European Invasion

The European invasion of the New World from the 15th century to the 18th century altered the lives of the Native Americans that lived in eastern North America in more ways than they could’ve ever imagined. The New World provided raw materials, such as metal as soil. The massive invasion all begun in 1492 which was then known as the massive â€Å"white† invasion and Columbus’s discovery marked the beginning of this invasion which overtook all of North America over the next four centuries. The lives of the Native Americans would never be the same.European settlers introduced the Native American’s to new costumes but not all, if any, were good. Europeans brought Christianity into the New World and introduced the Native Americans to the religion. Europeans thought that Native Americans would be easy to convert into Christianity. â€Å"These people would be easy to convert to our holy faith† is famous quote by Jacques Cartier. Europeans didn’t con sider the Native Americans opinions or beliefs and frankly they didn’t care. Europeans also introduced the Native Americans with diseases that they weren’t use to, for example malaria and infections to smallpox and measles.Due to all of these diseases the population of North America decreased and continued to until about the 1700s. The Europeans were also armed with technology and the Native American cultures of their civilizations were lost. Europeans took over the New World between the 15th and 18th century, although that wasn’t their main objective. Their main objective was to settle and gain land in North America. With the arrival of the Europeans governments and laws were formed that didn’t benefit the Native Americans in anyway.Europeans claimed lands and Native Americans were forced to accept that the Europeans were now in charge. Europeans had all the authority in the New World. Native Americans were experiencing New World imperialism. Native Amer icans became frightened and started living in fear. Decrease in population and war resulted in the creation of new communities for instance the Choctaw. To trade a faster pace and consume more money was what the Europeans dreamed of and they didn’t want anything or anyone to get in the way of their dream. Native Americans were dragged into the expanding economy.Before the Europeans had invaded the New World, North America had a strong military force that began in the Mohawk Valley. They were known as the Iroquois and were merged by the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas, which was five Indian nations. The Native Americans were such powerful individuals but then the Europeans came along and stripped them of all their pride and altered the way they once looked at life. All and all, right before the Native Americans eyes change was happening and the way they lived was never how it once was before.The Native Americans had their land ripped from right underneath th em without any warning or any sign. Though the Native Americans of eastern North America may have had questions to why their lives were being altered. The Europeans invaded the New World during the 15th-18th century without any answers to why they were doing so. The Europeans had expectations and a plan. They didn’t stop at any means and they were determined to follow through with the success of their invasion.

Destination: Costa Rica Essay

Folks, in just a short while, you will all be going to Switzerland. Yes, you heard me right, Switzerland. If you think you are in the wrong group of tourists, then you are mistaken because you are all going to the Switzerland of Central America, Costa Rica. Indeed Costa Rica has sometimes been likened to Switzerland because of the nation’s â€Å"comfortable lifestyle, peaceful democracy and overwhelming natural beauty† (Firestone et. al 20). Furthermore, Costa Rica is home to over four million Ticos – this is what Costa Ricans call themselves. You can consider yourselves lucky to have the opportunity to get a taste of what Costa Rica offers because this country is known to be the most user-friendly nation in Central America. This means plenty of cheap buses that can take you to the most beautiful tourist spots, several accommodations waiting to make you feel at home, and a multitude of decent eateries and restaurants in most corners of the country. However, since Costa Rica boasts of a higher standard of living compared to its neighboring countries, prices tend to be slightly higher. Yet do not fret, this only means you are certain to experience quality goods and services throughout the country (Firestone et. al 20-22). Moreover, Costa Rica is the third smallest country in Central America, with a land area of 19,730 square miles. It is actually a bit smaller than West Virginia so you can visit all the places in your itinerary in just a short period of time. Furthermore, the country is bounded by Nicaragua in the north, Panama in the south and southeast, the Caribbean Sea in the northeast, and the Pacific Ocean in the west and southwest. It is further defined by three geographical regions, namely, the Pacific lowlands with steep cliffs and narrow white beaches; the central highlands with temperate and populous basins; and the Caribbean lowlands with flat plains and flowing streams. Though this naturally rich country is a tropical one, the best time to visit is in the summer or â€Å"verano† by the end of the year. Nonetheless, if you wish to know what their wet season feels like, then go there in the middle of the year to experience winter or â€Å"invierno. In addition, whether in â€Å"verano† or in â€Å"invierno,† one can never go wrong with Costa Rica’s flora and fauna. Tropical rainforests, tropical dry forests, and coastal vegetations, and various species of amphibian and reptiles, mammals, birds, and insects (Foley & Cooke, 7-17) – these just depict the beauty and richness nature blessed Costa Rica with. Looking back in time, the Spanish were the first to be captivated by t his richness. In fact, they optimistically referred to the country as the â€Å"Rich Coast† when they began settling in the region in 1522, thinking that it holds several gold and other mineral reserves. Yet they only found little and so they shifted to agriculture. Moreover, together with other provinces in Central America, Costa Rica declared independence from Spain in 1821, after almost three centuries of ruling. These newly-independent provinces formed an alliance. Because of border disputes though, the federation failed to thrive so Costa Rica withdrew and declared its sovereignty in 1838. The years that followed were smooth-sailing with a peaceful democracy beginning in 1899. This positive development persists up to this very day with only two notable disruptions – one in 1917-19 when Federico Tinoco governed with dictatorship and the other in 1948 when Jose Figueres led an armed uprising following a doubtful presidential election (US Department of State). Hence, Costa Rica has since been peaceful, not to mention, progressive. A close look at its economy would reveal that it has enjoyed a stable economic growth before the global economic crisis. Instrumental to this growth are the country’s export commodities such as coffee, sugar, and beef as well as the widening trade of industrial and specialized agricultural products. Moreover, Costa Rica has kept its 15 to 20 percent poverty rate for almost 20 years. In addition, foreign investors are attracted to enter the country because of its political stability, high quality of education, and fiscal incentives. Needless to say, tourists like you, who are attracted to the rich biodiversity of the country, contribute greatly to the economy as ecotourism continues to develop and strengthen (Central Intelligence Agency). This ecotourism of Costa Rica is in fact one of the country’s fastest improving sector (Tourist Spots Organization). In fact, the government has signed various trade agreements with other countries. Who knows, this trip of yours may be a product of one of those agreements. So once you land in Costa Rica, either through the international airport Juan Santamaria in San Jose or the Daniel Oduber in Liberia (Costa Rica Tourism), your first instinct would be to go directly to that tourist spot of your choice. Well in this case Costa Rica has plenty, from national parks to mountains and volcanoes, from beaches to cultural sites – Costa Rica has these options and more that would suit various tastes. For those who want to head out straight to the waters, Cocos Island and Puerto Viejo Beach are just two options. A choice of water sports such as kayaking, surfing, and scuba diving as well as rich marine life await visitors in these top spots. For those who wish to witness the natural wonder of the country at its best, try Tortuguero National Park and Tenorio Volcano National Park. For the nature lovers, a trip to Poas Volcano to see the two crater lakes may be an option. For the adventurous ones, rock climbing and hiking in Chirripo Mountain may be the perfect activities. For the animal lovers, Monteverde Reserve, which houses the extinct gold toad as well as squirrels, wild pigs, and porcupines, may just be the right place. For those who want to see two attractive spots in one location, the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, which comprises of the Junquillal Bay Wildlife Refuge and the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, may be the best spot. For those who wish to spend a quiet time in the city, the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica may offer the peace you long for (Tourist Spots Organization). However, in visiting these marvelous tourist spots, it is important that you get to know Ticos in order to deal with them well. For one, they opt to think small, go slow, and avoid risks, anxiety, and overwork. They also put high value to their families and tend to give them favored treatments. They likewise have a strong belief on equality than most Latin Americans and further hold a strong sense of personal honor and dignity regardless of their social status. Hence, it is very important to note that you need to avoid embarrassing another person especially in public. Moreover in decision-making, a consensus is more likely to happen, which sometimes slows down the process. Hence, showing of impatient attitude is discouraged and lowers credibility. Furthermore, as time and deadlines may be flexible, be tolerant and understanding of delays and put in mind that courtesy and enjoyment are more important than time. Remember to address Ticos properly with Mr. /Senor, Mrs. Senora, or Miss/Senorita plus the last name. Also, avoid resting your feet on any furniture but footstools. Finally, when you decide to head out to the beach, shorts for men will do while too much revealing clothes for women will not (qtd. in Tacey, 1-3). With these, I hope you now have a clear picture of what your tour to the Switzerland of Central America will be like; yet no lecture or discussion of the place would surpass the real thing. So make the most out of what Costa Ri ca can offer and be sure to enjoy.

Jesuit Relations Proposal Paper Essay

The views taken by the Jesuits and Hurons towards medicine and disease varied during the spread of old world disease among the native population of North America. These two groups had very different ways of dealing with the diseases and there use of medicine. Throughout the reading of chapter 3 in the Jesuit Relations book, we see certain ways that these two groups collided heads because they did not seem to agree with each other’s methods. They (Jesuits and Hurons) both wanted to do help their town population and the only ways they knew what to do is what their culture and people had already done years before. Some of the methods of these groups worked while others not so much. First point of view to be touched on is the Jesuits and what their role was during the old-world diseases. The Jesuits really focused on the question of why rather than how disease spread (The Jesuit Relations, page. 71). They questioned it, meaning disease, and believed that it was God’s plan to get certain people sick to â€Å"punish the wicked, test the resolution of the virtuous, or simply gather souls to heaven† (The Jesuit Relations, page 71). They thought God was testing them and was punishing certain groups or people. The Jesuits were already immune to some of the diseases that is why there population did not get hit as hard by some of the old-world diseases then others. Their main idea was that they (Jesuits) are that they were not doctors. All they wanted to do is to save the souls of the sick, and as well as that they baptized the dead. The Jesuits did not believe in reviving and curing the dead. This was all apart of Gods way and the sick would be baptized and join his or her family and friends in heaven. That was their idea and these people understood this and believed that it was the right thing to do; it was the way of God. Another idea they believed in was that if a person is ill, that he or she should isolate themselves from the rest of the population. They could not help or do anything so it was better for them to be on their own until they were cured of their illness. This idea was very popular back home but when they ventured to the new world and saw what other people were doing, it really did not stick with them well. While they believed in their own ideas, they also would see what the Hurons did for their medicine and curing abilities. The Jesuits were surprised that the Hurons were so in touch with mother earth and not God. This really set the Jesuits and they did not like the new ideas. They could not believe that the Hurons did not believe in going to heaven. From the excerpt, The Help We Have Given to the Sick of Our Village, from the Jesuit Relation book â€Å"For my part, I have no desire to go to heaven; I know no one there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The Jesuit Relations, Page 81) this shows the Huron’s point of view for heaven. The Jesuits could not understand this unspiritual answer; they questioned the native and all they had to say. As the Jesuits have their ways of dealing with the disease, the Hurons had their own ways of dealing with the diseases as well. The Hurons were people of the land and had their own ways of dealing with the old-world diseases. As I mentioned earlier, the Hurons did not believe in going to heaven and baptizing the dead like the Jesuits felt. Hurons believed in natural medicines and curing people through sports as well as through spiritual healings. They felt as though they knew mother earth and knew that there were natural cures for certain sicknesses. Many Huron procedures involved the sickened personal mind and body. At first I was shocked that they played sports back in this time but as you think about it, it was a great idea on their behalf. â€Å"Little demon as large as a fist† (The Jesuit Relations, Huron Medical Practice, Page 72) this what the Hurons believe causes the pain in a sick person. They thought that some of these demons would come into your body when you are sleeping at night to enter your body through your dreams. To get these demons out and to be cured, the sick person would either play some sports or go through spiritual healings. They believed that these sports like Lacrosse, Dish and Straw (The Jesuit Relations, Page 73), were good for the body and they could run it off to keep the body healthy. The demons would exit their body through these sports and thus curing the sick person. Hurons would have big games and tournaments when they thought there was a bad epidemic as well as when there were multiple people ill. These people that were sick were advised to show up to the games so they could finally be healed. If the person who is sick cannot make it to the game then they have to be patient and wait while his people play for his wellbeing. It brought everyone together and these people, that were ill, brought all their lucky stuff and believed that it would help them overcome their illness too. The whole community was supportive. The Jesuits were shocked at this way of treatment because they did not think that would help the people and it was a waste of time, but to the Hurons it was their way of life. Not only did they think sports would help but also through spiritual healing and natural medicines like certain herbs. The sickened would go to these shamans, a spiritual / medical specialist, who would tell them what their best option would be. Sometimes it would be sports; other times they would give the sickened certain herbs that will cure their disease. It was a long process but it worked for the Hurons. The Hurons also sometimes blamed the Jesuits for some of the diseases that entered their land and believed that Jesuits were hostile sorcerers. As we can see, these two groups did truly have different views and roles on the diseases and medicines of this time. Each group’s views were shocking to each other because they could not agree with which methods worked better and what was more reliable. In the eyes of the Jesuits, they believe that it is the way of God. Sickened people need to isolate themselves and try to cure themselves, but if they do perish then their soul shall go to heaven. The way of the Jesuits is just God is on your side and it is ok to die because you will go to heaven. On the other hand you have the Hurons who are people of mother earth and sports. They believe that the sickened need to play sports to be cured and to have shamans perform mind and body work on the individual to be cured. The way of the Hurons is more natural and makes you fight for your life. The ideas are very different but those are the roles that these the Jesuit and Huron groups played during this time, which signifies and shapes each group into who they are.

Administrative Procedures OFF2373 Major Assignment A The Workplace and Essay

Administrative Procedures OFF2373 Major Assignment A The Workplace and You - Essay Example Employee involvement encompasses the process of making employees work not only with their brains and bodies but also with their hearts. The purpose of constructing the workplace is to establish and maintain appropriate physical working conditions and to improve the quality of work life. Establishing an effective work environment begins with identifying the physical environment and the resources needed to perform the work effectively. Congenial environmental conditions will develop the health and safety of the workers. Similarly, safe work practice leads to better performance, motivation, and higher productivity in the organization. Background noise disrupts the concentration of employees and also affects people’s health by increasing the general stress level. Therefore, to avoid interference with work, the sound level should not be higher than 55 decibels,. The screen size, brightness, contrast and color combination should be adjusted by the operator on behalf of the employees. The best viewing distance from the eye to the computer monitor is 15 to 40 inches. The chair height should be easy to adjust within a range of 15-20 inches above the floor. The space of seat pan should be 16 to 19 inches wide and the seat depth should be 15 to18 inches. The ideal angle between the seat pan and seat back should be 85 to 135 degree adjustable. Providing effective break and rest schedule for workers is important for tapping the best out of the working environment. The break or rest schedule should vary according to the physical and psychological demands of the employees involved in specific assignments. The report is submitted to infrom all people

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest Research Paper

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest - Research Paper Example Furthermore, according to the statistics, â€Å"more than 80 percent of the world’s ancient forests† (Tscharntke, 2007) have been destroyed due to the logging. This paper is a brief attempt to explore various dimensions devastating effects of logging in rainforests on various stakeholders. Discussion â€Å"Rainforests once covered more than 14 percent† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) of the total land on this planet; however, â€Å"today every second, the world is losing one and half acre of rainforests† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) and thus, it is left with less than 6 percent of rainforests. Research indicates that if this process continues then we are likely to run out of rainforests in the coming three decades (Tscharntke, 2007). Currently, almost a quarter of the western dugs are derived from rainforest ingredients. Furthermore, interesting is the fact that scientists believe that they have only checked less than a percent of the total species of rainforests, which means that with deforestation of rainforests, the world is losing the cure of many diseases (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005). Logging is most common in the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world where there are large reserves of rainforest. Quite understandably, considering the income levels of these countries, money becomes an urgent, unavoidable, and imperative need. On an average, a hectare of trees in rainforest can earn the loggers more than 40000 US dollars, which is nearly equal to a fortune for them. To make matters worst, most of the governments in these countries are also involved in these practices since they have no other way to earn foreign exchange. However, these governments fail to realize that the logs that they sell to countries like America and other European countries, they later spend more than half of the foreign exchange or export earnings to buy important wood products as pulp, paper and others from these very countries (L aurance & Peres, 2006). It is important to note that timber industry claims to be following â€Å"safe† logging practices, which include selective logging and full forest harvesting. Interestingly, both of them are not at all safe. Selective logging may refer to the process of choosing specific mature trees to harvest. Once the harvesting process is complete, a sapling is planted so that a new tree can grow. However, this never results in favorable results. In most rainforests, average size of trees is very high which blocks sunlight and nutrients for other small trees (Jepma, 1995). Furthermore, research indicates that removing one tree from a bunch of trees in a rainforest may result in the death of 17 more trees. This is true because trees develop a system of interdependence with each other especially in rainforests (Tscharntke et al., 2009). Full forest harvesting which refers to the process of harvesting the entire trees with its branches and leaves is an even dangerous method of logging. The nutrients taken from the soil are usually in the leaves and branches of the trees and taking them away leaves the forest with lesser chances to grow again. Furthermore, with direct exposure of sunlight in the gaps and empty spaces dries the soil and the soil loses precious nitrogen (Tscharntke, 2007). In the absence of rainforest trees, the balance of carbon dioxide is being disturbed since there

Toni Morrison Sula and Mahasweta Devi Breast Giver Essay

Toni Morrison Sula and Mahasweta Devi Breast Giver - Essay Example For a book of this stature, most readers wanted a heroine they could identify with- someone who was basically good despite her minor flaws and few blunders- someone like Nel. But that is not to be. Sula is the protagonist of the novel and she is by no means a traditional heroine. In fact for many, she is an evil woman who refuses to conform to societal expectations of her and does some truly inexcusable things such as sleeping with her best friend's husband. Sula presents a different, unique but definitely negative image of a woman. But it was not done to highlight the evil side of women instead it was done more with the purpose of asserting women rights and independence. Women rights and their position in the society is also the topic of controversial story Breast Giver by Indian author Mahasweta Devi. The story revolves around a woman Joshuda who considers her breasts her chief possession since they bring food for her family. She is hired as a professional mother for several children in a high class Brahmin family referred to as the big house in the story. The story deals with the subject of unpaid labor and a woman's reproductive capabilities going unwaged. Joshuda's low caste body that goes from being the most fruitful to decayed and diseased is used as an allegory and thus the entire plot can be considered allegorical. For many in the west, this story may appear too fictitious to ever be true but we must not forget that this is about an Indian woman in a small town of India where breast feeding children of wealthy families had been a custom for a very long time. The author chooses to highlight the social divide as well the collapse of Mother Ind ia myth. She uses Joshuda's body as a representation of third world countries while the big house represents the capitalist bourgeois in the developed world. While the capitalist powers have always been a source of contention in India, the author explains that by creating such vast social divisions, we are actually fostering the very capitalist forces that we otherwise vehemently oppose. Spivak in her analysis of the story thus asserts that the fictional character Jashoda 'calls into question that aspect of Western Marxist feminism which, from the point of view of work, trivializes the theory of value and, from the point of view of mothering as work, ignores the mother as subject' (Spivak 1987:258). 'Breast Giver', further argues that in this story 'we see cancer rather than the clitoral orgasm as the excess of the woman's body' (Spivak 1993:90). Breast giver highlights in almost dramatic fashion the exploitation of a woman's body in much the same way as colonies of imperial powers had once been exploited. The gruesome death of Jashoda from breast cancer is another important highlight of this work as Spivak notices the importance of the phrase, 'The sores on her breast kept mocking her with a hundred mouths, a hundred eyes' (Spivak 1987:260). Sula is the story of two black women coming of age in Ohio sometime during the two world wars. Sula is wild and aggressive woman with an individualistic streak and a strong desire to break free of tradition and rules. Nel on the other hand is the compassionate gentle figure that can best be described as a 'nice' person. But Sula is not interested in being the conformist. She is an independent woman whose personality is largely shaped by the place she lived in- Bottom. Bottom was not even half as good as it was made out

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AMOURETTE SPOTLIGHT Hipster - Assignment Example A lot of governing bodies have made companies responsible towards emission norms and set standards for declaration of their environmental compliances. Importance of corporate social responsibility is also reflected in the gaining momentum of mergers and acquisition dealings considering investments in socially responsible activities. Despite such rise in the value of CSR, the question remains as to why the companies find it important to engage and socially responsible behaviour when it actually does not add any financially visible value to the firm. Also, it is questionable whether these firms actually believe in acting socially or is it simply a means to gaining stakeholder support and shareholder (Font et al., 2012). The business world is plagued with multitude of problems ranging from accounting frauds, environmental issues and social concerns to corporate irregularities. In this scenario, importance of CSR reporting cannot be eliminated. This paper aims to examine whether the issu ing such CSR reports actually engage in socially responsible behaviour or merely try to convince stakeholders and gain investor support. It therefore highlights the role of business ethics and highlights the importance of CSR reporting. CSR for Increased profitability It is undoubted that companies operate in an environment where existence is subject to free play of competition between major players within any industry. In such unregulated attempt towards achieving greater market share, it is essential that government and media become aware of their role to act as controllers of social consequence of these activities. Their role has become significant and influential in today’s times. These groups of people have high power to put extreme pressure of major companies to adhere to environmental and social standards. This has resulted in the fact that CSR has emerged to be one of the inescapable priorities of businesses. Research has also shown that when managers and directors ta ke concern for employees and consumer welfare, they gain better support of their work staff in terms of productivity and loyalty than firms who have no consideration apart from earning profits. CSR in contemporary organizations There has been a sharp rise in CSR reporting in the recent decade. KPMG international has reported that about 95% of the largest 250 companies in the world issue standalone CSR reports as of 2011 data (Mahoney, 2012). This calls for a need to assess as to why companies have started reporting for CSR activities in such large numbers over their issues and sustainability efforts. The prime reason observed behind such rise in voluntary CSR reporting is the increasing pressure from various internal as well as external stakeholders on companies to emerge as good corporate citizens. It is known that engagement in CSR initiative has costs associated with it which might tax its competitive market position. Alternatively, the firm can benefit from the profits that accr ue to companies for being responsible corporate citizens like retention of employees, positive consumer behaviour and investments and higher profits. CSR reports are issued with a view that such information apart from other information that is available to stakeholders, shall act towards the benefit of the company. The major benefit arising out of this is believed to be good company reputation. KPMG reported that the major reason behind CSR reporting is brand building and reputation enhancement. It is also likely that

Arab and Israel Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Legalization of Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Legalization of Marijuana - Research Paper Example I suffered a closed head trauma that left me shaken by up to five grand mal seizures per day. I became addicted to pharmaceutical medication that did not relieve the seizures that plagued my life. About 25% of epileptics do not respond to medicines. I am one of many who do not. While the prescription drugs left me debilitated, I discovered that with marijuana I could completely control the onset of a seizure. For me this knowledge was freedom. By using it I am able to abandon pharmaceutical medication and its side effects. Arrest and acquittal In August of 1992 my husband, Mike and I were arrested for felony cultivation of five marijuana plants that I grow openly in our front yard. This crime is punishable by three years in state prison. After our arrest we realized the importance of challenging the existing laws governing the medical use of marijuana. We hoped that in presenting a necessity defense we might clarify the medicinal use of marijuana, freeing myself from further prosecut ion and establishing a precedent for patients relief. After 7 1/2 months the district attorney of Santa Cruz County, California dropped charges against me for marijuana cultivation. He stated, "No reasonable jury would find her guilty." Having won what I thought to be the right to use the only medicine that controls my seizure activity, I again planted five marijuana plants in my front garden. ... Or are we shuffled between departments? The fact is, even though there is no alternative that will provide relief for my condition, and despite my having adequately established necessity through the judiciary system, it is still illegal to use or cultivate marijuana. California State Senator Henry Mello has presented a non-binding resolution, SJR 8 in a bipartisan effort to allow the use of marijuana medicinally. There is at present no provision by the federal government to meet the needs of patients, only the remnants of the antiquated Compassionate IND (Investigational New Drug) serving nine government-approved patients exists to this day. This defunct program supplied patients with government marijuana, but the project was axed by the Bush administration in March of 1992. Research There exist three phases of study that are necessary in ascertaining the acceptability of a new drug for medical use in treatment. The FDA requires: Phase I; safety, Phase II; pilot studies on efficacy, and Phase III; controlled studies on efficacy and safety. According to Judge Francis L. Young, presiding Administrative Law Judge to the United States Department of Justice in the DEA hearings on the Marijuana Rescheduling Petition in 1988, it has been established that marijuana satisfies both Phase I, II and Phase III studies on safety and efficacy. Having demonstrated sufficient evidence to substantiate these findings it then seems redundant to continue further studies on the safety or efficacy of marijuana. By succumbing to the FDAs present acceptance of only Phase II; safety studies, we surrender ground already gained. In fact, as patients' needs are ever growing it is essential to focus on the third phase, i.e., controlled trials, if any aspect of further

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Privitization of CPB corporation for public broadcasting - Essay Example The value of science is being perverted and skepticism is more attractive to human mind (White, 1999). Feelings and emotions are prioritized and knowledge is considered irrelevant. Under fascism, some people even scholars consider theory is irrelevant but theory informs good practice and sustainable application (Tompkins, 2005). Theory represents foundation of good practices. Everyday, we are being bombarded with news of celebritization and marketization of goods and services. Too often, all the marketing and advertising serve only as an enticement to attract buyers and hence, the companies will earn higher profits as more and more people buy the products. So is the case of privatization. According to the market, privatization is the solution to public inefficiency but there is no apparent evidence that public sector is inefficient (Rosen, Boothe, Dhalby & Smith, 1999). Indeed, privatization has nothing to do with efficiency. On the contrary, privatization is to transfer public control and ownership of public resources to private sector (Shafritz & Russell, 2000; Guislain, 1997); to change the structure of the economy and the state; to internationalize the economy; to change the role of the state; and to reorganize a new system of a state and economy (Guislain, 1997). We are living under fascism with elite governance that rules by money, cost saving, and beyond democratic accountability (Shafritz & Russell, 2000). One that preaches anti corruption but foster competition while competition creates radical evil (Grenberg, 2005) and fraud, and kept alive by lies that are magnified by the media such as Thierer (1999) argued, in support to the privatization of Corporation of Public Broadcasting, â€Å"the public feel the CPB has performed, its mission is obsolete and redundant today. There now exists an endless variety of high-quality channels with entertainment, informational, and educational programs that do not rely on public funding to bring quality shows to

Direct marketing. An advertising campaign Essay

Direct marketing. An advertising campaign - Essay Example Direct marketing is perceived by many customers as an undesirable way of marketing products. Direct marketing includes techniques such as telephone sales and unsolicited emails. When companies rely on these techniques their credibility as a firm is downgraded. There are other forms of legit direct marketing techniques that have been used by marketers for years to generate revenues. Some of these good direct marketing techniques include catalogs, leaflets, brochures, and coupons. A company that has been very successful globally using a direct marketing approach to sell its products is Amway. Interactive marketing involves having contact with the customer in order to obtain a reaction and feedback from them. The tool that is utilized the most in the 21st century in the application of interactive marketing is the internet. Social websites such as Facebook provide great interactive mechanisms that can be used by marketers to communicate with the customers. A website that revolutionized t he way people watch programming is Hulu.com. Hulu offers television programs in its website free of charge. The programming has very short commercial breaks. During these commercials many advertisers used interactive marketing by providing short one question questionnaires. 7. Samir - participation I like your response but you failed to mention a direct marketing method that is often by companies which is direct telephone sales calls. This method of marketing is very outdated and his perceived in a negative connotation by the customers of today. Nobody likes being pressure into buying a consumer product they don’t want or need. I think that the government should regulate telemarketers to avoid the invasion of privacy these sales phone calls represent. Most of these companies are obtaining their sales leads number using unethical practices. I think that interactive marketing has a lot of potential for companies doing business the US marketplace as well as abroad. 8. Kelly â₠¬â€œ participation Convenience is one of the attributes customers look for the most in their shopping experience. A company that has revolutionized the supermarket industries is Sainsbury’s. This UK firm has a service that allows shoppers to purchase their groceries through the website. The online order is subsequently delivered to the person’s home. This service saves shoppers a lot of time and it saves them money in commuting expenses. At $4 a gallon customers have to save gasoline any way they can. Other companies such as Walgreens are achieving interactive marketing by offering special offers that can only be redeemed online. For example when the customer completes an online survey at the corporate website they are eligible for coupon savings. DQ1 An advertising campaign that was very successful due to its ingenuity, creativity, and ability to captivate the minds of the viewers was the Geico ads. Geico has been running a series of ads using the Gecko character in o rder to transmit a Geico’s slogan, â€Å"15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.† The ads are very funny due to the Gecko character. The Gecko has become such a sensation that Geico created an autobiography online video story of the Gecko on its corporate website. This is all great stuff. I believe that this character is the reason Geico has become such a successful auto insurance company. Prior to the start of the Gecko series of commercials Geico was not a household name in the minds of American consumers. An ad campaign that lacks a marketing message due to its simplicity is Corona’s beer advertisements. These commercials consist of a man and woman in the beach in lawn chair, the actors done move while stuff occurs around them at the admiration of the Corona beer. The commercial are poor because they do not send a clear marketing message and they are not emphasizing any of the attributes of the product such as quality, flavor, and price. The c ommercial seem like a low budget project in comparison with the spectacular commercials its competitor

Technological Environment Essay Example for Free

Technological Environment Essay When a relatively primitive technology is used in the production process, the technology is usually referred to as labor-intensive. A highly advanced technology, on the other hand, is generally termed capital-intensive. Business Perspective: The way that businesses function both in and out of the office has changed drastically. Thanks to advances in computer, information and communication technology. Companies now use a variety of mobile devices, software and various applications that employees can use for marketing and networking, as well as research and development, for their goods and services. Internet- the Internet, perhaps more than any other factor, has changed the way that companies do business. Most companies have websites, which allow them to reach a larger audience and attract customers and employees from all over the world. In addition, businesses are now utilizing social-networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, enabling them to communicate directly with customers with news and updates. These websites are interactive, which means that companies can also receive immediate feedback on new products from customers, speeding the process of research and development. Email, video conferencing and online chat rooms have also made it easier for businesses to become more globalized, communicating quickly and easily with clients and co-workers regardless of their location. * Mobile Devices- The Internet resources listed above are not just available on an office computer. Many companies provide their employees with other mobile devices such as laptops, tablet computers, PDAs and smart phones. These devices are portable and enable workers to stay constantly connected and updated with their work. They also make it more possible for employees to have a mobile office, working from any location and allowing them to travel or live in an area other than where the business is actually located. Most mobile devices also have an enormous number of applications available such as productivity tools, locators that utilize GPS functions and other organizational applications that help employees download, type, share and even print documents remotely from their device. * Software- Depending on the type of business, the software used by companies will vary. However, many companies can benefit from several types of software and applications.

Service Quality Standards in Health and Social Care

Service Quality Standards in Health and Social Care In health and social care services, quality is an essential component and a concept with many different interpretations and perspectives. It is important to both users of health and social care services and external stakeholders. While completing this unit I have gained knowledge of these differing perspectives and considered ways in which health and care service quality may he improved. I have tried to explore the requirements of external regulators and compare them with the expectations of those who use services. I have also learnt about few methods that can be used to assess different quality perspectives, and develop the ability to evaluate these methods against service objectives. I have also focussed on concepts of managing service quality with an aim of achieving continuous improvement and exceeding minimum standards. I have made a sincere attempt to understand strategies for achieving quality in health and social care services. By completing this unit, I sincerely hope that I have learnt basics of as to how to evaluate systems, policies and procedures in health and social care services. I have learnt about methodologies for evaluating health and social care service quality. TASK 1 Stakeholders are essential in health and social care regarding quality; discuss analysing the role of external agencies in setting standards. (1.1; 1.2) Stakeholder as one who is involved in or affected by a course of action. Patients are part of the stakeholder group that both pays for our health care system and are the end-user of it. The interests of health care organizations, medical professionals and other health care providers are represented through various government bodies, professional organizations and labour unions. We must try and understand quality considering the perspectives of staff and also perspectives of those who use services. Quality might have the same outcome but opinions of the health and social care staff and the patients might be quite different. In simple terms, quality is fitness for purpose. Quality is about meeting the service users requirements. If quality is about meeting service users requirements, it is important to discover what these requirements are. If we provide services with extras that service users dont want, we will not be adding quality. Stakeholders can be the external agencies eg Care Quality Commission; Supporting People; National Institute for Clinical Excellence; Health Service Commissioners; local authorities; users of services eg direct users of services, families, carers; professionals; managers; support workers. There are many organisations in the UK known as health and social care regulators. Each organisation oversees one or more of the health and social care professions by regulating individual professionals across the UK. These organisations, also known as regulators, were set up to protect the public so that whenever you see a health or social care professional, whether private or in the NHS, you can be sure they meet the standards set by the relevant regulator. To practise profession in health and social care, people must be registered with the relevant regulator. If they are not registered and still practise, then they are breaking the law and they may be prosecuted. These registers are made up of only those professionals who have demonstrated that they have met the standards set. These registers are open to the public. So if you want to check your professional is registered, you can do this either online or by calling the relevant organisation. In health and social care, professionals, clinicians and others, whose work is informed by traditional bodies of knowledge, are increasingly aware of the need for continuous personal development. High- quality services cannot be sustained unless health and care staff are consistently engaged in learning, individually and together. All care services need to work to standards and have a system for measuring that they are meeting standards. The health care system has audits which check that services meet quality standards, while social services have inspection units which register and inspect services. Standards are influenced by laws, subsequent regulations, codes of conduct and values. All organisations such as homes, day centres or community services, need a system to monitor how effectively services are being delivered and whether service users are having their needs met. Organisations may have their own quality monitoring systems. At a local level, quality assurance groups may seek to clarify, prioritise or set standards. Different parts of the system and external agencies need to work together, as part of a culture of open and honest cooperation, to identify potential or actual serious quality failures and take corrective action in the interests of protecting patients. Explain what the potential impacts of not appropriately managing quality in health and social care settings might be? (1.3) If quality in health and social care settings is not appropriately managed, this could lead to serious consequences. It could lead to inability to improve the health and social well-being of people in the area for which they are responsible; Planning and commissioning health and social care will be unable to meet the needs of people in that area. It will cause inability to secure the delivery to people in an area of health and social care that is safe, efficient, co-ordinated and cost-effective. Also the availability and quality of health and social care in that area will deteriorate. The development of standards, guidance and strategic targets will be stagnant. This would mean that local targets will not be achieved. It would mean that patient satisfaction will diminish and targets and expectations will not be met. Obviously, if the quality is inappropriately managed, it would have a significant impact on all three basic criteria. It would lead to poor clinical effectiveness. Safety of the patient ill not be guaranteed and this would lead to poor outcome in terms of patient experiences. Where the regulatory bodies find that providers are not meeting the standards, they require them to improve and has a range of enforcement powers they can use. These powers include warning notices, penalties, suspension or restriction of a providers activities, or in extreme cases, cancellation of a providers registration which effectively means closure of a service. Providers who train healthcare professionals also have a responsibility to deliver training in a safe and effective way in line with the standards set by the professional regulators. The professional regulators have an interest where the quality of training may put patients at risk. I. What are the major quality issues that were identified in the last State of Social Care (CSCI, 2009) standards report? What might be the implications for service users? (2.1) CSCIs report, The State of Social Care in England 2009, concludes that services do not meet the expectations. The report is believed to highlight that social care services are struggling to meet peoples needs. Fewer people are receiving the care they need to enable them to live independent lives in their own homes. It is all so understood that the report will say there are continuing and chronic difficulties in recruitment and retention of staff throughout the whole care sector. People, whether they pay for their care or are publicly funded, are not always getting the individualised help that they need to make decisions about their support which in the long term can be costly to individuals, family carers, councils and the NHS. People are not always getting quality personalised support, particularly those with multiple and complex needs, some of whom may have little, if any, choice about their care. There are concerns about people who are lost to the system because they are ineligible for publicly funded support or are self-funders. There is an increased demand and resources are limited which is putting a lot of pressure. The report states that people who have complex needs are not getting personalised care. It notes excellent examples of people receiving the support they need but adds that too many people are not getting the right amount of personalised care. Many people do not get the information, advice or support they need to help them make informed choices about their care. Implications for service users: Poor quality service can disrupt funding, damage the reputation of organisations and individuals and lead to inappropriate planning decisions. Improving quality improves patient care and value for money. It is important to improve quality because it will lead to preventing ill health and provide patient-centred care. It will also help to manage increasing demand across all programmes of care and to tackle health inequalities. Improved quality will lead to deliver a high-quality. People who would be affected the most because of poor quality will be mainly the older population, people with long-term conditions, people with a physical disability, maternity and child health, family and child care people using mental health services, people with a learning disability acute care and palliative and end of life care. There are many different approaches to understanding quality. Describe any three approaches of your choice highlight a particular strength of each approach. Different understandings of quality: A common quote is: Some things are better than others; that is, they have more quality. It is a grade of goodness or excellence. Quality therefore means free from defects. In my opinion, quality means patients satisfaction. After reading and learning more about quality, I have realised that quality can be understood with variour approaches. It can be measure in terms of the exceptional (highest standards) or in terms of conformity to standards. It can also be described as fitness for purpose, as effectiveness in achieving institutional goals; and as meeting patients needs. Quality as exceptionality This is the more traditional concept of quality. It is associated with the idea of providing a service that is distinctive and special, and which confers status on the owner or user. Many institutions emphasise that health and social care must have exceptional standards. However, it is not possible for the agency to condemn all other institutions. This approach is not always possible. Quality as conformance to standards The word standard is used to indicate pre-determined specifications or expectations. As long as an institution meets the pre-determined standards, it can be considered a quality institution fit for a particular status. This is the approach followed by most regulatory bodies for ensuring that institutions or programmes meet certain threshold levels. Quality as fitness for purpose This approach has the following questions Who will determine the purpose? and What are appropriate purposes?. The answers to these questions depend on the context in which quality is viewed. The purposes may be determined by the institution itself, by the government, or by a group of stakeholders. Quality as effectiveness in achieving institutional goals In this approach, a high quality institution is one that clearly states its mission (purpose) and is efficient in achieving it. This approach may raise issues such as the way in which the institution might set its goals (high, moderate or low), and how appropriate those goals could be. Quality as meeting customers stated or implied needs This is also a variation of the fitness-for-purpose approach. This is where the purpose is customer needs and satisfaction. Quality therefore corresponds to the satisfaction of the patients. Which approach to quality (you may choose one that isnt above) do you feel is more often used by providers of health and social care services users and why do you think that this is the case? (2.2) Standards-based understanding of quality In my view, I think health and social care providers use an approach which is conformance to the standards. Many regulatory bodies set goals and aims for a particular healthcare setting and the organisation works hard to achieve these goals. Implementing quality needs planning. There should be policies and procedures. Government should set some targets. An audit can be an excellent tool to check if appropriate quality of care is being delivered. There should be constant monitoring and review should take place at regular intervals. Good communication is the key to implement good quality. Proper information should be shared especially when shifts finish, hand over should be done adequately. We all should be open and ready for adapting to change. Standards: minimum standards or best practice should be the goal or certain benchmarks should be set. We must have measurable performance indicators. All health and social care settings should have codes of practice. There should be legislation in place which could either be local, national or European legislation. In the standards-based understanding of quality, health and social care institutions must demonstrate their quality against a set of pre-determined standards. These standards will set a threshold level of quality. However, quality assurance today has changed. While in the past quantitative criteria was enough to demonstrate that a standard had been met, more qualitative criteria is now incorporated and institutions may thus be able to more easily maintain their individuality. IV Suggest the potential barriers to delivering quality at this scheme and other health and social care services (2.3) There are a number of barriers to improving quality. It could be due to lack of proper implementation of documented procedures. There is a lack of incentives to change traditional ways of providing care. Also a lack of a patient-centered culture and values. One of the biggest problem is lack of relevant training and support. Also we dont have enough expertise in interpreting survey data. Sometimes it is just the resistance to change which can be quite difficult to overcome. We shall discuss relative impact of a range of potential barriers. The biggest constraint is the time available to focus on improving the quality of services, followed by a lack of leadership. People need to be identified, trained and supported to provide leadership and commitment. Lack of leadership in delivering quality is an important barrier. Training if not received properly could lead to poor quality in health and social care. We know there could be few health and social care workers who received no training, few who were trained in all the identified areas of quality, some who had been trained in only one area (predominantly clinical governance and audit) and the remainder received an inconsistent mix of training in different areas. A consistent package of core training in all facets of quality is needed for all NHS staff. Staff must be rewarded through the appraisal process, this could lead to a morale boost and lead to better quality of work. How does legislation (relating to quality) impact on the delivery of quality in health and social care service(s) offered in England and Wales? (3.1) Rules and regulations must be followed because safety depends on them. They usually come from one of two sources as they may be local and designed by the employer or they may have been designed by the government. Hospitals have their own policies and they also follow rules set by the NHS and the government. Wherever they come from, it is important that they are followed as they are put in place for the good of everyone. One of the main sets of rules and regulations is The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This act provides the basis of health and safety law. It places general duties on all people at work, including employers and employees. All places of employment are subject to health and safety law. Employers must have relevant policies in place. These must be designed for health and social care so that all of the staff can follow them and comply with the safety laws. Most care establishments have the following policies like fire policy, lifting policy and hazardous waste policy. When running or managing a care service and carrying on a regulated activity there are certain things you have to do by law. Though the legislation should be used as guidance only, and is not legal advice. Another important act is Health and Social Care Act 2008. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 established the Care Quality Commission as the regulator of all health and adult social care services. It is important to be aware of all the up to date provisions. We should try to describe quality and safety from the perspective of people who use services and place them at the centre of the registration system. It is important that anyone registered to provide or manage a regulated activity is aware of the guidance that has been produced. It is very important to be aware of the legal side of things so that we can ensure the safety of patients and also ourselves. Identify other factors that might influence the achievement of quality in health and social care services (3.2) How to deliver high-quality healthcare in the most efficient manner possible is the question that is very important. In my opinion, healthcare delivery should be clinically effective, focusing on treatment outcomes, including survival rates, symptoms, complications and patient-reported outcomes. In my view, health and social care must be safe: avoiding harm, looking after people in clean, safe environments, and reporting any medical errors or adverse events. One main goal should be ensuring that healthcare is available to all according to need and avoiding financial barriers that prevent access to necessary care. It is important that health and social care is efficient: paying attention to value for money, avoidance of unnecessary interventions, and careful use of limited resources. Health and social care should be responsive: providing personalized, patient-centred care, delivered with compassion, dignity and respect; measuring, analysing and improving patients experience and satisfaction. How can health and social care workers ensure their knowledge base is up to date and that their work is of a quality standard and what role and responsibilities do health and social care service providers have in relation to this. (3.3) As health care or social care workers, we must endeavour to keep our knowledge base up to date and ensure that our work is of quality standard. Ideal care workers will go out of their way for patients, they try to understand what its like for the service user and carer; they are happy and interested in their work and knowledgeable about their jobs and are always ready to help. Good communication is the key. We must attend seminars, meetings, group discussions and do online studying along with regular text bok reading. Group discussions and team work will help us to realise the gaps in our knowledge. Care workers should have knowledge of services and legislation relevant to users and carers needs. They must know about the benefit system and sources of funding, or who to refer to if they dont. It is of utmost importance that they know when and whom to ask for extra help. Health and social care workers should know about the people they are caring for. They should be familiar with the roles of other people in relation to meeting service user and carer need. Health and social care workers must understand their limitations and have up-to-date knowledge. It is recommended that care workers review their learning over the previous 12 months, and set their development objectives for the coming year. Reflecting on the past and planning for the future in this way makes your development more methodical and easier to measure. Care workers may already be doing this as part of their development review with an employer. CPD is a personal commitment to keeping our professional knowledge up to date and improving our capabilities. It focuses on what we learn and how we develop throughout your career. As a professional, we have a responsibility to keep our skills and knowledge up to date. CPD helps us turn that accountability into a positive opportunity to identify and achieve our own career objectives. CPD is an opportunity to do ourselves some good; the nature and scale of the benefit depends entirely on us. I. Identify method used to assess quality, evaluate the method with two more methods of your choice (one external and internal (4.1) Measuring the quality of health care has become a major concern for funders and providers of health services in recent decades. One of the ways in which quality of care is currently assessed is by taking routinely collected data and analysing that data. The use of routine data has many advantages but there are also some important pitfalls. The Measurement of Quality: Methods for assessing quality can be various. We could use questionnaires, focus groups, structured and semi-structured interviews, panels, complaints procedures, feedback forms and road shows. Nice questionnaires should be prepared which should be given to the patients to fill in their own time. This could give us a fair and honest opinion about our services. Small focus groups and interviews can also be a good technique. To achieve good levels of quality service, we must have complaints procedures in place. Feedback forms could be an excellent measure for quality of any service provided. This could also prove beneficial in improving the quality by acting upon any suggestions made by the patients. Scientific methods of measurement are increasingly necessary. Evaluation requires good methods in order for the resulting data to be useful. Further, data from evaluations are being used to create significant change within organizations, so faulty data based on inaccurate measurement methods carry a great risk. Quality will not be improved simply as a result of inspection. It must be built into the people and the processes carrying out the work of the organization. In health and social care setting we must all define quality, measure its achievement, and create innovations to constantly improve. This requires active involvement of all within the organization, from the mailroom to the boardroom. Visible, supportive leadership is essential. II. If quality is about meeting customers or service users requirements, it is important to discover what these requirements are (Martin and Henderson, 2001 p. 178) Quality is most easily recognised in its absence and many public perceptions of healthcare are based upon measuring the absence of quality for example, waiting times, waiting list sizes, even illness itself are all measurements of the absence of quality. The client/patient: the client/patients view of the quality of their experience will depend upon two factors: a successful outcome and a positive experience before, during and after treatment. However, some procedures which may be deemed clinically desirable to maximise the probability of a successful outcome may be highly uncomfortable and inconvenient for the patient. Increasingly, the separation between these aspects is being questioned as it is recognised that clinical outcomes are influenced by a patients general state of well-being. This increases the need to take account of what has been traditionally considered as non-clinical aspects of care. Service quality is more difficult for patients to evaluate than goods quality. A patients assessment of the quality of health care services is more complex and difficult for them as well. Patients do not evaluate service quality solely on the outcome of a service; they also consider the process of service delivery. The antibiotics may have resolved the throat infection, but if discourtesy and an uncaring attitude marked the patients interaction with the provider, the perception may well be poor service quality. The patient defines the only criteria that count in evaluating service quality. Only patients can judge service quality; all other judgments are irrelevant. Patients requirements, in my opinion, are: Access: approachability and ease of contact. Communication: keeping patients informed in language they can understand. Listening to them is equally important. Less use of of medical jargon. Competence: possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service. Courtesy: politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of health and social care worker. Credibility: trustworthiness, believability, and honesty of the service provider. Reliability: the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: the willingness to help patients and to provide prompt service. Security: freedom from danger, risk, or doubt. Understanding of the needs of a patient: making the effort to know patients and their needs. III. Service user involvement has become a buzzword in policy aimed at achieving quality. Discuss strategies used to involve service users and their effectiveness. (4.2) Service user involvement is a two way process that involves both service users and their service provider in the sharing of ideas, where service users are able to influence decisions and take part in what is happening Patients, carers, parents and advocates of the sick and vulnerable should have input into the kind of health service we have. They should be consulted about changes to services, and they should be involved in the design of those services. They should help to set the standards by which services are judged, and help to assess whether a particular aspect of the service meets those standards. At every stage, the users of the health service should be offered the opportunity to play an active part in developing, delivering and evaluating their service. Involvement can be achieved by using the following methods. Information sharing This may include letters, posters, newsletters, videos, tapes, text messages and forums. Listening This may include: one to one interviews, group interviews, focus groups, and service user meetings, one off events, questionnaires and workshops Consultation This may include: one to one interviews, group interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, one off specific focused events, workshops, and video or drama events. Participation This may include: user panels focused on specific topics, resident groups, inclusion in organising events, videos and other media to give information to other service users. Patients should be involved in making decisions about their own health care. They should be actively involved in co-designing services, redesigning services, developing services or change management. The government should be undertaking peer education and support. More patients should be taking part in research. These strategies could be used to involve service users.

Development Of Modern Capitalism History Essay

Development Of Modern Capitalism History Essay Weber viewed that the protestant ethic spawned encouraged the spirit of capitalism. He was it more than simply a capitalistic activity. According to him it was the essence which underlies the economic system. During the sixteenth century, this spirit embodied in the societies of the Europe provided the impetus for capitalism to emerge as the dominant economic system of the world. He saw capitalism more than simply an accumulation of wealth. It had its roots in rationality. He insisted that the capitalism was the triumph of rationality over tradition .Explicit in his views of capitalism was a disciplined labour force and the regularized investment of capital. He asserted that this combination took place only in Europe most strongly in protestant nations such as England, Holland Germany To specify the distinctive characteristics of modern capitalism in the protestant ethic, weber first of all separation off capitalistic enterprise from the pursuit of gain such as.The desire for wealth has existed desire in most times nations in itself nothing to do with capitalistic action, which involves a regular orientation to the achievement of profit through economic exchange. Capitalism thus defined in the mercantilist operations for instance has existed in various forms of society; in Babylon Ancient Egypt, China, India Europe. But only in the west capitalistic activity become associated with the rational organisation of formally free labour. By rational organisation of free labour means its routinized calculated administration with in continuously functioning enterprises. A rationalised capitalistic enterprise implies two things-a disciplined labour force the regulated investment of capital. Each contrasts profoundly with traditional types of economic activity. It is associated with an outlook of very specific kind-the continual accumulation of wealth for its own sake, rather than for the material rewards than it can serve to bring. Man is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life. Economic acquisition is no longer subordinate to man as the means of stratification of his material needs. This according to weber was the essence of the spirit of modern capitalism. The notion of calling accords to weber did not existed either in Antiquity or in Catholic theology; it was introduced by the Reformation. It refers basically to the idea that the highest form of moral obligation of the individual is to fulfil his duty in worldly affairs. This project religious behaviour into the day-day world stands in contrast to the catholic ideal of the monastic life, whose object is to transcend the demands of mundane existence.Moreover,the moral responsibility of the Protestant was cumulative i.e. the cycle of sin, repentance forgiveness, renewed throughout the life of the Catholicism was absent in Protestantism. The idea of calling was already present in Luthers doctrine but it became more rigorously developed in the various sects; Calvinism, Methodism, Pietism and Baptism .The weber was mostly concentrated on the Calvinism. Calvinism was the faith over which the great political cultural struggles of the sixteenth seventeenth centuries were fought in the most highly developed countries, the Netherland, England France. The four tenets of Calvinism were (a) God is all powerful and transcendent. One can never reach or understand God. (b)Doctrine of pre-destination: God has already preselected who will be saved and who shall be condemned. (c)Disworldly Asceticism: Do worldly things but in a balanced manner. Accumulated wealth but not to spend luxuriously. In fact re-invest. (d)The notion of calling: that all people have a calling. And to pursue this calling means doing God will. It views grace as irresistible, has a rigid doctrine of predestination, and originally had a theocratic view of the state. Calvinist doctrines look on Gods will as sovereign, and church should not be subject to the state (although it did not frown on a church dominated society). The doctrine of predestination was of utmost important, stressing the absolute sovereignty of Gods will, held that only those whom God specifically elects are saved, that this election is irresistible, and that man can do nothing to effect this salvation. Weber noted that Calvins interest was solely in God, and people existed only for the sake of God. Only a few are chosen and the rest are damned. Human merit or guilt plays no role in whether or not one is elect. This doctrine produced unprecedented inner loneliness of the single individual. (Protestant, p. 104). The individual Calvinists connection with God was carried on in deep spiritual isolation. (Protestant, p. 107) e.g. Pilgrim in Pilgrims Progress. Weber viewed this as pessimistically disillusioned type of individualism rather than the spirit of enlightenment. No one could save the individual, no priest, not the Church, no sacraments. This, the complete elimination of salvation through the Church and the sacraments was what formed the absolutely decisive difference from Catholicism. (Protestant, p. 105). Weber regards this as the logical conclusion of the elimination of magic, that is, a rational development in religion. For Calvin, people are on earth only to glorify God. The duty of the Christian was to show Gods glory in a calling. This meant doing ones daily tasks, and this often means fulfilling the job in a rational organization. The elected Christian is in the world only to increase this glory of God by fulfilling His commandments to the best of his ability. Brotherly love is expressed in the first place in the fulfilment of the daily tasks given. This makes labour in the service of impersonal social usefulness appear to promote the glory of God and hence to be willed by him. (Protestant, pp. 108-9). The Calvinist Christian was concerned with the question of whether he or she was one of the elect. Since this caused suffering on the part of the individual, two forms of pastoral advice were given. See quote 12 on predestination. First, it was an absolute duty to consider oneself chosen, and to combat all doubts as temptations of the devil, since lack of self-confidence is the result of insufficient faith, hence of imperfect grace. a duty to attain certainty of ones own election and justification in the daily struggle of life. (Protestant, p. 111). Second, in order to attain that self-confidence intense worldly activity is recommended as the most suitable means. It and it alone disperses religious doubts and gives the certainty of grace. (Protestant, p. 112). This contrasts with Lutheranism, whereby God promises grace to those who trust in God. Faith was thus identified with the type of Christian conduct which glorifies God. Works were not a means of purchasing salvation, but of getting rid of the fear of damnation. In practice this means that God helps those who help themselves. (Protestant, p. 115). But this is not done through occasional good works, or a gradual accumulation of points toward salvation, but rather in a systematic self-control which at every moment stands before the inexorable alternative, chosen or damned. (Protestant, p. 115). This means that the Christian must have a life of good works; there is no room for the very human Catholic cycle of sin, repentance, atonement, release. Of the elements in Calvinism that which seeks special attention was the doctrine of predestination-that only some human beings are chosen to be saved from damnation, the choice being predetermined by god. In its extreme inhumanity, he comments this doctrine must above all have had one consequence for the life of a generation which surrendered to its magnificent consistencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a feeling of unprecedent loneliness. From this torment, weber holds that the capitalistic spirit was born .He talked about the two developments at the pastoral level-it became obligatory to regard oneself as chosen, lack of certainty being indicative of insufficient faith; the performance of good works in worldly activity became accepted as the medium whereby such surety could be demonstrated. Success in a calling eventually came to be regarded as a sign never a means of being one of the elect. The accumulation of wealth was morally sanctioned in so far as it was combined with a sober, industrious career; wealth was condemned only if employed to support a life of idle luxury or self-indulgence. Calvinism supplied the moral energy drive of the capitalistic entrepreneur.weber speaks of its doctrine as having an iron consistency in the bleak discipline which it demands of its adherent. The elements of ascetic self-control in worldly affairs was certainly there in the other puritan sects but they lack the dynamism of calvanism.Their impact was mainly upon the formation of moral outlook enhancing labour discipline with n the lower middle levels of capitalistic economic organisation. Such as the virtues favoured by pietism were those of the faithful official, clerk, labourer or domestic worker. The protestant ethic acc. To weber traces only one side of the casual chain i.e.-the connection of the spirit of modern economic life with the rational ethics of ascetic puritanism. He specifies a number of fundamental socio-economic factors institutional bases which played major role distinguished the European experience that of India china. These included (a)The separation of productive enterprise from the household which, prior to the development of industrial capitalism was much more advanced in the west (b) the development of the Western city, with a trading structure independent of the surrounding rural areas(c) Western law, including the separation of corporate and personal property; (iv) the nation state, with a bureaucracy that could take care of necessary state activities; an organized territory under unified control of a single ruler or government, so that there was a unified framework within which commerce and capitalism could develop; (v) double entry book-keeping, al lowing business to keep track of all items and determine a balance; allowing rational calculation of all the inflows and outflows, leading to an analysis of where the profit or loss occurs, and what is the source of profit; (vi) the rational capitalistic organization of (formally) free labour. A lot of critique has been laid on the webers work said that webers characterisation of Protestantism was faulty. The major critique directed to webers treatment of the reformation, his interpretation of the puritan sects in general the Calvinism particularly. (a)It has been held that weber mistakenly supposed that Luther introduced the concept of calling which differ from anything previously available in scriptural exegesis; that Calvinistic ethics were anti-capitalistic rather than sanctioning the accumulation of wealth (b) Weber misinterpreted catholic doctrine. Critics have pointed out that weber apparently did not study Catholicism in any detail, although he talked about the difference between the Catholicism Protestantism in respect of economically relevant values. It has been held that post-medieval Catholicism involves elements positively favourable to the capitalist spirit that the Reformation was seen as a reaction against the latter rather than as a clearing ground fo r its subsequent emergence (c) The connectivity between puritanism modern capitalism was based upon unsatisfactory empirical materials. Fischer Rachfahl has echoed about this in several forms.Weber only study the numerical analysis of the economic studies of Catholics Protestants in baden,1895.They argued that webers source was mainly Anglo-Saxon claimed that research into economic development in the Rhineland, the Netherland Switzerland, in the sixteenth seventeenth centuries didnt reveal any close association between Calvinism capitalistic enterprise. One of the criticisms of Weber is that he misunderstood what Franklin was saying. In their article, In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism: Webers Misinterpretation of Franklin, Tony Dickson and Hugh McLachlan disagree with Weber that Franklin was talking about an ethic in the selection quoted above. Far from demonstrating a commitment to the spirit of capitalism and the accumulation of wealth as an end in itself and moral duty, Franklins writings is in fact evidence against the existence of such a spirit. Dickson and McLachlan point out that the title of the work from which Weber quoted is Necessary Hints to Those That Would Be Rich. They assert, This suggests that what Franklin is offering is prudential advice, rather than insisting on a moral imperative. The gist of Dicksons and McLachlans argument is that Weber misinterpreted Franklins writings as moral ends when they were simply virtues to be practiced because of the benefits they will bring to those who practice them. They deny that Franklin was preaching a Protestant work ethic and assert that all Franklin was saying was that if a person is interested in being successful in life and commerce, here are some virtues to follow. Dickson and McLachlan conclude with a clear statement of their criticism of Webers hypothesis: It seems clear that Weber misinterpreted Franklin and that the latter was not imbued with the ethos which Weber attributes to him. It is not in dispute that a methodological lifestyle is conducive to the accumulation of wealth. What is at issue concerning Webers Protestant Ethic thesis is the impetus for such a lifestyle. Webers misinterpretation of Franklin does not in itself invalidate his methodology or his Protestant Ethic thesis. Nonetheless, it does suggest a rather cavalier attitude towards evidence, particularly as the writings of Franklin are the only evidence that he presents in his original essays to demonstrate the existence of the spirit of capitalism. H. M. Robertson, in A Criticism of Max Weber and His School asserted that the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches stressed the same precepts in the 16th and 17th centuries. He states that Webers assertion that the concept of the calling was novel to Luther and Protestantism was not established in Webers writings. He supported his thesis by quoting Aquinas: There seems to be no essential difference between the doctrine of the Catholics and the Puritans on the point of the calling. Amintore Fanfani, an economic historian, shared Robertson criticism of Weber but from a different aspect. In his article Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism, Fanfani disagrees with Weber concerning the role that Protestantism played in the development of a capitalist spirit in Europe. In the first paragraph, he states his argument: . . . that Europe was acquainted with capitalism before the Protestant revolt. For at least century capitalism had been an ever growing collective force. Not only isolated individuals, but whole social groups, inspired with the new spirit, struggled with a society that was not yet permeated with it. Once we have ruled out that Protestantism could have produced a phenomenon that already existed, it still remains for us to enquire whether capitalism was encouraged or opposed by Protestantism. Fanfani argued that it was not the Protestant Ethic which encouraged the growth of capitalism but the fact was that many Protestants were forced to leave Catholic countries to escape persecution which fosters in the emigrants an internationalism that is no small element in capitalist mentality. He further says that many early Protestant leaders opposed capitalism, including Luther and Calvin: Luthers conservatism in economic matters, to which his patriarchal ideas on trade and his decided aversion to interest bear witness. Even Calvin . . . condemns as unlawful all gain obtained at a neighbours expense, and the amassing of wealth. The Huguenots and Dutch Reformers also preached against various aspects of capitalism: . . . through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a continual repetition of the prohibitions of usury were issued by the synods of the Huguenots and by those of the Dutch Reformers, whose ethical code also condemned even excessive labour, as robbing time and energy fr om the service of God, and held action born of desire for gain to be a sign of madness. Fanfani agrees with Weber that capitalism flourished after the Reformation, but he parts ways with Weber as to the causes. Fanfani argues that capitalism as we know it today was born in the Italian merchant states under the religious umbrella of Catholicism, but he discounts the effect that religion of any kind had on the growth of capitalism as the major world economic system. He concludes his article by stating, The creation of a new mentality in the economic field cannot therefore be considered as the work of Protestantism, or rather of any one religion, but it is a manifestation of that general revolution of thought that characterizes the period of the Renaissance and the Reformation, by which in art, philosophy, morals, and economy, the individual emancipates . . . himself from the bonds imposed on him during the Middle Ages. Malcolm H. MacKinnon, bases his disagreements with Weber on the idea that Weber misinterpreted what the Calvinists were saying about the concept of the calling and good works. He states early on in his article, There are two fundamental theological flaws in Webers line of reasoning, flaws that mean that Calvinism did not give a divine stamp of approval to earthly toil: (1) There is no crisis of proof in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the dogmatic culmination of seventeenth-century Calvinism upon which Weber so heavily relies, and (2) in Christianity generally and Calvinism in particular, works have nothing to do with mundane activities. As soteriologically conceived in relation to salvation, works are spiritual activities that call for obedience to the Law. MacKinnon goes on to explain that Webers major failure is his misunderstanding of the Calvinist meaning of the calling. Using the Westminster Confession as his primary source, MacKinnon explains what the term calling meant to the Calvinists: There is a heavenly calling and an earthly calling or callings, the latter disqualified from making a positive contribution to our deliver ance. . . Above all else, the devout must ensure that their mundane callings in no way impede the prosecution of the greatest good of all: their heavenly calling. Believers are sanctioned to choose that employment or calling in which you may be most serviceable to God. Choose not that in which you may be most honorable in the world; but that which you may do most good and best escape sinning. MacKinnon concludes by stating that it was Webers misfortune to choose part of the Calvinist philosophy which, upon close examination, not only fails to support Webers thesis but in fact undermines it. Again, the significant point here is that temporal obligations are at best indifferent and at worst sinful; they cannot make a contribution to the realization of celestial paradise. It is a grim twist of irony that Weber would choose such a spiritually worthless vehicle to realize his causal ambitions. R. H. Tawney, Webers most famous critic, agreed with Weber that capitalism and Protestantism were connected. However, Tawney saw the connection going in the opposite direction from that which Weber postulated. Tawney, in his 1926 work, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, states that Protestantism adopted the risk-taking, profit-making ethic of capitalism, not the other way around. Tawney claims, with some good measure: There was plenty of capitalist spirit in fifteenth century Venice and Florence, or in south Germany and Flanders, for the simple reason that these areas were the greatest commercial and financial centers of the age. The development of capitalism in Holland and England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were due, not to the fact that they were Protestant powers but to large economic movements, in particular the Discoveries and the results which flowed from them. The strongest connection that Tawney saw between capitalism and Protestantism was rationality. Protestantism was a revolt against traditionalism and as such advocated rationality as an approach to life and business. Tawney proposed that the rationality inherent in capitalism became a tenet of Protestantism because rationality was diametrically opposed to the traditionalism of Catholicism. Early Protestant leaders recognized that hard work and rational organization of time were capitalist virtues which fit very nicely into the concept of living ones life in the service of God. Tawney saw the capitalist concepts of division of labor and planned accumulation as being reflected in the dogma of Protestantism which urged its followers to use ones calling on earth for the greater glory of God. According to Tawney, capitalist precepts and Protestant dogma fit hand in glove. As an historian, Tawney did not see a linear relationship between capitalism and Protestantism. He thought that Webers thesis a little too simplistic to explain historical events. History tends to be non-linear, and attempts to draw straight casual lines between events are shaky at best. As Tawney put it, The Protestant ethic, with its insistence on hard work, thrift, etc., had contributed to the rise of capitalism, but at the same time Protestantism itself was being influenced by an increasingly capitalistic society. The last critic I will cite in this paper is an economic historian, Jacob Viner, who used pre-eighteenth century Scotland as a case study to demonstrate that where Calvinism was a state religion, it tended to have a restraining rather than a freeing effect on economic development. He quotes a letter from John Keats in support of his thesis: . . . the ecclesiastical supervision of the life of the individual, which, as it was practised in the Calvinistic State Churches almost amounted to an inquisition, might even retard that liberation of individual powers which was conditioned by the rational ascetic pursuit of salvation, and in some cases actually did so. Viner points out that until well into the eighteenth century, Scotland was a desperately poor country. Contemporary commentators often remarked on the lack of economic initiative and ambition and on the general lack of enterprise and economic discipline of the population. Several of these reporters attributed Scotlands economic backwardness in large part to the deadening effect of Calvinist doctrine as forcibly applied by both Church and State. Viner quotes Henry T. Buckle who, in his 1857 treatise Introduction to the History of Civilization in England, wrote concerning the economic teachings of Scottish Calvinists in the seventeenth century as follows: To wish for more than was necessary to keep oneself alive was a sin as well as a folly and was a violation of the subjection we owe to God. That it was contrary to His desire was moreover evident from the fact that He bestowed wealth liberally upon misers and covetous men; a remarkable circumstance, which, in the opinion of Scotch divines, proved that He was no lover of riches, otherwise He would not give them to such base and sordid persons. To be poor, dirty, and hungry, to pass through life in misery, and to leave it with fear, to be plagued with boils, and sores, and diseases of every kind, to be always sighing and groaning, . . . in a word [sic], to suffer constant affliction, and to be tormented in all possible ways; to undergo these things was deemed proof of good ness, just as the contrary was a proof of evil. The opposition of Scottish Calvinism to capitalism was so well known in Europe that some English commentators such as Roger LEstrange urged English businessmen to look at the record of the Scottish Presbyterians in interfering with commerce and industry for religious reasons before supporting Cromwells cause. In conclusion, the critics of Webers Protestantism/capitalism theory have reasonable and logical criticisms. As a historian, I find the Tawney non-linear argument to be very compelling. There is no doubt that capitalism in various forms existed in Europe prior to the Reformation. The Italian merchants and the Dutch clothiers operated under a rational economic system. Double-entry bookkeeping was invented in Italy and adopted by other merchants throughout Europe. I think it is obvious that several factors were at work in Europe during the long sixteenth century, which led to the growth and dominance of capitalism. All of this taken into consideration, Webers thesis still stands. His thesis is not perfect; it has all the flaws pointed out by the above critics. However, none of the critics I have read managed to destroy the basic premise by which Weber sought to explain the growth of capitalism. Something happened in the long sixteenth century which saw an explosion of capitalist economic activity, free thought, and religious rebellion. Whether the relationship among these is causal or coincidental will be grounds for conjecture for years to come. History shows us that in fact those nations which were predominantly Protestant showed economic growth much greater than those which were predominantly Catholic. Even Jacob Viners argument that the repressive nature of Scottish Calvinism does not damage Weber, since he acknowledged that once a religion becomes a creature of the state it then tends to oppress people rather than free them.

Opening Scene of Educating Rita Essay -- Educating Rita Themes Charact

Opening Scene of Educating Rita Explore the ways in which Russell engages the audiences interest in the main characters and themes in the opening scene of Educating Rita and explain whether you think the play written in 1979 is still relevant to 2005. Willy Russell’s play, Educating Rita, written in 1979, is a story about a typical lower class woman called Rita who decides she wants to lead an ‘educated life’ and she tries to do this by getting a private tutor called Frank to teach her, but learning to lead an educated life proves to be not what she expected. Willy Russell introduces Frank and Rita in two very different ways. Frank is introduced as a well read university tutor who seems to like his drink; this is shown when Russell writes ’the walls are lined with books’ making him appear educated. But then writes: â€Å"pulls out a pile of books to reveal a bottle of whisky† which makes the audience question their first impression of him as a typical university teacher, is he an alchoholic? Does he drink too much? Is this important? Rita is introduced as an uneducated, loud, rude young woman. The first impression Russell gives the audience is Rita saying: â€Å"I’m comin’ in, aren’t I?† to someone she has never met before, which shows a lack of manners or simply a casual upbringing. He then shows her going to a chair and â€Å"dumping her bag†. By using the verb â€Å"dump† Russell immediately suggests that Rita is not a ladylike person, and this follows the impression that she is ill mannered. Russell presents the play as a two-hander so that the audience is focused on the clash between Frank and Rita and the entire play is focused on Frank and Rita’s point of view. The two very contrasting personalities seem t... ... or missing something in his life, and Rita also says ‘ I want to be free’ which means she feels trapped in her life and wants to escape and she wants to do this by getting educated. They both seem to change through the play almost into totally different people, Rita changes her name to susan as she thinks it sounds ‘proper’. The play has a certain humour about it as the two characters personalities and views are almost opposite, this creates chaos, as neither of them knows what the other is talking about which is amusing to the audience, and Rita is very loud and uses a lot of swearing and slang which is not what you would expect in a university. In conclusion, Russell uses the contrast of the two characters in Educating Rita to create humour and engage the audience, whilst facing issues and views that are still a problem and relevant to today in 2005.