work is easier to achieve when there’s the help of motivation. Motivation is one of the important factors to create effective management inside an Organization (Wood et al., 2006). Every person inside a company is motivated by different kind of things. According to Dawson (1986 cited in Thompson & McHugh 2002) motivation is a behavior, which can drive someone to act towards their goal. A motivated person will perform at maximum capacity in their jobs. The sense of purpose and money are the important factors that motivated people the most. Later on, this paper will evaluate the statement that people are doing their best work if they are motivated by a sense of purpose rather than the pursuit of money, and also this paper will cover motivation theories by Maslow and Herzberg. The term motivation is related with the process that explains how and why human behavior is directed and affected (Latham, 2007). Sasone, Carol and Harakiewicz (2000) stated that there are 2 types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation was described as a motivation which dependent on internal factors such as the desire to work hard and the satisfaction of accomplishing something (Wood et al., 2006). For example, an employee was motivated to become employee of the month, so he always submits his work before the deadline. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation was described as a motivation that depends on external factors such as money. Someone can be classified as extrinsic motivated if he/she was satisfied with external factors (Osterloh & Frey, 2000 p.539). Deci (1975 cited in Latham, 2006), believe that external factors such as money have negative effect on behavior. Deci also believed that if someone perform activities based on external factors, they will ha ve less and less motivation towards the activity, however if they were not driven by external factors, they will tend to be in control and hence intrinsically motivated (Cited in Latham, 2006). From Deci’s statement, it can be concluded that external factors can reduce intrinsic motivation. However, Bandura (1977) argued the statement that intrinsic motivation was only affected by internal factors. Bandura stated that it is almost impossible to find situation where the presence of extrinsic factors are none. An expert named Locke (1990) was disagreeing Deci’s concept about intrinsic motivation. Locke noted that Deci hasn’t distinguished the different between liking an activity of its own sake, and liking activity because it makes someone feel challenged.

Computers and The Increase of Labor and Wage Inequality in The 1980’s :: History Technology Essays

Computers and The Increase of Labor and Wage Inequality in The 1980’s Although computer technology dates back to at least the 1940’s, microprocessors were first introduced on a wide scale in manufacturing in the 1970’s. It has been noted that mainframe computers started to be used in business in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Computers have seemed to grow more rapidly ever since the Apple II was born in 1977 and the IBM PC in 1981. PC (personal computers) spread rapidly in the 80’s and 90’s and have been upgrading ever since. It has been said that during this increase in popularity and use of computers the labor inequality and wage difference has been increasing as well. Throughout this paper we will discuss reasons why computers are to blame and why computers have had nothing to do with economic increase of skilled educated workers and a decrease in need for unskilled and uneducated workers. Increase in the growth rate of the demand of more skilled workers due to the pace of the technological work from 1970 to the present has been one of the arguments against computers causing inequality. From the 1970’s the pace of work has been faster, the work load has been greater because demand has gone up, and many jobs have become more difficult to learn. There are no longer mills where education and much knowledge was needed to get the job done. Work has gotten much more involved and complex. The employment of high school drop outs have fallen from 64.4% in 1940 to 9.8% in 1996, and the employment of college graduates have risen from 9.3% to 41.6%. Although computers have been around that whole time there is no way they caused a 54.6% decrease in the employment of high school drop outs. It has also been said that there has been an expansion slowdown from what the country was used to in the beginning half of this century from the 1970’s, so this has allowed companies to pay one educated worker rather than paying two of three uneducated workers that did the same job. Over the years unions have also began to disappear causing some of those unskilled workers how were once protected by contracts to a given union to become no longer demanded. Many of those unskilled workers who escaped being unneeded have noticed a dramatic pay decrease. Many people might think, â€Å"What are you talking about, in the 1940’s they were making like five to ten dollars a day.

Athens Under Solon

When the city of Athens stood on the brink of revolution, the citizens of Athens looked upon Solon and gave him the task of creating new laws for them because of troubles that had been plaguing them for a long time. â€Å" They saw that he more than anyone else in city, stood apart from the injustices of the time and was involved neither in the extortions of the rich nor the privations of the poor† (Plutarch 55, Par 1). In this paper I will be writing of changes that took effect under Solon and whether those changes resolved the conflicts that brought Athens on the brink of revolution.First, I will be writing about the conflict over land ownership and slavery between aristocrats and common people, who appointed Solon as reconciler and archon and whether his new laws resolved those conflicts. Secondly, I will be writing of conflict over power between aristocrats and aristocrats, feuds that used to run between families and would not get resolved until there was no one left to ta ke revenge on and how Solon’s new laws changed that. And another laws of Solon’s that he was highly appraised for to make an Athens better place under him such as laws on Dowry, Inheritance, and Wills.Thirdly, I will be writing of political laws that took places under Solon’s era and how he secured those laws against alteration for a hundred years that gave powers to common people in Athens. The Two sources I will be using to write this paper are The Athenian Constitution (The document given in class by Prof. Trumbach) and Plutarch: The Rise and fall of Athens (Textbook assigned for class). Aristocrats vs. Peasants Before I write about the conflict between the aristocrats and the common people, you must know the geographical system of Athens and the people who worked on those lands and how that contributed to the conflict. The city of Athens was divided into as many parties as there were geographical features in its territory. First there were aristocrats, peopl e who lived in plain, who supported an oligarchy government and had the best and most fertile land (The Athenian Constitution 2). The party of the hill (Peasants with land on the hill) supported an extreme democracy so the new government can redistribute the land and they can have some of the fertile land which was all owned by aristocrats.Their land was so unfertile that sometimes they had to eat their own seed to survive due to bad harvest and borrow seeds from aristocrats and pledge their own freedom. When they were unable to pay back their debt, they were seized by their creditors and being enslaved at home or were sold to foreigners aboard. Many parents were even forced to sell their own children because there was no law to prevent that from happening (The Athenian Constitution 2). Then there were sharecroppers (Thetes) who supported a mixed form of government. These were the peasants who had no lands of their own and rented a land from aristocrats.As a rent they would pay one sixth of their crop which left them with just enough crop to survive. Sharecroppers lived on very tight budget. They were always left over with just enough to survive year to year and had no social mobility whatsoever. They were born poor and died poor. The City stood at the brink of revolution and the poor people could not take any more harshness from their creditors† (Plutarch 54, Par 2). â€Å"At this point poor rose against notables, the strife was fierce but they held out against each other for very long time.Eventually tired from fighting both sides agreed to appoint Solon as reconciler and archon and entrusted the Athens to him† (The Athenian Constitution 2). â€Å"After gaining control, first measure Solon put into force, he discharged all the debts of common people whether it was public or private that they owed to aristocrats which the Athenians called the â€Å"Shaking-off of Burden†. He freed all enslaved and put in a law that in future nobody could accept the person of a debtor as a security† (The Athenian Constitution 3).Hill peasants were now free from slavery and debt but their problems were still not solved. They wanted Solon to redistribute the land which he did not do, but instead he made Olive oil the only product of Athens allowed to be exported. So if there was anything extra leftover from the farms of aristocrats, they had no choice but to give to starving poor and Hill peasants. If anyone were to export anything but oil be punished by archon or should pay fine to the public treasury† (Plutarch 66, Par 3). After making Attica a great and secure place to live, he realized that the city was filling up with people in a steady stream from everywhere in Greek; at the same time he realized that most of the country was still poor and unproductive, and people elsewhere are not in the habit of sending their goods to those who have nothing to offer in exchange.He therefore encouraged the sharecroppers to turn to th e arts and crafts of manufacture and made a law that no son was obliged to support his father unless the father first taught the son a trade of some kind† (Plutarch 64, Par 2). At first, the changes Solon made did not please either party. The rich were angry because of being deprived of their securities and losing out on their property and the poor even more so, because Solon did not carry out a redistribution of the land as they had expected him to do† (Plutarch 58, Par 2). However, it was not long before they realized that what Solon had done was great and saw the advantages of his policy. Athenians were so happy that they went on to appoint Solon to reform the constitution and draw up a code of laws.No limit was set to his powers and every function of the state was committed to his charge, the magistracies, the public assemblies, the courts of law and the Councils. He had authority to decide the property qualifications, the numbers and the times of meeting of each of these bodies and also to preserve or dissolve all existing institution as he thought fit. Aristocrats vs. Aristocrats After Solon became the authority figure and champion of people, he established a constitution and formed other laws to make Athens better place to live.Athens had long been troubled by the blood-feuds of aristocrat’s families that had been trying to gain political control of the city, which in Solon time were the families of Cylon and Megacles. Family of Cylon wanted to seize the control of Athens and Megacles’ family wanted to stop them. At the time of Solon this feud was at its height and the city was torn between them. So after Solon came to mediate between them and Megacles’ family was found guilty, he enacted a new law to protect common people. â€Å"He gave every citizen the privilege of going to law on behalf of any one whose rights was violated.For instance, if a man was assaulted or suffered violence or injury, anybody who had the abili ty and the desire to do so was entitled to bring a suit and prosecute the offender. In this way every citizens of Athens come close to each other and sympathize with one another’s wrong and became loyal to each other and not just to their friends and families† (Plutarch 60, Par 2). â€Å"Seeing that the city was always in a state of strife and some tyrant is always trying to take control of the city and some of the citizens through apathy accepted whatever might happen, Solon made a special law to deal with them.If when the city is torn by a feud and anyone should refuse to place his arms at the disposal of either side should be outlawed and have no share in the city† (The Athenian Constitution 4). â€Å"Solon was admired for another law that he made which deals with Will. Before Solon wills were not allowed and if someone who owns the property dies, the estate of the deceased was bound to remain within his family. However, Solon allowed any man who had no child ren to choose their heir, showing that he rated friendship above the ties of blood and free choice above necessity† (Plutarch 63, Par 3). In another law, Solon abolished dowries. The bride had to bring nothing but three changes of clothes and small necessity of small value to her new home. Solon object was that marriage is pure and it should not be seen as profit- making institution, two people should get married to gain each other’s love and affection not property† (Plutarch 62, Par 2). â€Å"Solon also forbade slaves to rub themselves with olive oil, to practice in the gym or to have a boy lover.He made this law so the young aristocrats’ boys hang out with people only in their class, with people who can teach them the aristocratic ways and educate them for future† (Plutarch 42, Par 2). â€Å"However, Solon’s law concerning women seem incongruous to some extent. For example, he made it illegal to kill any adulterer who was caught in the act. The offence of rape against a free woman was punished by a fine of no more than 100 drachmae. He also made it illegal for a man to sell his daughter or sister, unless he discovered that she was no longer a virgin showing he did not care much about women’s right† (Plutarch 65, Par 3).Political Structure â€Å"As soon Solon gained all the power in Athens, he abolished all the Draconian laws because of their harshness and the excessively heavy penalties they carried; the only exceptions he made were to the laws relating to homicide† (Plutarch 59, Par 2). â€Å"Solon wanted to leave all the offices of state in the hands of the rich, as he found them but at the same time he wanted to give the common people (Thetes) a share in other sector of government which they had never before possessed. So he took a census of each citizen’s property and divided them in four different Categories.Those who received an annual income of 500 measures were placed in the first c lass. People who owned horses and paid ‘horse tax’ or possessed an income of 300 measures were placed in the second class. The third class was People whose yearly income amounted to 200 measures. Rest of the citizen body was known as thetes, common people and peasants. Solon distributed major offices, such as the nine archons, the treasurer, and the sellers among first three classes according to the level of their assessment.People who were considered thetes were not entitled to hold office and their only political function consisted in sitting in the Assembly or on a Jury. First this new changes to the constitution appeared to be worth very little and nobody took much interest in it, but later on became extremely important, because the majority of the disputes were settled in front of a jury and that jury was now consist of 98% common people. Even in those cases which Solon placed under the jurisdiction of the magistrates, he then also allowed the right of appeal to th e popular court.And if the popular court were unable to settle the case in accordance to law, cases then were to be handled by jury, so that in sense the jurors became the arbiters of the law. And because most of bodies in Athens that time were common people, they were the one to hold most position in jury† (Plutarch 60, Par 2). â€Å"Solon then established the council of the Areopagus, which was composed of men who had previously held the annual office of archon, as he was once before. He too became a member of Areopagus. He saw people were becoming restive and unruly because of their release from their debts.He then formed a second chamber consisting of 400 men, 100 being drawn from each of the four classes. Its functions were to deliberate public business in advance of the general assembly, and not to allow any matter to be brought before the Areopagus without its having been discussed. He charged the upper chamber with the task of exercising a general supervision and acti ng as guardian of the laws. His object here was that the state with its two councils should ride, as it were, at double anchor and should therefore be less exposed to the buffetings of party politics and better able to secure tranquility for the people† (Plutarch 61, Par 2). He also made another law that all his laws were to remain in force for a hundred years, and they were written on a axons, or wooden tablets which was covered with a wooden frame for generations to remember† (Plutarch 67, Par 2).In Conclusion, Solon is considered as the first lawmaker that set the ground for the creation of the democracy, the government system that made Athens powerful and granted the city fame for the centuries to come. The most democratic of Solon's enactments were these three: the first, and greatest, the forbidding of loans on the person [i. . using oneself as security for a loan, foreclosure resulting in slavery]; the second, the possibility for anyone who wishes to sue over wron gdoings; and third, reform of the political structure of Athens which gave the power to common people to sit in the jury for the first time eve in the history of Greece. In his reform measures, he pleased neither the common people who wanted the land redistributed nor the landowners who wanted to keep all their property to themselves. Instead, he did what he thought was right for Athens.