Jeannette Winterson Weight

In Jeanette Winterson’s novel Weight, the author demonstrates how myths have modern personal relevancies and can encourage each reader to investigate the three main subject matters in their lives; boundaries, freedom, and guilt. The numerous references to walls throughout the novel signify the boundaries, which make Atlas strive for freedom. Winterson’s Weight, is a modern rewrite on an old myth of Atlas and Heracles, and the challenges they endure can be interpreted by individual readers for personal relevancies.Atlas, a father of daughters, is faced with the burden of carrying the world on his shoulders. This can represent a feeling as if one is carrying a world of stress and guilt on one’s shoulders and conscience. Heracles, the stronger of the two, takes the weight of the world from Atlas momentarily and struggles to carry the burden when he sends Atlas to pick three golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides. For example, boundaries are represented by walls throughout Winterson’s novel, not just the physical structures but also any other representation of a boundary.Winterson conceives the body itself as a boundary, in the sense that the skin stands between a human and everything else and although Atlas feels trapped in his own body, he escapes into his own mind to ponder the philosophies of boundaries and the universe. Winterson writes, â€Å"At last I began to hear something, I found that where the world was close to my ears, I could hear everything. I could hear conversation, parrots squawking, donkeys braying. I heard the rushing of underground rivers and the crackles of fires lighted.Each sound became a meaning and soon I began to de-code the world. †¦ As the dinosaurs crawl through my hair and volcanic eruptions pock my face, I find I am become a part of what I must bear. There is no longer Atlas and the world; there is only the World Atlas. Travel me and I am continents. I am the journey you must make. † (p. 24). This can represent feeling stuck within self, feeling trapped and almost tortured to find freedom. Although boundaries are a very strong representation within the novel, there is a connection between the walls and the freedom of nothingness.Atlas constantly is escaping into the limitless of his imagination, where he is not punished for wanting the forbidden. The Gods hoped that by punishing Atlas to be trapped in his body under the weight of the world that they would contain his mind, and they were mistaken. This can be interpreted as the strength and perseverance from within an individual. The wall that Atlas builds around the Garden of Hesperides is constructed in such a way that it explains freedom and nothingness that can sometimes be unappreciated.Winterson writes, â€Å"I built a walled garden, a temenos, a sacred space. I lifted the huge stones with my own hands and piled them carefully, as a goatherd would, leaving tiny gaps to let the wind through. A solid wall is eas ily collapsed. My mother stirring in her sleep could do as much. A wall well built with invisible spaces will allow the winds that rage against it to pass through. When the earth underneath it trembles, the spaces make room for movement and settlement. The wall stands. The wall’s strength is not in the stones but in the spaces between the stones.It’s a joke against me I think, that for all my strength and labour, the wall relies on nothing . Write it more substantially – NOTHING. † (p. 16). On the contrary, carrying the world doesn’t only make one feel trapped, it also feels as if one is carrying stress and guilt on their conscience, which feels as heavy as the world on one’s shoulders. Heracles is a representation of this when he sends Atlas to pick the golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides, and takes the weight of the world while Atlas travels.Heracles suffers while holding up the world. She writes â€Å"Meanwhile, Heracles was not h appy. The world was much heavier than he had guessed. His strength lay in action not in endurance. He liked a short sharp fight, a good dinner and sleep. His body was as strong as Atlas’s, but his nature was not. Hera was right about him there. Heracles’s strength was a cover for his weakness. † (p. 58). While Heracles is holding up the weight of the world, he begins to think of murdering his own children, and all the brutal sexual abuse he has committed on women.This is a very strong moment for readers. When one uses their strength to such exhaustion, physically and emotionally, they tend to think about the wrong doings, and stress within their life and can no longer cope. Winterson shows this by writing, â€Å"Heracles was more afraid now than he had been in his whole life. He could accept any challenge except the challenge of no challenge. He knew himself through combat. He defined himself by opposition. When he fought, he could feel his muscles work, and the blood pumping through his body.Now he felt nothing but the weight of the world Atlas was right, it was too heavy for him. He couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t bear this slowing turning solitude. † (p. 71). In conclusion, humans need both freedom and boundaries. One may think they want freedom and despise boundaries, but to have no limitations and have complete freedom can actually be a burden itself. Humans need the weight of boundaries to keep from drifting away from reality. For Jeanette Winterson, weight can be equated with retelling a myth.The â€Å"I want to tell the story again† theme applies as Winterson writes about how you can tell a story numerous times, but need to stay within the boundaries of the original. For others, this novel may open up a new way of thinking, and coping with personal challenges one can face in modern day. Jeanette Winterson’s Weight is an authentic retelling of a classic myth, including the use of science facts and per sonal relevancies. Between the limitations, liberty, and culpability that the two main characters face, each reader can interpret each section inversely. Reference Winterson, J. (2006). Weight (2005). Toronto: Vintage Canada.

Race and intelligence

Essay 1 An individual’s work achievement can be best predicted by measuring their intelligence. Discuss. In modern life, the motive to success in career has been researched in order to benefit both individual and organization. The term â€Å"intelligence† has been acknowledged over the world as a common way to compare between individual people. Majority believe that succeed of every people can be best measured in that way. However, after many year of using that, some people argue intelligence is not the best way to show how good in work people are.They figure out other ways of measuring success of worker. So does intelligence measurement method make the best prediction for work achievement? This essay is going to discuss about methods for determining an individual’s work outcome for every body clear about that. Before discussing about career success and measurement, there is some knowledge that people should know. As everyone knows ‘intelligence’ is used all over the world but in fact, what intelligence is?As it was mentioned in Principle of Organisation Behaviour (2005), â€Å"intelligence† can be classified as: Pure speed which is the speed of process for simple information, choice speed which is an ability to make a choice, speed of lexical access is the time taken for retrieving information from long-term memory, speed of reasoning processes is speed at higher order information processing. Career is a general course of action or conduct in life, or in a particular part or calling in life, or in some special undertaking; usually applied to course or conduct which is of a public character (1913 Webster).Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. The other meaning of that is the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status (Oxford dictionary 1998). So, career success could be defined as achieving the goal of work. For an individual, goal of works are difference for example some people want to do their normal jo bs, some want to do better than others in order to be premoted. In general, the work achievement that managers want to define can be understood as how good the work could be done.The measurement of intelligence is the way they get score to compare between people. Nevertheless, how they calculate the score of one thing that cannot be seen. Charles Spearman explores the â€Å"G† number which is the score related to intelligent. Many psychologists broke out the â€Å"G† into many parts such as Schmidt and Hunter (1998), Sir Cyril Burt and Thurstone (1938). These primary factors were identified which we would nowadays known as: Spatial ability, verbal reasoning, perceptual speed, numerical ability, memory, verbal fluency, inductive reasoning.The basis education in the UK during 1944 to 1971, the found that school education could be determined at the age of 11 by seeing intelligence test score. Actually, it is usually argued that intelligence is the best single predictor of scholastic achievement (Gottfredson, 2002; Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2004). Commonly, many organizations believe an ability of individual can be forecasted from an intelligence test score. Moreover, occupational status that is foundation form of achievement can be predicted by individual’s intelligence. Individuals are different.The same work might have difference result due to difference of method. As being describe in definition, intelligence has been known as the speed of dealing with problem. People who work faster and more efficiency can be more successful at work so that intelligence is an important part of working-achieve judgement. Beside that, intelligent people have more advantage of learning new thing than others. For example, they can find the new way of getting thing done rather than work under supervisor’s order. Intelligence has impacts on education, job performance and income.Because the more intelligences people have, the better they can achieve in edu cation. That also gives them a chance to have better reference to support their job and income. Jensen (1980) summarizes several causes underlying the later fact. Taking samples with high educational levels attenuate the correlation with intelligence scores (producing values between . 30 and . 40), whereas samples from elementary and high school produce the largest correlations (from . 50 to . 70) because of the greater restriction in range of ability at higher educational levels.The greater intelligent people can have the better capable abilities they have to achieve higher level of education. With higher IQ results, people can be success in studying at school by faster processing information, solving problem and so on. That way, those people get more information and better understanding about their work. Consequently, they can achieve better grade than the others do. Hence, the effects of intelligent continue with job performance such as people with higher IQ score can do work mor e accelerative because can process information faster.They have high pure speed for processing simple information combining with choice speed for retrieving information from long-term memory. Speed of reasoning processes is speed at higher order information processing can makes the work rapidly. Moreover, those people also have the backup from all information, knowledge they gain from work, training and education. They can connect the information that they received and knowledge that they gain for an outcome. Intelligence seems to do a set of barrier to entry into higher-status of occupation for people with low score.Vvariety of research found that the median scores of accountants was 128 with a range between 94 and 154 while the median for labourers was 88 with range from 94 to 145 (Harrell and Harrell, 1945). That caused by intellectual work require people working more rapidly and accurately with information. That gives people with high faculty of understanding, intellect (the abi lities of knowing and reasoning), quickness or superiority of understanding, sagacity, the action or fact of understanding something, knowledge, comprehension better job performance.Furthermore, higher IQ score more likely be seen as higher education so that those people have better reference, education and training than others do. â€Å"The proper aim of higher education in a democratic is to prepare the individual to make wise decision†. (Principle of Organisational Behaviour) As the measurement of intelligence, intelligence can be broken down to many parts. Spatial reasoning is the imagine abilities from perspectives. That copes with flat two dimension diagrams. That is necessary abilities for working as engineering, designer and so on.Verbal reasoning is the abilities to figure out the relationship. That helps people with job roles where prompt and accurate understanding of written material is important. Perceptual speed shows the speed of decision making. Numerical abili ty is the abilities of dealing with numbers. That has an effects on job performance because, higher intelligence mean they can have better abilities to deal with special parts of work. According to the results, high scorers are capable of contributing effectively in management and Besides that, Lynn, R. , & Vanhanen, T. 2002) research show that the estimated of national IQ. The results of comparison between GDP and national IQ score, Lynn and Vanhanen coincluded that there was a sthrong relation between intelligence and national wealth. They further argued that the relation was causal, and that it reflected essentially intractable differences in mental competence across countries. On the other hand, in The Mismeasure of Man (1981), Professor Stephen Jay Gcould argues that intelligence tests are based on faulty assumptions and shows their history of being used as the basis for scientific racism.Although, intelligence measurement is a good method to expect work successive but not all, it does not actually figure out the true value of workers, it misses out many important part that effect to measuring successful. There are many type of intelligences has been identified through history of biology. They are ‘linguistic, logical mathematical, musical, bodily, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic’. As can be seen, many kinds of intelligence are not easy to measure such as intelligent of art. Furthermore, as Halsey (Halsey et al. 1980) said the relationship between intelligence and occupational status occurs as indirect relation and subtly. This is caused by some of the impact of intelligence comes from the powerful shared cultural assumptions. That problem was figure out as being smart is more importance than having experience and understanding the market place. That is not true; because people cannot invest money on the market, they do not know and understand. In addition, some of the affect of intelligence on work exist indirectly bec ause of education, culture, environment, personality, emotion, communication, oopportunity and so on.For instant, the company cannot judge who is better just by seeing employees’ intelligences between people has IQ 180, diploma and 5 years of experience and the other with the same IQ score has degree and 1-year experience. Education gives people more power from reference, information, knowledge and training. From these points, people can develop further their knowledge, skills better than the others can who do not have as much education as them. Their personality such as hard working is important. In fact, to compare two people with the same range of intelligence their work hardworking must be taken in account.Because the more he or she does, the more experience he or she get from that. More over, when people practise their skills also improve further and they get more chance of promotion than other does. Besides that, even if people work hard and intelligent, they still have mistake. As long as, they ignore the mistake they made, the errors might increase and their works become worst. Self-monitoring is the ability and willingness to identify the problem and develop self-presentation and the sensitivity to expressive behaviors of others (Hamid, 1994; Lennox and Wolfe, 1984).Moreover, locus of work can makes the difference at work. People with high level of focusing at work they can reduce their errors that lead to an increasing in working process and performance (Andrisani and Nestel, 1976; Rotter, 1966; Ryckman, 1997). Those people can achieve high performance in disadvantage environment. Communication is also necessary for everyone at work or study because people can gain their knowledge simply by communicate with others. Information, experiences and skills can be transferred from one to another.That skill not only gives people whom good at a chance to improve ability to adjust to any situation but also helps them to reduce stress level. People need to be extraversion, open to experience in communication because they can have more contacts and oopportunity to learn from others with these personalities. Although good environment can makes people develop better, without suitable personalities and skills they might face difficulties. Emotion cannot be excluded, because every person has different character, emotion so that his or her work might not be measure correctly at one particular period.A principal emotion is self-esteem refers to how favourably individuals evaluate themselves (Brockner, 1988; Turban and Dougherty, 1994). High level of self-esteem mearns they feel more positive and believe they are more capable to cope with different situations and tasks (Brockner, 1988; Turban and Dougherty, 1994). Those people also have high self-confidence level at work that gives them more capable to do their work successful. With high confident people can have more power to control their work and increase higher chance of work premote.N evertheless, optimism also is an importance factor of negative affeactivity. It is a relatively stable dimension of individual differences characterised by a tendency to experience positive emotional states (Levin and Stokes, 1989; Turban and Dougherty, 1994; Watson and Clark, 1984). Moreover, the situation in life might change their successful such as people in poor family cannot have enough condition to pay up the tuition fee. In consequence, they lose their chance to get into higher education lead to an unsuccessful career.In addition, their work might achieve better or worst due to a difference of support received at work. Besides that, there are many factors effect the success of individual’s career such as family background, gender, marital status, number of children and so on. That is an implication of several major factor effects on individual’s career success. As far as this essay concern, it can be seen that intelligence is a good way to predict the advantage for education, meanwhile using intelligence term only to measure work achievement might be bias and lead to an incorrect results.

Movement and singing Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Movement and singing - Research Proposal Example Alexander studied himself in mirrors while he was saying his lines. He realized that his habitual way of holding himself would be very hard to overcome, but knew he had to gain conscious control over his posture and attitude in order to produce the best sound. So he developed a method to re-teach his body how to act. Performers often don’t even realize they’re tense until they’re reminded to relax. Tightness in the singer can distort sound and cause the sound to be less resonant (Alexander). The Alexander Method teaches students how all the muscle groups work together. The teacher guides students through a series of gentle exercises, and sometimes touches them a little to guide them into new ways of using their muscles. The muscle corrections are subtle, and an Alexander Technique teacher directs the student with small movements and verbal instructions. Performers think that â€Å"standing up straight† will give them the best posture for singing, but the act of standing straight can put extra tension on the neck, back, and legs, actually reducing the breath and resonance. Consciously making the body do anything introduces tension. The Alexander technique relaxes the posture, reducing underlying tension (Moore). The â€Å"whispered ah† is a way of making Alexander technique students aware of how the breath enters and leaves the body. By perfecting the â€Å"whispered ah,† singers can relax their breathing into its more natural rhythms and engage the whole body in producing sound. The sound will be more pure and resonant because it comes out the whole person. The whispered â€Å"ah† may seem like a simple exercise, but perfecting it is extremely tricky. Breaking old patterns requires both concentration and letting go to let the process work. The important point with the Alexander technique is to relax and stop trying to control body movements and positions. Going into a natural pose when singing and releasing tension gives the voice its depth. Once

This I Believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

This I Believe - Essay Example Based on my vision of the universe, my idea of life forms, and my concept of ‘God,’ I choose to believe in the existence of alien life in our universe. In terms of the awesome size of our ever-expanding universe, whose dimensions I can hardly imagine, I picture the location of our beautiful planet, Earth. I see that Earth is a little planet orbiting a minor star, the sun. The sun is but one star in the billions upon billions of stars in our galaxy. To go on, our galaxy is but one in billions of galaxies in the universe, and each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars. Billions of stars have their own solar systems. Astronomers have already discovered about three hundred planets outside our solar system, which is but a small beginning. In this picture, I see that Earth is but a little piece of rock in a solar system that occupies a small space in a small galaxy in a vast, vast universe! How can life be exclusive to our planet alone? I believe that extraterrestrial life exists in various forms which are different from those on earth. When I allow myself to break free from the picture of ‘life’ only as it exists on earth, I am able to accept that extraterrestrial life is likely to be in forms adapted to the particular conditions of each unique planet.

SMEs Entry into China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SMEs Entry into China - Essay Example This proposal is designed to test the hypothesis that an SME intending to internationalize towards China is expected to acquire certain definite advantages, namely ownership, location, and internationalization.  Dunning’s paradigm holds the chief proposition that any international firm is required to own certain kind of advantage over local firms prior to its engagement in international production (Dunning, 1988). These advantages are namely ownership, locational and internationalization (Dunning, 1988). Accordingly, the theory has been referred to as the OLI-paradigm: Ownership advantages, Location-specific Variables and Internationalization-incentive advantages (Grillet, 2003b).  Ownership Advantages – â€Å"The ownership advantages are unique to a foreign firm over its local competitors† (Chowdury, 2006). It arises out of its superior technology, management systems, privilege access to finance or raw materials, greater market power, etc. The theory of the ownership advantages reveals that those firms which possess competitive advantages over foreign firms in their domestic markets to sell certain goods or services can move towards internationalization (Grillet, 2003b).  Locational Advantages – According to the model, a firm can proceed in foreign production on perceiving its ability to merge mobile intermediate goods from the home country with immobile factor endowments, or other intermediate goods in another country (Grillet, 2003b). Factors supporting one or another country are the location-specific variables, for example, the host country being conducive to local products such as local demand, cheap or well-trained labor, natural resources etc (Grillet, 2003b).  Internationalization Advantages – The transfer of a firm’s ownership advantages across borders within its organizational structures is referred to as internationalization (Grillet, 2003b).

Discuss the importance of national culture in a business environment Essay

Discuss the importance of national culture in a business environment and illustrate its impact on conflict in international business communication - Essay Example Understanding cultural differences is the key to successful international business communications. (Zachry. P.1) Professor Geert Hofstede identifies five ‘independent dimensions’ (p.1) of cultural differences. The significance of Hofstede’s independent dimensions is a method of avoiding misunderstanding and conflict in international business negotiations. Gary Emmons in his article The New International Style of Management, suggests that the new corporate culture may be sufficient to overcome the difficulties arising out of national cultural barriers. (p.2). A new and increasing global style of business management might transcend anticipated conflicts resulting from cultural barriers. Cultural dimensions impacting cross-national business communications are: High-versus low-context cultures, monochromic versus polychromic time, silent language, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Maruyama’s epistemological types. In high context cultures such as China and Japan, communications are conducted in an implicit manner. In low-context cultures such as the United States and many European nations, communications are conducted in an explicit manner. (Tung p.5) In many high context cultures, gift giving is prevalent and a failure to understand this aspect of the culture is liable to lead to a misconceived implication of impropriety. Moreover, when engaging in the gift exchange cultural mode with high-context cultures it is important to avoid gifts which imply bad luck or ill will. This very simple failure to understand the nature of high-context culture communication modes can lead to serious conflicts in international business communications. (Tung p.6) Cultures operating on monochromic time (m-time) believe in performing one function at a time. On the other hand, cultures operating in polychromic time (p-time) function while performing several different tasks. P-time cultures have a propensity for mixing business with

Extra Credit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Extra Credit - Essay Example This function enables the managers to establish or create standards of performance and review of the employee output to make sure that all the workers perform to meet the set standards. The controlling function helps in identification of problems and situation to be addressed and implements new performance requirement or standards. The coordinating function takes place in meeting held by management and planning sessions to make sure that all departments a familiar and work in respect to the organization’s goals and objectives. In any organization, coordinating involves management direction, communication and supervision (Roberts 5). Staffing is the function which deals with recruitment of new staff in the organization. The staffing function also deals with development and training, promotion, performance appraisals and transfers. Staffing makes sure that the organization employees the qualified candidates who can deliver and ensure that the organization meets the set goals. Or ganizing is the function which controls the organization’s structure. An organization is laid down on the structure foundation and without a structure an organization can not work successfully. The organization structure which is controlled by the organizing function is involved in designating employee responsibilities and tasks. The organizing function also develops the structure and chain of command in which communication takes place. Finally, planning involves the process of setting goals in respect to the organization’s resources and objectives. The planning process put down the target to be met by an organization at a particular time (Roberts 6). Planning is important in management because it helps the managers to put across targets to be achieved. Putting down the targets makes the employee and management team to work hard in order to meet organizational goal. Organizing is important to management because it gives a clear structure of

What's Wrong With the WikipediaJews in the Middle Ages Entry Essay

What's Wrong With the WikipediaJews in the Middle Ages Entry - Essay Example A number of article entries have made fantastic claims about certain events, people, or facts without providing any authentic or credible sources to back them. Wikipedia is an open and free encyclopedia which is not considered to be a valid and trustworthy source by universities. Students are not allowed to cite information taken from Wikipedia while other schools have banned its usage. This research paper assesses the encyclopedic entry â€Å"Jews in the Middle Ages† by pointing out the untrustworthiness and unreliability of its content. It considers how the article is limited with reference to the history of the Jews by excluding several communities. It also studies how certain elements and aspects of Jewish history have not been added into the entry. The paper investigates and critically assesses how the article makes conclusions regarding the relations between the Jews and majority culture. The article extensively writes about the social conditions of the Jews living in West Europe. It fails to mention the history of the Jews who lived in the Middle East and Russia1. The Islamic caliphates were at the height of their intellectual, scientific, and philosophical achievements. Unlike the Christian West, Jews were actually tolerated and protected under Arab areas. The Jews had to pay a special tax called â€Å"Jizya† which was levied on minorities. Wikipedia’s article fails to write about the social conditions of the Jews in the Islamic caliphates. Jews rose to important positions inside the Islamic Caliphates like Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Yehuda HaLevi2. These Jews made extensive contributions towards the study of Judaism by writing interpretations of the Torah, philosophical beliefs, and prayers. An investigation of the article also reveals little information regarding the position of Jews in the Slavic nations. The Khazar kingdom in the middle ages was a Je wish state in the

Implementation and communication of a strategic plan Essay

Implementation and communication of a strategic plan - Essay Example ication could improve the effectiveness in the organization through enabling various stakeholders to be apprised of any significant changes in the strategic plan; especially those who would be most affected by the changes. When any transformations in strategies are made and not communicated, those who are expected to carry out the changes would not be able to effectively implement these. As such, the intended goals, which these plans are supposed to achieve, would not be effectively attained. Employees are considered one of the crucial stakeholders of the company. They ensure that the goals of the organization are achieved. Strategies are designed to provide the direction towards accomplishing these goals. As such, it is important for employees to know the strategic plan of a company to enable them to follow the guidelines and directions that would facilitate the achievement of goals (Green, 2011). Otherwise, much resources (time, money and effort) would be wasted if the strategic plan is not appropriately communicated to those who are expected to fulfill the goals of the organization. Green, H. (2011, March 16). Why Engaging Your Employees Is The Answer To Strategic Planning. Retrieved from Forbes:

Group Engagement Exercise Essay Example for Free

Group Engagement Exercise Essay The experience of this week’s Engagement Exercise made clear to me one idea that I am posting here as the hypothesis: Time and the need for joint efforts are absolutely necessary for the collective of individuals to become a group. Several people put together formally will never become a group, not to mention a team. Two factors are absolutely necessary: time and joint work. Time allows people to get accustomed to each other, understand the processes more clearly, and define their own roles within the group. During our first experience of joint work, I felt a bit uncomfortable because of a slight degree of uncertainty concerning who does what, how it all is organized, and what my role in this process should be. This time, the experience was more successful as we all had had a prior experience of working in small groups on a similar task. The team was different now, and I am curious if it influenced the effectiveness and if the result could be better in case we worked in the same team. We had time to reflect on our prior experience, draw conclusions, and re-establish our own roles. In short, time is tantamount to experience in this case. The need for joint efforts was also a powerful consolidating factor. Each of us understood that our individual success depends on our work now, on how effectively we can work together. None of us could do the task alone for it could not be graded then, so we were compelled by the circumstances to combine our efforts. Thus, each of us was interested in effective team work. Under such circumstances, we began to think of our group as â€Å"we† and not â€Å"I† versus â€Å"them†. And, as Johnson and Johnson (2009) note, â€Å"the one-word test to detect whether someone is on the road to becoming a leader is we† (p. 202). As a result, I found my role to be more active and I am more satisfied with this exercise than with the previous one. I participated in the work process actively as well as the others. I find this exercise to be very important in terms of learning to be a participant-observer. The previous exercise provided us with the material for observation; the discussion provided opportunities for giving and receiving feedback; we could reflect upon this experience and see what could be improved. So, this time we all tried to modify our behavior. I am sure that the further exercises will bring even more understanding and experience.

Assessment of UK Policy Approaches to Poverty Reduction

Assessment of UK Policy Approaches to Poverty Reduction Compare, contrast and critically assess two differing approaches to the relief of poverty. Introduction Poverty is a social problem and how best to deal with it has been the object of study and research since the nineteenth century. Townsend (1979) has defined poverty thus: Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diets, participate in the activities and have the living conditions which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies to which they belong. Townsend (1979:31). This paper will look at two approaches to the relief of poverty. The Beveridge approach of full employment and social ensurance, and the welfare to work approach of the New Right and New Labour. There will be a comparison of the differences between these two approaches in terms of their underlying ideologies. The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches will then be examined in the light of a feminist critique. Beveridge and the Welfare State In 1906 what is known as social protection, a range of state benefits aimed at relieving poverty in the general population, began with various Acts, the most important being the introduction of pensions. The Welfare State as we know of it today became fully established between 1946 and 1948 following the 1942 publication of the Beveridge report. This said that there were five giants which were the underlying causes of poverty, these were disease, ignorance, squalor, idleness and want. The report suggested a system which was aimed at relieving poverty through the introduction of a number of measures including National Assurance. This was a system of benefits that were based on everyone paying some money out of what they earned to the Government. This was National Insurance, those who did not pay this were entitled to the safety net of National Assistance. This was to be made available to all people at times of greatest need. It was never envisaged that people would be reliant on it fo r a good part of their adult life. National Assistance eventually became known as social security (Moore et al, 2002). At the same time the Government also introduced the National Health Service. In addition to this it extended the state education system in 1944 to include secondary education, raising the school leaving age to fifteen. The policies that resulted from the Beveridge Report tried to ensure that people would be looked after from the cradle to the grave. Post-War welfare reform was basically a war on poverty and was based on a vision of full employment and a social contract between the Government and the members of society each of whom had equal responsibility for their welfare.The system grew out of the thinking of the economist John Milton Keynes. It became known as universal welfare provision where the state was involved in people’s lives at all levels (Giddens, 2001). The post-war government also introduced a system of benefits for couples with children in the Family Allowances Act of 1945, this later (1975) became known as Child Benefit which replaced family allowance and tax benefits for families with children. It was payable to all families for each child. The National Health Service grew out of the publishing of a National Health Services Bill by Anuerin Bevan in 1946. Healthcare and hospitalisation were envisioned as being free at the point of access but by the 1950s the Government were forced to introduce some charges for dentistry, spectacles and prescriptions to ease the growing tax burden (Marsh et al, 2000).. The Post War welfare state was based on theories of full employment. It had not envisioned massive unemployment and the resultant reduction in tax revenue. Butler (1993).notes that there have been differing views on government’s role in welfare provision and it is only in recent years that there has been a consensus on this. It is not however, a consensus that benefits the vast majority of the population. The New Right and New Labour In 1979 the Conservative Government headed by Margaret Thatcher came to power. Government debastes centered around a free market economy versus the welfare state. The new government introduced measures that would roll back the welfare state and control spending. They did this by introducing marketing concepts and business strategies into policy making. They also began an intense process of privatization because it was thought that public ownership of companies, and the public sector in general undermined market forces. Introducing marketing principles into social care allow Governments to (hypothetically at least) improve services. It also enables a government to retain a greater degree of control. Giddens (2001) says that: †¦the momentum of Thatcherism in economic matters was maintained by the privatising of public companies†¦..(this)..is held to reintroduce healthy economic competition in place of unwieldy and ineffective public bureaucracies, reduce public expenditure and end political interference in managerial decisions (Giddens, 2001:434). The introduction of market forces into social care was considered the best way of allocating resources because free markets were considered to be self organising (Olssen 2000).It was anticipated that this would increase productivity and improve care while at the same time being cost efficient. Government discourses, both Conservative and New Labour have revolved around the notion that the introduction of market mechanisms would result in a more equitable system. Alcock (1994) has argued that the Conservative policies which rolled back the welfare state and introduced changes into social care and the benefits system resulted in greater unemployment, a rise in the number of homeless people, and a general growth in social inequality. In 1997 the Conservative Government was voted out and New Labour came into power, with its New Deal promising a hand up not a hand out. It was believed that the introduction of market forces would improve the economy. In reality it has had the effect of excluding some people from mainstream society and led to the setting up by the present Government of the Social Exclusion Unit in 1997. This Unit is an example of the contradictions engaged in by policy makers in a free market economy. On the one hand the general philosophical approach of both this Government and its predecessor has been on the responsibility of the individual. This is nowhere better expressed than in Labour’s New Deal Documentation. The present Government with its talk of a third way have continued to build on the policies introduced by the Conservatives and it is here that theorists maintain there is a new consensus. Means testing has not only continued but increased and this is nowhere more evident than in the Government’s policy on employment. Job seekers allowance is dependent on a person actively seeking work and Job Centres now have the powers to stop a person’s benefits if they are not seen to be pro-active in finding a job. Under New Labour many of the welfare reforms introduced by the Conservatives have been continued yet the Prime Minister maintains that his party differs from the old way of universal provision and from the New Right policies of the Conservatives. New Labour, he maintains, offers a third way. This draws on ideas from a number of areas and stresses the importance of business success in providing wealth for society and reducing unemployment. This view also promises freedom from discrimination based on gender, race, age and disability. Critics maintain that this view is little more than conservativism with some bolt ons. Universal Provision or the New Right? Welfare provision arises from society’s concerns for social justice and the redistribution of wealth (Sears, 2001)The post-war welfare state claimed to be based upon the idea of universal provision. That is to say that everyone in a certain category would receive a given benefit rather than having to prove their entitlement by means testing. In reality even in the early days of the welfare state few provisions were truly universal because most of them were means tested (Moore et al, 2002). Post-War welfare provision was largely a result of the activities of the social democrats. In this approach the Government in power should ensure that every citizen has the right to be free of poverty and healthcare should be provided on the basis of need rather than the ability to pay. Poverty stems from the idea that modern society produces people who are victims, the unemployed, the disabled, and those who suffer from long term illness. The duty of the state is to look after such people ( Giddens, 2001). Many commentators however are of the opinion that the welfare state failed to deliver its promises. Alcock (1994) has argued that while the post-war welfare state may not have been successful it had attempted to bring about equality in society. He maintains that the Conservative Government that was in power from 1979-1997 arguably actively pursued policies that created greater inequalities. Conservative and New Right thinking (and in this one should include New Labour) do not subscribe to the victims approach but believe that each individual is largely responsible for their own welfare. This approach is not really new, it dates back to the Elizabethan Poor Laws and most particularly to the reforms of that law in the 1830s. it argues that state services are not efficient and that welfare should be provided through the market, the family and charity, this encouraged self-reliance. New Right policies, it is argued, hit the poorest in society. Under the Conservatives the wages of those at the lower end of the labour market fell to an extent where some people were earning less than they would have receive on benefits. As a result of this the Government introduced benefits such as the Family Credit system to subsidise wages (Deakin, 1994). These kinds of policies harked back to the Poor Law where the poor were required to work for the poor relief that they received, such policies also make a distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor, whereas the welfare state in many ways appeared more equitable. However, some theorists maintain that this type of provision was only possible because it was based on the subordination of one set of people to another. Feminist Approaches Feminists argue that we live in a society that for centuries has worked for the benefit of men and that the cost has been borne by women. Thus social policy is based on an existing set of social inequalties (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Oakley (1982) has long maintained that the welfare state and its legislation operates for the benefit of the wider economy and for the worker. As a result of the nineteenth century distinction between the public and private spheres, and women’s banishment from the workplace, those who benefit from this legislation are men. The whole system is based on traditional notions of the family where the man is the breadwinner and his wife and children are dependants. This concept if the family and the fact that both males and females are socialized into different gender roles means that women have been disadvantaged in the education system, in the workplace, and in the wider society. Feminists have lobbied for equal pay for equal work and against sexual h arassment and discrimination in the workplace. While feminists will allow that the welfare state has played some role in advancing women’s independence e.g. the provision of benefits to women who leave violent partners, and legislation on pay, it also tends to reinforce traditional gender roles. (Moore et al, 2002). Conclusion This assignment has looked at different types of welfare provision and then compared their ideological underpinnings. It has also given a feminist critique of welfare in general. It would seem that there is no easy answer for policy makers, and perhaps nothing short of a total redistribution of wealth in society would alleviate the increasing spread of poverty in the world. Bibliography Abbott, P and Wallace, C (1997) An Introduction to Sociology, Feminist Perspectives Routledge, London. Alcock, P. 1994 â€Å"Back to the Future: Victorian Values for the 21st Century† in Murray, C. 1994 Underclass: The Crisis Deepens London, IEA Beveridge, William (1944). Full Employment in a Free Society. London: Allen and Unwin Butler, A. 1993 â€Å"The end of post war consensus† Political Quarterly Vol 64 No. 4 pp 435-446 Deakin, N. 1994 The Politics of Welfare Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf Giddens, A. 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Press Marsh, Keating and Eyre et al 2000 2nd ed. Sociology: Making Sense of Society Essex, Pearson Education Moore, S. Scourfield, P. Sinclair, S. Burch, S. and Wendon, B. 3rd ed. 2002 Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes. Oakley, A (1982) Subject Woman, Fontana, London Olssen, M. 2000 â€Å"Ethical liberalism, education and the New Right† Journal of Educational Policy Vol 15No. 5 2000 pps 481-508 Sears, M 2001 â€Å"Welfare with or without the state: British Pluralists, American Progressives, and the Conditions of Social Justice† The European Legacy Vol 6 No. 2 pp. 201-213 2001 Townsend, P. 1979. Poverty in the United Kingdom. Harmondsworth, Penguin. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html

Daewoo Group and Financial Business Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing C

Daewoo Group and Financial Business Problem Definition Daewoo group started as a small textile company and in just 20 years developed into second largest Korean chaebol ( family owned conglomerate). It had over 250000 employers worldwide, over 30 domestic companies and 300 overseas subsidiaries, generating sales of more than 100 billion dollars annually. However, in 1999 it seemed that the ‘golden days’ of Daewoo were over as it was faced with over 50 billion dollars dept and had to decide to sell some of its business to carry on. Can Daewoo really survive and if yes, how? The roots of Daewoo’s crisis are in: a) Korean Economic System’s Structure, Chaebols and Asian Crisis b) Daewoo corporate structure, Kim Woo-Choong and his policies The main problem is that Korean economic system is ready for change and already changing, so does the government and its policies. However, the chaebols such as Daewoo are living in the past and find it difficult to adapt to changes. The question is whether there is any place in a changing Korea for chaebols at all or they will be soon replaced by smaller but more efficient companies? Problem Justification Korean Economic System, Chaebols and Asian crisis: South Korea’s mad rush economic growth was initiated by late dictator Park Chung-hee in the early 1970. Park saw export growth as the key for economic growth. He provided cheap loans and tax benefits to nurture Daewoo and other Korean business into conglomerates that mass produced for export markets( http://detnews.com/2001/ autos). Most of Chaebols were family owned and all of this families were connected to the government which would give them lots of support and get their loyalty. As a trouble would appear ,as in example of Daewoo problem in the 1980s when Daewoo shipbuilding made losses that threaten the collapse of the whole group, the government stepped in to save conglomerate and to provide emergency loans, chaebols could always count on the government to help. So they would continue to borrow money from government owned banks. The bank were forced to continue borrowing money to â€Å"Korean Losers† and never got paid back. It continued ... ...he best solution would be the government to come up with the plan of restructuring Daewoo ( force it to sell off most of its businesses and concentrate on the key once) and for Daewoo to accept the plan as soon as possible. Also government should push on the chaebols to restructure ( mainly to cut off their size and concentrate on the most important businesses) because there is no place for old-style conglomerates in changing Korea, if they stay the same they will face the same problem as Daewoo did and will also badly affect future economic development of Korea. Korean government did come up with the plan of restructuring Daewoo in cutting down its size by selling off its businesses, as an example selling Daewoo Motors to General Motors and etc., giving independence to some of its big divisions such as shipbuilding. But this plan came too late and Daewoo did not implement it until it really got bankrupt. There is not Daewoo group any more. Most of it was sold and what is left is now called Daewoo International and has its main businesses in International Trade, Information, Project Organising, Research Development and some other ( www.daewoo international.com).

Blackness in Macbeth Essay examples -- Macbeth essays

Blackness in Macbeth      Ã‚   The Bard of Avon shows in his tragedy Macbeth an evil couple who face the dark hand of death - as a result of criminal deeds. Let us look closely at the growing, enveloping darkness of the play as it progresses.    In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson identifies the darkness in the play with evil, hell, devils:    Mr. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction to the play - which does not, by the way, interpret it simply from this point of view - aptly describes the cumulative effect of the imagery: "The contrast between light and darkness [suggested by the imagery] is part of a general antithesis between good and evil, devils and angels, evil and grace, hell and heaven . . . (67-68)    A.C. Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy comments on the darkness within the play:    The vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, the sleep-walking of Lady Macbeth, all come in night scenes. The Witches dance in the thick air of a storm or, 'black and midnight hags', receive Macbeth in a cavern. The blackness of night is to the hero a thing of fear, even of horror; and that which he feels becomes the spirit of the play. The faint glimmerings of the western sky at twilight are here menacing: it is the hour when the traveller hastens to reach safety in his inn, and when Banquo rides homeward t meet his assassins; the hour when 'light thickens', when 'night's black agents to their prey do rouse', when the wolf begins to howl, and the owl to scream, and withered murder steals forth to his work. (307)    In "Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action" Francis Fergusson states the place of darkness in the action of the play:    It is the phrase... ...re: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.    Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.    Lamb, Charles. On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. N.p.: n.p.. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin.    Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30.   N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000.    Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.   

Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Essay

This paper seeks to defend the proposition that that there is a need for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality. The communist and socialist ideologies may have theorized the what is an ideal society, one that is classless or egalitarian but there are simply unacceptable effects if there is all aspects of individualism is excluded. The need for individual differences could be best seen in the short story of ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Vonneguts, Jr. where the author revealed that a society created to equalize humanity does not always turn out to be the best for the people. Vonnegut did effectively utilized different means to convey his message in the short story. Most of the power of the means is the use of irony and symbolism. Irony has a distinct was of telling people that things could not just be contradicted because it will bring out the most absurd in human understanding. His use of symbolism also complemented his articulate presentation of the roles played by the different characters which the showed the powers and limitations in failing to address what was obvious. He was able to deliver the message the equality is the same as freedom since in the story there was indeed a resemblance of equality, which was made very clear at very first part of the story bur really the irony is that they are not free. Since the short story declares and portrays the equality of people, there was the need to control the tendency of some of the people who were borne with natural abilities and this has the effect of making these people as prisoners to the government. Harrison Bergeron was indeed the main character of the story. Thus as a result of his having an exceptional intelligence and beauty in addition to his good height and strength and beauty he would have to suffer some reduction to bring society to equality. This was therefore done by letting him to carry huge handicaps. The handicaps imposed consisted of having to suffer distracting noises which essentially put him into an individual who will lack focus in what he desired to do. In addition the was also given excess weight of about three hundred pounds, which was enough to almost make immobile as way of restraining his use of intelligence for the purpose of preventing the declared policy that everybody is equal. Because of his many natural gifts as illustrated earlier, it was still necessary to give him eyeglasses to cause him to headaches. Having headache would deprive of the faculties of thinking which could otherwise for productive use. But equality was a greater value than productivity; hence the rule must be enforced. To deprive Bergeron of his beauty he was also added cosmetic changes to make him ugly. What was awaited to the end the story was whether equality declared and implemented by those given the power, would now make things easier for everybody by the attainment of peace in the community since no one is above any body else. If viewed in term of socialism and communism, the society in the story could be viewed as classless or egalitarian. The events in the story metamorphosed into a situation where Bergeron was able to invade A TV station that allowed him to make a declaration for himself as emperor. The event happened despite the many deprivations that every imposed to him by government. Nothing could be more offensive to those guarding him not to shine as physical restraints which should created psychological restrain could have caused Bergeron to remain calm and silent in the name of equality. Perhaps in trying to celebrate his struggle with the deprivations that was imposed on him, story included an event where he had a dance with a ballerina, who had suffered also because of handicaps imposed and who Bergeron helped in discarding said restriction. This event prompted the person who is bound to enforce the law of equality and this resulted to Bergeron and the ballerina who he was dancing being shot by Handicapper General by the name of Diana Moon Glampers and who did not stop to monitor the actions of those who will violate the law of equality. This incident could indeed demonstrate the application of philosophical requirement of duty above everything else. Such misplace â€Å"dedication† to duty could only be the tenable explanation of what society that demands equality would have to attain the goals of society. But viewed in the context of what is human, the simple act of automatic killing without affording Bergeron the right to be heard after a trial could be only considered an act of brutality. Such was the price of attaining the goal of society. Everybody or at least someone will have to a be guard one’s outgrowing another in terms of skills, wealth and even good characteristics. The value of being equal is more important than the value of competition where the best could come out. There is therefore no best among people but every body is co-equal with everybody else. The question that must be answered now is whether the law of equality works for every body. What happened was that despite the handicaps, Bergeron wanted to set free. He wanted the government to be free these handicaps. He wanted to excel and to his potential despite all odds. For the enforcement of the rules, it was necessary to protect state secrets. Such policy also then deprived the right of Bergeron’s parents Hazel and George to know what truly happened to their son. Since the state must be at center of this kind of society, implementation of the strictly was paramount. This therefore gave Diana Moon Glampers to act with her authority to commit the dastardly act of killing Bergeron and the ballerina. Under such society, somebody will have to enforce its rules strictly but human freedom is necessarily sacrificed since the state’s survival was paramount. And to sustain the said principle the Diana Moon Glampers could have only be afraid of not fulfilling her duty for failure to do so could losing her power over the people which the state has bestowed on her. But again the irony of the story was her husband was also in handicapped by being required to wear a bag although such was also big puzzle for Diana Glampers since she knows that her husband was not competing to anybody. So what happened was a failure of the concept of a society where there is equality for almost every part of human endeavor. The system could hold people from to bring out the best in them. It cannot control what was inside the heart and minds of people despite the strict requirement of the law. Vonneguts’s portrayal of the life of Bergeron must also be viewed with symbolism. His being to discard the his own handicaps and that of the ballerina could only speak for releasing the human potentialities that could not be limited and controlled even by governments for such were inherent in human beings. Bergeron’s dance with ballerina also speaks of their freedom to go with the music or environment where men would have to live. Freedom has therefore its end of celebration to go with the limitless tunes of music or limitless opportunities that one could be in the absence of government restrictions. Given the nature of work that Kurt Vonnegut’s has done on â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, commentaries could not be avoided. In the author’s desire to deliver a point, Vonnegut has chosen to use iron the present the simple meaning of the false theory of equality. In this context, Hattenhauer cited that all commentaries on Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† in the latter are attempts to achieve equality as absurd. Hattenhauer, sounding to agree with Kurt Vonnegut, also concluded that believers of Bergeron as a model of freedom would fail to notice the fact that â€Å"he is a would–be dictator† with the latter’s declaration that he is the Emperor and wanting to select his Empress. One could therefore decipher a view that would in a sense endorse monarchy as a form of government. Hattenhauer believed that if such happens, then reversion to medieval monarchy would come out where serfs or the equivalent of slaves would be produced as a result. He therefore saw in addition to previous commentaries a satire not just on mistaken notion of equality but also â€Å"the American definition of freedom as the greatest good to the smallest number. † The fall of communism is a proof that society cannot be class. There is indeed the need to allow individual to rise to reach their full potentials. Walicki in discussing the fate of communism talked of rise of certain classes in a communist state said when he mentioned about Brezhnev regime having deliberately supported the interests of certain level in society’s structure by giving its representatives formal guarantees such as the right personal security and the right to occupy leading state posts. He saw therefore the â€Å"consolidation and emancipation of the nomenklatura as a sign of â€Å"the formation of a â€Å"new class† and the final betrayal of the proletariat that Trotsky had feared.† But viewed from the right of individuals to rise to power when opportunity allows, there are positive aspects of these events from in terms of the reduction in ideological pressure. This also has the effect of legitimizing the play of interests where large number of managers is involved. Another remarkable effect is limitation that may be approximately estimated on the â€Å"general unpredictability and uncertainty concerning the future. The separation of interests within the nomenklatura was also seen by Walicki to have caused the improved use of the methods of civil law to resolve conflicts and this has the effect of broadening their sphere of application. He also observed central planning having become a fiction, given the showground for the fight for group interests since individuals were now given special roles to play. Thus, the consequent failure the use the same planning as a rational way to control the fate of society. Having witnessed the communist experiment in Russia to have attained its complete cycle, Walicki now wanted to define the historical significance of the Lenin period, which he considered that as â€Å"the time when the sweep of the communist revolution on a world scale was at its peak†. His was basis was the seriousness of Russia trying to take upon itself the task to have all the solution to the majority of social problems, including the promise of giving answers to the most important questions of humanity. Walicki thus asserted that the â€Å"failure of this insanely bold attempt was sufficiently clear by 1921.† He therefore wants humanity to learn from inner defect of process that had to end in the complete failure of communism. What then is the ideal society? Is democracy then the answer to every problem that communism failed to attain? Soros proposed an open society. But his proposal needed some criticism on alternative systems. He cited Popper to have shown about the commonality of fascism and communism, which is using the state’s power to repress the freedom of the individual despite the fact even though one is extreme right while the other is the extreme left. Wanting to extend the argument, Soros contended that even his proposal of an open society is not safe because of the possible threat from the opposite direction. What he meant of course is the chance from excessive individualism that could be generating to much competition and too little cooperation. He feared this to possibly cause bring inequities and instability that could difficult to tolerate. Soros thus exposed also some risks with capitalism as an alternative which strongly believe in the capacity of the market place to solve many ills. He asserted that the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism which holds that the uncommon good is best served by the unrestrained pursuit of self-interest, poses a great danger if not tempered by the recognition of a common interest. He thus saw an open society that is capable of breaking down if the self-interest is not regulated. In making a comparison of the systems, Soros argued that totalitarianism ideologies which are associated with communism and socialism, is opposed to open society with deliberation while laissez-faire policies under capitalism may just endanger it if there is inadvertence. He however saw more potent danger in capitalism than in communism and even socialism since the latter have already been thoroughly brought into disrepute . Despite what Soros had seen with capitalism, there is basis to consider it better than totalitarianism as proven in history. By his admission of danger, a remedy is still possible which role is assumed by the US constitution and several laws. By the weight of evidence presented, individualism needs to exist in society and it cannot be denied even by very structures of the communist state. It is better then to allow the same under an open society as proposed by Soros. In this context the short story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut may have assumed a significant despite the commentary in exposing the fallacy of the law of equality. For this reason, Noise may be justified considering Kurt Vonnegut as one of the great humanists of his time . In seeing him as a proponent of humanism and therefore tool for building a better world, Noise took the chance to expose that fact that humanists are skeptical of religious claims, for the most part on claims of prophecy and revelation . He thus found that Vonnegut, like most humanists, had little use for speculation about supernatural realms and saw organized religions that attempted to do such speculation to be creating needless division in the world. Noise thus saw Vonnegut to have provided some guidance where there are differences among Jews, Christians, and Muslims on such issues eternal salvation . It may this be concluded that the proposition about the need to allow for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality must be sustained based on argument and evidence presented.

Is War Good or Bad Essay

The ongoing debate, is war good or bad? Usually if we see or hear the word â€Å"war† we think about the negative sides first. There is a saying that a forest fire burns everything in its path and it does destroy the forest but out of the ashes comes new life. War is similar to this. Out of destruction comes a new beginning. A country can benefit from war, by gaining wealth or freedom, increasing in power, and advancing in technology. But the reason why war seems only negative is because there is also destruction where millions of innocent people die, losing their resources and time, and also their money. Not only within the country but the whole world could be affected by war economically and socially. There are plenty of reasons why war is a bad thing. One main thing that comes to us directly and painfully is the death of the loved ones. Wars may solve problems but in the process it kills millions of people so war is cruel. A good example is the WW2, almost 50-60 million people died. Also in a war, the country has to spend a lot of money. It needs to provide weapons like tanks missiles etc., and it needs as many troops as possible. As Chinese strategist Tzu Sun said, â€Å"Where the army is, prices are high; when prices rise the wealth of the people is exhausted† (Tzu Sun, c.400 BCE). For the citizens this is very disappointing because all this money would eventually come from raised taxes and instead this could be spent on poor and uneducated people. As I said, war brings destruction. Inflation is also a problem. For example after the Angola’s Civil War, their currency was so useless that bottles of beer replaced it. Special landmarks, farms, and firms could be dest royed and the country could lose a lot of its resources. After the war, usually the country goes in a huge debt. On the other hand, war could be seen as a positive influence. Wars exist because people cannot agree on something. After the war it could be clear and they would agree and not fight anymore. Sometimes war could give freedom to a country. After war the country could become more powerful. If the war was because of land, after they win they have a bigger country with more resources. These resources could make the economy of the country rocket up. Also war in short-term is actually good for the economy. For example during the Great Depression, unemployment rate decreased. Since they need large amounts of weapons made quickly they hire more people and this leads to more jobs. Long-term wise a war could rebuild the economy of a country. Like the French, their production grew faster after WW1 and WW2. The country develops in technology too. They would need better more powerful strategies and weapons than the enemy’s so they research and develop in technology. Afterwards, this would b enefit the country greatly. Could this debate ever be over? I do not think so. As you can see, there are many bad and good sides of war. Overall I think wars are bad, because all these positive things are still not worth of millions of lives. And the good sides are if you win the war but that is not 100% sure. And even if things are resolved after the war, we are humans and we constantly want more. If the countries do not feel satisfied they might go into a second war and then a third and so on. So I think we should always find more peaceful ways than war.

Sales Manager

In order to use the full potentials of the employees, the organization needs to motivate and encourage them. By motivating the employees, their performance level increase that results in better achieving organizational goals. However, according to Maslow’s theory, the organization needs to cater to employees five basic needs: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization (Jones, George, Hill, 1998). Among them, physiological need is the most basic and important one. In this need, all employees need is an ample pay scale in which they fulfill their basic survival needs such as food, residence, clothes etc. Now analyzing the problem faced at NL&C, the management needs to find the reasons for the lethargic attitude of the employees toward their work. The most probable complaints that the employees at NL&C do is that their basic stipend is low. The employees do not feel motivated towards their job that affects to the organization’s performance. The HRM needs to review the employee policy and ask the top-management to make an increase in their salary. Besides that, the management also needs to introduce the scheme of rewarding the employees with bonus rewards in which, if the employees are able to achieve a certain sales target, they would be given additional pay. In this way not only will they get intrinsically motivated, but will also show their interest in their job tasks (Kreitner, Kinicki, 2004). In order to motivate the employees more, the top few employees of the month should also be awarded with perquisites. In this way, a sense of competition among employees will arouse and they will work harder and inclined towards their achieving the goals. Besides monetary motivation, the employees can be motivated by providing them with good job environment and ambience. The employees should also be given of certain level of delegation which triggers their decision-making power. The employees should also be given the sense of promotion on the basis of their performance. Thus the management needs to address to all those motivating factors in order to encourage them and make them work to their full capabilities. Once the NL&C management would take this initiative, there is definitely going to be a change in the employee’s attitude and will try to perform at their utmost level, which will result fruitful for NL&C for both short and long-term basis.

Of Mice And Men †Plans that go wrong Essay

In this essay, I will be examining how and why plans go wrong in â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck, and I will also be looking at the other themes in the book. These themes include friendship, loneliness and the fragility of people’s dreams. The novel’s title comes from a poem by Robert Burns called â€Å"To A Mouse†. The chosen title fits in well with the theme of how fragile dreams are, and Burns shows how the plans of men are no more secure than those of the mouse, which is the message that Steinbeck is tries to portray throughout the book. Most of the characters in the novel have dreams or ambitions that are often kept secret to begin with. Curley’s wife was desperate to finally tell someone about her dreams, and it is ironic that is was Lennie that she confided in, who appeared to have no interest in what she has to say, and was in his own dream world. This is proven when Curley’s wife is midway telling Lennie about her dream, and Lennie is thinking about the puppy he has accidentally killed and says, â€Å"Maybe if I took this pup out and thrown him away, George would never know.† He has his mind on other things. Most of the characters experience loneliness, and they have different ways of dealing with it. For George and Lennie, they have each other, for Candy he has his dog, for Crooks it is his pride, and Curley’s wife combats it by flirting with all the workers. George and Lennie’s dream is to own a small ranch where they can live and work for themselves â€Å"an’ live off the fatta the lan'†, as Lennie says. Their dream is of independence and self-sufficiency. We are told each time the â€Å"dream† is mentioned, that ordinary ranch workers â€Å"are the loneliest guys in the world† and the pattern they follow is work, blow their money gambling or at the â€Å"cat house† and then going back to work. George however says â€Å"with us it aint like that. We got a future†, which shows that because of the friendship that he and Lennie share, they are able to plan for the future and they depend on each other. Lennie is particularly excited about him being able to â€Å"tend the rabbits† and this I think is why Lennie is so excited about the dream, because he gets responsibility to look after the animals which is his passion. George uses Lennie’s dream of tending the rabbits as a threat, for example if Lennie â€Å"does another bad thing†, George threatens to not let them tend the rabbits on their ranch. To begin with, the dream is strictly between Lennie and George. George says â€Å"we’d belong there† which shows that he needs to feel a sense of belonging which owning your own property can bring. When Candy hears of the dream, he also wants to join it. Candy is a character in the book that is also lonely. Since the shooting of his dog, Candy has lost his only companion, and by joining them in the dream, he has a chance for dignity, independence and freedom as well as company in his old age. We can tell that Candy feels very strongly about this, because Steinbeck tells us â€Å"his eyes were full of wonder† at the prospect. He is also willing to put â€Å"three hundred an’ fifty bucks† into the buying of the ranch, which brings the dream all the more closer and more reachable for Lennie and George. It all goes wrong however, when Lennie’s childlike obsession for â€Å"petting† things goes out of hand, and he ends up killing Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife in pursuit of company leads her to Lennie. She pours out her pent up frustration of her unrealised dreams and ambitions. When she realises Lennie isn’t taking much interest, she lets him feel her hair. Lennie being Lennie strokes harder and harder even though Curley’s wife begs him to stop. As we already know from the book, Lennie gets confused very easily and panics. When he felt Curley’s wife struggling, â€Å"Lennie was in panic† which shows us that Lennie cannot understand what he should do, and believes that putting his hand over â€Å"her mouth and nose† is the right thing to do to stop her screaming. This shows us that Lennie is not rational. As she struggled to get out of his grasp he accidentally broke her neck. Lennie then ran off to his hiding place where he was told to go if he ever did a ‘bad thing.’ When Curley discovers his wife’s body, he runs after Lennie with a mob including George. George realises that if the mob catches Lennie, he will be lynched for the murder of a woman, and feels that it is much more painless for George to kill him himself. This also shows us the attitude of the time in that part of America. The police will not be involved, as the company is driven on revenge. This is the end of the great dream that George had manufactured, all gone in the wink of an eye. All the anticipation for the life they might of had is gone. Candy shows that he is still willing to carry out the dream when he says â€Å"You an’ me can go there an’ live nice can’t we George?† This twist in the plot relates back to the title of the novel, where it says how easily plans can go wrong. I feel Curley’s wife is the most despairing and lonely character in the book. She has no friends, no future, no respect and she doesn’t even deserve a name. She is just called â€Å"Curley’s wife†. I feel sorry for her because, all she wants is someone to talk to, to converse with, and in her mind the only way she can do this is by flaunting herself to the men just to get noticed. This leads her to be perceived as a ‘tart’ by the men, and they think she has â€Å"got the eye† on all of them. I think she represents absolute loneliness and desperation to achieve something better in life. The only reason she parades herself is to get attention. She believes that ‘ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live.’ This is in fact true, because no one in the book cares about her or how she feels not even her husband, which must be very depressing for her. This situation leads her to become frustrated and she lets it all out during a conversation with Crooks, Lennie and Candy. She ‘flared up’ and started to pour out her feelings about how she doesn’t like her husband and begins to pick on and threaten Crooks to make her feel powerful and tells him â€Å"I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny†. This incident really gives us an insight on how unhappy and bitter she is with her life. Her marriage to Curley was an attempt to escape her solitary life. In fact it has only made it worse. Curley holds no respect for his wife and regards her as a trophy. His insecure feelings towards his wife, forces her into flirting with the other ranchers. Her visits to find Curley are only there so that she can speak to somebody, but none of them seem to realise this and instead regard her as a hussy. In conclusion, I think that â€Å"Of Mice And Men† is very appropriate to life, because dreams and ambitions are fragile, and can easily be lost. Even the best plans depend on lots of factors that can go wrong. I do however think that things could have turned out differently. If Curley had only a little respect for his wife, and gave her the love and affection that she needed, she would not have had to gone to Lennie to tell him her problems, and her death could have been prevented. I do think that George did the right thing at the end of the book, and Slim understood this as he said â€Å"You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.† Lennie would have only been more confused if he would have had to answer endless questions about the death of Curley’s wife. We can tell how much affection George felt for Lennie, because before he died, he left Lennie with the vision of their dream, and tells him that â€Å"Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Aint gonna be no more trouble.† I think on the basis of this novel, Steinbeck’s views are quite pessimistic in the fact that not everybody thinks that dreams are so easily lost. We can tell that Steinbeck appreciates nature and the beauty of it though, because of the many references to it. For example before Lennie dies, he describes â€Å"the deep green pool† and â€Å"the hilltops were rosy†. It is almost as if he believes that whatever mankind may do, nature will always be there.

Family Size Essay

As the world economy weakens, resources continue to become limited and the interdependence among countries increase, different countries have been introducing new policies which seek to control the rate at which the human population is growing. Most of these policies have been geared towards controlling the number of children a single family should have. The main aim of these policies has been to relief the environment and the resources within it some stresses of over exploitation. However while countries like China have been doing this for a long period now, many people see it as an interference with the basic institution (family) and as a result many people have been fighting against such policies which seeks to control the number of children a family should have. While limiting the number of children per family is positive since it would ease in government planning, enabling the economy prediction to be as accurate as possible, if it was to happen in the US, the policies would not work to the advantage of the State due to few reasons which include the fact that, the USA is not suffering from overpopulation rather under population, the aging population has been growing at an alarming rate forcing the country to allow high number of immigrants to the US and as a result it would not be advisable for the US government to control the number of children per family it should be on the other hand support and encourage her citizens to increase the number of children per family for example by using incentives and thus, the US government should not limit the number of children a family should have. Why the US government should not control the number of children people have: The total fertility rate (defined as the total number of children a woman is likely to have during her lifetime) in the USA in the last decade has been declining (Newman, B& Newman, P, 2008). As many and many women  concentrate on their education, jobs and careers, the American population has been growing at a very slow rate. As a result of countering the problems of a low population growth, the country has been allowing migration of skilled workers through the green card lottery to migrate from their countries to the US to come and offer their expertise in the USA. This program is very beneficial to the country since it allows continuous operation of the industries. If the government controls the number of children people should have the population will grow even less and the country might cease having an active economy (Hanson, Scheve& Slaughter, 2007). The importance of a young population is the fact that it makes the economy active by ensuring goods and services are moving with in the stores. For example new clothes are being bought as people are growing old; items such as phones which have emerged with technology improvements still have people to buy them: With an old population, these items would to be bought. As a result, a high young population is good for the economy and thus best for the government interests. If the US government could start controlling the number of children a family should have, it would find itself in similar problems which are facing countries in the Eastern European region such as Russia and also in Asia such as in Japan where as a result of small family sizes and low fertility rates, the majority of the population is made up of old people. As a result, the governments from these countries have been using large portion of their budget to cater for the old population through pensions and also medical support (Goldsmith& Larson, 2003). With the family sizes also reduced, responsibilities of these aged people are being delegated to the few family members who were born and as a result instead of these people engaging in national building activities, they spend most of their time taking care of the elderly whereas with a high population, responsibilities could have been divided easily among the many siblings. Another economic effect of a controlled family size is the fact that, with a controlled population, almost every citizen is likely to read up to the maximum level of education and as a result, industries would miss the much needed cheap labor which they need to run their companies cheaply. This could force these industries either to use much money to run the companies, close down if they  cannot afford the operating costs or even relocate to other countries where labor is cheap. As a result, this would deny the government much of its needed revenues since the companies would have to pay for taxes in the countries where their investments are (Navaretti, Castelani& Disdier, 2009). Finally, many people argue against the uncontrolled number of children in a family due to the high taxes paid in order to keep the extra child born in school. However, with the US government supporting the education of each and every child born in the US, there is likelihood for high social mobility. The education system enables people to move from poor backgrounds to occupy high levels in the government where they pay high taxes thus giving back to the society (Barnett& Belfield, 2006). The government should thus not be worried about the family sizes of its citizens since the US is not suffering from an overpopulation problem. If each and every person is given a chance to study and become professionals, they would pay high taxes just like any other citizen despite their different social backgrounds. Conclusion: While controlling of the number of children people should have is a good idea, it would not be advisable for the US government to introduce such laws since the country is not suffering from high population rather it is due to under population that people migrate to the US through the green card lottery to provide the much needed labor for the US industries. A controlled population would mean sometimes in future the country’s population is likely to be highly composed of old people where the government would have to dig deep into its budget in order to maintain these people and old population could also lead to a sluggish economy since the old population does not have need for the emerging products such as phones, computers and so on. It is therefore not advisable for the government to control the number of children people should have.

Eropean Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eropean Union - Essay Example The European Union operates through a system of supranational institutions. These institutions include a variety of prominent branches, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. This essay examines these branches and considers the most critical barriers to further EU integration. The different branches of the European Union have distinctly different functions. The European Commission is the recognized executive body of the European Union. This body has a broad variety of functions that includes developing legislation, decision implementation, upholding EU treaties, and running the daily measures of the union (Staab). While the United States executive branch has a single president, the EU operates with twenty-seven commissioners and a Commission President. The European Commission notably is the sole branch with the power of legislative initiative. The Council of the European Union is, along with the European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union. ... Another prominent power of these legislative branches is their authority over the budget (Leonard). Both of the legislative bodies have equal power over the budget. If there is a disagreement between these powers there is a conciliation committee that arbitrates these disputes. Finally, the European Parliament has the power of supervision (Leonard). This means that they can establish supervisory council over issues such as natural disasters or disease. The final two branches of the European Union are the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The Court of Justice is the European Union’s judicial branch. The purpose of this branch of the EU is to ensure that treaties passed by the EU are followed and observed in the proper interpretation (Staab). This branch contains the European Court of Justice, the General Court, and the Civil Service Tribunal. The European Central Bank oversees the monetary policy of the members of the European Union (Staab). The overriding purpose of the European Central Bank is to ensure price stability through developing measures to fight against inflation. The ECB also has the notable power of issuing euro banknotes (Staab). While the European member states are able to issue their own euro bank notes, they must first receive the permission of the ECB. While the European Union has witnessed tremendous integration in recent decades there still remains prominent barriers to integration. Within this context of investigation the most prominent barriers to integration relate to trade and financial matters. While seventeen member states have adopted the Euro as their predominant currency there remains objection to full-scale implementation of this currency. One considers the current European

The J.C. Penney Case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The J.C. Penney Case - Assignment Example Having said the above, it would also be stressed that the fact that the components of the new business model worked together did not necessarily mean that they could achieve the goal for which they were set. It cannot also be said that the components could lead to the expected results of the company. The lapses came because there were some key components that were missing from what was institutionalized. More specifically, the new business model had eliminated the role of customers as there was no market research leading up to the implementation of the model. Meanwhile, customers have been identified as very important stakeholders in the success of any business model (Ofek & Avery, 2012).One major deficiency that can be seen from the administration of Johnson is that its business model was totally disjointed from its pricing strategy. As a matter of fact, the aggressive sales expert team that was institutionalized as a result of the new business model could have functioned best if th ere were specific promotions they were championing. The business model was however brought in place after the old pricing strategy which was the high-low pricing strategy had been scrapped. This created a total disconnect between the business model and the pricing strategy because there was virtually no promotion in place for the sales experts to pursue. Meanwhile, the customer base of the company had repeated given signal to the fact that it preferred to have promotional sales in place.

Capital Asset Pricing Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Capital Asset Pricing Model - Essay Example In most business, risks are often associated with each venture that entities partake. Logically, every endeavour can be affected by several stressors and will result to unsure forecasts. Indeed, firms are unaware of the exact benefits that an investment despite the forecasts provided by financial analysts. In determining the return that investments will likely provide, organisations make use of cash flows. Comparing the cash the flowed out from the investment to the cash that flowed in because of the investment appears to be a near accurate approach that results to better understanding of investment returns. Basically, there are certain tools and mechanisms used by firms to justify the use of cash flows. In particular, discounted multi-period risky cash flows are used to determine benefits coming from investments. Accordingly, the capital asset pricing model is one option that most financial analysts prefer. The succeeding discussions will tackle on the use of capital asset pricing model as basis for discounted multi-period risky cash flows. The prevalence of investments has led to several ideas particularly on the side showing benefits attributed to such activities. For investors, it is important to determine the exact amount that will be gained from the investment. Essentially, there were several methods developed to address this need. Taggart (1999) created capital budgeting analysis model that makes use of the discounted cash flow. Accordingly, this model enables investors to forecast the values of cash flow components. Among the models, this is considered as widely used because of the perceived precision. Another useful model was developed by Mahoney and Kelliher (1999), which focuses on the capital budgeting model that integrates uncertainty in the cash flow estimates. Using the Monte Carlo simulation, the model can serve as a practical and useful tool. The model, however, is embedded with higher level of complexity that can affect capital budgeting decisions. Moreover, Winston (1998) devised a model for multi-period capital budgeting using Silver Tool, which is an application in Excel. The model provides several advantages including selection of the best project considering all constraints and circumstances. Aside from the mentioned models, Ragsdale (2001) illustrated a model that uses Solver to determine optimal combination of capital budgeting investments as affected by capital constraints and maximising the Net Present Value. In this process, optimal selection of investment is ascertained considering vital risks that include the probability of success of minimum and maximum revenues with the other aspects previously mentioned. Data tables, as showed by Benninga (2000) can be used in capital budgeting analysis. The process involves computing for the point estimate of NPV, and the NPV is calculated using predetermined growth rates. The results are useful in evaluating the risk of the project with the given NPV ranges. Interestingly, Mayes and Shank (2001) focused on the use of different applications for capital budgeting analysis. This involves the collaboration of the models presented earlier in this discussion. Part of their model was to incorporate risk-adjusted discount rates and Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate project risks. According to Fama (1970), multi-period investment consumption can be associated with an individual's

A Critical Analysis of Article 5 of UCP 600 Essay

A Critical Analysis of Article 5 of UCP 600 - Essay Example More especially the fact that banks are not concerned with the terms of the contract to which it is attached, means that regardless of whether or not the goods are delivered or not or conform to the terms of the contract or not, the letter of credit must be honoured by the bank. This paper will analyse the consequences of Article 5 of UCP 600 and the potential for fraud and other forms of injustice to the parties impacted by a letter of credit. Letters of Credit In its simplest form, a letter of credit is a device by which a bank or other similar party agrees to provide credit to a specific party on behalf of another party upon receipt of the relevant supporting documents.4 A standard letter of credit is comprised of at least four parties: the vendor (exporter); the purchaser (importer) and each of their banks.5 The importer/purchaser’s bank typically issues the letter of credit which imposes a duty on the importer/purchaser’s bank to pay the specified sum to the vendor /exporter once the particularized documents are received.6 A key feature of the letter of credit is the fact that it is independent of the underlying contract to which it applies. In other words, the bank’s responsibilities under the letter of credit are segregated from any other contractual duties existing between the parties to the letter of credit. This would include contractual duties between the vendor and the purchaser or any duties on the part of â€Å"reimburse the bank for payments made† by virtue of the letter of credit.7 The banks involved in the letters of credit are typically referred to as the â€Å"issuing bank† and the â€Å"conforming bank†.8 The issuing bank is asked by the purchaser who is commonly referred to as the applicant to assume responsibility for paying the vendor who is commonly known as the beneficiary, a specified sum upon the presentation of specific documents. The conforming bank is the bank selected by the beneficiary tha t acts as a â€Å"correspondent of the issuing bank to advise the beneficiary on the terms of the credit† and usually assumes the â€Å"same liability towards the beneficiary as the issuing bank†.9 The autonomy of the letter of credit was fortified in the case of Gian Singh & Co. Ltd. v Banque de L’Indochine in which the court ruled that the autonomy doctrine obliges an insuring bank to make payment to the beneficiary even if the specified documents submitted by the beneficiary pursuant to the letter of credit were forged.10 It was also held in IE Contractors Limited v Lloyds Bank Plc that the duty of issue payment under a letter of credit is not conditional upon ascertaining whether or not the supporting documents presented by the beneficiary are correct.11 The autonomy of the letter of credit is justified in the grounds that contractual disputes occur quire frequently. It would therefore be obstructive to international trade to permit one party to use a contra ctual dispute to delay payment and thus the â€Å"assurance given to the beneficiary would be severely undermined† and thus â€Å"documentary guarantees would become unacceptable†.12 The autonomy principle of the letters of credit therefore illustrate that indeed, banks are only concerned with documents and not the underlying transaction to which it is attached. Although the rationale for the autonomy principle rests on limiting the risks of delaying or stopping payments in international trad