The Four Determinants Of Health Health And Social Care Essay

The Four Determinants Of Health Health And Social Care Essay The environment of society is linked to peoples health over wide fields. Among many factors on health, socio-economic factors are a measurable and significant factor such as employment, education, income and housing. As a future health professional, it is necessary to understand the society and these sociological impacts on health in more multifaceted ways. Hence, this essay will define and discuss the four of socio-economical determinants of health and the relationships between them. Furthermore, it will explain how two determinants affect New Zealand society. Lastly, it will reflect how this study will affect the future nursing care that I will accomplish. The good health and wellbeing of the population is largely a product of the settings in which people live, work and play (Public Health Advisory Committee [PHAC], 2007, p.3). In other word, these social circumstances on health surrounding people might be the socioeconomic determinants. The four determinants of health First of all, this essay will scrutinize the four of socioeconomic determinants and their correlation. Firstly, PHAC (2004) reported that through employment people are able to maintain their life to be stable mentally and physically (p.25). Being employed is the social involvement which produces self esteem and prevents confinement from society. And it is a way of creating income. Reversely, unemployment may be associated with detrimental impacts on mental health such as increasing the rate of suicide (p.26) and decreasing income. Secondly, this report also pointed out that education level is related to health status. People who educated in high are healthier than in low (p.30). Above all, educating children is the most effective way of changing overall health status in society. The reason why is that education enables children to acquire useful health information which affects their future lifestyle such as smoking, food and alcohol in a beneficial way (Wadsworth, 1997, as cited in National Health Committee [NHC], 1998, p.28). Income is far-reaching, which is related to humans basic necessities such as food and shelter. PHAC (2004) highlighted that insufficient income hinders a healthy life. Lower income family is not capable of affording good housing, nutrient food and education. Particularly, Maori and Pacific families are more likely to affect by low income due to the high proportion of young generation (p.21). Besides, children are vulnerable under low income circumstance (p.24). Finally, housing is one of the essential constitutes of human life: food, clothes and shelter. As the cost of house is increasing, capability for other needs is decreasing (p. 31). Besides, internal environment of the house like overcrowding and high humidity influences on health directly (p.32). This affects low income families and the unemployed more hardly (p.33). All in all, In the case of low socioeconomic groups, it is more detrimental than high (PHAC, 2004). The four determinants are inextricably interwoven while having the possibility to enhance by society (p.6). Education and Maori Despite the fact that New Zealand is an egalitarian society and a developed welfare country, there is health problems needed to be improved. First concern is indigenous peoples health regarding lower level of education. Specifically, it is about the correlation between health literacy skill and education. Lower level of education may lead to poor health literacy skill. According to Ministry of Health (MOH, 2010a), 80 per cent of Maori men and 75 per cent of Maori women are very low level in health literacy skill. Moreover, lowest groups were 50-65, 16-18 and 19-24 year groups of Maori (p.iii). A reason why education is important to enhance Maori health is that 53 per cent of Maori population is under 25 years old in 2006. Nonetheless, the percentage of Maori students who are finished at secondary school with qualification is 43.4 per cent. However, in the case of non- Maori, it is 63.7 per cent (MOH, 2010b, p.17). What is surprising is that young Maori population is linked to both a poorest health literacy group and low secondary education. A positive correlation was found between health literacy skill and education is that people who are educated in tertiary level showed enhanced health literacy skill than others have not (MOH, 2010a). Education is a strong health determinant because it widens health information and improves self caring capability autonomously by individuals. That can be a strong prevention from disease to the future generation. Housing and Maori Another concern of indigenous people is poor housing condition. If a house is in high humid, chill and overcrowded, it is detrimental. Firstly, high humidity and cold temperature are causing respiratory disease (World Health Organisation, as cited in Asthma Foundation, n.d.). According to Heeringa (2011), One in six adults and one in four children suffer from asthma in New Zealandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Air that is cold, or polluted with dust mites, moulds or fumes trigger asthmaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the second highest in the world just behind the UK (para.24). Among many asthma suffering people aged 5 to 34, hospitalized Maori between 2006 and 2008 were as double as non-Maori (MOH, as cited in Maori health, 2010). Secondly, overcrowding is a problematic factor in New Zealand. PHAC (2004) highlighted that living in an overcrowding house increased the rate of childrens death due to the contagion of fatal disease (p.32). Particularly, according to MOH (2010b), overcrowding rate of Maori family in 200 6 were three times higher than non-Maori. Meningococcal disease rate of 0 to 4 aged Maori groups were also as high as the rate of overcrowding (Environmental Science and Research, n.d., as cited in Maori health, 2010). Most of all, these statistics represent that Maori is the greater part of lowest socio-economic status in New Zealand, who cannot afford to comfortable houses(NHC,1998). All in all, while Maori population grows fast (MOH, 2010b), Maori is one of the groups that is influenced severely by poor housing environment. What I have learnt A study about strong correlation between society and health will assist my future nursing practice in terms of nurses perception. When I was realizing many factors, they seemed to be general sociological phenomenon. However, they influenced peoples health, even causing illness. Nurses knowledge should be wider than I thought before. From caring for patients physical wound to concerning the socioeconomic environment of the patients might be the nurses understanding. Levien (2008) stated that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a nurse to be a resource to communities and individuals affected by this disease and enable a greater level of awareness and understanding of the risk factors and how to reduce them (para. 17). This is my understanding. For example, I will communicate with a patient in easy words depending on his/her education level, instead of medical terminology. Whats more, I can give patients some information about preventing communicable disease from babies and children at home and immunization . Therefore, I will contemplate circumstances surrounding patients as a nurse in the future. In conclusion, health determinants are significant factors within the health system as well as the whole society. Unemployment, low level of education, insufficient income and poor housing are related to poor health condition in New Zealand. These determinants are more likely to affect some group like Maori. Maori health is likely to be affected by low education level and poor housing detrimentally. Therefore, all individuals health is a complex byproduct of society. If every individual is healthy, their society can be healthy and prosperous.

One Child Policy in China

What is One Child Policy? It is the birth control policy, one of the most important social policies over the world. Simply to say, One Child Policy is the population control policy that has applied since 1979 in China. The government sets a limit for the maximum number of children for each family. It officially restricts married urban couples to have only one child while it allows rural couples, minorities to have more than one child. It isn’t quite difficult to imagine how China would have been if the birth control policy hadn’t been applied. People would have suffered from famine, death and the shortage of variety of sources. However, One Child Policy is a double-edge sword for China.On the one hand, China effectively controls the population growth, fertility rate, and gains huge economic benefit as well; on the other hand, it is a source of great pain for one generation. To understand the One Child Policy it is necessary to know a bit of history about how and why it was created. Until the 1960s, the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible because of Mao's belief that â€Å"the more people, the stronger we are† (Potts, 2006, p. 361). It prevented the emergence of the development of One Child Policy earlier in China. In the next few decades, the population grew from around 540 million in 1949 to 940 million in 1976 (National Bureau of Statistics, P.R.China, 2000).Beginning in 1970, Chinese people were encouraged to marry at an older age, and they were allowed to have two children. Although the fertility rate began to decrease, the government launched the One Child Policy due to the future overwhelming population growth (Potts, 2006). The One Child Policy has significant effects on variety factors, such as population growth and fertility rate, social health service, education, and the development of economy.The first plain effect is the control of population growth and fertility rate. Statistics in figure 1 shows the fertility rate in China from 1960 to 2010, and the fertility rate fell from 2.63 births per woman in 1980 to 1.61 in 2010, which almost reached 6 in the 1960s. The Chinese government makes the claim that it had three to four hundred million fewer people in 2008 under the One Child Policy (Hu, 2002).Figure 1: Fertility Rate in China from 1960 to 2010 Source: World Bank, 2012, Retrieved from http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_tfrt_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false&icfgOne of the most important considerations of One Child Policy is related to economy. The economic development is the original intent of this policy, such as reducing the demand of nature resources and decreasing the unemployment of surplus labors. Obviously, the limited resource cannot always satisfy the demand of resource of the growing population. The sufficient nature resource is a vital factor for a group of people to survive; enough social resource is significant for a society to stabilize.As Deng Xiaoping, who is the former leader in China, said that â€Å"the  development is the only principle†. As long as the country had a steady population rate, the society would function within a balance between both nature and social resource and the demand of resource of the population. Undeniably, China, Chinese people and even the whole world are all benefited from the One Child Policy in terms of reduction of the demand for resources. Now, the One Child Policy has existed for over thirty years. People gain the profit but also gain the pain from it, especially the generation of single children.It’s a labeled generation. Little emperors, little princesses, little suns are all used to describe this self-centered generation. These labels also show the possible social problems for this generation. Most single children are unable to care for their older adult relatives and others because they are used to receiving and accepting the love from parents and grandparents while rarely give and share with others in the family. People worry that it would result in a tendency of poor social communication and cooperation skills for these young adults in the society. In fact, these young adults pay more than others to learn cooperation and communication with others when they start their career lives.Besides the social problem, another problem of this generation is the â€Å"four-two-one† problem. As the first generation under the One Child Policy, the children who were born in 1980s are approaching adulthood now. They are building their own families, getting married and  having babies. In China, they are responsible to support their parents and four grandparents. It is called the â€Å"four-two-one Problem†. Statistics shows that there are ninety million only children in China in 2000 (Yang, 2010). The young adults, who are still st ruggling in the society themselves, should take the responsibility of their own small families; meanwhile, they also have to be responsible for their parents and grandparents. It is a huge life stress.With pains and gains in these thirty years the One Child Policy has completed its mission in its first step. Page (2011) presents that â€Å"China appears to have achieved that goal: Initial census results show China's population, the world's largest, rose to 1.34 billion in 2010, from 1.27 billion in 2000. That puts average annual growth at 0.57% over the decade, down from 1.07% in 1990-2000† (p. 1). Recently, the existence of the One Child Policy is becoming a debate. People discuss whether the policy should exit the stage of the history or still maintain in effect. Figure 2 shows the Chinese population growth from 1961 to 2008.Under the application of One Child Policy the tendency of demography growth shows a steady rising pace. If the government abolished the One Child Polic y suddenly, the Chinese demography would still increase sharply in the next few decades. One of the essential factors couldn’t be ignored: the Chinese demography has a hugest base in the world.Figure 2: Population of China from 1961 to 2008 Source: Quilokos, D. Creative Commons, 2011The Chinese government declared that the One Child Policy will still be implemented on the population control in another decade. In the next phase, the One Child Policy will turn to a relative loose phase. It has new criteria to allow couples to have a second child such as the parents who are the only children themselves (Page, 2011). To sum up, the One Child Policy was created in China in a specific time; it has both positive and negative effects these years. Although it is a source of great pain for one generation, people cannot deny the resulting benefits. It will remain effective in China as an important policy at least for one more decade, and gradually fade out from the stage of Chinese hist ory.ReferencesHu, H. (2002, Oct 18). Family Planning Law and China's Birth Control Situation. China.org.cn. Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Oct/46138.htmNational Bureau of Statistics, P.R.China. Total population, CBR, CDR, NIR and TFR of China 1949-2000. China Daily. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010census /2010-08/20/content_11182379.htmPage, J. (2011, April 29). China’s one-child plan faces new fire: Census shows slowing growth as population ages, giving critics ammunition. The Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291010133986864. htmlPotts, M. (2006). China’s one child policy: the policy that changed the world. BMJ, 333, 361.Yang, Y. (2010. Oct 10). Are â€Å"four-two-one†families really a problem?. China Population Association Online. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20110707050058/http:// cpachn.org.cn/ShowNews.asp?ID=1021One Child Policy in Chi naWhat is One Child Policy? It is the birth control policy, one of the most important social policies over the world. Simply to say, One Child Policy is the population control policy that has applied since 1979 in China. The government sets a limit for the maximum number of children for each family. It officially restricts married urban couples to have only one child while it allows rural couples, minorities to have more than one child. It isn’t quite difficult to imagine how China would have been if the birth control policy hadn’t been applied.People would have suffered from famine,  death and the shortage of variety of sources. However, One Child Policy is a double-edge sword for China. On the one hand, China effectively controls the population growth, fertility rate, and gains huge economic benefit as well; on the other hand, it is a source of great pain for one generation. To understand the One Child Policy it is necessary to know a bit of history about how and w hy it was created. Until the 1960s, the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible because of Mao's belief that â€Å"the more people, the stronger we are† (Potts, 2006, p. 361). It prevented the emergence of the development of One Child Policy earlier in China. In the next few decades, the population grew from around 540 million in 1949 to 940 million in 1976 (National Bureau of Statistics, P.R.China, 2000).Beginning in 1970, Chinese people were encouraged to marry at an older age, and they were allowed to have two children. Although the fertility rate began to decrease, the government launched the One Child Policy due to the future overwhelming population growth (Potts, 2006). The One Child Policy has significant effects on variety factors, such as population growth and fertility rate, social health service, education, and the development of economy. The first plain effect is the control of population growth and fertility rate.Statistics in figure 1 shows the fertility rate in China from 1960 to 2010, and the fertility rate fell from 2.63 births per woman in 1980 to 1.61 in 2010, which almost reached 6 in the 1960s. The Chinese government makes the claim that it had three to four hundred million fewer people in 2008 under the One Child Policy (Hu, 2002).Figure 1: Fertility Rate in China from 1960 to 2010 Source: World Bank, 2012, Retrieved from http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_tfrt_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false&icfgOne of the most important considerations of One Child Policy is related to economy. The economic development is the original intent of this policy, such as reducing the demand of nature resources and decreasing the unemployment of surplus labors. Obviously, the limited resource cannot always satisfy the demand of resource of the growing population. The  sufficient nature resource i s a vital factor for a group of people to survive; enough social resource is significant for a society to stabilize. As Deng Xiaoping, who is the former leader in China, said that â€Å"the  development is the only principle†.As long as the country had a steady population rate, the society would function within a balance between both nature and social resource and the demand of resource of the population. Undeniably, China, Chinese people and even the whole world are all benefited from the One Child Policy in terms of reduction of the demand for resources. Now, the One Child Policy has existed for over thirty years. People gain the profit but also gain the pain from it, especially the generation of single children. It’s a labeled generation. Little emperors, little princesses, little suns are all used to describe this self-centered generation. These labels also show the possible social problems for this generation.Most single children are unable to care for their old er adult relatives and others because they are used to receiving and accepting the love from parents and grandparents while rarely give and share with others in the family. People worry that it would result in a tendency of poor social communication and cooperation skills for these young adults in the society. In fact, these young adults pay more than others to learn cooperation and communication with others when they start their career lives. Besides the social problem, another problem of this generation is the â€Å"four-two-one† problem. As the first generation under the One Child Policy, the children who were born in 1980s are approaching adulthood now. They are building their own families, getting married and having babies.In China, they are responsible to support their parents and four grandparents. It is called the â€Å"four-two-one Problem†. Statistics shows that there are ninety million only children in China in 2000 (Yang, 2010). The young adults, who are st ill struggling in the society themselves, should take the responsibility of their own small families; meanwhile, they also have to be responsible for their parents and grandparents. It is a huge life stress.With pains and gains in these thirty years the One Child Policy has completed its mission in its first step. Page (2011) presents that â€Å"China appears to have achieved that goal: Initial census results show China's population, the world's largest, rose to 1.34 billion in 2010, from  1.27 billion in 2000. That puts average annual growth at 0.57% over the decade, down from 1.07% in 1990-2000† (p. 1). Recently, the existence of the One Child Policy is becoming a debate. People discuss whether the policy should exit the stage of the history or still maintain in effect. Figure 2 shows the Chinese population growth from 1961 to 2008.Under the application of One Child Policy the tendency of demography growth shows a steady rising pace. If the government abolished the One Ch ild Policy suddenly, the Chinese demography would still increase sharply in the next few decades. One of the essential factors couldn’t be ignored: the Chinese demography has a hugest base in the world.Figure 2: Population of China from 1961 to 2008 Source: Quilokos, D. Creative Commons, 2011The Chinese government declared that the One Child Policy will still be implemented on the population control in another decade. In the next phase, the One Child Policy will turn to a relative loose phase. It has new criteria to allow couples to have a second child such as the parents who are the only children themselves (Page, 2011). To sum up, the One Child Policy was created in China in a specific time; it has both positive and negative effects these years. Although it is a source of great pain for one generation, people cannot deny the resulting benefits. It will remain effective in China as an important policy at least for one more decade, and gradually fade out from the stage of Chi nese history.ReferencesHu, H. (2002, Oct 18). Family Planning Law and China's Birth Control Situation. China.org.cn. Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Oct/46138.htmNational Bureau of Statistics, P.R.China. Total population, CBR, CDR, NIR and TFR of China 1949-2000. China Daily. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010census /2010-08/20/content_11182379.htmPage, J. (2011, April 29). China’s one-child plan faces new fire: Census shows slowing growth as population ages, giving critics ammunition. The Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291010133986864. htmlPotts, M. (2006). China’s one child policy: the policy that changed the world. BMJ, 333, 361.Yang, Y. (2010. Oct 10). Are â€Å"four-two-one†families really a problem?. China Population Association Online. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20110707050058/http:// cpachn.org.cn/ShowNews.asp?ID=1021

Ace Manufacturing Essay

Of all the topics in this course, many students find Lesson 4 to be the most frustrating. I think this may be due in part to an apparent contradiction: there are lots of numbers and equations to work with, but surprisingly little certainty in our conclusions. I share your frustrations at times. Fortunately, these cases are the only â€Å"strictly financial† case studies †¦ the only ones where number crunching is an end unto itself. However, basic financial analysis will always be an important part of our toolkit for making pricing decisions. The document which follows contains the â€Å"answers† to these two case study assignments: Ace Manufacturing and Healthy Spring Water. Despite the financial emphasis, they are similar to the previous cases insofar as they’re intentionally open-ended and somewhat vague to encourage you to draw out all of the contingencies and factors that need to be considered. They’re intended to stimulate thinking. If you feel a bit frustrated by that, it probably means they’re working. Only after you’ve identified the issues and concepts that are relevant to the questions can you start to focus your efforts on how to solve the problem. This is my answer key (of sorts) for the two assigned cases. I know  how much many of you struggled with this case and your efforts were not in vain. Having had to slog through all of the confounding complexities of financial analysis is necessary to fully prepared you for what may lie ahead in your professional endeavors. Ace Manufacturing 1. What is the relevant unit cost for making this pricing decision? There are two primary alternatives that you might consider when approaching this question. Those of you who have this type of responsibility in a â€Å"real world† context are likely to suggest that fixed costs and G&A costs should be allocated equally/proportionately across the two products. At the opposite extreme, you might have chosen to argue that the additional 30,000 units should only be required to cover the incremental costs incurred †¦ implying a relevant unit cost of $7.50. Is one of these approaches â€Å"better† or â€Å"more correct† than the other? Is one of them more realistic? More conservative? Is one approach more conventional †¦ and does being â€Å"conventional† mean it is correct? Arguing persuasively for either position †¦ or a compromise view in between the two †¦ has some merit. And †¦ I’ll certainly try to be fair in evaluating your work, but I have a bias toward being both conservative and coldly realistic. Here’s my thinking †¦ building the units requires using designs that cost money to build and tooling that the company borrowed money to purchase. These are direct fixed costs. They also require maintenance of the plant which is currently being covered by the first 150,000 units. Since incurring these costs is necessary to producing the additional 30,000 units, why shouldn’t the additional 30,000 units be required to cover a fair share of the costs? That leaves the $60,000 increase in General and Administrative Costs associated with the new production †¦ which I would treat in the same way as the increases in direct fixed costs. Does all of this â€Å"squabbling† about how and where to allocate costs make a difference? It makes a big difference in evaluating the profitability of pursuing this new account. 2. Is this business sufficiently profitable to make bidding worthwhile? Although there can be a few subtle variations on this analysis, here’s the way that the two alternative approaches to allocating costs break down: One approach (Plan A) yields a profitable outcome †¦ $2.50 per incremental unit. The other, a loss of $1.25 per incremental unit. When you look at the total dollars columns, however †¦ either scheme generates the same level of profitability – a net gain of $75,000. Confused? The notion of the incremental units covering their â€Å"fair share† of fixed costs shows a net loss resulting from this additional business, but you can’t argue with the total dollars outcome. While the additional units don’t cover their â€Å"fair share† of costs, they contribute $75,000 toward these costs – costs that would not have been covered by the original 150,000 units. In this situation, the concepts of fairness and conventional practice could obscure a profitable opportunity. Based on the financial analysis alone, the company should definitely take the new business. What other considerations are relevant? Well †¦ is there a potential downside in terms of â€Å"indirect† cannibalization and price erosion? There’s always the Walmart effect to worry about †¦ that if you sell an â€Å"incremental volume† of goods at a discount through an alternative channel, buyers may switch channels – and 10,000 units sold at discount will cannibalize 10,000 units in sales at higher margins. Another concern is that prospective buyers will use the lower-priced â€Å"inferior† product as leverage in negotiating the price of the better product. Even slight price reductions in the 150,000 of regular sales would wipe out any profitability gains from additional sales of the inferior product. A simple case study †¦ and two short questions. But appearances can be deceiving. For grading purposes, I’m looking for a thoughtful analysis of the situation †¦ a recognition that there’s more here than crunching a few numbers. A â€Å"bad answer† would be one that rejects the possibility of pursuing this account without recognizing that it is a profitable venture from a strictly financial perspective.

Thoreau and Civil Disobedience - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 663 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/05/13 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Civil Disobedience Essay Did you like this example? Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience in response to questions about why he had gone to jail. As an abolitionist, he had objected to the Massachusetts poll tax and refused to pay it as a protest against slavery. When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he protested against it, seeing it as an aggressive war of conquest aimed in part at adding new slave territories to the United States, and for this reason, as well, he refused to pay the tax. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Thoreau and Civil Disobedience" essay for you Create order The opening statement, I heartily accept the motto, that government is best which governs least establishes Thoreau as someone who is highly skeptical of political authority. He extends the criticisms of standing armies, which were often identified as instruments of tyranny in early American political thinking, to government itself, and argues that government is often an instrument of abuse against the people.In the essay, Thoreau argues that laws, being human-made, are not infallible, that there is a higher divine law, and that when those laws conflict, one must obey the higher law. Hence slavery, no matter how legal, was always unjust in its violation of the integrity and divine soul of the enslaved. So long as the American government upheld slavery, Thoreau said, one cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I can not for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slaves government also. Carrying to extreme the logic of the Declaration of Independence, Thoreau argues, in effect, that each individual should declare independence from unjust laws, that citizens must never surrender their conscience to the legislators, and that It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. Thoreau did not find his identity in association with other people who shared his background. Rather, he believed his truest identity would be found in differentiating himself from the common herd of humanity, which he saw as mediocre, morally lazy, and cowardly. He was an individualist; he held that each persons respon sibility is to follow the highest leadings of personal conscience. Ultimate moral authority emanates from individual judgment, and getting out of its way is one of the most important things a just government can do. Civil law and the power of the democratic majority are secondary to the higher moral law as it is discerned by the individual. In cases in which civil government conflicts with personal conscience, Thoreau advocates withdrawing all support from that government immediately, without waiting to change the law or public opinion. Withdrawal of support such as the refusal to pay taxes or to serve in the military is likely to be met with punishment, and Thoreau advocates accepting the penalty imposed. Even if that penalty involves imprisonment, he claims that bodily confinement is trivial when compared to the spiritual liberty of thought and conscience that comes from following the higher law. Persons who obey a law or fight a war that they think is wrong become less than fully human they lose their identities, they become machines. All abolitionists, members of the Underground Railroad, and those who refused to obey the Fugitive Slave Act were practicing civil disobedience. History and literature are full of examples and one of those is Huckleberry Finn which resolved to defy his upbringing in order to rescue his best friend, a runaway slave. In fact, the U.S. governments system of checks and balances sometimes requires its citizens to break the law, for the only way to challenge the constitutionality of a law is to break it and try a test case. One problem with Thoreaus doctrine is that it is not always easy to determine whether a law is just or unjust. Thoreau never advocated the indiscriminate breaking of laws; civil disobedience applies only in cases of fundamental moral principle. Not all individuals are necessarily right in defying the government. Thus the debate continues; through it all, Thoreaus essay remains one of the most potent and influential ever written.