Stereotypes And Fantasies About The Us South Essay

Stereotypes And Fantasies About The Us South - Essay Example Music in itself has been described as an important parameter of culture (Abrams, 2011). What this means is that music is one of the constituent components of culture that can distinguish one culture from the other. Within the varying groups of culture that exists in the United States also, Southern American, or United States South is a core player with much influence in the socio-cultural dynamism of the country. Part of these dynamisms is the type of stereotype and fantasies associated with the South. In this essay, there is a defense for the statement that â€Å"Stereotypes and fantasies about the US South have been a major theme in the development of US popular music.† Common stereotypes and fantasies associated with the US South Historians and cultural experts trace the influence of the South on the socio-cultural dynamism of the US to days before the Civil War when there were accusations and counteraccusations of disparity against the South (Agnew, 2006). They believe tha t the current state of stereotype and fantasies that exists for people in the South is the direct cause of an unresolved conflict that can be traced to the aftermath of the war. Presently, the Southern ethnic heritage can be said to be made up of several cultural identities and differentiations mainly made up of African, Native American and European components (Baron, Hood, and Izard, 1996). Among these people, the commonest form of stereotype that has existed for years is a strong overlook in the US mass media, including literature, theatre and other creative forms of expressions (Kupperman, 2000). In some studies, the percentage of coverage given to this group is only 1% (Agnew, 2006). Generally, the cause of this is due to misconceptions associated with ethnic groups in the South as being cruel, of bad character, and uneducated. This stereotype has also led to a situation of fantasy within the group where they have argued that the Southern is also good for the highest positions o f the land, especially Blacks. How stereotypes and fantasies about the US South have influenced themes of US popular music Indeed, popular music gives a major cultural identity to US as a country. The themes of popular music have somewhat influenced the popularity of this type of music and contributed to its current international status (Kupperman, 2000). Without an iota of doubt, it can be said that the stereotype about the US South, and for that matter, the fantasies that have developed from it therefore has been very influential on the themes of US popular music. Specific examples can be given to how themes of US popular music has for years sought to justify the content of the Southerner’s character, saying that the Southerner is as good as the Northerner for any top decent position within the land. For example in 1983, Blowfly used the theme of his music as a crusade for the possibility of a Black President, titling his album, â€Å"The first black president†. What is more, in 1988, the US hip hop group, NWA made a music video that focused on the theme of a Black person being as fit for the presidency as a White when they had a caption from the White House that read, â€Å"Live from the Black House†

Urrent recessionary situation in the UK economy Essay

Urrent recessionary situation in the UK economy - Essay Example The most common among these are the Consumer price index and the retail price index. The simplest way to understand the mechanism behind changes to inflation is through Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply dynamics. Given the economy is in macroeconomic equilibrium, if there is a positive shock to demand, i.e., aggregate demand shifts up, the price level rises. This is known as demand pull inflation. This type of inflation is observed particularly during periods of economic expansion. This is shown in figure 1 below. Figure 1: Demand-pull inflation In the diagram, SRAD represents the short run dynamics of demand; it shows how changes to aggregate demand are related to changes in the price level or inflation. Similarly, SRAS represents the short run dynamics of aggregate supply. Because of an expansionary shock to short run aggregate demand (SRAD), inflation increases from Is to Id. Again, even if short run demand remains unchanged, inflation can increase due to supply side shocks. In the diagram, SRAD represents the short run dynamics of demand; it shows how changes to aggregate demand are related to changes in the price level or inflation. Similarly, SRAS represents the short run dynamics of aggregate supply. Because of an expansionary shock to short run aggregate demand (SRAD), inflation increases from Is to Id. Again, even if short run demand remains unchanged, inflation can increase due to supply side shocks. For instance if there are bottlenecks in the supply chain which leads to contraction of supply, the short run aggregate supply curve shifts up to the left. This leads to an increase in inflation as well. This is known as cost push inflation since this happens due to sudden increases in production costs. Well known examples of such inflation generating cost rises over the years have been oil price shocks, labor market strikes etc. This mechanism is illustrated in figure 2 below. In Figure 2: Cost push inflation In the graph above, the SRAS curve is hit by a temporary shock resulting from increases in costs. The resulting movement to the left and up leads to a rise in the inflation rate from Is to Ir. It should b e noted that all factors that influence demand and supply mechanics can therefore influence inflation rates. Particular note should be taken of inflation expectations. If inflation is expected to rise in future, people start buying immediately and such behavior leads to the prices being pushed up. This is a simple instance of how inflation expectations constitute self fulfilling prophecies. Being armed with an understanding of the basic mechanics of inflation, we now turn to the actual observed situation in the UK economy. The UK economy is undergoing a substantially adverse situation. Although the Bank of England sets 2% as inflation target, the annual percentage change in Consumer Prince Index reached a 2 year high of 5.2% in January 2011. Although it has come down since then to around 4.2% in recent months, it still is considerably higher compared to the declared target of the Bank of England (BBC, 2011). What makes this situation precarious is that this inflation has occurred at a time when the economy was already reeling from a strong recessionary pressure. The global economic crisis and the ensuing recessionary pressures had seem the inflation rate hit a low of almost 1% in 2009. The recession has led to significant stress on the economy and caused losses of employment. In all other advanced economies, the recession has been associated with a disinflation, if not a deflation. In the UK economy however the inflation rate has climbed up substantially to hit the aforementioned highs (Dwyer et al., 2010). There are alternative viewpoints to explain this phenomenon, and we turn to these various explanations in the rest of this article. Figure 3: Inflation in UK, ONS data Figure 1 traces the quarterly movements of