TOEFL iBT Independent Writing A center for business research or agricultural research? - revised -

Writing Topic

Imagine a university is planning to build a new research center in your country, but it has not been decided whether to create a center for business research or agricultural (farming) research. Which of the two sorts of research centers would you prefer to be built in your country?

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.       How would a business research center benefit the country? What about an agricultural research center?

2.       In which area does Japan need to research more? Why?

 

☆Ideas and Expressions

Business

1.     Japan needs to invest in innovation. It has been one of the biggest economies in the world for a long time. Especially, our electric appliances as well as cars have been popular around the world, but many manufacturers of other countries outshine ours these days.

 

2.     We are not good at marketing very much. Market research on specific demands of each country, for instance, will help diversify our exports and stabilize export earnings.

 

3.     With enough wealth and technology to help reduce the damage of global warming and environmental destruction, developed countries are expected to shift to a sustainable economy, or environmentally friendly economy. We need to do more research on related areas such as eco-friendly technology businesses.

 

4.     The low food self-sufficiency (40%) is not necessarily dangerous because the staple (rice) is nearly 100% supplied domestically. Also, the level of our agricultural research is very high. People come from all over the world to learn from our agriculture and we send experts to countries suffering from food shortage to help develop their farming.

 

Agriculture

1.     Japanese agriculture is at crises in general. The age-old problems of Japanese agriculture are very little farmland (90% of the land is mountains and forests), decreasing numbers of farmers and farmhouses, aging, and weakening functions of farming societies caused by industrialization especially after WWII. In addition, traditional sustainable agriculture has been destroyed by the introduction of factory style farming, or single crop farming. This trend will accelerate because restrictions on agribusiness have been lifted and Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will slash or abolish tariffs on agricultural imports. It is necessary to transform our agriculture into one which prioritizes production of export crops, crops that have enough demands in the global market. Research and development on potential markets for Japanese crops should be put forth.

 

2.     Research on our low self-sufficiency (40 %) is necessary. The self-sufficiency of our staple food, rice, is technically100% while most of the feed grains for meat production such as wheat and corn are imported. Since these crops will be in great demand for bio-fuel and livestock farming one of the main producers of greenhouse gases, research on more self-sufficient protein production is necessary. In addition, the decreasing number of farmhouses is causing concern about food shortage in emergency. It is true that the problem of low self-sufficiency is the problem of economy and politics because deflation is making people give up farming and the government has been prioritizing business and globalization over agriculture. However, approaches to improve the situation by those who are directly involved in farming would be effective and innovative.

 

3.     We have not eliminated deaths from starvation in poor countries. Also, population increase, global warming, and pollution can cause food crises in the near future. Developed countries are required to make more contribution to research on food security such as irrigation, plants that are more resistant to climate change, or GMOs. Japan can live up to this expectation by continuing to offer our agricultural techniques and technologies. For example, plant factory, which was invented and developed in Japan, can produce edible plants without soil all through the year. We can not only sell their produce but also export the technology.

 

☆Essay for ideas and expressions

Just a few years ago, the terms green or fair trade meant nothing more than opportunities for corporate image improvement to most huge corporations and never meant calls for total restructuring of the economic system, or more precisely so they pretended to interpret them. They had succeeded in propaganda to make people believe that things were going all right. However, climate change has started biting and corruption in business has become blatant, even the people in developed countries are now having difficulty in making ends meet, and the mass protests across the globe do not go unnoticed anymore. Studies for new economic systems are essential to tackle fundamental problems of our times. Therefore, I would prefer a business research center to be built if a university is planning to build a new research center in my country, Japan.

 

Research on alternative business models is crucial. It is now clear that capitalism or free market system is harmful to everyone including those who have enjoyed its benefits. It has exploited the resources and people in developing countries. It has widened the gap between the rich and the poor. It has also destroyed the environment, whose deterioration now threatens life on earth. Ideas for more natural and humane economic activities, which ordinary people as well as conscientious intellectuals have conceived probably since the onset of industrialization, should be crystallized. One of the examples of such effort is a system called employee ownership or democratization of corporations. Democratized companies will reflect public consensus and make more sensible decisions. They will encourage governments to promote real fair trade: fair transactions not just between companies but between countries. They will certainly stop exporting too many factories. Also, they will support sustainable economy, since public awareness on the environmental issues is high. For instance, 70% of US citizens support green energy.

 

In globalization, Japan is at the crossroads. Joining Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will lead it to totally American style economy, which has just proved to be a failure in terms of the welfare of all people. Obviously, the disadvantaged, who are already suffering, will suffer more. Also, even if Japan survives, taking advantage of its position as a developed country, the problem of morality will remain, for free trade works for the stronger at the expense of the weaker. It is inevitable that those in developed countries will put more pressure on those in developing countries. Moreover, it has become clear that the corruption of the domestic economic system has already passed the point of meltdown. The misconduct in relation to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant symbolizes that Japan has not been so much a protective economy as it has been believed. Japanese people were made to accept nuclear power plants through sophisticated advertisements of Japanese mass media backed up by the US energy industry and the US and Japanese governments. The industry neglected upgrades of the reactor design despite repeated warnings. After the disaster, the electric company and the government did not disclose crucial information, and the government did not take enough measures to protect the residents in the area, as well as everyone in the eastern part of Japan. The irresponsible economic leaders teaming up with political leaders could make the last 50 years of Japanese prosperity, where most people, rich or poor, enjoyed fundamental human rights and basic happiness of life, just a transient good moment of its history.

 

It might be true that competition promotes evolution of technology and systems, but the current system does not have a safety net strong enough to protect those who are disadvantaged and those who have lost in competition. Governments are manipulated by lobbyists from large corporations, so that channeling money to rescue the weak is almost impossible. Also, the stock market, a world-scale casino for the rich, does not have a structure to give it decency to clean up its own mess. When crises occur, public money is used to make up for the loss and the return is not sufficient when those rescued start gaining profits again. Unemployment rates did not go down much for a long time despite record profits of the companies bailed out in the last financial meltdown. This system keeps siphoning a large amount of money from the poor to the rich. Businesses, as well as the economic system, need to change.

 

Universities should suggest plans for rapid and less painful shift to the new economic and business systems to build a society that protects life and the environment. For the purpose, I would like a new business research center to be built by a university.