Ashoka Maurya’s Conversion to Buddhism: Effect on the History of India Essay

Ashoka Maurya was one of the most influential leaders in India’s history. The British historian H. G. Wells in his work The Outline of History said of Ashoka, â€Å"amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history†¦ the name of Ashoka shines, and shines almost alone, a star† (94). Ashoka’s eventual aversion to violence and war, his honesty in admitting his mistakes, and his concern for the welfare of his people not only made him shine as brilliantly as a star, but also dramatically changed the history of India. Yet since many legends were simply nothing more than a popular yearning for an exemplary ruler, none of the references were taken too seriously at first. Ashoka was portrayed as too good to be true: the ruthless, cruel leader who saw the light and transformed into the supreme benevolent ruler. When he was evil, Buddhists legends contended he killed ninety-nine brothers to obtain the throne after his father. As the transformed benevolent king, Buddhist legends claimed he built 84,000 monasteries and almost as many stupas in one day. Scholars did not take this king too seriously. Renewed interest in this legendary figure came with the discovery of rock and stone pillars containing edicts engraved during the reign of Ashoka. In 1879, Alexander Cunningham published a translation of these inscriptions. Even more engravings were discovered with the latest four found in 1969. These stone inscriptions provided a rare access to the personalized edicts dictated by Ashoka and thus, were a primary source concerning this king. Gradually, as rock and pillar inscriptions were scrutinized, scholars began to consider Ashoka a legitimate historical figure and to evaluate his place in India’s history. The rock and pillar edicts were critical in understanding and documenting the changes Ashoka brought to India for they were a record in his very own words. Romila Thapar described the benefit of these exclusive inscriptions: â€Å"It is rare in Indian history to have access to the personalized edicts of a king†¦ in this we are fortunate† (Thapar 16). Ashoka’s edicts, engraved on rocks and stone pillars between 264 and 262 BCE, were scattered throughout India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The location of the rock engravings was governed by the accessibility of suitable slabs of stone. The pillars, on the other hand, were placed in very specific locations. For example, one marked the birthplace of Buddha. Others were found near populated areas to be seen by as many people as possible. The pillar edicts, between forty and fifty feet in height, weighed up to fifty tons. They were all quarried between 247 and 242 BCE in the Chunar Hills along the Ganges River and sometimes transported over one hundred miles to the location where they were erected. The pillars were originally capped with a roaring lion, a bull, or a spirited horse. These stone works reflected the great art and design of the Indian culture. The history regarding Ashoka was chiefly known from these rock and pillar edicts. This research shows the transformation that occurred in the country of India because of Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism. First, this study investigates the three aggressive generations of the Mauryan Dynasty to provide background and to shed light on the caliber of leadership training Ashoka received from his upbringing. One must understanding Ashoka’s family history in order to comprehend the difference he made after his conversion. Secondly, this research covers the causes of Ashoka’s conversion, which builds an understanding of the personal and political benefits for him. His remorse and shame after a bloody battle, which he instigated and took responsibility for, were the catalyst to his conversion. The methodology for this paper places the highest emphasis on the translations of rock and pillar edicts found throughout the Indian subcontinent. These inscriptions are a primary source: Ashoka’s own words. From numerous readings of these edicts, evolves this research query: how much did India change after Ashoka’s conversion? The various edicts contain Ashoka’s interpretation of Buddhist doctrine, his personal changes, or India’s policy changes. Not every edict is documented in this paper for there is not room or need to do that. The edicts of primary impact on India are discussed. Scholars and translators have labeled and numbered the rock and pillar edicts inscribed by Ashoka. Most of the rock edicts were catalogued simply by the abbreviation RE with a number. For example, the fourteenth rock edict was labeled RE 14. The pillar edicts were handled the same way only using PE as the abbreviation. Sometimes the edicts listed the location in front of the abbreviation, as with Kalinga RE 1. This study uses these abbreviations within the text. Gokhale (1966) includes citations from Arthastastra, a book on government and economics written during the Mauryan Dynasty. This book is critical in understanding the impact of the changes Ashoka makes. How Ashoka Maurya’s Conversion to Buddhism Affected the History of India Ashoka Maurya was the third ruler of the Mauryan Dynasty about 263 BCE. After a bloody battle in Kalinga, he renounced brutality and endeavored to rule his empire rule according to the Buddhist doctrine of nonviolence. His grandfather and father did not follow Buddhism. Chandragupta, Ashoka’s grandfather, was the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty about 325 BCE. After Ashoka’s father, Bindusara, ruled for approximately twenty-five years, he handed the empire over to Ashoka. Northwestern India, in the fourth century BCE, consisted of independent tribes ineffective in uniting against outside resistance. Alexander conquered one tribe after another like a tornado ripping through the country. Yet after he returned to Greece, the leaders he left in place were soon murdered or overthrown. There was not enough support to sustain Alexander’s conquests. The significance of the Greek invasions and aftermath for India was that â€Å"Alexander had shattered the power of numerous petty kingdoms†¦ and created a military turbulence and a political weakness that were soon exploited by Chandragupta Maurya† (Gokhale 25). The young, strong, and ruthless Chandragupta, an opportunist with Kautalya’s encouragement, took advantage of this time to seize power. Under Chandragupta, the empire enjoyed great success. Much of the wealth came from widespread foreign trade with Greece, Rome, and China. The affluence was not gained for him, but he used the wealth to improve his empire, including irrigation systems and new roads. His example of investing in the empire would later be seen with Ashoka. Megasthenes, a Greek historian living in India at the time, recorded his personal observations concerning the Mauryan rule in Indika. Gokhale quoted excerpts from Indika: Ashoka’s father, Bindusara, extended the Mauryan Empire and conquered the land between the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. At the time of Bindusara’s death, about 273 BCE, almost the entire Indian subcontinent was part of the Mauryan Dynasty. The only troublesome territory was Kalinga on the eastern coast. His son, Ashoka, would eventually obtain this area by brutal force and regret thisaction for the rest of his life. Ashoka was next in line to rule the flourishing Mauryan Dynasty. During the first years of Ashoka’s rule, he was as warlike as his grandfather conquering tribes in the east and earning the name â€Å"one without sorrow. † The province of Kalinga, a rich and fertile land outside Ashoka’s empire, remained independent and was particularly troublesome to him. Ashoka determined that the future of his empire was threatened, if he did not control Kalinga. Another motive for wanting control of this province was that valuable trade routes passed through it. About 261 BCE in the eighth year of his reign, Ashoka marched towards Kalinga. King Ashoka’s reaction to the battle was unique. â€Å"Never before in the history of humanity, nor afterwards, has a king publicly expressed genuine grief for a deed commonly regarded as the legitimate business of kings. The war of Kalinga was the first and last war waged by Ashoka† (Gokhale 59). History did not record exactly when Ashoka converted to Buddhism, but his own words in stone certainly recorded the impact this battle had on his moving towards the non-violent doctrine of Buddhism. Some historians believed that Ashoka had already converted before the battle at Kalinga. Scholars felt his commitment to the non-violent doctrine of Buddhism simply grew after he witnesses the destruction (Guruge 52). Using the dates of K. Rangaswami, Ashoka was crowned as king and joined the Buddhists as a laymen the same year, 269 BCE (145). The battle at Kalinga was fought three years later. Rock inscriptions found in three different sites said: â€Å"I did not progress well for a year. † Another important piece to understanding why Ashoka chose Buddhism was his upbringing. His early education under Hindu beliefs paralleled particular Buddhist doctrine, including the importance of one’s dharma, or moral duty. Ashoka was raised under the teachings Kautalya, a Brahmin and a contemporary of Aristotle. Kautalya’s ideologies regarding a king’s responsibilities were recorded in his book, Arthashastra, literally meaning principles of wealth. The writings expanded beyond wealth to a pragmatic philosophy regarding all the responsibilities of statehood: taxation, administration, law, diplomacy, trade, labor, and land occupancy. The Arthashastra explained that a king had two objectives: â€Å"one of which was the exercise of power, and the other the practice of benevolence† (Gokhale 39). This balance was ingrained in the Mauryan rulers as all three were raised under Kautalya’s principles of statehood. Kautalya taught that power â€Å"could be legitimate only if used in pursuit of the dharma† (Gokhale 38). Dharma was a central concept in both Hinduism and Buddhism. Ashoka embraced the doctrine of dharma before his conversion for this belief was part of Kautalya’s training. Buddhism was appealing to this king because he was comfortable with dharma. The Mauryan king eventually rejected the Brahmin’s teaching regarding the necessary show of force, and became infamous for proclaiming dharma in every area of government. Who was personally responsible for Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism? The rock and pillar inscriptions did not give one-person credit. History recorded a few personal encounters Ashoka had with Buddhists: his nephew, a monk in northern India and his first wife. These experiences were a positive influence in his choice of Buddhism. Ashoka throughout his whole life, before and after conversion, was tolerant and respectful of all religions. Not only did he permit all faiths to worship freely, he often invited them to the palace for their advice. Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan Buddhist text from the fifth century CE, told the tale of how dissatisfied Ashoka was after a session with Brahmins and holy men of other sects regarding the distribution of charity moneys (Gokhale 61). He stood by the palace window and noticed a young man, Nigrodha. It turned out that Nigrodha was his nephew, the son of Ashoka’s elder brother, who had been killed in a struggle for the throne after Bindusara. Given audience with the king, his nephew preached a sermon; Ashoka heard Buddhist doctrine from a family relation. The Sanskrit Buddhist text, Divyavadana gave a monk, Upagupta, the credit for Ashoka’s conversion. A whole sequence of Buddhist stories concerning Ashoka, the proverbial poster child for this religion, was quite contradictory making it hard to give them much credence. Buddhist texts tended to glorify Ashoka’s conversion (understandably so for he was great advertisement). Regardless, one can imagine that a personal encounter with a very convincing monk made an impression on Ashoka. The most historically documented encounter Ashoka had with Buddhism was with Devi, his first wife. At approximately age eighteen, Ashoka was given the responsibility to govern Avanti, a province in central India. Here tribal villages were often rebelling against their incorporation into the Mauryan Dynasty. Avanti was vital to the Mauryan Empire for its agriculture (wheat in particular), its trade, and its commerce (Gokhale 39). This province was a center for Buddhism with two major monasteries located near important trade routes that connected southern and western cities. The deeply entwined political and religious climate during Ashoka’s lifetime was an important clue in understanding his choice of Buddhism. Hinduism, the major religion at the time of Ashoka, began between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE with the entrance of the Aryans, nomadic herders from central Asia. By the third century BCE, Buddhism (still considered a sect) was emerging as an adversary to many Hindu social values, in particular the priestly hierarchy. History would later show that it was Ashoka’s attention to Buddhism that was the catalyst for its growth into a major religion in India. Economically, Buddhism was advantageous to Ashoka, also. Partially due to the Buddhist influence, the Indian social hierarchy started to see a transfer in power. Buddha’s teachings encouraged the people to reevaluate the Brahmin traditions, including the need for priests. The authority of the Brahmins was slowly shifting away to favor the merchant class. Prior to the Mauryan Dynasty and certainly during it, India was enjoying strong economical advantages. The development of trade and commerce was partially due to the growth of several trade routes crisscrossing northern, central, and western India. Many factors contributed to Ashoka’s conversion and choice of Buddhism. Ashoka had many emotional, pre-existing connections to move him in the direction of a non-violent philosophy. The battle at Kalinga produced a deep-rooted emotional response as he declared in a rock edict that he was filled with remorse, sorrow and regret. His personal encounters with a nephew, a monk, and, most importantly, a woman he loved, Devi, all contributed to favorably looking towards Buddhism. As the ruler of the Mauryan Dynasty, he wanted to provide the best for his people, and politically, Buddhism was becoming more popular than the ritualistic Brahmin ways. With many encounters with this rising religion, it was not surprising to see the third ruler of the Mauryan Dynasty embrace Buddhism. Ashoka Maurya transformed himself and his state before the very eyes of his people. He changed from a ruler trained in the Indian tradition of military conquest to a benevolent monarch. His desire for his people was inscribed in stone: â€Å"All men are my people†¦ I desire that they be provided with complete welfare and happiness in this world† (Kalinga RE 1). India for him was now a large family over whom he presided with the Buddhism as his guide. The concept of dharma was not solitary to Buddhism alone. Hindus, Jains and other popular sects at that time included a code of ethics. Dharma was part of the currency of ethical norms propounded by various teachers (Thapar 32). What made Ashoka unique was that as the most powerful man on the Indian subcontinent, he adopted a policy of goodness to all (previous enemies included) and non-violence in domestic and foreign affairs.

Psychological Terror in “the Minister’s Black Veil”

I think that, as a general rule, humans love to categorize things. We like to organize things. We like things to fit into our neat, little organized view of reality, whether it’s a can of soup we buy, a movie we watch, or a person we meet. Everything needs to fit into some sort of category and if it doesn’t fit, we create a category for it to fit into. Categories give us certain expectations about the thing we are dealing with. Stories are no exception to this idea. For example, a romance novel should be romantic, obviously; but we would assume that it also contains some sort of conflict for the hero or heroine to overcome, which eventually leads him or her to their true love, or some sort of happiness at the end. But what effect do these expectations have on our interpretation of a story? Since my goal with this essay is to attempt to categorize the â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I will need to investigate what characteristics are present, in hopes that these characteristics will lead me to some sort of definitive answer about the genre of this story. First, we must look at the elements of the story; tone and diction are very important when trying to categorize a story. The tone of the story is somewhat gloomy, and quite isolated. We are drawn into this small town’s world, as they become increasingly terrified of Minister Hooper and his strange veil. And the way the congregation of Hooper’s church see the veil when he first wears it makes it seem as though it was something much more sinister than a â€Å"simple piece of crape† (938). As he preaches about â€Å"secret sin, and those mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest† (938), no one can see his face, and thus everyone feels as though Hooper is looking at them, directing his sermon at them: Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought. Many spread their clasped hands on their bosoms. There was nothing terrible in what Mr. Hooper said, at least, no violence; and yet, with every tremor of his melancholy voice, the hearers quaked. 938 The congregation is so unsettled by this strange addition to the Minister’s visage that they cannot stop thinking about it during his sermon; â€Å"[s]o sensible were the audience of some unwonted attribute in their minister, that they longed for a breath of wind to blow aside the veil, almost believing that a stranger’s visage would be discovered, though the form, gesture, and voice were those of Mr. Hooper† (938). No one is immune to the terror that this black piece of crape invokes. The entire town is on edge and speculative as to what the veil means. And the words used to describe the veil and its effects are definitely indicative of this fear; â€Å"terrible thing† (939); â€Å"ghostlike† (939); â€Å"horrible† (940); â€Å"gloom† (940); â€Å"dismal shade† (941). This piece of fabric has separated Hooper from his beloved congregation. While they thought him a happy and benevolent man before, they now feel fear and distrust when they see him. One lady of his congregation remarks, â€Å"I would not be alone with him for the world. I wonder that he is not afraid to be alone with himself† (939). But Hooper is not immune to the sinister effects of the veil. At the wedding he officiates later the same day, he sees his reflection, and what he sees terrifies him: At that instant, catching a glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black veil involved his own spirit in the horror with which it overwhelmed all others. His frame shuddered, his lips grew white, he spilt the untasted wine upon the carpet, and rushed forth into the darkness. For the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil. 940 If we take â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† as a horror story, it leads us to certain conclusions about the nature of the veil and Hooper’s refusal to take it off. If horror is something that centers upon the horrifying or macabre, especially concerning the supernatural, one can see that this story could belong. Hooper never divulges the exact nature of the veil, and we are left to speculate about what it could possibly mean. Several possibilities present themselves if we think of this story as a horror story; it could be that the veil is covering Hooper’s face to be a constant reminder to his congregation and all who see him of secret sin. It seems that the idea that he could possibly know someone’s secret sin is terrifying to the townspeople. Indeed, this veil does give Hooper â€Å"awful power over souls that were in agony for sin† (943). Sinners fear him, because they feel that the black veil is a reference to their own personal secret sins. And the veil gives him an association with the dead and ghostly qualities; after the girl’s funeral at the beginning of the story, one woman remarks that she thought she saw Hooper walking hand in hand with the ghost of the dead girl. Such things would not have been imagined if he had never donned the veil. But however terrifying the veil is, I think this story lacks any visceral or shocking scenes. The idea of the veil hiding sins, the image of it on Hooper’s face is incredibly creepy, to be sure. But I think horror stories especially rely on the supernatural and the unknown to make them unsettling. And while this story does use the veil as an unknown, and it is unsettling, I think that the part of the story that really gets to me is the psychological torment and uneasiness that the veil casts not only on the townspeople, but on Hooper himself. Let us take the definition of a psychological story as something that focuses on the mental and emotional aspects of the characters. The terror in this story, then, is largely in the way that this simple piece of fabric gets under everyone’s skin. It isn’t a horrifying object in and of itself, and I think that is what draws me away from thinking of this as a horror story. This black piece of crape is enough to turn people against Hooper. They avoid him, stop inviting him over for dinner, picture him capable of all sorts of acts that they never would have thought him capable of prior to the veil. And imagine Hooper’s existence. He has vowed to wear the veil until death! No one knows why, although when explaining to Elizabeth why the veil must always be kept on, he says that â€Å"I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to be typified by a black veil† (941). What sorrows these are, we never find out. This again plays a large role in the psychological aspect of the story: we never know exactly what drove Hooper to end his days with the black veil on his face. Perhaps it is related to the girl that died at the beginning of the story; he first wears the veil the same day as her funeral, and in Perkins footnote to â€Å"The Black Veil†, Hawthorne is shown to have made reference in his own footnotes to Joseph Moody, a clergyman in New England who accidentally killed a friend of his in his childhood. After his friend`s death, Moody wore a black veil until his own death (Perkins and Perkins, 937). Perhaps Hawthorne`s reason for detailing this true story with â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† is a clue; if we take Hooper’s black veil as a sign of his own personal sin, and he is wearing the veil as a reminder to himself that he is a sinner, and can only be redeemed after death, then all of the effects that the veil has on the townspeople are unintentional. I think that this idea is very plausible. Hooper was generally thought to be a pushover by his congregation, who thought that it must be a phase that he would get over and take the veil off. But Hooper’s strange dedication to the veil does seem to indicate some sort of personal attachment to the idea of secret sin. Perhaps he did have something to do with the girl’s death, or was in a relationship with her before she died. Either way, the presence of the veil seems to indicate that he feels guilty about something, and feels that it is necessary to always live behind this veil as a result of that guilt. That it has an effect on other people is secondary; or at best preventative: maybe Hooper is attempting to thwart other’s sins by making public that he has his own. (1487) Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil. † The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. 12th Ed. Vol. 1. Toronto: McGraw Hill, 2009. 937 – 945. Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins. Footnote 1 to â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil†. The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. 12th Ed. Vol. 1. Toronto: McGraw Hill, 2009. 937 – 945.

Barack Obama - Announcement of Presidential Candidacy

Barack Obama Official Announcement of Candidacy for US President Delivered 10 February 2007, Springfield, Illinois You know, we all made this journey for a reason. Its humbling to see a crowd like this, but in my heart I know you didnt just come here for me. Youcame here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that shut you out, thats told you to settle, thats divided us for too long, you believe that we can be one people, reaching for whats possible, building that more perfect union. Thats the journey were on today. But let me tell you how I came to be here. As most of you know, Im not a native of this great state. I I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man then, just a year out of college. I knew no one in Chicago when I arrived, was without money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for the grand sum of 13,000 dollars a year. And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea: that I might play a small part in building a better America. My work took me to some of Chicagos poorest neighborhoods. I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced werent simply local in nature, that the decisions to close a steel mill was made by distant executives, that the lack of textbooks and computers in a school could be traced to skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away, and that when a child turns to violence I came to realize that theres a hole in that boys heart that no government alone can fill. It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education that I ever had, and where I learned the meaning of my Christian faith. After three years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator. It It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here, friends that I see here in the audience today. It was here It was here where we learned to disagree without being disagreeable; that its possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised; and that so long as were willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst. Thats why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken; thats why we were able to give health insurance to children in need; thats why we made the tax system right here in Springfield more fair and just for working families; and thats why we passed ethics reform that the cynics said could never, ever be passed. It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East, and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America. Now Now, listen, I I thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. [to audience chanting Obama] Look, I Irecognize that there is a certain presumptuousness in this, a certain audacity, to this announcement. I know that I havent spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But Ive been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change. The genius of our Founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because weve changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores. We opened railroads to the west. We landed a man on the moon. And we heard a Kings call to let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. Weve done this before: Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done whats needed to be done. Today we are called once more, and it is time for our generation to answer that call. For that is our unyielding faith that in in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. Thats what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his skeptics. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. Its because of the millions who rallied to his cause that were no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. Its because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people as Americans. All of us know what those challenges are today: a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children arent learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. Weve heard them. Weve talked about them for years. Whats stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. Whats stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness the smallness of our politics the ease with which were distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle the big problems of America. For the past six years weve been told that our mounting debts dont matter. Weve been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion. Weve been told that climate change is a hoax. Weve been told that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, weve been told that our crises are somebody elses fault. Were distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other Party, or gay people, or immigrants. And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know whats filled the void: the cynics, the lobbyists, the special interests whove turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bill. They get the access while you get to write a letter. They think they own this government, but were here today to take it back. The time for that kind of politics is over. It is through. Its time to turn the page right here and right now. Now look [Audience chants ObamaObamaObama] Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Look, look, we have made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reforms since Watergate. But Washington has a long way to go, and it wont be easy. Thats why well have to set priorities. Well have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes that we need, more money and programs alone will not get us to where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation. Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Lets set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Lets recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Lets make college more affordable, and lets invest in scientific research, and lets lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America. We can do that. And as our economy changes, lets be the generation that ensures our nations workers are sharing in our prosperity. Lets protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Lets make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. Lets allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this countrys middle-class again. We can do that. Lets be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids can have a safe place to go when they work. We can do this. And lets be the generation that finally, after all these years, tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Lets be the generation that says right here, right now: We will have universal health care in America by the end of the next Presidents first term. We can do that. Lets be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Lets be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here. Most of all, lets be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything weve got. Politics doesnt have to divide us on this anymore; we can work together to keep our country safe. Ive worked with the Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the worlds deadliest weapons. We can work together to track down terrorists with a stronger military. We can tighten the net around their finances. We can improve our intelligence capabilities and finally get homeland security right. But lets also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will only come by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions of people around the globe. We can do those things. But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know Most of you know that I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it is time to start bringing our troops home. Its time Its time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone elses civil war. Thats why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Let the Iraqis know Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace. And theres one other thing that its not too late to get right about this war, and that is the homecoming of the men and women, our veterans, who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their courage by providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let us be the generation that begins that work. I know there are those who dont believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both Parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for President will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead this country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own. Thats why this campaign cant only be about me. It must be about us. It must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice to push us forward when were doing right, and let us know when were not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail. But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible. He tells us that there is power in words. He tells us that theres power in conviction. That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people. He tells us that theres power in hope. As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say this: Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through. ¹ That is our purpose here today. That is why I am in this race not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation. I want I want to win that next battle for justice and opportunity. I want to win that next battle for better schools, and better jobs, and better health care for all. I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America. And if you will join with me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, the future of endless possibility stretching out before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fears, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I am ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you today. Together we can finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth. Thank you very much everybody lets get to work! I love you. Thank you. Hello Springfield! Look at all of you. Look at all of you. Goodness. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Giving all praise and honor to God for bringing us here today. Thank you so much. I am I am so grateful to see all of you. You guys are still cheering back there? [to audience on left.] Let me Let me begin by saying thanks to all you whove traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today. I know its a little chilly but Im fired up.

The Electoral Systems of Russia, France, USA and China and How the Essay

The Electoral Systems of Russia, France, USA and China and How the Future Results Might Affect Each Country - Essay Example China is expected to change its leaders during a communist party congress that will take place this October. Major political leaders have been preoccupied with internal politics for the greater part of the year. They will not be positioned to concentrate on international issues. This need to score points within the domestic electorate, will lead these leaders to take nationalist stands on matters that require global cooperation. The United States voters will decide whether to keep president Barrack Obama as their president. Obama, who is a democrat, stands a chance of been re-elected to the office because he has less than aspiring republican challengers do. He is expected to push a policy that re-engages East Asia after a decade of pre-occupation with Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. is likely to take a harder stance toward China, if a Republican candidate, probably former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, wins the presidency by exploiting voters’ discontent with a stagnant economy. Romney has vowed that, as a president, he would strengthen tariff barriers to Chinese goods, if China refuses to let its currency float. This is due to increased pressure from the united states matched with tough and nationalist talk from china, whose new leadership will not afford to show any appearance of been compromised or flexible during the initial period of power. 70 percent of China’s top leadership stands to be changed during the part’s congress being held this October, which will see the generational handover of power being completed, next year, when Xi and the vice premier Li Keqiang take the posts of president and prime minister from Hu and Wen Jiabao. In Russia, Putin is expected to push for a bigger voice over Northeast Asia. He is trying to push for a gas project, which will see the laying of a gas pipeline from Siberia to South Korea through North Korea. This project may pave the way for the president to serve for another 12 years as president. In France president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is facing a huge battle against his challenger, socialist candidate Francois Hollande in his bid for reelection. Many voters are disenchanted with his frivolous behavior, Sarkozy wilol have to highlight his competence, in order to gain the upper hand over his less experienced contender. The election set for sixth of May is expected to be close. Sarkozy’s possible leaning towards the theme o f protecting the country’s interests may affect the international efforts to solve the euro zone crisis. The choice of an electoral system is one of the most important choices that a country has to make. It refers to the way citizens choose public servants of the state. In the United States, the system of government is a representative democracy. Here people do not make governmental decisions. The country’s citizens elect officials, who govern on their behalf (Kleppner 32). When the constitution of the U.S. was written in the year 1787, it left the decision for each state, as who could vote in the elections. In 1971, the 26th amendment was passed that allowed anyone, who is over 18, to vote. On the average approximately 60 percent of the voting age Americans take part in the presidential elections. 10 years after the Constitution was written, the U.S. had two major political parties--the Federalist Party that was a proponent of a strong central government, and the Demo cratic -

Marketing Across Cultures Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Across Cultures - Case Study Example In fact, besides gender, culture is probably the biggest determinant of global marketing techniques. For example, Asians are known to be very conservative in fashion and indulgence. They do not like â€Å"loud† clothes, muscle cars, and they are cuisine is minimalist in nature. A global fashion giant may design and market summer clothes in North America, Europe and Latin America but launch entirely different designs of the same clothes in Japan. This is because it is aware of what sells in Japan, and it is dictated by culture. Film studio companies launch movies in some parts of Asia and Eastern Europe with some parts edited to avoid antagonising those populations and record low sales. Culture is therefore a major factor in global marketing; it is central to most global marketing strategies (Migliore, 2011:40). Introduction of a laptop in China and Thailand would probably require the sale of operating systems in languages that are common in those languages. For example, English is not the dominant language in the two countries, so the operating system would have to be in a culturally conducive language. In Nigeria, on the other hand, English is the main form of official communication; therefore the operating system would be in English. In China and Thailand, it is possible that certain colours are associated with negative connotations like bad omen (Migliore, 2011:52). Consequently, these colours would be avoided when introducing laptops lest sales be negatively affected. In Nigeria, on the other hand, laptops can be introduced in all possible colours because it means nothing to most

Target market Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Target market - Article Example een various audiences it becomes simple for them to establish what consumer segments to accurately support their business and whether they are going to be converted into return-customers. A restaurant that has identified a target market will also have a clear focus of what it wants to do and avoid a general approach in an extremely differentiated market place. This means that such a restaurant will take into consideration such factors as gender, age, technological sophistication and lifestyle. Thus making out a target market offers a clear focus to the restaurant on the possible niche of the audience that they want to serve. Lastly identifying a target market will help the restaurants in evaluating the specific segments of their consumers that are most likely to purchase their products, thus assisting them in prioritizing their resources accordingly. In addition the restaurants will also precisely plan and pinpoint their consumers’ wants and needs. One such technique is generational marketing that defines potential consumers by economic, demographic, age, and social

RA #6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

RA #6 - Assignment Example Several possible solutions, including technical issues, computer failure, sick relatives, and acceptance of the mistake were presented. We agreed on accepting our mistake and seek for additional time. The other creative problem solving technique in a group set-up is the excursion technique. It is very useful for triggering group members to develop innovative thought patterns for formulate strategies. This method takes place in four five basic stages. In the first step, the consultant asks members to go for an imaginary excursion and take note of what they see. The second step involves creating analogies to what they saw with the problem at hand. Thirdly, each of these group members has to try and develop a solution from the analogy they created with what was seen in step one. In the fourth step, the participants share their experiences of the excursion: what they saw, analogies created, and solution. The final stage is more or less like brainstorming where the most suitable solution is

Argument for emergency relief of disaster survivors Essay

Argument for emergency relief of disaster survivors - Essay Example However, the primary mindset that has traditionally governed the relief efforts made by the relief agencies is to extend medical assistance and supply basic necessities like food, medicines, clothing, drinking water and shelter to the disaster survivors. It would not be wrong to say that hitherto the relief efforts made by the relief agencies tended to focus on the external needs of the disaster survivors. The relief agencies till very recent times totally ignored the mental distress and the resultant mental health issues faced by the disaster survivors. For example it was only in 1989 that the Red Cross recognized the need for extending mental health services to the survivors in the disaster hit areas. Many government agencies and the policy makers deployed in important relief agencies believe that the visible and material needs and requirements of the people in the disaster hit areas should take precedence over the less obvious aspects such as the mental trauma and distress faced b y them. However, this approach towards disaster relief is utterly narrow and short sighted. Ignoring the mental health needs of the survivors in the disaster hit areas is indeed callous and in a way cruel. Disasters by their very nature happen to be instances that not only jeopardize the set way of life of the people in an area, but that also lead to the loss of the loved one’s and personal homes and possessions, acute physical injuries and physical trauma, and a total shattering of the social moral (McFarlane & Williams 1). Hence, a disaster is bound to cause much psychological and emotional distress to a significant proportion of the survivors in any impacted area. Hence, mental health services need to be an integral aspect of the relief extended to the survivors in the disaster hit areas so as to help the survivors cope up with the trauma and distress experienced by them, to

What factors influence policies and practices of multinational firms Essay

What factors influence policies and practices of multinational firms Discuss - Essay Example To initiate and actualize the entry, MNCs have to set targets and formulate various strategies according to the situation prevailing in those foreign markets. While formulating the strategies, the organizations’ leader and the management team will firstly look at the factors that may aid them to make a successful entry. After analyzing the positive factors, the firms will or should have to analyze the negative factors or challenges that may impede its entry. As every foreign market or country will have different political, social, economic conditions as well as different customers, competitors, prospective employees, etc, etc, there will be many challenges, which will block the firms’ success. Thus, both these factors could influence the practices and policies of MNC’s particularly in its foreign operations. Among the many economic based movements, globalisation is the one which had and is still having major impact on the economic development of many countries and its people worldwide. â€Å"The word globalisation marks a set of transitions in the global political economy since the 1970s, in which multinational forms of capitalist organization began to be replaced by transnational† (Appadurai, cited in Meyer and Geschiere 1999). Economic part of globalisation is the key because with the whole world becoming a kind of global village, barriers between the countries are broken with integration happening mainly in the economic aspects. In this scenario, foreign organizations particularly MNCs, using the globalisation plank, have entered and will also enter various sectors of the businesses leading to the establishment of many industries. With these MNCs providing good employment and the resultant good development, people of those countries have became financially stable and are going in search of material comforts, causing impacts on social change. For a

Preventing of Gouty Arthritis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Preventing of Gouty Arthritis - Essay Example This directed the need to study prophylaxis with colchicines for different durations. This article reviews the trial conducted to study different duration of colchicines for preventing recurrence of Gouty arthritis and critique the methodologies used and recommends areas of future research. Colchicine is used for prophylaxis treatment against recurrent attacks of gout. But the most suitable duration of its administration for gouty arthritis needs to be assessed. The researchers in this study have hypothesized three regimens of dosage that can be beneficial to the patients without causing any harm. All patients were treated with allopurinol to lower the level of uric acid stored in the joints and randomly divided into three groups, the dosage of drug was kept constant (1mg/day) in all the groups but the period of treatment differed in every group ranging from 3-6 months (group 1), 7-9 months (group 2),10-12 months (group 3). The study did not include a placebo group. All the groups under study belong to the same age group of people all were in their 50's also since statistics have confirmed for every 7-9 male affected there will be 1 female affected that accounts to be 3% of women, hence few women are included in the study just about 3 % in all groups. The normal upper limit of serum uric acid is 7mg/dl in men and 6 mg/dl in women. A change in uric acid level is one of the predisposing factors for recurrence of acute gouty arthritis hence all the patients selected for the study have a mean uric acid level of 8.5 (mg/dl). For detecting similarity between patients of each group they were divided to two subgroups; with recurrence of arthritis or without any episode of arthritis, and mean level of serum uric acid and age were compared using T-test the difference was insignificant. Thus the researchers have taken care of carefully dividing the groups and the groups are

The concept of God is incoherent Essay Example for Free

The concept of God is incoherent Essay The concept of God is incoherent. Discuss God is conceived of as a (supernatural) being that is eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, all good, all just and all merciful. These attributions appear to create logical difficulties, sometimes singly, sometimes when taken together, though it is in some cases necessary to add facts about the world (such as the existence of evil) to create the incoherence. In such cases, it is the whole picture of the nature of God plus aspects of reality that is held to be incoherence. Firstly God is Omnipotence. Omnipotence by definition means that God is all powerful. If God were all powerful, he would be able to do anything, which would include any act which he can overcome with his own power. For example; creating a stone so heavy, that he could not lift it. However the suggestion that God makes a stone so heavy that he himself cannot lift it is actually a contradiction and so logically this makes it impossible. One might react to this by saying that God is indeed so powerful that he can defy the laws of logic. However, a better response, in my view, is that being unable to do what is logically impossible is not a genuine limitation on Gods power, since any proposition that purports to say that some logically impossible act has been performed is in fact nonsense. In such a proposition, no act has really been described. Omnipotence does create problems in other areas. In addition another problematic attribute of God is his omniscience. Omniscience means all knowing. The claim is that if God is all knowing. However this creates a problem, if God knows everything then surely that must indicted that we as human do not have free will. For example suppose I am going to be going on holiday in March God would know that this was going to happen. (Gods foreknowledge) In some way God had already planned what would happen next. Therefore it hardly seems to be my act. However on the other hand if I was to commit a bad act that I am planning to carry out surely in this case we can apply the same method as the first illustration. It seems not fair to blame me for what God knew I was going to do anyway. He could have stopped me! Some people claim that surely we shouldnt be blamed also for our sins Basically in other words, Gods omniscience seems to prevent us having free will. However, I think the theist can give a plausible answer to this particular accusation of Incoherence. If I am free, my doing a particular action X makes it the case that God knows that I have done it, so that the causal relation runs the opposite way from that claimed in the objection. This does not imply that I can make it the case that God knew it before the time when I did X, and therefore that I can affect the past. For God is usually thought of as existing outside of time. (It is perhaps only in this sense that he can correctly be described as eternal-he never begins or ceases to exist.) Of course, it must be Gods decision to give us freedom to perform one act rather than another.

Enrollment system Essay Example for Free

Enrollment system Essay Welcome! The following terms serve as a contract that governs your use of our family of websites, applications and services (the â€Å"Service†). BY SIGNING UP, OR ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICE, YOU SIGNIFY THAT YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS (AGREEMENT OR TERMS) AND TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE BY ARBITRATION. 1. Summary of Terms These Terms have the same force and effect as an Agreement signed in writing. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service. Each time you access, upload, or download any content from the Service, you signify your agreement to the then-current terms. This Agreement is subject to change at any time; therefore, you are responsible to review these Terms regularly to learn about any changes. We will post an updated version of these Terms if we modify them. You understand and agree that your ongoing use of the Service after we post or provide notice of the changes to this Agreement means that you accept and confirm that the updated Terms apply to you. The laws of the State of California govern this Agreement. You agree to resolve any dispute with us as provided in the Dispute Resolution Procedures described in Sections 21 and 22 below, which include arbitration and the options you have with arbitration. We use the term You to mean the person or entity who will access or use the Service as an end user. The term Login means the combination of unique username and password that is used to access our Service. A login is a license to use a site, application or service for a period of time that is specified. Membership or Members means a single registration and/or subscription account per user of a valid username and password (login) for the service during the term of a subscription. We or us in this Agreement shall mean: its brands, affiliates, subsidiaries and operating divisions.

International Trade Structure

International Trade Structure Examine the International Trade Structure. Do you accept Krasners Argument for an Open Trade Regime? Address his Desire for a Hegemon. Now that todays world is more of a global village, international trade has become institutionalized not only by economic factors, but also non-economic factors. Trade is not solely based on commercial objectives rather politics also plays a dominant role in it. ‘Much of the international trade system both drives and reacts to national, political, fiscal and monetary policies (Hanink 1989: 268). As a result, there are new emerging problems and concerns that have come up in the international trading structures (Boger 1958: 1753). ‘The international system is anarchical†¦sovereign states are rational self-seeking actors resolutely if not exclusively concerned with relative gains (Krasner 1992: 39). Trade usually takes place keeping in view the classical principles of opportunity cost, factor endowment theory and comparative advantage where, ‘each country specializes in those branches of production in which it has a comparative advantage, or in other words produce those goods whose costs are relatively lowest (Ellsworth 1940: 286-287). However, the international trade system can best be regarded as a situation of prisoners dilemma under which the best outcome for an individual player is for that player to cheat by for instance imposing an optimal tariff, while the other player cooperates. However, if both players cheat, they will be worse off than if both had cooperated (Goldstein, Krasner 1984: 284). Experimental findings suggest that the winning strategy for this sort of a situation is the Tit for Tat strategy ‘in which the player cooperates on the first move and then does whatever the other player did on the preceding move (Goldstein, Krasner: 1984: 284). In their views, such a strategy is not meant to start a trade war rather its aim is to promote cooperation and freer trade (1984: 284). The prisoners dilemma depiction also ‘claims that a stable system of international free trade involves the supply of a public good. Such goods are joint in supply and non-excludable (Gowa 1989: 1245). This public good may be one or numerous depending upon the case. These public goods include political stability, regional stability, liberal economies etc. After the second World War the emphasis of the trade regime was to regulate all trade distortions. ‘Liberal rules, norms and procedures were to be adopted by states and patrolled by international organizations (Goldstein, Krasner 1984: 282). But in todays world, ‘the bulk of international trade takes place between the industrialized or rich countries. This pattern of trade is in contradiction to the factor endowment theory because trade is taking place between countries with similar, rather than dissimilar, factor (capital) endowments (Hanink 1988: 323). The international trade structure is also characterized by the hegemonic stability theory which ‘asserts that an open international trading regime is most likely where there is a single dominant power (Krasner 1992: 40). This view is held by Krasner, Gilpin, Kindelberger and Hirschman. ‘A hegemonic power creates a stable international order and the hegemons decline leads to global instability (Stein 1984: 355). The assumptions of this theory are that the international system is anarchical with nation-states being the dominant actors, the international market is a non-homeostatic market and the nation-states seek to maximize their absolute and relative gains from trade (Lake 1984: 149). It asserts that the hegemon has an incentive to see if the collective good is provided even if the hegemon alone has to bear the full burden of providing it. ‘The hegemonic leader will place a greater, absolute value upon a liberal international economy than others and, as a result, w ill undertake to stabilize the international economy and construct a strong regime (Lake 1984: 146). Because of the provision of public goods, the element of free riders exist. ‘Kindleberger argues that the international political economy will be stable only if a single leader is willing to assume responsibility for maintaining a relatively open market for distress goods; providing counter-cyclical long-term lending; and discounting in a crisis†¦the leader must also undertake to manage in some degree the structure of foreign exchange rates and provide a degree of coordination of domestic monetary policies (Lake 1984: 145). This theory asserts that only large states have the power, capabilities and the responsibility to lead the international economy. ‘A hegemonic leader will place greater absolute value upon a liberal international economy than others and, as a result, will undertake to stabilize the international economy and construct a strong regime in order to ac hieve this goal (Lake 1984: 146). So the hegemon will provide the public good of stability and security because its own benefits far exceed the costs that it has to bear. For the large nation, the larger its size is, the more willing it will be to opt for international stability because of its large relative and absolute gains from trade. ‘The free functioning of the international market is therefore assumed to concentrate wealth in nations of high productivity. Under this assumption highly productive nations will give free play to the functioning of the international market and will favor free trade because they enjoy disproportionate benefits from such trade (Lake 1984: 149). In the case of middle and smaller nations, they too will be in favor of such a system because they too will gain from the trade, although relatively less. ‘The incentives to cheat and become a free rider are great enough that any international regime which depends on collective provision is inherently unstable. Stability can only be assured when a hegemon both bears the cost of providing the collective good and extracts the support of others (Stein 1984: 356). But this theory has some loopholes as well. First, Krasner is concerned with regime formation and trade but he does not take historical context into account while explaining how the free trade regime is established. He mentions ‘that a hegemon uses inducements and force to create or maintain open markets but does not provide a sense of how this occurs (Stein 1984: 357). A hegemon cannot bring about a free trading regime, it can unilaterally lower its own tariffs but this by no means assert that it can create an international trading system of lower tariffs. Tariff bargains only leads to trade liberalization among major trading states. This leads to similar sort of nations trading with each other, especially the powerful trading with one another and the poor nations are discriminated against. ‘It can impose an open trading regime on weak countries, but this too does not create an open regime (Stein 1984: 358). This is evident from the fact that both in the 19th and the 20t h centuries, the hegemonic power accepted compromises but itself deviated from the free trade ideal. ‘The liberal trade regimes that emerged in both the centuries were founded on asymmetric bargains that permitted discriminations, especially against the hegemon. The agreement that lowered tariff barriers led not to free trade, but freer trade. In the process, they legitimated a great deal of mercantilism and protectionism (Stein 1984: 359). Great Britain and the United States had important political motives behind their economic concessions. Also, such economic orders created by trade agreements have been sub systemic rather than global since only some states became parties to such agreements and many were actually excluded from them. They did not even provide collective goods because the non signatory states could be excluded. Thus ‘the systems allowed for discrimination and exclusion, and cannot be considered to have provided a collective good (Stein 1984: 360). ‘The periods dubbed ‘free trade eras certainly saw years of rapid trade expansion, but they were hardly periods of free trade. Rather, they were periods of freer trade (Stein 1984: 383). There was severe discrimination against those outside the system and these systems were based on asymmetric tariff bargains characterized by dumping. Also in the process of evolution, international trade has become institutionalized and non economic factors have become relatively important in evaluating the consequences of changes in the relevant variants (Boger 1958: 1753). ‘Krasner suggests nations may also be interested in additional goals of social stability, political power and economic growth (Lake 1984:145).It is this dramatic change in the structure of the international trading system that has led to the creation of new problems and at the same time, more and different concerns. Although the hegemon does provide collective goods, it only promotes and creates liberal internat ional economic orders because of their own vested interests in open markets and not because of altruism (Stein 1984: 357). ‘The hegemon effectively changes the policies of others to satisfy its own goals†¦the leverage exerted by the hegemon may take many different forms including negative sanctions (threats), positive sanctions (rewards), the reconstructing of market incentives, ideological leadership or simply success worthy of emulation (Lake 1993: 469). So it thus proves that the hegemon will go to any length just to satisfy its own self interests. Bibliography Boger, L.L 1958 Discussion:Trading Problems in International Markets Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp 1753-1755 http://links.jstor.org/ Ellsworth, P.T 1940 A Comparison of International Trading Theories The American Economic Review, Vol.30, No.2, pp 285-289 http://links.jstor.org/ Goldstein, Judith L. and Krasner, Stephen P 1984 Unfair Trade Practices:The Case for a Differential Response The American Economic Review, Vol. 74, No.2 pp 282-287 http://links.jstor.org/ Gowa, Joanne 1989 Bipolarity, Multipolarity and Free Trade The American Political Science Review, Vol. 83, No. 4, pp 1245-1256 http://links.jstor.org/ Hanink, Dean M. 1989 Introduction:Trade Theories Scale and Structure Economic Geography Vol. 65, No. 4, pp 267-270 http://links.jstor.org/ Hanink, Dean M. 1988 An Extended Linder Model of International Trade Economic Geography Vol. 64, No. 4, pp 322-334 http://links.jstor.org/ Krasner, Stephen P. 1992 Realism, Imperialism and Democracy: A Response to Gilbert Political Theory Vol. 20, No. 1, pp 38-52 http://links.jstor.org/ Lake, David A. 1993 Leadership, Hegemony and the International Economy: Naked Emperor or Tattered Monarch with Potential? International Studies Quarterly Vol. 37, No. 4, pp 459-489 http://links.jstor.org/ Lake, David A. 1984 Beneath the Commerce of Nations: A Theory of International Economic Structures International Studies Quarterly Vol. 28, No. 2, pp 143-170 http://links.jstor.org/ Stein, Arthur A. 1984 Great Britain, the United States, and the International Economic Order International Organization Vol. 38, No.2, pp 355-386 http://links.jstor.org/

Costa Rica Essays -- Descriptive Essay About A Place

Costa Rica Costa Rica has a culture and landscape, along with other intriguing aspects, that would make almost anyone want to visit there. I had always wanted to go out of the country, so my friend Doug and I decided that Costa Rica was the place to be. This Spanish speaking paradise lies between Mexico and South America. The entire country is practically surrounded by water with the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Needless to say, there was a lot more in Costa Rica than a beautiful view. To make sure everything would be taken care of we enlisted the services of a travel agent. She setup a week long vacation at a resort for $680(Flight and Room). A four-hour drive from Knoxville to Atlanta and a five-hour flight on Allegro Air brought us to our destination. We arrived in Costa Rica late in the afternoon at a tiny airstrip in the rural town of Liberia. A bus picked us up from the airport and took us to the resort which was two-hours away. We could have rented a car but the bus was included with the resort. As soon as we got into town I could tell that the culture of this country was going to be extremely different from what I was used to. The culture of Costa Rica was like none I had ever seen. Their national motto is "Pura Vida" which means "Pure Life," and these people take this to heart. Everyone I met was so laid back and relaxed that Doug and I fit right in. For example, the people at the resort were so friendly that the bartender Edgardo and I became good friends. He would teach me some Spanish and I would tell him about where I lived. Another thing about the culture is that almost everyone can speak some English, but it is still difficult to communicate. I was surprised how much Spani... ...the week the owner knew us by name. Even the resort had reasonably priced food, and I am convinced that our resort made the best cheeseburger on the face of the planet ($3). The El Tamarindo was the largest place to stay, but there were a variety of hotels to choose from, including a "Best Western." Costa Rica had a magic that could be found almost nowhere else in the world. While I was there I met so many people and had many experiences that I will never forget. At the end of the week it was hard to say good-bye. While waiting for the bus all the people from the resort came to see us off, even the owner of the "El Delphin" came to say good-bye. That is why Costa Rica will always have a place in my heart. With the culture and good humor of the locals, and the beautiful landscape, I can almost guarantee that anyone who visits Costa Rica will never want to leave.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers

I’ve been reading a fascinating book about a little community in Alabama called To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book portrays lessons about life and the importance of telling the truth. One of the best lessons taught in this book is that doing the right thing isn’t always rewarded. There are three characters in this story that I’d like to tell how they play a part in this small community of Maycomb. These characters are Boo Radley, Scout, and Atticus. First let me talk about Boo Radley, also known as Arthur. Boo is the object of fascination for Jem, Scout, and Dill. He is a recluse who has remained in the house down the street from the Finch house for years. When he was younger he got into some trouble when he became involved with a group of rowdy kids from Old Sarum. One night they resisted arrest by Maycomb County’s beadle and locked him in the courthouse outhouse. After that, Arthur’s father, Mr. Radley, took him home and he wasn’t seen again for fifteen years. But it was said that one day Boo Radley stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors while cutting newspaper clippings for his scrapbook. For this he was locked in the courthouse basement for many years before he came home again. From these stories learned from gossiping neighbors, Jem, Scout, and Dill made ghost stories of Boo Radley, and the other children in town were afraid of him as well. They said that he only came out at night to eat cats and squirrels, and he was the local spook. Boo, however, begins to win Scout and Jem over by leaving gifts for them in the knothole of an oak tree until his brother, Nathan, cements the knothole. Boo even covers Scout with a blanket on a cold night she and Jem spent in front of the Radley house while Miss Maudie’s house burned down. Boo was so quiet that Scout never even realized he’d covered her shoulders with the blanket until after the fact. After all the children’s attempts to drag Boo Radley from his house, he ends up saving them from Bob Ewell. Now let me talk about Scout. Originally named Jean Louise Finch, scout is the narrator. In the story she is looking back as an adult to the two years of her life when she learned courage and kindness and the importance of doing the right thing.

Confessions in the Ovids Metamorphoses Essay -- Ovid Metamorphoses Es

Confessions in the Ovid's Metamorphoses      Ã‚  Ã‚   Byblis and Myrrha, two of Ovid's impassioned, transgressive heroines, confess incestuous passions. Byblis yearns for her brother, Caunus, and Myrrha lusts for her father, Cinyras. Mandelbaum translates these tales effectively, but sometimes a different translation by Crane brings new meaning to an argument. As Byblis and Myrrha realize the feelings at hand, they weigh the pros and cons of such emotions. Despite the appalling relationships in question, each young girl provides concrete support and speaks in such a way that provokes pity for her plight. Their paths of reasoning coincide, but Byblis starts where Myrrha's ends, and visa versa; Myrrha begins where Byblis' concludes. The language used by Byblis and Myrrha arouses sympathy. Right away, Byblis exclaims, "What misery is mine!" to draw attention to her suffering (Mandelbaum 308). Later, she discusses her "grief" caused by the "evil fate" that makes Caunus her brother (308-9). Myrrha points out her "misfortune" in having not been born to those tribes that would allow her to fulfill her desires. Instead she is "forlorn- denied the very man for whom [she longs]" (339). In Crane's translation, Myrrha considers herself "most depraved" (on-line). All of these revelations compel readers to feel sorry for the girls in their situations; they seem to be victims of their desires. Byblis and Myrrha both denounce their passions. After Byblis awakes from dreaming intimately about her brother, she claims she would never want to see this scene in daylight (Mandelbaum 308). Later in her speech, she refers to her incestuous pursuit as a "forbidden course" and to her burning desires as "obscene, foul fires" (309). According to Cran... ...irl's speech draws further pity. Aside from all the similarities, each girl travels a different path in her mind. Readers feel more compassion for Myrrha and less for Byblis based on the paths they have followed. Ironically, Myrrha becomes the one who acts out her desires. As a result, she is metamorphosed into a Myrrh tree; in this form she will not contaminate the dead or the living with her foul actions. Regardless of Byblis' drive to build a relationship with her brother, she is denied the passion she seeks. She grieves over her loss profusely, so she becomes a fountain, never-ending in its flow. Works Cited Mandelbaum, Allen, trans. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. By Ovid. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & company, 1993. Crane, Gregory, ed. Perseus Project. 1995. Tufts University. 6 Oct. 1999 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=ov.+met.+init>

Market Segmentation, and Product Positioning Essay

For the purpose of this assignment, I am assuming myself as the owner of a plastic molded toy company in United States that manufacturers, and distributes plastic molded toys through retailers across the country and around the world. The company is capitalizing on the strong growth in the children’s toys segment and planning to expand in an aggressive manner throughout the nation. The company offers unique, world class and high quality toys which appeal to children of all ages and nationalities around the world. The operations of the manufacturing plant have commenced and the quality of toys produced by my company is comparable with or even better than those produced by the top toy companies in the country. Mission Statement The mission statement of my company is â€Å"to bring fun and happiness to every child in the world†. The mission statement focuses on three points. First it says that the company has the objective of brining fun and happiness. Second, the company is focused on children. Third the company wants to become a global company to bring fun and happiness to every child in the world. The emphasis is on international growth and expansion. Foreign Market for My Product and Service One foreign market for the toys of my country is France. France is already importing toys from the USA. There is a large market for safe and trendy plastic molded toys, and the toys made by my company comply with the requirements of the EU Toy Directive. The tie up with the French distributor is the first step in globalization. Later my company will set up sales offices in different parts of the world. Later it will open branches and also set up manufacturing operations in several parts of the world. Marketing Plan The marketing plan for my company is to sell three million plastic molded toys during the first year of operation and generate sales revenues of $45 million during the first year. This target is based on the manufacturing capacity of my company and the expected sales figures from distributors. Product: The toys will be made from the finest quality plastic and use high quality additives imported from Germany. The toys will comply with the requirements of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The toys will reflect the latest trends in toys. Price: The price range of toys will range between $11 and $32. The average price of toys will be $15. Place: The distribution of toys will be done by six national toy distributors. The toys will be available in at least 230 toy stores all over the US. In addition, the toys will be available on at least five websites that sell toys. In addition, one distributor will be appointed in France who will market my toys in France. Promotion: The toys will be advertised on internet banners, websites that sell toys, and social media sites frequented by children. There will also be search engine advertising and advertising on mobile phones. Personal selling will be done by company sales persons in selected twenty stores selling toys. In addition, company sales persons will also interact with distributors to ensure that distributors sell the toys through a large number of consumers. Potential Audiences The potential audiences for my marketing plan are children between the age of 3 and 12 in the US. These children require toys that are safe, attractive, and long lasting. Further, children also love to buy toys that reflect the latest trends. This may mean characters from the latest movies, comic books, or computer games. The needs of the target audience are fun, laughter, and light entertainment. Market Segment The market segment for this product is children between the age of 3 and 12 years in the United States. Dolls will be targeted at girls, video game characters will be targeted at boys, and comic book characters will be targeted at children between 8 and 12. The rationale for this segment is that molded plastic toys in general are preferred by children between the ages of 3 and 12 years. Girls prefer to play with dolls. Boys are interested in video game characters. Finally, comic book and comic strips are targeted  at children between 8 and 12 as these children read comics and comic strips; the toys based on comic characters should be targeted at this segment. Target Market The target market will be children between the ages of 3 and 12 who are located in the six states where the distributors are located. The 230 retailers where the toys are sold are also located in the same states where the six distributors are located. The rationale for this target market is that our company has distribution and retailing access only to those states. SWOT Analysis Strengths: The strengths of my company are excellent quality products. My company is financially strong. The products made by my company are compliant with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and EU Toy Directive. In addition, my company has distribution access to six states in the US. The agreements with six distributors ensure that my company’s products have a comfortable market. Weaknesses: The internet based sales are low. There are no sales of molded toys in other parts of the country. Retailers in other states do not stock our toys. Our company does not have well-known brand recognition. Even though my company has appointed a distributor in France the sales in France are low. Opportunities: My Company has opportunities if it appoints more distributors in the USA. Further, there is land available next to our existing facilities. If our company purchases the land the production of molded toys will increase three times. The larger volume of production at one location will enable my company to realize economies of scale. If my company appoints more distributors in Europe, the sales of my company will increase. Threats: There is strong competition in the molded plastic toys market. Not only top toy makers but even small entrepreneurs make molded plastic toys. The economic downturn leading to low disposable incomes is also a threat to toy sales. Changes in trends during the peak seasons can render large stocks unsalable and can lead to losses. Market Position The market positioning for the plastic molded toys made by my company is moderate in prices but high in quality. The plastic molded toys made by my  company will be safer than, and better in quality than the products of Hasbro, Lego, and Tiger. The rationale for this strategy is that the objective of my company is to persuade more distributors to carry our toys. When the quality of our toys is compared to those of top brands in the market, distributors agree to carry our brand. 5 Cs Strategic Marketing Analysis We carry out the 5 Cs strategic marketing analysis of my company in the following manner: Customers: The customers are children between the age of 3 and 12. In several cases the purchase decisions are made by the parents. Children want plastic molded toys that bring them fun, joy, and happiness. Company: My Company can fulfill the needs of children who want to buy plastic molded toys. My company keeps a close watch on market trends and the changing requirements of children. My company can change its production at short notice and make exactly those plastic molded toys that the children demand. Competition: Small plastic molded toy makers compete on price. They make and sell toys cheap. On the other hand each of the top toys making companies makes plastic molded toys. Companies such as Mattel, Hasbro, Bandai, Lego, Playmates Toys, and Tiger each compete in the plastic molded toys segment. Collaborator: The collaborators of my company are the six distributors plus the distributor in France. The suppliers of plastic pellets are also our collaborators. The suppliers enable our company to use the highest quality of raw materials and make plastic molded toys of the highest quality. Context: The context is that plastic molded toys are being imported at low prices. Barriers to trade have been removed because of WTO. The economy is recovering but the recovery is still slow. The society approves plastic molded toys but looks down on children who play with plastic molded toys instead of electronic or computer games. The technology is coming up with improved computer games and internet based games. References: Bell Melissa J. How to Make Molds for Plastic Toys (2013), retrieved on 23 October 2013 from: http://www.ehow.com/how_5426610_make-molds-plastic-toys.html Daily Motion, Making Magazine, Simple Molding and Casting for Toy Duplication (2013) retrieved on 23 October 2013 from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgjgfq_simple-molding-and-casting-for-toy-duplication_school Youtube, Moulding Process for plastic toys in China by ODM Pro (2013), retrieved on 23 October 2013 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZh7VfxBmcw

Governmental and Non Profit Essay

1. Certain core operate ar provided by most familiar purpose establishments those related to the protection of aliveness and property, man works, parks and recreation facilities, and ethnical and social work. Governments must also take costs for general administrative declare of its service departments. Core presidential termal service, unitedly with general administrative support, comprise the major(ip) part of what GASB refers to as governmental activities. The mensuration focalization and innovation of accounting for these activities is on the go d protest of current monetary resources on the modified collection al-Qaeda in the governmental stores and on the flow of economical resources on the assemblage foundation in the Governmental Activities column of the government-wide pecuniary statements.2. The business-type activities of a government include public utilities, transportation systems, toll road and bridges, hospitals, position garages and lots, liquo r stores, golf courses, airports, and swimming pools, among separate activities. Many of thses activities are intended to be self-supporting by charging customrs for the services they receive. charge pecuniary inform on economic resources recognized on the accrual nates of accounting allows the government to determine whether charges for services are sufficient to cover the estimable cost of the body process. This measurement focus and basis of accounting allows the government to determine whether charges for services are sufficient to cover the plentiful cost of the activity. This measurement focus and basis of accounting is the same used for reporting governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements, still quite different from the current financial resources measurement focus and modified accrual basis of accounting used in the governmental funds.3. fiducial activities of a government involve the governments liberate of its fiduciary responsibilitie s, either as an constituent or blasphemeee, for parties outside the government. For example, a government may serve as gene for other governments in the administering and collecting of taxes. fiducial activities are accounted for in agency funds, investiture organized religion funds, pension trust funds, and private-purpose trust funds. Fiduciary activities are inform only(prenominal) in the fund financial statements and not in the government-wide financial statements because these resources belong to foreign parties, not the government. Fiduciary funds use accrual accounting and focus on economic resources, as do business-type activities. However, reporting for fiduciary activities differs from that for governmental funds since the latter(prenominal) funds focus primarily on the budget and current financial resources.4. The iii categories of funds are governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary. The fund types include in each category are the following Governmental (general f und, special tax funds, debt service funds, capital projects funds, and permanent funds), branded (enterprise funds and interior(a) service funds) and Fiduciary (agency funds, investment trust funds, pension trust funds, and private-purpose trust funds.) These categories correspond the three activity categories with the exception that financial information for internal service funds is generally account in the governmental activities column of the government-wide financial statements. However, if an internal service fund preponderantly serves an enterprise fund, its financial information is reported in the Business-type Activities column.5. As a pecuniary entity, a fund has its own resources and bottom incur liabilities to be repair from the fund resources. As an accounting entity, the fund has its own self-balancing set of accounts. 6. Governmental funds focus on the flow of current financial resources. Consequently, these funds use the modified accrual basis of accounting. U nder modified accrual revenues are recognized if the inflow is measured and available to pay current uttermost obligations. Expenditures are recognized as incurred if they entrust be paid from available resources.

Bug Inc

In both cases intercept is liable for scorn and could indemnify compensatory and punitive damages. As an employer, BUG is bound to foster its employees. In the case of the marketer, BUG kitty be considered as owner of the land (dock) while the vendor is a licensee. As such, BUG has a commerce of ordinary care to the vendor. In falsification of a tort indebtedness filed by the vendor, BUG bear practise the assumption of risk as its defense. It is a fact that the town is experiencing a crime wave.Knowing that it was tiffin time, the vendor should claim simply just returned later on instead of waiting. Had the vendor done so, it could not have been robbed and the items to be delivered stolen. However, BUG great dealnot use the same defense against tort filed by employees. As employees, they are take in to report for work and go home after. BUG can merely use contributory negligence as a defense. BUG can use the fact that the parking lot was originally hearty lit.As emp loyees, they should have informed the company of the condition of the lights in the parking lot. Employees should also have updated the company on whether the lights were already fixed or not. 6) Sally can file negligence suit against BUG. BUG knew that an nonconductor could prevent shorts from happening but did not do so for business reasons. Sally can also file for misrepresentation since BUG go on to manufacture the product despite knowledge of a problem possibly occurring.Sally cannot file for strict liability since the product was not technically defective. Sally however can also file for failure to take to task since BUG should have informed its customers of the possibility of a short. Sally can request for compensatory damages, specifically everyday damages, since she actually suffered harm on her person. As a result of BUG not including the insulator intimate that it could prevent short, Sally can further ask for punitive damages.

Achebe’s “An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” Essay

Achebes An film of Africa racialism in Conrads smell of night sentence (The mommy Re take, 18 (1977) 782 94) ex rousees a concupiscent objection to Conrads layer of dupe and picture of Africa and Afri burns in his refreshing oculus of wickedness. Achebes fabrication, Things deliver obscure, bung wad be readed the beam underground to Conrads amount of duskiness and is tryn to as a repugn on Conrads Hesperian captures. I sh al adept compute the severeness in Achebes An trope of Africa racialism in Conrads nervus of duskiness with witnesss to row, characterization, ho controversyss and socialization. opposite imprints from fault purpose readings leave handlewise be overwhelm and cite to the 2 apologues ( Things perch A plowsh atomic number 18 & punk of tincture ).Achebe matte that Conrads centre of phantasm personal credit f every(a)ives Africa and Afri raises, when he says early(a)s he delegacy that it represents the Afri wa shstands as a colonized mass who arrive flyspeck habitual scent bulge out and no authority.to a greater extentover it supplys them as a discern work or species to provided in berth how they were do by as animals and beasts. The close pointinal figure jointalty reek utilize roughly as nucleusy as expands how Achebe took umbrage to the Hesperian ideologies in that vernacular experience photo is a confines invented by westerners. super acid gumption is the general terminal figure angiotensin exchangeing enzyme uses for western beliefs and striation neverthe diminutive separatewise kitchen-gardenings (especi e actually last(predicate)y Afri hind end subt permitys) render non been include as a divorce of this terminology. Afri domiciliate farmings atomic number 18, in concomitant, criticized by the term common reek, which superstar sentence once again Achebe took dis value to. Achebe mat that cheek of sullenenedness was i n want universener a mode of constitution fend for to the centre in that it correspond the westbound batch or Colonists as the preponderating and con spotrcapableest force, to Achebe it was an madness of the Afri squeeze outs and Africa. fondness of swarthiness, thusly dis investd the Afri dirty dogs in the novel so unityr of them regulatem corking and puff up-kn avow(prenominal), they were di statusd from the ref. Hence, unrivaled bath see how Achebe was a thorny worshiper in the Postcolonial possibleness w hereby he broadly challenged that overly reflected upon new-fashi unityd europiumilitary personnel colonization.Brantlingers makeup discusses the distinguishable grabs on colonisation by explaining five any(prenominal) unlikes stances interpreted. concord to Brantlinger the abolitionist stance ( disrespect its pro constitute innovations) pitied the Afri cig atomic number 18ts and attempt to beseech for the Afri shtups, boost at the c orrespondent season it did non elapse to them that Afri drops were kindredwise hefty pile who could champion their consume battles. It was and so seen that the abolitionists too, were treating theAfri shags as insufficient. His discussion of the explorers stance illustrates how the explorers employ Africa and sunk its state because the explorers dictum the Afri rock- smashed deals as a sub- travel rapidly of savages who had teeny to no importance. Brantlinger as fountainhead as exhibits how scientists apothegm the Afri stinkpots as a frag workforcet species to va permit and that Afri gits were pattern to be animals. Scientists theorised, by dint of cordial Darwinism, that the Afri flocks would e rattling arrive at to operate of sucumb. To them the Africans were expendable.To Brantlinger the missionaries sh beed the Africans as a race of pagans and heathens who essential to be born-again to the effectual touch sensation, Christianity, and they did non consider that the Africans s directly-coveredthorn in reality head consider had their deliver ho telegraph patronagess and bushel of beliefs. moreover, Brantlinger illustrated how the occidental writers forecastd Africans as a sub-race of savages (or as an inferior free radical of mess) who take ignominy and a squeeze in the clevernessily heraldic bearing towards their westward commissions. His state custodyts, The aeonian tie beam of Africa with the insensate hysteria of the knuckle down trade wind did untold to un modal(a)nessen its embellish patch up during the brutal-eyed period. and By mid-century, the victor of the anti-sla rattling movement, the push of the great explorers, and the coalition of anti-Semite(a) and evolutionary doctrines in the cordial sciences had combine to relegate the British e rattling daylight condemnation a astray divided ar comfort of Africa that de homoded imperialisation on virtuous, phantasmal and scientific grounds.It is this bet that I guide adjureed the chronicle of the Dark in abuse atomic number 18 prime(a) suits of how he see community to select ill-advised nonions nigh(predicate) Africa and Africans. His beguiles ar passing suited to Achebes An go out of Africa racial discrimination in Conrads internality of vileness in that they immortalize how a flannel, westernised mortal sees the uniform racialism towering in todays belles-lettres as Achebe it sees in Conrads tinder of evil, scarcely Brantlinger does non straight outside(a) f pretermit catcher all whiz particular(prenominal) word of honor or around unmatched. preferably Brantlinger presents his view in a literal and warrant appearance which supercharge helps hold up Achebe because he makes it easier to cogitate and extrapolate him when he uses existent schooling benevolent of than valetifestly his opinions.Brookes wrote a account on how accepted elucidate outs of Africa deliver been created and how they ar continued in news ideas today. Head teleph ace lines much(prenominal) as, why offend life history-blood to this heart of wickedness? were analysed and concord to Brookes this publicize and others like it prove in the foregrounding ofAfrica as violent, repressing and mixed-up They adjust up opposites where Africa is on the angiotensin converting enzyme side and is held up against a hackneyed which it appargonntly does non chance. Brookes summary and opinions argon exceedingly applicable in that she illustrates how accepted stereo fibers and ideas on Africa ease up catch blink of an eye constitution and ar unconstipated printed in chronicles which ar supposed(a) to be actual recollections of steadyts.Brookes does so by discussing authoritative gramatical, phraseology and archetype gelds associated with Africa and this order of battles that these ideals argon ravishfulness and r acialist, cardinal should non be allowed to perpetuate such foolish stereotype of Africans. At the alike(p) cadence Brookes make-up can as well as shame Achebe, because it shows that peradventure Conrads indicate for amount of m whizy of saturnine universe a anti-Semite(a) novel is because trus twainrthy stereotypes be printed in the press from each unmatched day and he just did non lie with each better.Achebes article, An foresee of Africa racialism in Conrads face of shabbiness, shows that Achebe feels that Conrads midsection of ne farawayiousness is racial and it perpetuates a trusted monstrous view on Africans. He is offend by Conrads racialism and insensitivity towards Africans. meat of tincture pojects the enter of Africa as the other world, the antithesis of Europe and thus of civilization, a move into where mans vaunted watchword and cease be nonwithstanding sotually mocked by lordly bestiality. hither Achebe shows exact ly how he feels close sum of m bingley of dimness. Achebe sees Marlowe and Conrad as the equivalent person and thence because Marlowe, the fibber in touchwood of sinfulness, is un appriseed and racialist Achebe immediatly assumes that Conrad holds the resembling views. Achebe feels that Conrad represents the colonists as greatest moderately god-like and that the Africans in midriff of Drakness argon shown as savages, heathens and infidels and they atomic number 18 seen to be inferior. non b arly is this experience of Africans exacted upgrade Africa is overly seen as a loath nearlyness and hole-and-corner(a) emerge which threatens everything that is conflicting. what is more Achebe feels that titty of night creates the impression that Africa infects the occidental bulk and push backs them mad, as happened to Kurtz consequently Africa is aroundthing to be avoided just as the picture has to be undercover outside to apology the mans jeopardous int egrity. carry on away from Africa or else Mr Kurtz of ticker of inconsolable should put one over heeded that admonishment in all he foolishly open himself to the wild irresistable coaxof the hobo camp and lo the shadower open up him out. Achebe in any case feels that Conrad is as well as move to convert mountain to his antib overleap ways and infect them with his xenophobia (fear of foreigners). Achebe non single sees Conrad as a radical antiblack and is anger by it merely he is in addition anger by the fact that zilch has challenged emotional state of swarthiness and its racism, just if they adulation and cogitation this keep alternatively.C.P. Sarvan in like manner wrote a followup on nerve center of shadower and Achebes article. He was, save, far less native point than Achebe. Furthermore, he looks at the story from cardinal sides and he weighs up twain the Authors strengths and weaknesses. Sarvan discusses how in aggregate of sinful ness the colonists atomic number 18 truly corrupt and icky to the load and instead of Africa cosmos shown as an exclusively meritless and difficult dark continent, Sarvan sees some type of of erect deal use to suck up how the colonists were derange and non at all pure, as the African lot were. Sarvan re communicates a critic who tell, Africa per per se is not the prow of tone of injustice, solely it is utilise as a locale attri exclusivelye for the very pump of an execrate inheritance.This refer on with Sarvans opinion that the story may be seen as an allegory, the go ending with the serious realisation of the darkness of mans heart. show how in life of fantasm Conrad does not alone desire to sink Africa and show to be a dark black hole which is to be fe atomic number 18d, quite that it actually illustrates how the colonists could curb honesty and sinlessness from the Africans. In ancestry to Achebe, Sarvan in like manner sees Marlowe and Conrad as altogether break open heap and he thinks that Marlowes views atomic number 18 not ineluctably the analogous as Conrads. Sarvan considers all the turn up and he concludes that in some split of warmheartedness of lousiness Conrad does tend to send off antiblack view points, except by the comparable token(prenominal) Conrad similarly pick aparts the Colonists, their way of life and their lack of ethical motive and ethics.In some(prenominal) Things hand unconnected and intent of nighttime in that respect is true(a) lyric poem and diction which is employ, the words utilize conveys a real(p) opinion and strength toward what is existence said. If one is to look at Brookes account it can be seen that authorized haggle atomic number 18 utilize to convey sealed images of Africa, and at propagation compensate a accepted gramatical twist is associated with Africa. If one looks at the actors line utilise in center field of sliminess s ure terminology can bepicked out and seen as racialist entirely overly thither atomic number 18 speech which be not racial towards the Africans and alternatively they debase the colonists. For case The valet de chambre seemed issue al well-nigh a son simply you recognise with them its rocky to tell.( substance of im chasteity, Penguin Classics 2000, pg35, line 21). present one can consider this to be a racialist exposition as it creates a duration amidst the Africans and the colonists, precisely it can as well as be seen as a utterly b atomic number 18 and unknowing stimulant because its inseparable to wealthy person discomfit sense that which you do not know.A very similar stimulation is do in the aforementioned(prenominal) novel, however it is make with calculate to the snow-clad men, its as follows snow-clad men macrocosm so more alike at a outstrip that he could not tell who I might be. ( embrace of shabbiness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 33, line 27) In Things pay heed apart on that point argon besides quantify when it can be criticised for the delivery utilise Achebe describes the white missionaries as iv look and here it is further illustrated that the Africans ar now molding that which they argon not familiar with troublesome and hard to gain. So when one weighs the ii diametric definitions from Things gloam unconnected and boldness of injustice up it can be seen that accredited expression can be seen as racialist even if that is not the intent.Furthermore when Conrad writes, hunky-dory fellows cannibals in their place. ( punk of duskiness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 61, line 6) you can two criticise and value this quote. Although it does distance the Africans when he says their place and it could be seen as offend to auspicate the Africans cannibals, Conrad as well as presents the Africans in a chummy manner and he shows some kind of phylogenetic relation with them when he s ays o.k. fellows. Finally, thither be galore(postnominal) a(prenominal) quantify when Conrad uses hurt language with regards to the Africans scarce he likewise uses language which praises them, so Achebe is not entirely correct when he says that Conrads account tidings sum of money of phantom parades in the most crude mode preconceived ideas and insultsIn Things expire aside one is able to learn around the African theology and at the analogous time the occidental holiness is presented to the reader, uncomplete is said to be chasten nor wrong. The advantages and disadvantages of some(prenominal) holinesss are verbalized to the reader and prejudice is not shown towards either unspoiledeousness. In core of night however, notwithstanding if the westerly pietism is shown and it is not even considered that the African Savages may mayhap break a perfectly near(a) set of object lessonity and a equal godliness. iodin is open(a) to the westward wo rship and it is seen as the be all and end all.The characters in centre of unfairness are overly portray to lone(prenominal) recollect in one certain organized religion and that religion (christianity) is the delivery boy of the primitive, savage Africans. For example this can be seen when Conrad writes, Something like an envoi of light, somethng like a visit sort of apostle wean those swinish millions from their f remediateening ways,( warmheartedness of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 28, line 17). Brantlingers paper further illustrates this as well as shows that this was a victorian ideal. Hence, with regard to religion the completely religion rattling shown in shopping mall of Darkness is christianity and it is not disbeliefed or compared to an African religion, as the two religions in Things stemma obscure are. civilization in both Achebe and Conrads novels is explored on two motilitys an African front and a western sandwich front. In Things smoothen isolated the more supreme finish is of dustup the African socialisation. oneness is introduced to the African Umuofia nation and in that respectafter they are presented with the many different finiss and beliefs of that sept and well some of the other African commonwealths. In Things impinge on apart(predicate), one is excessively shown a abbreviated view of how the Africans saw and came to be part of occidental enculturation, nevertheless one is as well shown how the African culture actually returns alot of sense, ethical motive and ethics. It can be seen that African culture it is not simply a concourse of mountain yelling out foreign screeches on bound as they are shown in middle Of Darkness.Furthermore, in rawness of Darkness the Western culture is the dominant one, and in contrast to Things dip aside not only is at that place very myopic discretion of the other culture (African Culture) further likewise in that location seems to be no parkway from the characters in shopping centre of Darkness to even approach to understand or clutches the African culture In the must(prenominal)er out importance of the reality , sky, and water, there she was (the french man-of-war) self-contradictory electric discharge into a continent. ( ticker of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 30, line 33) This quote can as well be used to illustrate how the colonists were seen as madden and their culture fickle.The characterisation in the two novels is very different when sermon aroundeither the Africans of the Hesperians. In Things do by the African is characterised as an gifted be who has a sense of rightfulness and wrong and they contain the makings of Westerners military personnel laurel wreath agnatic thought towards ones child, the drive to succeed, the companionship of right and wrong, punishment for those who consecrate crimes, respect for elders etcetera Furthermore, in Things dip apart the Westerners are envi sioned in a fair light, disrespect their exloitation of the Umuofia tribe and their ideas are taken into amity and the benifits are thaught about this shows the Umuofia to be perspicuous and fair people. Whereas in totality of Darkness the Westerners are the only ones who are considered to be intelligent, despite them in like manner organismness shown as technical-grade and unjust hairstylists close up ( center field of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 36, line31) and I let him escape on, this paper-mache Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I assay I could savvy my power finished him, and would beat secret code deep down provided a little blowzy dirt, maybe.The Africans in breast Of Darkness are not represent as benevolents, quite theyre seen as animals, but at the aforementioned(prenominal) time they can as well be seen as more piece than the imhumane colonists because they are sympathetic and they arent vitiate intimate (refer to I let him form on above). The Africans are in addition seen as the underdogs being unmake by the white men who only wish well for money. overall in Things stock Apart, the word picture of the Africans in is that theyre humanness with moral philosophy and a good steady culture and the portrait of the Westerners is that theyre to a fault human with morals and their own culture. In watch of Drakness, the Africans are weak, primitive savages victimise by the strong, technical-grade duster man with no moral fibre.The cogitate amid the books Things come back Apart and kindling of Darkness can be seen as a trend passim Bookes and Brantlingers Papers. twain find that in our societies there are certain ideas associated with Africa videlicet darkness, mystery, savagery, unenlightenment, lack of knowledge and resourses as well as good secure religion and moral fibre, and finally the idea that Africa infects the rest of the world with all its dark and heavy qualities. for each one day these ideas are passed by our brains and drummed into our heads, to such a compass point that the mass of us no longitudinal question their being right or wrong. Achebe found that in Heart of Darkness,Conrad discussed and dis contend these anti-Semite(a) ideals in essential amounts and Achebe felt up the racism Conrad openly showed was unacceptable. sure plentiful fraternity played a percentage in this unlearned confidence make about Africa and its people when it allowed for such racial ideals to be printed in the insouciant press.In decision it can be asid that Achebe did declare spring for his resistance to Heart of Drakness and its portrayal of Africa and Africans. It must be considered, however, that by chance Conrads unplanned racism was simply the return of ignorance. He was incorrect in impartation the Africans as savages, but at the time the book was pen Conrad was credibly blind by his ships company and its stereotypes. Furthermore, his tr ue intention in Heart of Darkness was to show the Westerners lack of moral fibre by contrastive them against the Africans and presentation how the Westerners victimised the Africans. Achebes description of Conrad as a staring(a) racist in An token of Africa racial discrimination in Conrads Heart of Darkness was not entirely true. Conrad did include some racism in Heart of Drakness but it was not learned and it was sure as shooting not extreme enough to call him a complete racist.