Please kindly grade my Issue Essay

[JamieMDAzalea]

The luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

 

With the dot.com boom in the 2000’s, technology has proven to provide luxuries and conveniences that affect our society at both the industry-level and in the everyday lives of the public.  While these technological advances are strengths that allow us to operate more efficiently, we have become quite dependent on them to survive.

            Technological advances in the finance industry involved, specifically with those who are lending securities from larger hedge funds to smaller brokers, have determined how successful those firms can become. It is widely known from business philosophers that the better a firm achieves operational efficiency, the more likely it will succeed competitively in the market. This operational efficiency is highly influenced by how automated its process can become through technology. However, if technology fails in this area, due to human or systems-based error, the ramifications can be inconvenient if not detrimental within a single to multiple trading days. Relying on technology for movements in the stock market, where a large player with over 100B dollars in assets, can take on huge ripple effects for others in the market. Miscalculations in how a security can be valued can cause huge financial stress on a firm and result in losses. The vast amount of data involved can be nearly impossible to reconcile with human hands alone, or at least take an inconceivable amount of time to resolve.  Looking back at the financial crisis in 2008, we saw multiple creditors misvalue the actual credit necessary to create housing loans to individuals. This allowed huge losses to affect the public financial health of the nation and caused may to lose savings and retirement funds that were supposedly secured.

            The losses of failed technology can also be felt on an individual level as well. While Uber & Lyft are quite convenient in everyday life, they can cause irreparable harm to individuals who trust these services more than they’re worth. In one blog post by a user of Uber, she exemplified the risks of ride-service firms failing for their consumers. She commented “After being forcibly exited from a venue and my Uber driver canceling on me, the app had shut down. Being locked out of the app with no way of getting home in a snowstorm, with the freezing cold like needles in my skin, I am surprised to be here writing this today. Luckily, the new friends we made at the venue that night had graciously offered to come back to the venue and drive us home.” This instance exemplifies the risks of technological failure in dire conditions. When we depend too much on technology, sometimes the results can be life-threatening.

            It can be argued that the progression of technology also allows further conveniences that allow us to operate more efficiently in our lives. With more automated systems in business, firms can cut costs on manual-based work and produce more value in the general economy. With more success comes expansion and with expansion may birth new job opportunities. However, without a ‘plan b’ for when technology fails us, we are left victim to the potential damages.

            Technology opens the doors for convenience and opportunities in today’s society. However, it is important to take into consideration the risks of depending on something so new especially in how it hinders businesses and individuals alike to truly be strong and perform independently.