Kakutani’s “Word Police” Essay

In Michiko Kakutani’s essay, â€Å"The Word Police,† the author uses examples, illustrations and definitions to support the claim that our language is on the brink of absurdity because we hide our true identities and inequalities with euphemisms. In regard to euphemisms, Kakutani states that they â€Å"tend to distract attention from the real problems of prejudice and injustice in society† (423). Although the essay is persuasive and supported well, the author falls short of persuading her unbiased audience because of repetitive and tedious criticisms of the politically correct movements. Her argument lacks absolution in her failure to provide her audience with an alternative solution. Kakutani opens with the claim the political correctness is prevalent in society today. For support she uses several examples of icons that are being redeveloped to appease the growing demand for P.C. These include Little Miss Coppertone, who will soon have a male equivalent, and Superman, who will come in four new flavors. In using these familiar, mainstream products, Kakutani sways the audience in her direction while consolidating her claim. She also makes us aware of her aversion to politically correct movements with the use of her sarcasm in renovating the words â€Å"Miss† and â€Å"Superman.† The author then discusses a more considerable issue, that of the controversy over our language. â€Å"Political correctness† defined by Kakutani as â€Å"a vision of a more just, inclusive society in which racism, sexism and prejudice of all sorts have been erased,† (421) has good intent, but the methods used by politically correct activists to achieve their goals are too extreme. This, in turn, will just lead to the â€Å"scorn of conservative opponents and the mockery of cartoonists and late-night television hosts† (421). To validate her claim, Kakutani uses the example of a woman changing â€Å"testimony† to â€Å"ovarimony† at a Modern Language Association. This illustration supports her claim and persuades the audience to agree that the techniques used by P.C. radicals are excessive. To further her claim, she also adds a list of commonly used words and phrases, such as â€Å"charley horse† and â€Å"lazy susan† that, in a  politically correct language, would never be acceptable and debates the necessity and feasibility of changing them. The author also believes that the trendy surge of P.C. dictionaries becoming available to us is forming a new way of speaking and writing. The majority of Kakutani’s backing for this is Rosalie Maggio’s book The Bias-Free Word Finder, a Dictionary of Nondiscriminatory Language. Maggio offers over 5,000 prejudice words and phrases to avoid, as well as techniques on how to make one’s speaking and writing less offensive. In order to support her argument that politically correct language is on the verge being ridiculous, she farcically reconstructs several popular phrases with the use of Maggio’s â€Å"dictionary.† Leonardo DiVinci’s â€Å"Mona Lisa† becomes his â€Å"acme of perfection,† while â€Å"king of the jungle† becomes â€Å"monarch of the jungle.† The extreme illustration is an excellent technique for convincing her audience, but her narrow breadth of sources causes the reader to doubt whether or not she has any other support. Kakutani then inquires as to who will accept and live by these P.C. rules. Her use of satire as a persuasion technique is very efficient when she states that Maggio’s book will most likely never become a staple in the average classroom, or be â€Å"adopted by the average man (sorry, individual)† (421). She then argues that these â€Å"P.C. dictionaries† only create confusion among there own supporters with there self-contradictions. More proof for Kakutani’s claim is an example from Language, Gender, and Professional Writing, by Francine Wattman Frank and Paula A. Treichler of the Modern Language Association. In the book, Frank and Treichler state that using â€Å"he† or â€Å"she† is an â€Å"appropriate construction for talking about an individual (like a jockey, say) who belongs to a profession that’s predominantly male† (422). Kakutani points out that later in the book, the authors contradict themselves by stating, â€Å"using masculine pronouns rhetorically can underscore ongoing male dominance in those fields, implying the need for change† (422). This example regains the trust of Kakutani’s readers. The citation accomplishes its goal in influencing the audience to agree with her claim and causes the reader to wonder what good the  politically correct activists are doing if they cannot even agree with their selves. With the readers trust regained and the su pport of Kakutani’s belief, the author proceeds into her most persuasive argument. Kakutani discusses Maggio’s suggestion to substitute politically incorrect words and phrases with symbols in order to draw attention to the fact that those words and phrases are improper. Rebutting this idea, Kkautani proclaims that Maggio’s philosophy offers no real solution to remove bigotry from our country. In actuality, Maggio’s suggestions focus only on the surface of the word or phrase being corrected and not it’s content. Kakutani supports her claim with the example of when Mark Twain’s classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was under consideration for being eliminated from school curriculums because it was labeled racist due to the fact that it included the word â€Å"nigger.† By using such a well-known incident, Kakutani again convinces the reader to agree with her claim, in part because of the common ground that the incident creates. The support succeeds in persuading and building communion with the reader since most well edu cated individuals have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and are aware that the book has no racist purpose. Kakutani then argues that the politically correct actions taken to correct our language are in reality distorting the meanings of the words being attacked. Using the pamphlet, â€Å"Dictionary of Cautionary Words and Phrases† as an example, Kakutani lists non-prejudicial words that are labeled discriminatory. She relates her claim to words used to describe the Vietnam War and Watergate by the government. Using two incidents that are associated negatively to the reader, the author succeeds in convincing her audience. Kakutani next repeats her allegation that the replacing of politically correct words by symbols or other words is not a solution to end problems, instead it will â€Å"make it easier to shrug off the seriousness of their situation† (423). Once again, Kakutani retreats to an example from Maggio’s book to probe her claim. Concluding, Kakutani states that the actions taken by the politically correct activists are being â€Å"purchased at the cost of freedom of expression and freedom of speech† (424). She ends her argument  with an illustration of how the Gettysburg Address would sound if it had been written in a politically correct manner. Overall, Kakutani loses the readers attention towards the end of her debate. She convinces the unbiased audience that the politically correct movements are flawed, but fails to full persuade them to agree with her view that they are ineffective. The use of so many examples from the same source entices the reader to ponder the legitimacy of her arguments. One book is not enough ground to convince a sophisticated, intelligent reader. Moreover, Kakutani’s neglect to suggest an alternative solution to the one offered by the politically correct advocates makes her essay seem unfinished, and casts a negative shadow over Kakutani’s entire debate.

A Swimming Adventure Essay

Awaking early, I decided to sit on the screened porch and watch the Florida sun come up. Within a very short time as I sat there, the sun peaked on the horizon as it gradually awakened from its night of slumber. The dew sparkled like diamonds as the sun’s rays tenderly caressed the grass. Off in the distance, I could hear the world spring to life as the birds began to sing a spectacular melody, growing louder and louder as each bird began to chirp in unison, like a choir singing in church on Sunday morning. A new day had dawned and I remember thinking how magnificent the birds’ song was and what a wonderful day it was going to be. Returning to my duties as a mom, I started making breakfast for my children, who would wake shortly wanting to eat. Within a few minutes, the wonderful aroma of the pancakes and bacon cooking on the stove gave way to the sound of pitter-pattering little feet as they hit the floor. My children Michael, Laura and Misty were awake and joined me in the kitchen. I seated the children; gave them their breakfast and told them that it was going to be a very hot day and if they ate all of their breakfast and cleaned up the toys, I would take them to the beach to go swimming. The children, bustling with excitement over the news, hurriedly ate their breakfast and started cleaning up their toys while I cleaned the kitchen. Around noon, the temperature was a blistering 95 degrees as we packed a cooler with sandwiches and drinks. We loaded the trunk with our chairs and headed off to the beach. On the way, we saw a black and white cat racing across the street chasing a gray mouse. We played a game called I Spy and sang songs to pass the time. Growing closer to the beach Michael spied a snake lying in the road, and asked, â€Å"Why is the snake lying in the middle of the road mommy?† The snake  was dead and not wanting to upset him, I replied, â€Å"The snake is basking in the sun so it can get warm†. It was not long before we had reached our destination. Anticipation filled the air as we found the perfect spot and unloaded the car. The children helped set up the chairs and then headed off to swim. Deciding to relax a few minutes, I took in the peaceful views that lay before me. The beach was covered with white sand and on each side of the swimming area were large boulders and rocks that had been piled up. There were several covered tables and a bathroom area. Many people were playing in the water while others were lying on their towels and blankets on the sandy beach. A volleyball game was taking place a few yards away and I remember thinking how hot it was as the glaring sun beat down on everyone. Watching the children playing in the surf, the waves from the shore looked fun and almost childlike as they crested and then crashed over one another. I could taste the salt in the air and watched little rainbows glisten through the prisms of the ocean’s spray. The warm ocean water toward the shore was covered with foam and bubbles from the rumbling waves as my children and other families played in the gritty sand of the Gulf. I watched the seagulls swoop  down as a child threw small pieces of bread up in the air. The sea gulls were white and gray and had a long orange beak. I remember thinking to myself, â€Å"This is going to be a perfect day†. The children are playing and laughing in the ocean and call out â€Å"Come on mom, come and play†. I start towards the water trying not to step on any of the tiny hermit crabs as they emerge from their sandy homes in search of scraps. I reached the water; no crabs injured and plunged head first into a two-foot wave coming to shore, hah! How refreshing. My children and I are swimming and playing together in the cool refreshing water. I lift them one by one tossing them slightly in the air and letting  go, I hear them shriek with delight as they plummet towards the water with a splash! This exciting activity is repeated several times until my arms give out and I am forced to take a break, much to the dismay of my children who are having a wonderful time. I stand there in about three feet of water when my children come up with another exciting game; they start swimming through my legs playing mommy is a bridge. I remember thinking boy! I wish I had their energy. After resting a few minutes I picked them up, placed them one at a time on my back and began to swim; we slowly swam under the blue water and up again and I could hear them giggle with excitement and say â€Å"Do it again mommy, do it again†. A short time later a commotion broke out interrupting our games, I struggled to hear what everyone was shouting about and saw people running to the water’s edge and pointing about fifty feet from where the children and I were playing. Looking in the direction they were pointing, a  man with his daughter in tow yells, â€Å"SHARK!† without hesitation, I yelled to my son, â€Å"Michael, get out of the water!† I grabbed Laura and Misty and headed to shore. My adrenalin pumping we reached the shore incredibly fast, like a bolt of lightning streaking across the night sky. Only when we were safely on shore did we look back to see three fins just skimming the surface of the water. I stood there stunned and shocked watching the fins, wondering what kinds of sharks they were and very grateful that everyone was in one piece. A few minutes later, the fins disappeared beneath the surface and everyone was treated to a wondrous sight, there off in the distance, were three dolphins jumping high into the air and making a big splash as they entered the water. The dolphins took turns jumping and playing; sometimes they would jump in unison, as if dancers in a chorus line. As fast as they had appeared, the dolphins slipped beneath the waves and headed out to sea. I wondered if the dolphins laughed to themselves; thinking about how they had scared the two-legged creatures from the water  or if they were just as curious about us as we were of them. With the all clear, we headed back into the water and continued swimming and playing games. A short time later, the children became hungry so we decided to get something to eat and drink. The ham and cheese sandwich tasted good and the Pepsi was refreshing. As we ate, the children began to get goose bumps so I covered their shoulders with a blanket. Hours later, the sun setting, we gathered our belongings, packed up the car and ventured home. The children tired from a full day of fun and games fell asleep quickly. Not wanting to wake the children, I turned off the radio and listened to the hum of the motor as we made our way home. Later as I lay in bed I replayed the day’s events in my mind, from the stunning sunrise, the splendor of the birds as they sang, the laughter of they children as the played, the show of the dolphins, the beauty of the beach and the setting sun, I thanked God for all the wonderful gifts he had given me. THE END Graded and Corrected A+ paper The teacher wanted us to write an essay about something that happned in our lives. I scored a 94% on this essay due to poor punctuation, which has since been fixed.

This assignment will consist of a critical and evaluative intellectual Essay

This assignment will consist of a critical and evaluative intellectual biography of a contemporary leading thinker - Essay Example Norton is a consultant as well as a speaker withregard to strategic performance management and a founder of Palladium group. The profession group mainly deals with performance measurement and management and before founding andbecoming the group’s director he engaged in Renaissance Solutions a consulting company he founded together with Robert Kaplan in 1992. The balanced scorecard aims at helping the development and management of strategy through focusing on the way key measures relate in tracking progress. In the paper Kaplan and Norton believe only adherence to quarterly financial returns and bottom line does not offer an organization the overall strategic view. However, the balanced scorecard goes beyond only the exploitation of financial measures through incorporation of three other essential perspectives. These other perspectives include customer perspective, internal business perspective and the learning or innovation perspective. Customer perspective addresses the way customers consider an organization while internal business perspective requires an organization to establish what is needed for it to excel; moreover, the innovation perspective addresses what is needed in an organization to improve and create value in future. Through evaluation of the present and offering indications of future drivers, the scorecard is capable of m easuring and motivating business performance (Kaplan& Norton, 1992). Kaplan and Norton published Strategy Maps, in this book they show that despite the increased significance of knowledge based assets, many organizations still focused on measuring short term financial performance. The book elaborates strategy as a notion by describing it in terms of its relationship referred to as strategy map. The book shows shifting trend from product-driven economy toward a knowledge economy values intangible assets in organizational performance. However, at the time of writing the book there was no literature offering

The expectations of English colonists in Chesapeake and New England Essay

The expectations of English colonists in Chesapeake and New England - Essay Example Immediately after entering in 1607 the muddy outposts the English colonists referred to as Jamestown, Smith observed the inappropriateness of the orders given by the pioneers of the colony with the pressures of survival and endurance on the Anglo-American border. The Native American lands which the British colonists inhabited had corn, while the settlers gave in quickly to diseases as the quantity of their foods declined. Smith eventually initiated a strategy of threats and forced trade. In a matter of weeks Smith had forced from the chiefdom of Powhatan large quantities of corn. As Smith paraded all over the Chesapeake, he became a vicious onlooker of the Algonquian tribes he wanted to conquer. Already fascinated in the richness of human cultures, prior to his entrance to Virginia he had stumbled upon a diversity of peoples in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The biographers of Smith claim that his encounters with different human cultures put him in a good position to understand Indian culture and the native people than any other of his contemporaries. Hence, this essay will use the perspective of Captain John Smith to discuss the initial expectations of the English colonists with Chesapeake and New England and how they lived among the Native American Indians.... The forcefulness of the English border population devastated as well as the agenda of George Thorpe to acculturate and civilize the Powhatan Indians into a Christian and English New World realm. The demands of the border population generated the 1622 Indian rebellion, which hampered the development of the colony, sped up the collapse of the Virginia Company of London, and compelled elites to reject any idea of humanitarian Indian strategy. In defending the missionary attempts, the pioneers of the company dealt with the issue of the right of Englishmen to Indian lands. Some English scholars compared the Native American Indians to wild beasts who do not know private ownership. A report of the Virginia Company claimed that it is not illegal or immoral to take over the land of the Indians and inhabit them because there is no other reasonable alternative to discuss this matter with the natives but through coercion. The Virginia Company never reached, nor did it try, an ultimate resolution to the issue of aboriginal title. Only invasion, the pioneers argued, could not rationalize occupation of the Indian soil. Rather, the Company was predisposed to consider English occupation as an ‘irreversible deed’ and to defend its continuance on the basis that the Indians would give in to Christianity and dealt with compassionately. The process of conversion could, and ought to be, diplomatic. While the Spaniards invaded the West Indies with bloodshed and brutality, the English would employ humane and benevolent means, appropriate to the natural character of the English. An expectation that the Indians would willingly dispose of their own cultural

Ethical Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Decisions - Essay Example The economic and social conditions surrounding us continuously evolve, new technologies are developed, and new products are introduced; above all, the social infrastructure is continuously being built and renovated, and the institutional arrangements concerning education, medicine, culture, and other fields are constantly changing. In the face of these complications, it seems almost impossible to reach a consensus about the intrinsic meaning of sustainabiliy with respect to the natural environment. Nuclear power, atomic weapons, gene engineering, genetically modified food and water pollution will cause great problems for future generations "unable to cope with these threats" (Lomborg 2001, 87). Out duty is to minimize harmful effect of modern technology and progress on our children and save out planet from dying. Our duty to people in the past is to remember their achievements and contribution to science, culture and economy which had a great impact on historical development and curr ent progress. Our duty is to value and keep their information and major achievements. Cultural and scientific heritage of the past should be kept because it impossible to render and reconstruct masterpieces and scientific knowledge. Children remain the prime source of old-age security, allowing many elders who can no longer work to achieve the cultural ideal of sitting by the fire and having food brought to them. 2. There should be a general statement of 'human rights' because all people are equal and should be equally treated in all countries across the world. The place of the individual is important as there is recognition of the normative and legal importance of protecting human rights over states' rights. All people around the world should be fairly treated according to the essential rights of man. The 'global human rights' should include such concepts as freedom, liberty and universal justice. Justice must be approached in practical terms that address the contradictions and complexities of the present-day world. These inquiries find relevance in contexts in which the pursuit of justice is a matter not of an imagined or desired future, but of an all-too-real present replete with dilemmas and risks. The main feature of justice is the pervasive need to find a balance between contradictory pressures. "Each individual aspect needs to be interpreted from the perspective of justice to assess wh ether its promise and performance is to be viewed positively" (Chandler Herman 2002, 51). Liberty and freedom is important because rights entitle people from one countries or social groups to equality with other social group or nationality. People should have universal rights such as freedom of movement, the right to take part in public affairs, directly or through elected representatives; and the right to free choice and practice of religion. Freedom means absence of restrictions and compulsion imposed on a person. The concept of freedom coexisted with the idea of liberty, which in effect relegated most dimensions of justice to the internal relations between state and society. With the separation of church and state that accompanied the rise of the modern state, the notion of freedom assumed a specifically and predominantly secular character that could no longer be interpreted merely as an extension of religious thought. These universal human rights should be introduced on the global scale because all

Law of Tort. Majrowski v Guys and St. Thomas NHS Trust. Rylands v Coursework

Law of Tort. Majrowski v Guys and St. Thomas NHS Trust. Rylands v Fletcher - Coursework Example Therefore Ben is at liberty to pursue a claim against X Ltd. in tort for Amir’s harassment provided he can substantiate the requisite elements constituting harassment. The fact that Ben complained to management in the past and after the incident in which he was locked in a store closet will not exempt X Ltd. from liability under the principle of vicarious liability. Despite a formal warning, the harassment continued. The fact is, an employer can be vicariously liable even if the employer is not aware of the harassment leading to psychiatric injury. Since Ben can substantiate harassment for which the employer is vicarious liable under the House of Lords’ interpretation of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 , Ben will have to prove that the harassment took place in the course of employment. An employer can only be held vicariously liable for the conduct of an employee during the course of employment. In this regard, the Salmond test is instructive. The Salmond test provides that: An employer will be liable not only for a wrongful act of an employee that he has authorized, but also for a wrongful and unauthorised mode of doing some act authorised by the master. 5 It can be inferred that since Ben complained in the past and Amir’s harassment only intensified, X Ltd. authorized the harassment and therefore Ben will be able to meet the definition of the Salmond test. As Lord Millett stated, the Salmond test would act as a guide for applying the law to different facts and circumstances.6 Vicarious liability under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 broadens the Salmond test in that the employee need only be acting during work hours and in the workplace.7 Moreover, it was established in Jones v Tower Boot Co. Ltd., that the Salmond Test may not be applicable in cases of harassment. The Salmond test may only be applicable in cases where an employee’s tortious conduct is directed toward a third party. However, when the employee’s conduct is d irected toward another employee, the employer will not escape liability. In this regard, the phrase â€Å"in the course of employment† will be interpreted liberally.8 In the final analysis, the test to be applied in establishing vicarious liability, is whether or not the behaviour complained of was such that it had an impact on the victim’s ability to perform his duties. Essentially, what this means is that once the harassment occurs during working hours and more especially in the workplace, the employer will be liable.9 In any event, there is no doubt that the bullying and/or harassment committed by Amir, did have an impact on Ben’s ability to work. He took three weeks off work and upon his return was subjected to further bullying which rendered Ben unable to return to work. Therefore in all the circumstances, Ben has a claim against his employer, X Ltd. for harassment at work under the principles of vicarious liability. B. Amir Section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 provides for a new head of civil/tort claims in respect of harassment. Civil/tortious liability will arise when a person embarks upon a â€Å"course of conduct† that â€Å"amounts to harassment of another†. Although harassment is not defined by the 1997 Act, the House of Lords ruled that harassment would include causing anxiety or distress†. In fact, Section 3 of the 1997 Act permits the recovery of damages in respect of anxiety and distress resulting from harassment. Moreover Section 7 (2) provides that harassment includes â€Å"alarming the person or causing the person distress†. Section 7(2) would certainly include the silent telephone calls as well as the false report that Ben’s wife was in the emergency room of the hospital. On the facts of the case for discussion, Ben has certainly suffered what can be described as anxiety or distres

Model health promotion or wellness plan Research Paper

Model health promotion or wellness plan - Research Paper Example Hence, in community settings, this model is important in the health promotion campaign of enhanced success levels. In Montana, a community partnership had been forged between the Montana Department of Public Health, Benefis Healthcare, and Montana State University Social Norms Project in constructing a program that addresses the alarming epidemiology of high cardiovascular health-related risks. In particular, the Montana Cardiovascular Health Program had been established with several goals in mind. The program is formulated to elevate health community awareness on specific manifestations in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, reduce the need for treatment time, and enhance intervention outcomes through increased system efficiency in emergency response. In particular terms, community residents are further educated on what to look for in individuals for possible worsening heart and stroke conditions that need emergency care and treatment, as well as the risk factors that must be avoided before such incidents may develop.

WHAT ARE THE PURCHASING ADDING VALUES TO A COMPANY AND WHAT CORE Assignment

WHAT ARE THE PURCHASING ADDING VALUES TO A COMPANY AND WHAT CORE PURCHASING ACTIVITIES CAN BE DONE TO MAXMIZE COMPANY'S PROFITABLITY - Assignment Example In the manufacturing sector, it is generally accepted that the value of inputs materials forms a high percentage of the ultimate product price – to the extent of as much as 60% and even more in highly competitive industries. In companies that execute major construction projects in the different engineering fields like civil, metallurgical/other process plants, power plants etc. the value of inputs will be equally high. In this background, the importance of economizing and strategizing procurement can not be over-emphasized. This essay examines the various aspects of procurement, developments in this professional activity and the scope for maximizing profits. In a regular manufacturing company, depending upon sales forecast, production plans and budgets are drawn up and these help the Procurement to anticipate and plan the routine as well as non-recurring purchases. Purchasing activities can be broadly identified as tendering, bid evaluation, negotiations, vendor selection, ordering and follow up. Make or buy decisions are taken at strategic management meetings and once a decision is taken to procure an item from vendors, Procurement receives the requests for purchase along with quantities and specifications. Tendering for non-standard purchases is more time consuming and involves calling for quotations based on buyer’s specifications and terms like quantities, delivery schedule, supply conditions, payment terms, guarantees and warranties etc. Quotations are evaluated for technical and commercial comparison and to identify the preliminary list of suppliers for further discussions. Negotiations cover the technical specifications as well as other terms that differ from tender documents and to arrive at mutually acceptable terms of supply. Based on the success of such negotiations, one or more suppliers are selected and the purchase orders for going ahead with the supplies are issued. Regular follow up is part of the

Substitution and Income Effects Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Substitution and Income Effects - Research Paper Example The objective of this paper is to analyze the fluctuations over the purchase behaviors of individuals with relation to the ‘income effect’ and the ‘substitute effect’ when the gasoline prices go high. Theoretical Perspective From a theoretical perspective, the substitute effect essentially refers to the effect over the purchase decisions which take place as a result of the changes in terms of price of the commodities. When the price of a particular commodity increases, the individuals tend to purchase the substitutes of that commodity which would cost them less than the earlier one. One of the major impacts is on the purchasing power of the individuals which seems to be lower when the price of the commodities rises. This can be regarded as a consequential effect to the fact that the fixed budget is less flexible than the prices changes of the commodities which, in turn, tend to determine the consumption capacity of that particular individual or household. In this context, though the budget of the consumer does not alter, the increase on the prices tends to present a circumstance as if the individual has lowered his/her budget with similar consequences to a decrease in the income of the individual. Therefore, the individual responds according to the fluctuation in the purchasing power which is termed as the income effect (Samuelson, 1980). This particular relationship between the budget, substitute and price changes can be apparently witnessed from the diagram represented below: Source: (Iowa State University, 2012) As can be witnessed from the above diagram, q1 and q2 represent the original product and the substitute products respectively. The graph represents that for purchasing 18 units of product q1 and q2, the individual has to spend 8 units and 4 units respectively increasing the probability to consume q2, provided all other factors such as quality are assured (Iowa State University, 2012). Discussion The discussion henceforth wil l address the critical situation over a year when the prices of gasoline have been assumed to increase by 100%. 1. You drove less and purchased less gasoline The reduction in the driving distance is expected to result in a lesser consumption of gasoline. Over a year, with the speedy hikes in the gasoline prices, i.e. by 100%, it becomes quite likely that a budget constraint shall be witnessed. Consequently, as substitute of gasoline, especially in the case of automobiles that are quite constricted, an apparent occurrence of income effect is bound to take place. It is in this context that by reducing the driving distances, the expenditure in terms of gasoline can also be reduced substantially mitigating the constraint of lowered budget due to rapid price increases. 2. You ate out less often In this situation, the consumer responds to the increase in gasoline prices by avoiding gasoline consumption needed to travel with the purpose of having food outside. In this context, the reaction of avoiding travel for outdoor fooding can be regarded as a result of income effect. It is in this context that by avoiding extra gasoline consumption for such luxurious or rather such recreational causes, savings can be augmented proportionately and, likewise, the budget flow can be made flexible by a certain extent. 3. You spent less to

News Story - Emirates vs Canada Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

News Story - Emirates vs Canada - Article Example Emirates executives have argued that such an expansion could potentially create 2,800 jobs across Canada and generate up to $480m in additional economic activity†(The Economist). This proclamation did convince the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia to certain extend. However, Air Canada being the only airline flying to South Asia demanded the increase in UAE airline would only benefit UAE and will hurt Canada financially. The Canadians pointed out that the UAE airlines want to carry passengers to Canada from India and Pakistan using Dubai as hub. The author comments that the gulf airline has proved to be successful even during the recession and captured the travel market throughout Asia, Europe and America. According to some officials the treatment of Dubai government towards airline industry is not up to the mark. â€Å"Most governments around the world treat aviation as a pariah, choking its growth with costly, misdirected regulation, instead of adopting policies that recognize its considerable socio-economic benefits and support its sustainable growth†(The Economist).Moreover, the tax policy also creates hindrance to the growth and development of airline industry. Critical analysis of the dispute between Canadian and U.A.E airlines A) Main reason for dispute: The dispute between Canadian and U.A.E airline companies has created big problems between the relationships of these countries. The main thing for despise between these countries could have been the immediate action of the U.A.E. government to close down the air base. U.A.E., being the fastest going airline industry had landing agreements with Canada for the prospects of growing their market share as airline industry. The main reason for the dispute between these two nations started with the UAE government asking for more landing rights from their Canadian counterparts. According to the landing agreement signed in 1999, the Emirati airline was allowed to fly only 6 times a week .But, during 2007, UAE airline officials demanded an increase in the flight traffic to boost up the sales potential. This request by UAE has undoubtedly irritated the Canadian officials; nevertheless they did reconsider the request delivered by the UAE officials. They have understood that by giving extra landing rights they can very well be benefited in expanding their travel market. This negotiation between the two countries broiled for many years without ending in any agreeable outcome. However, the problem aroused in 2010, when the Canadian military approached U.A.E to share their military air base to service its operation for Afghanistan mission. U.A.E took this opportunity to show the vengeance by giving a non -renewable three- month lease to the Canadian military. Change in the attitude of Canadian authorities In the November of 2010 it was reported that there was change in the minds of Canadian official as to the expansion of landing rights to the U.A.E. Canada was ready to offer m ore landing slots to U.A.E in areas like Calgary and Vancouver considering the business prospect it could bring to their country. Nonetheless, U.A.E found out that there was a decrease in the capacity offered by Canada in air passenger travel which led to their offence. If one look at the whole situation, U.A.E. was right in demanding additional landing rights as this was useful to both the countries in expanding their travel market. Since U.A.E had a considerable amount of Canadian citizens, an addition in the flight

Lufthansa Austrian Airlines Takeover Essay Example for Free

Lufthansa Austrian Airlines Takeover Essay Taking a brief look on the economic development in Europe up to the year 2008 reveals high GDP growth rates and reminds us about the times of prosperity that we almost all so nostalgically recall. But Austrian Airlines have never seen any boom in revenues, profits and the number of transported passengers. This alone is a reason for big concern as airlines have never been a counter-cyclical business. If the company is unable to sustain itself in the times of prosperity what loss will they carry in the books in the times of economic downswing? Finding a powerful strategic partner seems like inevitable for the Austrian company. In 2008 Austrian Airlines was the 11th biggest airlines in Europe with 10,7 million passengers and 2,5â‚ ¬ billion in revenues. On the other side Lufthansa has 7 times more passengers and makes 10 times more money in revenues. Putting these two categories into relation shows how company? s size creates numerous benefits, particularly financial ones. In 2008 Austrian Airlines had revenue of 233â‚ ¬ per passenger while Lufthansa attained 357â‚ ¬ per passenger. Now it is obvious how size matters and that synergies create great cost-cutting potential and increase profitability. If Lufthansa manages to bring Austrian Airlines to its own level of profitability they would have EBIT of 140â‚ ¬ million if the expenses and passenger number stay on 2008 levels. Not to mention the strategic benefits of this acquisition, and probable Lufthansa? s ability to make use of synergy effects i. e. to cut costs and sell even more flight tickets thanks to wide-spread sales offices all over the world. Acquiring Austrian Airlines proves as lucrative for a Lufthansa if they transform the company and as a good deal for current shareholders who can count on even more losses if Austrian Airlines decide to pursue stand-alone strategy which means that they will eventually lose all the capital they put up . This simple analysis show why did consolidation wave in airlines industry pick up on speed. It really seems that main task for carriers is to get big as fast as they can or to face with a demise of their business. Immediate recapitalization of Austrian Airlines in the amount of 500â‚ ¬ million just supports above statement as even the biggest European airline would be unable to cover such a huge accumulated loss if it weren? t for the help of the Austrian government and the European Union. Lufthansa plans to take advantage of the Austrian Airlines? geographic location and their know-how and expertise in CEE and Middle East. After the fall of communism in Europe Austria has played a crucial role as a gateway to Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Austrian Airlines took its business one step further and established new core market in the Middle East. For an international company like Lufthansa Austrian Airlines represents a cornerstone in the expansion towards Middle Eastern and Asian markets. Austrian Airlines is a first mover in CEE and Middle East and a market leader with 61 destinations in the region whose expertise in the Eastern markets will be of a great use ones Lufthansa decides to go East more aggressively as Austrian Airlines will share their core competence with the group. Cutting overlapping flights and optimization of its joint offer and sales activities will improve Austrian Airlines business activity right away. Further developing of Austrian? s successful hub system at Vienna airport will also bring positive effects in the long run. Since Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines are old partners within the framework of the Star Alliance and they know each other very well integration in the Lufthansa Group should play out without major obstacles. Companies cooperated within the context of a bilateral joint venture for Austrian-German flight traffic as well as in the important foreign markets of Switzerland and Brussels. Even their technical services have been cooperating closely and that is also one of the reasons why Austrian executives have trust in Lufthansa and why did they choose exactly Lufthansa among 12 initial bidders. Companies expect to be able to exploit extensive synergies and assess these to amount to 40â‚ ¬ million in cost savings and additional revenues. Apart from all this, Lufthansa has assured Austrian Airlines that they will be granted extensive autonomy within the group and that they will preserve their Austrian identity which stands for quality and Austrian hospitality. Vienna will remain the hub of all flight operations, so that Austria will continue to feature very good international flight connections. Its central position in the heart of Europe made it easier for Lufthansa to grant them autonomy. No major downsizing of the fleet is planned which would be unthinkable if they wanted to pursue stand-alone strategy. On an organizational level, Austrian Airlines will operate as a profit center within the Lufthansa Group what represents a great incentive to get out of the red once and for all. As a part of Lufthansa Group Austrian Airlines will easier protect its position on the market if the recession hits the economy in 2009 because smaller carriers which are not supported by a strong corporate parent will struggle with insufficient resources and declining passenger numbers. As it will soon become apparent, Austrian Airlines shareholders, especially Republic of Austria, will sign a great deal if transaction proceeds. Keeping independence among the group, operating under its distinguishing identity while improving quality and profitability of its services sounds almost incredible for the company which could declare bankruptcy if it weren? t for its strategic partner. Considering current situation both sides could profit from the transaction. Moreover, the integration in the Lufthansa Group will provide Austrian Airlines with access to new passenger flows and enable them to more effectively build up international brand awareness and be Austrian ambassador all over the world which will strengthen their business model. Lufthansa? s worldwide presence, their size, lobbying power and relationship with gasoline sellers will be of great help to Austrian Airlines. In the light of the bleak economic prospect for 2009 Austrian Airlines can focus on their core business knowing that Lufthansa watches their back. This strategy could work well as Austrian Airlines received numerous awards in 2008 including the so-called â€Å"Oscars† of the industry and a first place ranking as the best airline in Europe according to a survey carried out by â€Å"Capital† magazine. Austrian Airlines have a reliability rate of over 99. % and is among top five most punctual carriers in Europe and could improve Lufthansa? s business model too by sharing their expertise. A fully restructured Austrian Airlines will be forced to become a thriving member of the Lufthansa Group once the company is aware that the Republic of Austria will not back them up if anything goes down the drain. Concerning a history of mutual cooperation between Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines executives in charge need to be particularly careful to avoid accusations of conflicting self-interest as these may arise due to close ties between two companies. Since there were 11 other bidders at the start and Lufthansa was chosen in the end both parties need to be adequately informed about all facts relevant to this transaction so that they can clearly explain why is this transaction undisputedly the best possible solution for both sides. Considering that Lufthansa is taking over a company which made huge losses in the past years and whose balance sheet reveals equity ratio of just 11% (which is appalling even for a bank) strategic rationale needs to be explained clearly and concisely together with all future advantages because otherwise someone could think acquisition is completely irrational. Even after the restructuring aid Austrian Airlines will remain highly indebted and Lufthansa? s executives have to justify their reasoning by outlining benefits. Transaction Overview After signing initial agreements (CA;LOI) which provide a foundation for any further steps, Framework Agreement is often cited in the underlying Voluntary Public Offer. Basic arrangements between parties should be outlined in the letter of intent and then once more stipulated in the Framework Agreement. The underlying Voluntary Public Takeover offer stipulates conditions precedent which are to be fulfilled before closing. From that reason they all represent potential deal-breakers since there is a possibility that some of them will not be fulfilled. According to Framework Agreement an extraordinary shareholders meeting will be called just before the closing of the Share Purchase Agreement so that recapitalization can be authorized, new supervisory board appointed and articles of association amended. In order to mitigate any negative impact of information leakage on the transaction Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines had signed a confidentiality agreement. Both parties are obliged to use confidential information just for the purposes of the ongoing transaction and will not disclose any information to the third parties in order not to bring any company in an unfavorable position. Letter of intent is a second important document signed which outlines Lufthansa? intentions and give an overview of the basic transaction, purchase price, determines break-up fee and division of costs incurred as well as court under which jurisdiction any disputes will be solved. For Lufthansa it is of extreme importance to include an exclusive dealing clause so that Austrian Airlines obliges to negotiate just with Lufthansa and no one else at the time. Since Lufthansa plans to take over a company in an extremely bad shape it would be inappropriate of Austrian Airlines not to bring in all their energy and foc us to close the deal. Letter of intention needs to include details about a stake purchase and subsequent mandatory public offer. The details of the purchase price (maximum 4,49â‚ ¬ per share) should also be included i. e. the price paid for the 41,56 % of shares held by Osterreichische Industrieholding AG which includes the details on the earn-out option (under which conditions will Lufthansa pay an amount of up to 162â‚ ¬ million depending on Austrian Airlines? future economic performance and on the outperformance of the Lufthansa? s share price). It should also stipulate the conditions of the offer given to a minor shareholders so that Lufthansa holds at least 75% of the permanent voting shares (without consideration of the treasury shares) in Austrian Airlines after the end of the initial acceptance period. Lufhansa? s intention to fully take over Austrian Airlines should be clearly pointed out particularly their wish to acquire 90% of all shares so that they can launch a squeeze-out. The important conditions precedent should be included in the Letter of Intent. Approval by the competent antitrust authorities in the European Union and other countries should be right away designated as â€Å"conditio sine qua non†. Approval of the restructuring aid is also deemed as extremely important and it should be stipulated in the Letter of Intent as 500â‚ ¬ million granted by the state of Austria and the European Union are absolutely necessary to compensate for the negative shareholder value of Austrian Airlines and make Lufthansa willing to take them over. Recapitalization will also further dilute the free float shareholders making it easier for Lufthansa to launch a squeeze-out procedure. Letter of intent should also arrange who bears the break-up cost in the case of a regulatory disapproval. This is seen as one of the major risk since Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines partly operate the same lines and consolidation would lead to a further concentration of power. Considering negative financial results of the Austrian Airlines letter of intent should already include frame of the future executive structure while definitive agreement should include exact top-management structure in the Austrian Airlines which will facilitate integration in the Lufthansa group and turn around the profitability. Since Shareholders Agreement of Austrian Airlines syndicate had already dealt with issue it might be a bit cumbersome renegotiating it. Letter of intent should also state that Lufthansa has no intention whatsoever to dismantle Austrian Airlines i. e. that brand, headquarters and route network favoring Austrian national interests will be kept. Lufthansa should try to avoid the matter of employment until the very end (final agreement) so that they are not bound by pre-signed clauses once they negotiate the final contract because restructuring of the Austrian Airlines is necessary by all means. Considering that Lufthansa is the biggest European airline company it the approval of antitrust authorities will not come smoothly. Second condition precedent, approval of 500â‚ ¬ million is not deemed as problematic as this pay-out coincides with Austrian national interests to preserve a national carrier which serves its interest. (Besides it wouldn? t make almost any sense for the European Union to grant the acquisition but rejects the aid. ) Acquiring Austrian Airlines will only increase Lufthansa? s size and market power. Holding such a dominant position could incite abusing it e. g. by charging unfair prices or refusing to innovate. This horizontal agreement will put competition in an unfavorable position but on the other hand Lufthansa can argue that consolidation in the European airline industry is inevitable. However, only consolidation will ensure survival of the European airlines in the long run, fragmented market structure leaves them susceptible to either bankruptcy or takeover by Asian od American airlines who are fortunately by law not allowed to be major shareholders. Since regulation is the real obstacle to consolidation alliances in Europe prevail. Unfavorable circumstance is also the fact that at the time of this pending transaction Lufthansa bought a big chunk of Brussels Air. The regulators will certainly not like that. Like in any deal representations and warranties play an important role as they typically make up the largest part of the share purchase agreement. They have an informational, protective and supportive role in the transaction . Austrian Airline? epresentations and warranties, coupled with the Lufthansa’s due diligence, enable Lufthansa to learn as much as possible about the business prior to signing the definitive acquisition agreement. Second, they are protective. This is crucial for Lufthansa who acquires highly indebted company which value without restructuring aid is negative. The seller’s representations and warranties provide mechanism for the Lufthansa to step back or possibly to renegotiate the terms of ac quisition. The second major feature of merger the agreement is the inclusion of various pre-closing covenants, or promises to do something or not do something during the period between the signing of the acquisition agreement and the closing. Generally, covenants should be absolute and Lufthansa? s goal is that none material changes take place until the closing and that business condition does not aggravate in any respect because if such events took place it would mean that they overpaid. The reasoning behind the indemnification is the same. One should emphasize the importance of reps and warranties relating to financial statements (compliance with accounting standards) , taxes and employees (manager contracts, severance terms and compensations) and no pending litigations which breech would surely threaten the envisaged transaction. The role of all above named provisions is risk minimization and these provision should also act as an incentive for a fair dealing.

Technology Development Essay Example for Free

Technology Development Essay The causal link between development and historical time is often contested, although there is persuasive evidence of this link. Therefore, this essay will have the following structure: first of all, theoretical justification of the claim that historical time is connected with development will be given; secondly, several case studies will be analyzed; and finally, the counterarguments will be discussed and refuted. Starting with the theoretical explication of the link between historical time and development, it is necessary to admit that power in international relations has been defined differently in different historical eras. For example, once military capabilities were the only measure of a state’s power; nowadays, a variety of economic, social, and cultural indicators contribute to a country’s position on the international arena. Power, in turn, is associated with development, being its cause and consequence at the same time: only developed countries can attain power, which later accelerates their economic development through providing access to resources and capabilities of other countries. As concerns case studies that prove this point, American involvement in World War I and World War II will be analyzed. These wars have had a significant impact on the economic conditions of the United States, although they were not started or incited by America, therefore can be regarded as external historical influences. Different war involvements have had different influence on the U. S. economy. The legacy of the World War I is associated with the Great Depression; on the contrary, US entry in the World War II boosted economic growth. The World War I was not the main reason for the Great Depression, but almost all causes of this economic disaster are directly or indirectly connected with the war. For instance, if we speak about agricultural sector, during the war the government was subsidizing farms and paid absurdly high prices for wheat and other grains, but when the World War I was over, the federal government abruptly stopped their policies to protect farmers. As the result, agriculture suffered from such an unbalanced approach. Moreover, foreign trade suffered significantly. The Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922, Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 and a number of other lawsuits increased import tariffs without any economically sound reason. The result of the abovementioned tariff changes was that European businesses, devastated by the war, could not sell their products on the U. S. market in necessary quantities. It is possible to perceive the American entry into the World War II as an event that has actually ended the Great Depression in this country. Due to large numbers of citizens enlisted in the army, unemployment rates fell to record low levels during the war. Soldiers received decent salaries and were eagerly spending their money after the return from the battlefield. Strengthened consumer spending fueled growth and was a sign of restored consumer confidence. Large sums of defense spending pulled the U. S. economy out of the Depression for the ample reason that such fields as defense and security are very labor-intensive and created thousands of jobs to further decrease unemployment. The necessity to manufacture war supplies had given rise to a powerful military-industrial complex. While wars have had varying overall effects on the U. S. economy, they definitely fueled the development of the military-industrial complex. Wartime production of the military-industrial complex has been soaring throughout the American history. The military-industrial complex came to play a significant role in the overall structure of the economy. It is quite self-evident that the complex’s raison d’etre is the production of arms and equipment for subsequent use in military operations. Thus, military operations following the World War II have only strengthened the America’s leading position on the international arena, which in turn provided for beneficial trade agreements, migration of skilled labor to the U. S. , and a voice in international institutions. All the aforementioned factors are directly linked to economic development. Coming back to the link between the World War II and economic development, several other factors have to be mentioned. War machine demanded scientific innovations, so the war stimulated many important fields (Ruttan, 2006). The Marshall Plan was introduced after the war and helped to secure markets for numerous American products by providing financial help to devastated European countries. International monetary arrangements were reconsidered. Due to the spurt of economic growth and economic devastation of Europe, America became the world’s superpower. War is not necessarily an economic stimulus to the victor, but there was no destruction on American soil, so the U. S. was prosperous in the post-war era. The U. S. got involved in the World War II only at the closing stages of the conflict, when the victory over fascism was secured by its European allies. The U. S. entry in the World War II boosted the growth of the military-industrial complex, and that was one of the major reasons behind the decision to engage in it. This is an example of how a state can take advantage of historical circumstances to boosts its development. There are several strands of counterargument to the statement that development is connected with historical time. The most important strand argues that the development is associated solely with the country’s internal resources and capabilities: for example, natural resources are of greater importance for development than global historical conditions. However, there are examples that disprove this theory. For instance, Japan has very limited range of available natural resources, and their dependency on foreign energy sources is almost total. However, due to historic factors such as defeat in the World War II and Japan’s occupation by the Allied Powers, Japan adopted Western principles of state-building and social organization. Despite lack of natural resources, rapid westernization and modernization following the World War II allowed Japan to develop the most cutting-edge high-tech industry and become the second largest economy in the world. Therefore, the claim that internal resources are more important than historical time with regard to development does not hold. While the claim might have had some credibility in the past, when all important processes were confined to the borders of nation state, globalization changes the nature of those processes by reshaping all fields of human activity ranging from manufacture to governance. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that there is a strong link between development of a given state and global historical conditions. References Ruttan, V. W. (2006). Is War Necessary for Economic Growth? Military Procurement and Technology Development. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peacekeepin Peace Building And World Politics International Relations Essay

Peacekeepin Peace Building And World Politics International Relations Essay At the end of the cold war, internal conflicts around the world accounted for enormous loss of lives in which civilian non-combatant involved were estimated at about 90% (UNDP 2002, P.85). This trend represented a huge threat to regional and global stability as the spillover effect of these internal conflicts witnessed mass deaths and refugee movements across borders. The search for succor to this fiasco beamed a search light towards liberal peace building which aims to prevent a recurring violence and enduring long lasting peace in post conflict environments. The liberal peace paradigm is therefore predicated on a fundamental essence of establishing stability in post conflict societies through a prevailing peace building consciousness. As a post-mortem approach to conflict circumstances, liberal peace seeks to lay the foundation for long term stability through strengthened democracy and open market economics embedded in a framework for international peace. However, the historical experiment of the liberal peace model has been consequentially fratricidal especially in fragile and divided societies just emerging from civil war (Paris 2004, p.151). It therefore puzzles some commentators that the liberal peace model translates into a world view of a benevolent concept, which seeks to consolidate peace through concrete strategies of establishing socio-economic foundations juxtaposed with solid political framework for long term sustainable peace. This gap between the normative liberal peace concept and the empirical evidence obtained, paves way for criticism. This essay therefore seeks to inquire the conduct of liberal peace operations in post conflict societies by engaging existing debates that questions the practical consequences of the liberal peace project as evident in post civil war societies. Therefore the essay will be divided into four parts, the first part delves into the discursive debates of liberal peace, with a view to understanding the ideological choice of the subject matter. The second part looks at the empirical illustration that touches upon international institutions involvement in promoting liberal peace particularly in non advanced democracies and closed market societies around the world, this will help clarify and validate the inherent tensions in international peace building proposals. The thirdly part will underscore some of the challenges in establishing liberal peace, while the paper concludes by giving plausible recommendations as to how best the liberal peace model can be established without necessarily generating skepticism on its long term strategy towards a feasible world order. I find solace in the contention that liberal peace continuous to offer a more comprehensive international policy frame work for global peace, based on the assumptions that liberal market democracies rarely engage in violent war (Doyle 1986, P.1151). Uncapping Liberal Peace: The term liberal peace illustrates a policy agenda to locate alternatives to traditional peace keeping. Hence the liberal peace concept provides a comprehensive approach that entails, creates, and sustains a broad spectrum of processes, patterns, and stages necessary to transform hitherto conflict societies toward peaceful and sustainable ones. (Lederach 1997, P.20). Liberal peace however offers a robust range of structural options that precede formal peace making in violent societies. It stresses the key stages of peace to encompass a dynamic social condition that allows for non violent cessation alternative to civil conflict. The United Nations `agenda for peace` offers a valid insight into liberal peace, when the secretary general through a policy statement opined that post conflict peace building will vehemently seek to identify and nurture structures capable of strengthening and consolidating peace in the aftermath of civil war (Ghali 1992, p.32). By this statement it meant that the United Nations as a leading international security body identifies with the task that liberal peace sought to achieve. In accomplishing this task, the United Nations had to pioneer post conflict peace building efforts alongside other international agencies as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and a host of others. Giving the enormity of international peace builders in global discourse, a wide range of actors where involved, and their operational manifestations revealed that common strategies for consolidating peace in war-shattered societies was adopted (Paris 2004, p. 19). Liberal peace has therefore been conceived to be a western consensus to pioneer a global shift towards political and economic reform. In almost all parts of the world, liberal peace became â€Å"something close to a global theology† in post cold war era (Ake 1997, p.287). As a remedy for conflict prevention, multi-nationals also played roles of peace building agent through the promotion of good governance in developing countries. In today`s global politics, liberal peace has been transformed into a new interventionist norm within international security framework guided by a widely held assumption of conflict management theory (Chandler 2004, p.59). Interestingly, the principles that necessitated peace building experiments particularly at post civil conflict situations have attracted the attention of keen observers. Since there are no indications that peace building operations will be on the decline owing to `currency new wars`, in today`s international domain. The liberal peace debate does offer an opportunity to vigorously investigate into the prevailing conduct of peace building operations with a view to establishing effective strategies that suits the task of lasting peace in domestic post conflict environment and the world in a broader sense. Liberal Peace Building Records An Empirical analysis: Drawing on the ideas of Wilson that liberalism is essential to attaining peace and security within domestic and international political discourse. He asserts that democracy promotes the â€Å"ascendancy of reason over passion† and promises â€Å"the supreme and peaceful rule of counsel† offering a recipe for â€Å"peace and progress† in political life (Wilson 1968, p.90). Therefore the marketization and democratisation of post conflict societies especially after the cold war was in tandem with Wilson`s faith in the actual peace that liberalization could produce. Surprisingly the entrenchment of this optimistic formula in countries just emanating from internal conflict has exposed and provoked enormous tension, resulting in the constant questioning of the process of liberalization. The end of the cold war marked a water-shed in the promotion of liberal peace building across nation states. The United Nation and other international organizations became directly involved in several measures to proffer lasting peace on long-standing conflicts. During this period international organizations were willing to put in energies and resources in rehabilitating ‘failed states, as such the United Nations became increasingly proactive in cases of humanitarian crises on a large scale. Consequently, new peace building missions were launched by the United Nations Security Council to cope with the cases of civil conflicts that preceded the cold war. However, it is of interest to note that the pattern of peace building during this period was observed to have shifted beyond the traditional peace keeping in Westphalia sense. For instance in Cambodia the UN transitional authority (UNTAC) through its mandate temporarily took over administration of the domestic affairs (Schear 1996, p.174). The peace building manifestations saw UNTAC through an election and in that sense it was applauded for fostering peace through political liberalization, although the long term legacy of democratization in Cambodia showed that the elections brought relative calm to Cambodia during the election, but soon after the United Nation withdrew UNTAC the status quo returned. UNTAC, whose mandate was leveraged on a robust peace agreement between the warring groups in Cambodia, operated within the liberal peace building framework. The peace agreement was in principle a master plan to bring lasting peace to Cambodians through drafting a new constitution to accommodate the entrenchment of liberal democracy and a committed human rights declaration. This approach assumes that transforming Cambodia from a troubled state, to a liberal democratic one will move the country from its â€Å"far civil† situation to a peaceful political atmosphere. Indeed this prescription is what the liberal peace model identifies with in principle. In practice however, UNTAC penetrated the Cambodian local administrative network and in so doing lured Cambodia into adopting a market-disposed economic reform. These matrix of a liberal market democracy saw UNTAC accomplishing a transition process within six months to scheduled elections in Cambodia by may 1993 (Prasso 1995, P,39). By implication a thorough demobilization of belligerents which, was crucial to both an immediate peaceful electoral environment and after was hastily carried out. The short transition time table was excused on the need to deploy the military â€Å"to protect voter registration and subsequently, the electoral and polling processes, particularly in remote or insecure areas† (Boutros 1993, p. 4-5). The elections were held as scheduled with 90% registered voters participation and it seemed that the election was a reasonable vaccine that cured a dangerous political pr oblem at the time. Because this was perceived as a successful operation the United Nation deemed UNTAC withdrawal from Cambodia appropriate. Unfortunately, the election left a precarious plural society without necessarily having on ground a strong and established political institution to manage any tension that might occur. This point was fundamentally stressed by James Schear when he opined that: â€Å"The injection of political pluralism into the country, though welcomed in many respects, opened the door to an upsurge in violence that UNTAC was ill prepared to handle† (1996, p.174). Not astonishing however a catastrophic political wave rocked Cambodia again four years later, the outbreak of violence was majorly between two contending political party FUNCINPEC and CPP preparatory to an election. It is however necessary to note that, the democratization of Cambodia was not by implication a solely destabilizing factor responsible for an awakened violence in Cambodia, nevertheless democratization cause an unhealthy political competition that ignited the new fight leading up to the 1998 elections. Again it is difficult to argue that the peace builders in promoting liberalization in Cambodia deliberately left the country in a worst state, perhaps the case to be made here is that the empirical liberal peace approach of UNTAC as peace builders in Cambodia brings to fore a major weakness in the establishment of lasting peace, even though the mission (UNTAC) deserve some credit for implementing the peace agreement to the extent that the elections were held. A phenomenal d ifference would have been possible, if institutions strong enough to sustain liberal democracy in Cambodia were built before leaving it in the hands of local actors. In other words, as a long term strategy for long standing peace UNTAC could have consolidated on the accomplished elections through erecting liberal structures that can manage and implement the rule of law, human right declaration, civil liberty and individual freedom in Cambodia. Also, liberal peace has been held accountable in explaining the ideological assumptions that created policies leading to the invasion in Iraq. Although liberalism was not exclusively the policy agenda that nurtured the United States invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the invasion finds origin on the need to spread liberty and uphold individual freedom. As the president of the United States at the time did say on the eve to the invasion, â€Å"A new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region† (Bush 2003) he meant by this statement that, establishing democratic norm all over the middle east was crucial to freedom in the region. This helps to explain the discourse with which liberal peace has become topical on global affairs, the argument in liberal peace has become increasingly controversial as it clearly touches on sovereignty. The national interest of the United States under the leadership of Bush after 9/11 set the pace for a complex definition of security. The explanatory philosophy within which Bush`s agenda setting can be understood was multifaceted. This was corroborated by Smith when he admits that from 2001, the United States presidents public statement on foreign policy began to build towards ‘a plausible rendering of a sophisticated ideology (2007, p.14). On this note, the philosophical premise upon which the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003 can also be linked to neo-conservatism (Owen 2007, p 266). But more clearly neo-liberalism best prescribes the long term development strategy in which the invaders use to defend their actions. Since the liberal ideology does embrace the socio-political and economic gains of capitalism, the United States interprets invasion as pursuant to its commitment for improved human liberty by delivering freedom to all states in the international syst em, in the assumption that if nations and societies are free to choose their political and economic liberty there is a likelihood for international peace and stability It can therefore be pointed out that liberal peace influenced the policy of the United States in a strategic long term sense. The quest for regime change and individual freedom by the United States was based on the suspicion that the state poses a threat in enabling its citizens to exercise their free will. The corollary of which the United States as a progressive world body and a promoter of virtuous government (Williams 2005, p.318) invaded in the interest of international peace and stability. Although it is significant to mention that the Iraq circumstances is indeed unique, in the sense that efforts to rebuild Iraq was not born out of a post civil war experience. Rather the need to rebuild Iraq was an aftermath consequence of foreign invasion. Perhaps the inference of Iraq here is to show the desire to establish material economic prosperity and democratic value just after the invasion. Arguably the lessons from Iraq, does not necessarily fit into the general nature of peace building in internally generated conflicts, it bears similar challenges that actual civil war reconstruction pioneered by liberal peace philosophy face. The challenges of contemporary liberal peace: The records of entrenching liberal peace have continued to be flawed with failures. The costs of failure have been phenomenal both to the immediate society where the conflict is present and the international community in general. It is therefore in this context that we are keen to ascertain the obstructing factors towards the construction of lasting peace through liberal peace objectives. Suffice to mention at this juncture that the `right of humanitarian intervention` deployed by liberal states to protect individual rights internationally has given rise to a legitimacy question. In a bid to safeguard individual rights, the liberals justify intervention in humanitarian terms; they claim that even though the framework for intervention is not clearly embedded in the UN charter, the new consciousness for international peace makes intervention morally legitimate. This view is been refuted by the realist`s school as they continually stress that the international norm for peace is anchored on state oriented collective security agenda of the United Nations. Therefore, the incompatibility of `state sovereignty` to cope with the new interventionist norm of liberal peace, constitutes a fundamental challenge which undermines the progress of liberal peace. Hence the challenges of liberal peace will be described under the following headings:- Humanitarian Intervention:- The concept of humanitarian intervention has been problematic in erecting liberal peace architecture internationally. Since liberal peace often attempts to create the framework for international order via interventions, the moral defense in todays anarchical world is hard to find. Efforts to legitimize intervention, for human security purpose culminated in the constitution of an Independent Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). The commission was mandated to resolve the moral friction between `intervention and sovereignty` in a desire to evolve a holistic agreement on how to shift from debates towards action. Nonetheless the commission argued that Intervention remains a moral and ethical issue, noting that the universal declaration of human rights is a tool for alienating individual rights based on normative liberal claims. This implies that the onus is morally on the state as a `moral agent` to protect the rights of its citizenry, except in cases where such rights are being abused, external intervention can be excused based on consent. The absence of consent triggered the dilemma on the United Nations involvement in Iraq; perhaps if authorization and endorsement were sought the crisis of legitimacy would not have arisen. In this circumstance, liberal peace suffers from internationalizing the `right of intervention`, as the primary `responsibility to protect` beckons on the state concerned. The Intervening power of the international community should be exercised where an unprecedented lack of the state willingness to manage its sovereignty is manifest. Activities on non state actors:- The activities of non-state actor in some internationally sponsored peace building arrangement may point to a very crucial factor against the success of liberal peace. Since contemporary civil conflict has become large scaled, it practically becomes impossible for the United Nations to solely combat or manage conflict across different locations. Thus, non-state actors get involved in the spread of liberal peace through peace building missions. However it can be argued that this exercise, impacts on an un-even spread of democratic principles, this could be the case when some multi-national firms for instance will assist in establishing liberal peace norms where they operate, partly because the eruption of war disrupts their economic activities. Others may for some reasons support the conflict since its economic activity thrives during war time circumstance. In the third world particularly, the trend of arms trade by private military companies to insurgents has occasioned huge export capital during the mid 1980`s, constituting a precarious repercussion for peace building efforts. The United Nations secretary general once pointed out that the proliferation of illicit weapons pose a grave threat to democracy, peace, human right and indeed peace keeping mission (Annan 2000 p. 238-47). Given these instances and a variety of other reasons, the consolidation of peace through liberal peace tenets has continued to witness threats and delay capable of undermining the positive effect of liberalisation. Towards a more efficacious peace building approach The failure or achievement of liberal peace building mission ought to be seen in the light of the ideological weakness of liberalism. More so the contention in the debate has been the extent to which liberal peace building is been coercively showcased as a constitutive pillar for a sanitized international order. The interventionist pattern of international organizations in civil war circumstance has been described as a blow to state sovereignty especially in developing nations of the world (Dodge, 2004 p. 4-5). The recurring destabilizing effect of liberal peace in fragile post conflict societies therefore warrant an alternative approach. While it is still necessary to transform war torn societies towards market oriented democracies, the strategy of building viable institutions as the sub-structure upon which liberal norm is built seem plausible (Paris 2004, p.179). This strategy engages a more thorough process of transforming post conflict states into peace heavens. The apparent immediacy employed by peace building mission to spread democracy has sacrificed the necessary conditions of doing so on the altar of weak state structures. Roland Paris best captures this by opining that: â€Å"What is needed in the immediate post conflict period is not democratic ferment and economic upheaval, but political stability and the establishment of effective administration over the territory† (2004, P.187). This brings to attention, the central elements of a peace building strategy which stresses the need to institutionalize before liberalizing. It puts at the very core of a democratic agenda, the very conditions that eschew electoral violence during and after election, based on a long term plan through an objective commitment to the moderation of political parties. Rather than hastily conducting elections on the assumption that democratic society are usually less violent. At the instance of institutionalizing before liberalizing, the success of peace building missions would be anchored on the construction of viable institutional settings capable of absorbing the pressure of elections especially where the contestants and voters alike are just emerging from conflict. More so a functional institution will require the ability to enforce constitutional doctrines with an independent judicial mechanism prior to elections, therefore the idea of institution building ultimately seeks to ensure that transition towards democracy is prolonged in a manner that prepares war shattered states to be ripe for election (Paris 2004. P.188) Conclusion: It is interesting to observe that even the early coiners of classical liberal theory, wrote about the contemporary challenges peace builders encounter. For instance Thomas Hobbes`s `leviathan` creates an insight on the crucial conditions incumbent for a peaceful and stable society (Hobbes 1968, p.86) although Hobbes was not inclined to liberal believes, his work influenced the thinking of liberal philosophers like John Locke when he opined that the state of nature was anarchical and that the formation of a unanimous government based on consent will help guarantee a lawful and peaceful society (Locke 1963, p.395). Central to these claims is the need to evolve viable government institutions as a pre-condition for both domestic and international peace. It is true that economically closed societies with repressive political arrangement can be incubators for conflict possibilities, hence constituting a fundamental treat to international peace and security. However a cursory look at the liberal peace building approach shows a deliberately hurried transformation process towards market based economies in post conflict societies. In sum, the aim of Wilsonian peace building strategy (liberal peace) is not irrelevant in its entirety; rather the broad goal of a peaceful international system has been undermined due to a twist in recent practice. Since democracy which liberal peace advocates, fosters a social contract upon which socio-economic and political tensions that threaten the stability of societies and states can be managed. (Ghali 1996, para. 17-122). The institutionalize before liberalize campaign will aid in the dissemination of a less faulty democratization and marketization formula for long term peace in post civil war states around the world. Bibliography: Annan, K. (2000) We the Peoples: The role of the United United nation in the 21st century (New York: United Nations department for public information) Bush G.W. (2003), The president discusses the future of Iraq at the American enterprise institute: Washington Hilton hotel (Washington DC) February 26. Chandler, D. (2004) The responsibility to protect?Imposing the liberal peace: International Peace-keeping. Vol.11 No.1 p.59-81 Dodge, T. (2004) The invasion of Iraq and the reordering the post colonial word: Newsletter of the British international studies association. January 7 p4-5. Doyle, M.W. (1986) Liberalism and World Politics: American political science review. Vol 80 No.4 December p.1151 Ghali, B. B. (1992) An agenda for peace: Preventive diplomacy, peace-making and peace-keeping (New York: United Nation) Ghali B. B. (1996) An agenda for Development (New York: United Nations) Ghali, B. B. (1993) Third progress report on UNTAC: UN document no.s/25154, January 25. Para. 41. Hobbes, T. (1968) Leviathan, (eds) C.B MacPherson (New York: Penquin Book) Lederach, J. P. (1997) Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (Washington, D.C: U.S. Institute of Peace Press,) p. 20 Locke, J (1963) Two treaties of government. (New York: Cambridge University Press) Owens, P. (2007) Beyond Strauss, lies and the war in Iraq: Hannah Arendt`s critique of neoconservativism. Review of international studies Vol 33 No.2 p. 266 Paris, R. (2004) At war`s end: Building peace after civil conflict (New York: Cambridge University Press) Prasso, S. ( 1995) Cambodia: A 3 billion boondoggle, Bulletine of the atomic scientist Vol 51 No 2 p.36-40 Rhodes, E. (2003) The imperial logic of Bush`s liberal agenda: Survival Vol 45 No.1 p. 144 Schear, J. A. (1996) â€Å"Riding the tiger: The united nations and Cambodia`s struggle for peaceâ€Å" in Williams J. D. (eds) UN peace-keeping, American politics and uncivil wars of the 1990`s (New York: St. Martin`s) Smith, T. (2007) A pact with the devil: Washington`s bid for world for world supremacy and the betrayal if the American promise (New York: Routledge) UNDP (2002) Human development report, (New York: Oxford University Press) Wilson, W. (1968) The modern democratic state in Arthurs S. Link (eds) The papers of Woodrow Wilson, Vol 5 (Princeton University Press) Williams, M. C. (2005) What is the national interest? The neoconservative challenge in IR theory. European journal of international relations Vol 11:3 P318

History Of Black Males In American Society Essay -- African-American R

History Of Black Males In American Society The black community have always been suppressed and oppressed by the dominant and powerful white members of society. The historical social order of Americans meant that traditionally positions of power have been held by a very exclusive group of people; members of this group are stereotypically middle class, middle aged, white males with nuclear families. This Caucasian dominance is well documented throughout history and is epitomized by the slavery of African, and Caribbean Negroes in America by white settlers and pilgrims, which continued for many hundreds of years. This has led to much resentment from the black community towards white people, as it is still very difficult for someone of an ethnic minority heritage to gain a position of any real authority or significance within the USA. Things have undoubtedly improved in America but a balance of equality has still not been achieved, evidenced today by Barack Obama becoming the first Black man to achieve election into the USAsenate (the highest form of government in the American administration apart from the cabinet). Whilst this demonstrates that society is becoming more equality based in the US, it also shows that out of 255 senate seats, a black person holds only one of them. This illustrates that American society favours those of white origin, as they do not trust black people in positions of power or importance. The situation with regards to racism has changed dramatically over the past fifty years; this is largely down to the work of black activists such as Dr Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Another individual who had a ... ...ssing over $225 million each, while the motion picture biography of Malcolm X, one of the most important cultural icons for black people, and one of the most influential figures in the change of racial tolerance and ultimately, world society grossed just $48 million. American society is still intolerant of black people and in film, more often then not, cast the African-Americans in the role of the minstrel. This has been noted by black people and have now taken to playing up to the role by creating spoof films such as the 'Scary Movie' trilogy which grossed over $500 million in total. This shows that whilst society in America has not changed much, except that white people pretend to be less prejudiced, black people have decided to take control and use their own societal positions to take advantage of white America.

Clara Wieck Schumann and the Struggle for Equality in Nineteenth-Centur

Clara Wieck Schumann and the Struggle for Equality in Nineteenth-Century Germany The place of women before and during the nineteenth century is well summarized by a Bavarian statute book, which states that â€Å"by marriage, the wife comes under the authority of the husband and the law allows him to chastise her moderately† (Gay 177). These ideas are similarly echoed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The former did not afford women any of the rights provided for men, such as liberty, property, resistance to oppression, voting, free speech, etc.; the latter reasoned that because women were the weaker sex, they should not (and moreover could not) be a part of society outside of the family. Although dominated by her father in the early years of her life, the pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann broke through the societal barriers inhibiting women’s success and independence, forming a reputable and commendable career during a time when women’s lives were predetermined by a male-dominated consciousness and society. An investigation into the mindset of citizens in the nineteenth century and the obstacles every woman faced — especially concentrating on Germany — followed by a description of the life and musical career of Clara Schumann will create greater recognition of the upward battle she (and all women) faced at that time, as well as the notability of her career as wife, mother, and musician. Before delving into the life of Clara Schumann, a description of the world surrounding her must be made in order to understand the magnitude of her accomplishments. Among the positive factors of this time were changes in society from the late eighteenth century, su... ...tita. Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1961. Moraze, Charles. The Triumph of the Middle Classes. Cleve land: The World Publishing Company, 1966. Nauhaus, Gerd, ed. The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993. Reich, Nancy B. Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985. Schumann, Clara Wieck. Secret Whispers: Three Romances for violin and Piano. Kym Amps, Soprano; Erica Deaaring, violin; Joanna Borrett, cello; David Carhart, piano. Meridian Records 1996. Susskind, Pamela. â€Å"Clara Shumann.† The New Grove Dictio nary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 16. London: Macmillan Publishing Limited, 1980. Thompson, Oscar, ed. â€Å"Clara Schumann.† The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1975.

Strength of the Human Spirit Revealed by Ivan Denisovich Essay

Strength of the Human Spirit Revealed in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich    Life can be incredibly hard at times; nearly everyone encounters a period of time when circumstances become unbearably difficult. Imagine being assigned to ten years of unceasing and tremendous hardships, as is the plight of the protagonist in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This book describes in detail only one day of Ivan's ten-year sentence in a Russian work camp in the 1950's. During this day, which is like most others, he is starved, nearly frozen, overworked, and punished unjustly; however, as the day unfolds, it is obvious that Ivan will never give up and never give in. The character of Ivan Denisovich is a symbol of the human spirit and its never-ending will to survive, even through the harshest of conditions.    Ivan's day begins with reveille at 5:00, "as always" (significant because this day is just like every other day has been for the past eight years). On most mornings after reveille, he jumps out of bed to have a little time to himself, but today he is not feeling well and rises slowly. Usually, there are many things he could do during this time before the morning roll call: sweep up, carry something for someone, fetch the boots of the gang boss, gather and stack bowls at the mess hall, any number of little jobs.    On the surface, Ivan's actions look noble and kindhearted, as if the well being of others is his main concern. But like most kind gestures, there is an entirely different motive; for Ivan, it is just "another way of getting food"(2). He, like most people in a difficult situation, performs favors and tasks, not out of the goodness of his heart, but only out of his desir... ... Max Hayward, in his introduction to _One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich _, says the book "is a morality play in which the carpenter Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is Everyman" (xv). There are exceptions to the representation; Ivan is not a flat character, void of depth and definition, but through these examples, it is obvious that much of the time, Ivan Denisovich reflects the average human spirit and the way in which it reacts to difficult situations. Of course, the average human spirit does not endure the hardships presented in a Soviet work camp, but all hardships are related in their ability to destroy their victims or to strengthen them. In this case, Ivan is the spirit who is strengthened, the victim who will never give up, and never give in.    Bibliography Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York: Bantam Books, 1963.

Perspectives on Humanities

I remember a boy named Alexander, a boy who turned out to be my greatest companion. I will justify my master’s life to be the most productive one, although death came along at an early age of 33 he had reached what he wanted in his life and he had surpassed all the battles that came along his way. My master’s life was not an ordinary life, he became of what he is because of his hard work, dedication, wisdom and his will. He was a man of honor and great courage.   Let me tell you how Alexander and I met and became comrade. Alexander was just a young boy at the tender age of twelve when I was brought to his father first for the cost of thirteen talents.I was a wild young stud then but Alexander was wise enough to know why am I not at ease with my rider, he adequately studied me, talked to me softly and rode me into the sun so that I would not be able to see my own shadow; seeing my own shadow caused me to be shy. Alexander named me Bucephalus or Oxhead, he owned there a nd then.  In the early days of my years he was my mentor, he taught me how to be tough and strong enough for any battles that was ahead of us. He trained me how to be a stallion that is worthy of being called a wondrous one. He was my protector during battles; he gave his might during those times and gave what I have to give to protect him also. It was a wonderful life I had with him, I gave everything that I have got for he was my master and I owe everything to him.As a young boy, Alexander learned how to distance himself from the shadow of his father. Alexander and I grew up together, to say the truth; we were like of the same age.   What King Phillip and Alexander had was a competitive relationship; he loved her mother so much though. Because of this, he mends his own ways to be able to surpass what his father had reached and to be able to proudly say that he is Alexander the great conqueror.We have travelled the world together, seen the beauty of each and every track of land we lay our foot upon, and I have been his accomplice when he managed to conquer the world and built his mighty empire. Alexander has learned to do things in his own way even when he was still a child. I was one of the chosen few who have seen how he had managed to rule the world not because he was a descendant of the King of Macedonia, King Phillip but because he was Alexander, a great warrior. I have been a witness to what Alexander had done; I was a witness to his greatness in the battlefield. I was there with him, I’ve seen him do things the smart way or what have become to people the Great way.  Alexander was always a tough leader; he had managed to show this during our restless battles that we have both been through. His troop were always there to assist him whenever he needed them, his people showed loyalty to him and he showed his loyalty to them as well. Although Alexander was hard on the battlefield he was not as hard when it comes to me. He showed me the love tha t I needed; he never pushed me to my limits. Alexander would always know whenever I need caress and he would always give it to me.To my mighty king, Alexander the great, I salute him for the many things he had taught me. I wouldn’t have been who I am if not because of him. I thank you Alexander, my comrade, for I had the opportunity to be with you on your last battle. Life wouldn’t be this meaningful for me if you were not my master, and for that I am thankful. I was lucky to be there with you during your last battle.To my mentor, friend, companion and master, Alexander, thank you and Goodbye. May the fruit of your hardships be recognized by the whole Universe, may your legend be told in the future generations of human race, and may your name become undying and forever living in the hearts of your people (â€Å"The Confessions of Alexander the Great: 33 Lessons in Greatness,†).References The Confessions of Alexander the Great: 33 Lessons in Greatness [Electronic Version] from http://www.watchmojo.com/events/history/alexander_the_great/intro_history_is_subjective.htm.