Law and Morality Essay

Morality can be described as a set of values common to society, which are normative, specifying the correct course of action in a situation and the limits of what society considers acceptable. Law on the other hand according to Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary is a rule of conduct imposed and reinforced by the sovereign. A body of principles regognized and applied by the state in the administration of justice. If law is to enforce morals, then it is faced with the problem that what one person considers immoral, another might not, so which viewpoint should the law uphold. This can be seen in the case of Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority (1986) where Mrs Gillick sought a declaration that what she saw as an immoral activity (making contraceptive advice and treatment available to girls under the age of consent) was by nature of its immorality, illegal. This was a moral conflict as some saw this as immoral – it encouraged underage sex – others felt it was moral as young girls would engage in underage sex anyway , but contraceptives would prevent unwanted pregnancies. Which viewpoint would the law support. The House of Lords ruled against Mrs Gillick but stated that they were governed by the relevant statutes rather than moral arguments. What then is the relationship between law and morality. What are the differences and similarities The vast differences between existing theories of the basis of law often fail to notice the fact that they are based on the practice of comparing an act to certain standards in order to determine its legality. [1] Different approaches differ in terms of which standards are compared and assessed, though both ultimately assess acts to certain standards to determine their legality or morality. The two leading theories on the topic are positivism and naturalism – the debate between the two has fuelled theorists for centuries. Many observers of positivism presume that it completely dismisses any role of morality in the application of the law, while naturalism bases the existence and validity of law on moral bases. Although the theories are fundamentally different, it is argued that a link between law and morality is glaringly obvious and unavoidable, no matter which side one chooses to follow or favour. This paper will seek to argue that claims which deny any link between law and morality are weak and flawed at best, and apply in a limited manner to simple, straightforward cases. The mere existence of the ‘hard case’ and of court deliberation provides a great deal of evidence for not only the existence of the link between law and morality, but also the necessity of such a link. The naturalist and positivist theories will be explored in order to assess whether the link between law and morality can survive its critics and strengthen the faith of its followers. Legal Positivism Positivists claim that objective morality simply cannot exist because values consist of different attitudes towards and beliefs about certain values. [2] Attitudes and beliefs differ between individuals and cause us to react to a certain act in a subjective manner. Moral perceptions are predominantly emotional, so that such assessments in the realm of the law cause uncertainty and inconsistency. It also fails to recognise difficult cases and the possibility of new cases arising. The apparent main flaw of positivism is that it is unable to explain the legal deliberation which takes place in the courtroom, particularly the difficult cases which have no apparent ‘yes or no’ answer. The very difficulties posed by interpreting the law and applying it to everyday circumstances are unable to be adequately explained by positivism. Indeed, there is a distinction here between hard and soft positivists; the latter do recognise a form of moral basis upon which written laws are perched. Yet both soft and hard positivists are at pains to explain how hard cases arise, in which there is simply no right or wrong answer, and in which morality may unavoidably take a central role. Morality and the Naturalist Approach Naturalists claim that non-legal considerations such as ideological, moral and political factors are not only relevant to the posited law, but that law is also based on such factors. The central argument of naturalism is that objective knowledge of right and wrong can and does exist, and that this provides the basis for legal decisions as well as for the validity of law. Naturalists such as Aquinas[3] claim that natural law provides the basis of validity for posited laws. Rousseau[4] believes that positive law cannot override or entrench upon certain existing natural rights; Aristotle claims that natural justice exists independently of individual perceptions of or opinions on it. [5] Jeremy Bentham proposed utilitarianism where moral action was the one that produced good for many, even it was at the expense of one – the greatest good for the greatest number. John Stuart Mill’s refinement of the idea argues that while this is true the individual should not have to follow society’s morals and should be free to act as they wish provided they do not harm others. The problem arises in defining who are included in others and what is harm. It is clear that naturalist claims to provide a strong link between law and morality, the latter of the two being a basis upon which the former is based. Judges, when they interpret and apply posited law, often make non-legal considerations in order to apply the law effectively. Naturalism, however, has a major flaw in that it claims the existence of objective morality. There are many case examples which suggest otherwise. [6] One presented with two rather extreme and different concepts of the link (or not) between law and morality. Is it plausible that such a links exists? Is there evidence for such a link, and how does it serve to affect how the law is administered? Does there really need to be objective knowledge of right and wrong in order for the link to be maintained? In order to explore these questions, the ever-elusive ‘difficult case’ will be assessed. It will be argued that the link between law and morality is not weakened by the argument that objective knowledge of right and wrong is nonexistent. The debate over the relationship between law and morality came to the forefront in the Hart/Devlin debate which followed the publication of Wolfenden Report in 1957. The report recommended the legalization of prostitution and homosexuality on the particularly untilitarian basis that â€Å"the law should not intervene in the private lives of citizens or seek to enforce an particular pattern of behaiour further than necessary† to protect others. Hart supported the report’s approach stating that legal enforcement of moral code is unnecessary. Devlin on the other hand was strongly opposed to the report. He felt that society had a certain moral standard which law was obliged to uphold as society would fall apart without a common morality. Devlin felt that this morality should be based on the views of the ‘right-minded person’ and that legislature should adhere to three basic principles: (1) Individuals should be allowed as much freedom and privacy as is possible without compromising morality. (2) Parliament and the judiciary should be cautious about changing laws relating to morality and (3) punishment should be used to prevent actions considered abominable to ‘right-minded people’. Hart opposed this view questioning what was ‘right-minded’ and submitted four reasons for not criminalizing what the ‘right-minded person† objected to. (1)Punishment of someone does harm to them only and if their actions involved no one else this was not right. (2) Free will is very moral, so interferance with free will would be immoral, (3) Free will allows learning through experimentation and (4) legislation surpressing an individual’s sexuality will harm them, as it can affect their emotional state. For the majority of legal issues, judges are not required to deviate from posited law and precedent in order to decide. The law makes murder wrong, and it has been a long-standing principle that taking the life of another is morally abhorrent. Yet what of the ‘hard cases’? What if A kills B in self-defence? What if C forced A to kill B else A lose his own life? What if the application of a law is indeterminate? Can posited law be applied without recourse to moral reasoning? Positivists such as Dworkin and Hart differ in their approach. Dworkin claims that there will always be applicable law,[7] while Hart claims that judges can make non-legal considerations under such circumstances. [8] Hart’s theory is applicable to the less open-textured terms where changes made by non-legal considerations are the result of â€Å"resemblances which can reasonably be defended as both legally relevant and sufficiently close. †[9] The judge thus utilises morality as a way of choosing between pre-existent definitions, without devising his own definitions. Although Hart is classed as a positivist, he does acknowledge a â€Å"core of indisputable truth in the doctrines of natural law†[10] which enables law to be based on something more than simply factual considerations. Hart’s theory can be interpreted as recognising a form of natural law, although he does stipulate that having recourse to moral values does not always ensure that law and its application will be just. This assessment of Hart’s approach is plausible, and it serves to create a link between law and morality which avoids the objective criticism of the naturalists. It provides a strong argument for a link between law and morality which is based on interpretational, social considerations which are evident in the courtroom today. It is perhaps necessary to query: does the law define what is right and wrong, or do we determine good and bad independently of the law? There are certainly evident customs in society which have strong influences on the way we behave. Such customs are not implemented by the law or backed by a sanction; they are simply examples of moral codes within a society which exist independently to the law. Does this mean that law and morality have no connection so that the latter can only be found in customs? Does a moral rule backed by the law become a valid law no matter what its content? It is arguable that even majority abhorrence of an act does not make it an immoral act per se, despite the fact that societies need a shared moral outlook in order to exist. [11] It could thus be suggested that the law is simply an embodiment of the current moral outlook of society; like morality the law changes according to attitudes and social tolerance. It is such observations that cause the positivist shunning of the link between law and morality to become less convincing. It is even arguable that the obeying of law is based on the recognition of the moral rule that law should be obeyed; the threat of sanction is evidently not enough to deter some. It could further be argued that the only reason that legislation has authority as law is because of the moral structure of a society. As has already been mentioned, the law develops and evolves according to moral outlooks; this can be seen where laws prohibiting same sex marriages and abortion have been abolished. If the law were completely disconnected from morality, why has it developed and evolved over time? Why does social pressure to repeal or change law often achieve its goal? The Link Between Law and Morality – Evidence Dworkin claims that courts refer to non-legal (moral) standards when deciding hard cases. Assessing and taking into account moral and political considerations has the potential to create a complex web of law and â€Å"justify the network as a whole†. [12] It is strongly arguable that deciding difficult cases without appealing to non-legal considerations is futile – the reason that such cases are ‘hard’ is because the law does not provide enough direction. However, it is important here to stress that decisions are not free to be made according to personal convictions – judges are on the contrary required to carefully weigh social factors in applying and interpreting the law. Dworkin’s theory in this sense is able to escape the positivist criticism that non-legal convictions are ultimately subjective. Rather, the judge is assigned the difficult interpretative task which is seen constantly in court. This is evident in cases such as that of Re A (Conjoined Twins)[13] in which moral judgements were inevitable and necessary in applying the law to the specific circumstances of the case. Ultimately, the judges were faced with the decision of killing one twin in order to save the other, or to not act and cause the death of both twins. While moral judgements are dangerous ground here, a positivist could not argue that the law as it is could be applied simply and without problem – often the law is simply not enough. The law in this case proved of very little aid – how is one to decide whether A’s life has more importance or value than B’s life? While moral considerations could have caused the decision to fall either way, it must be stressed that such situations must risk the dangerous ground created by moral convictions, particularly because the law provides little guidance. Simple cases indeed provide evidence that a link between law and morality is not only non-existent, but also not necessary. [14] Yet the ever-emerging hard cases cry otherwise; they not only highlight the constant shortcomings of posited law, they also emphasise the need to acknowledge and utilise the link between law and morality. Although theorists claim that natural law need not override positive law, except when the two conflict, this serves to strengthen the link between law and morality. If there is no link between law and morality, then how can conflict occur in the first place? Why does public outrage occur when an ‘unjust’ law breaks the boundaries of social tolerance? Those who claim that there is no link between law and morality utilise the naturalist claim to objective morality as their basis for criticism. Yet the term ‘universal morality’ need not apply to the universe as a whole. It is plausible, and certainly does not discredit the naturalist theory, that ‘universality’ or ‘objectivity’ remains as such despite being applied or interpreted differently between societies. Because the universal moral to preserve life may allow the sick to be killed in primitive societies to save sparse resources for the healthy, while requiring that all efforts be made to save every life possible in richer, more able societies. The moral principle – the preservation of life – still remains existent, it is simply expressed and applied differently between societies. [15] Conclusion There are various theories which discuss how law and morality should relate to each other. The current approach by the legal system seem to be that a common morality , based on traditional values should be maintained by the law as exposed by Devlin. Cases such as Shaw v Director of Public Prosecutions (1961) and Knuller v Director of Public Prosecutions ( 1972) made use of the conspiracy to corrupt moral. This had not been done since the 19th century. This was the beginning of the law to attempt to uphold society’s moral values according to Devlin’s doctrine. This approach continued as the more recent case of R v Brown (Anthony) 1992 demonstrates. The defendants had had willingly consented to various sado-masochistic practices and none of them reported it to the police. Yet they were prosecuted and their convictions were upheld by both the House of Lords and The European Court of Human rights, based on public policy to defend the morality of society. Whether or not the law should uphold the moral values of society is still debated. Those who criticise the link between law and morality often rely on the argument that no single opinion of correctness can exist,[16] yet such criticisms presuppose that such a link requires a single notion of correctness or justice. [17] It does not require such a single notion; it merely requires the recognition that legal considerations are often not enough, and that the interpretational practice which takes place is indeed a result of the link between law and morality. To ultimately deny a link between law and morality is to entirely discredit legal precedents, lengthy assessments of judge decisions, and the controversy of many difficult cases. It is also to turn away from the glaringly evident evolutions and changes which have occurred in the legal sphere – to ignore the changing of legal standards according to societal outlooks. Such evidence is difficult to ignore. Upon which other basis does the law stand if it does not reflect the moral tolerances and standards of the society which is subject to it? Bibliography R Alexy, ‘On the Thesis of a Necessary Connection between Law and Morality: Bulygin’s Critique’ (2000) 2 RJ 13, 138-147. T Aquinas, ‘Summa Theologiae’, in Selected Political Writings, JG Dawson (trans), AP D’Entreves (ed) (BB, Oxford 1970). J Bentham, Of Laws in General, HLA Hart (ed) (AP, London 1970a). J Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, JH Burns, HLA Hart (eds) (AP, London 1970b). E Bulygin, ‘Alexy’s Thesis of the Necessary Connection between Law and Morality’ (2002) 2 RJ 13, 133-137. P Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals (OUP, New York 1996). R Dworkin, Law’s Empire (Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1986). J Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (OUP, New York 1980). HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (CP, Oxford 1961). HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd edn, OCP, Oxford 1994). DD Raphael, Moral Philosophy (OUP, Oxford 1994). R Wacks, Understanding Jurisprudence (OUP, Oxford 2005). ———————– [1] R Wacks, Understanding Jurisprud). ence (OUP, Oxford 2005 [2] DD Raphael, Moral Philosophy (OUP, Oxford 1994) ch. 2. [3] T Aquinas, ‘Summa Theologiae’, in Selected Political Writings, JG Dawson (trans), AP D’Entreves (ed) (BB, Oxford 1970) pt. 2, qu. 94, art. 2. [4] JJ Rousseau, The Social Contract (OUP, Oxford 1762). [5] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, H Rackham (trans) (William Heineman, London 1938). [6] Corbett v Corbett (1970) 2 WLR 1306 CA per Ormrod LJ. [7] R Dworkin, Law’s Empire (Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1986) 32-34. [8] HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd edn, OCP, Oxford 1994) 145-147. [9] HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (CP, Oxford 1961) 127. [10] HLA Hart, 1994, op. cit. , 146. [11] P Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals (OUP, New York 1996). [12] R Dworkin, 1986, op. cit. , 245. [13] (2000) 4 All ER 961, (2001) 1 FLR 1 CA. [14] J Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (OUP, New York 1980) 33-34. [15] J Finnis, 1980, op. cit. , 34. [16] E Bulygin, ‘Alexy’s Thesis of the Necessary Connection between Law and Morality’ (2002) 2 RJ 13, 133-137. [17] R Alexy, ‘On the Thesis of a Necessary Connection between Law and Morality: Bulygin’s Critique’ (2000) 2 RJ 13, 138-147.

Dorothy Parker Essay

Dorothy Parker was an extraordinary woman. Extraordinary in her writings and extraordinary in what she achieved with her writings. Her books of poems and her short stories were bestsellers and her columns in The New Yorker were extremely popular. She was one of the only women and a central figure of the Algonquin Hotel Round Table, where all the great literary geniuses of her time would eat their lunch. Newspaper columnists qouted her and two Broadway plays were written about her. Briefly,she was one of the most talked about woman of her time. What is striking is that her fame came from her writings. So much fame for a woman’s writings is unusual nowadays but let aside in her time. And besides that she was not a minor writer but her literary output in the end was quite small: two volumes of short stories and three of poetry. The last decade of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth was a time of large scale political movements and social changes among women. A new generation of women writers emerged with Dorothy Parker as their most famous one. More oppurtunities for writers existed before the dominance of radio film and television. The newspapers and magazines flourished and only the area of New York City alone published 25 daily newspapers. The â€Å"New Women† as they were labeled were worried with winning women’s rights: the vote, education, economic freedom, acces to a career and a public voice. These women were educated and progressive and wanted a break with the conservative past. Women writers of the era did not see marrying and having children as their ultimate goal in life. They rejected the traditional women’s sphere and claimed a the territory of arts that had been a complete male territory before. Many feared to be thought of as â€Å"women writers†. Dorothy Parker said that her most fervent prayer had been â€Å"Please, God, don’t let me write like a woman†. Parker’s writings on the other hand were for the most part confined to women and to what is important to them. What made Parker so succesfull? What made that era crave her writings? In order to understand Parker’s succes we need to view her works in the context of the time they were written. Dorothy Parker was born in 1893. The most striking evidence of change of the role of women in society at that time was the emergence of the college educated and self supporting new woman. By 1870 there were eleven thousand women students enrolled in higher education (21 procent of all students) and a decade later there were forty thousand women students enrolled in higher education (32 procent of all students). After they graduated they had to choose between a traditional role of domesticity and young marriage or a career of paid work. On August 26, 1920 women officially earn the right to vote by the 19th Amendment. Although women did not become a strong political force right after that the Amendment did increase the power of women to effect change. Another important aspect of the changes in women’s postion in society these years was the first world war. Although the United States participated in the war for a relatively short time and did people not really have a clue about what was going on in Europe the war did change American culture significantly. More than four million American men were were mobilized and sent off to Europe. One of the outcomes of this was that women entered the workforce in increasing numbers. Working not in only jobs that were particulary feminine jobs like nursing but also in offices and factories, in stores and governmental agencies and more. Women found themselves working in previously male-dominated fields and they were earning higher wages than in the past. These changes gave women a new notion of indepedence and self-confidence. In 1920 23.6% of the workforce was female with 8.6 million females, ages 15 and up, working outside the home. In 1920, for the first time in American history more people (54.3 million) live in cities than rural areas (51.4). As people became to move into the cities their lifesty les changed. Cities have more activities like going to the theater and nightclubs. Women in the cities were more likely to work in restaurants or offices and other locations that took them away from home. All these factors together created an environment of freedom that women had never seen in the past. One of the most visble outcomes of this freedom was the emergence of the Flapper girl. The breakdown of the Victorian sexual norms was a gradual process but slowely the American society was ready for newer ideas about sexual norms. The young working class woman had been known for her flamboyant dresses and love of nightlife and dancing. .They were relatively economically autonomous and freed either by work or school from intense familial supervision, and began to find a more individualistic culture for themselves. Women’s appearance changed to a slender and smaller silhouette no longer restricted by petticoats and corsets.When the war began women started to favor more practical, shirtwaist-style dresses. These dresses gave more freedom of movement and a greater exposure of skin. First they inched up to calf length then up to knee length. Flappers didn’t show their feminime curves, cut their hair short and wore dark eyeshadow. As the United States was becoming more and more urban, industrial production increased by 60 percent during this decade while population growth was 15%. Mass production requires mass consumption. Advertising became more important tempting people to purchase the latest fashions and newest cars and spend money on nightclubs and restaurants in the cities. For women this industrial production meant that they were more likey to have vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigarators and other household appliances that lightened their household work. This increased their leisure time. Advertisements targeted women in the 1920’s. Women seemed to have more economic power than before and seemed to be in charge of the households money. However these advertisements still reflected traditional thinking of the women’s role in society. These advertisements stressed domesticity and pleasing men over any message of independence. Dorothy Parker was born at the very start of this period of the â€Å"modern woman†. While men and women were now equal under the law, discrimination against women still persisted. Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s women were still struggling against restrictions. For example, in several states women were denied to serve on juries till 1940. The economic advances for women, too, were minimal. There was still a strong sexual division of labor. Discrimiantion in family responsibilities, education, salaries and promotions remained plentiful. During the depression women lost the gains made in the career world during the 1920s. And a renewed emphasis on the woman at home crushed the recently gained hopes for equality. More and more a stereoype emerged that women during the 1920s were sexually active (the Flapper) but politically apathetic. Parker’s work points a sharp finger at that stereotype and defies is. She keenly points out the ongoing struggles for women to break free. Parker began her professional life in 1915 when she went to work as a caption writer for Vogue at a salary of ten dollar a week. By 1917 she transferred to Vanity Fair and worked for editor Frank Crowninshield until 1920. From 1919 to 1923 Parker wrote poems, sketches, essays and columnd for more than thirty-five different literary journals and magazines. Parker’s first poem â€Å"Any porch† pubished in Vanity Fair in september 1915 presents nine different female voices who discuss various topics as the vote for women, a game of bridge, someones new haircut and the war in France. In 1916 she wrote a series of â€Å"hate songs†, satiric descriptions of husbands and wives, actors and actresses, relatvies and so on. These â€Å"hate songs† made Parker very popular. She soon began to build a reputation as a sophisticated young writer with a witty message. In 1926 her first collection of poems was published. Parker soon played a distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women. This distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women was not out there in a way the feminist movements of that era were calling for it. This voice was hidden between the lines of her poems and stories. â€Å"The Waltz† was published in The New Yorker in september 1933. The story reflects the thoughts and conversation of a girl who is dancing a waltz with a man who dances very badly. He steps al over her feet and kicks her in the shin every so often. She keeps saying that she’s not tired, that it didn’t hurt when he kicked her and when she gets past all feeling, the orchestra finally comes to a stop. When it does, she tells him that she wishes he’d tell them to play the same thing. She said that she would simply adore to go on waltzing even though she hates it. The two voices in this short story reflect the contrast between a polite public voice and a witty and angry private voice. These two voices reflect a clear statement of the w oman’s outward conformity and inward rebellion. In this way the two voices in â€Å"The Waltz† are metaphoric for the woman’s powerlessness. Right from the start of the story it is clear that the woman does not want to dance with this man. She does not want to dance at all but definitely not with this man. But still she gets up and dances with him. Parker is trying to point out that there is not that many young women out there who say what they think. There is not really an alternative for the woman in this story, how can she be rude? She can’t be rude to a man who asks her to dance. Women after all were supposed to please men. Parker does not judge the woman in this story for not saying what she thinks. She is not trying to bring young women who act like that down. She just simply wrote down how things like this work in a woman’s head and letting the world know that woman do not always smile from the inside when they smile from the outside. In 1929 Parker published another short story with an hidden message about gender roles. In â€Å"Big Blonde† Parker tells the story of a talented woman, Hazel Morse. Men seem to like her and as Parker wrote â€Å"Men liked her, and she took it for granted that the liking of men was a desirable thing†. Hazel Morse wants men to like her and â€Å"she never pondered if she might not be occupied doing something else†. She had been working for a couple years untill she met her husband. They got married and in the beginning everything seems fine. As the story goes on it becomes clear that Hazel Morse’s life revolves around pleasing her husband while she is so bored and unhappy at home. She gets divoced and gets married again a couple times but in the end in all her marriages and in the rest of her life she is never occupied with anything else than a desire for men to like her. One other desire Hazel Morse has is a desire for nice furniture and clothing. With every men that comes in to her life Parker describes wheter he is rich or not and what he buys for Hazel Morse. All this stuff does not make her happy either. At the end of the story Hazal Morse tries to commit suicide. What Parker tried to point out here is that women like Hazal Morse are only occupied by a desire for men to like them. This constant desire in the end makes women unhappy because they do not ask themselves what they want for themselves. She also targeted the new american consuming culture in this story. Parker stated that nice clothes and nice furniture are not going to make women happy in the end. Again, just as in â€Å"The Waltz† Parker does not judge Hazal Morse for her actions. But she does make very clear that the life of women who never ponder if they might be occupied with something else than pleasing men is not going to end well. In her stories on gender relations Parker did not criticize women directly but she does have short stories and poems in where she criticized women directly. In one of her early poems (1916) called â€Å"Women: A Hate song† she writes in the first paragraph of the poem how much she hates domestic women. She thought they were â€Å"the worst†. In her poem she groupes them together, there are no individual housewives they are all just as worse. They claim to all be always happy in Parkers view and all they do is hurry home to provide dinner for her family. The rest of their days are filled with making dresses and trying out recipes. Parker, by saying that she hates â€Å"the domestic ones† the most of all made a clear statement about the traditional role of women in society. She hated it. She hated the idea of women staying at home their whole lifes to take care of their families. Interesting is that she did not only criticize housewives but she also became known fo r her condemnation of the flapper. In her poem, â€Å"The Flapper† written in 1922 she starts her poem of by saying that flappers are innocent. Then she continues to say that flappers are not â€Å"what grandma used to be†. Women wanted to break from the traditions from the generations before them but in the way Parker said it in this poem it is not meant as a compliment. She also says that flappers are â€Å"girlish†. By saying this it becomes clear that Parker did not take them serious. They were not serious and grown up women but they were all young girls. She then continues to say that there is no more harm in them â€Å"than in a submarine†. Which clearly means that Parker thought they were capable of doing damage to the whole society. She also writes that the flapper girl is not â€Å"in control† and that people only focus on their pranks. They are only noticed for their unruly behaviour and not for any good that they do. She ends this poem by saying that the Flapper girls are young and that the life the live is a rough one. This poem makes clear that Parker did not agree with the way the Fl apper girls were trying to break with the past. The way the Flapper girls were trying to challenge the norm was not the best or most productive in Parker’s eyes. â€Å"Men seldom make passes, at girls who wear glasses† is one of Parkers most famous quotes. The quote was not actually written as a quote but as a poem in 1926 under the title â€Å"News Item†. In one line Parker was able to describe that men were usually not charmed by the smart women in society. (Since glasses are associated with intelligence or education). The modern woman had achieved more equality in education but as Parker describes men did not seemed to like these educated women. The major themes in Parkers writings are a lack of communication between women and men, disintegration of relationships, motherhood, women’s emotional dependency upon men, the selfishness of the wealthy and the danger of empitness in women’s lives. Her audience was broad. She managed to write for men and women of different social classes. The purpose of a writer was in Parkers opinion â€Å"to say what he feels and sees†. â€Å"Those who write fantasies† she did not consider artists. This nation of â€Å"to say what he feels and sees† made her stories extremely recognizable. In one of her short stories â€Å"A telephone call† Parker describes a woman waiting for a man to call her. The man had promised to call her at 5 and at 7 he still has not called. Parker described what goes through the woman’s mind. Anyone who has ever waited on a wanted telephone call knows exactely what the woman in the story goes trough because Parker sets out t he woman’s thoughts in so much detail. Her writings are satiric, which makes them fun and easy to read but behind and between the lines there is a clear message. A lot of the times this message were convictions on the existing gender relations in society. From her writings it becomes clear that Parker was a feminist. Later in her life she was quoted saying â€Å"I’m a feminist and God knows I’m loyal to my sex, and you must remember that from my very early days, when this city was scarcely safe from buffaloes, I was in the struggle for equal rights for women.† She did however never join one of the organized feminists movements. The feminist movements of her time convicted the gender relations in a more serious and less humourous way. Her talent to convict these gender relations in a humourous way are undoubtly one of the reasons of her succes. The majority of the people was not interested in reading serious and bitter comments on the gender relations. In her â€Å"New Item† poem she could have said: â€Å"Men are sexist pigs who want to hold women in the kitchen were they belong.† Instead of that she wrote a brilliantly witty poem that everyone knows untill today. Dorothy Parker might have been a feminist secretely fighting for women’s rights, she did not wanted to be associated with any sort of woman. In her short story â€Å"Women: a hate song† she basically stated that she hates every sort of woman. From the housewives to the Flappers. Parker wanted women to take advantage of the rights they had attained and she did not feel like enough women were doing that. What she rejected most of all were the standards for female writing and thinking. One of her biographers Marion Maede wrote that Parker did not presented herself so much â€Å"as a bad girl† but as a â€Å"bad boy, a firecracker who was agressively proud of being tough, quirky, feisty.† Parker’s writings satisfied a craving for comments on this â€Å"modern women† and the new gender relations that were a part of that. Women in American society on the one hand were happy on the one hand with their new achievements of equality between men and women. On the other hand, they were dissapointed in the actual changes. Not only were the achievements in equality by law, in economic advances and education not what they had hoped for, they were also dissapointed in the new image of a stereotype women who was sexually liberated but in every way was the minor in relationships between woman and man. These dissapointments and discriminations of the modern women were not out on the surface. No one would have probably even been able to explain at that time what these dissapointments and discriminations exactly were. Dorothy Parker could see the friction underneath the surface of a sophistication-thirsty, consumer-obsessed American society. In her short stories and her poems she was able to point a sharp finger at all these dissapointments and discriminations. She was able to do that in a humourous satiric way. Not in bold statements, but in a subtile way behind and between the lines of her writings. Her greatest achievement was that her writings were attractive to read for women and men. Popular writing for both sexes would be a great achievement nowadays but even more in that era in which the tensions between gender relations were at its sharpest. All these things combined made Parker succesfull in making her readers observe modern culture in a different way, and they all loved reading it. Bunkers, Suzanne L. Dorothy Parker as Feminist and Social Critic (1987). Evans, Sara M. Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989). Keats, John. You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970). Keyser, Catherine. Girls who wear glasses. In A New Literaty History of America edited by Wernes Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012). Parker, Dorothy. Complete Poems (1999). Parker, Dorothy. Here Lies. The Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker (New York 1933). Sagert, Kelly Boyer. Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture (2010). ——————————————– [ 1 ]. John Keats, You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970) 9. [ 2 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 3 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 4 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 5 ]. Sara M. Evans, Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989) 147. [ 6 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 7 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 8 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 9 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 10 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 15. [ 11 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 20. [ 12 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxv. [ 13 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 14 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 15 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 16 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 17 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 18 ]. Catherine Keyser, Girls who wear glasses, in A New Literary History of America, edited by Werner Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012).

Firework by katy perry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Firework by katy perry - Essay Example Katy Perry- as the author of the song captures the exact feelings and experiences of the youth today thereby motivating and inspiring them in times of many difficult situations and not to give up their precious life. The words of Perry expresses what’s inside of her relating the message powerfully with a good pulsating rhythm. It is a vibrant song calling the target audience to ignite themselves and free their full potentials to make them who they should be in this fast competitive world. It is a song of encouragement to overcome the inner selves and arise as victors, thus creating a kaleidoscope. The Author of the Text â€Å"Firework† as the world recognizes, is a song done by Katy Perry. The lyrics however were co-written by various people behind the scenes such as Ester Dean, Sandy Wilhelm, Tor Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen and Katy Perry herself. There is no question about how Katy Perry rendered the song, because she’d done it quite perfectly. The song meant to inspire people, especially the youth, to overcome their insecurities and fears (Gundersen par 5). Perry reminds her audience that within them there is a spark that can ignite them and make them shine (AZLyrics.com par. 5). Perry’s personal life greatly affects the total impact of the song. Being brought up in a Christian family, she was restricted from listening to worldly and secular music. Her environment was secluded with listening to gospel music devoid of the music beyond. She pursued music with the songs preferred by her family singing gospel songs and albums. But this quest was in vain. Being a girl with a spirit, she didn’t give up music that easily. Instead, she ignited the firework within her, releasing her true potentials in music. She threw her restrictions, went out of her cage, faced her fears and tried a whole new thing. She started singing secular music, and she made a very great success. A kaleidoscopic thing happened to her as her sparks brought her t o be famous in the international music industry. Now, she is more than famous as the youth of today consider her as an icon in the music world expanding even to movies and films. Perry reflects social ideas in that she seeks to empower people to live beyond their common fears and shine. While the song does not respond to a historical movement, it represents the current state of affairs in society – many people struggling with various issues that limit their potential. The audience should know that Perry has struggled to become a success story. The Audience of the Text â€Å"Firework† is dedicated to everybody. However, as Perry represents the youth of today and her music style is greatly fitted with the current generations, the song attracts the youth. The message embedded in the song however relates to anyone with inner struggles to ignite themselves and release their full potentials in life thereby making them who they want to be. Anyone can relate to the issues of t he song. As the first part of the song says, â€Å"Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin; Like a house of cards, one blown caving in?† (AZLyrics.com par. 1), it calls to people who are suffering and struggling in this life. Anyone can surely relate to this situation since humans are insatiable creatures having some infinite cravings that can not be satisfied regardless of their social status in life. Poor people may lack money, rich people may lack love, young people lack

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Financial Management Principles (Dell inc.) - Essay Example Why had Dell made it to the top spot According to writer Abrhm Lustgarten "Dell's peers see it as brilliantly managed brand - but no innovator in raw computing" (Dell Tops Fortune's List, 2005). Though Dell slightly fell down to the 8th position in the 2006 Fortune magazine's America's Most Admired Companies List (Fortune America's Most Admired Companies 2006), still it leads the computer manufacturers in this prestigious list. Thanks to the exemplary entrepreneurial and leadership trait of Michael Dell, Dell, Inc. has maintained its position as the industry leader in computer manufacturing. In terms of its financial status, as illustrated on Table 1 below, Dell is in good shape. In terms of profitability, the industry leader performs extremely well. Having a return on equity (ROE) of 86.5%, Dell enables its investors to yield $.856 in every dollar they invested on its stocks within a year. Together with 15.5% return on asset (ROA) and gross margin that accounts for 18.2% of the entire revenue, the figures under the Profitability Ratios section of the Financial Ratios of the company (Table 1), exhibits the company's efficient cost management.

It's not fair Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

It's not fair - Assignment Example tion should be as anticipated, otherwise the perception will be considered to be fair or unfair depending on how the allocation and distribution is done. The theory again suggests that what a person or an individual considers to be fair is what motivates the person or the individual (Robert, 2012). It is important to highlight that the theory relates quite clearly to the executive compensation. This is so as in most of the institutions that are in the society today, the executive committee is considered to be of high priority in the institution. They are therefore paid large sums of money that is not worth what they should be given. This is not fair as they only develop policies while the employees are the ones who execute the actual tasks in the institution (Robert, 2012). In the using of another as a referent, it is therefore quite axiomatic that the women should use the men as their preferred referent. This is so because the men are considered to be quite productive in terms of delivery and execution of their duties. Actually this is some kind of male chauvinism clearly well spelt out here. The relevant input that the top executive should put into consideration is that they should focus on the payment issues (Robert, 2012). Procedural justice is taken to be the fairness of an action that is used in the ascertainment of the discerned justice. Under this, it is important to consider two fundamental concepts; process control as well as the explanations. The implications of this is that the top management has had it quite hectic as they have to strategize and for every move they make, they have to give all the information and explanations for the outcome that will be realized due to their action. According to the chapter, it can be clearly noted that these pay making decisions do not follow the procedural justice; this therefore makes the whole process to kind of seem unfair (Robert, 2012). It is important to highlight that the government being the most

Beethoven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Beethoven - Essay Example Beethoven spent his teenage and young adult years studying music and composing many of his own works. In 1790, he met the famous musician of the time, Franz Joseph Haydn. In 1792, when he was twenty-two, Beethoven moved to Vienna to study music under Haydn. The age difference between the two men caused difficulties; Haydn, being sixty at the time, was more old-fashioned in both his music and his teaching, while Beethoven was more rebellious with his music. He did not like conforming to the limitations set down by musicians of the classical era, and Haydn was not as willing to let him experiment. After some time, Beethoven was accepted into the palace of Prince Lichnowsky, where he had more musical freedom; indeed, there were times when Beethoven did not even feel like playing. The prince allowed him these moments, eventually giving Beethoven his own quarters in the palace so that he could have the utmost independence. In the early years, Beethoven focused on writing only keyboard and chamber music pieces. As he continued to age and grow in his music, he began to experiment with other genres. Between the years of 1792 and 1802, Beethoven had his first performances and compositions of keyboard and chamber works. Between 1802 and 1812, Beethoven wrote six symphonies, four concertos, five string quartets, a opera, several orchestral overtures and numerous piano sonatas, as well as more chamber pieces (Yudkin, pg. 199). Beethoven also established his own personal music style, one that people would be in awe of for centuries to come. Unfortunately, aside from various music styles, Beethoven discovered something else in 1802: he was gradually going deaf. The majority of his best works took place as his hearing became increasingly worse. Unlike many other people, Beethoven refused to let this simple little flaw get in the way of what he loved the

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Marketing - Essay Example It has posed tough competition for its competitors for each of its functions starting from procurement to the delivery of products. As of September 30, 2006, the Company had 1,123 Wal-Mart stores, 2,142 Super centers, 570 SAM’S CLUBS and 109 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Internationally, the Company operated units in Argentina (12), Brazil (296), Canada (279), China (66), Costa Rica (133), Germany (85), Guatemala (125), Honduras (38), Japan (391), Mexico (845), Nicaragua (36), Puerto Rico (54), El Salvador (59) and the United Kingdom (326).1 Company targets volume. The target consumers are middle class and upper middle class customers. These customers do shopping for their monthly grocery requirements. The target markets are identified on the basis of volume and population in a particular area. Apart from that various other macro and micro environmental factors are considered before entering to the new market. Company ensures the availability of products in the store through proper inventory management, logistics management and distribution management. It offers range of products from eatables, clothing, grocery and other household products. Company has 1,123 Wal-Mart stores, 2,142 Super centers, 570 SAM’S CLUBS and 109 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Customer can visit any of these stores according to their needs and location. Wal-Mart adopts various promotional strategies to communicate with its customers and stakeholders. The promotional strategies can be on local level, national or international level. The promotional channels utilized here can be print, electronic or combination of number of channels. It has an excellent virtual platform with attractive website which offers another channel of communication and marketing. Retailing industry is highly competitive industry because competition comes in various formats. The traditional setups like

Innovative Enviroment at Strbucks Coffee Research Paper

Innovative Enviroment at Strbucks Coffee - Research Paper Example Also, I find it appropriate to place label printers at the bar for baristas to put on drinks because it is difficult to make a prediction of eventualities in the coffee business or requirements that may arise. The inability to make a forecast of the market is a prominent feature of any starting or growing organization (Barney, 1991). It may also give the organization an edge over rivals because little or no companies have made this discovery. Question 2 This would be a regular innovation. This is because it entails modification that exploits well-known production and technical expertise and is put into operation to clients and a market that is in existence. The impact of this innovation is to establish resources and skills that are in use. Even if, this change may be deemed small, the final impact may go beyond the intended purpose of the innovation. Regular innovation, for example, placing label printers at the bar for baristas to put on drinks, may have an enormous impact on the fe atures of the products and as a consequence work to intensify proficiency relations to the market and clients, and production (Barney, 1991). Â  Question 3 The organization would employ the emergent strategy to implement and plan. Emergent strategy entails recognizing results that are unexpected from the implementation of the organization’s strategy and then ascertaining to incorporate the unexpected results to future organizational ideas. In addition, emergent strategy is caused by an increased decision making that will lead to a level of steadiness over a period. The organization’s decision will have probable strategic effect. Moreover, emergent strategy is deemed more upcoming and flexible than deliberate strategy. Emergent strategy is also perceived to be a technique of finding out while the organization is in operation. Emergent strategy grows over time and gives the organization the opportunity to find out if the innovation is profitable or unproductive (Warren, 2002). Question 4 This strategy is essential to the progression of the organization’s innovation and technology on offer to the market. This innovation stands out from the ones being offered by rivals. This strategy helps to attain a product enhancement that helps the organization to lead the coffee market. The strategy also has an unexpected advantage. Emergent strategy will assist the organization to develop an idea that has not been created by competitors in the market, for example, placing label printers at the bar for baristas to put on drinks is not used by many companies. This gives the organization an advantage over other organizations. A weakness is that the strategy can be planned inefficiently and lead to a damage of the structure. The strategy gives the organization an opportunity to intensify proficiency relations to the market and clients, and production and lead the coffee market (Warren, 2002). Nonetheless, it has a threat of producing unforeseen challenges t o the organization if not properly implemented. Question 5 I would consider clarifying the purpose, including the appropriate people, and a charter. Clarifying the purpose entails sharing rewards, resources, and risks and sharing responsibility. Including appropriate people entails working with less people who can complete the work well. Few people ease allocation of duties and ensure commitment. A charter will highlight the guidelines of collaboration. It will be essential for making decisions and leadership (Sterman, 2000). Question 5 The

Claims Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Claims - Essay Example Understanding team dynamics, to ensure cooperation of all personnel in the organization. Selecting the right personnel who have the right qualifications. Managing conflicts amongst the different stakeholders in most organizations, and communicating within and outside the organization. (Graham, Shiba, Walden, 2001, p.43) When I was working as scripter for three years, all these skills were evident in all levels of management. In the company, there were different groups doing specific tasks and with different leaders and communication system. The groups are motivated in different ways in respect to their output. In my self assessment test, I was exceedingly interested in working in groups. I like being the group leader since I can manage the group dynamics. In my future career plans, I would like to own a company and manage it myself. The competences are incredibly essential in the entire running of the company. They are inter related in that they all aim at achieve organizational goals and objectives. The effectiveness of a manager is determined by the outcome of the organization in regard to the set objectives and goals. If the skills and competences are effective, the organization will manage to achieve their goals and objectives. In most organization, the managers lack some skills and competences leading to poor management. This is the main reason they do not achieve as it is expected of them. In most organizations, the workers are required to work together and make decisions that will enhance in achievement of organizational objectives. In my uncles company, we were grouped in teams, and this was especially challenging on my part since it was difficult to make a quick decision due to consultations amongst the group members. In the organization, different personnel did more work than others. The organization had a policy of rewarding people and groups based on the output they delivered. This was extraordinarily

Thomas Midgley Jr. Essay Example for Free

Thomas Midgley Jr. Essay Born on May 18, 1889, American engineer and chemist Thomas Midgley, Jr. was controversial for two of his discoveries. One, he discovered the Freon while working for General Motors in 1930. He intended it to be a safe non-toxic refrigerant to be used in household appliances, to replace the dangerous refrigerants used before like ammonia and propane. Freon and other CFCs soon replaced the various toxic or explosive substances previously used as refrigerants, and were later used in other applications, such as propellants in aerosol spray cans and asthma inhalers. The Society of Chemical Industry awarded Midgley the Perkin Medal in 1937 for this work. However, Midgleys discovery resulted in damage to the earths Ozone layer. Two, Midgely discovered the effectiveness of tetraethyl lead as an antiknock additive for gasoline. On October 30, 1924, Midgley participated in a press conference to demonstrate the safety of TEL. In this demonstration, he poured TEL over his hands, then placed a bottle of the chemical under his nose and inhaled its vapor for sixty seconds, declaring that he could do this every day without succumbing to any problems whatsoever. However, the State of New Jersey ordered the Bayway plant to be closed a few days later, and Jersey Standard was forbidden to manufacture TEL there again without state permission. Midgley himself was careful to avoid mentioning to the press that he required nearly a year to recover from the lead poisoning brought on by his demonstration at the press conference. He sought treatment for lead poisoning in Europe a few months after his demonstration at the press conference. Midgley was relieved of his position as vice president of GMCC but continued to work for them. Midgley died three decades before the ozone depleting effects of CFCs in the atmosphere became widely known. Another adverse effect of Midgleys work was the release of large quantities of lead into the atmosphere as a result of the large-scale combustion of leaded gasoline all over the world. High atmospheric lead levels have been associated with serious health problems. J. R. McNeill, an environmental historian, has remarked that Midgley had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earths history.

The Debate on Assault Weapons in the US

The Debate on Assault Weapons in the US The federal government of the United States of America should prohibit citizens from owning assault weapons. Discuss Assault Weapons Do you think weapons pose a threat to the individual and social level? But before this let us know what counts as an assault weapons. There is no technical definition of assault weapons, but it includes the fully automatic weapons, which fire continuously when the trigger is held down. Then there are semiautomatic weapons that reload automatically but fire only once each time the trigger. Semiautomatic pistols and rifles are extremely common in the United States in different sizes and shapes. In the last five years, there were many suggestions to limit the availability of assault weapons. Limiting the availability of weapons reduces the number of deaths, theft, and assaults in the community. Also, It can stop the assaults and foil terrorist operations. School disputes would be less lethal if weapons were elusive and more expensive. In addition, the government should deploy weapons awareness programs to spread awareness among people. Furthermore, the government should enforce laws on arms dealers to avoid many problems. Despite the government’s attempts to prevent weapons, the majority of murders and rubbery are caused by weapons. The federal government of the United States of America should prohibit citizens from owning assault weapons to limit murders, shooting accidents, and armed robbery. Guns have made a lot of problems and murder is one of them. Courtshave many cases for murders and crimes and many types of them. According to Gary kleck,â€Å" Guns are heavily involved in violence in America. In 1993, about 71% of homicides and 63% of suicides involved guns. While it is not obvious whether there would be fewer deaths if there were fewer guns, or whether guns availability among those who would use guns for violent purposes, there is no doubt that a big share of America’s fatal violence involves the use of firearms† (no page). This explains that limiting assault weapons decreases the rate of murders. The government can make a simple to the policy can protect the citizen. For example, firearms have become a popular way to commit suicide. Therefore, the Israeli government decided limiting access to weapons to reduce the rates of suicide within a simple suicide rate fell by 40%. Reducing the opportunities to obtain weapons reduces caused a significant chang e in the suicide rates. Therefore, a simple change in the policy may urge a big change in the community (Lubin, no page). Even if all guns have been avoided it does not mean that crimes will not happened, but prohibiting assault weapons will limit crimes and people will be safer. Shooting accident is one of the problems that caused by assault weapons. People usually keep their weapons in houses, but this is not safe. Kids can see the weapons and they will try to use them. Lack of understanding of weapons may occur big accidents like hurting or killing someone. Studies were conducted in the school shooting in a variety of disciplines. But so far there is not any competent authority to examine these events (Mushert, no page). Weapons can be safe if PEOPLE learn how to deal with them. However, people may not apply the laws if it did not come from the government. There is an example that happen every year, that is large number of children and teenager who get killed or injured in the best case scenario that would happen by wrong using gun in the United States. And family members, or strangers shoot some of them, either intentionally or unintentionally. It is true if we said that, some kids are using guns to attempt suicide, and these attempts prove successful mor e often than suicides by other things that is may use. The availability of guns allows many issues, and armed rubbery is one of the issues. As many issues have solutions, the government tries the best to solve these problems. Armed robbery is a great danger to the community. People do not feel that they are safe and they are afraid on their selves, kids and their money from thieves. Armed rubbery could happen easier if assault weapons are permissible. Without weapons thieves will not try to burgle on banks, stores and houses. Even if thieves try to burgle, it will be easy and safe to the government to catch them. If the government limits the availability of weapons, the rate of armed rubbery will decreases. In some countries such as the united state, assault weapon is legal. In addition, political term used in firearms laws in order to define and restrict specific firearms. In fact, there is a debate in Considerable about continues on how assault weapons should be defined. For instance, they are trying to limit kids of using weapon like gun in order to make the community feel comfortable about saving there children from this big risk which is legalize weapon. Federal law sets the minimum standards for firearm regulation in the United States; however individual states have their own laws, some of which provide further restrictions, others which have more lenient guidelines.The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibited the sale of firearms to several categories of individuals, including persons under eighteen-years of age, those with criminal records, the mentally disabled, unlawful aliens, dishonorably discharged military personnel, and others. In 1993, the law was amended by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which mandated background checks for all unlicensed persons purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed dealer. However, critics maintain that a so-called â€Å"gun show loophole,† codified in the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, effectively allows anyone, including convicted felons, to purchase firearms without a background check.As of December 2012, there were no federal laws banning semi-automatic assault weapons, military-style .50 caliber rifles, handguns, or large capacity ammunition magazines, which can increase the potential lethality of a given firearm. There was a federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines between 1994 and 2004, but Congress allowed these restrictions to expire. To sum up, criminal rates in some countries increase to nearly unexpected levels of crime and the entire increase was attributable to homicides committed by young people with guns. Guns are one of reason for this increase. If the government limit the availability of weapons and make more expensive, the rate of crimes will decrease. That why governments should limit the availability of assault weapons. Work Cited Arindrajit Dube, Oeinderil Dube and Omar Garcia-PONCE (2013). Cross-Border Spillover: U.S.  Gun Laws and Violence in Mexico. American Political Science Review, 107, pp. 397-417. Doi: 10.1017/S0003055413000178. Kleck, Gary. Why Does The Issue Matters? Violent Uses Of guns. New York: Aldine De  Gruyter, 1991.Print. Lubin, G., Werbeloff, N., Halperin, D., Shmushkevitch, M., Weiser, M. and Knobler, H.  Y. (2010), Decrease in Suicide Rates After a Change of Policy Reducing Access to  Firearms in Adolescents: A Naturalistic Epidemiological Study. Suicide and Life-Threat Behavi, 40:421–424. doi:10.1521/suli.2010.40.5.421 Muschert, G. W. (2007), Research in School Shootings. Sociology Compass, 1:60–80.  Doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00008.x

Eliza as a Strong, Assertive Woman in Pygmalion Essay -- George Bernar

Eliza as a Strong, Assertive Woman in Pygmalion Bernard Shaw’s comedy Pygmalion presents the journey of an impoverished flower girl into London’s society of the early 20th century. Professor Higgins proposes a wager to his friend Colonel Pickering that he can take a common peddler and transform her into royalty. Eliza Doolittle is the pawn in the wager. But little does Higgins know the change will go far beyond his expectations: Eliza transforms from a defensive insecure girl to a fully confident,strong, and independent woman. When the audience first meets Eliza Doolittle she is a flower girl peddling at 11 PM in front of St. Paul’s Church. The audience’s first impression is one of sympathy because she is dressed in rags and pedestrians are unkind to her. Higgins calls Eliza "you squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language." (p. 21) The audience’s sympathy is intensified when we see Eliza’s wretched lodgings. These lodgings are much contrasted to those of Higgins in Wimploe S...

Madonna Essay -- Madonna Louise Ciccone

Madonna   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Madonna was born on August 16, 1958, in the city of Bay City, located in the state of Michigan. Her real birth name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. However, most people know her as simply Madonna. She is known as a controversial singer, actress, dancer, songwriter, and became one of America's biggest and well- known stars in the late 1980s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Madonna's assertive behavior, outspoken personality, and aggressive acts of sexuality, along with her great efforts to push back the borders of the acceptable, brought her tremendous commercial success in America and abroad. She achieved the reputation as a forefront performer and entertainer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before Madonna began her superstar career, she attended school at the University of Michigan. Before she even attended college, she was already well talented in the field of dance. She was so good that she won a dance college scholarship in high school. This was the main reason she continued onto college. In the beginning of her college education, she enjoyed going to school on a daily basis. In addition, she enjoyed learning and meeting new friends. However, she began to get bored with her college education and her stay in college was brief. Within the next two years she dropped out of the University of Michigan and decided to pursue a career elsewhere. She knew that she wanted to either continue in the field of dance or somewhere in the music industry. She believed that she had greater opportunities in these careers in a large, diversified metropolitan city like New York City.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once in New York City, she joined a band and began writing musical notes, lyrics, and songs. This was the start of her music career. However, she still wanted to pursue her dance career. She always had two career objectives in mind and believed she would definitely achieve one or both of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She joined Alvin Alley Theater's third company group. She danced with them for a short time period, however, she felt she could do better by focusing her main efforts and ideas in the popular music and film industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Her first debut album was called Borderline. In addition to the album she also produced a short musical video to accompany the album. Her music and video were featured on MTV, a music television channel found on cable television. After heavy airplay of her music video on the MTV cable chann... ...dows and Fog, produced in 1992, and the film, A League of Their Own, produced in 1992, were also part of her movie career. Her latest movie, Evita, in which she stars, was given some praise in the box office, and is probably considered her best work yet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Madonna is currently trying to gain more control of what is being produced about her. She has entered the management areas of film, record, and publishing by creating her own company. At present, she is still working on numerous projects. One of these projects included that of having a baby, which she just recently completed. One thing is for sure, whatever Madonna does, she still makes front page headlines. Furthermore, she is still producing videos, songs, movies, and books that appeal to people world wide. We will definitely continue to see a lot of her, and her work, in the near future. Works Cited Kamins, Mark. Madonna, Madonna. New York, New York: Sire Company, 1989. Leonard, Patrick. I'm Breathless. New York: Sire Company, 1993. Pettibone, Shep. Madonna, Erotica. Los Angeles, California: Maveick Company, 1993. Rodgers, Nile. Madonna, Like A Virgin. New York, New York: Warner Brothers, 1990.

Peer Effects and Alcohol Use among College Students, by M. Kremer and D. Levy, :: Peer Pressure Essays

Kremer and Levy (2008) analyze to what degree college students who consume alcohol influence their peers. College students could affect their peers’ alcohol consumption, which in turn may lead to damaging effects. For example, peers could potentially disrupt classrooms, be exposed to disease, and lower their grade point average, start binge drinking, abuse illegal drugs, and even die. These affects may generate multiplier effects in the future. Earlier studies have examined this issue of alcohol consumption and the negative peer effects among college students. Sacerdote (2001) examines peer effects in universities. He finds evidence that supports this theory that students whose roommates reported high beer consumption were more likely to replicate the same behavior. Kremer and Levy (2003) noted that peers who had a roommate that drank could potentially increase the peer’s preference for alcohol consumption. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s (CIRP’s) Entering Student Survey demonstrated GPA’s declining in peers whose roommates drank alcohol frequently, especially those who had in high school. The survey classified males as being especially sensitive to peer influences. Empirical data presented by Wechsler, Lee, Kuo & Lee (2000) show that alcohol use and abuse reported by 40% of university students had been binge drinking at least once within the past two weeks and it was concluded that alcohol use, and more specifically binge drinking, is a social influence by peers. There are various economic theories presented in this article. For example, in the context of academic achievement, the assumptions made are that peers could affect others’ preferences, as seeing their friends consume alcohol also stimulates the desire in the other student to consume alcohol. Many theoretical models assume that students’ academic achievements are a linear function of their peer’s ability to influence their behavior as well. The theories presented consist of peers’ effects on the influence of preferences, leading to lower academic achievement because the student’s study is disrupted. The assumption that students who are frequent drinkers being roomed with another frequent drinker would increase their alcohol consumption and possibly lead to binge drinking based on variables, preferences model, and theoretical models which assume the student’s academic outcomes are a linear function of their peer influence, and multiplier effe cts. Kremer and Levy find from the empirical works that some individuals are more vulnerable than others in the influence to increase alcohol consumption. The increase in alcohol consumption is more commonly linked to the desire for social acceptability.

Representations of China in the Movie the Forbidden Kingdom Essay

The Forbidden Kingdom (Rob Minkoff, 2008)[1] is an American martial arts adventure film co-starred by Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The film tells the story of a Boston boy Jason, who is a big kung fu fan, is given the mission, as a traveler, of returning the staff to the Monkey King so as to free him from the statue in which he has been trapped by the Jade Warlord. With the help of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Jason not only fulfills his mission in the end by defeating the Jade Warlord, but also masters kung fu and develops to a brave and responsible man. The movie was successful and popular, attracting large audience[2], due to the reason, as far as I see it, that it meets the Western audience’s expectation of China. The movie is full of stereotypes of China and Chinese, reflecting the orientalism’s attitudes from the West, especially from America (both written and directed by Americans) in this case. Orientalism, as studied in Edward Said’s book Orientalism (1978), is an academic term used to â€Å"describe a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East, shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries†[3], later adopted by America after the WWâ… ¡.In such a man-made theory, East is depicted as a less-civilized, exotic, brutal and inferior entity to the West, and â€Å"†¦the West is not only deï ¬ ned as the diametrical opposite of the East, but also as its protector and its carer† (Khatib, 2006: 64). What’s more, to the West that the â€Å"†¦Orient is something to be feared or controlled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Khatib, 2006: 65). All these ideas of Orientalism can be sensed or found in the movie The Forbidden Kingdom, which makes this movie a advocator of American Orientalism towards China. The movie begins with a dim, disorganized pawn shop owned by a shaky, weak and old Chinese man Hop, who clings tightly to his money and sells kung fu DVDs to Jason, the boy who is treated and bullied like an alien by his peers because of his enthusiasm towards kung fu. Hop is later attacked by the bullies who forces Jason to lead them to steal money from him. This opening of the story sets the main attitude about China by showing the typical stereotype that white people hold towards Chinese: a totally different Other, whose living style (the messy shop) and traditions (kung fu) are far beyond the understandings of the West, also with the characteristics of being sickly weak and easy to attack or take advantage of, often become the target of violence. When Jason is sent to the ancient China to fulfill his mission, what he experiences also applies to the theory of Orientalism: exotic Chinese water-mountain sceneries, extraordinary and dazzling kung fu skills, brutal killing by the army, vicious women (White-haired Witch), wicked Jade Warlord with darkened eye shadow, submissive women (concubines of Jade Warlord) etc. All of these images give audience an impression that China is an exotic yet less civilized territory, waiting to have her destiny changed by this American boy. As a result, the dominant power over the East (China) of America is subsequently delivered by the screenwriter, i.e. the chaos brought by the Jade Warlord is going to be ceased by the Traveler Jason, rather than someone from China herself, for example, the supreme power of the Heaven, the Emperor. Such plot indicates the attitude that the East (China) is unable to be independent; she needs the West (America) to dominate and have authority over her. The fear of the East from the West can also be easily detected in this movie. The Heaven is temporarily given by the Emperor to the Jade Warlord to govern, which means the whole china is under his control. But his power grows so fast and powerful that, according the American screenwriter, someone from the West needs to suppress this evil rise, and this time, Jason again, the ultimate messenger in this movie to carry out the American’s will in Orientalism. Being far away from China, western people get images of China mainly from what is available in the media. However, what is presented is only small or even misleading information about China. Although Orientalism is viewed as â€Å"false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the (Middle) East†[4], it is still applied in media and proved by Western governments nowadays in order to remain the power over the East in spheres of politics, economy and culture. We should hold an alert and critical attitude towards such information, trying to go beyond what is presented, so as to get to know the real image of the East.

Albert Einstein: One Genius Mind

Finding a way to describe one of the most celebrated scientists ever born by means of stating facts about his life and achievements which most people hardly ever know at this point in time is utterly hard.   Albert Einstein’s father, an engineer by profession was for the most part of his career hugely unsuccessful.The older Einstein spent most of his time shifting jobs (Pellegrini 1).   Albert never enjoyed his education in Germany.He was seriously depressed when he had to leave for Italy.   He left school on the excuse of a nervous breakdown.   For a year, he had been paying visits to different art centers in Italy until such time when although reluctant, he finally resumed his studies.   It was in Zurich’s Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) technical university where Einstein earned his degree (Pellegrini 1).He received poor grades since he hardly attended class lectures.   His poor credentials made it hard for him to secure a job.   Finally, a f riend helped him secure a patent office job in Berne (Pellegrini 1; AllAboutScience.org).It seemed that the patent job suits him perfectly.   It allowed him to work during the day and devote the rest of his time exploring higher learning in physics (White 96).   Also, he was able to utilize the library to do his research work.   He even earned for himself a doctorate degree in the processEven though it was not entirely all plain sailing from then on, several years later, he assumed a role in the academic system, and worked in Berlin to complete his General Theory of Relativity in the face of the severe destruction in society brought about by the First World War (Pellegrini 1).A serious breakdown left the man with distinct strands of white hair which ultimately served as his trademark.   It was around that time when his married life took a turn for the worst.   Nonetheless, he was still able to make significant contributions to scientific advancement.He was primarily, the e ngineer of breakthrough concepts about the physical universe.   Beyond doubt, he has made significant contributions to humanity’s intellectual advancement during his time.   Einstein challenged the then existing beliefs about the state as well as that of science.   He engaged in a constant battle for individual freedom and dignity.   He also opposed hostilities and persecution.His theories about the state and science, or at least the ones credited to him, echoes up to this point in time in realms stretching as far as his own direct scientific contributions in examining the influences that science and technology has on ethics, the study of modern art, linguistics, and psychology (Trefil and Hazen; White 96-105).It is paradoxical that several years following his death, several branches of physical science have already acknowledged his generative impact as otherwise would gave been done in the last years of his life.   Einstein’s contributions proved to be cruci al for drafting conceptual routes for current studies in the fields of cosmology or astronomy, for connecting gravitation with the quantum field theory of gauge fields, and also in explaining new findings which were not possible during his time, but were nonetheless already forecasted by him.Albert Einstein has the mind of a genius.   The way he changed the way man perceived the universe into which he or she was born was beyond comparison.   He was able to look past nature’s drape than anyone else since Newton, and from that point onwards, he lived the rest of his life pulling the drape down for his humility (Pellegrini 1).   To this day, when the word genius is being uttered, no one else’s face come to mind than his.

Thus I Refute Beelzy

Group Assessment and Self-Assessment During this project I learned a lot about my group members but even more about myself. I discovered that I am not very detailed oriented and that I really need to work on my communication skills. A lot of the time I assumed that we were all on the same page when we weren’t. If I had to redo this I would have made sure that we started selling our cards earlier and would have worked on getting bigger business on our cards so that more people would want to buy them.Marise: Maurice did a lot for the group. She was the most responsible out of all of us and the most realistic. Though she was quiet she silently took charge. She helped keep the boys focused when they started to go astray. Andrew: Andrew really took leadership during this project. Though he may have slacked at times, all in all he did a lot. He and Max were the two who came up with our idea. He brought a lot of ideas to the table however he didn’t really like listening to oth er people’s ideas. Max: Max worked really hard on this.Though he may have been quiet he organized a lot of the stuff and he also came up with our idea with Andrew. I can’t really say much about Max because he was really quiet but he contributed a lot. He also put a lot of time and effort into the cards. Trenton: Trenton worked really hard on this and was really dedicated. However he was really close-minded and wasn’t very open to new ideas. I feel as though if Trenton would have been more willing to venture we could have done a lot more with the cards. But he really took charge and accomplished a lot. He also has excellent communication skills.

Is it best to work in a team

Team working is a false belief. What matters most is single public presentation. Discuss. Teams have been defined as â€Å"formal work groups, † [ 1 ] where a group consists of â€Å"two or more persons interacting.† [ 2 ] Structuring work through the usage of squads has been seen as advantageous to the administration because it is seen as efficient. Individuals’ failings are considered less debatable in a squad because other members will hold strengths covering these countries. From the thought of the squad, the construct of the independent workgroup has developed, dwelling of â€Å"team of people who are given a high degree of duty for their ain work.† [ 3 ] Such groups are seen to hold the possible to work fruitfully with comparatively small supervising, making efficiencies. Technological developments such as picture conferencing are enabling usage of squads across geographical divides, offering administrations new ways of organizing work. [ 4 ] Beyond functional abilities for undertaking completion, runing in squads may hold psychological benefits for the person. Marcouse et al suggest that teamwork helps employees experience involved with their administration, perchance bring forthing competitory advantage. [ 5 ] This can be related to Maslow’s hierarchy of demands, [ 6 ] where, one time basic and security demands can be satisfied, the single focal points on societal, position and self-actualisation demands. The intersubjective nature of the squad addresses societal demands, and may besides carry through position demands. Huczynski and Buchanan note that position within the squad may be given to persons who do non bask high position in the formal construction of the administration: within the squad, their societal place may be enhanced. [ 7 ] Self-actualisation may besides be achieved, [ 8 ] through the sense of satisfaction when a end is achieved by the squad. While the construct of the squad appears good theoretically, success can be limited if squads are non adequately managed. Team leaders must be sensitive non merely to the persons within the squad, but besides to the group dynamic. [ 9 ] The sensed personality of the leader can impact on the behavior of squad members: White and Lean found that the unity of a leader influenced the ethical behavior of squad members. [ 10 ] Individual personalities have been considered widely in the literature. Agreeableness has been found peculiarly of import in the conceptual phases of a undertaking, [ 11 ] perchance because it helps develop productive relationships for ulterior phases. Hersey et al identify helpful functions and impeding functions. [ 12 ] While the ideal squad would hold a choice of helpful persons with complementary accomplishments, this may non be realistic, and the leader is presented with the challenge of understating the consequence of hindering. If unsuccessful, it is possible that working separately would be more productive than making squads. Personalities within a group may non ever have the awaited consequence. Peeters et Al found, out of the blue, that different degrees of conscientiousness within a squad were advantageous: the research workers suggest that the more painstaking members keep the less painstaking members on path, and that the issues originating from the variableness concern behaviors at peculiar points in a undertaking procedure instead than overall squad public presentation. [ 13 ] While this is a positive result, it however underlines the capriciousness of the group dynamic. In many state of affairss, a squad may hold different leaders for different undertakings, and Miles and Kivlighan found that the consistence between different leaders’ perceptual experiences of the team’s construction can act upon the manner members perform and interact. [ 14 ] If perceptual experiences are consistent, so there is a positive influence. However, if the group is non perceived systematically, the deduction is that they may non work so efficaciously. The above illustrations would propose that, with careful direction, squads can still be effectual in the workplace. However, they are frequently non advantageous. Marcouse et al note that decision-making may be much slower with group engagement, and squads may bring forth struggle that hinders progress. [ 15 ] Research indicates that in some fortunes, squads can be extremely debatable. Janis made extended surveies of hapless determinations made by senior authorities groups. Where groups are peculiarly cohesive, he notes that a force per unit area to conform to group norms may deter persons from showing concern with determinations: he attributes a figure of historical catastrophes to this. [ 16 ] However, Chapman suggests that anxiousness is a cardinal factor in Janis’s groupthink, and that the determinations frequently concern major political issues. [ 17 ] She argues that the state of affairs in many administrations concerns daily determination doing with fewer force per unit areas and perchance less impetus to do a determination, although admiting that anxiousness may have in some organizational state of affairss. However, the deduction is that the group dynamic may overrule single capablenesss in certain fortunes. Promoting squads to vie can be peculiarly counterproductive. Billig and Tajfel found that, even where there was minimum footing for people to experience they belonged to one peculiar group ( in-group ) , they would be prejudiced against another group ( out-group ) , to the extent that they would set up the distribution of money to disfavor the out-group even if it gave no advantage to the in-group. [ 18 ] This is peculiarly of import to observe when structuring a gross revenues map into squads: it has been argued that â€Å"There is no such thing as friendly competition† [ 19 ] and Billig and Tajfel’s consequences support this. The tendency for squads may neglect to recognize that some persons much prefer to work on their ain. [ 20 ] Where a sense of control is peculiarly of import to the person, going portion of a squad may be perceived as losing that control. In such fortunes, Robbins and Finlay suggest implementing the thought of the â€Å"team of one.† [ 21 ] Although the definitions indicate that squads and groups are needfully more than one individual, the â€Å"team of one† construct recognises that a capable person may be able to finish undertakings every bit efficaciously as a multi-person squad and may prefer to work in that manner. It could besides be argued that the single public presentation within the squad should be the focal point for easing successful squads, but this has to be considered in concurrence with the group dynamic: the squad can non be seen merely as a aggregation of persons, as Billig and Tajfel’s work [ 22 ] and Janis’s surveies [ 23 ] make clear. While the research indicates that a well-managed squad with complementary accomplishments may be really productive, there is besides considerable grounds that teamwork can be unproductive, produce hapless determinations and, while carry throughing the societal demands of some people, may be a less favoured manner of working for others. It is noteworthy that literature on teamwork appears mostly concerned with maximizing the success of squad working instead than sing options such as a more individual-based construction as perchance more effectual. To disregard teamwork as a false belief on the footing of the grounds above would be utmost: however, the premise that a squad attack will ever be more efficient and productive than other options should be questioned. Mentions Billig M and Tajfel H ( 1973 ) ‘Social classification and similarity in intergroup behaviour’European Journal of Social PsychologyVol 3 ( 1 ) pp27-52 Chapman J ( 2006 ) ‘Anxiety and effectual determination devising: an amplification of the groupthink model’ inManagement DecisionVol 44 ( 10 ) pp1391-1404 Hersey P, Blanchard K and Johnson D ( 1996 )Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources7ThursdayEdition ( New Jersey: Prentice Hall International ) Huczynski A and Buchanan D ( 1991 )Organizational Behaviour2neodymiumEdition ( Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International ) Janis I ( 1971 ) ‘Groupthink Among Policy Makers’ infusion from Eds. Sanford N and Comstock C ( 1971 )Sanctions for Evil( San Francisco: Jossey-Bass ) available at www.middlesexcc.edu/faculty/Robert_Roth/GroupthinkamongPolicyMakers.htm accessed on 5/11/08 Marcouse I, Gillespie A, Martin B, Surridge M and Wall N ( 2003 )Business Surveies2neodymiumEdition ( Oxfordshire: Hodder Arnold ) Maslow A ( 1943 ) ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ inPsychological ReappraisalVol 50 pp370-96 Miles J and Kivlighan D ( 2008 ) ‘Team Cognition in Group Interventions: The Relation Between Co leaders Shared Mental Models and Group Climate’Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and PracticeVol 12 ( 3 ) pp191-209 Peeters M, Rutte C, Van Tuijl H and Reymen I ( 2008 ) ‘Designing in Teams: Does Personality Matter? ’ inSmall Group ResearchVol 39 pp438-467 Robbins H and Finley M ( 2000 )Why Teams Don’t Work( London, New York: Texere ) Rockart J and Short J ( 1996 ) ‘The networked organisation and the direction of interdependence’ in Eds. Paton R, Clark G, Jones G, Lewis J and Quintas P ( 1996 )The New Management Reader( London and New York: Routledge and the Open University ) pp255-276 White D and Lean E ( 2008 ) ‘The Impact of Perceived Leader Integrity on Subordinates in a Work Team Environment’ inJournal of Business Ethical motivesVol 81 pp765-778

Mechanical Principles, Complex Loading Assignment

Mechanical Principles, Complex Loading - Assignment Example 27). There occur changes in dimensions when a body is subjected to an axial force. Considering a bar of length l, breadth b and thickness t, it changes dimensions to l+Éâ€"l, b+ Éâ€"b and t+ Éâ€"t respectively (Gere & Goodno, 2012: P. 27). When subjected to an axial force, whether compressive or tensile, then, The Bulk Modulus of a solid material is the ratio of direct stress exerted on a body to the volumetric strain exerted on the same body, provided both are kept within the elastic limit of the material of which the body is made of. As thus, it is the resistance of a body to compression under uniform force (Gere & Goodno, 2012: P. 42). As such, one parameter be worked out if the others are known, and therefore, there is no further need for complicated derivation of each formula. However, on its own, the Elastic Modulus can calculated from the formula: Modulus of Elasticity (elastic modulus) can be defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain exerted on a body. As thus, it denotes a body’s ability to undergo temporal elastic deformation when a force is exerted on it. Modulus of rigidity of a material refers to its ability to resist angular change that is bound to occur when the body is exposed to external stresses. The stresses may lead to the formation of an angle in relation to the original position of body. As such, the modulus of rigidity is the coefficient, or measure o resistance to the formation of this angle (Gere &Goodno, 2012: P.

Apps of psychology ( application of psychology) Essay

Apps of psychology ( application of psychology) - Essay Example These principles govern the functioning and the growth experienced by the organization. Rationalism is a principle that expresses decision making and analysis in deductive and logical patterns. This principle emphasizes objectivity and logical patterns that are very useful in identifying the best procedures that will lead to enhanced productivity. Pragmatism is a principle that defines the need for emphasis on results, and the need to identify the procedures most effective in delivering the said end goal. Existentialism on the other hand is a principle that guides development towards individual and team growth through enhanced understanding of needs, values and goals. These philosophical constructs are very real to the process of Organizational Development. Freud’s Psychoanalytic constructs are best applied to individuals, but are also useful in understanding the motivations of an individual within an organization. His description of anxiety and defense mechanisms like projection denial and action formation have been found to be applicable to organizational settings; while the concepts of fixation, transference and regression have been found to adequately explain issues faced by individuals in the resolution of these said problems. Freud’s theory breaks life into stages, and the resolution of the dilemmas Faced by the person at each stage becomes a key component in the personality they form by the time they reach adulthood. Using this information, it is possible to select individuals who are equipped for certain jobs, and the avoid placing individuals in positions which will draw out their anxieties and inhibit their ability to work better. The understanding of personality afforded to us by the work of Sigmund Freud helps is in choosing the right individual for the right job, for understanding and resolving the anxiety and dilemmas faced in work groups; and to understand

Technology and its Backlashes Speech or Presentation

Technology and its Backlashes - Speech or Presentation Example Russell and Bone further stated that modern technology, although sometimes not the direct cause of the impending eradication of humanity, is definitely the means that humans will use in pushing their causes that will ultimately end the existence of man (24). The earth, as humans know it today, has been much influenced by numerous scientific inventions (Haven 109). The influence that science has over man’s social lives, infrastructures, tools, food, and many others is a solid evidence of the veracity of this statement. For example, fossil fuel and computer technology are part of the world’s daily existence (Haven 135). Fossil fuel is necessary in water purification process, communication, manufacturing industry, electricity, road construction, food processing, and other things necessary for the regular flow of daily living (Haven 137 and Milne 36). Subsequently, computer technology is essential not only in the above-mentioned processes, but also in other areas of human l ives, like social or work aspects (Milne 43). Since fossil fuel and computer technology are examples of science, it is thus not an exaggeration to suppose that humankind is highly likely dependent on the advances of today’s technology. ... One major example is the two world wars during the past century. Conflicts between nations resulted in the death of millions of people by means of using artillery or bombs. Who could forget the City of Hiroshima destroyed by just one atomic bomb? If this massive damage was possible over six decades ago, how much more possible is it to cause larger damages now with man’s latest technology? (Russell and Bone 41) Obviously, the question now is not whether man can eradicate his own specie or not, but when would he decide to do it. However, several people would argue that science has done more good than bad, particularly when one would look at the health solutions made available by the latest technology, curing diseases that were previously thought of as terminal. Yet, upon further evaluation, several of these diseases, which cures depend on science, are by-products of science in the first place (Milne 68). This is not to say though that progress is a bad thing. However, man should have a realistic viewpoint on what he brings upon himself. Just the fact that both health and armaments fall under the top three largest businesses in the world (Barrie 6) presents a clear picture of the path that man’s existence takes. The changing environment caused the extinction of dinosaurs, and man is faced with the same concern. The difference however is that the present change in environment is man-made (Russell and Bone 10). Nevertheless, the same failure to adapt that caused dinosaurs to become extinct will also cause man a similar fate. The massive changes man creates in nature deplete the sources at a faster rate than can be recovered (Burroughs 121). An obvious proof of this is the pollution problem that science cannot control,