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In recent years, ballroom dancing has gained a significant popularity and exposure in the pop culture, thanks to the popular movies such as “Dirty Dancing”, and “Shall we Dance”, documentaries such as “Mad Hot Ballroom”, which is a program that teaches fifth graders how to ballroom dance in New York, and the reality TV shows such as “Dancing with the stars” and “So you think you can dance?

Ballroom dancing has become fashionable again, and it’s as popular as ever not only with the kids and teenagers, but also with the college students, working adults, and older people. People of all ages enjoy ballroom dancing in competitive and social events.

I myself, started learning how to ballroom dance in college a few years ago. I quickly progressed from having two left feet to becoming OK at social dancing, and eventually I went on to winning ballroom competitions for beginners at college level. Something that has started out as a hobby, has turned into a passion. I find that ballroom dancing is a great way for me to express my motions, and dance any negativity that may build up throughout the day, away.

I love ballroom dancing, especially the competitive international Latin ballroom dancing. I love it so much that I, recently, went to watch IDSF World Latin dancing championships in New York. And it was truly beautiful and simply amazing to watch the best dancers in the world perform their competitive dance routines for Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba, Jive, and Pasodoble.

I love ballroom dancing so much that I’ve decided to start up my own ballroom dancing studio. I know that starting up a brand new ballroom dancing studio can be very challenging. That’s why I am doing my research, and raising the funds in order that I don’t have to worry about the finances and can focus all my attention on the studio when the time is right. I would like to start up a great ballroom dancing studio and make it successful.

I haven’t decided on the location yet, but I do know that I want to bring up some of the best dancers in the world to work my studio. I want to be able to offer some of the best professional instructors and the friendliest and most accepting atmosphere to my students.

I want my future ballroom dancing studio to be highly successful and I want it to be able to to give back to the community. I intend to provide dancing scholarships to talented and deserving students who may someday dance at as high a level as ballroom dancing world championships. I know it sounds like an awfully ambitious goal, but I believe it is a great goal to pursue.

For anybody who decides to open up a ballroom dance studio there are two important factors to keep in mind; have your financing arranged prior to investing anything. You can self finance through savings, borrow against your property taking advantage of the low borrowing rates today, or you can invite willing investors to join you. Also try to get some experience of teaching ballroom dance before venturing out on your own. The more you know, the easier the road ahead will be for you!

About Me

My name is Aleksandr Biyevetskiy. I’m a competitive ballroom dancer.

I have been thinking of all the steps involved in starting a brand new ballroom dancing studio for quite some time now. Recently, I wrote a practical How-to guide on how to start a ballroom dancing studio on www.BallroomDance.org.

How can I become a good ballroom dancer?

The simple answer is that you need to find a right approach to become a better dancer, or anything that you aspire to do for that matter. With that being said, let me share my thoughts on how to improve your dancing, become a better dancer, and perhaps a more fulfilled person.

Stage 1 – Establishing a positive Identification with your Goal:

At this stage you will want to decide for yourself how important your goal is to you, and how committed you are to your goal to become a better ballroom dancer.

Stage 1

So, you’ve decided that becoming a good ballroom dancer is important to you. This is good because you already know what you want, which means that you have a goal to achieve.

Stage 2 – Getting there

Now, if you are serious about your goal, then it’s a matter of doing a proper assessment of where you are in terms of your current dancing ability, and putting a proper plan in place to help you accomplish your goal.

The good news is that with enough discipline and luck, becoming a good dancer can be as simple as selecting and following the right path to accomplish your goal. On the flip side, if you are not serious, or if you become distracted, then your goal may forever remain outside of your reach. Therefore, you will want to make sure that becoming a good ballroom dancer is something that you really care and are passionate about to put the time and emotional, as well as financial resources to help you accomplish your goal.

Before we identify the specific steps you will have to take to become a better dancer, let’s further examine what becoming a better dancer really means. Then, you will have to ask yourself what becoming a good dancer actually means to you. You may also want to dig a little bit deeper and ask yourself “Why do you want to become a better dancer?”. Having that answer to that question, and putting things into a perspective can actually help to make your goal easier to accomplish.

The two types of dancers:

There are two types of dancers in the world of ballroom and Latin dancing; social and competitive dancers. If your goal is to become good in terms of dancing socially, then I would advise you to learn how to lead a lady in such a way that it feels effortlessly for a gentleman. If you’re our lady wishing to become a better follower, then you will need to learn how to follow in gentleman’s lead in such a way that it feels good to you and your partner.

The learning curve:

Your learning curve will largely depend on your learning style, and the amount of time you dedicate to learning and practicing your leading, or following skills. Keep in mind that for some people learning how to dance can seem easy and natural, while it may seem daunting and challenging to others. Everybody has a different level of ability and talent, which will largely determine the amount of time that will take for you to become a good social dancer.

Becoming a better social dancer guide for a man:

If you’re a man who wants to become a better social dancer, then chances are that you fall into one of the following categories:

1. You’re a single guy, and you want to meet some new, fun, and exciting people such as beautiful women who are fun loving and like to dance. Indeed, many women will agree that there is no more attractive man than the one who can handle a lady on a dance floor with class and style. The rationale is simple, you make a girl feel-good and she falls in love with you.

Yes, meeting new people through social ballroom dancing can be great. It’s becoming trendy, popular and attractive. It can also be fun, and even if you do not meet somebody right away, you will still have the opportunity to interact with many different people and perhaps boost your confidence, and improve your self awareness in terms of gaining a better understanding of your own body from moving through the space to the music. If you’re a shy person, you will also have a unique opportunity to learn to be more social, and gain more confidence in your interactions with people in dancing circles.

Thus, if meeting new people is your goal, you will want to make a good first impression about yourself, and continually maintain that good image of yourself in your dancing community.

Make sure that you always look good, feel good, and smell good before you set a foot onto a dance floor. Get a good haircut, some nice and well fitting clothes, and a good pair of street

and dancing shoes that feat you well. Becoming a good social dancer does require

some investment on your part, and investing in the way a look is the least you can and should do!

commandments for a Newbie Dancer – male-type who is aspiring to impress the ladies with his dancing skills:

First and foremost, put your immediate goal of meeting a perfect woman aside for a while, and go there with the goal of learning how to actually dance, and try to have some fun in the process. Be serious about learning, but do not appear too eager to learn, because you will want to maintain an aura of mystery about yourself. Remember, you’re doing it for the ladies, but you do not want to be too obvious about it.

Further, do not appear to be too eager to meet new people, be friendly, polite, yet reserved. You will want to get a good feel for your surroundings. However, if a nice lady chooses to approach you and be friendly to you, there is nothing wrong with being friendly back. Who knows maybe you could make some good friends, or find a new dance partner, and perhaps even more.

Have a long-term strategy in mind and remember that, if you keep a low profile, then eventually you will actually become a better dancer without blowing your cover, and that will give you a chance to actually impress the ladies not only with your dancing, but also with your character and who you are as a man.

It’s truly irresistible to see a man who came, saw, and conquered, or must it be a the art of ballroom dancing, which is something that most men are too shy to try in the first place!

2. You are in it because you want to learn how to dance, and take care of this inadequacy in your life once and for all! You are determined and committed. You will do well as long as you pace yourself, stay focused, and have fun in the process. You may still encounter a lot of challenges like any man does in the beginning, but ultimately you stand a good chance to become more musical, develop a better understanding of the musicality and sense of rhythm, as well as shed a few pounds in the process. Ballroom dancing is great low impact and low intensity exercise, which is ideal for people who are trying to lose weight. With dancing you can lose weight without even trying, and you get to have some fun in the process. What more could you ask for!?

Things to keep in mind for a person who wants to learn to ballroom dance for the sake of dancing:

It will always be far more difficult for an average man with no dancing experience to learn how to dance, than it will ever be for an average woman. Most women have been exposed to at least some type of dance sometime in their life, while most men have not. Further, it does not make matters easier for men that they are expected to know how to lead a woman in a dance. Needless to say, men are expected to do it well.

Keep these differences in mind for the times when you encounter challenges, which you certainly will. Stay committed and try to understand that a man is responsible for learning how to lead a lady in dance much the same way you are responsible for knowing how to drive a car if you expect to be a smooth operator. Think back to the days when you were learning how to drive; you felt excited, yet you were tense and nervous, which is only natural. Learning how to dance can be very similar to learning how to drive a car.

You will struggle at first, but then you will master the basics and start having fun. You will be able to dance your lady much like you cruise in your car on a beautiful sunny day without ever having to think how to actually do it. It will become so deeply ingrained in your subconsciousness that you you will no longer have to think about it. You will be able to just do it!

Beginner ballroom dancer tips to survive and learn with efficiency, effectiveness and fun in mind:

Be sure to find a good and appropriate partner you can practice with.

Be sure to practice your routines and dance steps by yourself and with your partner.

Be sure to practice the technique by yourself and incorporate the dancing technique elements into your social dance. It will make your dance look that much better.

Be sure to attend group classes regularly, practice what you learned in your spare time and go to social dance is so you can put your newly learned skills to work and gain more confidence.

Learn to have fun and enjoy the process in the spirit of dance.

Give it that least six months of learning before you expect to see significant changes. Chances are that one day, you will discover that you have made significant improvements in your dancing. People, and women in particular will start noticing, and so will you!

Don’t be surprised if you get to the point where ballroom dancing, which used to seem like work, suddenly becomes fun and addictive!

How to on Becoming a better social dancer for a lady:

The golden rule for a lady who’s aspiring to become a good social dancer, is to only dance with a partner when you feel-good within yourself. This way, you will approach every dance as an opportunity to enjoy the music and the flow of dance, as well as better your follower’s skills. It’s really important that you do not dance with a gentleman when you do not feel good within yourself, because your mood can greatly enhance your dancing, but being in a bad mood can also greatly hinder your dancing, as well as send a wrong message to the gentleman. The key is not to put on a fake smile when you dance, but rather the key is to learn to feel-good about and within yourself when you’re actually on the dance floor. The dancing is old about joy and learning to feel-good in a moment. So, learn to let your guard down and allow yourself to enjoy the process of dance.

For the ladies, it’s also important to understand that dancing only with a man who can lead well, can sometimes give you a false sensation that you’re a great follower, because the guy may be so good that he makes it seem effortless for both partners. Thus, you will want to avoid the trap of thinking that you’re a good dancer as long as you are dancing with a highly skilled leader.

I think a good way for you to track your progress is to base your assessment of your dancing skills based on a partnership with a man who is a solid leader, but not on dancing with somebody who is simply an outstanding leader / dancer. Further, if you dance with the same partner all the time, you may develop some bad habits without becoming aware of it.

How to become a better competitive Latin or ballroom dancer Your guide to attaining a winning edge for ballroom dancing competitions:

So you have mastered the basics of social dancing, and you would like get to the next level. You want to attend a ballroom dancing competition, but you do not want to be eliminated in the first round. In fact, you are an ambitious person and you want to win the competition! You want to dance so well that you can win it! You want to experience the joy, and the exhilarating excitement of competing proving to the world that you are the best dancer out there! Or you may simply want to just be able to survive in your first ballroom dancing competition. No matter where you are and no matter how lofty your ultimate goals can be, I am going to give you some helpful tips to make the most out of your experience in ballroom dancing competition.

First commandment – You shall be fully ready to compete:

Before you immerse yourself into a ballroom dancing competition, make sure you know what to expect. Go and watch your first ballroom dancing competitions to get a better idea of what to expect.

Get yourself ready in terms of your dancing skills:

It is best for you to choose the dances you would like to compete in, early on. Then, get an adequate level of preparation to compete at the level of your choice. Practice to the point that you can feel confident to dance under pressure. Be sure you understand the fundamental dance technique expected for the level you plan to dance in.

Be sure that you have practiced with your partner, and that you know your routine, as well as she does. Consider getting a private lesson with your partner to have a professional instructor help you with your routine and your technique. You may need more than a few private lessons for any given dance and the bronze and silver level. Plan to spend five hours practicing what you’ve learned in a one hour private lesson. Practice until you get a good feel for what you have learned so he can internalize that knowledge. It will also be a great way to make sure that your hard earned money is well spent.

Be sure to practice with your partner, and by yourself so you are well prepared. Position yourself for success on the dance floor. If you have a private lesson scheduled, get there early, stretch and warm up, and go over the elements you’ve learned in the last lesson. Get focused and mentally prepared to make the most of your time with the instructor.

Your competition wardrobe:

Get yourself a pair of appropriate and well fitted dance pants, shirt, and shoes. You do not want to go to battle without being properly equipped. Consider getting yourself a pair of custom made dance pants, dance shirt, and custom made ballroom dancing shoes. If you’re serious about competing, then investing in a great dance-wear will be worthy investment.

Confidence in your partnership:

Make sure that your partner is as ready to compete as you are. Your partner must be able to dance under pressure, and for a whole day if needed be. It takes desire and commitment to do it. Make sure your partner is willing and ready to do it, or find a different partner.

Dancer’s mental state:

It is critical to approach every ballroom dancing competition with clear mind, focus, and see every competition as an opportunity to get better no matter what happens.

You will find that you will feel confident when you know that you’ve spent sufficient amount of time practicing, and the refining your dance technique and routines. You will feel good and confident about yourself when you know that you have properly fitted dance shoes, great looking dance pants, and a desire to dance to best of your ability. Go out there, have fun, and feel the music. Allow the music to fill you up and consume you from within. Let the music take over the pressure, and let it be the fuel powering your dance. Let your partner be the inspiration, and let the dance that you and your dancing partner create together be the words of the song you are dancing to.

Appearance of confidence:

Real confidence is gained with doing. So fake it until you make it! Keep your chin up, feel the music, and allow yourself to be excited about dancing. Enjoy the moment and don’t dance to quickly. Let your dance flow, and find the inspiration and confidence in the music.

Why am I sharing this?

I started dancing shortly after I returned from my tour of duty in Iraq. I have always wanted to learn how to dance, but I was always too shy to try. I can clearly remember how I have always wanted to dance whether it be at the school party, or at the Salsa dance party during the Waterfire event in Providence, but I did not know how to dance.

When I was serving with the infantry company in Iraq in 2005, I discovered the beauty of Salsa dancing quite by accident. I made friends with a US Marine female who invited me to a Salsa party that was organized for the troops in the Morale and Recreation Center for the soldiers on Saturday night. It was a 1-day downtime in between the 3-day missions, and I had to be up at 4am to go on a yet another 3-day mission. Instead of resting I decided to go and check out the Salsa dance. They were showing basic steps to Salsa, and I fell in love with the music. That’s when I made a commitment to myself to learn how to dance when I get back home, if I’m lucky to get back home in one piece. Thankfully, I did get back in one piece, and dancing helped me integrate back in to the society and it has also became a true joy and passion for me.

I would encourage you to learn how to ballroom dance and experience the true joy and excitement of dancing to the music for yourself along with your partner! In my spare time, I enjoy competing in the international Latin ballroom dancing style, and I find that ballroom dancing can be a great way to express my emotions of joy and share it with others.

My name is Aleksandr Biyevetskiy. I started to learn how to ballroom dance at Rhode Island College, shortly after I returned home from Iraq. I found learning how to ballroom dance to be a challenging and highly rewarding experience.

I am also sometimes guilty of watching reality TV shows such as “Dancing with the Stars”, and “So You think You can Dance?” Recently, I decided to do some research and write a detailed Chelsie Hightower Bio after watching her videos on DWTS and learning about her story. I found it interesting how Chelsie was the youngest child, and the only girl in the family of six children. She has five siblings who are all boys. While playing soccer with her brothers and being a Tom-boy, she discovered ballroom dancing at her after school program in Utah. She later went on to become an accomplished amateur Latin Ballroom competitor, and a DWTS professional dancer.

Are you confused about the difference of Tin Roofing Vs. metal?

Some metal roofs are still referred to as tin roofing. The term dates back to the period of time when roofers used tin sheets to handcraft and install tin roofing panels that looked similar to modern standing seam panels. Back then, a roof that was made purely out of tin, would require a special coating applied to the surface of the roof every few years in order to prevent corrosion.

If the special tin coating was not being re-applied every few years, then the tin would begin to deteriorate and ultimately become corroded with rust. Nowadays, pure tin is no longer used for roofing applications. Galvanized steel, and galvalume steel became synonymous with what was previously referred to as a tin roof. Steel roofs coated with a layer of zinc and aluminum provide a reliable solution for residential and commercial roofs that have a slope.

Modern steel roof is designed to last for a minimum of 35 years, which is at least a double the amount of lifespan you would ordinarily get from an asphalt shingle roof. A rise in popularity of metal roofing has given consumers a wide variety of choices in terms of colors, and styles of metal roofs.

Consumers find that modern metal roofs coated with a Kynar paint can provide energy savings of up to 35%. Consumers in the southern region of the United States report the greatest gains in terms of energy efficiency, and a far superior longevity of the metal vs. asphalt. Consumers in the north of the U.S. benefit from strength and durability of metal which performs far better than asphalt shingles in places with heavy snowfall. A specially coated metal roof helps prevent the heavy accumulation of snow on top of the roof, which causes the snow to slide off the roof before it has the chance to form an ice dam.

Architectural standing-seam roofing panels have become a most popular choice for residential metal roofing. Standing-seam panels are usually made out of galvalume steel, which provides excellent degree of protection and long lasting performance. Thin film photovoltaic solar laminates have been designed to be integrated with standing-seam metal roofing panels.

Thus, homeowners who want to take the energy efficiency of their home to the next level can choose to outfit their home with solar roofing panels that can be seamlessly integrated with a standing-seam roof system. The U.S. government has provided tax credit incentives to homeowners who choose to invest in a cool roof systems such as energy star rated metal roof in year 2010.

Additional federal and state solar energy rebates are also available to the building owners who invest in solar roofing panels for the purposes of generating electricity for their home, or commercial building.

The original roofs made out of tin, are no longer being installed in the U.S, at least not by the majority of roofers. However, a more durable and longer lasting type of metal that is still sometimes referred to as tin roofing systems, which is really made out of zinc and aluminum coated steel, can now prove to be a superb energy efficient alternative to the old fashioned tin roofs that used to be installed by handy craftsmen in the 19th and early 20th century.

The dangers, setbacks, frustrations, and opportunities of living in the global world.

This is a final term paper response written by Aleksandr Biyevetskiy for the Business Government and Society class taught by Dr. Frank. F at Rhode Island College. This paper focus on the effect of Globalization forces and how they change our world. On the macro level, I examine the roles of governments for successful integration in the global world. On the micro level, I examine the roles of individuals, companies, and institutions, and the specific steps that people and organizations can take to be successful stay ahead of the curve in the ever changing global world.

I would like to get some feedback on this, so be sure to tell me what you think!

The change is upon us!

Like it or hate it, we’re living in a world that is becoming increasingly global and integrated in terms of information accessibility, global trade opportunities, and the global scope of potential and often unforeseen unintended consequences of making poor decisions in the global world.

The global world we’re living in, makes it almost necessary for companies and individuals to embrace the paradigm shift brought on by the emergence of new technologies and innovations.

Those companies and individuals who manage to keep up and understand the potential benefits that can be derived from the emergence of new technologies and innovations, will be successful and prevail in the increasingly globalized world. On the flip side, those who neglect the new ways of thinking and choose to stick to the old guns, the traditional “old” and “proven methods” of thinking and operating in the increasingly global world, vs. acknowledging and exploring the potential benefits of new technologies and innovations, will become less effective and probably fall behind and lose their former prevailing positions in the world.

Embracing the paradigm shift is important not only for commercial companies, and individuals, but it is also becoming ever so important for the institutions and the governments.

Let’s examine some of the recently successful nations of the global world and those who were better off in the past, but have already fallen behind in a big way.

The Asian Tigers countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong epitomize the successful adoption of global strategies and paradigm shift in the approach to management-labor relations that helped Asian Tigers to better their position in the world.

In the early 1960s, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong adopted and successfully integrated the management-labor culture of harmony, which originated and became highly successful in Japan. This new approach involving a paradigm shift in management-labor relations, helped the Asian Tigers attain rapid industrialization and economic growth of their economies.

Their global world and export orientated approach combined with judicial and effective management of their global trade policies, resulted in high rates of economic growth and development of highly educated and skilled work force.

An extreme and radical example of North Korea shows what can happen to the countries that choose to remain isolationist in their economic and social policies.

North Korea is not the only country embodying national extremism as a countermeasure against globalization and shifting cultural and social values. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of countries that are left behind now because they failed to embrace the forces of globalization as well as shifting social and cultural norms and values.

Cuba, which was under communist rule, and Zimbabwe, which was doing well economically until the redistribution of wealth took place are among many other sad and shocking examples of the governments missing the boat in every sense of the word.

Going back to the example of North Korea, it is interesting to note that North Korea has been engaged in perpetual military attacks on its southern neighbor-South Korea. The motive for the perpetual attacks on South Korea is believed to be the cry for attention and coerssion for economic and humanitarian aid for North Korea. It’s highly pervasive and twisted that North Korea uses military attacks as a leverage to induce South Korea into rendering economic aid to the North Korea.

From the global economic, geopolitical, cultural and social perspectives, North Korea is a perpetual isolationist loser in denial who keeps missing the boat to become an integral part of the global world, and instead uses its military might to terrorize the world around it.

Fortunately, China, which has been following the successful example of the Asian Tigers, has embraced a totally different approach from North Korea, and is actively becoming a part of the global world.

It is ironic, but not surprising that China is still supporting North Korea in geopolitical and economic sense. And, while China, a communist regime, maintains ideologies that threaten the Western world, it has proven to be a savvy industrialist and global trade-dominating nation.

Indeed, China’s average 9% economic growth rates since 1978 are impressive by any standards! And it is equally impressive that China has reduced its number of people living in extreme poverty from 500 millions to just over 100 millions in just a few decades.

As a side note, it is also scary that China holds some 25% of the U.S. national debt, and there is no clear way in sight, as to how the U.S. will pay back its national debt.

Yes, there is no doubt that ideology-wise China is at odds with the rest of the Western world, but there is some hope for its eventual integration. There’s also a hope that China will drop its support for North Korea, which could lead to a great change in the balance of power between North and South Korea.

The lesson of this analysis is that despite all the global forces and the emergence of new technologies, good politics and integration of successful policies by the governments’ plays a far more important role than perhaps any technology, no matter how powerful, ever will.

This is also true of the situation surrounding Iran, which poses a major threat to the world as we know it. How the United States, China, Russia, Israel and the European Union will handle the situation, we’ll have the major impact on the world’s future.

Yes, with the US being engaged in fighting global war on terrorism and subsequent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as the instability surrounding North and South Korea and Iran, the world is has become an increasingly global, fragile and unpredictable place.

While it is hard to predict where the world is headed, it is clear that taking individual responsibility has become ever so important for individuals, companies, and especially governments to ensure a successful integration and coexistence of cultures, social norms and values dominated by the new technologies, and the very survival of the world as we know.

Now that we have examined the macro perspective and the global roles of governments and nations in securing a prosperous and healthy environments for its people and other nations, it is time to examine how individuals, companies, and the institutions can benefit from the emergence of new technologies and forces of globalization. After all, the above-mentioned entities are the basic building blocks of the nations they represent.

Historically speaking, from the individual perspective, people who learn the new skills and embrace new and useful ideas and technologies are better equipped to face the changes that are part of human existence, especially in the rapidly changing Western world.

When the computers came out, people who wore too used to the typewriters and too dismissive of computers fell behind and became obsolete for the work force. Those who embraced the change and earned the computer skills became in demand for employers seeking people who posses modern skills.

This example illustrates why it is ever so important to keep up with the technological innovations and the ever changing business world around us. Old skills and conventional manufacturing needs have become largely irrelevant in the U.S. as they’ve become largely outsourced overseas. We may not like it, and we may even hate it, but it does not change the reality that will live in a global world which means that production factors are likely to move to where it is cheaper to produce.

Making oneself competitive, marketable and desirable to a potential employer is becoming a part of new reality. Modern employers demand high-end technological knowledge and skills.

As an example, consider the corporate rivalry between Facebook and Google for recruiting and retaining the top talents in the information technology and computer science fields.

Their rivalry tells us that there is a high demand for well trained computer science and information technology professionals. This is the reality, and it’s not going away!

The truth is that a high school diploma will no longer suffice for a person who wants to live a reasonably good life. Attaining specialized training and high quality skills is now a prerequisite for getting a decent job. That truth is that the times have changed, and high school education is no longer sufficient for people to be successful.

The reason for that is that the high school no longer provides the skills that are sufficient to satisfy the modern technologically oriented and financially savvy employers. The employers have to be technologically and financially savvy to survive in the face of global competition. To do that, they need to hire quality people who possess top financial, technological, and entrepreneurial skills.

Such is the situation in the United States of today. What it means is that educational institutions such as high schools, junior and four year colleges have to change their curriculum and approach to education. They need to catch up with the times and start teaching the skills that are relevant to modern employers who demand the best talent, knowledge and ability.

While the demands of the employers keep going up, the level of preparedness of modern high school graduates is just inadequate. People come out of high school with poor English speaking and writing skills, poor math skills and poor understanding of the world around them. The educational system is failing its students by failing to prepare them for the rigors and high demands of the ever changing world.

The colleges and universities, in turn, have to work with poorly educated incoming freshmen. Further many colleges and universities need to catch up with the times and start teaching the highly competitive and relevant skills, and fostering competitive abilities of their students.

Real changes need to happen. High schools and colleges need to emphasize the important new and emerging technologies. They need to teach the students about the benefits of exploiting the opportunities given by the Internet and information technology. This goes beyond the basic knowledge of using Myspace and Facebook.

Students need to understand and appreciate the power of new technology and see it as a great set of tools at their disposal. Students need to have a better financial understanding and improved market factors knowledge if we are to prevent the future housing bubbles and other bubbles that result from lack of education and poor governance.

The long and short of it is that it is a good time for students and people in general to understand and accept that the good old days are over, and that the age of increased competitiveness and globalization has arrived. People need to catch up with the trend, or they will fall in behind and find themselves unhappy. On the flip side, people who embrace the change will be the ones who will benefit the most from the emergence of new technologies and the onset of new reality of the global economy and the global world.

As an example of technology and information skills paying big benefits, consider the fact that Massachusetts institute of technology graduates’ start-up companies generate enough revenue to to be considered the world’s 17th largest economy.

Keep in mind, that it is just one educational institution that has produced so many talented graduates who started so many successful companies. It means that people who graduated from MIT learned the skills necessary to go into the real world and start successful companies.

Perhaps, more colleges and universities should consider revamping their curriculum in order to start teaching relevant and competitive financial, technological, and entrepreneurial skills.

Not everybody is born or can learn to become a sensation of social media success like Mark Zuckerberg. Not everybody has that sort of vision and luck to become a symbol of change in the world. Yet, many people can still benefit from the changes given their desire, commitment and drive to learn new and useful skills and be in sync with the technological, social and business changes that take place all around us. Staying on top of the changes and really understanding them for what they are, as well as what they potentially can become as well as their meaning to the world, can ultimately lead to some small and positive incremental changes in the ever changing world. Will you be the one to make the change?

This is Aleksandr Biyevetsiy’s Essay on Poverty, Inequality, and Development for Development Economics class.

To paraphrase Adam Smith, no society can be jolly, happy and flourishing when a great part of its members is poor, miserable and suffers greatly due to poverty, malnourishment, and social exclusion.

These words resonate strongly with the innate sense of social justice inherent to majority of feeling, breathing and thinking human beings, but the feeling of pity for the poor is not enough; taking proactive steps in eradicating poverty, misery, suffering and great inequality of human beings should become the primary role of government and the people in the society. For, how can a person enjoy a festive meal in the comfort of his/her house knowing that there is a poor person outside his door who has not eaten, or bathed in days, and spent numerous sleepless nights freezing from not having adequate cloths?! How can a rich family, take its children to good private school, without a feeling of discomfort from knowing that there are children doing slave-like labor because their parents cannot afford to feed them?!

The great danger for any society lies in it becoming too comfortable, immune and indifferent to the painful conditions of unfortunate poor and hungry people who may add up to great numbers in the society.
There are many countries across the globe facing the sort of problem stemming from extreme poverty and disproportionate inequality between the rich and the poor. If a rapid and effective policy is not adopted on the part of such a society, then the problem is likely to persist for many years and even decades, like it did in Brazil, and this problem will not only perpetuate unnecessary suffering of the poor, but it will also prevent the society from moving forward until these problems of the many poor and unfortunate have been addressed.

The hypothetical situation of the poor presented above is not unique to any one particular country, and it is not limited to just LDC such as Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zambia. In fact, it extreme poverty and inequality affects many different countries across different levels GDP and GNI; Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, South Africa, and Honduras are greatly affected by the disproportionately high degree of inequality between the top 10% percent of income earners and bottom 40% of income recipients in those countries. These statistics do not account for the source of income, but rather they depict the disproportionate gap between the rich and privileged and the poor and isolated in those countries.

The role of Governments should always be to protect the safety, and well being of its citizens, because the governments are generally assumed to be entrusted with the power derived from the people, its constituencies, in order to make fair policies and decisions that should better the lives of people and the society.

The country’s government actions and decisions, as well as lack thereof, can have the single most influential and profound impact on the lives of people, especially the unfortunate ones in the society.
As we have seen in the case of Asian Tigers such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, successful and disciplined governmental policies can help pave the road to success for its citizens, if only the governments truly desire to attain such lofty goals.

As nice it would be for a country’s government to take a stance and create the policies that can help eradicate poverty, and shorten the gap between the rich and the poor, all too often the reality is far from the ideal. The unfortunate reality is that the world is filled with inefficient, selfish and outright corrupt governments ruling over its people. Countries such as Russia, Brazil, Bangladesh, South Africa, and many Latin American countries are prime examples of lazy, ineffective and inefficient at best, and sometimes outright corrupt at worst, governments. Notably, Brazil and Russia, the countries that are among some of the biggest countries in the world, have drastic levels of poverty and inequality that has persisted for decades in case of Brazil, and disturbing levels of corruption and lawless that plaque people ever since the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1991, now Russia, an upper middle income country, where many people are malnourished and live beyond the poverty level in Russia’s rural areas. The Russian government seems so corrupt and preoccupied with power and secretly stealing money from the state funds, which goes towards purchases of multimillion dollar real estate in London and the like places, or quietly gets funneled to the Swiss Bank accounts on behalf of many corrupt individuals in power, that is seems like there is no awaking in sight, and thus little hope for the poor.
And, if the territorially vast and resourcefully rich countries like Russia and Brazil seem to be caught up in an endless cycle of corruption, poverty and inequality, what more is there to expect from the poorer Nations?

Indeed, it is very unfortunate that there are so many corrupt and ineffective/inefficient country governments, even in the 21st century! The unfortunate truth is that if the government is corrupt or too comfortable and lazy to implement the successful poverty elimination policies, then there is very little that can be done unless some powerful NGOs such as BRAC that originated in Bangladesh, choose to enter the scene and start making some real positive changes in the lives of the poor and disadvantaged, as well as taking strong proactive steps to strengthen the local governance through outreach and education, which may eventually enable it (the local governance) to be in a better position to serve the needs of its people, especially the poor and misfortune ones.

So what can we learn from NGOs in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries? BRAC, which is the most important and influential NGO in the world works with poor and disadvantaged, especially helping poor women in areas of health and nutrition, education and legal help. BRAC also targets the bottom 27% of Bangladesh’s poorest people who own no land. It provides significant help by fighting hunger, improving health and sanitation situation, providing legal help and education, and issuing micro loans to entrepreneurial women through the Community Based Organizations for women.
It is now widely established that although eradicating immediate poverty and hunger through the efforts such as those of BRAC and other NGOs are immensely important, it is good governance that puts interests of the poor and malnourished people first and establishes the policies that help the poor escape the extreme poverty, and their kids become educated in order to stop the perverse cycle of poverty and misery.

Weak governance and governance failure sets persisting stumbling blocks such as lack of clean drinking water that perpetuates and magnifies health problems and children’s mortality rates, lack of / or inaccessibility to education for the poor, which is necessary to break the cycle of poverty, and lack of appropriate safety nets and social welfare programs that are necessary for the least protected members of society such as women and children.

Thus, the role of good government in the eradication of poverty and inequality is of a paramount importance, and cannot be underestimated. Many NGOs have become active in creating awareness against the bed governance, as well as helping the government with the implementation of projects to help the poor. Continuous efforts and resolve will be required on behalf of many NGOs operating in countries experiencing extreme poverty and inequality, people who can voice their strong desire for a sensitive, fair, and corruption free government, as well as the courage and commitment from governmental officials to push forward and implement policies that could help attain significant objectives in eradicating poverty and inequality, advancing education among the poor, and helping poor women and disadvantaged with their pressing needs for shelter, health and nutrition. Much remains to be done, in Bangladesh and other parts of the world, but the hope and drive are there.

References

Economic development Tenth Edition

http://www.bracresearch.org/publications/good_governance.pdf

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