English as a Global Language

In Shakespeares time, the number of English speakers in the world is thought to have been between five and seven million. According to linguist David Crystal, Between the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) and the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II (1952), this figure increased almost fiftyfold, to around 250 million (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2003). Its a common language used in international business, which makes it a popular second language for many. How Many Languages Are There? There are roughly 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. About 2,000 of them have fewer than 1,000 speakers. While the British empire did help spread the language globally its only the third most commonly spoken language in the world. Mandarin and Spanish are the two most commonly spoken languages on Earth.   From How Many Other Languages Has English Borrowed Words? English is jokingly referred to as a language thief because of it has incorporated words from over 350 other languages into it. The majority of these borrowed words are latin or from one of the Romance languages. How Many People in the World Today Speak English? Roughly 500 million people in the world are native English speakers. Another 510 million people speak English as a second language, which means that there are more people who speak English along with their native language than there are native English speakers. In How Many Countries Is English Taught as a Foreign Language? English is taught as a foreign language in over 100 countries. Its considered the language of business which makes it a popular choice for a second language. English language teachers are often paid very well in countries like China and Dubai. What Is the Most Widely Used English Word? The form OK or okay is probably the most intensively and widely used (and borrowed) word in the history of the language. Its many would-be etymologists have traced it variously to Cockney, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Norwegian, Scots, several African languages, and the Native American language Choctaw, as well as a number of personal names. All are imaginative feats without documentary support. (Tom McArthur, The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford University Press, 2002) How Many Countries in the World Have English as Their First Language? This is a complicated question, as the definition of first language differs from place to place, according to each country’s history and local circumstances. The following facts illustrate the complexities: Australia, Botswana, the Commonwealth Caribbean nations, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Ireland, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have English as either a de facto or statutory official language. In Cameroon and Canada, English shares this status with French; and in the Nigerian states, English and the main local language are official. In Fiji, English is the official language with Fijian; in Lesotho with Sesotho; in Pakistan with Urdu; in the Philippines with Filipino; and in Swaziland with Siswati. In India, English is an associate official language (after Hindi), and in Singapore English is one of four statutory official languages. In South Africa, English [is] the main national language—but just one of eleven official languages. In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries (with a combined population of two billion people). It is estimated that one out of four people worldwide speak English with some degree of competence. (Penny Silva, Global English. AskOxford.com, 2009)

Romeo and Juliets Love - 1469 Words

Romeo and Juliet’s love was doomed from the start. Juliet’s lust for power ( Thats a very interesting idea. I only thought she had the boy-girl kind of lust. ) was destined to destroy her relations with Romeo. Capulet forces (betroths) Juliet to marry Count Paris, a man she does not love. When she refuses to marry him, Capulet threatens his daughter and says, â€Å"†¦get thee to church o Thursday, or never after look me in the face†. This causes Juliet to take her own actions against his (her?) father’s will. She does not want to marry Paris and so she begins to manipulate those close to her in order to get what she wants. To Friar Lawrence she says to him, â€Å"I long to die if what thous speakest speak not of remedy†. However by doing so she†¦show more content†¦But it is a nice thought. Type of Work .......Romeo and Juliet is a stage play in the form of a tragedy in which teenagers from feuding families fall in love and marry against the wishes of their parents. Key Dates Date Written: Between 1593 and 1596. First Printing: Corrupt, pirated, unauthorized text, 1597; authorized text (corrected by publisher Thomas Creede), 1588-1599; authoritative text, 1623 as part of the First Folio. Sources .......The main source for the plot of the play was The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), by Arthur Brooke. Brookes work, a long narrative poem, was based on a French version (1559) of the tragedy by Pierre Boiastuau, who based his story on a 1554 Italian work by Matteo Bandello (1485-1561), a monk and author of 214 tales. Sources for certain plot devices or plot content probably included Il Novellino (1476), by Masuccio of Salerno; Hystoria Nouellamente Ritrouata di Due Nobili Amanti (1530), by Luigi da Porto; and the ancient mythological tale of Pyramis and Thisbe.. Settings . .......When the play opens, it is nearing mid-morning on a Sunday in July. The main setting is Verona, a city in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The city is about 65 miles west of Venice. The ruler of Verona at the time of the legendary Montague-Capulet feud was Bartolomeo della Scalla, who died in 1304. (In Italian the Scalla name is Scaligeri; in Latin, it is Scaligerus). Part of the action in the play takes placeShow MoreRelatedRomeo and Juliets Love Is Doomed by the World Around and Its Own Intensity929 Words   |  4 PagesRomeo and Juliet’s love is doomed by the world around it and by its own intensity. Shakespeare, in one of his earliest plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ written around 1600, explores a number of themes, including love, hate, fate and generation gap. Very early in the play he suggests that the love between the title characters is doomed. He no doubt blames the world around them especially the older generation for such a tragedy. However, he also implies that fate and the intensity of the love between theRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet977 Words   |  4 PagesLove is like a flame, it provides you with warmth, but too much of it can also burn you. Such is the plot of the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It is a tragedy about two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who unfortunately, belong to families who bear an ancient grudge against each other. In the play, Romeo and Juliet fall in love and quickly decide to marry each other. At the end, Romeo and Juliet’s decisions cause their untimely death, but in reality, there were other peopl e who also contributedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1708 Words   |  7 Pagesfuture. These contradictory beliefs can be seen in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, as two lovers make ill-considered decisions that lead to their deaths, yet the force of fate largely assists to their mishaps as well. This uncontrollable force of fate brought hardships to Romeo and Juliet, therefore causing them to be â€Å"star-cross’d lovers,† or lovers destined to misfortune simply due to fate. While Romeo and Juliet’s poor decision-making contributed to the prevention of the twoRead MoreRomeo Juliet: a Superficial Love1000 Words   |  4 Pages1D7-05 C. Bucci May 23, 2008 Romeo Juliet: Superficial Love There are infinite ways to define love. Love has become such an ambiguous and vague term, though it is one of the most recognizable of human emotions. It has existed as far back as humans remember and love has been a source of interest and inspiration in the Arts, Religion, Sciences, and most popularly, in Literature. The most memorable and popular work of love is William Shakespeare’s tragic Romeo Juliet. What is so remarkableRead MoreEssay on Juliets State of Mind in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet832 Words   |  4 PagesOver the course of Act III, Juliet’s state of mind transforms from naà ¯ve and innocent to impulsive and independent due to the aspects of loyalty, love and maturity. Although conflicts begin to unfold, Juliet, despite the loss of her cousin Tybalt, remains faithful and honest to her newly wedded husband, Romeo. Juliet lived in a rather obedient lifestyle, as she was growing up – obeying her parent’s orders and everybody’s expectations, but as her affections towards Romeo continues to flourish, so doesRead MoreEssay on Juliets State of Mind in Shakespeare ´s Romeo and Juliet842 Words   |  4 Pages Juliet’s love and loyalty towards Romeo, and her developing character do not only play an important role in motivating her in speaking the lines that she does, but also in motivating her actions. Despite all the current events that have occurred; events that have affected her state of mind, Juliet decides to remain true and faithful to Romeo. Juliet’s state of mind at this point in the play definitely revolves around this idea of light vs. dark – her fears and hopes. After hearingRead MoreTheme Of Light And Dark In Romeo And Juliet973 Words   |  4 PagesThe Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest love stories ever told. This is evident in today’s society, with the story being retold again and again in theatre productions, books, and movie spinoffs. The story is of two lovers, whose love was doomed from the start due to their disputing families, the Capulets and Montagues, who would never see a marriage between the two. Romeo and Juliet eventually take their own lives, ceasing their families’ fighting. William Shakespeare, the playwrightRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1595 Words   |  7 Pagesfamilial love as harmful and, as a result, 1950’s parenting guides, mother’s associations and medical experts rang with warnings against showing affectio n toward children, they stated that doing so spread disease and caused mental health issues. Government-issued brochures advised mothers and fathers to â€Å"never kiss a baby† and to not â€Å"rock or play with children†. The director of the American Psychological Association warned â€Å"when you are tempted to pet your child, remember that mother love is a dangerousRead MoreRepresentation of Love in Romeo and Juliet915 Words   |  4 PagesThis world-renowned tragedy is centered on the love between the characters Romeo and Juliet, as the lines above bring out. Although these two teenagers love is the focus of the story, many other views of love are expressed and presented by various characters. Three of these many views include Romeos love for Rosaline, the Friar Lawrences view of love, and most significantly, Romeo and Juliets love for one another. Two households, both alike in dignity... From forth the fatal loins of theseRead MoreRomeo And Juliet Character Analysis890 Words   |  4 PagesThe story of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is by far one of the most profound romantic plays known to the world. Shakespeare has written many famous poets; plays having Romeo and Juliet his most famous and known pieces of literary art. William Shakespeare is a master in literary entertainment but an unknown man in history, but yet the most known English poet, actor, playwright and regarded as the greatest English writer in the worlds history. Each of Shakespeare’s works has a theme

Iproject Free Essays

MBA 504 – Managerial Economics (W. Troost) * Case study about the iPad Mini by Justin Sellers Kimberly Gadsden Krista Pauly Marjorie Venus Baliog Paulus Mirtschink Rob Hicks I have read the Student Academic Code of Conduct and this Assignment complies with the Code. 8th November 2012 * Table of Contents Table of Contents2 List of Figures3 1INTRODUCTION4 2FIRM, BRAND, LIFESTYLE4 3IINDUSTRY5 4COST8 5CONCLUSION9 APPENDICES11 A. We will write a custom essay sample on Iproject or any similar topic only for you Order Now Price Comparison of Generic Android Tablets12 B. Price Comparison of Premium Brand Tablets2 BIBLIOGRAPHY3 * List of Figures Figure 1: Monopolistical pricing10 Figure 2: Technology life cycle11 Figure 3: VMP and MC in the US compared with China12 * INTRODUCTION Apple has clearly established itself as a market leader in the competitive market of consumer electronic products. Recently, the company released a smaller sized version of its highly successful tablet: the iPad. The launch has come under widespread criticism as many industry pundits believe the pricing strategy may be incorrect and there are fears that the new product will cannibalize sales of other merchandise. Even the late Steve Jobs was strong in his view that Apple would never offer a smaller tablet product to the market as he felt it would provide less benefit to consumers. To properly assess whether or not Apple did in fact make the correct decision, the rationale behind the decision must be analyzed. As part of the analysis: the market structure, cost factors, competitive position, nature of product demand, and strategic vision will be scrutinized. FIRM, BRAND, LIFESTYLE Under the direction of one of the most visionary CEOs of the modern era, Steve Jobs, Apple was able to completely revolutionize the way that consumer electronics are perceived, purchased, and manufactured. It started with a completely different concept of consumer preferences and has ultimately ended with the most valuable company in the world. Apple has a long history within the computer industry with a focus on building units for sale to the consumer marketplace. After success during the early 1980s with the launch of the Macintosh line of computers, the company failed to gain significant market share until the launch of the iMac in 1998. From the late 1990s Apple began a prolific campaign of acquiring other companies with specific technological expertise, which it began combining in both software and hardware components included in its subsequent line of products. Apple released the first of many important revolutionary products, the iPod, in 2001. The iPod became the ‘quantum leap’ the company had long been striving for and allowed the branding of Apple as a company with the Apple logo to become an industry heavyweight. The advertising that Apple used helped to produce an emotional response that resonated with consumers. Being seen with the iconic â€Å"white headphones† became as much about fashion and image as it was about the actual enjoyment of listening to mp3s on a personal device. Due to the vertical integration between devices, software and design based on a platform of â€Å"ease of use,† the company began to create immense brand loyalty. â€Å"Once you go Mac, you never go back,† is a phrase used to describe that once someone made the decision to purchase an Apple product (phone, computer, etc. ) the cost of switching becomes high. Apple intuitively created an opportunity cost for not purchasing newer Apple products because of the way their devices communicate with one another. Apple has gained such a significant brand following that demand for their products is much more inelastic than comparable firms. Demand for competitor’s products Demand for Apple products INDUSTRY There are significant numbers of manufacturers of tablet devices, but it can be argued that there are only several key players. The tablet marketplace is very interesting because of the dominant effect that Apple, Samsung, Google, and Amazon have on consumer behaviour. There is a significant split, both from a consumer and producer standpoint, between the ‘premium’ tablet devices and the ‘generic’ devices. In effect, there are two different marketplaces in operation simultaneously. In the generic market it is a competitive market, firms are essentially price takers as what they are offering is a standard tablet with limited features. In the premium market however, there is an oligopolistic situation where the major firms dominate both, market share and brand recognition. Please see Appendix A and B for Price comparisons of generic and premium brand tablets. The pricing strategy for the premium products is therefore very different than for generics. In the premium market, the products are seen as more inelastic based on their brand power, and thus a higher price can be charged in order to generate a higher economic profit. Apple uses the concept of â€Å"Prestige Pricing† for its product line. Prestige pricing happens when a firm charges a higher price for its products in an attempt to be seen as a ‘status’ item. Apple separates itself even from the other premium tablets by charging a price that is actually 2-5 times higher than some of its closest ivals. The reason that Apple has decided to launch at such a high price dates back to their theory of brand image and loyalty. With respect to the technology adoption lifecycle developed by Joe Bohlen et al. , Apple seeks to â€Å"reward† loyal customers by charging a high price so that only technologically conscious innovators and early adopters will have the produc t for a period. It is valuable to the innovators and early adopters to have the newest Apple product ahead of the vast majority of people and price point is a way to discriminate between groups. Once a product has been on the market for a sufficient amount of time, Apple will then drop the price to gain a larger amount of consumers that are willing to pay for the product at the given price. Graph Rob Directly related to the high price point that Apple charge is its monopolistic position within the industry. It is strategically beneficial from a firm standpoint to charge a price that causes the intersection of the marginal cost and marginal revenues when represented graphically. Figure 1: Monopolistical pricing For Apple, they experience higher economic profits when they charge a higher price initially. Only when they are about to release an updated version of the product will they drop the price to gain the additional consumer demand. When considering the product lifecycle, Apple seeks to have a different product in each section of the cycle. Rather than having different versions of the same model, the company simply relies on releasing a newer product, but still offering the old product for a period. When considering their new tablet the strategy will be as follows: 1) New tablet is released: iPad mini 2) After a designated amount of time, (typically 3-5 quarters) a new version will be released. Likely, it will be called the iPad mini S. 3) Following the same release schedule a bigger redesign will occur and the product will come out as the iPad mini 2. Figure 2: Technology life cycle Apple prices the tablet in #1 high in order to experience profits from the innovators and early adopters. By the time the newer version is announced, the company will drop the price in order to gain access to the early majority. When the new product is actually released #2 it will have a premium price point to again gain access to the innovators and early adopters. Product #1 is moving from early majority to late majority as the price drop has opened up a wealth of consumers willing to buy. When product #3 is announced the price of both product #1 and product #2 will be dropped. By this time product #1 will be 2 editions old and is likely to be purchased by the tail end of late majority and laggards. Product #2 will take its place in the early majority and innovators will desire product #3. When considering Apple’s brand loyalty it is also likely that by the time product #3 comes out some people that purchased product #1 will deem that it is time to upgrade. COST Another major consideration in the pricing of Apple’s products is the associated cost of producing them. Each item has a large array of inputs ranging from: hardware, software, development, advertising, testing, management, transport, and legal issues. Apple has sought out areas of the world where it is cheaper to assemble their units because the relationship between manufacturing and transportation costs results in higher profit. Figure 3: VMP and MC in the US compared with China Apple has formed a coalition of manufacturers that it uses to outsource many of the components that it uses within its products. In some cases the firms that manufacture parts for Apple are actually direct competitors within the same market. If you look at the decision to manufacture internally or outsource to another company it is very similar to the trade theories of competitive and comparative advantage. When considering the iPad mini, Apple had to decide whether to make the computing hardware themselves or have someone else make it for them. Apple deemed that they have a competitive advantage in software development and that Samsung and Intel have comparative advantages in production of hardware, thus they made the decision to have the parts made for them. Each iPad that Apple sells generates a large amount of profit for the firm because their total cost is significantly less than the price point at which it is sold. Generally, Apple sells their products for at least 3 times as much as their total cost, resulting in a huge amount of revenue. You guessed it†¦ a graph What the fuck Justin?!? CONCLUSION * APPENDICES Price Comparison of Generic Android Tablets Price Comparison of Premium Brand Tablets * BIBLIOGRAPHY * How to cite Iproject, Papers

Governance in Globalizing World Essay

Question: Write an Essay on Governance in Globalizing World? Answer: Introduction This essay aims to demonstrate the social responsibility, share holder rights and community engagement. In the corporate social responsibility, it works in the ethical way has grown from the zero to the 19 million in last 27 years. There is no doubt that a phenomenal success story occurs with real responsibility they have the responsibility to act with integrity and to help the company test their employees in terms of employee's skills and talents. When it talks about customers privacy and safety, it relates to decrease the carbon footing or to interact with the people about the same in the respective community. It really matters how Vodafone runs its business and every organization depends on its employees to succeed.Vodafone UK, for example, is the part of the Vodafone group and it is one of the largest mobile communications that provides the voice and gives the text and internet services in more than 30 countries and when the partnership was created then it build the better govern ance with 404 million customers. (Attewell, 2005) Secondly, the shareholders of Vodafone has rights to receive the 102 p share with the mobile phone group where the stake is at wireless US group Verizon that costs up to $130 billion. The shareholders rights are guaranteed and it is known from the fact that there occurs detailed payout. This begins with the total of 49.4 bn and there is a framed policy that each of the investor or the shareholder receives 30p in cash that is added with the .026 Verizon communication shares and it is worth that 72 p is at the current price and also that of the exchange rate. At the same time, Vodafone has shares that need to be consolidated with the small number and it is also the share price that proceeds after and before the wireless Verizon. Thirdly, community engagement of the Vodafone is that community means here the various employees who works in the Vodafone are all treated equally. The diversity and the inclusion continue to remain at the top priority that there is recognized the value of the proposition and that there is the varied work force with which the community will start growing at the fast pace. It is always aware that it requires the continue efforts that are to be are put in order to have the effective community engagement at Vodafone company. In the overseas countries like New Zealand, Britain, Australia and such like the company has the staff and it runs with the proper segmentation. With 14.4% of the work force where there are working women, there is also the changing of mindset with respect to the respective culture. The right eco system has arrived in order to have the good community engagement that has experienced with .95% of the people who attended the workshops. Literature review There is a board that has set up in order to look up the affairs and it consists of 13 directors and 12 of whom are known as the best throughout the year. On 4th march, 2013 and in addition to the chairman Gerard, there were having the presence of three executive directors and nine non-executive directors, it runs with the moral and the ethical code with which there is framed the certain kind of the new policies. It runs with the moral and the ethical code through which there new policies could be reframed. Vodafone is one of the biggest telecom sectors and the service provider of UK that has the market value of 75 billion in the year June, 2008. It has currently shared no equity interests in 25 countries and the partner networks. These networks do not create any kind of equity and thus, the stakes are also not present in further 42 countries. The name Vodafone itself has been derived from the voice data fone, that helps to reflect the provisions and relates to the data services and also from the voice from the mobile phones. It has also proposed the agreement for the acquisition of 67% in Hutchison Essar limited and it is approximate US$11.1 billion. At the same time, it is said that the company has sold back 5.6% of Airtel stake back to Mittals. (Anttila, 2006) Corporate governance frameworks The effective corporate governance has always been the integral part of the successful delivery of the business goals similarly as Vodafone. Vodafone operates with the well developed governance that runs with the governance framework designed with high transparency and honesty with an informed approach. It is also mentioned that the clear standards are developed for everyone. The board has been set up and in case of Vodafone; the leader's role has been set up to appoint the right person with the right strategy. They could provide effective assessment and management to handle the business risks carefully. There is a need to develop the strong alignment of the strategies in the company so that the task can be profitable with the accomplishment. (Anastopoulou, 2002) From agency approach Vodafone when is experienced from the agency approach, it looks like the development and training programs where people are offered to achieve their career goals and tasks. The company ensures that they will lead to success in the future. Employees review their performance in the Vodafone with the performance and also the development plans that are through the annual performance design and also it is associated with the dialogues. The development programmers works to achieve something new in the organization and it includes learning, training that arise with the formal training, job experience and mentoring. The agency approach represents the work of employees, so the employees focus on their functional disciplines with regards to social networking. Thus, it also includes human resource and marketing with respect to supply chain and technology. Stake holder approach As per the feedback given to the Vodafone Company, it always consumes huge time to receive the feedbacks from the external stakeholders. The major aim for Vodafone and its stakeholders are to create profits from the process in an organization. When there is no kind of agreement or response, it explains that there is honesty and trust among the two. The stakeholders include the investors, employees and suppliers and there all are directly related to the business and make the affect on the business performance also, the consumers and enterprise customers that are with the small and the big businesses and the organizations are mentioned. There are huge numbers of people who will look at their community network infrastructure and provide their views on it. Non-governmental organizations and others are concerned about the issues / government and the regulators too can be seen in the business through new legislation and regulations. It is said that they tailor their engagement process with the stakeholder group. For example, with the investors, they have a meeting with them about the events and they even look for the conference calls and one on one interaction is held to understand the concerns about sustainability and to mention the identified potential issues. (Andersen, 2004) Three features of corporate governance The three selected features that includes are social responsibility, share holder rights and the community engagement. These features have already been explained in the assignment. The social responsibility deals with the fact that there is a chance to deal with the responsibility where the Vodafone Company will look into the affairs in the right manner and proper sequence. The community management represents how the company will look for the best of the organization where all the employees and stake holders are the part of an organization. Similarly, share holders are given certain rights and with these rights, they enjoy their tasks and fulfill them successfully. (Bryan, 2010) Vodafone has 10% of the world market for the mobile telephony and it achieves safeguarding of the rights of the customers for setting up of proper objectives where the way will be planned for the assurance of meetings. When the customers are first taken as the stakeholders, then, the reputation at large organization will depend on the learning that will develop trust on the customers and they rely on important aspects. The content standards mean that there is the large contest that is made available in the online in the mobile phones and Vodafone has simply introduced the supervisory body. It has also designed the reasonable marketing that makes sure that the communications are always legitimate in order to have the fair dealings in the communication in the Vodafone technology. There are decent, authentic and sensitive views with respect to different groups in the society along with the pricing policies etc. (Alexander, 2010) Ethical challenges When the first company was set up then the first thing that appears as the challenge was that Vodafone UK reveals that parents do not have knowledge of the types of the content that was made viable via mobile phones. As a survey was made of all the adults, then it was believed that there were restrictions with regards to the adult on the mobile phones and it has also assumed that the there is self regulation in terms of operators in the UK. The code was thus framed and it required the operators to reduce fewer than 18s. Thus, the biggest ethical challenge was associated with the same. In the similar way, some of the game that occurred at the phones and he downloaded from it that was also not done properly and mangers were possessed to the challenge, the ethical one. The access of those commercials contents are, being classified as the unsuitable ones. Therefore, with respect to the change with time, the more the ethical challenges have emerged; the various researches have shown its uses. (Adkins, 2008) Conclusion Vodafone is one of the biggest telecom companies in this sector. With the time coming on, it has shown its entire relevancy with the new emerging technology. In the recent times, the various new things have been adopted by the Vodafone where it has shown how fast has been the technology and its uses. In this time, the Vodafone is emerging as the giant in the telecom sector. For example, in UK Vodafone works with the government by making the partnership and also with the police and others industry to combat the mobile phone crime. In this age, it also advises the customers and the community on how to make the protection of the phones and with it, there will be prevention of the fraudulent use. It has also banned the uses of phone at the time of driving. Therefore, the company Vodafone has designed few steps for proper use of the mobile phones all over the world. References Adkins, Sam (2008). The US Market for Mobile Learning Products and Services: 2008-2013 Forecast and Analysis. Ambient Insight Research Report.Alexander, Bryan (2004). Going Nomadic: Mobile Learning in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Review. Vol. 39, No. 5, September/October 2004.Alexander, Bryan (2010). Using smartphones to track attendance.Liberal Education Tomorrow, June 1.Ally, Mohamed (Ed.) (2009). Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training. Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca University Press. Ally, M., Lin, F., McGreal, R., Woo, B. and Li, Q. (2005). An intelligent agent for adapting and delivering electronic course materials to mobile learners.Proceedings of MLearn 2005 Conference, Capetown, South Africa. Ananthaswamy, Anil (2009). Mobile messaging network counsels Cape Town drug users.New Scientist, Issue 2722, August 22. Anastopoulou, S., C. Barber, et al. (2002). Object Manipulation In Educational Multimodal Systems for Contextual Learning.Proceedings of the European Workshop on Mobile and Contextual Learning, The University of Birmingham, England. Anastopoulou, S., Sharples, M., Ainsworth, S. and Crook, C. (2009). Personal inquiry: linking the cultures of home and school with technology mediated science inquiry. In Pachler, N. and Selpold, J. (Eds.),.Mobile Learning Cultures Across Education, Work and Leisure(pp. 5557). Book of Abstracts, 3rdWLE Mobile Learning Symposium, London, March 27. Andersen, Verner (2004). A mobile first aid training system for training doctors in stabilizing casualties on site. In Attewell, Jill and Savill-Smith, Carol (Eds.),Mobile Learning anytime everywhere: a book of papers from MLEARN 2004(pp. 217220). Anderson, J. and Rainie, L. (2008).The Future of the Internet III.Pew Internet and American Life Project Report. Anttila, A. and Jung, Y. (2006).Discovering design drivers for mobile media solutions. Paper presented at the Computer-Human Interaction Conference (CHI 06), Montreal. Arnedillo-Snchez, I., Sharples, M., and Vavoula, G. (Eds.), (2007).Beyond Mobile Learning Workshop. The CSCL Alpine Rendez-Vous, Kaleidoscope, Mobile Learning SIG. Arnold, Jennifer Taylor (2007) Learning on the Fly: choose the right tools to deliver learning content to employees anytime, anywhere.HR Technology, Sept. Attewell, Jill (2005).Mobile Technologies and Learning: a technology update and m-learning project summary.Report, Learning and Skills Development Agency. Attewell, J., and Webster, T. (2004). Engaging and supporting mobile learners. In Attewell, J., and. Savill-Smith, C. (Eds.),Mobile Learning Anytime Everywhere: A book of papers from MLEARN 2004. London, UK: Learning and Skills Development Agency. Ballard, Barbara (2007).Designing the Mobile User Experience. New York: John Wiley. Bell, G. and Gemmell, J. (2009)Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything.New York:Dutton Adult Bellina, L., and Missoni, E. (2009). Mobile cell-phones (M-phones) in telemicroscopy: increasing connectivity of isolated laboratories.Diagnostic Pathology, 4 (19). Bradley, C., Haynes, R., Cook, J., Boyle, T. and Smith, C. (2009). Design and development of multimedia learning objects for mobile phones. In Ally, Mohamed (Ed.),Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training(pp. 157182). Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca University Press. Brown, J.S. and Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational Learning and Communities of Practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation.Organizational Science, 2 (1): 40-57.

On The Night Of July 17, 1996 TWA Flight 800 Left New Yorks JFK Airpo

On the night of July 17, 1996 TWA flight 800 left New York's JFK Airport en-route to it' destination of Paris, France. At approximately 8:31 PM a strange explosion ripped through the Boeing 747 jumbo jet violently taking the lives of 230 helpless people that on board the aircraft and threw them into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island. Almost immediately, as news of the tragedy began to circulate, theories and possible explanations of the cause began to surface. Was it a terrorist bomb? This was a possible option in Americans eyes. With the bombing of Pam Am's flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland a few years back and the bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta at nearly the same time, this theory was quickly becoming a high possibility. Or was it a mechanical failure? The possibility of a mechanical failure is always there, but to this magnitude it was very questionable. Not many airplanes just explode in mid-air for no reason. All possible angles have to be considered. This brings us to the third and perhaps most overwhelming explanation for this tragedy. Did an U.S. missile mistakenly bring down TWA 800 over the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 1996? It seems a lot of evidence points in that direction. The amount of material that has been found could have convinced almost anyone that this is the explanation for the misfortune that occurred. Although all of the government agencies that were involved, FBI, FAA, and the Navy vehemently deny that this is a possible cause, one must question the credibility of the U.S. government. The most logical question at this point would have to be; how could the Military mistakenly shoot down a commercial airplane? The Navy and other branches of armed forces routinely carryout practice maneuvers at different positions around the world. The location where TWA 800 exploded is right at the heart of one such area. Off the coast of Long Island the Navy maintains warning zones that were used for training procedures. These areas carry labels W-105 and W-107. These zones, not in use everyday, were confirmed as being active during the night of July 17. When a particular area is active any type of military operation can occur, including activities that are considered to be dangerous. In fact the Airman's Information Manual defines the dangers of warning areas such as these they read as Follows: ?Warning areas denote the existence of unusual, often invisible artillery firing aerial gunnery, or guided missiles (Goddard 2).? This definition shows that the pilots should have been aware of the dangers that evening. It is very possible that the Navy was conducting test flights at the time. Combating incoming missiles is a top priority of the U.S. To combat this threat the military would counter by firing a missile to intercept the incoming one before it reaches its target. Apparently, the Navy was testing this technology on July 17. Considering the fact that technology and test can and do go wrong, its not far fetched to think that one of those missiles could have been fired and missed its target. Instead, the missile locked onto the larger more easily spotted TWA jumbo jet and blew it right out of the sky! The Navy obviously denies the charges of such a mistake on their part. Navy Admiral Edward Kristensen said area W-105 and W-107 were not typically used for missile training. Although he did not deny that activity does occur there. The Navy did admit that there was a P-3 Orion anti-submarine plane and a missile cruiser, the USS Normandy, in the area. To deny the possible involvement of the Orion Lt. Rob Newell, a Navy spokesman, said the Orion does not carry missiles. But, the military book, Janes All The World's Aircraft, states: the P-3 is capable of carrying missiles. The Navy also tried to remove the USS Normandy from being a contributor by saying that ?the cursier was 185 miles to the south?to far away to have hit TWA 800 with a missile.? The Normandy carries standard missiles that are capable of covering the distance, to kill targets at a range of 320 miles. The Navy makes other claims, later proven to be false, towards weapons capabilities in the area. They also denied

Bedford Hours essays

Bedford Hours essays Various medieval manuscripts are focus of interest for todays scholar, because of their intricate textual and pictorial context. Yet it is The Book of Hours that stands out the most for its diverse structural framework and the creative peculiarities. The irregularities within this brilliant manuscript make it unique in its own way. The unconventional order of the texts, iconographical peculiarities within a program, the abnormality of miniatures, the question of patronage, identity of the artist or the date of production are many reasons why we get captivated and choose to examine this type of manuscript more closely. There are many different Books of Hours. The Bedford Hours is one of the most intriguing ones. The book measures 260 x 180 mm (10 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches). It contains nearly 300 leaves, every one of which is illuminated. In addition to its 38 large miniatures, most of which complement conventional texts of a Book of Hours, it includes more than 1200 tiny marginal pictures, illustrating scenes from Old and New Testaments. The text of the manuscript is written in blue, red and gold ink. The body of work consists of six unequal sections, each of which includes a coherent sequence of devotions appropriate to inclusion in this type of book. The sections are as follows: Calendar; Gospel Lessons followed by Obsecro te and O intemerata; Hours of the Virgin; Penitential Psalms with special Hours assigned to the seven days of the week, and Office of the Dead; Hours of the Passion; Memorials of selected saints, and number of selected special devotions. Each section is composed of multiple gatherings of eight leaves. A gathering of twelve leaves, carrying the calendar precedes these sections. Each month occupying the recto and verso of a single leaf, is illustrated with appropriate iconography. The suitable labors of the month accompanied by zodiac signs are shown in the lower margin of the rec...

Christianity and Islam Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Christianity and Islam - Research Paper Example The Catholic Church, the Coptic Church, the Orthodox Churches, the Protestant Churches, and other small denominations signify modern Christianity (Miner et al., 2014). The emergence of the Christianity on the Roman Empire was marked in Jerusalem during the 1st Century AD. The fall of the Empire resulted to the emergence of Christianity. The birth of Christianity in the Roman Empire is more often link to the conversion of the Constantine, which led to a different perception of Christianity. Word has it that, Christs vision appeared to the Constantine on the battle’s eve that eventually led to the Constantine winning the battle, hence made him convert the Empire to Christianity something that marked the emergence and spread of Christianity in the entire world by the time the Roman Empire fell. Therefore, since then the religion has spread globally and, it is believed it is one of the largest religions globally. Christianity appealed to many people after the fall of the Roman Empire because of the inequality that was exhibited by the Roman Empire (segregation); hence, Christianity offered mutual social support to its members, hence attracting many people. Therefore, many people adopted Christianity because they felt oppressed by the Roman Empire. In addition, many people from diverse backgrounds and regions viewed Christianity as a uniting religion and hence so the need to adopt Christianity (Mason.gmu.edu, n.d.). Islam came into existence in the 622 CE by Mohammed, a renowned prophet of the Medina. Muslims view Islam as something that has been there since the times of prophets such as David, Moses, Abraham, and Jesus (Levenson, 2012). The two main sacred texts used by Islam are Quran and Hadith. The five pillars of Islam are reciting of the Shahadah at least once a day, performing of the prayer five times a day while facing Mecca,

Common Myths of Black Americans and the historical reality Research Paper

Common Myths of Black Americans and the historical reality - Research Paper Example During the 1800’s, there was a high threat of slavery that existed in America. Many black Americans were brought and sold and were forced to work as a slave property. Even the families of the black people were broken and were sold as slaves in various parts of the nation, which certainly imposed a grave challenge to the existence of the race during the then period. However, the Black community also had an advantage to migrate back to their homeland, Africa, escaping from the colonization practices, with the help of the then activists. To be precise, the then American society witnessed a polarization effect within the thoughts and actions of philanthropists, abolition lists and clergy.In the year 1890, following the 11th Census of the US, with the end of the frontier, the miners of the west began recruiting African immigrants or the Black Americans, which attracted the population at large percentages towards the West. As a consequence, the farmlands of the west also began to be filled, witnessing massive reconstructions in the legal framework, simultaneously with the changing social norms and perceptions. Overall, the closing of the frontier had immense effects on the perceptions of the African Americans as well as the Whites in the community, forming myths to shape its history (Turner). Majority of the myths identified in this period of the American Frontier were argued to deprive the Black Americans from their fundamental rights to be free and rather made them subjected to racial discriminations.

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Essay

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Achebe's Thing's Fall Apart - Essay Example Achebe’s narrative signals the first indicator of tribal decline in Africa, exploited by the white colonisers to exert power in their expanding empire. The death toll of tribal life in Africa in Things Fall Apart symbolises the human predisposition towards conflict as the ethnic tensions are replaced with the tensions between the whites and blacks. In contrast, Cry, the Beloved Country takes the reader forward, highlighting the predicament of native blacks under white rule, where the funeral for tribal life prophesised in Things Fall Apart is now a reality, symbolised by the theme of human loss. The industrialisation of Africa and separation of families brought about by white rule is highlighted through the Kumalo’s journey as central protagonist in Cry. Pastor Kumalo loses a brother to the city and his brother in law to the mines. Furthermore, Kumalo’s sister disappears when she goes to the city. Through contrasting perspectives both novels utilise the conflicts between the white rulers and black natives to portray a deeper themes of the complex cycle of human conflict; its resultant impact on the family nucleus and the human need for connection and family relationships particularly driven by loss and fear. Analysed in conjunction, the contrasting spectrums at which both Paton and Achebe begin their narrative effectively takes the reader through the beginning of colonial policies in Things Fall Apart, to the practical impact of white rule in Cry, the Beloved Country. The focus of this analysis is to evaluate through a comparative analysis the authors’ depictions of the conflicts between the white colonisers and the native blacks and consider which, if any depicts the predicament most sympathetically. It is submitted at the outset that both whilst both works are undoubtedly important in highlighting the

Issues in development theory

Issues in development theory Issues In Development Theory The only kind of development that matters is economic growth everything else will follow. ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT THEORY INTRODUCTION This paper reviews some ideas surrounding the complex but contested concept of development, including those relating to economic growth. A distinction between development and economic growth models was attempted to expose ideas from these models and my own perception about models. In analysing, contemporary issues on development and growth of any nation, it can be looked at from various perspectives ranging from policy failures and / or implementation failures or resources inadequacy and / or sub optimality in the allocation of resources.   In fact, problems emanating out of domestic market failure and / or government failure are always manifested in increased levels of unemployment inflection and poverty. The concepts of development in general and economic development have often been treated as synonymous concepts. However, the theory of economic development of a country may be associated with (amongst other things) rising incomes and related increases in consumption savings and investment. (Berkeley Hill, 2006) From my own point of view, there is far more to economic development than growth in incomes.   It is therefore suffice to say that if income distribution is highly skewed, growth may not be accompanied by much progress towards the goals that are usually associated with economic development.   Development is also traced to the economic causes of continued poverty and under-development of various nations which actually indicates level of employment and standard of living in a particular nation (IFPRI 2009).   In essence, increasing the output or the gross national income of any nation should automatically lead to increase in social welfare, happiness and longevity due to i ncrease in total production and consumption. The contemporary any issues are not recent issues but issues that have emanated since the inception of development economic while others crept in with temper of time. A lot of contemporary issues relating to development economics have been in existence for so long.   Some of the issues relating to development are indeed as old as human civilisation! HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT This paper proposes that the meaning of development is contentious because of how it has been defined and viewed over time. Since the end of Second World War, when both existing and post war obstacles like underdevelopment, leadership problem, lack of cooperation or coordinating Bodies like UN in the world, underutilization of   available resources. According to Nayyar 2003, since the end of Second World War, more attentions had been paid to underdevelopment; mainstream development theory was largely the ambit of economists. Due to this, much of early development discourse, centered on economic theories and models, which emphasised and aimed to achieve production and resource allocation efficiency. The primary aim of the theories was to enhance productivity, effective resources allocation and improve standard of living. It is mostly believe rapid economic growth will improve the standard of living of people who participated in it through the trickle down effect. These theories were heavily criticised when there were no signs of economic growth and development which led to development of alternative approach. The alternative approaches supplemented the existing theories in promoting equitable and sustainable economic growth with enhance standard of living. However, as a result of previously developed theories, this paper will select, describe and further analyse a few of the theories to illustrate their different perspectives of economic development. Basis of controversy will be analysed and finally gradual steps of mainstream development thinking and practice will be shown with the enlargement of development agenda, making the meaning of development less contentious than its has been in the past. During the 1950s and 1960s, development theories like Rostows and Harrod Domars growth models, postulated development as series of stages that a country will naturally pass through (Todaro and Smith, 2006), (Gore, 1999). These stages are invariably noted in European countries and other developed countries but seemed not yet taken place in Africa countries because there were no notable signs of economic developments. According to Thirlwal 2003 they only required meeting the right conditions such as saving and investment levels to move from one stage to another. These theories believe for there to be economic development there must be massive capital investment and definitely economic growth would automatically follow failing to take cognizance of other factors like good planning, even distribution of income, corruption free environment, effective budget implementations and review. They only required meeting the right conditions such as saving and investment levels to move from one stage to another (Thirlwal, 2003). They argued that many developing countries were in same situation that developed countries had been in before they developed. It should be noted that most of these developed countries had no reference point or direct guidance like economic theories on how best to develop then while all these theories, models and planning tools are available at the disposal of developing countries to develop now they still find it difficult if not impossible to develop. This means there are other silent techniques, information or management theories that are directly involved in economic developments. Around the same period from 1960 to 1970 development meant modernisation through the structural transformation of an economy as in Lewis model (Thirlwal, 2003),(Stiglitz, 2001). This is true in actual fact because they i.e Thirlwal and Stiglitz based their studies and assumptions of developed countries having undergone series of economic growth stages supported by adequate government policies and strategies which increase the standard of living positively. Simultaneously, there were some structural transformations of economic in underdeveloping countries like Nigeria that did not bring on economic developments. For instance, Operation Feed The Nation introduced by General Obasanjo did not actually improved the standard of living and there were no signs of economic development because of other factors like lack of amenities, management and leadership problem, Inconsistency in government policies and strategies, Political Instability.    This model and others like it described development as the transformation of a typically rural subsistence economy to a more modern urbanised industrial one (Todaro and Smith, 2006). Advanced economies consistently ensure economic stability, economic growth and increase in per capital income to ensure there is economic development. This transformation was done by more efficient resource utilisation which led to improvements in productivity and economic growth. It was also implicitly assumed that economic growth due increased productivity would result in increased earnings for firms, and workers, which would eventually lead to improvement of human welfare (Elliott, 2002), (Todaro and Smith, 2006). Most of these theories assumed that there is direct relationship between economic growth, efficient resources allocation and production efficiency. They argued that before economic development could be achieved, there must be increased savings and investments, domestic and international factors like inflations, exchange rate, interest rate, unemployment level must be effectively considered and factors into policies and strategies. They believed that if these constraints were removed, developing countries could grow at an even faster rate than the industrialised nations (Todaro and Smith, 2006). From critical angles, it is believed that most of the developing countries problem are from developed countries through bad debt management system, lack of adequate knowledge in financial market and instruments, balance of trade, insincerity of the political leaders and some other indices. During the 1970s Dependency theories emerged which expressed discontent with previous development models (Desai and Potter, 2002). This theory i.e dependency theory studied relationship between industrial economies and developing economies. It showed the business and non business interaction between the developed and developing countries. Contributions and impacts of both economies were analyzed to identify loopholes and provide further studies for future reference of the economic developments. These models, it was argued, had a narrow meaning of development and only served to further uplift the already well off and suppress the poor (Leys, 1996), (Thirlwal, 2003).   This theory complements the existing theories that economic development is a function of economic growth and improved standard of living. While many of their principles were essentially structuralist in nature (Hettne, 2002) and acknowledged that economic growth was necessary for development, they had no faith in relyi ng solely on market forces and the trickle down effect as a mechanism for facilitating development. They argued that the trickle down effect often failed to materialise and the privates sector could not, due to its profit motive, promote equitable income distribution, provide essential goods and services to poorer sections of society and remote areas at affordable prices (Gore, 1999), (Todaro and Smith, 2006). They assumed the government role is prominent and can only supplement if needed. But their assumption was wrong because most of the countries that adopted the thoughts failed and there were no much development in the countries. This is because government policies and strategies were not properly supported to ensure even distribution of income due to profit maximization objective of private firms. Some of the developing countries especially Africans developmental plan failed due high level of corruption, lack of financial planning and review, lack of institutional capacity, pol itical and economic instability and uneven distribution of incomes. In addition because their views were drawn from Marxist ideology many of their views were attacked and discredited by influential western critics. Its influence was further eroded by the collapse of the Soviet Union (Leys, 1996),(Shuurman, 2002). This thought were criticised by many theorist and western critics, who believe both government and private firms should balance the economic development goals. In the 1980s the neoclassical counterrevolutionaries or neo liberals like earlier classical theorists advocated that development was caused by economic growth which could be achieved through applying supply side macroeconomic policies, rational expectations theories and privatisation of public corporations, freer trade, export expansion, removal of state planning and regulation of economic activities (Desai and Potter, 2002), (Todaro and Smith, 2006). They are of opinion that market is determined by the interaction of demand and supply of goods and services while at times government policies and strategies could negatively affect economic developments. In support of their arguments, countries like Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore South Korea and several other Asian countries were given as examples of free market success stories (Gore, 1999). Unfortunately, the East Asian crisis led to questions being asked about the soundness allowing free market polices drive the economy while the state i nterfered little (Chang, 2003), (Desai and Potter, 2002). However, surprisingly, the actual contributions of the free market and government to Asian Tigers success and crash   is also a controversial issue (Onis and Senses, 2005), (Adelman, 2001). The theories are of opinions that government influence on market should be little while the interaction of demand and supply of determine price and market with government monitoring through budgets and financial instruments like treasury bills, treasury certificate, bonds etc. Since the late 1980s neo -liberalism, just like earlier classical theories, has been criticised for its overemphasis on economic growth as the key to development (Onis and Senses, 2005). They argued that much emphasis was placed on economic growth as the key component of economic development. They believed there are other components that must be present before economic development could be proclaimed. Furthermore, despite the initial success of a few East Asian countries, many countries which had implemented recommendations advocated by the major proponents of neo liberalism , the IMF and the World Bank (Gore, 1999) , did not record much or robust improvement and in some cases became poorer (White, 2002), (Leys, 1996), (Thirlwal, 2003). They argued that if the necessary components of economics developments other than economic growth are available poverty would be reduced and standard of living will improve especially those in developing countries. DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Some theories were developed in 1990s, proposed some approaches to development e.g Sens capability approach, UNDPs sustainable human development approach. These theories are of opinion that any economic development or whatsoever depends on human capital/resources of a nation. According to Allen 2000, It is believed that economic policies or strategies should be people centred as opposed to the growth centred Sen 1999 also argued development means an individual is able to obtain physical necessities, have a job, participate in government, belong to a nation that is truly independent, have adequate education, be treated as an equal, meet their needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations, and be free from social dislocation, violence and war, poverty, tyranny, poor economic opportunities, systematic social deprivation through neglect of public facilities and intolerance or over activity of a repressive state. This school of thought believe if human beings or citizens of a nation are well developed and catered for definitely the economy will be growing and automatically lead to economic development. It also means there cannot be anything refers to a country or nation without its citizens and all economic activities and operations of the country is carried out by nobody except those that have been adequately and properly developed. Despite these criticisms, UNDPs approach did not entirely discredit the Washington Consensus agreeing with and reinforcing its economic growth centred development and macro level policy reform recommendations (Gore, 1999). This therefore means that for an economy to develop, there must be economic growth, good human resources/capital and improved standard of living. The Washington consensus was challenged by Southern Consensus in 1990s. Gore explains that like earlier dependence school theorists they argued that previous theories based on market and production efficiency and effectiveness fundamentals could not be used as a standard model that every developing country must follow. This then followed argument that theories that market and production efficiency and effectiveness should not be used as standard yardstick for all developing countries. They didnt disregard all the recommendations of classical theorist that placed emphasis that economic growth is the core component of economic development but argued that intensive capital savings and accumulations supported by favourable balance of trade/payment, standard of living and efficient utilisation of resources were necessary to ensure rapid economic development. They also are of opinion that active utilisation of opportunities provided by international trade/relationship like foreign aids/grants, exports and importation, foreign investments, innovations  Ã‚   should be considered in both macro and micro economic policies and strategies. Another theory of economic development that share the same view with the Sens capability Approach and UNDPs Sustainable Human Development approach is the Alternative Development Approach. Alternative Approach supports people and participatory centred practices and redefining the objectives of development. It has some similarities with the classical approaches to development. It was developed after due consideration to the criticisms of previous development approaches. Alternative development can be considered as a combination of the criticisms of previous development approaches (Pieterse, 2001). Due to its inclusive nature, it was argued that it did not present any new perspective to meaning or definitions of economic development. Alternative Approach basically selected useful recommendations/thoughts from different approaches to develop its theory/thought. He and Kothari and Minogue (2002) further argued that the distinction between alternative development and mainstream development theories varies with time as mainstream development thinking integrates many of the principles of theories which have criticised it. This then supports the earlier argument of Pieterse 2001 that Alternative approach use combination of criticisms of previous development approaches. Neo liberation adopted many concepts and assumptions of Washington Consensus policy despite its earlier criticisms of the policy. The final product , as some had proposed and predicted, was a form of post Washington consensus with a broader development agenda (Stiglitz, 2001) (Gore, 1999), (Onis and Senses, 2005). The neo-liberation worked extensively on recommendations of Washington Consensus in developing its own theories. This new version is evident in current IMF and World Bank development assistance packages which emphasise integration of previous top down and bottom up approaches as is evident in the formulation processes of country poverty reduction strategy papers which are a prerequisite to obtain assistance from them (Wolfensohn and Fischer, 2000).   Because of its advance work and recommendations on Washington Consensus Policy, IMF and World Bank used its recommendations in formulating policies in granting assistances to countries that need financial aids. In the early 1990s another developmental theories came on board called Right Based Approach to Development. Musembi and Cornwall explained that its origins are that many struggle for the realisation of all sorts of rights that have been taking place ever since the advent of colonialism, such as countries likes Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. This occurred basically when these countries believed the welfare of the countries and their citizens could be better when given freedom. They believed that economic development would be faster than when managed by colonial masters.   This approach is basically to integrate human right with economic development. The United Nations has been advocating that human right and freedom is the key to economic development for the past four decades. Just recent it has emerged that sustainable human development and human right approach are core components of economic development for any nation. The Right Based Approach did not present totally new idea/thought just like Alternative Development Approach to economic development but mere advanced recommendations on previous theories with adequate considerations to current economic issues.   However, what is striking about it is that it attempts to introduce a sense of collective responsibility and precise obligations on the international community to create a conducive environment for the realisation of the rights to development (OHCHR, 1986).   The Right Based approach to Development only makes recommendations to ensure freedom to all countries and grants fundamental human right to everybody believing if this is done economic growths, enhanced standard of livings, even distribution of incomes that would speed up economic development would be easily realized. Of late Neo liberal ideals have culminated in the form of globalisation (integration into the world economy) (Hettne, 2002) advocating that it is not only a means of ensuring efficiency and equity but growth and development of the world economy (Chang, 2003).   It was argued that there are hidden benefits and advantages that would accrue if the concept of globalization was embraced particularly by underdeveloped countries.   Benefits like latest technology and innovations, information, financial exchanges, flows of goods and services, openness, direct investments, international trade, ideas and opinions will move from one country to another with different knowledge, experience, resources and technical know-how which will ultimately lead to development. The fundamental belief is that it will increase prosperity for those join the system and marginalise those who do not (Gore, 1999). This concept was developed in 1970s but recently been promoted more by the advanced countries afte r fall of communism.   However, despite the claims that it is a driver of development it has generated uneven results with some countries prospering and other becoming more impoverished (Watkins and others, 2005). This is because there are some silent variables that have direct influence on all economic development variables like available resources to back policies, corruptions with the system, economic and political stability, consistency in leadership and management programme. This is one of the reasons why one policies or approach will work like a magic in one country and will fail woefully in another country. For Instance, most of these approaches work in advanced economies but otherwise in developing countries like Nigeria, Ghana where economic and political are not stable, corruptions is on high side, planning and implementations are not in place talk less of constant review and adjustments. According to Kothan and Minogue, 2002 one reason why the development theories mentioned above and others like them disagreed on development is due to failure to agree on what the objectives of development are. This means there are lots of arguments of what could be regarded as economic developments. There are numerous types of objectives that may be set as the purpose of development explicitly or otherwise (Potter, 2002).   That is why what many people see as development many only be regarded as just growth by others. It is claimed that objective may be political, economic or social, the most important is what the country/nation set to achieve. For instance classical theories promoted the concept of development as economic growth by modernisation, changing from old to newer more efficient and effective ways of resources use and allocation, and production (Stiglitz, 2001). Meanwhile, more egalitarian objectives are set out to be achieved by others like people centred approaches, dep endence theorists. They argued that those who were unable to participate in the structural transformation processes were often marginalised, remained poor or became poorer because they did not have the required skills, knowledge or financial resources (Todaro and Smith, 2006). That is they encouraged citizens to be empowered and trained because they are whatever the country achieved. They argued that they are the real economic development driver. Steps in economic developments and associated changes are also causing disagreements. While linear stage theorists argued that Development is a process which countries, regions or societies go through either naturally or deliberately (Todaro and Smith, 2006) , others rejected the notion of having a blue print and time frame for development that is applicable to all countries (Gore 1999), (Adelman, 2001). They argued that different countries are in different stages and situation and therefore required different attentions. The factors like economic, political, cultural, social, technological of one country differs from other, have effects on its economic development policies and strategies and must be monitored accurately to achieve economic development.   This then embraces call for a bottom up rather than a top bottom theory. Development may be universally accepted as improvement in well being but the there can be no prescription of what this well being entails (Pieterse, 2001), ( Nayyar, 2003), (Sen, 1999), (Stiglitz, 2001), (Gore, 1999). And they also argued that economic growth resulted from natural resources is no substitutes for features like corrupt free environment, justice and equity treatment and stable economic environment. Classical and neoclassical theorists believed the core basis of economic development is gross domestic product per capital. The interpretation of economic growth as meaning development and the use of changes in gross domestic product per capita, by the classical and neoclassical theorists,   has also been criticised for its unsuitability   as a measure of development (Thirlwal, 2002).   They are criticised because they believe there are other parameters in measuring economic development. They further argued that increases in material wealth or total productions is only what economic growth deals with but failed to consider others like income distributions, composition of goods and services and general standard of livings. Furthermore, it has been noted that the rewards of improved productivity and economic efficiency accrue largely to owners of capital and the majority of the population are left only slightly better off (Pieterse, 2001).   They argued that components of econo mic development include economic growth, even distribution of income and standard of livings. Roles play by government of countries in economic developments is largely influenced by international factors. Conflict also may arise because governments have to contend with the decline in their sovereignty over their countrys development (Thomas and Allen, 2000). Government has to make efficient and effective utilization of resources available while also considering the influence of international communities and bodies. Development is now being influenced to a large extent by international finance, official development agencies, non governmental agencies, and community based organisations (Khor, 2003), (Kothari and Minogue, 2002).   The effect of international factors on economic developments of every nation is very important most especially developing countries that rely mostly on international loans and grants to supplement their revenues.   According to Desai and Potter, 2002 government now merely provide a conducive atmosphere in which these international agencies can prom ote development. This has been on increase in recent times whereby government make provisions for international agencies aids and grants in the annual budget basically for capital projects that stimulate economic developments. Conflict also may arise because governments have to contend with the decline in their sovereignty over their countrys development (Thomas and Allen, 2000). Development is now being influenced to a large extent by international finance, official development agencies, non governmental agencies, and community based organisations (Khor, 2003), (Kothari and Minogue, 2002).   Governments now merely provide a conducive atmosphere in which these agencies can promote development (Desai and Potter, 2002).   This has naturally given rise to sources of resentment, since governments are sometimes sidelined. Suspicions also arise concerning who is meant to benefit from aid and loan conditions, which recommend macro and micro level policy reforms. Misunderstandings often arise about whose development is being sought. For instance it has been argued that donors often provide assistance to further their own interests (Kothari and Minogue, 2002). They formulate loan conditions and support developm ent projects with the aim of improving their own industries profitability by providing business through establishing new markets, investment opportunities, and   tied aid (Desai and Potter, 2002), (Thomas and Allen, 2000) or access to cheap raw materials as during the colonial era (Leys, 1996), (Thirlwal, 2003), (Pieterse, 2001). Assistance provided in this manner may not benefit the recipient country in the long run since most of the aid will be repatriated in the case of tied aid. Some have even argued that despite the large amounts of aid provided to developing countries very few of them have actually developed much because much of it was not intended for development   (Thomas and Allen, 2000).   This means that for foreign loan or aids to achieve its developmental objectives, governments must channel them to appropriate sector of economy and ensure good and effective management of the resources. The promotion of economic growth and drive towards globalised world has also met with resistance due to the replacement of old way of life with new ones (OConnor, 2002). This issue is really retarding economic development because some people find it extremely very difficult to adapt to changes. Some in developing countries has expressed concern and their discontent with   foreign influences which have invaded their ways of life, stressing that development does not necessarily have be accompanied with disposal of even the good cultural values that previously existed (Athreya, 2002), (Varley, 2002), (OToole and Macgarvey, 2003). It is argued that that is direct relationship between economic development and ways of life. Some of the fundamental cultures of developed countries are introduced to developing countries because they assumed it is the part of development theories that succeed in the developed countries. Meanwhile, most of the developing countries have their ways doing things and find it difficult to change. In addition economic growth does not compensate for the depletion of damage caused to the environment from which peoples livelihoods, health and future development depend (Thirlwal, 2003). This therefore means that economic development include economic growths, even distribution of incomes, enhanced standard of livings and increased productivity. Another aspect of development worth noting is definition of scope of development by different entities over time. Some choose to define it narrowly as was the case in colonial days, while others such as dependence theorists and most of the people centred and sustainable development approaches have a broader conceptualisation of development (Leys, 1996), (Pieterse, 2001), (Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall, 2004).   They all see development from different angle and perspective but they all pointing to one direction that economic development is something that must be pursue and achieved. This is more so of current rights based approaches and in particular the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which articulate development as a set of entitlements which people have the right to demand realisation of from their governments and the international community (Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall, 2004), (OHCHR, 1986). It is the duty of every government to ensure economic development and ensure it is supported with productivity and adequate resources. Due to this broader meaning, development is no longer confined to prescriptions from donors, special interest groups, elected representatives or technocrats. It includes everything required for human well being (Nayyar, 2003), (Sen, 1999) . Development ensures freedom to all citizens and empowered them towards contributing meaningfully to the success of their state.

Mechanical Engineers :: Technology, Informative

A mechanical engineer works with the principles of motion, energy and force. Usually a machine changes one form of movement into another. Mechanical engineers design machines whose parts work in a safe, reliable and efficient way. Mechanical engineers apply scientific method to find the answers to mechanical problems. Many laws and principles developed by scientists are used every day by the mechanical engineer. Mechanical engineers contribute to many industries and occupations. Some mechanical engineers work in areas not usually thought to require engineering. Efforts to clean up and preserve the earth's environment have drawn many mechanical engineers to projects that deal with the treatment of water, soil and waste material. Mechanical engineers also work with physicians, therapists and other medical professionals to study the workings of the human body and design aids and instruments for mechanic. Mechanical engineers work in industry, consulting practices, universities and government research. Most mechanical engineers are employed in industry at equipment manufacturers, aerospace companies, utilities, and many other large and small companies. Job responsibilities range from basic research and systems design to power plant operations and quality control. Mechanical engineers earn good salaries. A starting engineer with a bachelor's degree may earn $40,000 a year. The median salary for an engineer is over $65,000. Earnings depend on experience and training. The government tends to pay its engineers slightly less than the going rate in private industry. Large companies that high mechanical engineers usually offer complete benefit packages. The benefits include health insurance, life insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacations and holidays and travel expenses.

Alexander Pushkin “I loved you…” (1829) Essay

The poem by an outstanding Russian poet Alexander Pushkin â€Å"I loved you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1829) is a pure representation of the poet’s warm feelings toward a woman who did not replied on his close attention to her beauty and nature (Pushkin). It is a confession of the poet who lives in the atmosphere of reveries about this girl. Thus, the poem under analysis is not joyful or sad in representation, but holds a sum of Pushkin’s remarks on the woman’s beauty. First of all, one should notice the form in which the poem is executed. It is meant here that Pushkin describes his feelings as if he recognizes that the girl described will never be his anymore. Instead, the love of the persona is outlined as longing for happiness of the object of his love. Second, by â€Å"I do not want to sadden you again† the persona shows a respectful attitude toward the love that passed (Pushkin). Tangibility and sincerity of the feelings are highlighted in the strokes below. A fragile soul of the poet longs for making happiness in love real for his heroine. Third, the persona refuses selfishness or a somehow continued struggle for the girl’s love, as he wishes her: â€Å"I pray God grant another love you so† (Pushkin). This makes the overall poem look splendid and full of the highest vibes of a man who falls deeply in love with a woman. To conclude, Pushkin managed to reach out the depths of a reader’s consciousness by using a well-polished and concise representation of his own sincere, warm, and mild feelings toward a woman. It makes the classic notion of love more comprehensive to everyone who encounters this poem for the first time. Works Cited Pushkin, Alexander. I loved you. 2010. 27 July 2010 .

Oppression Theory That Supports Horizontal Violence Process Essay

Nurses are known to be the devoted caregiver of sick patients. How can the patients get rid of their burden if their own caregivers are in conflict among each other in hospital settings? When there is conflict in such kind of environment, it is called horizontal violence, interpersonal conflict or bullying which is aggressive and destructive behavior of nurses against each other (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). It is an expression of oppressed group behavior evolving from feelings of low self-esteem and lack of respect from others which is supported by the theory of oppression. According to the theory stated by Woelfle & McCaffrey (2007), in order for the horizontal violence to take place in the nursing setting, oppression exists when a powerful and dominant group controls and exploits a less influential or easy target group. As a consequence the oppressed group displays low self esteem and self hatred as evidenced by anger and frustration (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). The theory of oppression helps to explain that the behaviors of horizontal violence aren’t directed at the individual but rather is a response to the specific situation where one feels fear of punishment that prevents the nurse from responding to the oppression. When people feel oppressed they feel inferior and powerless. These kinds of nurses who feel powerless behave aggressively towards peers to relieve tension because they can’t fight against their oppressor. That results to the display of emotion which victimize the colleague where the colleague or the coworker gets the feeling of vulnerability or prone to be hurt. The emotion or body language often includes rolling of the eyes, folding the arms or storming out of the room, using sarcasm, raised voice and shouting. These people manipulate the work environment while denying doing anything wrong and get satisfied from experiential difficulty and discomfort of others. These negative behaviors have obvious results in human mind leading to anxiety and stress at work. This cycle of denial maintains its own pattern of repeated action against the vulnerable group and allows the power relations to be unchallenged. Rather than fighting back and risking from the superiors/violence creators, the oppressed groups’ frustration is manifested as conflict in their own ranks with horizontal violence from coworker to coworker. Hence, people  begin to think this kind of behavior as a norm which they displace their feeling of aggression to another highly prone groups such as new grad nurse or student and even less confident coworkers. This cycle of behavior is typically described as horizontal violence (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). As an example, a coworker in a unit behaves aggressively in a reaction to their own part of stress by acting aggressively and displacing their anger to another same or lower hierarchical level group or coworker. Another coworker as a victim gets devastated with this behavior especially if the superior authority or managers don’t acknowledge the behavior. Hence the victim feels angry, frustrated and vulnerable continuing the cycle of horizontal violence. Rather than fighting back against the aggressor, this group accepts this as a behavioral norm which they unconsciously displace to other lower or same hierarchical level coworker such as grad nurse or the nursing students. These nursing students or grad nurses later learn to displace their stress to other with the verbal or nonverbal expression giving the feeling of vulnerability to the prone groups. Hence this cycle of oppression continues as a horizontal violence in the work place area as part of the work stress. Consequently the oppressed group often lack autonomy, accountability and control over their profession (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). Horizontal violence is a purposeful ongoing collection of often negative behaviors and actions that accumulate over time. Moreover, it includes repeated acts involving an imbalance of strength or power, in which one or more individuals engage in over time with the intention to harm other and create a hostile work environment. They displace their part of frustration to others in the form of negative verbal or nonverbal expression. The cycle of oppression continues which is supported by the theory of oppression. The result of horizontal violence affects nurses, nursing managers, other medical and administrative staff, patient and their family. It is clear that horizontal violence is everywhere in nursing today and can drastically affect the nursing area. When the tension is elevated in the patient care, nurses cannot perform their best which often lead to poor quality patient care (Woelfle & McCaffrey, 2007). Reference: Woelfle, C. Y. & McCaffrey, R. ( July-September, 2007). Nurse on nurse. Nursing Forum, Vol 42(3), p123-131

Free Essays on Iago - Othello

, Iago’s only reason for destroying Othello is that Iago is an inherently bad person. The conversations that Iago has with Roderigo and Cassio show that Iago invents reasons for his actions against Othello, so that his own selfish ends can be met. Iago’s first dialog with Roderigo serves as an introduction to Iago’s plan. In this scene the reader learns that Rod... Free Essays on Iago - Othello Free Essays on Iago - Othello As villain in Shakespeare’s play Othello, Iago has two main actions. They are to plot and to deceive. Iago hates Othello for two reasons. He believes that Othello made love to his wife, and Iago is mad that Cassio was chosen to be Lieutenant instead of himself. From this hate comes the main conflict of the play. Iago plans to ruin Othello by carrying out a plan based on lies and deceit. This plan will make Iago the only person that Othello believes he can trust, and Iago will use this trust to manipulate Othello. First, Iago plans to remove Cassio from his position as lieutenant so that he himself take over Cassio’s position as confidant and Lieutenant to Othello. Then Iago hopes to convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. If Iago’s plan unfolds properly, he will be granted the revenge that he believes he deserves. Iago’s plan and his motives are disclosed through a series three of conversations. He speaks with Roderigo twice and Ca ssio once. These three conversations show how Iago manipulates others to gain his own ends, and they also give motives for Iago’s behaviour. The conversations all follow the same pattern. Iago first speaks with Roderigo and Cassio to forward his plan, and then Iago has a soliloquy in which he discusses his motives. Iago states that the reasons for his hate are that Othello slept with Emilia and Cassio was chosen to be Othello’s Lieutenant. However, Iago’s actions lead to ends that do not revenge his given motives. Coleridge calls Iago’s actions "the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity" . In other words, Iago’s only reason for destroying Othello is that Iago is an inherently bad person. The conversations that Iago has with Roderigo and Cassio show that Iago invents reasons for his actions against Othello, so that his own selfish ends can be met. Iago’s first dialog with Roderigo serves as an introduction to Iago’s plan. In this sc ene the reader learns that Rod...

Critically analyze laws of comparative advantage Essay

Critically analyze laws of comparative advantage - Essay Example The theory of comparative advantage formulated by English economist David Ricardo in the early nineteenth century1. Ricardo encouraged each country to specialize in producing commodities for which it is best suited and then trade with other countries to obtain a wide variety of goods. The increased efficiency of production within each country makes greater worldwide consumption possible. This theory suggests that all nations have an interest in opposing restraints on trade. If less developed countries (LDCs) remain isolated and closed to foreign trade and investment, they lose opportunities to benefit from the technology, capital, and consumer goods offered by industrialized nations (Barry Clark, 1998). The theory of comparative advantage, of course, argues that unrestricted exchange between countries will increase the total amount of world output if each country tends to specialize in those goods that it can produce at a relatively lower cost compared to potential trading partners. Each country then will trade some of those lower-cost goods with other nations for goods that can be produced elsewhere more cheaply than at home. At the end of the day, with free trade among nations, all countries will find that their consumption possibilities lie outside their domestic production possibilities. The basic theory assumes that all the factors of production are... Further, it is assumed that perfect competition, and not monopoly production prevails and that all resources in each country are fully employed. The last is an especially important assumption, particularly for less-developed nations, since with less-than-fully employed resources, tariffs or other forms of protection (including subsidies) to block imports and to increase domestic employment could well be the preferred policy. With less-than-fully employed resources, the key allocative issue becomes an internal mobilization of domestic resources to their full use, rather than a reallocation among alternative uses. To be reasonably confident in applying the basic Ricardian analysis and its conclusions to any country or situation, it seems sensible, in practice, to inquire to what degree the assumptions of the theory conform to the reality of the economy under investigation. (James M. Cypher, James L. Dietz, 1998) While these are important considerations having to do with the validity of assumptions in practice, there are other concerns about a blanket endorsement of the comparative advantage argument and free trade recommendations for less-developed nations. Joan Robinson's comment on the real-time effect of following free trade and specialization, at least as far as Portugal was concerned in Ricardo's original example, remains provocative and presages our reformulation. (James M. Cypher, James L. Dietz, 1998) . . The imposition of free trade on Portugal killed off a promising textile industry and left her with a slow-growing export market for wine, while for England, exports of cotton cloth led to accumulation, mechanization and the whole

Russia culture 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Russia culture 1 - Essay Example They mostly operate an autocratic management style whereby the leader has more power than committees. Their mode of communication in business is very formal. Russia has many ethnic groups, and each individual group has their form of music. Therefore, the culture has diverse music. Their traditional music was mainly ritual folk songs and the holy music of the Orthodox Church (Rickman, Mead, and Gorer 65). In the 19th century, they developed their music and were the founders of classical music. Their music has developed over time and has been characterized with improvement in use of musical instruments The Russians believe in respect for the old people and that failure to obey them results in misfortunes. The formal greetings for males are bone-crushing handshakes, and a soft handshake implies that one is unhappy. Eye contact is valued since it is a sign of honesty between the communicating parties. Women and girls kiss three times or can hug one another. Gift giving is highly appreciated, and it is a taboo to visit other people and fail to take to them gifts or presents. The Russians are very superstitious. They believe in the evil look and do not want unknown people commenting good things about their property. They believe that carrying empty buckets or cans is a sign of bad omen. They also believe that touching their money makes it unprofitable. Russians value wedding so much and the finances to be spent are only limited to the financial ability of the families. To them, it is a big occasion and would lead to lasting enmity if a person ruined that day. The wedding dress is hidden from the male and is supposed to be a surprise to him. The value of the wedding ring defines the amount of love that the bride has for the groom (Rickman, Mead, and Gorer 85). After death, Russians wash the body and dresses it into expensive clothes. The death of the elderly is very sorrowful, and they are treated with respect on

Real Estate Development MSc Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Real Estate Development MSc - Personal Statement Example f structures often blind to others and enabled me to gain deeper understanding of the CAD programs which contributed to the success during my work experiences. However, it became apparent that finished buildings and structures were not the entire processes, the overlaps that existed between the buildings and business made me want to dig deeper in this process that is why I have chosen to incline my career towards this direction. Though designing structures, still interests me what interest me, the most is the cost and management side of the structures. I have gone through numerous blogs and studied resource works from RICS’s surveying.com and have become intrigued by the behind the scenes logistics and work effort that are undertaken to construct buildings. A change of heart in interests has formed the basis of changing my career to be a quantity surveyor. I engaged in work placement with Northacre on may last year where my interest in the building of structures developed. I also gained practical experience in the process. Most important is that I gained firsthand knowledge on completion of a construction project from scratch, analyzing the development issues and solutions to the issues during different phases of construction. Precisely I gained experience on the various factors that have to be taken into account, whether they are related to the designs or the stockholders. I learnt how to create designs using the CAD software and how to make the presentations to clients. During my time at Northacre I spent a lot of time engaging with both architects and quantity surveyors. It is at his point that I decided that the property development side was my way to go and follow. I have been greatly inspired by the experience I have gained during my placement period that is why I have selected property development as the topic of my dissertation that proves my desire and thirst for knowledge of the construction development process. I marvel at built world that surrounds

Friedrich Nietzsche Essay Example for Free

Friedrich Nietzsche Essay Existentialism provides a moving account of the agony of being in the world. The spirit of existen- tialism has a long history in philosophy. But it be- came a major movement in the second half of the 20th century. Existentialism is not a systematic body of thought like Marxism or psychoanalysis. Instead, it is more like an umbrella under which a very wide range of thinkers struggled with ques- tions about the meaning of life. Much of the appeal and popularity of Existential- ism is due to the sense of confusion, the crisis, and the feeling of rejection and rootlessness that Euro- peans felt during World War II and its aftermath. Existentialism’s focus on each person’s role in cre- ating meaning in their life was a major influence on the Phenomenological and Humanistic traditions in psychology and on the â€Å"human potential† move- ment that emerged from them. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) said, â€Å"Conquer your- self rather than the world. †. To modern existential- ists this means that the World itself has no real meaning or purpose. It is not the unfolding expres- sion of Human Destiny or a Divine plan, or even a set of natural laws. The only meaning is that which we create by acts of will. To have a meaningful life we have to act. But we should act without hope. Acting is meaningful but it doesn’t create meaning that lasts beyond the acts themselves or beyond our own lifetime. You are what you do – while you are doing it – and then nothing. (Very depressing. ) In The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus (pronounced â€Å"Kam-moo†) (1913-1960) describes life as a kind of hopeless, endless, uphill labor. Hence, the only true problem is that of suicide. Yet, he rejects nihilism; for the human being must fight and never accept defeat. The problem is to be a saint without a God. The last judgment takes place everyday. The human being must do his best, try for what he can within the confinements of his situation. Camus describes Sisyphus condemned by the gods to push a stone up a hill over and over, only to have it roll back down each time he reaches the top. A task that can never be completed. But he finds meaning in the fact that Sisyphus at least gets to decide each time whether to carry on or end it all. Camus says, The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a mans heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. Although there can never be any meaning in Sisy- phus’ task, there is meaning is choosing each time to continue. Despite encompassing a staggering range of phi- losophical, religious, and political ideologies, the underlying concepts of existentialism are simple: Mankind has free will. Life is a series of choices, creating stress. Few decisions are without any negative conse- quences. Some things are irrational or absurd, without explanation. If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through. Notes on Existentialism by Tanweer Akram. The fundamental problem of existentialism is con- cerned with the study of being. The human beings existence is the first and basic fact; the human be- ing has no essence that comes before his existence. The human being, as a being, is nothing. This nothingness and the non-existence of an essence is the central source of the freedom the human being faces in each and every moment. The human being Notes on Existentialism Compiled for PSY 345 (Fall 2004) Existentialism Notes 2 has liberty in view of his situation, in decisions which makes himself and sets himself to solves his problems and live in the world. Thrown into the world, the human being is con- demned to be free. The human being must take this freedom of being and the responsibility and guilt of his actions. Each action negates the other possible courses of action and their consequences; so the human being must be accountable without excuse. The human being must not slip away from his re- sponsibilities. The human being must take deci- sions and assume responsibilities. There is no sig- nificance in this world, this universe. The human being cannot find any purpose in life; his existence is only a contingent fact. His being does not emerge from necessity. If a human being rejects the false pretensions, the illusions of his existence hav- ing a meaning, he encounters the absurdity, the fu- tility of life. The human beings role in the world is not predetermined or fixed; every person is com- pelled to make a choice. Choice is one thing the human being must make. The trouble is that most often the human being refuses to choose. Hence, he cannot realize his freedom and the futility of his existence. Basically existence is of two types: authentic and inauthentic forms of existence. Authentic existence is contrasted with dynamic and is the being-for- itself, rising from the human beings bad faith, by which the human being moves away from the bur- den of responsibility, through this beliefs in dogma and by regarding himself as subject to outside in- fluences and his actions to be predetermined. There is a striking contrast between the authentic and the inauthentic forms of being; the authentic being is the being of the human being and the inau- thentic being is the being for things. Yet, authentic being is only rarely attained by the human being; still it is what the human being must strive to gain. The inauthentic being-in-itself is characteristically distinctive of things; it is what the human being is diseased with for his failure to see himself as and act according as a free agent and his impotency to reject bad faith. Things are only what they are. But the human being is what can be. Things are deter- mined, fixed, and rigid; the human being is free; he can add essence to his life in the course of his life and he is in a constant state of flux and is able to comprehend his situation. The human being does not live in a pre-determined world; the human be- ing is free to realize his aims, to materialize his dreams; hence, he has only the destiny he forges for himself because in this world nothing happens out of necessity. The human being hides himself from freedom by self-deception, acting like a thing, as if he is a pas- sive subject, instead of realizing the authentic be- ing for the human being; this is bad faith. In bad faith, the human being shelter himself from re- sponsibility by not noticing the dimensions of al- ternative courses of action facing him; in bad faith, the human being behaves as others demand of him by conforming to the standards of accepted values and by adopting roles designed for him; in bad faith, the human being loses the autonomy of his moral will, his freedom to decide; in bad faith, the human being imprisons himself within inauthentic- ity for he has refused to take the challenge of re- sponsibility and the anxiety that comes along with his freedom. Anxiety ascends from the human beings realiza- tion that the human beings destiny is not fixed but is open to an undetermined future of infinite possi- bilities and limitless scope: The emptiness of fu- ture destiny must be filled by making choices for which he alone will assume responsibility and blame. This anxiety is present at every moment of the human beings existence; anxiety is part and parcel of authentic existence. Anxiety leads the human being to take decisions and be committed. The human being tries to avoid this anguish through bad faith. But the free human being, in his authenticity, must be involved; for his own actions are only his, his responsibility is to himself, his being is his own. The human being must be com- mitted. To be committed means not to support this in place of that, but to attach a human beings total- ity to a cause; it is the human beings existential freedom that leads to total commitment. Existentialist thinkers begin from the human situa- tion in the world; the condition of despair, the modes of existence, the human beings tendency to avoid authentic existence, his relation to things, his own body, and to other beings, with whom he can- not come into genuine communication, and the sufferings of life. Starting from the study of being, each existentialist thinkers originate their own doc- trines, with their own emphasis on particular as- pects. Very often their viewpoints is conflicting and sometimes contradictory; yet this philosophi-cal attitude of being, as a whole, can be described as the existentialist movement, which stresses upon the being of the human being. Existentialism Notes 3 Additional Notes on Existentialism Existentialism, philosophical movement or ten- dency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Major Themes Because of the diversity of positions associated with existentialism, the term is impossible to define precisely. Certain themes common to virtually all existentialist writers can, however, be identified. The term itself suggests one major theme: the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice. Moral Individualism Most philosophers since Plato have held that the highest ethical good is the same for everyone; inso- far as one approaches moral perfection, one resem- bles other morally perfect individuals. The 19th- century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who was the first writer to call himself existential, reacted against this tradition by insisting that the highest good for the individual is to find his or her own unique vocation. As he wrote in his journal, â€Å"I must find a truth that is true for me . . . the idea for which I can live or die. † Other existentialist writers have echoed Kierkegaards belief that one must choose ones own way without the aid of universal, objective standards. Against the traditional view that moral choice involves an objective judgment of right and wrong, existentialists have argued that no objective, rational basis can be found for moral decisions. The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche further contended that the indi- vidual must decide which situations are to count as moral situations. SubjectivityAll existentialists have followed Kierkegaard in s tressing the importance of passionate individual action in deciding questions of both morality and truth. They have insisted, accordingly, that per- sonal experience and acting on ones own convic- tions are essential in arriving at the truth. Thus, the understanding of a situation by someone involved in that situation is superior to that of a detached, objective observer. This emphasis on the perspec- tive of the individual agent has also made existen- tialists suspicious of systematic reasoning. Kierke- gaard, Nietzsche, and other existentialist writers have been deliberately unsystematic in the exposi- tion of their philosophies, preferring to express themselves in aphorisms, dialogues, parables, and other literary forms. Despite their antirationalist position, however, most existentialists cannot be said to be irrationalists in the sense of denying all validity to rational thought. They have held that rational clarity is desirable wherever possible, but that the most important questions in life are not accessible to reason or science. Furthermore, they have argued that even science is not as rational as is commonly supposed. Nietzsche, for instance, asserted that the scientific assumption of an orderly universe is for the most part a useful fiction. Choice and Commitment Perhaps the most prominent theme in existentialist writing is that of choice. Humanitys primary dis- tinction, in the view of most existentialists, is the freedom to choose. Existentialists have held that human beings do not have a fixed nature, or es- sence, as other animals and plants do; each human being makes choices that create his or her own na- ture. In the formulation of the 20th-century French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, existence precedes essence. Choice is therefore central to human exis- tence, and it is inescapable; even the refusal to choose is a choice. Freedom of choice entails com- mitment and responsibility. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued, they must accept the risk and respon- sibility of following their commitment wherever it leads. Dread and Anxiety Kierkegaard held that it is spiritually crucial to rec- ognize that one experiences not only a fear of spe- cific objects but also a feeling of general apprehen- sion, which he called dread. He interpreted it as Gods way of calling each individual to make a commitment to a personally valid way of life. The word anxiety (German Angst) has a similarly cru- cial role in the work of the 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger; anxiety leads to the individuals confrontation with nothingness and with the impossibility of finding ultimate justifica- tion for the choices he or she must make. In the philosophy of Sartre, the word nausea is used for the individuals recognition of the pure contin- gency of the universe, and the word anguish is used for the recognition of the total freedom of choice that confronts the individual at every mo- ment. Existentialism Notes 4 History Existentialism as a distinct philosophical and liter- ary movement belongs to the 19th and 20th centu- ries, but elements of existentialism can be found in the thought (and life) of Socrates, in the Bible, and in the work of many premodern philosophers and writers. Pascal The first to anticipate the major concerns of mod- ern existentialism was the 17th-century French phi- losopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal rejected the rigorous rationalism of his contemporary Rene Descartes, asserting, in his Pensees (1670), that a systematic philosophy that presumes to explain God and hu- manity is a form of pride. Like later existentialist writers, he saw human life in terms of paradoxes: The human self, which combines mind and body, is itself a paradox and contradiction. Kierkegaard Kierkegaard, generally regarded as the founder of modern existentialism, reacted against the system- atic absolute idealism of the 19th-century German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, who claimed to have worked out a total rational understanding of hu- manity and history. Kierkegaard, on the contrary, stressed the ambiguity and absurdity of the human situation. The individuals response to this situation must be to live a totally committed life, and this commitment can only be understood by the indi- vidual who has made it. The individual therefore must always be prepared to defy the norms of soci- ety for the sake of the higher authority of a person- ally valid way of life. Kierkegaard ultimately advo- cated a â€Å"leap of faith† into a Christian way of life, which, although incomprehensible and full of risk, was the only commitment he believed could save the individual from despair. Nietzsche Nietzsche, who was not acquainted with the work of Kierkegaard, influenced subsequent existential- ist thought through his criticism of traditional metaphysical and moral assumptions and through his espousal of tragic pessimism and the life- affirming individual will that opposes itself to the moral conformity of the majority. In contrast to Kierkegaard, whose attack on conventional moral- ity led him to advocate a radically individualistic Christianity, Nietzsche proclaimed the â€Å"death of God† and went on to reject the entire Judeo- Christian moral tradition in favor of a heroic pagan ideal. Heidegger Heidegger, like Pascal and Kierkegaard, reacted against an attempt to put philosophy on a conclu- sive rationalistic basis—in this case the phenome- nology of the 20th-century German philosopher Edmund Husserl. Heidegger argued that humanity finds itself in an incomprehensible, indifferent world. Human beings can never hope to under- stand why they are here; instead, each individual must choose a goal and follow it with passionate conviction, aware of the certainty of death and the ultimate meaninglessness of ones life. Heidegger contributed to existentialist thought an original em- phasis on being and ontology as well as on lan- guage. Sartre Sartre first gave the term existentialism general currency by using it for his own philosophy and by becoming the leading figure of a distinct move- ment in France that became internationally influen- tial after World War II. Sartres philosophy is ex- plicitly atheistic and pessimistic; he declared that human beings require a rational basis for their lives but are unable to achieve one, and thus human life is a â€Å"futile passion. † Sartre nevertheless insisted that his existentialism is a form of humanism, and he strongly emphasized human freedom, choice, and responsibility. He eventually tried to reconcile these existentialist concepts with a Marxist analy- sis of society and history. Existentialism and Theology Although existentialist thought encompasses the uncompromising atheism of Nietzsche and Sartre and the agnosticism of Heidegger, its origin in the intensely religious philosophies of Pascal and Kierkegaard foreshadowed its profound influence on 20th-century theology. The 20th-century Ger- man philosopher Karl Jaspers, although he rejected explicit religious doctrines, influenced contempo- rary theology through his preoccupation with tran- scendence and the limits of human experience. The German Protestant theologians Paul Tillich and Rudolf Bultmann, the French Roman Catholic theologian Gabriel Marcel, the Russian Orthodox philosopher Nikolay Berdyayev, and the German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber inherited many Existentialism Notes 5 of Kierkegaards concerns, especially that a per- sonal sense of authenticity and commitment is es- sential to religious faith. Existentialism and Literature A number of existentialist philosophers used liter- ary forms to convey their thought, and existential- ism has been as vital and as extensive a movement in literature as in philosophy. The 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky is probably the greatest existentialist literary figure. In Notes from the Underground (1864), the alienated anti- hero rages against the optimistic assumptions of rationalist humanism. The view of human nature that emerges in this and other novels of Dostoyevsky is that it is unpredictable and per- versely self-destructive; only Christian love can save humanity from itself, but such love cannot be understood philosophically. As the character Alyo- sha says in The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80), â€Å"We must love life more than the meaning of it. † In the 20th century, the novels of the Austrian Jew- ish writer Franz Kafka, such as The Trial (1925; trans. 1937) and The Castle (1926; trans. 1930), present isolated men confronting vast, elusive, menacing bureaucracies; Kafkas themes of anxi- ety, guilt, and solitude reflect the influence of Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, and Nietzsche. The in- fluence of Nietzsche is also discernible in the nov- els of the French writers Andre Malraux and in the plays of Sartre. The work of the French writer Al- bert Camus is usually associated with existential- ism because of the prominence in it of such themes as the apparent absurdity and futility of life, the indifference of the universe, and the necessity of engagement in a just cause. Existentialist themes are also reflected in the theater of the absurd, nota- bly in the plays of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. In the United States, the influence of exis- tentialism on literature has been more indirect and diffuse, but traces of Kierkegaards thought can be found in the novels of Walker Percy and John Up- dike, and various existentialist themes are apparent in the work of such diverse writers as Norman Mailer, John Barth, and Arthur Miller. Conclusion Existentialists make endless claims. They never bother to show how they reached their claims or if these are, indeed, true. The existentialists when he pretends to present a representation of reality pro- vides no cognition; unverifiable assertions may well express powerful and even necessary emo- tions and passions, but thats best left to the arts and literature. Existentialism is a highly passionate philosophy and, from the outset, seems to aim at a dynamic and fashionable life-style. Also it is mostly unsys- tematic and pays little attention to logic or science. Whatever one makes of its metaphysical claims, one cannot deny that existentialism was able to provide a moving account of the spirit of the con- temporary world and the nausea and frustration of survival. Indeed, it is basically for its richness in psychological insight and its impact on culture that existentialist philosophy will continued to be stud- ied.