Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Great Depression And Dust Bowl - 1165 Words

Alissa French Mrs. Lilley English III 6 April 2017 The Great Depression/Dust Bowl The ‘Dirty Thirties’ is perhaps one of the most known time periods in American History. During the 1930s, the worst and longest drought occurred in the United States, this was also know as the Dust Bowl. According to Christopher Klein, the Dust Bowl is considered both a man-made and natural disaster. In fact, many events contributed to the Dust Bowl such as poor farming techniques, a severe drought, and economic depression. One of the main causes of the Dust Bowl was the poor techniques that farmers used to plant and harvest their crops. Most of the Roaring Twenties consisted of a continual cycle of debt for the American farmers as their production prices†¦show more content†¦In some cases, school was cancelled because of these storms. In the same year, slightly after noon on January 21st, a dust storm was reported that rose up to 10,000 feet in the air with winds that blew 60 miles per hour. According to Duncan, the local weather bureau called it â€Å"awe-inspiring† and â€Å"most spectacular†. An Associated Press reporter gave the Dust Bowl its name the day after Black Sunday, which was the worst dust storm reported (Ganzel). These storms were so devastating that people had to cover their faces with wet rags in fear they would get dust pneumonia, a deadly condition where dirt would clog up the lungs (Klein). They were also fearful of being caught outside of their house in the middle of a dust storm, because the storms rolled with thousands upon thousands of fine particles of dirt that would completely block out the sun, and no light could penetrate the blanket of darkness (Ganzel). The residents of the Great Plains couldn’t even escape the dust inside their own homes. The dust would somehow percolate through the tiniest of cracks, crevices, or gaps in the walls, windowsills, and door frames (Duncan 51). These deadly storms were also capable of producing so much static electricity betwe en the ground and the airborne dust that even a simple handshake could initiate a spark so powerful it would knock them to the ground (Klein). The entire region of the Plains was affected, and eventually the entire country (Ganzel). In addition to the mainShow MoreRelatedThe Great Depression : The Dust Bowl984 Words   |  4 Pages The Great Depression was a horrible time in American history, with as much as one-fourth of the population out of work. One of the hardest hit areas of the population was the agricultural center of the United States in the area that would come to be known as the Dust Bowl. The problems that the people of the Dust Bowl dealt with however were not a result of the Depression as a whole but instead were the result of a combination of bad farming decisions and a horrible drought. Even though the timingRead MoreThe Great Depression And The Dust Bowl1197 Words   |  5 Pages The New Deal In the year following the Roaring 20s, the United States had a major economic crisis along with the Dust Bowl that affected many of the american people, but if Franklin D. Roosevelt had not saved the economy with the New Deal, the economy would have never truly recovered. The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl The Great Depression was the longest economic recession in the history of the United States. The recession started in the summer of 1929 when stock prices began to rise and alsoRead MoreThe Great Depression And Dust Bowl2250 Words   |  9 Pagessome of the best times in history. However, later in the decade, devastation came in the form of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. These two factors left a sour taste in the mouthes of Americans as they moved into the thirties. The drastic difference between the economic high and low of the 1920s are due to a combination of the economic boom at the beginning of the decade and the Great Depression at the end, with numerous factors in between these two bookend events. During the best of the decadeRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Effect On The Great Depression1032 Words   |  5 PagesThe Dust Bowl’s Effect on the Great Depression The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, pays homage to the critical impact the Great Depression had on dust bowl farmers. The growing demand for wheat products forced farmers to overgraze their property. This reduced the overall usefulness and biodiversity of the land, and attributed to the desertification of their establishments. With this, the once lush fields turned to dust, which blew away with the commencement of the severe drought in the earlyRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1190 Words   |  5 Pageswith selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takes a corrupt turn. Steinbeck symbolizes the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, as the monster, by focusing on bringing attention to how the families inRead MoreDust Bowl of the 1930s911 Words   |  4 PagesThe Dust Bowl of the 1930’s had such an antagonistic effect on the United States economy that was already plummeting. The Dust Bowl affected the U.S economy in just about every way possible ranging from agriculture to finances including government expenses to population changes. This phenomena can be considered as one of the worst natural disasters that has affected the United States. The â€Å"Dust Bowl† was the name given to the Great Plains region that was greatly affected by drought in the 1930’sRead MoreFarming During The Great Depression1210 Words   |  5 PagesNovember 2015 Farming During the Great Depression There were many factors that caused the Great Depression. But one of the main causes of the Great Depression was the farming conditions. Before the Great Depression life was great! The American life was starting to get better and better. But In the early 1930 s soil was reduced to dust and eroded, because of drought and improper farming practice. This period of long, stressful farming conditions was known as the Dust Bowl. It led to the increased numberRead MoreThe Struggle Of The 1920s1322 Words   |  6 PagesWhat the Great Depression Did to America During the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, the United States underwent a series of changes that had a drastic effect on people across the nation. As the economy began to slow to a halt, millions of people were left broke and without jobs. As the country’s farmers were paralyzed with debt, food prices increased radically (McElvaine). During the mid-1930s, a series of droughts coupled with poor agricultural methods led to years of soil erosion and dust stormsRead MorePresident Hoover s Impact On The Great Depression910 Words   |  4 PagesDuring 1929, The Great Depression changed the shape of America and how many people would struggle during this time. The Great Depression had many issues happen that hurt many people and their jobs. President Hoover had a major impact during this time. The Great Depression started after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. The economy during this time was in a world of hurt and people in the economy were going through a rough time. Many farmers dur ing this time lost money to pay for their jobs and couldRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Of The Great West1172 Words   |  5 PagesLucia Martinez Professor Kim Wombles English 1302 September 21, 2015 The Dust Bowl Imagine a great wall closing in on you with nowhere to run. Imagine sweeping a floor of sand that will never go away. Imagine having a terrible cough that leaves your throat irritated and raw to the point where you are coughing up blood. Imagine the disappointment of realizing a possible rain cloud is really a wall of dust rushing your way. For people living in the Midwest during the 1930s this was

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam Free Essays

string(26) " no impact whatever on U\." Robert S. McNamara’s memoir ‘In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam’ offers an explanation of McNamara’s handling of the Vietnam War as Secretary of Defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. McNamara’s goal directed as well as logico-mathematical approach to decision-making must be blamed for the failure of the US to stop North Vietnam from winning the war. We will write a custom essay sample on The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam or any similar topic only for you Order Now Bloodshed would have been evaded if merely McNamara had looked at the probable outcome of his decisions on Vietnam. What appears from pages of this book are mechanics of a machine closed in on itself. It digested just the information that suited its version of reality or served its bureaucratic interests. It unnoticed discordant views, reorganized unlikable facts as well as, when proved wrong, simply redoubled its efforts. It was a machine suited to a military colossus whose directors never doubted their premises or their capability to make reality symbolize the exercise of their power. The book is written down in a manner that brings joy particularly to the hearts of the pacifist crowd even while they criticize him, as its confessions appear to justify their opposition to the war. That was Bill Clinton’s self-satisfied response. Thus far the book is extremely superficial in its political analysis — signifying how far in over his head McNamara was in that job from the start. Certainly, it’s high time that someone inquired our country’s inclination of picking big-time industrialists for defense secretary on the theory that it’s just a big management work. Sometimes the job needs a lot more than management talent: deliberate understanding and judgment, which McNamara without a doubt never had. In justice to McNamara, his long silence had an admirable cause. Given the national shock that Vietnam brought, he feared that any apologia would be expedient and inappropriate. This caginess renowned McNamara from egregious former colleagues for instance Clark Clifford, Averell Harriman, as well as Cyrus Vance, who within months of leaving office were attacking the Nixon Administration with peace proposals also demands for concessions to the North Vietnamese. The end of McNamara’s book in brief touches non-Vietnam matters — particularly the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the Harvard conferences he has lately attended, which brought together Soviet, American, as well as Cuban veterans of that crisis. The malice of such conferences is established by the breast-beating wrapping up of McNamara and some further Americans that it was our entire fault: Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba for the reason that he feared we were planning one more Bay of Pigs. Suffering regarding that brush with nuclear tragedy has led to another of McNamara’s recantations his vigorous anti-nuclear activism, proceeding proposals for disarmament and no-first-use of nuclear weapons. He has championed this reason with the same sanctimonious obstinacy with which he once sold us the body counts and wunderkind strategizing in Vietnam, and with which he at present proclaims his confessions of our Vietnam errors. He possibly will never get it right. (Kevin Hillstrom, Laurie Collier Hillstrom, 1998). DEVELOPMENT OF THEME This book â€Å"In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam† is barely likely to assuage that cynicism. Certainly, it will most likely reinforce it. For what it exposes is a leadership class so in thrall to power, so persuaded of its own intellectual superiority, so cut off from, and even disdainful of, the wider society it has been empowered to serve, that it was eager to sacrifice virtually everything to evade the stigma of failure. The usefulness of McNamara’s book is in the description of that trickery and of that failure. Much of the documentation has long been accessible in the Pentagon Papers, which he commissioned soon before leaving office, and which were leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971. However there is something to be erudite in hearing it from such a highly placed participant. Nevertheless, no one else, at such a level of influence–not Johnson, or McGeorge Bundy, or Walt Rostow, or Henry Kissinger or Richard Nixon–ever openly admitted error or accepted blame. McNamara has at least broken the wall of silence. And even though he remains protective and largely uncritical of his colleagues, including the most imperceptive, the picture that appears is not one to motivate confidence. What this account noticeably discloses is that at no time did officials in either the Kennedy or Johnson administrations ever seriously think about anything less than an enduringly divided Vietnam with an anti-communist government in the south. The North Vietnamese, for their part, never measured anything less than a unified nation under their, i. e. communist, control. No one was in any doubt about this. The problem was that the Americans were persuaded that by inflicting unbearable pain they could force Hanoi to desist however they were wrong. It was their country, not ours. In the end it was we who withdrew in the face of unbearable pain. Why did three successive administrations think that Vietnam was so imperative? First, there was the domino theory, which decreed that if Saigon fell to communism, the rest of Southeast Asia would shortly follow. Kennedy himself authorized it. When asked in 1963 by a television interviewer whether he doubted the correspondence, he answered, â€Å"No, I believe it. â€Å" Second, there was confronting of communist-led â€Å"wars of national liberation. † As nuclear weapons had made war too risky between America and Russia, the conflict transferred to the Third World, where a host of impecunious, ex-colonial nations looked up for grabs. Did it matter whether these were communist or anti-communist despotisms? Almost certainly not. Although there was nowhere else the competition could occur, and so there it raged. Vietnam turned into a test case. Third, there was the well-known supposition that Beijing was taking its marching orders from Moscow, and calling the shots in Hanoi. The truth that China and Russia were already disputing publicly and that the Vietnamese had historically viewed the Chinese as their greatest enemy made no impact whatever on U. You read "The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam" in category "Papers" S. policymakers. It did not fit into their worldview. Fourth, the world’s greatest military power was not going to confess failure, least of all against what Johnson once mentioned as a â€Å"piddling, piss-ant little country. † It was too mortifying even to contemplate. Beyond all this there was one more reason that neither Kennedy nor Johnson, once the United States so carelessly slid into Vietnam, could easily get out. The Democrats were the party, in accordance with the Republicans, who had â€Å"lost† China to communism. They were definitely not going to offer more fodder for their foes in Vietnam. As Truman had pushed above the thirty-eight parallel in Korea to illustrate that he was tougher on communism than the Republicans, so Kennedy and Johnson felt they dare not lose Saigon to the Reds. This is why the assumption, here thoughtfully echoed by McNamara, that Kennedy would have pulled out of the war had he lived, appears wishful thinking. Kennedy fans, including McNamara, time and again cite the president’s much-quoted September 1963 statement regarding Vietnam that â€Å"in the final analysis, it is their war. There were, certainly, ways out all along, had anyone wanted to follow them. One opened up in the fall of 1963, when Ngo Dinh Nhu, Diem’s influential brother, started secret contacts with Hanoi. Sensing a possibility for a deal akin to the arrangement previously worked out over Laos, French President Charles de Gaulle suggested the amalgamation and neutralization of Vietnam. However the Americans saw this as an intimidation somewhat than an opportunity. Second-level officials in Washington plotted with the Saigon embassy and South Vietnamese army officers to conquer Diem and replace him with a government more resolute to fight the war. Kennedy could not make up his mind whether or not to endorse the coup. It came anyway in November, ending in the assassination of Diem and Nhu. Three weeks later Kennedy himself was murdered. McNamara now articulates that would have been a good moment to leave. However at the time he recommended the newly installed Johnson that impartiality was unthinkable for the reason that â€Å"South Vietnam is both a test of U. S. determination and particularly a test of U. S. capacity to deal with wars of national liberation. † This was our war and the Vietnamese were not going to be permitted to get in the way. At present McNamara confesses that â€Å"we erred seriously in not even exploring the neutralization option. † Although at the time there was no way officials would have discovered it, given their view of the stakes at issue. This was a war they were resolute to win, even against their reputed South Vietnamese allies. So far McNamara cannot bring himself to accept the noticeable insinuations of what he is so undoubtedly saying. He wants to convince us, and conceivably himself, that it is all a problem of management. In other words, he is still the bureaucratic organizer who thinks that all troubles can be reduced to flow charts and statistics McNamara informs us that as early as the fall of 1965 he had doubts regarding the value of the bombing in breaking Hanoi’s will or reducing the flow of supplies into the south. Sporadically he espoused bombing pauses with the argument that this might influence Hanoi to negotiate. This was a wan expectation, as he was never ready to negotiate what Hanoi sought: a withdrawal of the United States from South Vietnam and communist representation in Saigon. By the fall of 1967 he had lost his value: the Joint Chiefs and the hawks in Congress were infuriated by his antagonism to sending more troops and extending the bombing, whilst Johnson considered him undependable and feared that he might join Robert Kennedy’s camp. He was pushed out the door with a golden handshake as well as the presidency of the World Bank. However it was all done in a spirit of good fellowship and mutual congratulation, together with an overenthusiastic letter of appreciation he wrote to Johnson that he here reproduces. â€Å"I do not know to this day whether I quit or I was fired,† he says of his departure. This was consistent with his not knowing whether he measured the war to be wrong or just badly organized. Certainly he left silently. Almost all of them do. If he felt the war was so â€Å"awfully wrong,† why did he not leave in protest and take his case to the public? 20,000 Americans died in Vietnam on his watch, and almost another 40,000 died, along with millions of Vietnamese, after his departure. Did he be in debt something to them? Not it seems that as much as he owed to Johnson, and most probably to Nixon too. It â€Å"would have been a violation of my responsibility to the president and my oath to uphold the Constitution† to have publicly protested the war, he explains. Whereas the Constitution says not anything regarding muzzling public officials after they leave office, it is right that complainers are hardly ever asked to come back and play one more day. Would it have made a difference if McNamara had openly turned against the war? One cannot be certain. It might or might not have ended the war sooner. However it would have justified those who protested against or refused to battle in a war they considered morally wrong, and it might have saved the lives of some of those who went to Vietnam for the reason that they thought that their country wanted to send them there for fine reason. Regardless, the assurance of making a difference is not the issue. We often cannot be certain of the outcome of our actions when we undertake them. We either do something since we think it is right, or we decide not to do it. McNamara privileged what he supposed to be his duty to Johnson above what many others, but in fact not he, would consider his responsibility to his country. He can live with that, although he must not expect our appreciation. We can be glad that McNamara wrote this book without admiring the man or sanctioning his elusions. He had an opportunity to redeem himself for a war he felt to be wrong. However those opportunities came almost 30 ago, and at present it barely matters. What is constructive regarding this elusive book is the terrible picture it represents of men caught in the prison of their own narrow suppositions and of their bureaucratic roles. These were men who knew that their strategies were not working, that their actions were driving ever-deeper divisions within the country that they were losing the admiration of several of those whose opinions they most appreciated. And thus far they persevered. Or else they shuffled out without a sound, like McNamara, and found other ways of trying to change the world and of trying to redeem themselves. McNamara was not unaware to what was happening. In his memo to Johnson of May 1967 quarrelling against a planned major intensification in the war, he wrote: There may be a boundary beyond which several Americans and much of the world will not allow the United States to go. The picture of the world’s utmost superpower killing or critically injuring thousands noncombatants a week, whilst trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission on a subject whose merits are fiercely disputed, is not a pretty one. He was sensitive at least to the bad public relations of the killing, and he acknowledged that the supposed merits of the war were â€Å"hotly disputed. † Nevertheless within the hothouse where Johnson and his advisers met to orchestrate the war, it was merely methods, never eventual aims that were questioned. There was fighting in the streets and good manners in the war room. McNamara’s book presents a sense of how divorced the two realms were from one another. The planners were locked into the academic concepts of â€Å"credibility† and the mechanics of graduated intensification. Although he had doubts regarding the effectiveness of the methods, he never questioned the assumptions. In his defense McNamara makes the amazing complaint that, because of the McCarthy hysteria of the early 1950s, â€Å"our government lacked experts for us to consult to recompense for our unawareness† of Southeast Asia. True, numerous Asian experts had been driven from the government for envisaging that Chiang Kai-shek was doomed. However they had not moved to Mars. There were telephones then. They were keen to talk to anyone who would listen. Hence were other considerate and outspoken critics of the war: scholars for instance John Fairbanks and Hans Morgenthau, columnists for example Walter Lippmann, former diplomats for instance George Kennan. In 1966 Senator Fulbright, smarting at having been snookered by Johnson over the Gulf of Tonkin, sponsored weeks of hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offering a forum for a broad range of experts to inspect the premises and outcomes of American policy. Nowhere in his book does McNamara make reference to these hearings, and hardly at all to outside critics. The delirious arguments over Vietnam all the way through the country appear never to have infiltrated the glass bubble of the war room. EVALUATION OF THEME McNamara stayed silent regarding Vietnam, repudiating all interviews until 1994, when he wrote his memoirs. The book–In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam–ignited a firestorm of argument upon its release and turned into a national bestseller. Even though McNamara confessed in the book that he had been wrong on the subject of Vietnam, that the United States should never have become involved there, his belated confession did little to endear him to the American people. The book elevated the ire of veterans’ groups, who blamed McNamara of trying to profit from a war that, in their minds, he had started and that had caused so much anguish. Too much blood was on his hands, they said, for him to try to make money off the war. McNamara’s assertion, in his memoir In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, of having been â€Å"terribly wrong† regarding rising the war revive an old query often on the minds of young people at present: Would the U. S. have lost the war in Vietnam had Kennedy lived? The easiest answer is: We cannot know; history happens merely one way. The more intricate answer is: most likely not. We must not forget the significance of the Cold War and containment. Just as Kissinger’s predictions that the United States would split itself apart over Vietnam did not come to pass, the cause behind American involvement in the war turned out to have been intensely flawed. The position of the United States in the world was not so shaky and that of the Soviet Union and other revolutionary movements not so prevailing that an earlier communist victory in Vietnam would have altered the effect of the Cold War. We are familiar with this now, and many people came to doubt the significance of U. S. involvement in Vietnam as the war went on. Thus far given the depth of leaders’ commitment to the principles of suppression, it is hard to think that the United States would not have contributed the way it did in Vietnam, at least until 1968. (Kevin Hillstrom, Laurie Collier Hillstrom, 1998). Without a doubt the enthusiasm with which people long for a hero to have lived and saved them from the tragedy of Vietnam makes known how poignant a wound the war left. When McNamara spoke at Harvard University in the spring of 1995, observers noted how Vietnam appeared to have taken place merely yesterday for the people in the audience over forty. Their feelings were raw. For many, McNamara was a figure out of the past. Ernest May, one of the country’s leading diplomatic historians, gave the most dispassionate elucidation of why he thought McNamara was wrong to have asserted that Kennedy would not have become as intensely involved as Johnson. McNamara appeared to have forgotten the influential spell of the Cold War. It was as if, May noticed, a Crusader wrote his memoirs without mentioning Christianity. However McNamara maintained his usually cool reserve all through the entire controversy. Reference: Kevin Hillstrom, Laurie Collier Hillstrom (1998). The Vietnam Experience: A Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films; Greenwood Press How to cite The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Religion and Science free essay sample

They can actually complement each other. To understand what Einstein meant when he said this, we must first understand his views on religion. When I was first given Einstein’s article â€Å"Religion and Science† in class, I felt like he was very anti-religious. Throughout the first few paragraphs of the article he talked about why people were led to religious thought and belief. According to him, it was fear and the desire for guidance, support, and love emotions that were considered signs of â€Å"weakness† that evoked religious notions. It was just this that drove people to look into a higher being as a means of hope. These feelings are what initiated religious beliefs that told people what they can and can’t do to please God. Einstein’s belief that these â€Å"weak† feelings initiated religion, made him seem so opposed to the idea of looking into an unknown being as a sense of security. We will write a custom essay sample on Religion and Science or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Later on in his article, Einstein also told us that religion is not necessary for a person’s ethical behavior. You don’t need a God to tell you right from wrong. After reading all of this, I came to the conclusion that Einstein did not believe in religion. However, after further reading on Einstein I realized that I was very much wrong. Einstein did believe in a religion, but his religion was not the typical, traditional, organized religion like most people believe in. Einstein believed in a â€Å"cosmic religious feeling;† he believed in a higher being that controlled the universe, but not one who was interested in the personal affairs of humans. It was his line of work that had become his religion. He was so passionate and devoted to science that it had become his faith. His religious feeling was of â€Å"inklings† and â€Å"wondering. His religion was his thoughts, and it was through this that Einstein studied and came to scientific conclusions. Einstein’s religion was his questions, and science was his means of getting the answers. Einstein once said that you are not a true scientist if you don’t approach science with religious awe. Einstein believed that science and religion were nothing without each o ther. Since religion was Einstein’s â€Å"inklings† and â€Å"wondering,† religion was a sort of motivation for science. After all, what would science be without human questioning? Science would be pointless without religion, and that is what Einstein meant when he said â€Å"Science without religion is lame. † Science is just, as many people see it, a search for answers, and religion gives the questions. Some people choose to follow a religion without any logical thinking of their own; this is what Einstein meant by â€Å"Religion without science is blind. † It doesn’t make sense to believe in something without any logical reasoning. You would have to do some further research and study to give yourself further knowledge and understanding of a certain belief. Many people believe in a certain religion just because their parents believe in it, and that is the faith they grew up in to. They practice this religion because it’s what they were taught to do, not because it’s something they personally believe in. This is an example of a religious belief being â€Å"blind. † The person hasn’t looked into the religion at all on their own to see if there is any truth in it. They believe it just because their family believes it. This is completely illogical. Without proven facts to back up a belief, the belief is simply blind. A belief being blind, meaning that the belief has no evidence to back it up. There is no logical reason to believe in it. Science helps to create an open minded understanding of religion. Without science, religion would be useless and completely illogical. Although religion is not the same to me as it was to Einstein, I completely agree that religion and science are nothing without each other. Religion and science go hand in hand. My religion, Islam, doesn’t only tell me to believe, but it also provokes me to ask questions. Unlike Einstein, my religion is not just a religion of questions, it gives answers as well. However, most of these answers can be scientifically backed up, and the others have not been scientifically disproven either. Religion, or more specifically, Islam, is not primarily scientific; however it does answer some of the same questions as science. I believe that religion is nothing without science because it doesn’t make sense to blindly believe in something without some fact to back it up. Religion is a strong elief, and science may elaborate on that belief. In fact, Islam encourages scientific research. Time and time again, it is mentioned in the Quran (holy book) to reflect, not to just blindly believe. A verse in the Quran states, â€Å"And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reflect† [13:3] . This verse encourages us to reflect over these â€Å"signs,† to do research and believe with reason. It is only through research that religion is understood and appreciated even more. In Islam, it is believed that the Quran, the holy book was brought down over 1400 years ago, during the 7th century. That was a time when people didn’t know many of the scientific facts we know now. They weren’t advanced enough, and they didn’t have the correct technology. It was a time when people thought that the world was flat. The Quran, however, stated differently, it hinted at the roundness of the Earth. â€Å"He has created the Heavens and the Earth for Truth. He wraps the night up in the day, and wraps the day up in the night† [39:5]. The Arabic word that translates to â€Å"to wrap† in this verse is â€Å"yukawwir,† which comes from the origin â€Å"kurah† meaning sphere. Also, in this verse, wrapping the night up in the day means that the night slowly and gradually turns to day, which could only happen if the Earth was round. Another example is the formation of rain. The three stages of rain formation are the â€Å"raw material† of rain rising up into the air with the wind, clouds forming from the water vapor, and finally raindrops falling. In the Quran, it is stated, â€Å"It is Allah Who sends the winds which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps and you see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them. When He makes it fall on those of His servants He wills, they rejoice† [30:48]. The stages of rain formation weren’t discovered until after the weather radar was invented, but the same stages are discussed in the Quran. These are just two of many scientific signs in the Quran, but it shows that in Islam, absolute religious text and absolute scientific fact never contradict. Many people believe that religion and science can’t coexist because they cancel each other out. It is either one or the other, but this just simply isn’t true. In Islam, there is no conflict between absolute scientific fact and absolute religious text; everyone would be able to see this if they really looked into both of these factors. Religion actually encourages people to expand their knowledge through scientific research and come to a deeper understanding of their religion.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Open Education Essays - Educational Psychology,

Open Education Between 1967 and 1976, the ideas and practices of open education spread rapidly across the United States. Even today the idea of open education is still growing in popularity. Since it was just beginning to gain popularity in 1967, parents and teachers swarmed to workshops in hopes of better understanding the open concept. Many schools were switching over to an open philosophy. News of the successful educational style fanned the flames of many disbelievers. Many questions still remained about open education. What did children do? What did teachers do? Much earlier on, there was an effort to prevent the progression of open education. During the 1920 through 30's, private schools were set up to maintain a teacher's power and keep kids as her pupils. People wanted a new model of education and the open school model slowly replaced it. In the 60's there was a critical push for open education. The American population had reached a higher level of consciousness about our social and educational system. Yet, one question left people doubtful of open education. How can you "prove" that open education works? People were worried about educational change, because it could be devastating and expensive. It was never proven that open education worked, but more money was spent on workshops, teaching methods, and curricula to create more acceptance of open education. The word was also debated for a long time, because of the many different meanings. Was it opportunity? Relationships? Sharing? It was unknown. Finally, the word was decided apon--open. Open was trendy for the times. As Lydia A. H. Smith from Simmons College wrote "Open education is an approach to education that is open to change." As I have gone through open education, I have noticed differences in teachers. Teachers are not the typical drone model. Open education dropped the workbooks and lecture style learning and picked up discussion and hands-on developmental learning. An idea following this change in classroom materials and teaching styles was the position a teacher held in a classroom. No longer were they the directors that made everything this way or that, but teachers were now facilitators that would ease one's way through the educational system. Education is not just studying about, but about being. The word about never gave you the eyes to see being. In the US the open educational philosophy was spreading rapidly, in Britain primary schools were in a great push towards the movement for open education. Britain had closely been following open education. Many articles were being published on the idea of open school. These published articles were evoking positive feelings throughout the United States and Britain. As for today, there are many different types of educational philosophies. Once open education was accepted and found to work well society was more willing to accept new educational ideas. Educational philosophy The word philosophy comes from the Greek root philos (love) and sophia (wisdom), it means the love or search for wisdom. Philosophy covers a broad area of topics, but there is something that I want to explore more closely. I will look at educational philosophy, since that is what I am dealing with. Basically, I think philosophy in an educational context is the generalized theory of education or wisdom in education. Whatever education is, or becomes, is the basis of its philosophy. Educational theories are applied in a classroom to see if they show better results than before. If not, the theories are removed. Educational philosophy contains ideas of ideal ways education should be taught. Open philosophy wouldn't have been a popular philosophical education model, if it had not worked as well as it has. I believe that educational philosophy expresses ideas of how society should be taught. Since I have been in an open education program for my whole life, I'm going to talk about its ideals and my feelings. I think open education is based on 6 factors (1) the school as a community, (2) the school in the community, (3) the person and thier moral right to freedom and choice, (4) concern for individual differences, (5) the method of intelligence, (6) building curriculum through and with students. (Lydia A. H. Smith, page 376) To me the best a teacher can be is when they are learning from the students and when the students learn from them. It is best when material is not dictated, but presented through thought and participation. "I believe firmly, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Definition and Examples of Substantives in Grammar

Definition and Examples of Substantives in Grammar In traditional grammar, a substantive is a word or a group of words that functions as a noun or noun phrase. In contemporary language studies, the more common term for a substantive is nominal. In some forms of construction grammar, substantive is used in a broad sense thats unrelated to the traditional meaning of substantive  (or noun). As Peter Koch observes in Between Word Formation and Meaning Change, It simply has the sense of constituted by one or more particular lexical or grammatical items (Morphology and Meaning, 2014). (See Hoffmans remarks in Examples and Observations below.) EtymologyFrom the Latin, substance Examples and Observations Doctors have asserted many times over the centuries that  walking is good for you, but  medical advice has never been one of the chief attractions of literature.(Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking. Penguin, 2001)The motion was eager, shy, exquisite, diffident, trusting: he saw all its meanings and knew that she would never stop gesturing within him, never; though a decree come between them, even death, her gestures would endure, cut into glass.(John Updike, Gesturing.  The Early Stories: 1953-1975. Random House, 2007)A [substantive is a] grammatical term that in the Middle Ages included both noun and adjective, but later meant noun exclusively. It is not usually found in later 20c English grammars. . . . However, the term has been used to refer to nouns and any other parts of speech serving as nouns (the substantive in English). The adjective local is used substantively in the sentence He had a drink at the local before going home (that is, the local public house) .(Sylvia Chalker and Tom McArthur, Substantive. The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992) A substantive noun or a substantive is . . . a name which can stand by itself, in distinction from an adjective noun or an adjective. It is the name of an object of thought, whether perceived by the senses or the understanding. . . . Substantive and noun are, in common use, convertible terms.(William Chauncey Fowler, English Grammar. Harper Brothers, 1855)Substantive Nouns and Adjectival Nouns- In Aristotelian, and scholastic, terminology, substance is more or less synonymous with entity. It is this by now almost obsolete sense of substance which gave  rise to the  term substantive for what, in modern  terminology, are normally called nouns.(John Lyons,  Natural Language and Universal Grammar: Essays in Linguistic Theory. Cambridge University Press, 1991)- The objects of our thoughts are either things, like the earth, the sun, water, wood, what is ordinarily called substance, or else are the manner or modification of things, like being round, being red, being hard, being lea rned, what is called accident. . . .It is this which has engendered the principal difference among the words which signify the objects of thought. For those words which signify substances have been called substantive nouns, and those which signify accidents, . . . have been called adjectival nouns.(Antoine Arnauld and Claude Lancelot, 1660, quoted by Roy Harris and Talbot J. Taylor, Landmarks In Linguistic Thought. Routledge, 1997) Substantives in Construction Grammar[C]hildren acquire language based on a specific lexical input. For example, they first acquire  fully substantive constructions  (i.e. structures in which all positions are filled such as I wanna ball). Only gradually do they then  schematize these constructions  by replacing a substantive lexical item by a variable slot (I wanna ball thus becomes I wanna X and X can then be filled by doll, apple, etc.).(Thomas Hoffman, English Relative Clauses and Construction Grammar.  Constructional Approaches to English Grammar, ed. by  Graeme Trousdale and Nikolas Gisborne. Mouton de Gruyter, 2008)Pronunciation: SUB-sten-tiv

Friday, November 22, 2019

Addiction in our brain

Addiction in our brain Over time, the brain adapts in a way that actually makes the activity less enjoyable. Addictions do not only include bodily things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything. The main addictions tend to be alcohol and heroin, and psychological dependence to activities such as gambling, sex, work, running, shopping, or an eating disorder. Signs of drug addiction include changes in personality and behaviour like a lack of enthusiasm, touchiness, bloodshot eyes and frequent bloody noses, or slurred speech. Addiction is well-defined as a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is measured a brain disease because drugs change the brain they change its structure and how it works. Though everyone’s path to addiction is different whether he or she tries a drug or behaviour because it’s what that person’s parents or peer do, or just out of curiosity what’s common across all substance and behavioural addictions is their stunning ability to increase levels of an important chemical in the brain called dopamine. If you have a blood relative, such as a parent or sibling, with alcohol or drug problems, you’re at greater risk of emerging into a drug addict. Men are more likely to have problems with drugs than women are. However, progression of addictive illnesses is known to be faster in females. Drug use is on the rise in the USA and 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol a nd drugs. That’s approximately one in every 10 Americans over the age of 12 roughly equal to the entire population of Texas. But only 11 per cent of those with an addiction receive conduct. The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that between 40 and 60 per cent of recuperating drug addicts will eventually relapse. With heroin, those rates are even higher. Some experts place the rate of relapse for heroin addicts as high as 80 present, which means that the recovery rate may be as low as 20 per cent. Most people overcome addiction to alcohol or drugs on their own, without joining a support group or entering treatment. Alcoholism and other habits are not diseases. There are specific tools anyone can use to help themselves to overcome any addiction with or without professional assistance. The old belief that it took 21 days to change a habit has now been labelled a myth. According to psychologists, while it may take approximately 21 days of mindful and consistent effort to create a new habit, it takes far longer to break an existing habit. In conclusion to this I think that depending on what you do and your daily routine you can become addicted to anything, Some people face completely different addictions to others but the most common one seems to be drug addictions.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 16

Compare and contrast - Essay Example th mountain locations and beach locations are accustomed to having a large number of visitors each year so there are plenty of good hotels and restaurants to go to. Mountain locations will have hotels that cater to their environment, meaning more chalet-style architecture and an attempt to create a sense of isolation within the woods. Decorations are often dark because of the blinding white of winter snow, their busiest time of year, but this can sometimes feel oppressive during the summer months and the world is shaded by the leaves of giant trees. Beach locations have the opportunity to perfect their look as a tropical retreat since their weather stays relatively similar all year through. Decorations are often light on the outside because of the tendency of the sun to bleach out colors and as a means of keeping things cooler inside, but interiors are often full of color and life, always making it seem ready for a party. Restaurants in both places will offer good food, but mountain restaurants will tend more toward beef and a mixture of food while beach locations tend to offer more seafood because they can get it fresh. Although beach locations can offer many of the same activities year-round, both beach and mountain locations need to work with the seasons to offer widely different activities. In the mountains, the seasons will very strongly dictate what you can and cant do. You cant go skiing in the summer in most places and its very difficult to find wildflowers in winter. In the mountains, you can also go hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling, hunting, freshwater fishing, or just enjoy the services provided by the hotel of your choice. At the beaches, activities are also limited a bit by the seasons, but less so. It might be cold, but you can still go swimming in the ocean in winter and it might be hot, but you can still go sailing in the summer. At the beach, you also have the option of going water skiing anytime as well as kite-boarding, wind-surfing,

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Unitarian Universalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Unitarian Universalism - Essay Example It then establishes the historical and philosophical connection between Buddhism and UU. Unitarian Universalism emerged primarily from Christian roots but has drawn extensively from other beliefs and faiths, a practice that has grown to include practically all religions throughout the years. The Unitarians formed in Britain in the 1500’s during the time of the Protestant Reformation, an era of religious enlightenment at least in the context of that period in history (Hamilton, 2005). The Unitarian philosophy introduced people to new ways of thinking including the concept that Jesus was only a man, not a god or the son of God. Instead they maintained, much the same as the Jewish viewpoint regarding Jesus, that he was an important prophet and teacher. Instead of blindly following the Christian or any other religious doctrine, according to the Unitarians, people should employ reasoning and reject superstition with regards to their personal spirituality. It is not only acceptable but preferable to question the authority of the church, its dogma and beliefs but their own beliefs as well. John Murray introduced Unitarianism to America in the early nineteenth century (Hamilton, 2005). His church’s membership consisted predominantly of middle and upper-class intellectuals. The Universalist religion was formed during the eighteenth century based on the belief that all people, not just Christians, receive salvation and emphasized the significance of being compassionate and helping others in need. As opposed to the Unitarian Church in the U.S., Universalism was a populist movement that drew its membership more from the middle and lower-classes. However, both groups were very much alike in that they had disassociated themselves with the traditional Christian doctrines which prescribed dogmatic trials of faith. In addition, â€Å"they emphasized individual freedom of personal belief, individual responsibility to synthesize

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Agriculture in the Amazon Rainforest Essay Example for Free

Agriculture in the Amazon Rainforest Essay Throughout a hundred centuries people have worked hard to sustain productive agriculture and dense human populations. Certain forms of agriculture are possible, and should be considered sustainable, for the economic development of tropical rainforests. For thousands of years humans have created a disturbance in the rainforests by creating areas of concentrated diversity of species within the landscape. The Indigenous people of the Amazon fostered palm forests, groves of Brazil nuts and fruit trees, and vine forests near ancient Amazonian settlements. Environmentalists could argue that rainforests can be â€Å"saved† by through the restriction of economic growth, but it is vital to realize that the local communities will not approve parks and reserves, as it is in their interest to conserve the rainforest. The shifted cultivator who forces small farmers into the forest to begin new farmlands causes about 60% of deforestation in Amazon. Researchers have warned if we continue to change the use of the land it can affect the region’s climate, and the absorption of carbon dioxide in the Amazon. By converting forests into cropland there is a pronounced ecological and climate impact than land conversions because it involves the complete removal of land biomass, including tree trunks, stumps and woody roots. † (Mike Bettwy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center). A better approach to addressing the increasing problem of deforestation in the Amazon is to follow the methods that have been used by indigenous forest dwellers for thousands of years. Many cleared forest areas used for agriculture can be salvaged by cultivation techniques. Annual crops, pasture land, are some examples of what can be done to increase agricultural productivity and to reduce the destruction in many rainforests. Effects of human population on the Ecosystem Over 20% of the Amazon Rainforest has been destroyed, in addition to the Amazon Rainforest is gone forever. Unfortunately with human population, the Amazon Rainforest has had effects with loss and harm to the population of wild species. A lot of the land is being clear for cattle ranches, mining operations, logging and subsistence agriculture. According to Raintree (1996) â€Å"Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists. If this was happening in 1996, we can only imagine that in 2012 it is so much worst. Sustainability and Conservation Overpopulation causes many problems to the Amazon rainforest. More than 20% of Earths oxygen is produced in this area. As the area is reduced more carbon dioxide will be found the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is important to this issue because plants need it to give off oxygen, which humans need to survive, not only for oxygen but also for food and nutrition for out health. Carbon dioxide is not necessarily a bad thing unless a large amount pollutes the air we need to breathe. Not only can overpopulation of the Amazon affect the air we breathe, but it will also affect the wildlife, water, and food we need to survive. There are over 200 species of trees in on hectare of the Amazon. This is important because there are so many possible cures for life threatening diseases. The Amazon is home to mare species of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. Some interesting animals live in the Amazon and a lot of them are very rare. For example, a new species of freshwater fish, brown-spider monkey and a frog called â€Å"cowboy frog†, were some of the amazing animals discovered in the Amazon. The animals found in the Amazon are endless. It is amazing the new discoveries that have happened over the years and the new ones to come. The animals in the Amazon have live there longer that humans have lived on this planet. The Amazon is one of the largest natural resources and with overpopulation more and more rainforest are becoming non-existent.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes :: essays research papers

Title: Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes Genre: Mystery Author: Wendelin van Draanen Pages: 277 Choice: 3 I think the word â€Å"responsible† describes the main character, Sammy. She is very brave and she’s a troublemaker, but she also cares a lot about other people. I believe that Sammy is responsible since she took good care of the baby and worried about it even after it was taken in by a welfare organization until its mother got it back. It started when she was hanging out in the arcade one day while her friend, Marissa, played games. Then all of a sudden a frightened woman comes in and hides behind her. She gives Sammy a Sears bag and tells her to meet her back at the mall at 7:00 with the bag. After she leaves, Sammy soon discovers that a baby is inside the bag! When she returns at 7:00, she waits there for three hours but the mother doesn’t show up. The woman specifically told her not to take the baby to the police, so Sammy didn’t. She returns to her grandmother’s house with the baby, and since there are no kids allowed where her grandma lives, she has to be extra careful that the baby doesn’t cry. The reason that she went to her grandmother’s house is because that’s where she lives. Her mother left her a long time ago. Anyway, she spends the whole night taking care of the baby by feeding it with the formula provided in the bag, and changing its diapers. She soon gets really sick of it. In the morning, before school, she decides that it’s unsafe and annoying to have the baby around and take care of it, and she feels the baby would also be safer in the hands of the

Monday, November 11, 2019

Legalized gambling in Hawaii Essay

The streets of Las Vegas Boulevard, which are littered with advertisements picturing naked girls willing to provide their services for a price, can be a scary place as someone takes a stroll. Drunk men stumble out of strip clubs and casinos, and girls in gaudy clothing and stilettos apply lipstick at their post. Nobody knows when someone lurking in the shadows might pop out with a knife to steal an unsuspecting person’s wallet. Or even worse, a friendly-looking stranger walking in the opposite direction could be waiting to come across the right person to drag into a dark alley, muffle their screams so that their cries for help blend into the noisy background of the streets, and do the unthinkable. The tolerance of drugs, prostitution, gambling, 24-hour liquor sales, gang violence, and the emphasis on the nightlife give Las Vegas its nickname, Sin City. Also known as The Entertainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas is a world-wide attraction for people from all walks of life. Whether visitors are seeking relaxation in one of Las Vegas’s five-star hotel casinos along with entertainment, gambling, shopping, and fine dining; employment or a new home in the nation’s fastest growing community, or the permissible use of money for sex-related services; Las Vegas thrives off of their tourism industry. Sometimes referred to as Hawaii’s ninth island, Las Vegas is a popular vacation spot for residents of Hawaii. Seeing as how Hawaii, along with Utah, is one of the only two states in the country where gambling is illegal, Hawaii residents visit Las Vegas to delight in part in guilty pleasure. Every week, as many as 3,000 people from Hawaii visit Las Vegas, and a growing amount of former Hawaii residents have made Sin City their new home (www. visitlasvegas. com). Facing billion dollar deficits and on the prowl for ways to increase revenue, Hawaii law makers have brought into question whether legalizing gambling would be a beneficial way of economic development. Dennis Arakaki, head of the Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference says, â€Å"people in Hawaii like gambling, but they realize it is not a very good idea to legalize it. Gambling isn’t a good way to deal with your financial problems, either personally or as a state. † Although gambling bills are pitched every year, Republican Governor, Linda Lingle is against the introduction of gambling to the islands (The Philadelphia Inquirer). In fact, the legalization of gambling in Hawaii is misleading in terms of increasing revenue and employment opportunities for the state. It will take away from the beauty and culture of the islands that visitors come to see. Although gambling supporters tend to leave this part out, the legalization of gambling will bring the hidden impact of gambling addiction to many people of Hawaii. Allowing gambling to be legal won’t necessarily rid the state of its billion dollars of debt. While gambling is a way to make money, The Drake Law Review says that figures are overestimated as a way of persuading government officials to allow gambling into our community. For example, in Quincy, Illinois, a betting parlor was estimated to bring in 200,000 dollars in tax revenue. Its actual earnings turned out to be barely one-third of that estimated figure. The future of the economy cannot always be predicted accurately. Therefore, to say that a gambling establishment will bring in a certain amount of money is literally taking a gamble. What the Drake Law Review is saying is that the amount of revenue is knowingly exaggerated as a way of misleading the community to think it is a way to get rich quick. It is also usual for gambling businesses, most of which hold government franchises, to request and receive five-year tax waivers. The building of new hotel casinos will surely create more jobs; however, the Illinois Business Review conducted a study showing the over-optimism in the expectancy of jobs. When comparing the employment and unemployment rates from before and after the introduction of gambling in Illinois, the opening of over 7,000 new jobs were not beneficial. It did not decrease the unemployment rate because most of the people who were hired for the new jobs were simply shifting from previous employment. The slight increase of employment could have been attained without legalizing gambling. Research done by the New Mexico Coalition Against Legalized Gambling shows that the legalization of gambling, which is supposed to be a strategy for economic development, actually causes economic decline. A study done in South Dakota showing that the legalization of gambling caused a decline of interest in auto sales, retail, recreational services, business services, and all other services excluding those of hotel service, supports the opposition of bringing casinos to Hawaii. The study shows that legalization of gambling will have a negative impact on local businesses because people will choose to invest their money elsewhere. Instead of taking part in recreational activities such as heading down to Sea Life Park to swim with the dolphins, tourists might choose to invest their time and money gambling in a hotel casino. Instances like that, where money is going toward the prosperity of casinos, have a negative financial impact on local businesses. In Atlantic City, there was an increase in homelessness and crime after the introduction of casinos. The increase of the rate of crime led to a decrease of property value for many communities. Crime rates are on the rise in places where legalized gambling is prevalent. Some may see the legalization of casinos in Hawaii as a way to enjoy the beach, go for a hike, see a luau, and be able to stop off at a slot machine to have some fun before heading to their room, but in reality Hawaii is not about gambling. The term, Aloha Spirit, is the attitude Hawaii is famous for. This is a way of describing the overall kindness and friendly acceptance that residents portray. When looking at a 2006 crime rate chart comparing both Honolulu and Las Vegas, Las Vegas exceeds Hawaii in all categories. The following numbers are actual examples: murder, 17 to 152; robbery, 956 to 5,381; aggravated assault, 1583 to 6680; and vehicle theft, 6288 to 19677. According to cityrating. com, when looking at a population of one million in the cities of Las Vegas, Nevada and the Honolulu, Hawaii, both violent and property crime rate percentages in the city of Las Vegas are not only greater than Honolulu, but above the national crime rate average as well. This suggests that the association that the city of Las Vegas has with gambling may contribute to the increase of crime. Bringing the slots to our neighborhood means bringing all the cons that come with it, thus destroying the Aloha Spirit. The presence of hotel casinos in Hawaii will deteriorate and draw away from the beauty and the culture of the islands that visitors come to see. Year-round warm climate and the inviting outdoors of the playful ocean and mountainous scenery attract people to the tropics of Hawaii. Along with this, another selling point of Hawaii is the cultural experiences visitors take part in to learn about the history and ways of life in the islands during their stay. This makes Hawaii the ideal destination for family vacationing, as opposed to Las Vegas, which attracts visitors by means of their casino and entertainment industry, and is ultimately meant for those who are 21 and over. Violence and crime associated with the presence of gambling would lead communities to be deemed unsafe. Instead of visiting the islands to learn about the culture, tourists may spend more time at the slot machines. Gambling is a serious behavioral problem with its own signs, symptoms, and treatments, that if brought to Hawaii, brings residents closer to the risk of gambling addiction. Gambling is like a cigarette, people know it is harmful, yet they still do it. Quitting is hard and when the person finally realizes they want to quit, it is often times too late. According to (www. helpguide. org), a problem with gambling puts a strain on relationships, interferes with obligations and responsibilities at home or in the workplace, and leads to financial catastrophe. Gambling leads people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do such as steal money to gamble or repay debts, resort to drugs or alcohol to cope with depression, and violent behavior as a means of coping with situations. Statistics show unfavorable results for gamblers. Divorce rates amongst gamblers are double than that of non-gamblers. The suicide rate of gamblers is a whopping twenty times higher than that of non-gamblers, and one in five gamblers will attempt to take their own life. While gambling doesn’t become a dangerous addiction to everyone, a person with an addiction problem will effect those around them, whether they are family, friend, or stranger. Children who have parents who are addicted to gambling may become neglected and turn to gangs, drugs, or alcohol. Just as a child who has a parent who smokes is more likely to smoke, a child who has a parent who gambles is more likely to gamble as well. Passing a law that legalizes gambling in Hawaii and brings casinos to our neighborhood misleads people with over-optimistic promises of prosperity. In actuality, instead of economic development, legalized gambling will lead to economic downfall. Part of the downfall to legalizing gambling is taking away from the beauty and culture of the islands by bringing distractions and destruction. To destruct the culture is to shatter morality by exposing people to consequences of gambling addiction. As the saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Have you ever thought that maybe there is a reason why people like to leave what happens in Las Vegas behind? Works Cited Niesse, Mark. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Associated Press Gambling Causes Economic Decline. New Mexico Coalition Against Legalized Gambling â€Å"crime rates†. . â€Å"gambling addiction†. . â€Å"tourism†.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Main Idea and Purpose for Shooting an Elephant by Orwell Essay

The main idea of the story â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by Orwell is the effect of the oppressor is not only on the oppressed, but himself. There are several evidences found in the text to support the main idea. First, the author mentioned about the treatment of a European woman gets when she went to bazaars alone. This explained the freedom of security had been taken away. Since European had colonized Burma at that time, there was growing hatred toward European. Freedom to act also been seize when the narrator was expected to shoot an elephant even it’s not in his wiliness. In the story, Orwell had an inner struggle whether to kill the elephant or not. He taught that if the elephant were kept alive, it worth at least a hundred pound. However, if it were shot dead, its tusks only going to worth about five pounds. Moreover, he anthropomorphized the elephant by referring ‘it’ to ‘he’. He said, â€Å"It seems to be that it would be murder to shoot him. †(519) Plus, a life had been killed needs to be considered and there would be possibilities that the elephant will escape again, causing damage to the village. These reasons made Orwell to question his decision. Another crucial reasoning that drones the narrator to open fire is his identity as an Imperialist that control fellow Burmese. If he did not kill the elephant as the villagers expected, he would be viewed as a coward. This will further affect efforts to enforce law and coded in Burma. The narrator also described, ‘I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroy,† to show an imperialist had to control or act as what had been expected. These conclude an oppressor would be affected when taking control of others. The purpose of the text is to educate people on the consequences of one’s act. The author presented his story with hatred and fed up tones as he described how sick he was to serve the Empire. Next, he gave a metaphorical explanation on how he was set to react. He compared himself to a ‘hollow posing dummy conventionalized figure of a sahib’. Like an actor on stage, he forced to do what was expected by the ‘natives’ or audiences. In the story, the elephant also resemble the Empire power. As he shot the elephant, its body just altered but did not fall. After several shot, it fell to the ground. The elephant was dying but not dead. This resembled the Empire diminishing power over Burma.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Snowball Earth

The Snowball Earth Some very strange events have left their signs in the rocks of Precambrian time, the nine-tenths of Earths history before fossils became common. Various observations point to times when the whole planet appears to have gripped by colossal ice ages. Big-thinker Joseph Kirschvink first assembled the evidence in the late 1980s, and in a 1992 paper he dubbed the situation the snowball earth. Evidence for the Snowball Earth What did Kirschvink see? Many deposits of Neoproterozoic age (between 1000 and about 550 million years old) show the distinctive signs of ice agesyet they involved carbonate rocks, which are made only in the tropics.Magnetic evidence from these ice-age carbonates showed that indeed they were very near the equator. And there is nothing to suggest that the Earth was tilted on its axis any differently from today.And the unusual rocks known as banded iron formation appeared at this time, after an absence of more than a billion years. They have never reappeared. These facts led Kirschvink to a wild surmise glaciers had not just spread over the poles, as they do today, but had reached all the way to the equator, turning the Earth into a global snowball. That would set up feedback cycles reinforcing the ice age for quite some time: First, white ice, on land and upon the ocean, would reflect the suns light into space and leave the area cold.Second, the glaciated continents would emerge as the ice took water from the ocean, and the newly exposed continental shelves would reflect sunlight rather than absorbing it as dark seawater does.Third, the huge quantities of rock ground into dust by the glaciers would take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse effect and reinforcing the global refrigeration. These tied in with another event: the supercontinent Rodinia had just broken apart into many smaller continents. Small continents are wetter than large ones, hence more likely to support glaciers. The area of continental shelves must have increased, too, thus all three factors were reinforced. The banded iron formations suggested to Kirschvink that the sea, blanketed in ice, had gone stagnant and run out of oxygen. This would allow dissolved iron to build up instead of circulating through living things as it does now. As soon as the ocean currents and continental weathering resumed, the banded iron formations would be quickly laid down. The key to breaking the glaciers grip was volcanoes, which continually emit carbon dioxide derived from old subducted sediments (more on volcanism). In Kirschvinks vision, the ice would shield the air from the weathering rocks and allow CO2 to build up, restoring the greenhouse. At some tipping point the ice would melt, a geochemical cascade would deposit the banded iron formations, and snowball Earth would return to normal Earth. The Arguments Begin The snowball earth idea lay dormant until the late 1990s. Later researchers noted that thick layers of carbonate rocks capped the Neoproterozoic glacial deposits. These cap carbonates made sense as a product of the high-CO2 atmosphere that routed the glaciers, combining with calcium from the newly exposed land and sea. And recent work has established three Neoproterozoic mega-ice ages: the Sturtian, Marinoan and Gaskiers glaciations at about 710, 635 and 580 million years ago respectively. The questions arise as to why these happened, when and where they happened, what triggered them, and a hundred other details. A wide range of experts found reasons to argue against or quibble with the snowball earth, which is a natural and normal part of science. Biologists saw Kirschvinks scenario as looking too extreme. He had suggested in 1992 that metazoansprimitive higher animalsarose through evolution after the global glaciers had melted and opened new habitats. But metazoan fossils were found in much older rocks, so obviously the snowball earth had not killed them. A less extreme slushball earth hypothesis has arisen that protects the biosphere by positing thinner ice and milder conditions. Snowball partisans argue their model cannot be stretched that far. To an extent, this appears to be a case of different specialists taking their familiar concerns more seriously than a generalist would. The more distant observer can easily picture an icelocked planet that has enough warm refuges to preserve life while still giving the glaciers the upper hand. But the ferment of research and discussion will surely yield a truer and more sophisticated picture of the late Neoproterozoic. And whether it was a snowball, slushball or something without a catchy name, the type of event that seized our planet at that time is impressive to contemplate. PS: Joseph Kirschvink introduced the snowball earth in a very short paper in a very large book, so speculative that the editors didnt even have someone review it. But publishing it was a great service. An earlier example is Harry Hesss groundbreaking paper on seafloor spreading, written in 1959 and circulated privately before it found an uneasy home in another large book published in 1962. Hess called it an essay in geopoetry, and ever since the word has had a special significance. I do not hesitate to call Kirschvink a geopoet as well. For instance, read about his polar wander proposal.

Monday, November 4, 2019

How smiling can make the world a better place Essay

How smiling can make the world a better place - Essay Example For example, America wants to continue their dominance as the sole superpower in the world whereas China wants to challenge it. Under such circumstances, it is quite difficult to make a compromise between the Americans and the Chinese for a better world. However, individuals can do something to make this world better. For example smiling has lot of power in establishing better relationships with others. This paper analyses the possibilities of smiling in the making of a better world. According to Andre Maurois, â€Å"Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them† (Building A Better World, One Smile At A  Time). Smiling is the better way of establishing friendship with others. It is not necessary that the American president and the Indian prime minister may have any previous contacts. However, during their first meeting they will greet each other with a warm smile which is necessary for the beginning of a new relationship. In other words, smiling can maintain and create relationships. If both the American and Indian leaders failed to smile their diplomatic meetings, people may get a feeling that something wrong happened between them. In other words, smiling is the gesture or measure of relationship building. According to Mother Teresa, â€Å"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Should a price ceiling (limit) be imposed on gasoline prices in the Essay

Should a price ceiling (limit) be imposed on gasoline prices in the U.S. market Why or why not - Essay Example If price ceiling on gasoline prices are implemented economic efficiency will be lost. Economic efficiency takes place when a particular action results in higher benefits for the society and lower costs. If price ceilings are set and the suppliers decrease the supply, the gasoline will start trading in black and unregulated markets where the suppliers will be charging higher price from the consumers and the taxes and revenue that is earned by the sale and purchase of gasoline by the government will be lost. Other than black markets, the entire economic system may be negatively impacted by price ceiling on gasoline prices. This is because when there will be shortage of gas, people will have to line up in huge queues in the pursuit of obtaining gas. As a result of this a lot of time will be wasted which the consumers could have invested in positive economic activity and this would result in decline in

Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Next five years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

The Next five years - Essay Example According to Mitroff (1995) the use of Inductive-Consensual IS is undemocratic. In this allegation, democracy's fundamental purpose is to have unrestricted discussion of key issues, intense arguments and debates by those on opposing sides. "Democracy becomes perverted when it is not only confused with consensus but reduced to numbers" (Mitroff 1995). It should also be noted that Inductive-Consensus IS is not the only one making use of agreement. Each mode of enquiry, IS has a different/independent definition and concept of agreement. Inductive-Consensus IS is the only IS that is essentially dependent on the concept of agreement. As a final point, though agreement and consensus are essential in attaining conclusions, they should not be trusted fully nor considered as the final consideration for deciding all essential questions. The first part of the modeling of Analytic-Deductive IS in human behavior is incorrect. Human beings do not initiate their inquiries into vital social problems but instead begin with already complex inputs. Generally, all human inquiries starting points are messes. The root word "mess" means that every human problem is associated and involved inextricably with every other human problem (Ackoff 1972). The approach of breaking down a complex problem into its separate parts doesn't hold for human problems of any importance. Accordingly, mess actually means a system of interacting problems as the inputs into any process of human problem solving are certainly "messes". Dialectic (Conflict) Dialectic IS is not limited to only problems related to technical or business but is applicable to all problems that human face. This involves the use of the dialectic inquiry system. Under this, an objective outcome is produced as a result of an intense argument and discussion between two opposing positions. This makes it different from inductive-consensual inquiry system that produces agreement prior to or during an intense deliberation. Although the Dialectic form obviously comes from the long and rich history of philosophy, it is not firmly a product of it. Dialectic system is used as a tool for practical decision rather than an abstract idea. Moreover, Dialectic system serves as the bridge that binds to the contemporary thinking. Multiple realities (Multiple views of problems) Under multiple realities, data and facts about a problem are greatly dependent on the model that when taken together will form an "inseparable whole". Apart from the assumption of inductive-consensual IS, data from multiple realities are not independent or self-organizing entities. Moreover, Multiple Realities do not have the assumption that there is only one way of defining important problems, which significantly separates it apart from Inductive-Consensual and Analytic-Deductive IS. This system focuses on executive (person) as critical aspect that cannot be purely formalized due to its dependence on the application of wisdom. "The absence of wisdom will result in system degeneration into a monumental exercise in nonsense" (Churchman 1982). This is one

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Preference goods Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Preference goods - Dissertation Example In line with this, it is important to understand further the buying behaviors of consumers and their experiences in online shopping and their views and satisfaction level on it. In order to understand this further, there is significantly a need to conduct research. Customer satisfaction is very important in the market environment. Many believed that satisfied customers are most likely to repeat purchase and are most likely to give out a good word of mouth on the product. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is a very complex issue since it may contain different meaning among individuals. For some, customer satisfaction may be defined as something that would only make both ends meet. For others, customer satisfaction may be defined as something very satisfying to the extent that one may never ask for more. Thus, because of these different ideas about customer satisfaction, it is always been a common thought that customer satisfaction is a measure of product or service quality. Cus tomer satisfaction is a very important aspect that needs to be always monitored by marketers. It is in this reason that customer satisfaction remains as one of the most important indicators used in order to describe the quality of output given by the marketers. b. Purpose of the study The findings of the study would be beneficial to the following: This would serve as basis for formulation of marketing strategies plan and further reference for assessing the existing marketing practices. Information derived from this study may be used as a guide and awareness on their marketing position in their industry as well as creating and enhancing products for their existing market and potential ones. This would be a tool for each marketer to quantify their effectiveness in marketing with respect to the existing online marketing. c. Aims or objectives of the study This paper tries to investigate the customers’ experience in online shopping, and their views and satisfaction level on it. I n general, this research tries "to gauge the customers’ experience in online shopping and their views and satisfaction level on it. Specifically, the study is able: To know about the level of customer satisfaction that each of the 30 chosen respondents has with their experience in online shopping. To gauge the level of customer experience level in online shopping. To gauge the views and satisfaction level of the customers with their online shopping experience d. Problem statement and key questions Prior to performing the study, the proponent has in mind the following problem statements which gave way to the actual implementation of the research plan. Are the customers having high experience level in online shopping Do customers have high views and satisfaction level in online shopping e. Research design and methodology Hypothesis testing In order to test the above mentioned hypotheses, the proponent primarily employed mean and percentages. Testing of the hypotheses in this ca se was based on evaluative process employed in the research. Thus, the proponent discusses the nature of information as presented on the trend of data as generalised by the values obtained from mean and percentages. The scale of measurement used was ratio, which is the highest type of scale having absolute zero value (Broto, 2007). This was used considering that the values obtained in the data involved zero. To be able to test the above

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Human Resource Management Chinese Restaurant

Human Resource Management Chinese Restaurant The people aspects comprise an integral element when setting up a new business. The component relate to the decisions and considerations on what kind of a workforce would be appropriate for a particular kind of business, where it should be sought from and how it should be hired. Cognisant of the centrality of staff to the success of a business therefore, it would be important for Vivienne and her brothers who intend to set up a Chinese restaurant in Newcastle to cautiously approach the people aspects of their business otherwise they would be risking failure of the restaurant. Based on the key facts presented in the scenario, this paper seeks to explore the steps that Vivienne and her partners ought to follow in recruiting staff for the restaurant, where they should attract the desired employees from, how they should design the jobs at the restaurant and the legal considerations they should take into account. Key facts in the scenario The trio, Vivienne, Walter and Stephen have agreed on the type of restaurant they intend to set up; in essence, a Chinese restaurant with excellent seafood as its specialty and that incorporates Hong Kong style dumplings and yum cha. Another key issue is that the trio want the restaurant to be renowned for professional service; a milestone which they seek to achieve by attracting and recruiting members of staff who are efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. The trio is also interested in staff members who will be a little bit hip so as to draw youthful patrons and also attract families. It is also discernible that the trio intends to create a restaurant that will offer great value for money to the targeted clientele by the virtue of providing great service and great food. Another fact is that the business would need decor preferably Chinese for it to effectively bring out the desired Chinese restaurant image. This would however not be complete without being complemented by hiring of a vibrant team of young and female Chinese wait staff. Another relevant piece of information is Viviennes pertinent educational background in hospitality and human resource management as well as her brothers knowhow in accounting and law, knowledge that will be handy in not only addressing the people aspects of the investment but also the related legal and financial issues. Viviennes interest in cooking and diverse knowledge in recipes and food will also be useful in helping identify and recruit the most suitable and qualified chef for the restaurant. Steps that Vivienne and her brothers should take to successfully fill the jobs in their new restaurant The first step that they should take is competency profiling. The step would entail an analysis and determination of specific competencies including knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills that the staff for their new restaurant should possess for them to be effective in service delivery (Morrissey, Compton, Nankervis, 2014). These may include openness to customer input or suggestions, training in food safety, friendly and patient, excellent people skills, functional familiarity with ordering information systems and the cash register, excellent planning and customer-oriented skills, good interpersonal skills with both customers and colleagues, proven hands-on experience, hands-on problem solving skills, youthful and in excellent physical condition. Having identified the requisite competencies, the next step should be attraction of the desired employees based on the identified competencies. The recruitment process should take the form of job adverts encouraging individuals of Chinese descent who possess the requisite qualifications to apply for employment in large numbers at the restaurant. The next step should entail initial screening of the applications received and final selection of the most qualified persons for the wait staff, server and chef positions. It is however imperative that the recruitment, screening and selection processes are undertaken systematically and relevant aptitude, attainment and ability tests applied to eliminate bias and ensure only candidates who are suitable are hired to fill the available positions (Nankervis, Baird, Shields, Coffey, 2017). It is also crucial that the final selection process if varied based on the specific position being filled to ensure the pertinent requirements particular to th e job are thoroughly addressed (Nankervis et al, 2017). Where the employees should be sourced from The employees for the new Chinese restaurant should be sourced from China Town. By targeting this locality, the trio would be able to attract the most appropriate passionate young and female Chinese staff for the job. Their parents expansive network in the expansive Chinese hospitality community in Sydney would also be integral in helping tap into the rich human resource at the disposal of the community. The trio should also seek to attract and recruit from the Chinese community living in and around the Newcastle neighbourhood. This would be important in that it would help give the restaurant a more local feel to the target clientele living in the region thus lessening the likelihood of the establishment being viewed as foreign and out of touch with the tastes and preference of both the overseas students and the Chinese people living in the town. By targeting these localities as the source of employees, the new restaurant will be assured of staffs that are familiar with the intricacies of the local Chinese hospitality industry. This will enable the restaurant to run its operation in manner that enables it to compete effectively with other rival establishments. The course will also ensure recruitment of individuals who are familiar with the various menu options of Chinese restaurants thus guaranteeing the ability of the staff to present an array of menu alternatives the customers. Recruiting from the Australian Chinese community will also have the unique advantage of providing access to employees who are conversant with both the English and Chinese dialects which will augment the ability of the staff to establish relationships with customers, take orders, advice on best drink and food options as well as respond to and effectively address customer queries. Legal concerns worth considering When recruiting employees for the new Chinese restaurant the most outstanding legal issue that should be put into consideration relates to discrimination (Morrissey, Compton, Nankervis, 2014). The fact that the trio prefers Chinese waiters and mostly female and young could comprise a basis for discriminatory recruitment practices claims by those who may feel segregated by the specifications. In this respect, should the trio put out an advertisement for the positions specifying being Chinese or having Chinese roots as a condition of employment at the restaurant, they would risk being accused of unlawfully discriminating against persons based on their ethnicity. As a secular establishment, the new Chinese restaurant would have no legal rights to segregate against people on any basis and could thus the losing party should such proceedings be brought against it by an aggrieved entity. To address the legal concern, the trio should strive to put out job advertisements that would communicate to the intended audience the preference for Chinese candidates in a manner that is lawful. In this regard, the trio should desist from directly rejecting applications from individuals of other ethnicities and races by incorporating in the advertisement the requirement that the applicants should be knowledgeable in Chinese menu options, mannerisms and food culture. Application of the preference in this manner would help make the job advertisement non-discriminatory and thus eliminate the legal risk of the business being perceived as engaging in discriminatory recruitment practices (Morrissey, Compton, Nankervis, 2014). Ways in which the jobs should be designed to make them as interesting and challenging as possible To begin with, the trio of Vivienne and her two brothers should seek to achieve a tight fit between people aspects and business strategy (Compton Morrissey, 2001). This can be achieved through linking of the recruited employees and their roles with the strategic needs of the restaurant to ensure efforts by the staff contribute directly to the growth of the business. However, the approach could prove indifferent to the interests of the staff and hence care should be taken to dampen down the negative undesired effects (Budhwar Aryee, n.d.). Remedial measures including efforts to enhance the businesss skills inventory and encourage innovativeness with a view to improve the overall competitiveness of the restaurant business should be adopted (Snell, Shadur, Wright, 2000). The measures would be critical in averting situations where the business may become misfitted to the extremely dynamic business environment of today by ensuring its flexibility and ability to adapt to the necessary c hanges in the industry. In addition, the trio should provide opportunities for growth for their employees. This could be achieved by encouraging them to be proactive in problem solving vis-a-vis the day to day challenges that characterise the restaurant business. This would see the employees become more involved in efforts to enhance and nurture the reputation of the business as well as reorient their focus towards ensuring customer satisfaction. In effect, this would help make the jobs of the employees both interesting and challenging thus impacting positively on their motivation and overall job satisfaction as well as averting employee turnover (Nankervis, Baird, Shields, Coffey, 2017). References list Budhwar, P., Aryee, S. (n.d.). Chapter 1: An Introduction to Strategic Human Resource Management. Retrieved from https://www2.cipd.co.uk/nr/rdonlyres/cd5ee14a-ef5c-46da-bfcc-a8634f63193f/0/shrm_chapter_01.doc.doc Compton, R. L., Morrissey, B. (2001). Strategic Human Resource Management Beyond the rhetoric. Keeping Good Companies, 176-178. Morrissey, B., Compton, R. L., Nankervis, A. R. (2014). Effective Recruitment and Selection Practices (6th ed.). Sydney: Oxford University Press. Nankervis, A., Baird, M., Shields, J., Coffey, J. (2017). Human Resource Management: Strategy and Practice (9th ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. Snell, S. A., Shadur, M. A., Wright, P. M. (2000). Human Resources Strategy: The Era of Our Ways (CAHRS Working Paper #00-17). Ithaca, NY: CAHRS/Cornell University.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Blackfoot Indians :: essays research papers

The Blackfoot Indians The wind blows across the lone prairie, causing the golden heads of grass to sway in a synchronized motion. On the horizon stands a herd of buffalo with bowed heads silhouetted by the slowly sinking sun. In the east stands an Indian war party mounted on horseback, each individual in different multicolored attire, all with either bows or spears in hand. As they move in for the attack, the mystical scene slowly fades from vision.... This dreamlike scene was once everyday life to the American Indian before they were robbed of all that made their life real. The Indians originally came over to North America via the Bering Strait at a time when the ice age caused the gap to freeze over. They came from Asia by following herds and in search of more. During their travels, some decided to stop and settle down, hence the many different tribes. The Blackfoot occupied the region of modern day Alberta in Canada, and Montana in the U.S. The Blackfoot consisted of three main tribes: the Northern Blackfoot(Siksika), the Piegan(Pikuni), and the Blood(Kainah). The tribes differed little in their speech, but were politically independent. Blackfoot population varied, but was less affected by the arrival of the white man than some tribes due to their location. "In 1855, there were approximately 2,400 Northern Blackfoot, 2,000 Blood, and 3,200 Piegan. The total population of Blackfoot varied as follows: 15,000(1780), 9,000(1801), 7,600(1855), and 4,600(1932)" ( ). The decline of population was most likely due to the white man's diseases and the annihilation of the buffalo. In 1781, the Blackfoot had their first serious attack of smallpox. An epidemic of smallpox again occurred in 1838, 1845 1857, and 1864. In the winter of 1864, the tribe was struck with measles and about 780 died. In the winter of 1883 to 1884, more than 1/4 the Piegan population died of starvation (600). This was mainly the result of official stupidity and the disappearance of the buffalo. The Blackfoot were typically large-game hunters and were mainly dependant on the buffalo for their diet, clothing, and receptacles. They also hunted such animals as the elk, deer, and antelope. There were four main methods of hunting, one of which was the "surround". This method required the use of horses and was done by surrounding the herd, after which they were shot down. Another method was accomplished by driving the game down a cliff, in which the fall would injure the animal enough to hinder their escape. A third method used was impounding, which resembled modern day cow herding. The hunting party would build fences into which they would herd the animals.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Psychoanalysis, Popular Culture and Media Essay

Psychoanalysis is the science of the unconscious functions of the mind and personality. The theories originate from Austrian neurologist, Sigmund Freud. He discovered these as a treatment for health problems and also as a way to understanding more about your mind. In this essay I am going to discuss how these theories discovered many years ago have contributed to popular culture and media. Sigmund Freud divided the soul into the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious is the part of which we are mentally aware and in contrast the unconscious is where all are restrained wishes are stored. Freud stated that: â€Å"Each individual who makes a fresh entry into human society repeats this sacrifice of instinctual satisfaction for the benefit of the whole community†(Storey 2001:91). He also added: â€Å"Society believes that no greater threat to its civilization could arise than if the sexual instincts were to be liberated and returned to their original aims†(Storey 2001:91). What Freud is saying here is that we are born imperfect with many instinctual drives. From social to sexual drives, basically anything that are ID desires. He believes that these instinctual desires, especially sexual have to be restrained in the unconscious as they would have a detrimental act on society if they were to be followed through and would cause us to act in inappropriate manner to the views of our cultural society. This is where psychoanalysis demonstrates to us how it contributes to media and popular culture. It does this by teaching us certain ways to behave in order to fit in. There are right and wrong ways and psychoanalysis gives us an explanation to how our soul teaches us the appropriate mannerisms. Freud continued on with his discoveries and further divided the psyche into the ego, the ID and the superego. The ID is something we are born with and is totally unconscious. It is driven by the pleasure principle which means that it wants instant satisfaction for all its desires. Freud described the ID as the: â€Å"dark, inaccessible part of our personality†(Storey 2001:92) It is impossible to change our ID and are instinctual desires. The ego is the reality part of personality. It tries to satisfy the ID and its desires after weighing up the pros and cons and waiting until an appropriate time to do so. It develops as in becomes more in touch with culture, furthermore creating the superego. The superego is where we adopt qualities from people who have learnt how to cope in society, mainly are parents and other important figures in our lives at the time. By learning from other people and from what we hear and see on television etc we determine a sense of right and wrong. As a result, our superego helps to restrain the unacceptable urges of the ID, and tries to make the ego act in an appropriate manner that society expects and requires. Furthermore this psychoanalysis theory and breakdown of the psyche demonstrates to us how culture and media play a fundamental role on how we act in society. Its like a big circle, we learn how to act from elders and society and then people learn from us and so on. John Storey describes the superego as â€Å"the voice of culture† as it is what we learn from and Freud says that â€Å"our nature is governed by culture†(Storey 2001:92). He believes that human nature is in fact something that is not natural and controlled by the ever changing culture and media at that particular time. In my opinion, the ego of a person depends on the era they live, who they are surrounded by, the media and many other social and cultural factors. We learn from our contact with society and culture and that includes who we are with or what we here on TV, or see in the newspapers. Whether it be intentional or not, we consume all of that information and that forms are opinions on what is right and wrong etc and makes us who we are. We are in fact controlled by culture and what is going on around us, as this is the make up of our personality and determines the way we act in society. Furthermore, the superego keeps everything in balance. Without it we would be driven by our pleasure principle (ID) and not know how to express are opinions correctly or behave, essentially causing havoc. This results in their being a constant, ongoing conflict between the pleasure and reality principle. In conclusion, Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan have been greatly influential when it comes to culture and media. In my opinion the theory of psychoanalysis can be seen in everyday life when it comes to watching films etc as everything can be interpreted and has an effect on us. It had a large impact on how sound work in early childhood development and also in cinema. Psychoanalysis can be used to interpret different meanings, and what you get from it can vary from observer to observer. The cinema is full of hidden meanings and tempting us with desires. Slavoj Zizek states that: â€Å"The cinema doesn’t give you what you desire, it tells you how to desire† (Zizek:2007). When we are watching a film our instinctual drives are not fulfilled but it tells us how we should desire, and can be seen as a form of release. Many would argue that not every human desire has to be taught such as sleeping or drinking but many would argue they are not desires just basic needs. For an actual fact the desire is in the quantity of how much we want. The media affects are desires greatly by large and effective ad campaigns. Take for example McDonalds, the ad campaigns, the way they make the food look and its popularity entices us to desire it. If there wasn’t thousands of them an it wasn’t that popular I doubt we would desire it as much, however, it’s a big part of our fast-food culture. Psychoanalysis is very effective and demonstrates to us how our psyche works.