To what extent did Malthus€™ philosophy influence Essay

To what extent did Malthusâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ philosophy influence Englandâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s policies towards Ireland preceding and during the Great Famine Cite 3 specific examples. Follow MLA protocol - Essay Example There were of course different interpretations of what constituted progress: Rousseau, Voltaire, and later Marx all had their ideas about it. One such theorist concerning the best means for improving the lot of all men was Thomas Malthus. His philosophy on the nature of man would later have a profound effect on English policy and attitudes toward Ireland. Malthus did not share in the absolutist claim that all men were equal as was the case with so many Enlightenment thinkers. But he did value man’s capacity for reason which means that he was certainly a man of his time. According to Malthus, humans stood apart from animals because of their possession of â€Å"reason and will.† â€Å"[Man] is motivated by his physical needs (necessity for food and shelter), ‘the passion between the sexes’ (love, and the ‘desire to possess a beautiful woman’), and the principles of self-love and benevolence† (Simons 1955, 61). It was that latter trait that Malthus most highlighted. Self-interest drives men to seek what they want, to work, and to reproduce. Mixed with the carnal impulses, this presented the very thing which governments must appeal to in order to enact effective social and economic policy. Malthus’ economic philosophy has often been summarized as being inhumane and indifferent to society’s poor. Many during his time believed that the advances being made in the sciences would contribute to a constant betterment of the plight of the poor and thus to the general progress of man. In his famous Essay Malthus said that an increase in food production would lead to a growth of population which would eventually become unsustainable and thus lead to collapse and chaos. â€Å"[M]arshes had been drained by the score in Ireland, with a consequent growth of population and no lessening of the pressure on resources† (Petersen 1979, 473). In order to confront this reality, Malthus proposed

An every woman matters study Essay Example for Free

An every woman matters study Essay In this country, many feel as though health care is a right of the citizens. I myself struggle with this idea as I do believe we need to address the health care needs of our country but do not feel responsible for those that make poor health care decisions on a daily basis and look for us as a country to care for them. With that same thought, I feel a responsibility to help those that are truly trying and are not offered health care benefits through their employers, and cannot afford to purchase health care insurance, as well as the underinsured. We have to take a stance of what is best for the whole. Our health system struggles with access to health services for everyone. The government is very focused on easing this access through its programs. In 1965, the passage of Medicare and Medicaid were revolutionary in that it provided coverage for the elderly and low income to include the disabled. While not perfect it opened more opportunities for access. In 2010, another revolutionary policy can into being with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This pushes employers to either supply health coverage of face a penalty. For the smaller employers that offer coverage, in return they receive a tax credit. Again, this effort is to reduce those uninsured and underinsured in our country through federal policy (Kovner Knickman, 2011). We are fighting an uphill battle with health care, because as we have tried to make health care more accessible to the citizens of this country we are seeing the cost rise at alarming rates. Ko vner and Knickman (2011) points out that between 1999 and 2009 household income rose 38% while insurance premiums rose 131%. This creates more underinsured and uninsured Americans to care for which is an economic crisis for this country that we must address. We have to find new and different ways to overcome the economic obstacles we face with rising cost. Thaler (2013), in his article in The New York Times, says no single change will allow our health care system to be transformed into one that we need and that we need to try many new approaches that are not in lined with the typical way of thinking. He offers some suggestions that make a lot of sense. He says we should first look to change our way of thinking about services. He says we should be paying providers for keeping their patients healthy instead of paying for test and procedures. The federal government should protect providers with a proven quality record of care and from malpractice lawsuits. Patients can opt out of these providers  care but who would realistically do that given the quality they receive? Evidence-based practices should be employed with care to avoid unnecessary tests such as CT scans and M.R.I.’s that many times leads to more unnecessary, unrelated tests. He also believe more energy needs to be spent to employ pharmacist, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants and allow to practice to the fullest extent to allow to allow primary care physicians to spend more time with patients. The idea of promoting health to avoid health care issues is far less costly than treating a disease process once it arises. I am a firm believer in preventative medicine and not enough energy is place on this type of health care. We are far too focused on what I call reactive medicine. Improved quality has been proven through research to be more cost effective. All care should be evidence-based to help improve the quality and decrease cost in the long run. References Kovner, A. R., Knickman, J. R. (2011). Jonas Kovners Health Care Delivery in the United States (10 ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Thaler, R. H. (2014, February 23). Overcoming Obstacles to Better Health Care. The New York Times. p. BU6. Response

Airasia Xs Business Environment Tourism Essay

Airasia Xs Business Environment Tourism Essay X targeted the less disposable income travelers who overlooked by traditional airlines even by some low cost carriers. The low price of ticket and abundant of destination network provided travelers more opportunities to fly. Moreover, X explored the new technology to reduce transaction cost for travelers the cell phone sales of ticket. As Asias economic grew, people from Asia have higher spending power and they will select air transportation to travel more frequent than before. X should cater to a broader passengers segment across different needs categories. Back to a short time after the inception of X, the Malaysia Transport Ministry even refused to release the air route from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney for X in order to protect Malaysia Airlines which is the national airline. Afterward, X prepared for IPO but did not want to be list on the KLSE. Due to worry about the Malaysia government could slow down some of Xs expansion and continue to refuse some routes application. X put off the IPO till the end of 2011 and early of 2012. AirAsia Xs industry environment Although the entry barrier of airline industry is high such as huge capital requirement and governmental legal barriers, low cost long haul carriers are suffering strong competition. On one hand, most of low cost long haul carriers are launched by their parent company. For example, X is a sister company of AirAsia, Scoot Airline is a subsidiary of Singapore Airline. They can enter the industry because of the background of their parent company. On the other hand, the cost of aircraft, fuel and airport is the majority expense in airline company, the high bargain power of suppliers gave much pressure to them. Train and ship are the substitutes of airline, but they are hardly to take place of low cost long haul airline. Even though the price is more expensive than bus and ship, low cost long haul carriers provide variable, efficient and convenient transport service. Sometimes, low threat of substitutes indicates high competition in the industry. In Southeast Asia market, Jetstar from Australia and Scoot from Singapore are the main competitors of X. Jetstar is the earliest company to operated low cost model of them, it has much experience about low cost control. It has huge fleet and good quality service. Its fatal weakness is the highest ticket price provided among the three companies. Scoot is a new low cost long haul carrier in 2012. It has narrow route network and higher price than X. However, it has absolute cost advantages in route from Singapore to Australia currently. Compared to them, X has the lowest average ticket price and the largest passenger load. AirAsia Xs Strategy X successfully integrated low cost model in every organizational activities. It sharply griped the true needs of lower disposable income customers to attract new customer segments and created value to customers around low cost. Primary activities Activities Description Inbound logistics Although X formally separated from AirAsia, they still jointly purchase important resources such as aircraft and fuel. It will strengthen their bargaining power towards suppliers. X reduced costly investment in terminal or non-airplane related infrastructure help to decrease the cost of flight for passengers. Meanwhile, X pays much attention to flight safety. It has a high standard aircraft maintenance team. Operations Different from full service airlines, X should maximize its load in each flight to reach the break-even point because of the low enough price. Moreover, X arranges high efficient flight scheduling to increase the profit. Outbound logistics X is an airline company and responsible to long haul transportation. There is no more outbound logistics except the low cost long haul transportation. Marketing and sales In order to attract new customer segments, X was differentiated around low cost and building he global brand. To reduce cost, X utilized 100 per cent online sales before. To make further efforts, X was exploring the cell phone sales of ticket. In spite of the extra cost, X set sales point in at each airport and operated call centers throughout the world. X also had agreements with travel agencies. Service X made effort to keep the booking process and pricing model simple. The ticket price listed online including ticket fees and related tax charge. It is transparent to customers. X never charged any online, telephone or personal booking fees. In late of 2010, X launched BIG program to review more benefit to loyal customers. Support activities Activities Description Infrastructure X used flat organization structure in the company. The structure helped X to reduce the cost of administration and develop the efficiency among the employees. One of the most important activities is preparing for global IPO. This move is the foundation for Xs global expansion. Human resource management Low cost human resource of X absolutely has benefits from the low labor cost of Malaysia. Furthermore, X and AirAsia established their own training academy for new pilots, engineer and cabin crews. It saved a lot of money for X again. Technology development X explored cell phone sales of ticket to make up 100 per cent online sales. It provided more convenient to customers in booking system. Procurement X searched the lowest price with acceptable quality of merchandise or procured with AirAsia to obtain more price advantage. In the value chain of AirAsia X, every activity is around low cost to create value to customers. Some moves in value chain decide the AirAsia Xs cost per seat mile (US$0.02 per seat mile) less than one quarter of the cost of the average budget US s low budget airlines (US$0.09 per seat mile). From the inception of X, it operated as a simple organization structure. X used minimum staffs to complete flight tasks in safety and efficiency. Additionally, the cost of human resource saved a large sum of money for AirAsia X. Labor costs in Malaysia and the absence of unionization helped keep costs low. As wright said, passengers prefer to get off airplane directly onto the airport tarmac instead of added cost to the ticket price. To reduce costly investment in terminal or non-airplane related infrastructure help to decrease the cost of flight for passengers. It satisfied the real needs of Xs target market. Appraisal the strategies of AirAsia X Sustaining development cannot be created by operating business in external environment with high opportunity and low threat. It must depend on resource and capabilities and utilizes them to implement strategies in industry competition. In order to figure out these resource and capability, management must find out resource of value, rareness, imitability and non-substitute from internal environment. In the beginning of AirAsia X, it almost shared all resources from AirAsia to ensure the successful launch. As formally separated AirAsia X from AirAsia in 2010, AirAsia X already had its own value resources such as some suppliers. It provided infrastructure to administrate strategy and develop. Low cost control system but high safety aircraft and standard maintenance is the most valuable resource in AirAsia X. The flight time in AirAsia X changed from day to day is a very different schedule in airline industry. The purpose is to satisfy to break even through arrange aircrafts in the air as long as possible because the ticket price was too low. Low cost human resource in Malaysia is a kind of imperfectly imitable resources. Scoot Airline from Singapore and Jetstar Airline from Australia have no this resource. Low cost philosophy also is important imperfectly imitable resource. AirAsia X can achieve very low cost per seat mile as US$0.02 when the average budget airlines cost per seat mile is US$0.09. This is mission impossible to AirAsia Xs competitors. As an airline company, aircraft manufacturer is one of the core suppliers. Aircraft selection is very important to airline company; it must consider the size of aircraft depended on fly distance and maintenance cost. AirAsia X utilizes single type of aircraft to simplify maintenance, reduce staff training needs and gain better purchasing term in negotiation. Conclusion Integrated above Porters five forces analysis, value chain analysis and VRIN analysis, the current competitive advantage in AirAsia X is cost leadership. Because of low enough price, AirAsia X can grip opportunity to succeed when other low cost carriers failed. Meanwhile, the competitive advantage offsets some weaknesses such as less diversification of service and differentiation from competitors. With the development of AirAsia X, some current strengths maybe transfer to weaknesses. These will influence sustaining development of AirAsia X. Therefore, AirAsia X should build sustaining competitive advantages in the future. Sustaining competitive advantages Description Cost leadership Low cost philosophy must practices as the core competency throughout AirAsia X. Low distribution cost Currently, low distribution cost is still strength in AirAsia X, but it is heavily relied on online sales. Once information system interruption, AirAsia X will suffer heavy loss, besides, online sales are an easy kind of resource imitated by competitors. Thus, AirAsia X should explore new low cost distribution. High aircraft utilization and operation AirAsia X is good at safe and efficient flight schedule. It balances low ticket price and company revenue. This capability is sustainable and imperfectly imitable. Flat organization structure This capability helped AirAsia X to save a lot of money. However, it is short-term competitive advantage. As AirAsia X expands, flat organization structure will influence the quality of decision making. AirAsia X should maintain this capability to as sustainable competitive advantage. Strong branding and marketing Strong branding and marketing is one of important capability to against competitors expansion. AirAsia X must build its strong branding and marketing. As the completion of budget long haul airlines become sharp day by day. AirAsia X should maintain the capabilities which are easy imitated such as distribution channel or short-term competitive advantages such as flat organization structure.

Blocking & Filtering Essay -- essays research papers

"Any content-based regulation of the Internet, no matter how benign the purpose, could burn the global village to roast the pig." U.S. Supreme Court majority decision, Reno v. ACLU (June 26, 1997) Blocking and filtering software for the Internet is one of the most hotly debated topics regarding free speech and the Internet. Many have criticized blocking software for being both under and over inclusive, and others have argued that blocking software should not be used at all in public institutions such as libraries and schools. On the other side, supporters of blocking software claim that is a legitimate method to regulate access to "inappropriate" material on the Internet, especially access for minors. But, before we begin to look at these debates directly, we have to examine how the different types of blocking software available work. Nearly all blocking software contains several features that enable the user to customize it for their particular preferences. Users can set the particular levels and/or categories they want the software to screen. So, for example, a user could instruct his browser to block all nudity and sex acts, but still allow sex education and intolerance, while another users could do the opposite. Another common feature is the ability to unblock particular web sites when they are blocked. So, if a user was attempting to access the CNN web site, and it was blocked because it contained, for example, the Starr report, the user could unblock it. A final common feature of most blocking software is that it can be turned on and off for particular users on a particular machine, so that parents can turn the software on when their children are using the computer, but allow themselves unlimited access. Blocking software works in several major ways: blocking by word, blocking particular sites, blocking all sites except those on a "white list," and blocking by preset ratings. Most of the first blocking software worked by blocking words; the software would scan web sites for certain, unacceptable words such as "breast" or "sex." This type of software was often ridiculed, because it is ridiculously over broad, for example blocking sites on breast cancer or news sites about the President. In addition, this type of blocking has the disadvantage of not being able to scan pictures for unacceptable m... ...ts computers. Representative Bob Franks of New Jersey introduced a similar bill in the House, dubbed the "Safe Schools Internet Act of 1999". In addition, the constitutionality of library filters has been, and continues to be, litigated in several cases. All cases decided to this point have declared mandatory filters on all library computers to be unconstitutional. Many argue that the PICS system is the best way to provide for parental empowerment in order to manage their children's internet use. These people point out that, at least for now, the PICS system is voluntary and that third parties can rate sites. The rating systems used in conjunction with PICS establish a uniform standard that parents can rely on, instead of the opinions of software companies' list makers. The purpose behind Internet filters is to provide parents, educators and other with an effective tool to protect minors from harmful material through their computers. At first blush they appear to be a simple technological fix to the problem of indecency on the Internet. However, this simple solution has touched off a firestorm of controversy, which show no signs of cooling off in the near future.

Participatory Notes Essay

Participatory Notes commonly know as P-Notes or PNs are instruments issued by registered foreign institutional investors (FII) to overseas investors, who wish to invest in the Indian stock markets without registering themselves with the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India – SEBI. SEBI permitted foreign institutional investors to register and participate in the Indian stock market in 1992. Investing through P-Notes is very simple and hence very popular amongst foreign institutional investors. Contents 1 Working 2 Need 3 Participatory Notes Crisis of 2007 4 Trends in PN 5 References Working Participatory notes are instruments used for making investments in the stock markets. However, they are not used within the country. They are used outside India for making investments in shares listed in that country. That is why they are also called offshore derivative instruments. In the Indian context, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and their sub-accounts mostly use these instruments for facilitating the participation of their overseas clients, who are not interested in participating directly in the Indian stock market. For example, Indian-based brokerages buy India-based securities and then issue participatory notes to foreign investors. Any dividends or capital gains collected from the underlying securities go back to the investors. Need Anonymity: Any entity investing in participatory notes is not required to register with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), whereas all FIIs have to compulsorily get registered. It enables large hedge funds to carry out their operations without disclosing their identity. Ease of Trading: Trading through participatory notes is easy because participatory notes are like contract notes transferable by endorsement and delivery. Tax Saving: Some of the entities route their investment through participatory notes to take advantage of the tax laws of certain preferred countries. Money Laundering: PNs are becoming a favourite with a host of Indian money launderers who use them to first take funds out of country through hawala and then get it back using PNs.

buy custom Micro Aggression essay

buy custom Micro Aggression essay Micro aggression is a situation where a person belonging to a certain community, tribe, country or race- often a superior community, race, tribe, or country- says something belittling to another person of another community that is termed to be a lesser community. This can be done either consciously or unconsciously. This silent and indirect form of discrimination especially through words or silent treatment to people difference race, color, or sex if continuously repeated wears people out both physically and spiritually until they are completely low. Micro aggression may also take the form of sexism. That is belittling someone because of their gender. Women are the ones who are prone to this kind of biasness. They get intimidated by their colleagues, who think they are superior just because of their gender, seniors/ managers who use positions of influence to intimidate or harass or demean women. It can also come from members of the public. A very practical case is when it comes to politics, no matter how much vision or practical strategy a woman has over her competitors, a candidate will most likely be elected as the ruler no matter how bogus he may be or how selfish his agenda may be. Micro aggression can appear in many forms. Some of them are: Micro assault: It is an intentional act of intimidation or belittling another often a lesser person- through name calling, or saying words intentionally meant to bring down. This is something that is so common in our everyday lives. It is also very common in organizations where even during the recruitment process, their preference is first to people they share the same background, race and color. If one is lucky to pass through the recruiting process and get hired, then depending on the kind of people one is working with, micro assault may result during meetings o in the office where the dominant group thinks and speaks of themselves as superior, more intelligent, and as if the running of the organization depends on them purely. Micro insult: It is prevalent in an environment that belittles another person simply because they belong to another race through words or actions. Micro insult is something that one does knowingly, just to instill fear or put another down. Some organizations pay people of a different race from theirs less by far irrespective of the person having similar qualifications, experience and handling similar projects. This too is macro aggressions. Micro invalidation: It is the act of easily dismissing someones thoughts, feelings or personal experiences because they seem less according to ones standards or because that person comes from a certain race or community - The lesser community or race-. It is very common between whites and blacks. Whites think of themselves as more superior in terms of knowledge, status, innovations, finances, and majority have the feeling of like, they are in control of the economy, as if they are the sole dictators the market. Micro invalidation can also happen horizontally where a person is invalidated in their own country by people of their own race or community. Especially where he says something dishonoring to their community or where the other party does not get along well. It could also be a case where one prompts the other to say such things. An instance at hand would be where one is entrusted to handle the matter and instead of settling it as expected, the person misrepresents the group or o rganization, thus causes chaos. Everyone is a brother and sister and thus should strive to live as one. There is no one more superior to the other. All are equal before God irrespective of our background, race, educaation levels or nationality. Thus, there are a few methods that can use to reduce or completely erase this micro aggressions behavior. Some of this methods or ways are: Change ones attitudes and mentality towards each other irrespective of race or sex. How people see each other is very key as it forms the basis for their relationships. Attitude is everything as it influences peoples attitudes and outlook on life, things and the people within. Applying ethics and morality in judgment and treatments of others irrespective of race and sex; before one passes a judgment on another or utters a word that is meant to demean or belittle another, pause for a moment and think about ethics, think about morality, think about God or even oneself. Would one be comfortable with the kind of treatment another is giving if they were on the receiving end? If yes, then do it, it may be the right thing but if what one is about to say would be offensive, when one becomes the recipient then there is no need to do it to another. Pause and do not utter a word. Go and make peace with self. Taking time to work on our spirituality; Growing our spiritually helps us to shift focus from ourselves unto our author. So every time, there is the will and determination, to do not our will but His will, not our desires but His. Thus, the focus shifts from minor things like ones tribe, and start focusing on their strengths irrespective of tribe, class, race, sex or others that may make one think that they are better than them. They begin working together as a team. Unity and love begin to develop within their hearts and souls. It becomes easier to correct one another with love than through the cruel words. It becomes easier to help someone else accomplish a task they have been assigned without hitting back at them or expecting anything. Buy custom Micro Aggression essay

Contemporary issues in Finance The WritePass Journal

Contemporary issues in Finance Introduction Contemporary issues in Finance ). The G20 sorted to establish radical measures to overhaul the financial system after it was identified that the existing financial system was faced by a near collapse. The financial system was faced by the collapse because there were unprecedented support measures from the public sector and central governments that would deal with the global economic crisis that hit the world in 2009   (Veronesi Zingales   2010). As a result, each country decided to initiate its measures independently providing structural measures that promoted prohibitions of activities whilst ring fencing of the retail banking (O’Hara Shaw 2010). These measures are a major impact in the regulating the financial strategies of the world although most people observe that nothing much happened during the crisis and even the so called reforms have had less impact to the countries. At this point, only the financial strategists can be able to understand the impact of the reforms as it does not make sense in th e eyes of a person who does not understand how financial matters are dealt with in business. The article covered the regulatory events in the banking industry between June 2009 when the global crisis was at its peak and 2011 when the reforms had started bearing fruits to some countries. Four major reforms in the article are; the Dodd-Frank Act in the US, the reforms proposed by the Vickers report in the UK, the restructuring law and bank levy in Germany, and the too-big-to fail regulation in Switzerland (Schwert   2011). The reforms were used by different countries using different approaches to deal with the weakness demonstrated by the global economic crisis. The weakness revealed through the crisis include; a prohibition of risky activities,   ring fencing of systemic activities, establishment of resolution procedures and special capital regimes for systemically important banks to address the weakness in Volcker rule in the US, UK, Germany and Switzerland   (Fratianni    Marchionne 2009). Critique This article is well informed about the financial strategies, and its analysis gives an accurate position regarding the impact and effect of the reforms. This is due to the fact that the information used to analyze the questions was obtained from the bank stocks information for different countries based on their financial strategies. Its objective was to answer two questions: has anything happened in financial regulation after the global financial crisis and whether the structural reforms have been registered in equity valuations and credit default in their individual banks. According to the article, it has found out that the answer to these two questions is yes. Further, this means that the reforms initiated in the four major countries has been able to bailout expectations and lower the equity returns in their markets. Under normal financial environment, these two questions cannot be categorically being stated as yes. Based on the financial mechanisms it is hard to predict whether enough has happened because the reforms were developed specifically with the interest of promoting the safety of the financial system. The article demonstrates that the major four reforms have been able to lower the bailout expectations in their respective countries. As research as established, lower rates of bailout expectations have an impact of creating a lower risk taking individuals (Boyd Gertler 2004). Therefore, at this point it is difficult to tell whether the reforms have been effective or simply people in these countries have become risk a vase. The best answer for the questions highlighted in this article is that the only time would effectively determine whether the reforms have effectively instituted measures to deal with the economic crisis in the future. On the other hand, it is not standards to identify at what level is the reform successful.   There is no standard measure to be applied to the four reforms to be able to explain whether they have attained the ultimate goal or more strategies should be implemented. The basis used in the article is a drop in the equity prices and a subsequent increase in the credit default swaps which does not shut down the system in the individual countries. A comprehensive and successful strategy should be able to distort the cause of the systemic risk so that it cannot happen in the future. This can be effectively be done by comparing the results to the funding costs deferential (Ueda Weder di Mauro   2013) In this measurement criteria, the values of the current financial year are compared to the values of 2009 which will demonstrate whether the reforms have effectively reduced the distortions or at what level has the distortions been reduced. In regard to the second question, the article establishes that some of the reforms are better than others. This is true because every reform was developed with an underlying and competing philosophy. The reforms were not commonly developed to serve the same problems and weakness brought out by the global crisis. For example, the Volcker Rule and the ring fencing approach can be applied in different banking systems. Contrary, the Swiss and Germany reforms were instituted to promote capital buffers and adverse resolvability. As such, the default swap changes do not accurately pointy at the effectiveness of the reform strategy. The impacts provided by the four reforms do not pass to be used as the criteria to determine which among the reforms has been able to deal with the weakness provided in its financial system after the crisis. For example, the Germany reform cannot be ruled out as ineffective, but it is just irrelevant to the financial practices because it is executed at the nation al level. Here, no system can effectively point at its impact in dealing with the crisis. Therefore, the best assessment of the reform implemented on each of the four named above lies in the future. The G20 initiated the development of the reform strategies with the aim of reducing the impact of the global crisis. Although the strategy might have well been good, it is difficult to develop a common strategy that would be applied to all the countries in the world. For example, in the Eurozone, the financial problem has been identified and a vigorous supernatural reform strategy implemented best to the identified problem which is majorly with the banking unions. Based on this example, it is difficult to develop a common strategy treaty would give the solution to the different financial systems. This is because problems are not identical for all the countries. Additionally, the Basel process is a good global initiative, but it has not established a robust framework for the establishment of cross-country resolutions to be instituted. However, this has lead to individual countries in initiating different banking systems that they deem better for their problems. As a result, these diff erent approaches may lead into a more devastating financial problem than the global crisis. Conclusion The article How have financial markets reacted to financial-sector reforms after the crisis? points at the fact that the financial markets have been abler to deal with the effects of the global crisis. It focused on four major reforms that were initiated in the G20 countries in response to the crisis. Although this article provides factual data from the banks in individual country, its conclusion may not be accurate. It is difficult to answer the question provided in the article because the strategies have been implemented at national level by each country. Secondly, the problems are not the same for the various systems therefore it can be established further which of the strategies has been able to deal with the crisis effectively. Therefore, the best answer for the argument presented in the article is to wait for time to tell whether the reforms are comprehensive. It is only after the fullest of time that it will be established whether a reform strategy has been abler to completely distort the system that generates the crisis.   References Boyd, J Gertler, M .2004, â€Å"The Role of Large Banks in the Recent U. S. Banking Crisis†, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review, 18(1), 2–21. Fratianni, M Marchionne, F. 2009, â€Å"Rescuing Banks from the Effects of the Financial Crisis†, MoFir Working Paper Series, 1(30), 1. O’Hara, M Shaw, W. 2010, â€Å"Deposit Insurance and Wealth Effects: The Value of Being ‘Too Big To Fail’, Journal of Finance, 45(5): 1587–1600. Schfer, A, ISchnabel, and Weder di Mauro, B .2013, â€Å"Financial Sector Reform After the Crisis: Has Anything Happened? â€Å", CEPR Discussion Paper 9502. Schwert, G. 2011, â€Å"Measuring the Effects of Regulation: Evidence from the Capital Markets†, Journal of Law and Economics 24, 121–145. Ueda, K Weder di Mauro, B. 2013, â€Å"Quantifying Structural Subsidy Values for Systemically Important Financial Institutions†, Journal of Banking and Finance 1(12): 128. Veronesi, P Zingales, L. 2010, â€Å"Paulson’s Gift†, Journal of Financial Economies 97(3), 339–368.

Greek Vs. Modern Violence essays

Greek Vs. Modern Violence essays Violence As It Is Portrayed In The Modern Media vs. The Ancient Greek Media When one thinks of ancient Greece, the word that comes to mind is civilized. Ancient Greece is considered to be the birthplace of Western Civilization, and therefore of our modern society. If it wasnt for the Greeks, civilization never could have evolved to its current high-water mark, found right here in the USA. In some ways, however, the Greeks achieved a level of sophistication and worldly understanding that our modern society cannot match. Specifically, the Greeks had a much better understanding of violence and its consequences, as opposed to our society, which seeks to glamorize violence, as well as detach it from our lives. This understanding was present in their media, specifically tragedies such as Antigone, Oedipus At Colonus, and King Oedipus, all by the Athenian playwright Sophocles. These works have violence included in them, but the focus is on the consequences of these violent acts, not on the actual violence itself. Our so-called civilized society could learn a thing or two from the ancient Greeks about the consequences of violence, instead of just glamorizing it for the masses. The ancient Greeks of Sophocles time lived in a world that was much more violent, at least on a day-to-day basis, than the world most of us live in. The Peloponnesian War was taking place, which meant that the Greeks were fighting one another on a regular basis. For the most part laws could regulate violence between citizens of a polis, but violent acts carried out against the citizens of another polis, or even violent acts carried out against a polis itself, were basically unregulated. The Greeks had no illusions about the glamour of violence, because they experienced it everyday in its harshest form, civil war. This is completely different from the world we live in. Sure, there is plenty of violence in our society, b...

Methods of Conserving the Ogallala Aquifer Research Paper

Methods of Conserving the Ogallala Aquifer - Research Paper Example There are arguments for and against the preservation of the Ogallala Aquifer system. For instance, Mr. Texas Panhandle, a farmer was successful in preventing the construction of a nuclear facility near the Aquifer system. Mr. Panhandle opposed the construction of the site, on the basis that it could lead to the destruction of the Ogallala Aquifer, through poisoning the water system. This event occurred during the periods of 1980s (Opie, 27). In 2008, the Trans Canada Corporation wanted to build a pipeline that will cross Athabasca oil sands to Houston, Texas (Guru et al, 31). This move created a lot of resistance from environmentalist, who argued that building an oil pipeline along the Aquifer system will make it vulnerable to pollution in case of an oil spill. However, a report by the United States department on environment denoted that the route by the Corporation, was economically, and environmentally feasible. The report therefore denoted that building a pipeline from Athabasca o il sands to Texas will not affect the Ogallala Aquifer in any manner. On the basis of this, this paper identifies and explains the best methods of conserving the Aquifer system, and its importance to the United States economy, and population. One of the methods of preserving the Aquifer system is to reduce the level of irrigation along the Aquifer system. It is estimated that 30% of water used to irrigate American lands, emanate from the Aquifer (Walton, 15). The effect of this is a reduction of the Aquifer’s water level, and this threatens its existence. The State and Federal government should look for other sources of water, for irrigation purposes. This includes engaging in rain water harvesting, and building boreholes to use for irrigation. Another method of conserving the Aquifer system is to limit the amount of fertilizers used in the irrigation firms (Ashworth, 21). This is because most farms use water that emanates from the system, and when they use fertilizers, it is highly possible that the remains will flow into the water system. This will cause pollution, making the water unsafe for human and animal consumption. Farmers also use insectides, and other house hold chemicals. It is important to find better ways of using the insecticides and chemicals (Wyatt et al, 32). There use must be in such a way, that it does not flow into the water system. After using them, it is important to dispose in an hazardous manner. By taking these measures a farmer will help in conserving the Aquifer system (Opie, 32). It is important for the Federal government and State government to to create policies and measures aimed at conserving the Aquifer. One such measure is to categorize it as an endangered system, and thereafter look for ways and means of preserving the Aquifer by involving the surrounding community. The Federal government should initiate laws, and policies whose aim is to preserve the Aquifer system. For example, the Federal and State government shoul d make it a crime, for anyone caught polluting the water system (Ashworth, 19). They should stipulate heavy penalties to discourage such practices. It is also important to involve industries and institutions in the conservation measures of the Aquifer system. This is because industries play a great role in the pollution of the underground water system. Industries use various chemicals that might pollute an underground water

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons Essay

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons - Essay Example Todd claims that the popular culture imagery in social commentary is the rhetoric of visual arguments (Todd, p. 137). Visual arguments show persuasive messages to the audience. Blair argues, â€Å"Visual argument is to use symbols to communicate and it can convince the audience (Todd, p. 138). The symbols or comical characters that might be presented through visual argument can convince people. For example, showing a visual argument about the environment and what is needed as process to protect the environment. Some visual images can be able to convince, because they might have personal or social experiences, which affect the individuals. The visual argument evidence is relevant because Todd quotes them from the argument and advocacy, which make visual arguments credible to solve problems that the affects the environment. These evidences are persuasive to the audience because they like to watch the visual arguments. Visual arguments show the environmental problems and the result if no care is followed of the process to help the environment. Todd claims that the nuclear power plant of the Simpsons represents the environmental politics of the real world. There should be visual explanations about the power plant regarding the negligence, which characterizes company standards for disposing of nuclear waste. Wastes are leaking out of the trashcan in a plant coffee room is a painful image. Watching trashcan full of waste in a coffee room and ignoring it is a sign of danger to the environment. T

Discuss the problems that a ship manager faces with various Essay - 1

Discuss the problems that a ship manager faces with various legislations on bunker fuels for a handymax bulk carrier that trades between North Europe and the - Essay Example veral changes in ship dimensions, cargoes carried, and general market trends during the past 25 years as a response to rapid growth of world trade and the shift in maritime markets. At the same time, there have been remarable amendments in regulations of maritime safety especially in transport of bunker fuels in bulk carrier and handymax segement. Hence, the ship manager of Handymax bulk carrier that carries bunker fuels and travels from USA to North Europe faces major problem as there is a difference between maritime regulations of USA and Europe. He has to address the technical problems due to change in legislations and he has to apply management principles for dealing these problems efficiently while manageing the bunker fuels in handymax bulk carriers between North Europe and USA. The ship manager has little flexibility in expansion due to changes maritime regulations regarding the management of bunker fuels are concerned. These regulations are made by international organizations like the International Maritime Organization and the European Union or by individual countries. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is mainly responsible for the implementation of maritime safety matters internationally which regulates the activities relating to safety at sea, pollution prevention (MARPOL), security (ISPS Code), standards of construction of offshore installations and matters relating to the non-economic issues of maritime transportation of bunker fuels. However, he faces more problems due to different regulations adopted in USA and Europe. For example, Environment Protection (Ships Ballast Water) Regulations 2006 restricts the ship manager’s choices while managing the bunker fuels in handymax bulk carriers entering Europe (EPA Victoria, 2007). This l egislation introduced by the Victorian Government speicifies ballast water reporting requirements for owners and masters of ships with capacity to carry ballast water. It also declares offences for

Kellogg's Market analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kellogg's Market analysis - Essay Example This has provided a good opportunity to companies like Kellogg’s. Similar emphasis is being placed on products which can provide good nutritional values and energy and are easily portable. Jaffer (2008) points out that with such considerations gaining ground Kellogg’s has repositioned its K-bar as an energy bar. This bar was traditionally positioned as an alternative to its breakfast cereal line, but now it focuses on the consumer’s demand for more natural energy. The company recorded revenues worth $11,776 million during the FY2007, an increase of 8% over FY2006. The key areas in which Kellogg’s operates has been primarily divided into four major segments like North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. This helps the company in devising segment specific strategies for these geographical regions. For example, in India Kellogg’s launched an SMS advertising campaign to tie in with its offline advertising for corn flake brands (Media Asia, 2004). With use of mobile phones increasing and the growing number of mobile users in the billion strong markets, mobile branding is one of the innovative techniques that are being used by this American MNC. Being a leader in the business, the company has been able to take advantage of its strategic placement and alliance in different markets to successfully experiment with new initiatives. One of the key focus areas for Kellogg’s is the ‘Children segment’. This prompted the company to enter into a multi-year global relationship with Disney in 2002. Some of the st rengths and weaknesses of Kellogg’s can be summarised as follows; Strong Brand Identity: Having a glorious past of more than 100 years Kellogg’s is a well known brand in many parts of the world. The portfolio of product brands offering corn flakes, Keebler, Chocos, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Special K, Murray, Austin, Morningstar

Kellogg's Market analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kellogg's Market analysis - Essay Example This has provided a good opportunity to companies like Kellogg’s. Similar emphasis is being placed on products which can provide good nutritional values and energy and are easily portable. Jaffer (2008) points out that with such considerations gaining ground Kellogg’s has repositioned its K-bar as an energy bar. This bar was traditionally positioned as an alternative to its breakfast cereal line, but now it focuses on the consumer’s demand for more natural energy. The company recorded revenues worth $11,776 million during the FY2007, an increase of 8% over FY2006. The key areas in which Kellogg’s operates has been primarily divided into four major segments like North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. This helps the company in devising segment specific strategies for these geographical regions. For example, in India Kellogg’s launched an SMS advertising campaign to tie in with its offline advertising for corn flake brands (Media Asia, 2004). With use of mobile phones increasing and the growing number of mobile users in the billion strong markets, mobile branding is one of the innovative techniques that are being used by this American MNC. Being a leader in the business, the company has been able to take advantage of its strategic placement and alliance in different markets to successfully experiment with new initiatives. One of the key focus areas for Kellogg’s is the ‘Children segment’. This prompted the company to enter into a multi-year global relationship with Disney in 2002. Some of the st rengths and weaknesses of Kellogg’s can be summarised as follows; Strong Brand Identity: Having a glorious past of more than 100 years Kellogg’s is a well known brand in many parts of the world. The portfolio of product brands offering corn flakes, Keebler, Chocos, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Special K, Murray, Austin, Morningstar

Federal Reserve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Federal Reserve - Essay Example For e.g. an increase in the purchasing by the central bank in the security market increases the amount of money that people has and it increases the money supply in the economy. Similarly, selling of these securities in the money market dampens the people buying power and reduces the money supply in the economy. 1c) Funding: This option is probably the most effective of the lot to change the money supply in the economy. By funding we mean that the central bank changes the composition of national debt in order alter the money supply in the economy. When it wants to reduce the money supply in the economy it issue more illiquid assets to fund the national debt like long-term securities. Similarly, when it wants to increase the money supply in the economy it funds the national debt by issuing liquid assets, such as treasury bills. 4A) During the last year (2008), we witnessed a severe recession. In order to lubricate the economy towards growth many governments decided to reduce the interest rates in order to increase the aggregate demand and lead the economy towards growth. The graph in this site shows, how rapidly interest rates were decreased in Australia following this recession. (http://www.news.com.au/money/interest-rates) The government of USA conducted more open market... r recession, the U.S government is trying to increase the money supply in the economy by funding major chunk of their debt with treasury bills which are liquid assets. (http://home.att.net/mwhodges/debt.htm) The government of USA conducted more open market operations than ever before in 2008. During this period they bought more securities than they sold. This increased the money supply in the economy and reduced the impact of recession. (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/open-market-operations-and-statistics) 4B) The best strategy for me to control the money supply in the economy will be Funding. Funding is twice as effective as open market operations as it reduces the overall money supply in the economy and not just of the commercial banks. This method has very satisfying result for government all over the world as it saturates money completely from the economic pipeline. The only disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be use as a tool for short-term strategy. If for example, after a small period of time, the government decides to increase the money supply, it won't be able to do so, because long-term securities had already been issued. Work Cited: Lipsey and Chrystal. (2001). Economics. Oxford University Press

Dispersed Team Dynamics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dispersed Team Dynamics - Assignment Example The success of an organization depends upon the quality of its functions based on its original principles while respecting the truth of innovations necessary for meeting the challenges that are inevitable part of the management process. The run for excellence demonstrated by various managements exposes every organization to a rather demanding field of competition where the leadership is forced to focus on creating opportunities among multiple choices. Any such innovation which can bring positive result in the business process involves risk-taking. More often, the risks appear to hit the functional areas such as goal-setting, communication and organizational changes which can together act as the blue-print for innovations. According to Stasi (2013), the most essential player that drives the virtual team in every organization is the communication system. A technically sound and mechanism of communication eliminates substantial amount of risk lying in the process of connecting people fr om different geographical and cultural regions of the world who form part of the working staff. There are a number of key players that structure the virtual team and enable the managers to continue with the successful chase of long-term and short-term organizational goals. A close association of important elements like the organizational purpose, human stakeholders and the tools meant for their coordination can ensure the accomplishment of success of every organization with thoughtful and dedicated application of management skills by their leaders. Among all the inputs given to the business, communication plays the most important role. As a result, there is a rapid change in the organizations across the world with regards to their information processing and communication systems. Today’s economic world doubtlessly requires the managers to give first priority to making such virtual teams which

Kellogg's Market analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kellogg's Market analysis - Essay Example This has provided a good opportunity to companies like Kellogg’s. Similar emphasis is being placed on products which can provide good nutritional values and energy and are easily portable. Jaffer (2008) points out that with such considerations gaining ground Kellogg’s has repositioned its K-bar as an energy bar. This bar was traditionally positioned as an alternative to its breakfast cereal line, but now it focuses on the consumer’s demand for more natural energy. The company recorded revenues worth $11,776 million during the FY2007, an increase of 8% over FY2006. The key areas in which Kellogg’s operates has been primarily divided into four major segments like North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. This helps the company in devising segment specific strategies for these geographical regions. For example, in India Kellogg’s launched an SMS advertising campaign to tie in with its offline advertising for corn flake brands (Media Asia, 2004). With use of mobile phones increasing and the growing number of mobile users in the billion strong markets, mobile branding is one of the innovative techniques that are being used by this American MNC. Being a leader in the business, the company has been able to take advantage of its strategic placement and alliance in different markets to successfully experiment with new initiatives. One of the key focus areas for Kellogg’s is the ‘Children segment’. This prompted the company to enter into a multi-year global relationship with Disney in 2002. Some of the st rengths and weaknesses of Kellogg’s can be summarised as follows; Strong Brand Identity: Having a glorious past of more than 100 years Kellogg’s is a well known brand in many parts of the world. The portfolio of product brands offering corn flakes, Keebler, Chocos, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Special K, Murray, Austin, Morningstar

Dispersed Team Dynamics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dispersed Team Dynamics - Assignment Example The success of an organization depends upon the quality of its functions based on its original principles while respecting the truth of innovations necessary for meeting the challenges that are inevitable part of the management process. The run for excellence demonstrated by various managements exposes every organization to a rather demanding field of competition where the leadership is forced to focus on creating opportunities among multiple choices. Any such innovation which can bring positive result in the business process involves risk-taking. More often, the risks appear to hit the functional areas such as goal-setting, communication and organizational changes which can together act as the blue-print for innovations. According to Stasi (2013), the most essential player that drives the virtual team in every organization is the communication system. A technically sound and mechanism of communication eliminates substantial amount of risk lying in the process of connecting people fr om different geographical and cultural regions of the world who form part of the working staff. There are a number of key players that structure the virtual team and enable the managers to continue with the successful chase of long-term and short-term organizational goals. A close association of important elements like the organizational purpose, human stakeholders and the tools meant for their coordination can ensure the accomplishment of success of every organization with thoughtful and dedicated application of management skills by their leaders. Among all the inputs given to the business, communication plays the most important role. As a result, there is a rapid change in the organizations across the world with regards to their information processing and communication systems. Today’s economic world doubtlessly requires the managers to give first priority to making such virtual teams which

Animal Abuse Problem Essay Example for Free

Animal Abuse Problem Essay Animal abuse is a people problem. Cruelty to animals can be prevented by all costs. Educate people you see abusing their animals and always, always report suspicious activity to your local law enforcement or animal control. An abused animal can turn on a human in an instant, so children and innocent bystanders can be attacked by an animal if it feels threatened. When abused, animals are not the only ones in danger. As C.S. Lewis once said, If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons. Maybe an eye for an eye should be implemented on animal abusers. Continue reading at NowPublic.com: Animal Cruelty: Facts, Prevention, Statistics and Action | NowPublic News Coverage http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/animal-cruelty-facts-prevention-statistics-and-action-2886267.html#ixzz2L2yNrWDW As humankind has progressed, there has been an increase in governance and rules and regulations of everyday life. These governance and rules rise from general disgust over happenings and concepts all over the world. One such rapidly growing concept is animal cruelty. Animal abuse simply put is cruel unwarranted treatment of animals. Such treatment generally has a single point program to subject animals and sometimes pets to unnecessary harm and pain. One major type of animal abuse is torture. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.html It is prevalent in all areas of the society. People in rural as well as urban areas are reported for animal cruelty cases. The statistics show reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of cases related to animal abuse that go unreported. People carry out violent and gruesome attacks on animals, both domestic as well as stray. The most common victims of animal abuse are: Horses Livestock Dogs Cats Birds Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html We have heard of an old saying Dogs a mans best friend. Most of us must have read Black Beauty at least once. The lion is the king of the jungle, a fact even kids from kindergarten are aware of. There are many other instances where animals are thought of as our friends. Yet, we tend to inflict pain and torture on our friends. Animal cruelty is not an issue that is unheard of. Since time immemorial, man, the high in the food chain, has tortured those beneath him. Practically all animal species have been abused by man in some way or the other. Humans are thought to be the most intelligent of all species. Still, when we look at the animal abuse statistics, mankind is put to shame. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html Animal Abuse Facts and Statistics It’s really hard to write about animal abuse facts. It’s hard to do the research, read the stories, get the statistics, watch the videos, and see the pictures. But the statistics are just so disturbing that readers need to know the truth. According to the Human Society of the United States, there is no national reporting system for abuse to animals. However Pet-Abuse.com has collected statistics on animal cruelty since 2001. As of October 13, 2012 they have 19,517 cases listed on their web site. The following animal abuse stats for the U.S. are from their database: Top 5 Types of Abuse [pic] †¢ 32% neglect or abandonment †¢ 12% hoarding †¢ 11% shooting †¢ 9% fighting †¢ 7% beating Most of the above forms of violence toward animals is self-explanatory. However, hoarding may need some more explanation. This involves people who are often well intentioned but what they do is collect animals and may have hundreds of animals living in their house, barn or yard. It’s pretty much impossible to take care of this number of animals well and the cost of food and veterinary care would be sky high. Hoarding is really another form of neglect, just on a much grander scale than traditional neglect or abandonment. Most cases of abuse toward animals are directed toward dogs, cats, and horses. The statistics on dogs included non-pit bulls pit bulls. Of the cases listed on their website, 48% are alleged cases, 24% are convicted records, and 16% are open. Most abusers of animals are men between 31 and 50 years of age. While many animal cruelty cases are tracked on the web, it is believed the number of cases is much greater. A recent search of Google News found more than 10 articles regarding allegations or convictions toward animals in September in Texas alone compared to just 13 on Pet-Abuse.com for all of the United States. In other words, the data on animal abuse is even worse than what is reported on well known web sites.

Improving Eye Care In Rural India Communications Essay

Improving Eye Care In Rural India Communications Essay CATARACT refers to the clouding of the lens in the human eye, affecting vision. In the developing world, cataract is the cause for blindness in nearly half the blind population i.e. 50% of the recorded number of blindness cases. While problems of inaccessibility continue to plague many parts of the developing world nearly two-thirds of the population in many developing countries are unable to access quality medical resources infrastructure primarily because quality medical care or eye care in this case is still urban-centric all hope is not lost yet. In India too, where 90% of the cases are treatable, most Indians lack access to quality eye care. In the early 1990s, the country was home to a third of the worlds blind people and here too cataract blindness was the major cause in most cases. The World Bank decided to step in and help the Indian government deal with the problem, spending $144.8 million between 1994 and 2002 on the Cataract Blindness Control Project under which 15.3 million eye surgeries were performed. The World Bank-funded project was largely implemented in northern India and it helped reduce the incidence of cataract, in the states that were covered under this project, by half. But India is a very big country and it definitely needs a more sustainable approach to dealing with cataract blindness given that it has a sizeable ageing population. One such approach is the Aravind Eye Care System, a three-decade old campaign that has been fighting cataract blindness predominantly in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nad u. Working in the same direction is the L V Prasdad Eye Institue, operating from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Both Aravind and LVPEI, setup in the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s respectively, have been focused on taking quality eye care to the rural masses from the very beginning, most of it free of cost. In the larger context, this paper discusses how private entrepreneurship is taking quality Eye Care to the rural masses in India. This paper will discuss the Eye Care delivery model aimed at fighting Cataract Blindness in the context of the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA). The Culture-Centered Approach advoates greater engagment with the local culture, â€Å"through dialogues with community members†, to ensure â€Å"equitable† and â€Å"accessible† healthcare across communities (Dutta-Bergman, 2004a, 2004b; Dutta and Basu 2007 as quoted in Dutta, 2008). Furthermore, this paper will use the Extended Technology-Community-Management (TCM) model (Chib Komathi, 2008) to explain the intersections between technology, community and the management of information communication technologies (ICT) in the context of the CCA and the Eye Care delivery model adopted by the private healthcare players i.e. the non-governmental organisations (NGOs). According to the TCM model (Lee Chib, 2008), the intersection of ICT characteristics of technology, along with the dimensions of software and hardware, project management dimensions of financial requirements, the regulatory environment, and stakeholder involvement, along with local community participation â€Å"will ultimately lead to sustainable ICTD interventions.† Culture-Centered Approach Globalisation has led to an increasing realisation that the Biomedical[6] model of healthcare is limited in scope when engaging in issues of global health (Dutta, 2008). Furthermore, Dutta (2008) says that many societies now feel the need to â€Å"open up the spaces of health communication to the voices of cultural communities† i.e. there is now greater awarness of the need for better engagement with marginalised communities. Culture is dynamic. That culture has an important role to play in health communication is better understood today. But this concept began attracting widespread attention only in the early 1980s, especially in the U.S. when healthcare practitioners felt a need to adopt multiple strategies to address the health-related issues of a multicultural population (Dutta, 208). â€Å"This helped question the universalist assumptions of various health communication programs† aimed at the developing nations and the so called third-world nations   (Dutta, 2008). The Culture-Centered Approach was born out of the need to oppose the dominant approach of health communication, located within the Biomedical model, where health is treated as a â€Å"universal concept based on Eurocentric[7] understandings of health-related issues, disease and the treatment of diseases† (Dutta, 2008). According to Dutta (2008), the CCA is a better alternative to understanding health communication because it is a â€Å"value-centered† approach. The CCA is built on the notion that the â€Å"meanings of health† cannot be universal because they are ingrained within cultural contextsm, he argues.  Ã‚   The CCA has its roots in three key concepts i.e. ‘structure, ‘agency and ‘culture. The term ‘culture refers to the local context within which so called health meanings are created and dealt with. ‘Structure encompasses food, shelter, medical services and transportational services that are all vital to the overall healthcare of various members of a community. ‘Agency points to the â€Å"capacity of cultural members† to negotiate the structures within which they live. It must be noted that ‘structure, ‘agency and ‘culture and entwined and they do not operate in isolation. Dutta (2008), in his book Communicating Health, further elaborates that the CCA throws light on how the dominant healthcare ideology serves the needs of those in power. Powerful members of society create conditions of marginalistaion. Therefore the focus of the CCA lies in the study of the intersections between ‘structure, ‘agency and ‘culture in the context of marginalised communities. To understand better the problems faced by the marginalised, the CCA advocates the healthcare practitioners engage in dialogues with members of the concerned community. Each community has its own set of stories to share and this is vital to understanding the local culture. The CCA also aims to document resistance, of any kind, to dominant ideologies as this helps strengthen the case of the CCA against the dominant healthcare model. The CCA, according to Dutta (2008), provides sufficient scope to study physician-patient relationships, in a bid to ultimately improve the healthcare deli very model. Adopting the CCA is just half your problem solved; the integration of the CCA with the Extended TCM model completes the picture.   The Extended TCM Model The TCM model (Lee Chib, 2008) argues that the larger question of social sustainability depends on both local relevance and institutional support. The TCM Model proposes that the intersection of ICT characteristics of technology, along with the dimensions of software and hardware, project management dimensions of financial requirements, the regulatory environment, and stakeholder involvement, along with local community participation, will ultimately lead to sustainable ICTD interventions (See Figure 1.1). The TCM model was further revised. Community was subdivided to include: modes of ownership of ICT investments and profits; training of community users both in the use and in technology management; and the basic needs of the community. Furthermore, Sustainability was also subdivided into financial and social (see Figure 1.2). Chib Komathi (2009) found that the TCM Model was inadequate as it could not examine the critical issue of vulnerability. Therefore, their study improved on this inadequacy by adding crucial factors and variables relating to vulnerability. They extended the TCM model, and called it the Extended Technology-Community-Management (Extended TCM) model (see Figure1.3).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This new framework on ICT planning accounts for community involvement, the management components, the overall design of technologies such as telemedicine or tele-consultation, and evaluation of existing vulnerabilities in the community where these technologies are implemented. It identifies four dimensions of vulnerabilities influencing technology implementation among the rural poor: economic vulnerability, informational vulnerability, physiological/psychological vulnerability, and socio-cultural vulnerability. Chib Komathi (2009) further explain each dimension of vulnerability: Physiological and psychological vulnerabilities refer to the physical and mental well-being of an affected person, or a specific community. Informational vulnerability deals with the access to and availability of information within affected communities. Informational resources include personal documents, books and critical data, opinion leaders and professional experts,. The lack of such resources affects the capabilities of people who are dependent on them. In a rural setting, informational vulnerability is further augmented by the low literacy levels and lack of pertinent â€Å"technological skills necessary to enable the learning and processing of information.† The economic vulnerability is sparked off by the loss of livelihood i.e. a loss of activities that otherwise financially support households and sustain economic growth in a rural setting. The socio-cultural vulnerability of communities is determine d by â€Å"the structure and values of a given society that define human relationships in communities.† Hierarchies in any society (gender, race, religion, caste, age and class egalitarianism within communities) or a community often dictate access to resources and assets, and the decision-making power of people. Cataract Blindness in India At the outset, one has to understand the sufferings of the blind in India, in a rural setting blindness, irrespective of the cause, results in a loss of livelihood for an individual. In rural India, like elsewhere, this would translate into one less earning member in the family, making the blind person a burden to his/her family. This leads to a loss of dignity and status in the family. In effect, blind people in rural India, like in many other societies, are marginalized. Enter Aravind and LVPEI, who continue to strive to help blind people in rural India and empower them by giving them back their sight. There are many causes of blindness, like Diabetes for instance. But Cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in the developing world. Records in India show that Cataract is the most significant cause of blindness in the country (Nirmalan et al. 2002 Murthy et al. 2001).Cataract, reports say, is responsible for 50 to 80 per cent of the bilaterally blind (Thulsiraj et al. 2003 Thulsiraj et al. 2002).The elderly are more at risk of developing Cataract. India aims to eliminate needless blindness by 2020 in line with ‘Vision 2020: the right to sight initiative, launched jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Many organisations worldwide are also working in the direction of eliminating needless blindness (Foster, 2001). The government in India and the World Bank launched the Cataract Blindness Control Project in seven states across India in 1994.From close to 1.2 million cataract surgeries a year in the 1980s (Minassian Mehra 1990), Cataract surgical output tripled to 3.9 million per year by 2003 (Jose, 2003). In 2004, World Health Organization (WHO) data showed that there was a 25 per cent decrease in blindness prevalence in India (Resnikoff et al. 2004) the reason(s) could be the increase in Cataract surgeries countrywide. But there is a larger problem here, that of population growth. The aged population in India (those aged over 60 years) population which stood at 56 million people in the year 1991 is expected to double by the year 2016 (Kumar, 1997). This ‘greying of Indias population only suggests that the number of people ‘at-risk of developing Cataract is constantly on the rises. In the larger sense, this paper aims to show how private entrepreneurship in India is taking quality eye care to the rural masses in that country. This paper aimed to discuss the same through two case studies, that of the Aravind Eye Care system as well as the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). Unfortunately, email correspondence with LVPEI failed to elicit responses from this organization. Given the limitations of this study, including time constraints, this paper will explain the Aravind Eye Care system in the context of rural Eye Care in India and the fight against Cataract Blindness all this within the framework of the CCA. Furthermore, this paper will critique the business model of NGOs like Aravind in the context of the Extended TCM model, including whether for-profit organisations are using the rural masses to support their business model. In particular, what is the role of the healthcare provider in this case disseminate knowledge to the grass-roots or live-off their healthcare delivery model? Aravind Eye Care Dr. G. Venkataswamy had a very simple vision when he first setup Aravind Eye Care in 1976: â€Å"Eradicate needless blindness at least in Tamil Nadu, his home state, if not in the entire nation of India.† Aravind began as an 11-bed private clinic in the founders brothers house in the southern Indian city of Madurai. Today, the Aravind Eye Hospital (AEH) at Madurai is a 1,500 bed hospital.   In addition to Madurai, there are four more AEHs in Tamil Nadu (Aravind.org) with a combined total of over 3,500 beds. By 2003 the Aravind Eye Care System as we know it today was up and running. The System continues to operate under the aegis of a nonprofit trust named the Govel Trust it comprises of a manufacturing facility (for manufacturing synthetic lenses, sutures, and pharmaceuticals related to eye care); eye hospitals; education and training (graduate institute of ophthalmology); research facilities (complete with an eye bank);) and a center for community outreach programs (Prahlad, 2004). A typical day at Aravind now has doctors performing about 1,000 surgeries including free surgeries; 5-6 outreach camps in rural areas where about 1,500 people are examined and close to 300 people are brought to an AEH for eye surgery (TED, 2009). How does Aravind do it? The organisation has setup ‘vision centers or clinics in remote villages, fitted with basic eye care equipment. Each clinic is manned by an ophthalmic assistant and â€Å"these clinics perform basic examinations; prescribe corrective lenses and treat minor ailments.† If an eye ailment can be cured by the application of eye drops, these clinics are equipped to do so.   For more complicated cases, such as Cataract Blindness, the patient consults an ophthalmologist based at an AEH in a nearby city via the videoconferencing route. If the patient needs corrective surgery, he/she is asked to hop onto a bus waiting outside the ‘vision centre that takes them to the nearest Aravind base hospital. The patients are operated upon the following day; they spend a day in post-operative care and then take a bus back to their villages all free of cost (Laks, 2009).[8] But it wasnt all gung-ho in the beginning; more hard work than anything else. There was no specific Outreach team. Everyone in the pool was asked to participate in Outreach programme. â€Å"In the beginning (in 1976-77) Dr. V and a small team would visit villages and conduct eye screening camps. Those who required Cataract surgery would then be advised to visit the base hospital for surgery. But Dr .V found that a majority of those advised to undergo surgery would dropout, owing to socio-economic factors like fear of surgery; lack of trust on restoration of sight; no money to spend for transport, food and post operative medical care and (their) resistance to western medicine,† according to the head of Outreach activities at Aravind, R. Meenakshi Sundaram in his email response to my queries. These barriers were gradually addressed through various strategies. â€Å"We decided to involve village chiefs and local organizations to take ownership of the Outreach programmes, in terms of identifying the right location for the Eye Camp and providing the required support facilities. Their help was key to community mobilization. We organized a team to standardize the quality in Eye Care service delivery. Furthermore, Dr. V focussed his attention on building hospitals like ones home where we normally expect basic culture and values,† said Mr. Sundaram. â€Å"Fear of surgery was a common barrier in addition to other factors. Perhaps the acceptance for surgery was low in the beginning. But it was constantly explained at the community level whenever camps were organized as the programme aims to serve people at large. Particularly, in the year 1992 the Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) was introduced and the rural community did not believe in having a ‘foreign particle in their eyes. We came across a lot of myths. Those issues were addressed thru counselling,† added Mr. Sundaram. Realizing the impact of counselling, a cadre was developed within the System in 1992 and seven counsellors were trained in the first batch of counsellors training. They were given a basic orientation about common eye problems with a special focus on IEC. ‘Patient counsellors i.e. patients who had undergone eye surgery were asked to help the Outreach team. â€Å"They played their role in explaining eye problems in the local language and tried to help others realize the consequences of failing to accept surgery. Considering the myths, a real IOL was used as education material to help the rural folk understand the concept of the IOL,† Mr Sundaram said. The number of counsellors has steadily risen ever since and stands at 179 at present. How is the Aravind Eye Care System possible? Financial self-sustainability was the primary focus from day one at Aravind. Initially, the organization was given a grant by the government to help subsidize the treatment costs for eye camp patients (Prahlad, 2004) and the Govel Trust also pledged properties to raise money from banks in the early days. Prahlad (2004) states that the Madurai AEH, the first, was always self-supporting as far as recurring expenditures were concerned. Within the first five years of operation, the Madurai AEH had accumulated surplus revenues for further development and for the construction of four other hospitals in the Tamil Nadu state. He adds that over the years, the patient revenues generated from its five hospitals located in five cities finance the Aravind Eye Care System to a great extent. Furthermore, Aravind has also taken to the management-contract route and it manages two hospitals outside of its home-state. While city folk are charged market rates for each consultancy and for surgery, patients in remote villages pay just Rs. 20 for three consultancies or SGD 0.60. (TED, 2009). Those who can afford to pay, the urban folk who visit Aravinds hospitals in urban locations on their own, do not get discounted rates. Such a system of cross-subsidies ensures that only 45 percent pay while the rest are not charged at all i.e. about five out of every 10 patients examined at Aravind can be provided free eye care, including eye surgery (TED, 2009). A cross-subsidising financial model is not the only mantra[9] to Aravinds success. Having been in the business of delivering quality Eye Care for over three decades now, the System is well-positioned to leverage on the Aravind brand-name to attract donations. Over the years, the organization has received international recognition for its work and this includes the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health, and this years Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize that carries a US$1.5 million cash award. Last but not the least is the money that flows into Aravind in the form of specific project-funding. One such sponsor is the London-based ‘Seeing Is Believing (SiB) Trust, a collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Since 2003, ‘Seeing is Believing has grown from a staff initiative to raise enough money to fund a cataract operation for each member of the Bank to a US$40 million global community initiative. I wrote to Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) asking them why they decided to partner with Aravind and LVPEI. â€Å"LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, as well as Aravind Eye Hospital are premier eye care institutes in the country.   India has a vast geographic spread and both these institutions work in different geographic zones of the country.   LVPEI is prominent in the south-eastern states of the country while Aravind is prominent in the southern states of India,† said Pratima Harite, Manager (Sustainability), Corporate Affairs- India in her email response to my queries. The rationale behind the India Consortium Project is the ‘vision centre concept that a significant proportion of eye problems corrected or detected at the primary care level has substantial savings to the individual and to the communities.   â€Å"Based on the success of LVPEIs Vision Centre model, the India Consortium Project proposed scaling up the development of Vision Centres in a co-ordinated matter in six states across the country.   For this, LVPEI sought support from four key implementing partners premier eye care institutions themselves across the country,† added Ms. Harite. Singapores Temasek Foundation (TF) part-funds SiB activities in India, particularly in capacity building i.e. in enhancing the training component of the SiB programme. Is this a viable business model? Aravind has perfected the model over the last three decades. They have the technology, behind the video consultation, in place â€Å"a low-cost wireless long-distance network (WiLDNet)† put together by the Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions (TIER) research group at the University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.[10] This was done to overcome the issue of zero internet connectivity or slow connections that do not support video consultations in remote villages (Laks, 2009). In 2004, a mobile van with satellite connectivity was introduced to facilitate Tele-Consultations. The Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO)[11] help was sought to this extent. The ‘vision centres can easily communicate with the base hospital (some 30 to 40 kms.) via satellite. These ‘vision centres effectively address the issue of accessibility, affordability and availability of quality Eye Care. â€Å"A series of centres were started across the Tamil Nadu state. Each base hospital is connected with a group of vision centres. At present, we have 10 ‘vision centres that operate on WiFi. The rest run on BSNL[12] broadband connections,† Mr Sundaram said. Aravind has the delivery system in place. A sound understanding of the local culture that in many cases is averse to western medicine and where modern-day medicine is not the first and only option to treat any disease or ailment. Why would a villager trust a doctor who drives down one fine morning and says he would like to operate upon them? Aravind begins by appointing a volunteer group for each community; some of these volunteers are further trained to serve as ophthalmic assistants and even as nurses in Aravinds hospitals. In a rural setting, rural folk trust their friends, neighbors, and their own people first. It is about creating ownership to the problem, like Mr. Sundaram said, and then partnering with the community to solve the problem. Aravinds financial results for the year 2008-09 were healthy. It raked in (income) US$22 million and spent (expenditure and depreciation) US$ 13 million.[13] Discussion That Aravind and other NGOs working in a similar direction, like LVPEI for instance, use the Culture-Centered Approach, as elaborated by Dutta (2008), in delivering quality eye care to rural India is quite clear. Aravind, in particular, has successfully integrated the CCA with the Technology-Communication-Management (TCM) model, as elaborated by Lee Chib (2008) to create a sustainable model for Eye Care delivery. ‘Accessibility and ‘affordability are the key factors in such healthcare models. In taking this route, one has to ensure that the technologies chosen for the job are cost-effective and easy to implement because capital expenditure and operational expenditure do play a vital role in determining the cost of healthcare services. Aravind has been able to keep the cost of Eye Care delivery considerable low consistently for many years now. Critics argue that organizations like Aravind are feeding-off their model. At this point, it is important to understand the ground-realities. In India, the divide between the urban ‘haves, and the rural ‘have-nots is only getting wider with each passing year. According to UN projections released 2008, India would urbanize at a much slower rate than China and have, by 2050, 45% of its population still living in rural areas (Lederer, 2008). The Government in India is not doing enough to address the plethora of health issues that plague [the various regions and communities in] the country. The flagship scheme to improve healthcare services in rural India, the National Rural Health Mission    launched in 2005 as a seven-year programme has many of its goals yet to be achieved, and the government is now considering extending it to 2015, according to recent media reports. Despite many a government claims and many a government schemes several villages in states across India co ntinue to depend on the private sector for quality healthcare or in this case Eye Care. Given this situation, Aravind and LVPEIs work in the direction of providing affordable Eye Care and free eye surgeries to five out of every ten patients they examine is a commendable feat.   A second question raised in this study is, what is the role of the healthcare provider in this case disseminate knowledge to the grass-roots or live-off their healthcare delivery model? Aravind is doing its part in disseminating knowledge to the grass-roots. Most ophthalmic assistants who man the ‘vision centers are community members trained by Aravind. But one has to understand that the act of knowledge dissemination in a remote rural setting has its challenges i.e. tackling illiteracy, basic awareness among others and these challenges cannot be addressed in just a few years. The India Consortium Project, sponsored by SCB and Temasek Foundation, set a target to set up 40 ‘vision centres by 2010. So far, 32 ‘vision centres are operational and the remaining will be operational this year, according to Ms. Harite.   On the flip side, a study by Murthy et al. (2008) argues that the goals of the ‘Vision 2020: the right to sight initiative to eliminate Cataract blindness in India by the year 2020 may not be achieved. But this should not deter those working in this direction. Both the public and the private sector must continue to fight Cataract Blindness because that is the only way to tackle the problem at hand. Last but not the least, this study recommends that NGOs operating in the healthcare space look at both the CCA and the TCM model to ensure better service delivery. References Chib, A. Komathi, A.L.E. (2009). Extending the Technology-Community-Management Model to Disaster Recovery: Assessing Vulnerability in Rural Asia. Submitted to ICTD 2009. Dutta, M. J. (2008). Communicating Health. Polity Press, Cambridge, U.K. Foster A. (2001).Cataract and Vision 2020 the right to sight initiative. British Journal Ophthalmology, 85, 635-639. Jose R, Bachani D. (2003). Performance of cataract surgery between April 2002 and March 2003. NPCB-India;2:2. Kumar S. (1997). Alarm sounded over Greying of Indias population. Lancet, 350, 271 Lee, S., Chib, A. (2008). Wireless initiatives for connecting rural areas: Developing a framework. In N. Carpentier B. De Cleen (Eds.), Participationand media production. Critical reflections on content creation. ICA 2007Conference Theme Book (pp. 113-128). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Lederer, E.M. (2008). Mint. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/27231012/Half-the-world8217s-populat.html Laks, R. (2009). Videoconferencing and Low-cost Wireless Networks Improve Vision in Rural India. Comminit.com. Retrieved April16, 2010, from http://www.comminit.com/en/node/301452/307 Minassian DC, Mehra V. (1990). 3.8 Million blinded by cataract each year: Projections from the first epidemiological study of incidence of cataract blindness in India. Br J Ophthalmol, 4, 341-3. Murthy GV, Gupta S, Ellwein LB, Munoz SR, Bachani D, Dada VK. (2001). A Population-based Eye Survey of Older Adults in a Rural District of Rajasthan: I, Central Vision Impairment, Blindness and Cataract Surgery. Ophthalmology, 108,679-85. Nirmalan PK, Thulasiraj RD, Maneksha V, Rahmathullah R, Ramakrishnan R, Padmavathi A,et al. (2002). A population based eye survey of older adults in Tirunelveli district of south India: Blindness, cataract surgery and visual outcomes. Br J Ophthalmol, 86, 505-12. Prahlad, C. K. (2004). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Wharton School Publishing, Pennsylvanial, U.S. Resnikoff S, Pascolini D, Etyaale D, Kocur I, Pararajasegaram R, Pokharel GP,et al. (2004). Global data on visual impairment in the year 2002. Bull WHO, 82, 844-51. TED. (2009). Thulasiraj Ravilla: How low cost eye care can be world class. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/thulasiraj_ravilla_how_low_cost_eye_care_can_be_worl

The Benin Bronzes Essay -- Benin Brass Plaques

This essay deals with the nature of a cross cultural encounter between the Benin people and Portuguese traders in the 15th and 16th centuries, which resulted in the depiction of Portuguese figures in Benin brass plaques. It will propose that this contact between people with different cultures was on the basis of 'mutual regard' (Woods, K. 2008, p. 16), and although the Portuguese had qualms about idolatry in Benin it will show that assumptions by Europeans up to the 20th century of the primitive nature of tribal African societies was inaccurate with regard to the Benin people, who had a society based on the succession of the King or 'Oba', a Royal Family and Nobility. The essay will finally suggest that Benin’s increase in wealth following the arrival of the Portuguese led to a resurgence in bronze sculptures and the introduction of a new form, the rectilinear plaque. The plaque under consideration, is of a forward facing man, with an aquiline nose, thin lips, neatly trimmed beard, wearing a sun hat with flaps and looking intently at the viewer. He is dressed in a typical 16th century Portuguese style, wearing a decorated tunic with padded shoulders and tight breeches with short boots. He has a business like manner, carrying in his right hand a brass manilla, the main item of exchange with Benin, and a walking cane in the other. It is significant that he is not armed, clearly indicating he is safe in foreign surroundings. The background is pleasingly stylised with clusters of petals set against a stippled ground imbuing a secure feeling. It seems probable that Fernao Gomes, a Portuguese 'merchant adventurer' discovered the kingdom of Benin in 1474 (Wood, K. 2008, p. 8), seeking trading opportunities and looking for gold. The... ...best case for the retention of the British Benin sculptures is to accord them the unique status they deserve as exceptional artworks and exhibit them appropriately in a prestigious national art gallery, for everyone to appreciate fully. Works Cited Flinders, P. and Holman, K. and others, (2012) AA100 'Tutorial Forum Book 3, Weeks, 1 and 2' – Benin , online at http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=900850, accessed between 4 and 17 February, 2015. Loftus, D. and Wood, P. (2008), 'The Art of Benin: Changing Relations Between Europe and Africa II' in Brown, R. D. (ed.) Cultural Encounters (AA100 Book 3), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 43-87. The Art of Benin, (2009), AA100 DVD ROM, Milton Keynes, The Open University. The Open University, (2008), AA100 Illustration Book (Plates for Books 3 and 4), Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Descriptive Essay - Fifth Avenue -- Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writ

Naples is a very unique city that attracts people from all over the world to its beautiful surroundings. Amongst the pristine beaches and championship golf courses, a teenager can find many entertaining locations. One such area can be found in downtown Naples on Fifth Avenue. Along this stretch of road near the beach lies a vast array of shops, cafes, restaurants, and other establishments. I often find myself spending many nights on Fifth Avenue, walking along the tree-lined streets or sitting in one of the numerous cafà ©s or restaurants. One of my favorite places located along Fifth Avenue is Starbucks, a coffee shop offering many different types of coffees, teas, and snacks. I frequently find my way down to this coffee shop after school meetings, on weekends, or on days when I just ne... Descriptive Essay - Fifth Avenue -- Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writ Naples is a very unique city that attracts people from all over the world to its beautiful surroundings. Amongst the pristine beaches and championship golf courses, a teenager can find many entertaining locations. One such area can be found in downtown Naples on Fifth Avenue. Along this stretch of road near the beach lies a vast array of shops, cafes, restaurants, and other establishments. I often find myself spending many nights on Fifth Avenue, walking along the tree-lined streets or sitting in one of the numerous cafà ©s or restaurants. One of my favorite places located along Fifth Avenue is Starbucks, a coffee shop offering many different types of coffees, teas, and snacks. I frequently find my way down to this coffee shop after school meetings, on weekends, or on days when I just ne...

Sontrary to popular belief, a natural emotion or feeling Essay

What is sadness? Sadness is, contrary to popular belief, a natural emotion or feeling. People feel sadness whenever they lose something that they previously enjoyed such as someone they loved, or something as simple as a stuffed animal. This particular emotion is actually good for you. It offers relief from the pain of the loss and it gives you some measure of the importance of what you’ve lost. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury strives to create a society that lives in the absence of sadness. He aspires to give everyone happiness by getting rid of conflict and inequality. However, what the society did not recognize was the value of this gloomy emotion. Guy Montag, the central character in the book, has learned to conform to the idea that the society he lives in is so very rigid and standard. Our Service Can Write a Custom Essay on Sadness for You! However he eventually realizes that the society he lives in is not suitable for a happy life. In an attempt to solidify happiness, society became dehumanized through its abandonment of human instinct, which ironically caused society to become anaesthetized. In the various attempts to abolish despondency by the elimination of literature, all emotions in society were destroyed. In the past, the society was able to read books, and therefore had no reason to burn them. For this reason houses were not fireproof, and therefore Clarise alludes to the fact that firemen used to put out fires, not start them. (8.) Thus proving that at one point in this society, books were accepted and then eventually were banned. While education doesn’t seem like an awful attribute, it created inequality, which made people unhappy. In order to explain the abolishment of books, Beatty expressed to Montag, Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the timeЕÐ ¤ (58). As Beatty explained, the government utilized technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure to eliminate sadness. One example to substantiate the statement made by Beatty would be the use of the houn d. The government used the hound in order to find and destroy books, which would, according to their society, create equality and peace. They believed that the elimination of books would solve everyone’s problems, and as a surrogate for books used controlled technology. Since there were no learned people, there would not be controversy over the explanations of ideas, or ideas themselves. However, what he did not account for was the fact that without thought, there was no emotion, and therefore no happiness or sadness. Happiness and sadness interplay off of each other, there cannot be happiness without something to contrast it to. Therefore, in the attempt to make everyone happy by eliminating literature, the ultimate outcome was a society that was essentially all robots. These â€Å"robots† were incapable of comprehending personal history, and therefore had no sense of the passed time. The theory behind destroying a sense of time was that if no one were to grasp the idea of time, then they would, among other things, have no awareness of aging, and everyone would be happy. However, unexpectedly in doing so people were not happy nor sad, merely indifferent. In the conversation between Montag and Mildred the morning after the ordeal with Mildred’s blood cleaning, Mildred cannot remember the events of the past night and therefore questions, â€Å"Last night- What about last night?† (19). Mildred had no recollection of time or of past events and therefore no one knows whether Mildred was unhappy or just couldn’t remember. The attempt to eliminate sadness did not work, because since she couldn’t remember anything in the past she not only couldn’t remember the bad things, but she also couldn’t remember the ha ppy events. The two therefore neutralized themselves between the happy and the sad causing Mildred to be apathetic or even sometimes depressed. It is extremely hard to live a happy life when you can’t remember any of the past joyous moments because of the dehumanization impressed onto society. Unfortunately, this dehumanization made people even more depressed, because it could cause them physical harm, moreover it could cause them emotional harm because they may not be able to remember joyous moments. The supreme consequence of the mechanization of society was that the feelings about life and death became more depersonalized. To many, death is a very personal and emotional event. Contrary, though, in Montag’s society, death was absolutely depersonalized. People rarely were affected by death, however, just continued with their standard life because they believed that death was just another â€Å"thing† that happened in life. When depersonalizing death, the intent was to eliminate the sadness that went along with it, and therefore make everyone happy. While it did eliminate the sadness, it also eliminated the happiness that went along with life. People had no reason to cherish life, because they believed didn’t think about the possibility of dieing, since it was such a minor part of life. When probing the idea of death, and looking deeper, it is essentially a culmination of life. However, since the citizens were unable to remember life, the idea of death was changed. In their minds they lived for just a moment, and therefore when someone died, nothing essentially died because nothing essentially lived. Mildred articulates the ideology of society by expressing her feelings about the woman Montag killed. â€Å"She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books. It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that.† (51). Mildred wasn’t at all concerned that someone’s life was just taken, she was concerned that Montag was sick because of her. This clearly illustrates the ideology of society in that no one cared about death, it wasn’t happy nor was it a particularly sad time. So in the end, since no one understood that death was actually a very catastrophic event, no one therefore cherished life and lived unconcernedly, not happy nor sad. Eventually Montag grasps the fact that his society is extremely corrupt due to the mechanization and dehumanization. There are various causes, which lead to the demise of a normal society, and lead to the society prevalent in F451, which relies on technology and abandons human instinct. As a result, the citizens have become non-threatening, non-interesting humans who can be easily led and manipulated through fear. The intent was to eliminate sadness but the end result were humans with absolutely no emotions.