What is the Purpose of the Daily News?

What is the purpose of the daily news? Many will answer and say that the news is there to inform the public, but is that really their purpose. Most of the news that is shown on television is shown in less than two to three-minute segments; a person cannot become informed on certain topics in that little amount of time. The three-minute segments of news that are displayed on television only give the viewer a watered down version of information from a biased point of view. When a person watches the news one can see that many of images shown are negative towards a certain subject. The viewer may not see it but the shocking or exciting images being displayed constantly on the daily news must have some greater purpose than to inform the viewer. The greater purpose is to provoke public interest and excitement; this provocation of public interest and excitement through the use of exciting or shocking images, stories, and language is called news sensationalism. Many people think they are being informed by the news but what they do not realize is that it is not always enlightening, as it should be, but it is instead very captivating. Through the use of sensationalism the news that is displayed on television everyday impacts and influences a person by showing them negative images, using â€Å"buzz† words, providing one-sided information, and by restricting boundaries of information. What types of images are displayed daily on the news? Tune into the news and the first image that are shown are images on something negative like murder, war, violence, and death. News stations display these types of negative images in order to acquire your attention. Negative images on the news grab people's attention because they rarely happen in a person's life. People are attracted to negative images of violence and death because they find them fascinating. These negative images are fascinating because many people have not experienced them first hand; there exists less violence and death now than in any other time in human history. Humans are creatures who have evolved over time from a civilization of violence and death to one that has become more sophisticated and educated. Therefore, when images of violence and death are displayed on television they show people a part of the human past that was more violent. This shows that humans have some type wickedness inside them because if they did not humans would not sit in front of their television watching news on people's death. Now when horrible events occur in this world people can see it on the news, therefore, one can say that human beings have become desensitized to negative images because they are being shown constantly in a continual loop. Consequently, the negative images of violence and death may be showed on the news in order to remind humans of their violent past and to show that these events do occur in real life. In addition, the negative images help people manage with their current situations by showing them that their lives are not so bad and could be much worse. The continual loop of negative images reflects that society likes the negative because it reminds humans of their fascination for violence and helps people cope with their current situations. The news media use â€Å"buzz† words constantly in their news and headlines to capture a viewer's attention in order to instill fear and make profit. â€Å"Buzz† words, according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, are type of words or phrases that usually sound important or technical and are used primarily to impress people without knowledge in a particular subject (â€Å"buzzword†). First off when a news station tries to grab the viewers attention they usually use the headline â€Å"We just got breaking news,† this phrase immediately captures a person's attention because one does not know what to expect. After that phrase is said some type of â€Å"buzz† word usually follows it immediately because people will not know about the subject since it is breaking news. For example, when 9/11 occurred it was breaking news and president Bush followed right after the attack with a small speech. In that speech president Bush used the â€Å"buzz† words terrorism, bombing, and extremism because they sounded technical to the situation. President Bush's words captured the people's attention and impressed them so much that they were instilled with fear and eventually lead to the war in Iraq. Moreover, by obtaining people's attention through the use of â€Å"buzz† words news stations draw more views, which in turn allows them to get higher ratings and make profit. News stations make profit by selling airtime to commercials, so a news station with a lot of viewers will make a great quantity of money. Therefore, â€Å"buzz† words are used more now than ever before because using them allows news stations to instill fear and gather more viewers which amounts to more profit. When people watch the news they tend to trust the information they are getting because many people are lazy to go searching for information on their own, as a result the news seems real and authentic but in reality the news merely provides biased information. The news provides one-sided information because it is in the news stations best interest to do so; being biased allows news stations to attract specific types of viewers. By attracting a specific type of viewer it allows news stations to push a distinct viewpoint. For example, Fox news is a conservative media outlet that attracts conservatives, while MSNBC is liberal media outlet that attracts liberals. They each have their different point of view but they cater to people who have the same view as them. Therefore, when people watch the news on one of these networks they shall only be informed on one side of the argument. This also shows something about the viewers; it shows that the viewers only watch specific news networks in order to reinforce their side of the argument. Every human has their own one-sided view when it comes to specific subjects, so in order to prove that their view is right to individuals they have to reinforce their biased view in some way and that way is through the news (Eveland). For example, when a person thinks of a Muslim they usually think of a person who is a terrorist and from the Middle East. Their belief on what a Muslim person is was reinforced by the news coverage on 9/11. This gave many people biased views on what type of people are terrorists; the news coverage gave Americans the false perception that all Muslim people must be terrorists that hail from the Middle East. Therefore, most of the biased views that come from the news can be attributed to the viewer's self-centered ideology that they have to be right because the news intention is only to give viewers what they want to hear. In essence, the daily news that is shown is always biased because different media outlets want to attract and give specific viewers what they want. News stations have created restricted boundaries so that people don't searching for information outside of them. One must first ask what are those restricted boundaries? These restricted boundaries are the information that is not shown to the public. National governments hold many secrets and if they were to be exposed by the news to the citizens many of them would feel betrayed. If people could not trust their government they would most likely rebel so in order to keep their trust the government works behind the scenes controlling what is shown on the news. Many governments do this by regulating the media through the use of money by either fining the news companies or allowing them to be tax exempt. Therefore the news can be used to keep people under control and manipulate them. For example, the media coverage on the 9/11 terrorist attacks was used to manipulate American citizens to go to war with Iraq even though Iraq had nothing do with it. President Bush's administration manipulated â€Å"evidence† on the news so that he could get Americans citizens to agree with him to invade Iraq (Hutchinson). Everyone in America at that time was so focused on revenge that no one dared question the information that was provided on the news. At that time it was a restricted boundary to question whether the war in Iraq was just; everyone just assumed it was justifiable after what had happened. It was not until many years later that Americans went outside the restricted boundary to uncover the truth about why they had invaded Iraq. The news was and continues to be manipulated so that people never search for information outside of restricted boundaries because what they might find may not be what they were shown. The news original intention was to inform the public and provide accurate information. It has changed drastically through the use of news sensationalism. Negative images are now shown so constantly in a continual loop that humans have become attracted to them, which in turn, has helped people cope with their current living situations. â€Å"Buzz† words have also gone on the rise because they have enticed more viewers, which have helped news stations instill fear into people and make more profit. Information on the news has now become biased in order to cater to certain types of people because viewers now only want to reinforce that they are right and justified in their opinions. Restricted boundaries have also been created by the news so that viewers do not go searching for information outside of them because many people may find out that they have been manipulated in some way by the news that was presented to them. To sum it up, the daily news that is presented now is not what it used to be; it is now a tool used by media outlets to distort the truth.

A drama by Arthur Miller Essay

The Crucible is a drama by Arthur Miller wrote in the 1950’s. It tells the tail of a village in America, Salem. This is overcome with mass hysteria witchcraft trials. In the opening scene of the film, Act 1, the director chooses to go straight to one of the main characters, Abigail. She is the center of the group of girls and the scene moves straight to forest where the girls are dancing. There is spooky music playing in the background. They start to chant and partake in the practice of witchcraft. Abigail whispers to Tituba (the servant of Rev. Paris and we then find out later that she want John Proctor to fall in love with her. Abigail picks up the chicken and uses it to put a spell on John. The background is dark and with witchcraft, chanting and music all builds up tension very well. In the original play you do not see the witch craft practiced at the beginning. Instead Author Miller chooses to go stright to a young girl affected by the witch craft Betty (the Rev. Paris daughter) who appears to be in a comma. This is due the girls getting cauter while practicing there witch craft. We find out that Rev. Paris saw the girl in the forest dancing, this called them all to freak out and run around like headless chickens and it scared Betty so much that she was now in a comma. Paris say â€Å"†¦ my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest†¦ † Abby denies they were doing witchcraft, she says they where just dancing when her uncle, the Rev. Paris, came along and frightened them Betty fainted. In the play Arthur Miller’s introduction is calm but the film has a spooky, eerie and dramatic feeling. Abby is very dominant over the other girls and has a lot of control over them. She is the main character and one of the oldest so she has the most control over them. She seems to sense the girl’s weakness and uses this to her advantage by making them copy her when she wants. Tituba become more powerful with every one surrounding her listen to her every word of what happened in the forest which make her feel more important and less like a slave. In Act 2 in the pace of the play stat to build up as the sentences become small and I found my self read much quicker which seemed to keep me in suspense building tension. We find out that Abbey has an affair with John Proctor and that his wife knows about this some thing you would not expect from a Nobel man like John. All this seemed to make Abbey a stronger character which may seem odd as Abbey started out as an innocent girl having a bit of fun in the forest. Mary Warren enters the Proctor’s house suddenly. The sight of here make john Proctor furious. It is very dramatic when he grabs her and shakes her and shouts â€Å"I’ll whip you if you do not dare leave this house again. † But the tension drops as Mary Warren goes limp in his grip and claims to be sick. Proctor’s anger is draining and Mary’s staye is emphasized when she give the limp rag doll to Elizabeth Proctor. The tension rises very dramatically when proctor finds the needle in the rag doll.

The Greediest of Rajahs

Title: The Greediest of Rajahs And the Whitest of the Clouds Table Of contents: Book title Characters Settings Summary Moral lesson Author Illustrator No. of words Questions Characters: Greediest Rajahs People of the kingdom Soldiers Wisest of the wise men Little boy Setting: A palace or kingdom Summary: Once there lived the greediest of rajahs. He wanted the fastest cow, the roundest pigs, the juiciest melons, the sweetest sugar, the finest silk, and the purest of silver and gold. He took everything, his people were the poorest and saddest. No one disobeyed him because he had the fiercest soldiers that had the sharpest spears. One day, while the rajah was sitting beside his biggest window in largest palace, he saw the whitest of the clouds above him in the blue sky. He called to his guards and shouted at them to tell the wisest men on how he could get the whitest of clouds. He said if they don’t make away on how he could get by daybreak, he will send them hanging on a pole bitten by the reddest ants. He thought that it was more pure than the carabao’s milk and pluffier than the softest pillow. The following day, the wisest of the wise men reported on how he could get the whitest cloud. He replied that the only one who could go to the home of allah which is the sky is one who is pure and great and there is no one else greater than him. He asked the rajah to build the biggest kite so he could go up into the sky and grab the whitest cloud and his people will bring back to land. The people were amazed except the rajah. He shouted to them that it should be three times bigger, jewels four times shiny and ten times many. It must have more cushions and woven with golden thread that glitters at night. At last, the most largest kite was done He went outside and the strongest wind blew. He came nearer and nearer until suddenly he stopped. The jewels made it heavy. He cuts it with a knife and it was raining with jewels. The people rushed out to get some. Even the men who are holding the kite let go of the rope to get some share. They didn’t notice that the rajah was flying away. A boy shouted that the rajah was gone. They shouted with their loudest shots. Well, if you look clearly at thee sky, you’ll see a formation of stars like kite. It is the rajah still looking for the whitest cloud. Moral lesson: 1. Never be too greedy 2. Never push anyoe too hard when you want the to do something to you(don’t be harsh). 3. If you want something, you should do something good like when you want to have a high grade you should study well. Do not cheat. 4. Try working hard to earn what you want. The author: Honoel Ibardolaza The Illustrator: Brian Vallesteros No. Of Words: 457 words Questions: Inferencial: 1. Who are the characters in the story? 2. Where did the story happen? 3. When was the story held? 4. What did the rajah did in the story? 5. How does he do it? Critical: If you were the rajah, would you push your people to do your hard work? Why?

Conceptual Entrepreneurial Business Plan Assignment

Conceptual Entrepreneurial Business Plan - Assignment Example However, when new policies were implemented, all the Passenger Service Vehicles (PSV) were required to be registered under different Sacco’s. In January 2015, all the PSVs were required to register their vehicles and the route to operate. A minimum of twenty vehicles were allowed to register as a Sacco. Ironically, most bus owners did not like the idea of working in a Sacco. As a result, they withdrew their buses in town and operated other routes outside the town. Indeed, it was a good idea to join a Sacco as it was easy to manage the fleet in town, but owners had a contrary opinion. This brought about a gap in the industry, leaving a lot of passengers frustrated. Approximately 6000 people travel in and out of the city daily. With the few buses remaining, this is not proportion to the need. To meet this demand, the company intends to buy 20 new 40-seater buses. Very stiff competition will be expected from the already operating bus companies. The City Hopper Company is currently the leading company within the town offering transport services. Nevertheless, it is not the only company. Other companies are: Best ways chopper - it one of the oldest companies that has been in operation and operate within the town only. It has a number of buses, but most of them have been grounded because of mismanagement and poor maintenance. City Hopper- it is the largest company that serves most parts of the city. It has installed bus terminus at strategic places within and outside the city. Nonetheless, there are a few buses owned by the company. On several occasions, they are opportunistic and escalate fares mainly at rush hours and on rainy season. Drivers, turn boys/ conductors, secretary, mechanics and accountant/cashier will be on the same level. They will all be answerable to the assistant manager. The entire management system will be supervised by the general manager assisted by his deputy. All the staff

Effective Cancer Symptoms Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Effective Cancer Symptoms Management - Essay Example Additionally, the change in symptom management programs applies the use of technology to detect and to deal with breast cancer symptoms. Apart from technology, specialization is also applied in the novel symptoms management programs. Pain, anxiety and fatigue are the common challenges faced by cancer patients. For their urge to get relief, patients seek alternative modes of therapies apart from their normal medical procedures. These numbers of patients make to about 90% of all cancer patients (Jemal, et al., 2008). This is a clear indication that a comprehensive cancer symptom management programs need to be established. One of the most important symptom management changes is the art therapy. The art therapy is not only for patients and their families, but also the general public. This is simply a clinical intervention of therapy which creates awareness about cancer. Additionally, it creates the belief that art nourishes ones health and strengthens ones life. Mainly, art therapy deals with the creation of awareness and expression of patients’ deepest emotions (Shaw, 2011). In the case of breast cancer, an expression of an individual emotion is very important. Breast cancer can be demoralizing and the best way to create the feeling of self appreciation is by expressing one’s feelings. ... He is transferred to an urban medical centre for a period of four months. The patient should be above the age of eighteen, communicate in English and have the ability to have an hour session on art therapy. The following breast cancer symptoms are studied during art therapy: pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, lack of appetite and shortage of breath. Two instruments are used in the art therapy: the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and the State Trait Anxiety Index (STAIS-S). These two instruments are used in the study and analysis of the breast cancer symptoms. The ESAS is an instrument which is used in the symptom assessment of palliative care. The measurement is done on a numerical scale which runs from 0-10. The patient under study picks the number which he feels is the level of improvement in the giving of palliative care. Zero stands for the worst and ten for the best level. The STAI-S is used mainly in measurement of anxiety in adults. It gives the determination on whether the anxiety is long term or conditional. Apart from the two instruments, the patient is asked three open ended questions which give a more proper outlook of the therapy. The questions in this case include; would you undertake art therapy again if given the opportunity? , did you experience any change caused by the art therapy and did you find art therapy comfortable? The art therapist would then take on the patients through the necessary steps. The art therapist should be licensed by the government. The therapist acts as a helper to the patient. He also picks the media the patient is exposed to. Additionally, he drafts the course of the program. Patients take part in activities such as drawing and

Cultural competence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural competence - Essay Example We the World Hunger Eradication Grants Organization (WHEGO) of the United States strive hard to eradicate hunger and make people in the world to live a healthy life. Our motto is to exterminate hunger and poverty by funding deserving and innovative projects that address world hunger and so we are about to look at proposals from countries and its organizations. I am a member of the grant awarding committee and I would explain in this report what are the eligibility criteria that a country must demonstrate in order to be considered for the grant, to what kind of organizations we would award the grant, and what are the required elements of the progress report/proposal that needs to be submitted in order to successfully avail the grants issued by our organization. Every year we allot US $50,000 to $500,000 for various poor and developing countries and their organizations that come forward with sustainable solutions to eradicate hunger through innovative food projects. In spite of the civil society’s efforts to provide food for the people suffering from hunger through food pantries, food banks, and other direct servicing programs, the numbers of starving people continue to swell in countries like Africa particularly in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern, South-eastern and Southern Asia (â€Å"2015 World hunger and,† 2015). So, this time we are looking for conceptualized projects from the African country of , that are yet to be implemented and those which are having high potential for accomplishment and replication. The first and foremost eligibility criterion for a country to receive our grant is to be a current dues-paying member of WHEGO. As the African country of Burundi is a current member of our organization, it duly satisfies this criterion. The country which has received our granting award in the last two years can neither apply

Procedures in the Physical Sciences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Procedures in the Physical Sciences - Essay Example Science can be defined to be a systematic knowledge of the physical material contained on earth and even beyond. This knowledge is gained through experiments and observations. Identify three (3) specific challenges to making direct measurements in the fields of astronomy, chemistry, physics, or earth science. Describe how scientists have utilized indirect forms of measure to overcome these challenges. Challenges’ arise in the quest to gain this knowledge, for example, ; it becomes difficult sometimes to measure some elements and phenomena directly. Astronomy as a science has been around for quite a while. Astronomy is defined as a natural science that studies objects in the universe such as planets, stars galaxies, moons and even nebulae. This study involves the physics chemistry mathematics and evolution associated with this objects not excluding the phenomena that originates outside the atmosphere of the earth (Neugebauer,50). Astronomy provides an opportunity for armatures to contribute. These contributions are responsible for major developments in this field. This does not imply that all or most discoveries have been carried out. Challenges have risen from different angles, for instance one of the major problems they have encountered is finding the accurate distance of planets and stars from planet earth. However, with the advancements made in the field discoveries such as the use of luminosity and brightness of the astronomical objects to figure out their distance from the earth. Luminosity is a way of measuring the amount of brightness or energy emitted by any form of matter in the universe (Salpeter,10-30). This implies that light that travels to reach the earth can be measured. A hypothesis is made that stars shift off the main sequence after they burn up to about 10% of the hydrogen they contain and that there is an uniform creation of stars in the universe. Using this hypothesis and the luminosity function that has been observed, the rate that stare created as a function of stellar mass is then calculated. These calculations are deemed to assist to indirectly give the distance of a body from the earth. Another possible indirect way of doing this is a method called parallax, which involves triangulation. The major process involved is looking at the records of a star and then looking at it six months later. Astronomers can measure the distance of the angle of viewing .the combination of this work with the orbital diameter of the earth to sun and some involved produces the distance of that body. Objects in space are not the only challenge that astronomers face. Another challenge that astronomers have faced is the determination of the age of the universe. There is no direct way of measuring how long the universe has been around. For a while in the 90s the estimated age of the universe was ten billion years, however, age estimates for the stars and the galaxy were about 13 and 18 billion years respectively. This implies that s ome bodies in the universe are older than the universe itself. Better estimates of distance to the stars used in measuring age have reduced the disparities down to only a few billion years. Giving a consideration at dark energy into the cosmological model pushed the age estimates of the universe to the current value of 13.80 billion years. Choose two (2) of the most historically influential tools or techniques in the physical sciences. Explain how these techniques or tools work, and how they helped to advance our

Technological and Economic Factors Affecting Business Environment Essay

Technological and Economic Factors Affecting Business Environment - Essay Example This paper will investigate the changing business environment of the travel industry over the last five years. It will further examine the technological and economic factors that affect the airline industry in UK. Technological Factor The first business in travel and tourism to embrace technological innovation is the airlines industry (Buhalis, 2004, p.1). Dale, et al. (2006, p.4) indicated in his book the early technology adopted by the air travel. Viewdata system was the first technology that connects â€Å"tour operators and travel agencies via terminals.† It grants travel agents to book flights based on the preferences of their customers. In the 1950s, they develop the Computer Reservation System (CRS) to make direct bookings via the system. With the development of Global Distribution System (GDS), travel agents across the globe can access the available flight and seats for travellers. The timeline of technological innovation of the airline industry shows of their early im provements. Therefore, by the year 2005, the airline industry has developed its own booking system to gain competitive advantage. Capoccitti, et al. (2010) indicate the operations improvement of the airline industry by using technology in managing the CO2 emission. The concern of stakeholders, which affects UK travellers, is on reducing the gases that harm the earth’s atmosphere. ... Currently, the travellers can utilise their mobile phone to check-in via the internet, which adds customers’ experience (Boyle, 2011). Hence, innovation and technological advancement are critical to the viability of the airline industry in the new global business environment. Impact of Technology The development of technology increases the competition among the airlines industry because it changes the processing method, the information dissemination, and communication process. With the evolution of technology, the business environment is rapidly changing, which tightens competition. According to Khosrowpour (2003, p.237), airline companies compete with travel agents to obtain a high market share because they refer other airline companies with available flight to customers. Furthermore, Doganis (2006, p.197) states that information technology aids companies in their distribution system and revenue management. The effective forecasting method of most companies is due to the impr ovement of technology, which allows them to predict sales based on the available seats. Hence, it stimulates other companies to adopt technology because it benefits both customers and companies. Moreover, the demand of customers changes. They want fast and accessible service, which motivates companies to improve services. Aside from accessibility, technology is essential for companies that cut cost or expenses. Economic Factor According to the Civil Aviation Authority (2008, pp.1-6), the decline of the traffic growth in UK commenced in the year 2005. This was affected by the 2001 bombings in the United States that instilled fear for most travellers. The security was stabilised to guarantee the safety of leisure and business travellers. Furthermore,

Keys to Effective Human Resource Management Essay

Keys to Effective Human Resource Management - Essay Example 48). These may take the form of formal training programs, informal orienting activities by peers or supervisors or a combination of both. Organizational-level orientation intends for employees to feel welcomed and that they are now part of the organization; learn more about the organizational mission and vision, culture, language, history and structure. Employees come to better understand the basic workplace principles and policies (Klein, 2000). From the very beginning, HRM sees to it that the organization’s workers’ values are aligned to the company’s. Differing values create conflict and will impede goal achievement. According to Mishra and Morrissey (1990), the following factors propagate trust: open communication; giving workers a greater share in decision making; sharing of critical information and true sharing of perceptions and feelings. In every employment, employees consciously or unconsciously expect a kind of â€Å"psychological contract† apart from the expectations the job usually presents – benefits and compensation for a particular job description. This psychological contract usually includes open and honest communication, managerial support and challenging and interesting work. Employees are becoming increasingly aware of the non-monetary rewards that companies can provide them. It is generally important that the job not only fulfills their economical needs, but their socio-emotional needs as well. â€Å"This implies that the HRM needs to go beyond a discussion of compensation and benefits and highlight aspects of their organization that job candidates will find intrinsically satisfying.† (Lester, Clair & Kickul, 2001, n.p.) From the... This paper stresses that successful organizations know how to manage their human resources to achieve competitive advantage. In the case of alternative employment strategies, several companies are adopting it not only to save on finances but moreso to provide better working conditions for their employees. At Renault, workers are offered to choose these alternatives with the condition of working from home two to four times a week and reporting to the office one day a week. Teleworkers and hotdeskers are entitled to the same company benefits as other employees such as training and career development and access to workplace representatives and elections. The company also covers for the cost of necessary equipment and its installation such as a laptop computer a high speed internet connection and an ergonomically designed chair which should only be used for work purposes. This paper makes a conclusion that HR managers should keep in mind that careful and efficient management of their organisations and people is central in the well-being of their employees as well as their contribution to the company and the maintenance of harmony among all members of the organisation. They should know how to uplift the morale of their people, thereby making them perform better in their jobs and instill loyalty to the organization. It is truly a huge responsibility for leaders, and the fulfillment of their several goals and tasks for the organization may determine the success or failure of a whole establishment.

Book Review about US History up to 1877 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Book Review about US History up to 1877 - Essay Example Whereas shorter and supplementary centered, "The Awakening" stays put an excellent review of a crucial era of historic political establishments such as setting up of American nationality and governance structures. An Overview of the then American society Dangerfield indicates the enlargement of both economic chauvinism and egalitarian nationalism and how these contradictory forces destabilized any hopes for an epoch of excellent feelings in the country’s politics. In case an individual is interested in understanding the significant political stage between the conclusions of the War of 1812 in addition to the Jacksonian time, this is an exceptional overview and, unsurpassed of all, is a simple read. The aim of this paper is to provide an evaluation of the history of the United States up to 1877. The evaluation of these crucial historical moments will be accomplished through the review of the book ‘The awakening of American nationalism, 1815-1828’ that was written b y Dangerfield, George (Livermore 595). Democracy and nationhood The book titled ‘The awakening of American nationalism, 1815-1828,’ perfectly covers the historic events that were crucial in the evolution of the United States during that particular period. ... The reader is treated to a simplistic evaluation of matters revolving the United States in the early 1800s, which then was a young nation nascent democratic structure. Livermore (596) believes a fortuitous and new retelling of the narrative of the surfacing of American nationalism is presented. By any approach the years subsequent to the tranquility of Ghent, an epoch inaugurated by what has been supposedly referred to as â€Å"the era of good feelings," must be measured an instance of outstanding growth and expansion in the United States. Above all, it may be well thought-out a point in time of the fruition and maturing of American nationalism. It is the extraordinary good quality of Dangerfield's sparkling synthesis of the stage that he manages to maintain the focus on this innermost theme-the challenge among the economic nationalism talked about by Henry Clay along with John Quincy Adams and the autonomous nationalism illustrated by the enthusiasts of Andrew Jackson. That he does so without disregarding America's position in global affairs and chiefly the mounting economic contention with Britain, nor devoid of diminishing the parts participated by the foremost actors on the countrywide stage, attests the impartial judgment as well as sense of amounts that are obvious throughout the book. In fact, it is the disagreement of the American trade and industrial nationalism in the midst of the Liberal Toryism of Lord Liverpool as well as William Huskisson that this manuscript delineates with outstanding brightness and depth. Dangerfield, a great craftsman, competently weaves numerous and different yarns into one wonderful tapestry. By digging deep into the roles of several individuals who were the key players in the history of America

Menu project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Menu project - Assignment Example chopped fresh red chili without seeds 2 cloves Bunch fresh basil with leaves picked and stalks chopped 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds Sea salt 1 pound of chopped, seeded and cored tomatoes ? cup of soft brown sugar ? cup red wine vinegar Directions Place the vegetables, ginger, olive oil, chili, basil stalks, garlic, cloves and coriander seeds in a saucepan. Season these mixtures with a pinch of salt and the pepper. While often stirring, cook in moderate heat for between 10 and 15 minutes until softening. Add tomatoes and then 1? cups of cold water. Then bring this to boiling and gently simmer until it reduces by about a half. Add basil leaves and whiz using a hand blender and push through sieve twice. Put the sauce in a clean pan and then add the sugar and vinegar. Heat the pan and simmer until it thickens then correct seasoning to taste (see Appendix I). Introduce the ketchup to jars and allow for cooling before tightening the lids (see Ap pendix II). Keep stored in a refrigerator. This should be kept for up to six months. Ingredient Comparison In both the homemade and the Heinz tomato ketchups, natural sources have been used for flavoring. Though Heinz (2013) does not disclose in its ingredients the exact sources of these flavorings, it appreciates that natural flavors were used. On the other hand, the homemade ketchup has the concentrations of the seasonings varied to get the appropriate flavor. Additionally, the powder from coriander seeds has been used for flavoring purposes. While the brown sugar sweetens the homemade ketchup, Heinz does not disclose its sweetener which could be included in one of its ingredients. Nonetheless, it should be appreciated that the tomatoes used contributes to a large extent to the flavor of the ketchup hence the ability to determine the flavor of homemade ketchup by varying the kind of tomatoes used. The major ingredient in both the processed and homemade tomato ketchup is the tomato . This forms the basis of having this food product. However, a difference in the form in which the tomatoes are used would be noticed. The homemade tomato ketchup uses tomatoes in raw form, as would be picked from the farm (Oliver, 2008). These would be sliced and taken through the recipe directions for making the ketchup. But in the processed Heinz tomato ketchup, tomato concentrate made from red ripe tomatoes would be used. This concentrate resembles the product of boiling and gently stirring the initial ingredients as described in the recipe direction for the homemade ketchup. It would also be critical to point out the fact that Heinz particularly uses red ripe tomatoes hence the deep red color of its final product (see Appendix III). But as seen in the recipe, homemade tomato ketchup gives the option of using these red tomatoes or raw tomatoes or the orange ones depending on the desired end product. Furthermore, it would be appreciated that Heinz uses various syrup forms  œ corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup – to achieve the desired viscosity for the final product. These are commercially available syrups. On the other hand, the homemade ketchup makes use of olive oil to achieve the same effect. Finally, while the homemade tomato ketchup has its ingredients well outlined, Heinz generalizes its ingredients. Apart from the natural flavors, it also gives spices as its ingredients (Heinz, 2013). These general terminologies conceal the exact

The Theme of Love in Womans Novels Essay Example for Free

The Theme of Love in Womans Novels Essay My aim is to compare and contrast different kinds of love in the novels The Tenant of Wildfell Hall written by Anne Brontà « and The Mill on the Floss written by George Elliot. I am going to examine and determine a love of parents for their children, a love between siblings, a love between man and woman, and a love of literature and art in these novels. In the novel The Mill on the Floss the heroine Helen has a little son – Arthur and she loves him very much. She takes a good care of him, she is aware where he is and what he is doing, and if she is not around her, she asks about him: â€Å"What was Arthur doing when you came away?† (Brontà «, 55). She tries to provide him a good education and she wants him to become a good man one day. And when he is around his father who has a really bad influence on him, she does everything possible to protect him from the behaviour of his father. Even though his father is a bad person, she does not want her son to hate his father, she only wants him to see that his father is not a good person and that little Arthur does not have to be the same: â€Å"And when you hear such words spoken, Arthur, remember never to repeat them: it is wicked to say such things of others, not to have them said against you† (299). Even though it seems to be impossible to manage it, one day little Arthur sees it: â€Å" ‘I’m sorry papa’s wicked,’ said he mournfully, at length, ‘for I don’t want him to go to hell.’ And so saying he burst into tears† (300). Helen’s love for her son is selfless, patient, and never-stopping – just the way the love of a parent for her or his child is supposed to be. Maggie and Tom, siblings in the novel The Mill on the Floss, have parents who care for them as well. Their father Mr Tulliver wants to provide them with good education: â€Å"what I w ant is to give Tom a good eddication† (Elliot, 14). He knows that he is a bit illiterate so he wants his son to be better, educated, and independent as he has never been. His wife agrees with him: â€Å"Well, Mr. Tulliver, you know best: I’ve no objections† (14). When Tom is sent away from home to get his education, his father visits him when he has a chance: â€Å"It was Mr. Tulliver’s first visit to see Tom† (99). They have good parents-children relationship which is obvious from the actions of Tom and Maggie. After their education they help their father, protect him from bad news when he is deadly ill or when he hurts himself, or when he lost everything they obey him and help him: â€Å"When Maggie reached home that evening, in obedience to her father’s call, he was no longer insensible† (132). The love of Maggie’s parents is not acquisitive and selfless because they do for their children what they need to have better life and they are asking only for obedience. Helen has one brother who is called Frederic, but they are not really close as children, because she lives with her aunt and not with him. But when the trouble with Helen’s husband comes and she needs to run, he helps her without hesitation because blood is thicker than water. And thanks to their distant relationship her husband will never ask him about her: â€Å"Mr. Huntingdon would be the last person to whom he should communicate the intelligence; and that he need not trouble himself to bargain for the child, for he (Frederick) fancied he knew enough of his sister to enable him to declare, that wherever she might be, or however situated, no consideration would induce her to deliver him up† (326). But when she leaves her husband and starts living in Wildfell Hall, they grow closer and he is her regular visitor. And since no one knows who he is to her, everyone including Gilbert, the man who loves her, thinks that they are lovers. Gilbert overhears one of their conversations of loving each other and he misinterprets it: â€Å"I heard quite enough, Helen. And it was well for me that I did hear it; for nothing less could have cured my infatuation† (107). The love of Helen and Frederick for each other is selfless and caring. On the contrary, Maggie and Tom grow up together, they do everything together. Maggie follows Tom everywhere and he is an example for her. Her love for him during childhood is very sincere: â€Å"IT was a heavy disappointment to Maggie that she was not allowed to go with her father in the gig hen he went to fetch Tom home from the academy† (26). But their relationship is as most of the relationships of siblings are – they sometimes argue or tease each other, and sometimes they are impatient with each other, but they are glad to see each other: â€Å"Tom, in the gladness of his heart at having dear old Maggie to dispute with and crow over again, seized her round the waist † (100). Later, when Tom does not agree with the choice of her lover, they argue and he stops speaking to her. But she loves him unconditionally and wants to have a good relationship with him. In the end the stop their disputes and they come to terms with each other: â€Å"The boat reappeared, but brother and sister had gone down in an embrace never to be parted; living through again in one supreme moment the days when they had clasped their little hands in love, and roamed the daisied fields together† (333). The first love of the heroine of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was foolish, reckless, and it almost destroyed her. She chose a man with good looks, who made her laugh, but he was irresponsible and wild and she thought he would change. At the beginning their love was passionate, but soon she realized that he flirts with other women even though he was married and that he thinks of her as an object of his pleasure and does not treat her as an equal partner. His love for her is selfish. On the other hand, her second love, Mr Gilbert Markham, is more matured, but still very passionate and romantic: â€Å"just when I love you more than ever† (331). Their love began as friends: â€Å"Mrs. Graham and I were now established friends† (78). And while being friends, she realised that he is an opposite of her husband and that he treats her as an equal partner and is a good example for her little son. She knows that she cannot marry him so she tries to protect him from being hurt of unfulfilled love: â€Å"‘Now, Gilbert, you must leave me—not this moment, but soon—and you must never come again.’† (331). Their love for each other is selfless and self-sacrificing. Maggie Tulliver has two men in her life that she loves as well. Her first love is Phillip, Tom’s classmate. But at the beginning she pities him more than she loves him because of his deformity. But later they become friends, they talk about the books they read a l ot and their love for each other grows. She thinks of him as a brother, not a lover: â€Å"As if I were not grateful for any love. But—but I had never thought of your being my lover. It seemed so far off—like a dream—only like one of the stories one imagines—that I should ever have a lover† (214). But she soon realises that she can love him more than just as a brother: â€Å"but I don’t think I could love any one better than I love you† (215). On the contrary, her love for Stephen is based on the mutual attraction. Their love is passionate and everything that Phillip cannot give her. The first time she and Stephen are alone there is strong attraction towards each other they cannot explain: â€Å"Did she feel as he did? He hoped she did—not. He ought not to have gone. He would master himself in future. He would make himself disagreeable to her, quarrel with her perhaps. Quarrel with her? Was it possible to quarrel with a creature who had such eyes,—defying and deprecating, contradicting and clinging, imperious and beseeching,—full of delicious opposites? To see such a creature subdued by love for one would be a lot worth having—to another man† (262). One moment they run away together and want to get married, but Maggie comes to her senses, because their love is forbidden by society since Stephen is her cousin’s fiancà ©. Helen Graham is a woman who can play the piano, sing a little, she can dance and she really loves literature. But most of all she loves drawing. Sometimes drawing is the only activity she likes doing: â€Å"My drawing suits me best, for I can draw and think at the same time; and if my productions cannot now be seen by any one but myself, and those who do not care about them, they, possibly, may be, hereafter† (109). Her drawing is so good that she earns some money with her paintings, which she saves for the escape from her husband. When she comes to Wildfell Hall, she still continues drawing. It is one of her favourite past times and she draws the things she likes: â€Å"she left us and proceeded along the steep, stony hill, to a loftier, more precipitous eminence at some distance, whence a still finer prospect was to be had, where she preferred taking her sketch, though some of the ladies told her it was a frightful place, and advised her not to attempt it† (54). Helen also likes reading a lot, she and Mr Markham often lend each other some books and then discuss it. The love of art is fulfilling for her, it is calming her and helping her overcome bad moments of her life. It is Maggie’s love of literature that is fascinating. Her desire for knowledge and to know everything is never-ending. As a little child she reads a lot, she has read the books that other children have not and the books she should not have read at her age: â€Å"The ’History of the Devil,’ by Daniel Defoe,—not quite the right book for a little girl,† said Mr. Ri ley† (20). This desire for knowledge does not go weaker when she is older. Every time she visits Tom at his teacher she is fascinated by everything he is being taught. And it is books she and Phillip talk about every time they meet. They discuss if the books are good or if they would like to be like the main characters: â€Å"Take back your Corinne,† said Maggie, drawing a book from under her shawl. â€Å"You were right in telling me she would do me no good; but you were wrong in thinking I should wish to be like her† (213). When she spends time with her cousin Lucy she starts to like music, but it is books and literature she loves the most: â€Å"The mere concord of octaves was a delight to Maggie, and she would often take up a book of studies rather than any melody, that she might taste more keenly by abstraction the more primitive sensation of intervals. Not that her enjoyment of music was of the kind that indicates a great specific talent; it was rather that her sensibility to the supreme excitement of music was only one form of that passionate sensibility which belonged to her whole nature† (257). Her love of books and literature and all art is really passionate and never ending. To sum up, the theme of love is present greatly in both novels – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and The Mill on the Floss. Parental love in both these novels is selfless and caring, while the love of siblings differs. Helen is distant with her brother at the beginning, but then they become close. Their love is the kind of love which does not want anything in return. The love between Maggie and Tom goes through several stages. While Maggie’s love is sincere and stable, Tom’s love goes through the stage of coldness. But in the end he still loves his sister. Both heroines have two men they fall in love with in their lives, and even though they are totally different they both know what it means to love passionately. Also the love of art and literature differs. While Maggie’s love of art and literature is passionate as she is passionate about everything in her life, the love of literature and art is calmer for Helen. The theme of love is depicted a bit differently in these two novels but it is portrayed in a big aspect. Work cited Brontà «, Anne. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. N.p.: Pennsylvania State University, 2003. Print. Elliot, George. The Mill on the Floss. Vol. IX. N.p.: Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction, 2000. Print.

The Dalit Womens Movement In India

The Dalit Womens Movement In India This paper proposes to look at dalit womens movement (DWM) in India. The dalit womens movement should be analyzed in a relational framework for which we will have to look at the specific history and nature of the Indian nation-state. The other two major movements which have a bearing on DWM are the dalit movement and the womens movement in India. This paper focuses on the DWM particularly the National Federation of dalit women (NFDW). There are a host of regional, state level and national level movements led and participated by dalit women, it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss all these, so I undertake a study of the NFDW, its politics, strategy, ideology, scope and the theoretical perspectives through which it has been analysed. The NFDW is chronologically a post 1980s phenomena and has been active in a transnational arena with its particular presence in Durban 2001, it has been analysed by social scientists in a transnational framework. I have not overlooked the transnational significance of the movement, but, looked at it in a historical context of Indias history and modernity, the place of dalit women and men within this history and how has the history been challenged by dalit women. The main argument put forward by dalit feminists is that dalit women are a different category in their own right and they should not be subsumed within the category of dalits or women as a whole. Dalit feminists have asked both the dalit movements and womens movements in India for an internal critique because both these movements have neither been able to represent dalit women nor paid attention to their specific structural, social and cultural location within Indian society. Indian society is ridden with multiple and overlapping inequalities which affect women in general and dalit women in particular, in different ways. Dalit feminists have also argued for an analysis of patriarchy within dalit communities because of external and internal factors. Dalit women justify the case for talking differently on the basis of external factors (non-dalit forces homogenizing the issue of dalit women) and internal factors (the patriarchal domination within the dalits). (Guru: 1995:2548) The dalit womens movement has a crucial role to play in the analysis of dalit feminist approach because as Chaudhuri points out it is almost impossible to separate the history of action from the history of ideas. In other words the conceptual debates themselves embodied the history of doing, and vice versa. (Chaudhuri: 2004: xi-xii) therefore what constitutes conceptual history, arises in the context of history of doing (Chaudhuri: 2004: xii) The first part explores the historicity of womans question in India, dalit womens participation in early anti-caste movements is established now but they do not figure in the womens movement led by the AIWC as the womens movement started with a group of bourgeois women who believed in homogeneous womanhood. The second part looks at the question of difference and the articulation of this difference by dalit women through what Rege has called the dalit feminist standpoint (DFS), and the further debate around the DFS. The third part looks at the NFDW in particular. The fourth part tries to locate the DWM in different theoretical frameworks which have been put forward to explain the movement locating it in the present national and international scenario. The questions this paper will explore are: Why is it important to see the dalit womens movement as separate from the Indian womens movement and dalit movement in general? What are the main features of dalit womens movement, particularly the NFDW? How the revolving and overlapping axis of caste, class and gender have affected dalit women in particular? The related concepts are: Patriarchy Patriarchy is defined as Literally, rule of the father the term was originally used to describe social systems based on authority of male heads of household. (A dictionary of sociology 2009/1994:551) The nature of control and subjugation of women varies from one society to the other as it differs due to the differences in class, caste, religion, region, ethnicity and the socio-cultural practices. Thus in the context of India, brahmanical patriarchy, tribal patriarchy and dalit patriarchy are different from each other. Patriarchy within a particular caste or class also differs in terms of their religious and regional variations. (Ray: 2006) Mary E. John argues that there are not separate, multiple patriarchies but multiple patriarchies, the products of social discrimination along class, caste and communal lines, are much more shared and overlapping than diverseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the growing disparitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦would tell a different story, one of unequal patriarchies and disparate genders.(John:2004: 66). Gender According to Ann Oakley sex is a biological term: gender a psychological and cultural one further she says if the proper terms for sex are male and female, the corresponding terms for gender are masculine and feminine; these latter may be quite independent of (biological) sex. (Oakley: 1972:159) Dalit Romila Thapar traces the roots of Dalit in Pali literature in which Dalit means the oppressed. (Quoted in Guru and Geetha: 2000) Dalit is not a caste; it is a constructed identityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Dalit (oppressed or broken) is not a new word. Apparently, it was used in the 1930s as a Hindi and Marathi translation of depressed classes, a term the British used for what are now called the scheduled castesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The word was also used by B R Ambedkar in his Marathi speeches. The Dalit Panthers revived the term in their 1973 manifestoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Bharati: 2002) However there is a huge and raging debate over the word Dalit among intellectuals. The issues of terminology are complex and cannot be handled in this space, the study proposes to use dalits for the communities also at times called ex-untouchables, ati-shudras, untouchables, scheduled castes, low castes, harijans etc. Dalit women It has been pointed by dalit activists and intellectuals that dalit women suffer the triple burden of caste, class, and gender (Rao:2006), (Rege:1998), (Dietrich:2006), (Omvedt: 2004),(Malik:1999) they have been called the dalits of the dalits , the downtrodden amongst the downtrodden and the the slaves of the slaves.( Manorama quoted in Hardtmann: 2009:217) However such a construction has been challenged by Shirman as fetishising of dalit womens suffering which tend to reify the living social relationships that constitute dalit womens lives, and to locate dalit women as objects of pity. (Shirman: 2004) Social movement A social movement can be thought of as an informal set of individuals and/ or groups that are involved in confliction relations with clearly identified opponents; are linked by dense informal networks; [and] share a distinct collective identity (della Porta Diani, 2006, p. 20). (Christiansen:2011:4) Feminism Kumari Jayawardena defines feminism as embracing movements for equality within the current system and significant struggles that have attempted to change the system. She asserts that these movements arose in the context of i) the formulation and consolidation of national identities which modernized anti-imperialist movements during the independence struggle and ii) the remaking of pre-capitalist religion and feudal structures in attempt to modernize third world societies (Jayawardena, 1986: 2) ( Quoted in Chaudhuri, 2004: xvi). Nation-State Nation, it is clear, is not the same as state. The latter refers to an independent and autonomous political structure over a specific territory, with a comprehensive legal system and a sufficient concentration of power to maintain law and order. State, in other words, is primarily a political-legal concept, whereas nation is primarily psycho-cultural. Nation and state may exist independently of one another: a nation may exist without a state; a state may exist without a nation. When the two coincide, when the boundaries of the state are approximately coterminous with those of the nation, the result is a nation-state. A nation-state, in other words, is a nation that possesses political sovereignty. It is socially cohesive as well as politically organized and independent. (Enloe and Rejai: 1969:143) The space of dalit women in the womens movement and the dalit movement in India. Chaudhuri has observed that the early womens movement comprised of the women from upper caste and class strata who distanced themselves from party politics and confrontational mode of assertion. The theme of woman as an individual in her own right did not crop up till very late. The theme that emerges is the naturally non-antagonistic relationship of the sexes in India as compared to the westà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Chaudhuri: 2004:119) Chaudhuri discusses that the All India Womens Congress (AIWC) were in favour of joint electorates and rejected the communal award, women the leading members continued to argue, were all sisters under the sari and the institutions and ideals that governed their lives were similar. (Chaudhuri: 2004:130) Chaudhuri also observes the propensity of gender issues to be dispensable while larger political battles are being fought has been a constant of sorts in the history of modern India. (Chaudhuri: 2011: xv) Throughout the nineteenth century different versions of female emancipation came to be tied to the idea of national liberation and regeneration. The early colonial constellation of the arya woman is a sternly elitist concept in class and caste terms, and finds its nationalist shape in social and political thought, literature and a dominant historiographic model of Indiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the recovery of tradition throughout the proto-nationalist and nationalist period was the recovery of the traditional womanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the vedic woman, both in her own time, and after her appropriation by upper castes and classes in the nineteenth century, is built upon the labour of lower social groups and is also a mark of distinction from them.(Sangari and Vaid: 1989:10) Following these historical developments there has been an ambivalence in india towards feminism, Chaudhuri argues that we cannot exclude women who were pushing feminist agendas without calling them feminists because we cannot impose current notions of feminism on the past thereby assuming an ideal notion of the correct kind of feminism. (Chaudhuri: 2004: xvi-xvii) Another question that Chaudhuri points out is the westernnes of feminism and its subsequent perception by feminists in India. She claims that there is no turning away from the westà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦questions regarding the westerness of feminism has been a constant theme. In a hierarchical society often gender oppression is linked with oppressions based on caste, class, community, tribe and religion, and in such multiple patriarchies men as the principal oppressors is not easily accepted (Chaudhuri, 2004: xxii-xxiii). Manuela Ciotti in a field study done with BSP and Hindu right women activists in UP has drawn attention to the role played by womens husbands or other male family members, who are often not only responsible for womens release into public life, but also act as a source of advice, experience, encouragement and financial support for their political activities. (Ciotti: 2007) The history to which the dalit womens movement traces itself is of Ambedkar and Phule (both men) whose approach however was (unlike that of the early Indian womens movement) confrontationalist as well as pronouncedly antagonist to brahmanic patriarchy. To Phule and Ambedkar, gender issues were not dispensable. This history also brings to light the fact that dalit women were not historically absent from movements but their history has been neglected until recently. They worked side by side dalit men but they have started to organize separately from dalit men with different movements only post the 1970s. Ambedkar not only spoke for and agitated for the rights of Dalits but also Dalit women. He argued that practices of sati, enforced widowhood and child marriage come to be prescribed by Brahmanism in order to regulate and control any transgression of boundaries, i.e., to say he underlines the fact that the caste system can be maintained only through the controls on womens sexuality and in this sense women are the gateways to the caste system [Ambedkar 1992:90] (Rege: 1998) Meenakshi Moon and Urmila Pawar have recorded the participation of dalit women in the early 20th century movements against caste exclusion and oppression, in the following decades womens activities developed from mere participation as beneficiaries or as an audience, to the shouldering of significant responsibility in various fields of activity in the Ambedkar movement. (Moon and Pawar: 2003:49) Moon and Pawars research has thrown light on the unknown facts of the dalit womens participation in the early anti-caste movements, Dr. Ambedkar saw to it that womens conferences were held simultaneously with those of men. By 1930 women had become so conscious that they started conducting their own meetings and conferences independently. (Moon and Pawar: 2003:50) In the Mahad satyagraha of 1927 women not only participated in the procession with Dr. Ambedkar but also participated in the deliberations of the subject committee meetings in passing resolutions about the claim for equal human rights. (Moon and Pawar: 2003:50) Their research also reveals the experiences they (dalit women) had in the field as well as in the family as mother, wife, daughter; what was the effect on their life of Ambedkars movement and speechesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Moon and Pawar: 2003:53) Even the women who were illiterate subscribed to Ambedkars journals to keep the publications alive. They paid four annas to eight annas when their daily wages were hardly a rupee daily. Some women courted arrest with the men in the satayagrahas. Some had to face beatings from their husbands for participating in the movement. At such times they took their infant babies to jail, some carried all their belongings, even chickens. Taking in consideration the extremely backward social atmosphere the achievements of these women were most commendable. (Moon and Pawar: 2003:54-55) The analyses of dalit womens presence in anti caste struggle has brought out the sharp contrast between their participation in movements and their visibility as leaders and decision makers in political parties or dalit movement itself. Dalit women do not play any important role in the political leadership of maharastra (Zelliot:2006:209) Vimal Thorat laments that Dalit identity politics articulates caste identity sharply but resists, deliberately, understanding and articulating the gender dimensions of caste itself (that sees all women not just Dalit women) in a certain lightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The Dalit movement has thrown up so many women but articulate women are not invited by Dalit forums, especially the political parties. (Thorat: 2001) The question she asks is Forty years after the Dalit movement, where is the womens share? (Hamari bhagyadari kahan hai?) (Thorat: 2001) Ruth Manorama is of the view that dalit women have to challenge dalit men to reah the leading posts within their own movement. She explains that dalit men have been discriminated throughout their lives by high caste men as well as high caste women. The dalit men now are scared of dalit women and think that they are the same as the high caste women. Now when they have finally grasped the leadership positions they will not part from them. You have to understand them. (Hardtmann: 2009:219) Dietrich argues that while womens movements downplay the caste factor and emphasize unity among women as victims of violence, dalit movements see such violence only from a caste angle and subsume the dalit women within dalits in general.( Dietrich:2006:57) Many Dalit intellectuals deny the persistence of brahmanic patriarchy among the dalits, Kancha Ilaiah admits that patriarchy exists among the dalits, but he compares it to Brahmin patriarchy and contends that it is less oppressive the man woman relations among the dalitBahujan are far more democratic. (Ilaiah: 2006:88) Dalit womens assertion of difference Gopal Guru in dalit women talk differently has posed faith in the new politics of difference that the dalit women have expressed through the formation of the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW). Guru brings out the facts that such difference is necessary if dalit women want to fight patriarchy which is external and internal. Other factors that he points out are caste factor does not get adequate recognition in the analysis done by non-dalit, middle-class, urbanised women activists. (Guru: 1995:2548) And the claim for womens solidarity at both national and global levels subsumes contradictions that exist between high caste and dalit women. (Guru: 1995:2548) Rege also points to the trend of the left party-based womens organizations collapsing caste into class, and the autonomous womens groups collapsing caste into sisterhood, both leaving Brahmanism unchallenged. (Rege: 1998) The social and material conditions of dalit women are different and they cannot uncritically ally themselves with larger feminist politics because of the same, so feminists like Rege have called it the dalit feminist standpoint (DFS). (Rege: 1998) The DFS according to Rege analyses what divides women, what unites them but does not unite them easily. As a standpoint located in the material practices of dalit womens lives it rejects a dichotomisation of the material and cultural which equates the material to environmental degradation and brahmanism to the cultural. Brahmanical patriarchies and caste-specific patriarchies are material in their determination of the access to resources, the division of labour the sexual division of labour and division of sexual labour. (Rege: 2000) Criticizing Rege, Chaya Datar argues that Rege has ignored ecofeminism which actually talks about the position of dalit women in society and the exploitation of women as well as the environment and natural degradation. In Datars view the dalit womens movement may not be part of narrow identity politics, insofar as it does not talk of the materiality of the majority of dalit, marginalised women who lose their livelihoods because of environmental degradation but focuses its struggle mainly against brahminical symbols, it cannot aspire to revisioning of society. It cannot become more emancipatory than the present womens movement. (Datar: 1999) According to Anupama Rao dalitbahujan feminists have gone further than merely arguing that Indian feminism is incomplete and exclusive. Rather, they are suggesting that we rethink the genealogy of Indian feminism in order to engage meaningfully with dalit womens difference from the ideal subjects of feminist politics. (Rao: 2006:2-3) Bela Malik argues that a purely dalit or a purely feminist movement cannot adequately help dalit women. (Malik: 1999) she further states that those who have been actively involved with organizing women encounter difficulties that are nowhere addressed in a theoretical literature whose foundational principles are derived from a smattering of normative theories of rights, liberal political theory, an ill-formulated left politics and more recently, occasionally, even a well-intentioned doctrine of entitlements. Kannabiran and Kannabiran(1991) have pointed to how the deadlock between kshatriya and dalit men caused by dalit agricultural labourer women dressing well could be solved only by a decision taken by men of both the communities. It was decided that women of either community would not be allowed to step into each others locations. The sexual assault on dalit women has been used as a common practice for under-mining the manhood of the caste. Some dalit male activists did argue that in passing derogatory remarks about upper caste girls (in incidents such as Chanduru) dalit men were only getting their own back. The emancipatory agenda of the dalit and womens movements will have to be sensitive to these issues and underline the complex interphase between caste and gender as structuring hierarchies in society. (Rege: 1998) The notion of the dalit women as more free and mobile has been taken up by feminists, the arguments have been that although dalit women are vocal and fight their husbands back, they are not under the ideology of husband worship but they face collective threat of physical harm from upper caste forces all the time. (Dietrich: 2006:58), also (Rege: 1998). Kumkum Sangari opines that patriarchies function and persist not only because they are embedded in the social stratification, division of labour, political structure, cultural practices but also because of consent by women. (Sangari: 1996:17) T.P-Vetschera in his study of Dalit women in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra points out to the element of consent by quoting the Dalit women themselves our men dont treat us as badly as animals, this means that they are good'. Women feel that suffering (is) an essential part of a womans life and nothing could be done about it. (P-Vetschera: 1996:246) T.P-Vetscheras study points out that the Mahars have experienced social mobility and in the region caste repression is not so bad. However the lives of Mahar women are full of daily struggles with burgeoning amount of work within and outside home. Their husbands dont help them and they have to cope with clichà ©s which configure them as lazy and having loose morals. (P-Vetschera: 1996:238) They are frequent victims of violence at the hands of their husbands. Some of them are victims of rape and sexual exploitation by high caste men. (P-Vetschera: 1996:239) Sanskritisation or reference group behavior has reined havoc on the freedom and position earlier enjoyed by dalit women in dalit community. (P-Vetschera: 1996:257). A dangerous mixture of tradition and modernity combines not to stop or minimize the exploitation of dalit women but only gives it a new avatar. The National Federation of dalit women (NFDW) Tracing the issues at stake in the post Mandal-Masjid phase of the womens movement, Rege has argued that the assertion of dalit womens voices in the 1990s brings up significant issues for the revisioning of feminist politics. (Rege: 1998). The revival of the womens movement in india came with the new womens movement in the 1970s.Dalit womens activists however, see this movement as a continuation of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the Hindu caste reform tradition.(Hardtmann: 2009:215) They consider the feminist theory developed by non-dalit women as unauthentic since it does not capture their reality. This comprehension gets clearly reflected in the 12- point agenda adopted by the NFDW and in several papers presented by the dalit women at the Maharashtra Dalit Womens Conference held in Pune in May 1995. Dalit women define the concept of dalit strictly in caste terms, refuting the claim of upper caste women to dalithood. Dalit women activists quote Phule and Ambedkar to invalidate the attempt to a non-dalit woman to don dalit identity. (Guru: 1995:2549) In the second half of the 1980s, dalit women came to express a need for a separate platform within the broader womens movement. In the 1987 the first dalit womens national meeting, dalit womens struggles and aspirations, was held in Bangalore. About 200 women from the south of India, but also from Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and west Bengal are said to have attended. This was the beginning of a national network of dalit women which on the 11 august 1995 formed the NFDW. (Guru: 1995:2548-9) (Hardtmann: 2009:215) Three years later some women from NFDW took part in the formation of the national campaign on dalit human rights (NCDHR). (Hardtmann: 2009:216) It is important to note, however, that even if they have organized separately from dalit men, they tried to work in collaboration with them in the NCDHR. NCDHR was officially launched on World Human Rights Day, 10 December 1998; it links dozens of formerly isolated Dalit civil society organizations in fourteen Indian states. (Bob: 2007:179) The NFDW was instrumental in organizing dalit women for the world conference against racism held in Durban in 2001. Dalit activists argued that caste oppression was like race oppression because both were discriminations based on work and descent. This has been a matter of debate in India as well as globally now and the NFDW supported this claim. The World Conference against Racism held at Durban in 2001 and the process that led to the WCAR in India witnessed the freeing of caste from the confines of India into a larger international arena that held out greater possibilities for public debate, alliance building and more powerful resistance. (Kannabiran: 2006) This meant that not only did the dalit movement and questions related to SC become known internationally, but international focus, to a large extent, came to be placed on the situation of SC women. (Hardtmann: 2009:215) The manifesto of NFDW reads: NFDW endeavours to seek and build alliances with all other progressive and democratic movements and forces, in particular the womens movement and the wider Dalit movement at the national level. It thus aspires in a significant way to widen the democratic spaces while at the same time to create and preserve its identity and specificity. This framework will enable the Dalit womens movement to seek the roots of its oppression, the diversities, the nature of changes, if any, in specific regions and historical contexts and in particular, perceive the varied levels of consciousness that exist within it. Source, (Kannabiran: 2006) In the context of the caste and race debate The NFDW focused on the specific interpretation of civil and political rights, the recognition of productive contribution to society in terms of equality, dignity, fair wages and popular perception, the guarantee of security of person and freedom from the threat of sexual and physical assault, right to freedom of religion in a context where conversion for a better life resulted in denial of protections and the right to leadership a claim pitted against non-dalit men, dalit men and non dalit women. (Kannabiran: 2006) Drawing on the definition of racial discrimination in Article 1 of the CERD, the NFDW asserted in the Durban process that discrimination based on caste is indeed a specific form of racism, intertwined with gender since Dalit women face targeted violence from state actors and powerful members of dominant castes and community especially in the case of rape, mutilation and death; they face discrimination in the payment of unequal wages and gender violence at the workplace that includes fields [as agricultural labourers], on the streets [as manual scavengers and garbage pickers], in homes [as domestic workers], and through religious customà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦' (Kannabiran: 2006) The charter of rights of dalit women, formulated in 1999, and christened the Delhi Declaration sets out the guiding principles of dalit womens rights. It declares that dalits are one of the indigenous peoples of India, who as a people are sovereign, with a distinct identity, history, culture and religionSignificantly, dalit women in this charter declared solidarity in the common cause of womens rights in India and the world at large for the establishment of gender partnership in an egalitarian society. (Kannabiran: 2006) Theoretical approaches It is difficult to explain the dalit womens movement with the help of any one of the given theoretical perspectives, because of the particular context in which DWM is located and the specific historical trajectory it has followed; feminist movements in general have been theorized as new social movements (NSM), however the NSM perspective cannot explain DWM until some context based facts are taken in account. The DWM as separate from the dalit movement and the NFDW in particular is chronologically a new phenomena, the movement has been analysed in relation to the current world order. The womens movement, the dalit movement, the dalit womens movement and Feminism in India has to be situated within the particular history of colonialism, nationalism, modernity, nation-state, and presently the global world order with global institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations. Feminism in India cannot be isolated from the broader framework of an unequal international world. (Chaudhuri: 2004: xv) Chaudhuri has argued that we should look at the Indian nation-states entry in modernity to understand the womens question in India. Indias entrance to modernity was facilitated by the colonial state and the very construction of modern bourgeois domesticity itself can be discerned in the nineteenth century social reform movement. (Chaudhuri: 2011: x) The social reform movement focused on the high caste-class women as subjects and as well as symbols for Indian tradition has been made clear by Vaid and Sangari (1989). In the context of DWM it becomes crucial to understand gender as a relational term (John 2004) (Hardtmann 2009). Johns question is that how then, should one look at the gendered relations between men and women from the exploited sections of societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Hardtmann: 2009:209) John has commented that the stereotype of associating women with the inside private sphere and men as a general category with the outside world of economic and political powerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is very misleading (Hardtmann: 2009:209) because such power is in fact in the hands of a very few men, who are upper caste and Hindu, and middle or upper class, and who may constitute no more than 10 percent of the male population. (John 2004b:253) (Hardtmann: 2009:209) Arguing in the vein of John, Hartmann argues that the world bank, the Indian state, and international corporations agree that one solution to the economic problems of SCs in the Indian society is that poor women enter the private spheres as entrepreneurs. Her question is why poor women and poor men. The implicit assumption of these institutions is that dalit men are economically irresponsible in relation to their families. They are deprived of their so called male responsibility, and as a result they are devoid of constructing their masculinity associated with respect. Women are supported to enter the economic sphere, but when they on the other hand reach an economic position, like Mayawati, they are pictured as immoral and deprived of constructing a so-called femininity, valued and respected in Indian society. (Hardtmann: 2009:225) To invoke Johns pithy description, the thrifty and diligent women are pitted solely against their unruly men. (Chaudhuri: 2011: xxxix) Who are seen as bad subjects of modernity. (Chaudhuri: 2011: xxxix) Hartdmann suggests that to dalit men and women, oppression is not a question of ascribed gender identities in a heteronormative society, rather dalit men and women are not ascribed gender identities, but on the opposite prevented from constructing gender identities related to a neoliberal economic order in the Indian society, where traditional gender roles are clearly defined. (Hardtmann: 2009:225) The DWM traces its origins and ideology to Ambedkar. Ambedkars faith lay in the state as a redeemer of the injustices of the Indian societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Rao: 2003:24)

Strategies To Resolve The Principal Agent Problem Accounting Essay

Strategies To Resolve The Principal Agent Problem Accounting Essay In general, the principal-agent problem refers to difficulties of motivating one party the agent to act for the best interest of the other party the principal. In a company, the owners of the assets (the stockholder) are the principals and the managers of the company are the agents. The stockholders of the company authorize the managers to manage and use their resources to make profit for the stockholders. (Kaskarelis, I. A. 2010) The cause of the principal-agent problem is that the information asymmetry between the principal and the agent and the principal and agent have different interests. (Ulrike, L., Arleta, M) Generally, the Agents are the managers of the resources and have more information than the principals. In a company, the managers of the company will have more information about the company than the stockholders of the company. The agents may use this asymmetric information to get interest for themselves rather than the principals. Figure 1, Basic Model of Principal-agent problem In general, the principal-agent problem is the problem that the agent is not doing the best for the principals. The so-called principal-agent problem is really caused by the interest conflicts between the two parties. As a principal, he or she wishes the agent to do the best for his or her interest. As an agent, he or she should do the best for the principal. However, without enough and appropriate motivations from the principal, the agent may not doing the best for the principals. If the agent is not acting for the interest of the principal, the moral hazard happens. This is the classical model of principal-agent problem. In order to motivate the agent to work for the best interest of the principal, incentives should be given. Strategies to resolve the principal-agent problem Make appropriate incentive structure The first strategy of solving the principal-agent problem can be from the incentive aspect of the agent. The cause of the principal-agent problem is the motivation given to the principals. Based on the experiment of principal-agent problem, high performance of the agents were observed if good compensations were given to the agents. (Ulrike Leopold-Wildburger, Arleta Mietek, 2010) Even though the relationship between the compensation and the performance is not linear, the outputs of the agents have positive relationship with the compensation of the agents. Yuliy Sannikov (2008) advocates that the dynamic incentives play very important role in the economic life. In a company, the wages of the managers and also the employees can affect the performance results of the company. Connecting the compensations of the agents to the performance will give incentives to the agents to do their best. In a company, the employees salaries can be connected to the performance results of the employees. The managers salaries can be linked to the performance of the company. In this situation, the managers of the company will have enough incentive to do their best. The stockholders of the company can also enjoy the better profits of the company. One alternative solution is to give the managers of the company certain amount of corporate stocks. The income of the managers are affected by the stock prices (Bruhl, R. H. (2003). The managers will have the incentive to do the best to increase the stock price of the company. In fact, many listed companies have the so called Equity Incentive Package (Bronstein, R. J. 1980). Pro and cons This strategy of solving the principal agent problem is the most basic one and the short-term effect can be seen immediately. Linking the agents compensation with the performance by giving the managers corporate stock is the most effective way to solving the principal agent problem. The potential drawback of this strategy is that giving the managers stock may result in the possibility of insider trading. Evaluate the performance of the agent continuously The second strategy of solving the principal-agent problem is to monitor the agents behavior and evaluate the performance of the agents. I will explain this in the case of a company. In a company, the managers as the agents and the stockholders of the company are the principals. The managers behaviors are monitored by the stockholders closely in order to make sure that they are doing the best for the interest of the stockholders. In the company, the evaluation of the performance of the company is also very important. When the evaluation of the performance plays a role in determining the compensation of the employees, that is to say there is still room for the employees to improve the performance (Carl Blumstein, 2010). with the monitoring of the companys performance, the managers of the company tend to perform better. Pro and cons Continuous evaluation of the performance in a company can motivate the managers continuously (Long, N., Sorger, G. 2010). Because of the continuous motivation, the performance of the company can keep improving. This is the biggest advantage of the strategy. However, the evaluation process of the managers is a time and money consuming task. The evaluation or monitoring of the agents may incur a lot of expenses. Regulate the agent with moral standards The principal-agent relationship is not only a kind of legal relationship between the principal and the agent. The principal agent problem is also a moral hazard problem (Randy, S. 2011). According to the basic business ethics, it is ethical for the agents to do the best to represent the interest of the principals. The first strategy of solution by building the appropriate incentive structure of the agents and the second strategy of monitoring the activities of the agents can get only short term results. In the long term, establishing the ethical awareness of representing the best interest of the stockholders can be a good choice. With a good ethical awareness, the principal and agent problem can be solved in the long term (Ruachhaus, R. W. 2009). In the case of Psychiatrists Relationships with Industry, the principal agent problems can be solved from both incentives and ethical view (Appelbaum, P. 2010). The doctors are the agents of the patients. The doctors with high moral standard will not recommend medicines of high cost to the patients unless is necessary. Pro and cons The moral standard improvement requires a long time and also needs the commitment of the employees. The moral issues in the principal agent problem can be seen clearly, but sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish. The potential advantage of this strategy is that it can achieve long term result in the company. Conclusion The principal agent problem comes from the asymmetric information between the principal and the agent and the principal and agent have different interests. The principal hires the agent to work for him and the agent works for the interest of the principal. Without enough motivations, principal agent problem appears. The principal agent problem is also a moral hazard problem. There are three alternative solutions to overcome the principal agent problem. One is to give incentives to the agent. The second is to evaluate and monitor the agents activity to make sure the agent works best. The last solution is depending on the moral standards. All these three solutions have different advantages and disadvantages.

Teenagers and their Credit Cards Essay -- credit

Teenagers and their Credit Cards Availability of credit cards have left young people in debt. College-age students and low-income consumers, typically deemed bad risks, are easy targets for credit card companies. Credit card companies should not target college-age students and low-income consumers because of their lack of financial stability. In 1996, twenty-something consumers owed an average of $2,400 on their credit cards, nearly triple what they owed in 1990, according to research by Claritas Inc., a marketing research firm in Virginia. If, payments of $75 were made monthly to pay off a $2,400 debt, it would take 3-1/2 years with a 16 percent-rate card, and you'd pay $ 750 in interest. "There's no question that young adults are the most heavily burdened by credit card debt," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. Many will plunge into debt. Many teens waste little time taking on debt after leaving home. The number of 18 and 19 year olds with credit cards in their own name is climbing, according to Teenage Research Unlimited. Of American teen between 18 and 20 years old, 41 percent have their own cards, compared with 36 percent last year. Across all age groups, the statistics don't paint a pretty picture. Bankruptcy fillings in the United States have more than doubled in the last decade, from 530, 436 in 1986 to 1.2 million last years. Americans owe $ 484.6 billion in credit card debit, up from $ 437.9 billion in 1996, according to the Federal Reserve Board. That National Foundation for Consumer... ...bsp; Works Cited Evans, David, Richard Schmalensee. Paying with Plastic: The Digital Revolution in Buying and Borrowing. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute, 2000 Citibank. Citibank, Nader and the Facts. New York: First National City Bank, 1974. Kaminow, Ira, James O'Brien. Studies In Selective Credit Policies. Philadelphia: Federal Reserve Bank, 1975. Mandell, Lewis. The Credit Card History: A History. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Manning, Robert. Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit. New York: Basic Books, 2000. Polto's, Pearl, Bob Oskam. Easy Guide to Good Credit. New York: Berkley Books, 1990. Wood, Oliver, William Barskdale. How to Borrow Money. New York: Van Nostrand, 1981.

Panopticon: The Ideal Social Order :: essays research papers

Panopticon: The Ideal Social Order "The Panopticon is a marvelous machine which, whatever use one may wish to put it to, produces homogenous effects of power." Panopticism is a style of controlling the individual and making him conform to the system. That system could refer to the police or the world as a whole. There is never a definite top position, therefore, everyone feels as if they are being monitored by someone else. It is for this reason that this disciplinary mechanism is so effective. The Panopticon serves as a tool for discipline and a laboratory of power. The capabilities of a Panopticon are endless. It is the basis for the government while it could also aid in the criminal activities for the mafia. In the government there is a system of checks and balances where nothing can get accomplished without the authorization of a higher ranked official. Once these ideas are passed they are then imposed on the individuals of society by other organizations . Whether it be the police, the IRA, or a neighborhood watch group. The Panopticon can serve the public in many ways. It can defend a country, reform prisoners, treat the ill, and educate the public. It does this by creating channels of power and distributing them to the individuals. In the Panopticon, no one individual shall be granted too much power so as to place his or her own values upon the masses. The concept behind panopticism is the distribution of power in order to better society as a whole. The historical problems with power have proven, when it is unevenly distributed, those with the power take advantage and impose their values on the public. For instance, Hitler was given too much power and he massacred millions of innocent people. The Panopticon, on the other hand, serves to increase the wealth, welfare, education, and spirituality of society. The Panopticon does punish but it does so in a means of reform. It attempts to restore the individual to a being that can be a productive and positive influence. The system has two main purposes, the distribution of power and the means of establishing discipline. Every aspect of the world has the ideas and principles of panopticism behind them. The world is full of intricate and complicated people. These people group together to create tribes, governments, countries, and or civilizations. What are the rules? How are we, the most complicated form of life that we know of, suppose to act towards one another. The panoptic system has implemented itself upon the world. It has created a system where no one

Polonius and Laertes Assist Hamlet :: Essays Papers

Polonius and Laertes Assist Hamlet 1. In his play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses various foils to make the play more complex. These foils involve numerous characters that help to develop different relationships and conflicts. Without these foils, the relationships and conflicts would not happen, and the play could not develop. They help us to understand Hamlet[']s actions and bring diversity to the play. Polonius and Laertes are the main foils for Hamlet. Polonius shows how irrational Hamlet thinks, and Laertes shows that Hamlet must pay for his actions, even if he is royalty. This plot and conflict develop from the similarities and differences between Hamlet and the foils. 2. Why are foils required to understand and develop the play? A foil is a minor character used to help develop or understand a major character. The foil must have some similarities with the major character in order to create a link with him. A foil must also be different in order to show or distinguish something about the major character. The foil does not always have an active role. Sometimes the foil is just someone for the major character to talk to. This allows his ideas to come through to the audience without a narrator; therefore, the foil is a kind of prop to help develop the role of the major character. Without a foil, there is no one to help develop or understand the major character, [;] thus his ideas cannot be revealed to the audience. Polonius was an important foil for Hamlet. 3. Polonius and Hamlet were similar in that they both loved Ophelia and tried to protect her. While Polonius died trying, Hamlet encouraged [?] her to go to a nunnery. Unfortunately, she died anyway. Also, Hamlet and Polonius both died trying to protect a woman. Polonius was trying to protect Ophelia from Hamlet, just as Hamlet was trying to protect his mother from Claudius. [Nice point] Both men were also loyal to a king--Polonius to Claudius, and Hamlet to his father. Here again, both kings were killed. 4. Polonius and Hamlet also had their differences. While Polonius was loyal to Claudius, Hamlet was not loyal or even respectful to him. Hamlet knew Claudius was a murderer and Polonius was not even suspicious of King Hamlet’s death. Although they both died, Polonius and Hamlet[']s murders were different.

Human rights in Iraq after the war Essay

The Americans are fairly blunt about promoting their corporate interests. A USAid spokeswoman was quoted recently pointing out that it should not come as a surprise that all of the companies short listed for work in Iraq are American. Her advice to non American companies is to pressurize their own governments. And this is driving the agenda of the European Union meeting in Brussels. President Chirac and others opposed to war have declared that while they condemn this war, they are willing to work with the UK and US on the reconstruction of Iraq. No doubt the popular sentiment in Europe favours providing support to the Iraqi people after a terrible devastation has been wrecked upon them. However, these governments are also under pressure to provide a role for their corporations in post war Iraq, a resource rich country. Thus, before the war has ended, the more divisive fight over the spoils of war has already started. In the now marginalized United Nations lies France and Germany’s best hopes of making the division of the loot somewhat egalitarian. But the Americans are prepared, more than ever, to brush away the UN, and impose direct rule on iraq. The British are hoping to receive their fair share of the crumbs for their loyalty. However, this comes at the heavy cost of alienating Britain from the rest of Europe. It is likely that this battle to divide the spoils will lead to important decisions concerning the future of the United Nations as well as the future relationship between America, Britain and Europe. OREND’S THEORY ON RECONSTRUCTION ON THE BASIS OF HUMAN RIGHTS All human beings have human rights. However, human rights do not necessarily embrace anything and everything the anybody wants. Human rights are merely limited to those things which are both vitally needed and which can be provided at reasonable cost. A claim is at the core of any right, and that a claim is necessarily a claim on someone or something, in connection with some sought-after action or benefit, some good or policy. There is no such thing as a holder of a right without a correlative bearing any duty. The acts of the US and UK in Iraq after war can be considered as too much abuse to the basic human rights of the Iraqis. The Reconstruction being done to foster an economic advantage deprives the Iraqi of their basic economic benefits necessary to alleviate their lives. There is a plain disregard of a multi-aspect needs of the Iraqis for preservation, liberation, unification, democratization, and self-identity. The reconstruction projects are simply not directed towards the development and enhancement of the fundamentals of human existence and human rights. The excessive desire of the US government for profit and gains violates the basic principle of human rights, as according to Professor Orend, that is to love a â€Å"minimally decent lives†. Professor Orend holds a human right to be â€Å"a high-priority claim, or authoritative entitlement, justified by sufficient reasons, to a set of objects that are owed to each human person as a matter of minimally decent treatment†. He then asserts that to hold human rights â€Å"one must be biologically human, one must avoid violating another’s human rights, and one must have fundamental interests in, or vital needs for, living a life of minimal value. † Both formulations are valuable definitions and form a strong basis upon which to ground claims of rights. This requires a life that does not yearn for any excessive economic gains and benefits, unlike what the US Government and its cronies are manifesting. A life of simplicity within the level of a minimally decent lives requires only just enough resources to support the basic services and development of the State. It does not necessarily imply taking advantage of another’s ordeal just to promote one’s excessive economic needs. Orend shows who bears what duties in relation to human rights, questioning whether individuals or institutions are responsible for ensuring human rights. Orend concludes that both institutions and individuals bear responsibility for ensuring human rights on both a national and international level. This duty, he argues, directly correlates to one’s ability to affect human rights. So, while the duty of an individual is different from the duty of a multinational corporation, which in turn is different from the duty of a nation or international institution, all of these entities are responsible for ensuring that human rights are respected. Following on from this, Orend argues that post war reconstruction must occur via the established media of international law and governance but with the added insights of practices such as philosophy, human rights, history, public policy, and political science. It cannot be simply held and carried out purely for purposes of gains. There must be concerted and united efforts of all institutions and individuals of the word to perform their respective duty proceeding from the basic moral duty of respecting the basic dignity and rights of the Iraqis. All aspects must be duly considered in order to come up to a broader and complete plan of binging in reconstruction in Iraq. References: 1. 1. Fagan, Andrew. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Human Rights. Human Rights Center: University of Essex. 2006. http://www. iep. utm. edu/h/hum-rts. htm 2. Orend, Brian. Human Rights: Concept and Context. Petersburg, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2002. http://www. du. edu/gsis/hrhw/booknotes/2004/zwiebach-2004. html.