People who do Crazy Things are not Necessarily Crazy

Every human being faces at least one affliction in his or her life that leads him or her to behave in an unusual manner. While some people obtain support from others and learn how to handle situations correctly, others fight their battles alone and find themselves committing unthinkable acts. One taking a dispositional view would allegedly reach the conclusion that those who perform these unthinkable acts must suffer from insanity. With an opposing outlook, social psychologists observe how certain individuals react to difficult circumstances and determine why particular escapades occur as a result of distinct settings. They understand that â€Å"occasionally, these natural situations become focused into pressures so great that they can cause people to behave in ways easily classifiable as abnormal† (Aronson). Humankind should strive to fathom the depth of human behavior, and simply labeling these people as psychotic only decreases the chances of doing so. Some murder trials, after examination, will prove certain individuals to be psychotic, while other proceedings linger in the mind as an obscurity. Often times, people do not want to accept the fact that not all murderers are demented. Szasz argued that we often prefer to attribute antisocial deeds to a person’s mental illness rather than to his or her intent or choice. It is difficult to accept the idea that sane people could willingly commit atrocities† (Kleinke). Thus, it remains crucial that we recognize how grievous conditions can generate one to become an eloquently volatile being. Two defined groups of individuals that account for a number of the enraged acts suggested as being â€Å"crazy† are: vulnerable persons dealing with agonizing treatment by the public and helpless minors growing up in unpleasant homes that lack affection. Considering the backgrounds of people who act deceivingly will allow society to better understand the reasons why unwanted deeds are committed and how they can be avoided. Just a few weeks ago I watched a showing on television called â€Å"Too Young to Kill: 15 Shocking Crimes† in which Eric Smith earned the second spot on the list. Smith had a full head of red hair, a face covered by red freckles to match and a thick pair of glasses for his bad eyesight. At age thirteen, this appearance never seems to be the most popular when trying to make friends. Kids continually mocked the redheaded loner and rejected his friendship. Since no one wanted to be seen spending time with the outsider, Smith exhausted most of his time bike riding in the small town he lived in. Eric Smith represents the vulnerable individual who put up with too much overwhelming treatment from his peers. Eventually, he had to cope with his anger, and he did so in a horrifying manner. One particular morning, as Smith did his routine bike ride around the town, a four year old named Derrick Robie asked his mother if he could walk alone to a summer camp that he attended just a few blocks down. Hesitantly, she agreed, only because the neighborhood was known to be exceptionally safe. Smith, riding his bicycle to the same camp, passed Robie along the way and decided to lure him into an unseen area. Smith said he saw Robie as an easy target; he knew the young boy stood defenseless. Robie was brought into a wooded area where he was brutally beaten and smashed over the head with a large rock. Smith even sodomized young Derrick by shoving a stick up his butt hole in order to stab his heart and confirm the preschooler’s death. A defense psychiatrist tried to blame the murder on Intermittent Explosive Disorder, which literally means deadly rage and anger. It is â€Å"currently categorized in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an impulse control disorder† (Wikipedia). However, when involved in many murder case trials, one finds that â€Å"consciously or unconsciously, people who are the subject of social science research may skew results† (Levant). Since the rare disorder is seldom seen at age thirteen, jurors demanded that Smith undergo extensive medical testing. Results proved that his brain function and hormone levels were normal and had nothing to do with his sadistic behavior. A person suffering from psychosis often loses contact with reality and contains no control of his or her actions in painstaking moments. Smith confessed that he influenced naive Derrick to follow him into the woods in order to kill him in private. He knew exactly what he was doing and entirely understood the implications of his behavior. Furthermore, throughout the initial trial, he did not once apologize for killing an innocent child. Even after the crime was over with, Smith felt little remorse. It was not until the succeeding trial over a decade later that he acknowledged his wrongdoing and asked for forgiveness. Finally, he attempted to clearly answer the question that everyone had been waiting for a response to: â€Å"why did he do it? † Smith avows that he now has morals, something that he did not previously have. He asserts that no matter how minuscule an abuse situation, it all combines together to create a much larger issue for the one being bullied. Eventually, the individual will not be able to endure anymore pain and could potentially be driven to kill. Bullying can lead to a victim craving revenge and taking out anger on someone seen as less significant. Smith himself explains this behavior in his testimony by alleging that: â€Å"it is not because they’re evil or satanic little kids; it’s because they want the abuse to stop and it’s the only way they know how to. † He is aware that his actions were not a result of some form of psychosis. Instead, it was the unpleasant situation that instigated Eric Smith to act in a crazy way. Certainly he remains guilty; though, if the conditions at his school had been different, he would not have committed that terrifying crime. An even more shocking murder case than that of Eric Smith’s is the one known as â€Å"The Beltway Sniper Attacks,† which involves the juvenile known as John Lee Malvo. Fatherless throughout life, Malvo felt a strong connection at age fourteen to a man he and his mother met, John Allen Muhammad. Malvo’s mother left him with Muhammad for a long period of time until she was able to smuggle him over to Miami with her, but only as an illegal alien. Border Patrol caught them both and brought them into jail. After about a month, young Malvo was released on bail. Naturally, he longed to be in the care of the only other person he trusted: Muhammad. John Muhammad gave Malvo purpose and he even enlisted Malvo into school as his son. When Muhammad’s ex-wife, Mildred, was granted full custody of their three daughters Muhammad went berserk. Knowing that the death of his ex-wife would gain him guardianship, he thought out a plan to murder Mildred with no one suspecting him as being involved. The arrangement consisted of a killing spree that had no connection between any of the victims. This way, when the shooting of Mildred would occur, she would just be another random victim of the unknown mass murderer. Muhammad invited Malvo to participate in the homicides and told him that they could terrorize the nation together. Malvo admired Muhammad so, of course, he accepted the proposal and murdered ten innocent people as a result. Lee Boyd Malvo, holding the number one spot on the shocking crime’s list, epitomizes the deprived minor who yearns for a father figure. According to a forensic psychiatrist, Alexander E. Obolsky, the two snipers involved in the Maryland and Virginia shootings were narcissists who planned out their attacks. Malvo and Muhammad gained an emotional high from the feeling of being in charge. This conduct does not automatically indicate that the two suffer from psychosis. Obolsky affirms, â€Å"the person [the sniper] is crazy only in the sense that he does not care about people the way typical people do† (Pustovar). In agreement, forensic psychologist Dr. Neal Dunsieth insists, â€Å"the sniper might have some particular personality traits or be predisposed to strange beliefs, but I haven’t seen a lot that points to a mental illness† (Pustovar). Counselors and social workers have spent much of their time with Malvo during his nine years in prison. As reported by Carmeta Albarus-Lindo, who has absorbed over one hundred hours of her time with Malvo, Malvo has drastically turned his life around. He himself states that he habitually struggles with feelings of shame, guilt and repentance. Knowing she was just a few people away from being killed by Malvo, Mildred claims, â€Å"that boy was a victim before he even knew it. † If shot, she would have wanted the full responsibility given to her ex-husband. She fully realizes that he took complete advantage of the boy’s insecurities. Immature Malvo was just a child with a great deal of growing up to do when he first met Muhammad. Every young person needs an adult to help guide him or her through life. When growing up, people are taught that their parents know best; adolescents typically believe that this statement holds full truth. Sadly, Malvo happened to be hooked up with Muhammad as his guardian and he followed directly behind his footsteps. Lee Boyd Malvo, which is the boy’s real name, was cruelly brainwashed by the grown-up man whom he called â€Å"Father. Calling Malvo by the name of â€Å"John Lee Malvo† symbolizes the circumstances in which John Muhammad took over Lee Boyd Malvo’s essence and independence. Simply accusing all murderers of possessing some major mental disorder will in no way explain the reasoning behind numerous homicides. When assuming that all killers are psychotic, we are fundamentally â€Å"defining insanity as a label we give to people when we cannot put ourselves ourselves in their position and understand their actions† (Rosenberg). People must realize that, often times, certain motives trigger a person to kill. It is up to society to interpret the underlying incentives that are behind countless murders. It is much like Eric Smith’s attorney recently stated: â€Å"nothing will change what happened to Derrick. But maybe something can prevent what might happen to someone else’s child. † Society must study the various causes of killings and find the deeper issues behind the killer so that future outbreaks might be stopped. This is important to do so because â€Å"people who do crazy things are not necessarily crazy† (Aronson). Any human being faced with a dreadful situation risks the chance of performing a spontaneous mistake. Works Cited http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-did-eric-kill-30-06-2005/

Reflection Journal Essay

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to study this subject. Being a science student, I have a very basic understanding on the different aspects of Organisational behaviour. I am interested in learning the different theories, concepts and practises that are a part of this course and relating the same with experiences I have had in the past at my previous workplace. This course would also benefit me at my future workplace by honing my job-related and inter-personal skills.Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. The five major functions of management are planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. Planning refers to the process of setting goals and how best to achieve them, organising refers to evenly distributing resources so that the plans can be carried out successfully, Staffing pertains to recruitment, selection, development and compensation of subordinates aiming to place right people in the right job, directing refers to the process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals and controlling refers to the process of regulating organisational activities so that actual performance conforms to expected organisational standards and goals. Organisational behaviour can be assessed at three major levels – At the individual level, of analysis, At the group level and At the organization level. Even though the basic skills required for a manager are networking skills, traditional management skills, HRM skills and communication skills, the focused skillset is different for different management levels.There are five basic trends in managing contemporary organisations. Globalization refers to the company’s desire to be a part of the global market. Changing workforce implies increased diversity among the working population, primarily more women being part of it. Employment relationship refers to the flexibility and ease of work schedule and culture. Information technology refers to the increased ease with which employees interact and how organisations are configured. Values and ethics refer to important long-lasting beliefs and moral principles for the benefit of the company. Based on these trends, there are many challenges and opportunities for organisational behaviour.An organisation’s Intellectual capital is of three types – human capital, structural capital and relationship capital.The process of knowledge management can be broadly classified into acquisition (learning and experimenting), sharing (communicating) and use (application). In my last workplace, My organisation overcame many challenges related to various aspects of organisational behaviour. Emphasizing on the final result, they allowed the employees to have a flexible work schedule and/or to work from home. This made it very convenient for the employee. We also used trends in Information Technology and scheduled a Video call between a particular project team and our most potential clients once a month. This improved communication and strengthened our relationship with the client.My previous company had its major clientele in the US but it made a lot of attempts to go global. They were trying to pursue projects in the Middle East, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and India and succeeded establishing a clientele in the Middle East. This was an advantage for the employees as it gave us opportunities to experience the work culture in different markets.| 11/12/2012| Unit 2:Individual Behavior, Personality, and Values| There are various factors that influenced my behaviour at my workplace. I can particularly relate to the MARS model in this instance. Positive and negative (that I would look at from a positive angle) motivation from others throughout the tenure of my work has help me become more passionate about my career. Early on in my career, I had not defined my set of goals properly. As a result, the amount of time and effort invested into achieving those unstable goals was wasted. It is very important to have a sound understanding of our work tasks from every angle. During the last few months of my work, I was simultaneously allocated to three projects. I was not able to concentrate on any project properly as my roles and tasks were not clearly defined. Now, after having a clear, sound understanding of the MARS model, I have realized the importance of clearly defining my goals to get self-motivated and my tasks to increase productivity. With respect to my personality, I am responsible for things that happen to me. I am a little low on self-esteem but realizing that future failures will decrease it all the more, I will take considerable steps to improve the same. I am more of a Type-B person by nature and will take that as an advantage in my life as I love setting aside time for leisure and moving at a normal pace. With respect to the CANOE personality model, I am a combination of the Agreeableness and the Extraversion type. With every company trying to become a part of the global market, it is good for everyone to be able to adapt to all cultures. In my previous workplace, I was deployed in the US on a short-term assignment. It would have been great if someone had emphasized the importance of globalization so that I would have mentally prepared myself to adapt to the culture there instead of going there and taking time to get adjusted. Cross cultural issues are predominant in every workplace though a lot of companies are striving hard to get rid of the same. My company has recently acquired a clientele in the Middle East. A few of my colleagues who were deployed on projects there were not aware of the work culture and practises there. They took a while to get used to the culture there. It would have helped them a lot had they had been given a nugget on the importance of being open-minded and flexible.| 17/12/2012| Unit 3: Perception| Perception is an apprehension or intuition that a person has about somebody or something. The world plays a major role in influencing perception. Perceptions in most cases are superficial and far from reality. Perceptions are generally a result of trends, emotions and trying to fill in missing information. Stereotyping is also a kind of perception that and it refers to assigning traits to people based on their social category. It is possible to minimize the trait of stereotyping but is difficult to prevent it. Stereotyping causes unnecessary discrimination and generalization. Perceptions can be more accurate by being wary of perceptual biases, improving self-awareness and increasing meaningful interactions. The self-fulfilling prophecy cycle refers to the way an employee reacts to his leader’s expectations and the way the leader reacts back to the employee’s performance. Leaders should maintain realistic positive expectations towards their employees. A person is an achiever if he does a particular task differently, better than others and maintains his performance consistently. The Johari window improves self-awareness and understanding between colleagues. It asks an individual to be more expressive and also be open to feedback from others so that people are aware of the individual’s level of perception.A global mindset refers to a person’s ability to perceive, interact and get along with people from other cultures. We can cultivate a global mindset by getting to know about other cultures, cross-cultural trainings and understanding oneself and comparing the mindset of people from different cultures. Emotional intelligence refers to a person using his emotions intelligently while dealing with other people. It can be used to motivate oneself and work well with others. Consequences refer to results of a particular behaviour. If the consequence is positive, a reinforcement strategy is applied and if the same is negative a punishment strategy is applied. Perceptions demotivate leaders and the people working with them. In my previous workplace, I had a perception that freshers did not have sufficient technical knowledge to play a major role in challenging projects. But many freshers working with me excelled their tasks well within their deadlines. Therefore, perception is not reality but what we see of reality.Emotional intelligence is an important leadership quality. The project manager at my previous workplace never motivated any of her subordinates and we always had a very negative view of her managerial skills. Now, since I have a fair idea about how to motivate my peers and subordinates using Emotional Intelligence and setting realistic goals, I will learn from my ex-project manager’s mistakes and do the right thing when I become a future leader. | 18/12/2012| Unit 4:Motivation| Motivation refers to the processes that arouse and sustain a person’s desire to attain a particular goal. The main reasons for a person being motivated in a workplace are money, opportunity, belonging, involvement and satisfaction. There are many theories related to what motivates a person. Taking an example of the Maslow’s theory, it applies when one wants to be motivated to succeed in his job and further, but the same does not apply when one wants to be motivated to play a role in Social Responsibility. The other theories are ERG theory where the main reasons for motivation are existence, belonging and growth and McClelland’s theory where the main reasons for motivation are the need for affiliation, power and achievement and Herzberg’s theory where the reasons for motivation are the factors involved in performing a job that lead to satisfaction. All the above content motivation theories confirm that rewards are what play an important role in motivating a person. There are process theories that emphasize on why and how a person gets motivated in the workplace. These theories emphasize on factors that managers have more influence over. If managers get their employees to love their jobs by clearly defining their roles and setting their goals to give them a strong support system and encouraging them, that will be the best form of motivation. Goal setting plays a major role in motivating an employee. A manager and employee should work together and set the employee’s goals. A goal that is moderate to challenging will generally result in a higher employee performance. An employee will also perform better in his job if he is trusted by his manager, given the right level of independence, allocated well-defined tasks and exposed to increased client interaction. The other aspects that motivate an employee are providing them with options like telecommuting, flexible timing and job sharing. Remuneration and rewards do motivate people to a great extent. But that form of motivation does come with a few disadvantages as well.My first team lead at my previous workplace was very stringent with respect to us putting in long hours of work. That demotivated the entire team and decreased our work productivity in the long run. Had he not insisted on long work hours, the team would have achieved its required targets much faster. Opportunity is a key motivation factor as well. One year into my job, my manager promoted me and gave me the opportunity to interact directly with my client. Interacting with the client directly for the first time, I took it up as a challenge and was determined to perform well. The client was very happy with me and gave me a very positive feedback at the end of the project. Unnecessary pressure from the senior management is not a motivating factor. When my project was going through very tight deadlines, the senior management would never be satisfied with our work. Lack of satisfaction and appreciation from our leads made us very disinterested in our work. Had they understood the amount of pressure we were going through and motivated us the right way, We could have gotten through that rough phase a lot more easily. | 7/1/2013| Unit 5:Team Dynamics| Team work is one of the most important aspects of corporate culture. A team is a group of people who are together to achieve a common goal. Teams motivate employees, increase the ease of information sharing and increase work productivity. The major disadvantage of a team is social loafing. In order to minimize social loafing, smaller teams should be formed and individual performance needs to be measured. It is a good idea to plaster the walls of a team space with key issues. This will give instant access to information to quickly resolve issues. Teams are better at complex, structured issues that require a lot of co-ordination. Good team members must be able co-operate, resolve conflict, co-ordinate, comfort and communicate. There are four stages of team development – forming, storming, norming and performing. The better performing team is always a cohesive one. Virtual teams are teams that operate across time, space and organisational boundaries. These teams are more necessary because of factors like globalisation. Brainstorming is a practise that is followed amongst the world’s most creative firms.Team work has always played an important role in my work life. I am a very strong team player. I was working with this client called Toyota and we were a sixteen member team. Though we completed our project successfully at the end, there were many cases of dismal individual performance. People took advantage of the fact that they were part of a team. Had I known then that smaller teams were more productive, I could have suggested to my manager to split us into sub-teams and designate individual tasks at that level. I have been part of a brain storming session many times. Those sessions would have been much more valuable and productive had we defined a set of rules that needed to be followed while brainstorming.| 8/1/2013| Unit 6:Power and Politics| Power is the ability of a person, team or organization to influence others. Power can be legitimate or otherwise. An example of legitimate power would be Obama. An example of misuse of power would be historic Adolf Hitler. The other types of power are reward, coercive, expert and referent power. Reward power is when someone has the power to control rewards and remove negative sanctions. Coercive power is power that can be used to punish. Expert power is power resulting from possessing valuable knowledge or skills. Referent power is power that arises out of respect. Non-substitutability refers to power that comes out of being unique in an environment or industry. Centrality refers to the interdependence between the power holders and others. Centrality is a phenomenon that will strengthen the spirit of a team to a large extent. Influence refers to any behaviour that alters someone else’s behaviour. A person can influence or get influenced positively or negatively. The person can resist, comply or commit to influence. Politics exists at every level of the organisation. Politics increases as management hierarchy increases. It exists at the upper management level the most. People trigger politics to make things easier for themselves. It disturbs the peace and cohesion in a team. Politics cannot be abolished but depending on the individuals in the organisation, it can definitely be minimized and controlled. As with any other organisation, abusive power and politics existed at my previous workplace as well. It existed at a more intense level as we were a very small organisation. We were terribly understaffed when compared to the amount of projects that needed to be completed. Managers used their power and over worked the employees to get work done. Had they been taught to use their authority and power properly they would could have used their power in the right way and implemented long term solutions to the understaffing problems. Politics probably brought individual gain to the person responsible for it but brought about a very negative atmosphere in the team. | 14/1/2013| Unit 7:Leadership| Leadership refers to the process of guiding someone in a work environment to achieve organisational objectives. Followership refers to the process of following a leader. A leader need s to have the drive to lead, integrity, motivation, self-confidence, emotional intelligence, intelligence and a sound knowledge of the business. A leader’s style can be rigid (autocratic), understanding (democratic) or unsuccessful (Laissez-Faire). A leader can be production-oriented or employee-oriented. Though the former will ultimately get the work done, the latter will get the work done bearing in mind the needs and concerns of the employee. For a manager to be successful, It is very important for him to have leadership qualities. He will be able to inspire and drive the team towards reaching its necessary targets. There was gender discrimination with respect to leadership. But now, female leaders have been rated more favourably than male leaders. There have been very few leaders in my previous workplace who have had the right leadership traits. Most of the others were very bossy and managerial by nature. They did not have the right Emotional Intelligence to understand their employees, nor did they have any integrity and did not have the leadership drive in them. It would have been easier for us to complete our tasks without them interfering and troubling us.| 15/1/2013| Unit 8:Change| Change is the only thing that does not change. Change in an organisation is inevitable and is intended for the betterment of the organisation. In the conventional perspective, change had three stages – recognizing the need for change and fighting those resisting it, making the change and finally confirming the change. But this model does not promote continuous change. Lewin’s force field analysis model classifies two forces with respect to change – there are restraining forces that oppose change and driving forces that encourage change. People resist change due to fear of the unknown, saving face, breaking routines and loss in current perks. We can minimize the resistance to change by communicating the change well in advance, implementing the change over a stretched period of time and involving everyone necessary to be a part of the change. Change can also be made through social networking. Change agents refer to anyone who can facilitate the change correctly. Typically, change agents are consultants from outside the company who diagnose the change, introduce it, stabilize it and finally collect feedback. Change in an organisation will take its employees some time getting used to. Initially, my company had an attendance register that we used to sign every time we got into the office. Then, the management implemented a policy asking us to swipe our access cards insisting on us clocking a minimum of eight hours in our office. A lot of people suffered salary cuts because of forgetting to swipe in or swipe out. This change was sudden and took us quite a while to get used to. | 16/1/2013| Unit 9:Organisational Culture| Organisational culture is the backbone of every organisation. It is the company’s DNA, invisible but the most important part of the organisation. It is important for an employee to be comfortable and adapt to the company’s culture. A strong organizational culture involves innovation, stability, respect for people, outcome orientation, attention to detail, team orientation and positive aggression. Culture can be defined at the organisational, local, regional and national level. The basic artefacts of organisational culture comprise of rituals, ceremonies, language and physical structures/symbols. A company with a strong culture has better performance. When one company acquires another company or merges with another company, the cultures of both the companies are usually combined into one corporate culture. An organisation’s culture becomes stronger by attracting applicants, selecting applicants to become company employees and the employees finally quitting the company. Socializing refers to learning and adjusting to strategic and cultural dynamics of an organisation. An employee goes through three general stages of socialization first being an outsider, then a newcomer and finally an insider (employee) of the organisation. | | Overview Summary| This course has stressed on the significance of various concepts that are a vital part of organisational behaviour. I have realised the significance of motivation, managerial leadership, minimizing workplace politics, team building and cohesion, knowledge management, change management, efficient use of authority, perception evading, emotional intelligence, modern organisational trends and overcoming of cross cultural issues amongst others. In my previous workplace, I was deployed on an onsite assignment in the US to work at Twentieth Century Fox. There, I was allocated to work for two projects at the same time, all of which involved getting work done from my inexperienced subordinates in India. I can relate to a lot of OB concepts that could have helped me manage my all aspects of my work better. The work culture in the US differed a lot from that in India. It took me some time to adjust to the differences. At Fox, My challenge was to interact with people from all cultures at a global level. Also, my senior management had not defined my roles in both the projects properly. Since I had freshers working with me from India, I perceived them to not be capable of working in such critical projects and hence did not motivate them. That did not spread any team spirit among our project members. If I had been enlightened with the importance of workplace motivation, it would have been easier for us to complete the project tasks. I have also understood the pertinence of positive leadership. I lacked the leadership qualities to drive the project in a positive manner even though I had a sound understanding of the business. In the future, I will motivate my subordinates and address all their concerns so that they contribute better to the project. My company did not have a knowledge management process in place. When I was leaving the company, since there was nobody else competent enough to replace me, we lost one project to a competitor. This loss could have been avoided if there had been an efficient knowledge management and succession planning strategy in place. In future, as a leader, I am very sure all the concepts learnt as part of this course will help me overcome a lot of organisational level obstacles at my workplaces and make my road to success a lot easier.

Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins Essay

Book Review: Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins Dr. David Traverzo Christian Ethics Gregory A. Keels 02/13/2012 Doing Christian Ethics from the margins is all about helping people explore the ethical issues of the marginalized. This book reveals as to how people who live in the margins of society deal with ethics. Also this book reveals how the same marginalized people worldview is different from the dominate culture who is not apart of the marginalized. This book is divided into four sessions, the first section dealing with theory while the last three gives specific case studies to the theory. The first session titled Ethical Theory deals with how Christian ethical systems are formed. The author Miguel A. De la Torre gives his understanding of ethical theory. The first main and important statement he makes in this section is when he talks about ethics being done in a particular social location. When he stated that it proved that ethics and social welfare comes together. A person’s upbringing and social surroundings affects his or her ethics. Also in this section the author talks about how white males generally dominated the academic ethics. This domination has many pitfalls. Some of these pitfalls include spiritual concerns that are excluded from social concerns, individualism, grace in favor of works, thinking more of heaven instead of the here and now, and failure to come up with a transformation praxis. These pitfalls reinforce ideologies of power that are connected to unjust social structures that include racism, classism, and sexism. The author puts up a challenge to every single reader to come up with a code of ethics that will identify with the example of Christ of standing against the ppressed. In the other three parts of the book the author gives case studies and show how his own hermeneutic circle applied to different ethical situations such as relationships, business, and global relationships. in each section there are four chapters. the first chapter explains the topics and the other three explains the topic with case studies. The hermeneutic circle is made up of five steps. In each of those five steps a per son’s worldview ethics is challenged and encourages the person to be more engaged in social transformation. The steps include observing, reflecting, praying, acting, and releasing. This pattern is a continuous circle repeating itself over and over. The significance of this book to the church is great significance. This model the author has presented could be used greatly in the church. When I was looking at this model I felt this is what the church should be doing. The church is only effective if it is active in the community. The church should be able to see what the need of the community, pray on it, act on it and then move onto the next need. Part of Christian ethics is doing the right thing when the problem is presented. Two of the case studies that I felt can greatly impact the church was the case studies on global and national poverty. the church has always played a major role in helping the poverty both globally and nationally. However I believe that the church need to realize that poverty is more then just not having any food or being homeless. Poverty is connected to social class. It is connected to those who can afford an education and those who can not. Poverty is also connected to those who can get hired for the high paying jobs and those who can only get the jobs that pay minimum salary and is not enough to raise a family. The church can do a better job in helping in that area. The main part of a Christian’s ethics is helping those who are in need. This is our primary responsibility. So in order to fulfill that responsibility we must understand the whole issue of poverty. The significance this book has on the society can be great. However I believe the church and society must be connected together. This helps those who read it understand the problems of the marginalized and how it can be addressed. It would be really helpful if those who were from the groups who hold the most power read this book for a better understanding of how the actions they do affect those who are marginalized. Just like I stated with the church and its response to poverty the society has to have the same response. However since the society is not the church the ethical response would be different. Those who are in high powerful positions have the ethical obligation to assist those who are in the marginalized. However what we see is those people exploiting the marginalized. When it comes to ethics as a whole this book as revealed to me no matter what position you are connected to rather it is Christian ethics, business ethics, or society ethics you have an obligation to help those who do not have the power to help themselves. It is not just about poverty either. There is an ethical obligation to help the marginalized when it comes to things like affirmative action, war, the environment etc. A strength I found in this is how the author used real life examples in his case studies that included people who were marginalized. By using real life stories it brought a whole new experience than from a typical text book. This help take the readers from a spectator view to an up close and personal view of what it is like to be in the marginalized. Another strength I felt the author had was the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. These discussion questions help the reader reflect and understand more about the marginalized. Also these discussion questions help the reader form a more solid ethic for the marginalized. The main weakness I saw in this book is how the author did not really go through the whole hermeneutic cycle. In each case study the first three cycles were used. It would have been better if the author used the whole cycle so that the reader could get a full example of how the cycle is used and the outcome of the cycle. Also it would have been helpful if the author had given some examples where this cycle has not worked. Perhaps it would even be helpful if the author had limited to just once case study in each section and go more in depth as to how the cycle worked in the case study. Overall I strongly recommend this book to those who have a desire to get an action plan that will have an impact on dealing with the marginalized. De La Torre makes a great case in challenging those who are in the dominate culture to give up the heavy power and special privilege they have so that those who are in the marginalized can live a better life. With making this challenge the author has given great tools for those who are committed to seeing the transformation of the marginalized. While this seem like a no brainer to some it might be still difficult for those in the dominate culture to accept. Some people might just not see how the dominate culture affects the marginalized while others feel they are doing just enough. Also you might get those who will say they will embrace De La Torre’s model but will fail to actually attempt to do it. It is going to take a lot of work and sacrifice to see true change. Who is willing to actually do that hard work? Who is going feel it is actually worth it? Regardless of where you fit in the spectrum we all have to do our part. If we all do not step in and say we are willing to make the sacrifices need to see a transformational change then regardless of what one group does it will not work. this has to be a group effort. I believe this is the point De La Torre was trying to bring across.

Internal Control of Accounting System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internal Control of Accounting System - Essay Example The propensity for loss is great irrespective of the nature of the fraudulent activity. Fraud threatens the stability of a business as it leads to significant financial losses. According to Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, employee theft accounts for 7% of typical businesses losses (Chorafas, 2001). Accounting professionals are the trusted advisors for business clients. It is upon the accountants to educate business clients about the risks associated with fraud, and the significance of good internal controls and how to implement internal controls. This paper discusses suggestions for overcoming the lack of segregation of duties that are often present in small businesses due to inadequate staff. The paper further explains the important role business owners and independent accountants play in creating a good internal control environment. The paper discusses red flags, which may be indications of fraud along with several reports that are helpful in monitoring and reviewing financial records (Vona, 2011). The accounting system offers businesses with a constant way in which to use their data and financial material. A system of control is essential as it controls the three key partitions within the accounting system. These segments include the design, analysis, and implementation. Internal control is a system within a system and it plays a major role in the success of the accounting system.  An accounting system controls businesses from fraud and abuse by ensuring that information employees relay timely and accurate information and that all the accounting processes meet set regulatory requirements. This paper discusses how internal controls are set and how the control system functions (Basingstoke, 2004).

Two assignments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Two assignments - Assignment Example This is not to downplay a department but to find the root cause. It is clear that it a manager must be cognizant of these elements and try to bridge any discrepancies that occur. In that efforts, the supervisor’s motives for wanting the information should not be retaliation but to improve the process overall. The focal point of all this should be to enhance the process itself into a seamless manner, not to point fingers at each other. â€Å"Successful leaders such as IT managers are excellent deflect attention away from them and encourage others to voice their opinions.† It is clear that the IT manager must lead their team to the right goals and understand this data to analyze for the well-being of the organization itself. As an IT manager, doing a case analysis is important even for security and social engineering purposes. When it comes to securing these elements, human flaws are always a huge issue. Social engineering has plagued many organizations because attackers have found constructive ways to loop into the system. Social engineering for user domains should be based on layering approach. For instead, spoofing is conducted on regular basis for a user account domain password, which can expose vulnerabilities in the system itself. The job of the IT manager therefore is to rectify these issues if it hurts the organization in any shape and form. This cannot be conducted without understanding the root cause of the department failures. Registration system stakeholders will be students, administrators, teachers and registration office. If a student drops the class, the registration gets affected because they have to pool this resource out to someone. If a teacher does not teach a class, students get affected because of the entity relationships that are created. In order to be very comprehensive in the interview process, it

Impact of Culture on Perception and Behavior Essay

Impact of Culture on Perception and Behavior - Essay Example Perceptions are affected by many things rooted in culture because culture provides structure and guidelines deemed significant in understanding and interpreting behaviors. According to Burton (2007), emotions influence people’s perceptions differently depending on the surrounding society’s perception as explained by the two theories of social perception. The two theories are attribution theory that focuses on causes of action and social comparison theory that elucidates the notion of people comparing themselves with others (Thomas & Inkson, 2009). Another important issue to note is that there are cultural differences in social consequences and that cultural script determines how emotions should be experienced either positively or negatively (Burton, 2007). For instance, it is reported that the dominant social script in Western culture is to encourage positive emotions while the dominant cultural script in China is based on dialectical thinking and balancing positive and negative emotions. Culture vs. Interaction Culture has a great influence in how one interact with foreigners and the difference can be easily noticed when people meet for the first time. Culture can shape the way some people see the world because it sculptures the brain. In China, culture is more interdependent while the American culture tends to be independent. Chinese people spend most of their time monitoring the environment and others while Westerners concentrate on self and central objects.

Introduction to Reational Database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Introduction to Reational Database - Essay Example A thorough research was conducted to address the above-stated issues with the system. There are several solutions available to address the issues pertaining to the development of an ICT infrastructure including an integrated information system based on some relational database management tool. There are two major application environments available to develop the system which includes a simple Management Information System and a Web-based Information Portal. Both of these systems can be developed on a relational database and are equally viable solutions. However, there are certain added features that a web-based Information Portal can offer to accommodate specific business operations. (Grehan, 2011).Speed Trans information portal is supposed to handle the heavy load of external transactions through e-commerce module and a quick access to information is a mandatory requirement of e-business clientele. These two business domain specific requirement are best met by a Web-based Informatio n Portal. Web-portals are more prone to security issues, therefore, a strong user authentication and authorization over a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) channel will be required to establish a connection to the system. Additionally, a strong security spectrum will be required to safeguard vital system resources from hackers and viruses. Special network protection technologies including software and hardware tools and mechanisms are required to be implemented to ensure secure, smooth and stable information portal implementation.  ... The company is presently working with various other firms to supply them with automobile spare parts on regular basis. The company operations require an online communication system with its own branch office and other firms. The system is also required to be integrated with the company’s information system. Moreover, the firms is experiencing a high growth in the business and the present ICT setup often faces bottleneck conditions to support the business operations in size and speed. The new system should be designed keeping in mind the future scalability requirements that may arise within at least three years from now. Speed Trans has initially launched a limited ICT setup which is now required to be expanded to a fully integrated Information System along with online communication capabilities to handle the workload of a medium sized enterprise. 3. Current Business Issues The current system has several issues due to its limited scope. These issues cause delay in business tran sactions, communications bottlenecks restrict the smooth flow of critical business information to and from business partners and clientele, due to lack of integration between various system modules the information stored in various systems cannot be used to provide business intelligence and decision support. These and many other business issues identified in the study are discussed in the following paragraphs; a) Lack of System Support Presently every business operations is not supported by the system and a hybrid environment of system supported and manual operations and transactions are used to achieve business objectives, e.g. system maintains business partners and clientele information but it does not support automated email module to ensure

The International Convergence Project Assignment

The International Convergence Project - Assignment Example Globalization has undoubtedly contributed to the economic growth in developed as well a developing countries through the principle of comparative advantage and increased specialization. With the benefits of globalization, the policy makers have also recognized the need for uniform disclosures by firms engaged in multinational businesses. As accounting is a universal language for business, it becomes all the more important to have sound and comparable accounting principles to enable the capital providers, analysts and regulators to understand the health of business and make relevant decisions. Understanding this need the standard setters have come up with the international convergence project for uniform accounting standards. This project includes the discussion on need for uniform accounting standards in modern financial world. The benefits that accrue on behalf of adoption of single accounting standard framework by majority of the countries have also been provided. Furthermore the e mpirical evidence post-IFRS adoption by European firms has been included. Lastly the current state of convergence project has been provided. ... Accounting standards play important role in regulation of global financial markets. This has made it important to establish a single set of high quality financial accounting standards. The function of financial accounting standards is to define the rules for national regulators and participants of capital markets such as banks and borrowing firms. A common accounting language can provide the investors greater confidence in transparency and comparability of financial statements. The global standards are seen as a key to safety of global financial arena. These standards are purported to be means of mitigating the volatility of capital flows across markets, reduction in probability of bankruptcies and reduce systemic risks. The foundation of convergence process was laid in early 2000s when in 2002 the two major standard setting bodies IASB and FASB formalized their commitment in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the convergence of IFRS and US GAAP under the Norwalk Agreement (Kieso , Weygandt & Warfield, 2010). The objectives of the convergence of standards were to achieve completeness and improve consistency, as historically both the accounting standards by IASB and FASB have been incomplete. As a result the two boards identified short-term and long-term projects that would eventually lead to convergence. Some short-term projects were borrowing costs and fair value accounting for financial instruments, issued in 2007 and since then uniformly followed by both the standard setters. Long-term projects included issues like the conceptual framework, leases and revenue recognition. Additionally European and US regulators have agreed to the recognition of each other’s accounting standards for firms listed on various world securities exchanges. The international

Why did men like Joseph Plumb Martin join the army Essay

Why did men like Joseph Plumb Martin join the army - Essay Example Most of the recruits were young and army provided them with an opportunity to escape home and experience adventure of fighting against their enemy. But unfortunately, the reality was far from the rosy picture as envisaged by the new recruits. The common soldiers were faced with huge hardships where food had become scarce and proper clothing a distant dream. The long drawn battle of American army had severely affected the welfare of the soldiers. The new recruits were just sent to the front to fight with enemies without training. They were also not only deprived of adequate food and shelter during tough weather conditions but were also not paid their wages on time. Martin asserts that ‘I well know, for I have fought by their side’ (183). The delivery of supplies for food and other goods use to become difficult due to weather conditions which resulted in starvation and death. Most of the recruits went to fight without training because they felt that it was their moral duty to fight for their country. Hence, need for training was not important for the common soldier. The young recruits later became accustomed to the grim conditions of the war but were unable to do anything except accept the situation.

Human resource management--Should U.S. companies use offshore Essay

Human resource management--Should U.S. companies use offshore locations to enjoy lower wage rates Are there ethical issues or concerns about employee morale t - Essay Example Outsourcing in the field of Information Technology is nothing new as in recent years it has changed shape several times to reflect new, and arguably better-planned, organizational objectives. And best practices for creating contracts are now evolving that promise to move outsourcing from a road often pockmarked with potholes and lawsuit-bound to a more reliable relationship for both provider and customer. There has been a general perception that outsourcing means taking jobs away from a region, particularly if we talk about the US. From a financial standpoint, the debate regarding the United States businesses spreading into offshore locations is more pertinent than anything else within the lengths and breadths of the nation since financial health has ensured decent composition of an economically secure nation and US is sure to thrive on the same premise. (Hom, 2005) What remains to be seen is to realize that US authorities could do a lot more than raising the offshore locations’ cutting down on wage rates since they need to understand the bigger picture and forget about the short term incentives, if any, they have in sight. The US businesses would suffer immensely due to the high offshore costs in terms of the employee insurance and the like since it would encourage outsourcing of jobs which would have been easily completed had the individuals been given the offshore guarantees, coming from the US land alone. Much needs to be done in the relevant context and that too quickly. (Domberger, 1998) As far as US is concerned, this could be made appropriate if the offshore policies and strategies are proportionate with the policies that have been laid down time and again within the US. What this means is that the laws that allow for the effective handling of employees as well as the workers within the US need to be followed so that the top management understands what is best for them and how they can contribute in

Understanding the concept of Separation of Church and the State from a Historical Perspective Essay Example for Free

Understanding the concept of Separation of Church and the State from a Historical Perspective Essay Controversy, disputes, and misconceptions surround the public’s understanding of the concept of the separation of the church and the state.   Most people think that this concept is a modern invention of man which started in the 18th Century.   They say that Thomas Jefferson is â€Å"the primary architect of the American tradition of separation of church and state.† (Thomas Jefferson and the Separation of Church and the State† 1) It must however be stressed that the concept of separation of church and the state had its origin in the Bible.    The New Testament says â€Å"render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods.   During the Medieval era, it was believed that God metaphorically handed down two swords as a symbol of authority: the spiritual sword and the temporal sword. The spiritual sword was bestowed upon the Pope while the temporal sword was entrusted to the civil magistrates such as the emperors, kings and dukes.   It was believed that the civil law was subordinated to the ecclesiastical rule and the purpose of the separation is to protect the church’s eminence against the intrusions of the state.   Thus, Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 states that: â€Å"We are taught by the words of the Gospel that in this Church and in its power there are two swords, a spiritual, to wit, and a temporal. [B]oth are in the power of the Church, namely the spiritual and [temporal] swords; the one, indeed, to be wielded for the Church, the other by the Church; the former by the priest, the latter by the hand of kings and knights, but at the will and sufferance of the priest. For it is necessary that one sword should be under another and that the temporal authority should be subjected to the spiritual† (John Whitte Jr. 3)      During the 17th Century, however, the public had become witnesses to the religious conflict and incessant bickering between different religions, or more particularly, Protestants and Catholics.   Because of this ‘War of Religion’ a crisis of authority had developed.   The public did not know what to believe and whom to believe anymore. As a result, Locke advocated the principle of Separation of the Church and the State which will later on be considered as ‘the source for the founding principles of the United States’ (Chuck Braman 1).   Locke came to the conclusion that the prevailing conflict was due to the religious dogmatism which was imposed and adopted by the State.   He argued that the proper response on this problem was not the imposition of a single religion to be dictated by the State and the suppression of other religions also by the State. Locke proposed that the State should confine itself to civil concerns and leave the matters of religion to the church.   He advocated religious neutrality on the part of the state and vice versa.   He argued that the state’s function should be confined to the protection of life, liberty and property.   This function is especially important when man tries to go against the State of Nature, which is a state of equality between individuals and tries to impose themselves against the other. Locke also proposed that the church must make itself separate and distinct from the state.   In his â€Å"Letter Concerning Toleration†, Locke thought that the church is simply a voluntary society of men joining themselves together of their own accord in order to the public worshipping of God in such manner as they judge acceptable to Him, and effectual for the salvation of their souls.† (John Whitte Jr 4) At present, the concept of separation of church and the state is based on the principle of respect between the two powerful institutions.   The separation is not one of hostility but an understanding that their union will only lead to the destruction of the state and the degrading of the church.   Separation of the Church and the State is now guaranteed under the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause. The Free Exercise clause renders unconstitutional any act of the government that prohibits a particular religion.   The Establishment Clause, on the other hand, protects against any act of the state that promotes a particular religion.   The religious freedom has for its purpose â€Å"the protection of liberty of conscience of the public, freedom of religious expression, and religious equality.† (John Whitte Jr., 12) Conclusion Our present understanding of the Separation of Church and the State has completely evolved. If in the past, the church advocated the principle of separation because of the competing interest between the two powerful institutions.   Nowadays, the principle of separation is essentially based on respect and it has been extended to include protection of the faithful. Thus, the concept of separation of church and state has been expanded to include the prohibition against the state allocating government funds for the establishment or support a particular religion, the prohibition against requiring the teaching of a particular religion in schools or imposing religious tests in the exercise of civil and political rights and the prohibition against religious officials utilizing on government sponsorships or funding for their religious exercises   Cited Works Braman, Chuck.   The Political Philosophy of John Locke and Its Influence on the Founding   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fathers and the Political Documents They Created. 1996. 13 June 2008.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.chuckbraman.com/Writing/WritingFilesPhilosophy/locke.htm. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Separation of Church and State.† 13 June 2008.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/qjeffson.htm Whitte, John Jr.   Facts and fictions about the history of separation of church and state.   Journal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Church and State. 1 January 2006.   12 June 2008.

Free

Free will vs. Determinism Essay Free Will versus Determinism Right now I am writing this paper, for philosophy class, and it is due tomorrow. The question is, from the time I was born, was it pre-determined that I was going to write this paper? Since the beginning of religion, people have argued whether or not everything we do is pre-determined. The belief that every action a person makes has been pre-determined is called determinism. On the other side of this belief is the belief of free will. Free will is the belief that a person chooses what happens to them through their own actions. In the argument of free will versus determinism, there are three positions that can be taken for this argument. The positions that can be taken are hard determinism, libertarianism, and soft determinism. Hard determinism is the belief that everything in the universe is determined by casual laws, or is pre-determined. Libertarianism is the belief that there are some actions in which a person causes the outcome or in other words, the belief that people choose what happens to them. And finally, there is soft determinism. Soft determinism is the belief that there are certain things in life that are pre-determined and there are some things in life that a person chooses to happen through their actions. I believe that soft determinism is true because there really are certain things in life that are pre-determined, but there are also things that people have control over. Every day, a person makes hundreds if not thousands of choices; choices that will lead to actions, which will lead to an outcome of any given situation. I believe that for certain things in life, people decide what happens to them based on their actions or choices. But just as I believe that people make their own choices, I also believe that there are certain things in life that are pre-determined. I believe that free will and determinism go hand at hand though. There are certain things in life that a person has no control over. For example, when a person is born, they cannot choose what family they can be related to. A person cannot choose what their face is going to look like, or the color of their skin, or even something like their name. All of these qualities of a person are all pre-determined before birth. A person does not have free will to choose these qualities while in the mother’s womb. Just as there are these things that cannot be chosen, there are many things that a person can choose to be a part of their life that is not pre-determined. For instance, a person can choose who their friends are, what color they like, what food they like, and even things like hobbies that they enjoy doing. In my opinion, free will and determinism work along with each other. I believe that both determinism and free will are true. In my opinion, they work with each other. I believe that since we can’t choose what environment we grow up in, it effects how we make our choices. In other words, our culture has a strong effect on our own personal decision making. In fact, our free will decision making is formed from our past experiences. There are some philosophers who don’t agree with soft determinism. A man by the name of Baron d’Holbach is a strong believer of hard determinism. d’Holbach believes that what we call free will is simply just a modification of the physical brain. We necessarily seek to enhance/ensure our own existence. As natural beings, we are wholly subject to laws of nature. In this sense, forces independent of us create desires/drives in us that determine what we do. What he means by this is that is that we only believe that we have free will. And that the choices that we make are already pre-determined based on the environment we live in. Another philosopher by the name of William James believes in libertarianism. According to James, there is always some ‘loose play’ among parts of the universe, multiple possibilities for how things can be. Whatever does actually happen happens because of chance, not out of necessity or natural laws. In other words, he believes that either everything is determined, or everything is up to chance. I disagree with both of these views. I believe that there is a mixture of both determinism and libertarianism. I disagree with Baron d’Holbach because I believe that free will does in fact exist. For me, it makes sense that free will is true. There are certain things that need to have free will in order to exist. The best example of this is regret. Regret comes when a person makes a choice. If free will does not exist, than people don’t necessarily make choices, and without choices being made, than regret cannot exist. There needs to be free will for certain things in life to exist. I also disagree with William James. I believe that it is foolish to believe in the â€Å"all or none† principle. James believes that either there is all just pure determinism, or all free will, not both. It is impossible for there to be free will for everything. For example, people cannot choose what they are going to look like. People also cannot choose who their family is or what their birth name is. But, I also believe the same to be true with pure determinism. I believe that it is nonsense to believe that a person doesn’t choose their friends, what they take interest in, or what sort of events happen to them throughout the course of their life. I do believe that there are certain things that are pre-determined, but it doesn’t make sense to believe that everything is pre-determined. Every single day, people make decisions that will affect what will happen to them. There are things in a person’s life that happen by choice, and there are also things that happen that people have no control over. I believe that soft determinism is true because there really are certain things in life that are pre-determined, but there are also things that people have control over. It cannot lean one way or the other because there needs to be both. I believe that these two work hand at hand in order to form out what happens to a person throughout their life. Bibliography 1. TheologySummary History of World Religions. On Morality, Free Will God. Philosophy: Free Will vs. Determinism: WSM Explains Limited Freedom / Determinism in Necessarily Connected Universe. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. .

Oligopoly Market in UK Supermarket Industry

Oligopoly Market in UK Supermarket Industry Oligopoly Market in UK Supermarket Industry In this essay I will search the information about supermarket industry in the UK, focus on the characteristic of oligopoly market and try to find out the effect of this market structure to customers, analysis its advantages and disadvantages. According to my search, there are a five big supermarket companies in the UK: Tesco, Asda, J Sainsbury, Safeway and Morrisons. We can see in the following diagram, in 2003 and 2008, Tesco is throughout having the most market share and the Asde .J Sainsbury Safeway and Morrisons always competitive with each other, having a large market share. So, the supermarket industry in UK is oligopoly market. The reason why the UK supermarket industry is oligopoly market for the follow reason: 1. Supply in the industry must be concentrated in the hands of relatively few firms. (Anderton A. (2004:322). In the UK, these supermarkets consider how much to supply and maybe make evaluate that how much their competitors will supply so that to insure the supply 2. Non-price competition (Anderton A. (2004:322). In UK supermarkets, in order to expand their market share, non-price competition has become a marketing strategy, As Revision Guru (2010); the supermarket will use different kinds of promotion or some way to encourage the consumer to buy more. 3. Collusion. Collusion is often a feature of the behaviour of firms in oligopolistic markets where it is not illegal. (Anderton A. (2004:323) 4. Many markets are dominated by brands. (Anderton A. (2004:323) .Every firm may produce the nearly the same good, in order to discriminate their good, many firms will make it as a brand to sell higher price. 5. Price rigidity. Price in oligopoly market changes far less than perfect competition in market. (Anderton A. (2004:323) The above is the characteristic of the oligopoly marker, and UK supermarket industry is match its characteristic, therefore, I draw a conclusion; UK supermarket industry is oligopoly market. In the follow section, will focus on discussion the advantages and disadvantages of this market structure for the consumers. In the oligopoly market, consumer can benefit from many ways. First of all, in the oligopoly market, consumers may have a better service a. For example in UK supermarkets, it is not only Tesco, but also Asda, J Sainsbury, SafewayThat means, consumers have choice to where they buy. As I mention above, oligopoly market is non-price competition, all the supermarkets sell almost the same good in the same price, in order to earn more money, the compete supermarkets may use different way to expand their market share, changing their marketing mixà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’such as Internet shopping for customers, Store Loyalty cards, Innovative use of technology for shoppers including self-scanning machines and so on (Revision Guru (2010), by changing in four area: product, promotion, place, pricing so that can promote the development of service of the supermarkets. In this process, consumers can enjoy a better and convince shopping service. Secondly, in the oligopoly market, consumers have more opportunity to buy a new and advanced produce. According to Buzzle (2010), in the oligopoly market, because of the strong enterprise strength and a lot of funds, these companies will invest much money in produce research so that to create new produce, also, companies want to be more competitive, they must have something new to attract consumers. Therefore, consumers can benefit from this new produce to improve their living. Thirdly, in the oligopoly market, the price is more stable, consumers can accepted it. In the oligopoly market, the price change very little, because if one company change price, other company must be affected and have some reaction, For instance, according to Worve (2010), Tesco if reduce 3% to 25% of each good, this will increasing its revenue and even increase its market share expand 12% in eight weeks. Besides, in the oligopoly market, other companies will also reduce their price, therefore, the consumers may benefit from this price war, saving  £150 a year. The reason why the supermarket will decrease their price is form the kinked demand curve theory, the supermarkets activated is accepting the Kinked Demand Curve. If one firm reduces their price, other firms will follow to reduce so that to keep their market share so in the oligopoly market, customers may also benefit too, the customers not only had a stable price for goods, but also can buy a cheaper goods. However, oligopoly market also has it advantages for consumers. Firstly, high barrier to entry the oligopoly market also is a disadvantage to consumers. Because there are a few companies in oligopoly market, such the UK supermarket, there only a big firms competed in the market, the little companies do no have enough power to completive with that big one, therefore, some little companies may be quitted the market ,or some even can not entry the market. Mail Online (2010). The little supermarkets quit means consumers have less choice; it is a disadvantage for consumers. Secondly, collusion between the compete supermarkets; it is also cause by the first disadvantage. As I mention before, the collusion is the characteristic of oligopoly, the firms want to keep their revenue so that to increase their price, between firms, they may collude with each other illegally. Consumers are forced to buy the goods in a higher price; Telegraphà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 2010à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ °said that Any exchange of information between retailers is bound to distort prices at the expense of consumers , thus it can be seen that this is a disadvantage for customers. In sum up, the research I have study about UK supermarket industry I find that UK supermarket industry is an oligopoly market, and customers can benefit a lot. As I mention before, consumers can not only have a better service, but also be provided acceptable price of good. Besides, for customers, the most important thing is the quality and price of goods, in the oligopoly markets, because of completion, every company will provide a new and advanced produce for customers. However, in this oligopoly market, because of the characteristic of oligopoly market, high barrier to entry the market and the illegally collusion, customers may lose chance to meet other new supermarket in the market, that means customers have fewer choice and more easily to be forced to buy good in higher price.In order to make UK supermarket better, government should check whether companies have colluded with each other, to protect the consumers benefit. REFERENCES: Anderton A. (2004) Economics (3rd ed.) Ormskirk, Causeway Press Ltd. (Accessed 5th January 2010) Buzzle (2010) [On line] The Benefits of Oligopoly Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-27-2002-29003.asp (Accessed 5th January 2010) Mail Online (2010) [On line] Stores Sold Supermarket Sweep Create Choice Shoppers Available at:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-490986/Stores-sold-supermarket-sweep-create-choice-shoppers.html (Accessed 5th January 2010) Revision Guru (2010) [On line] Oligopoly Available at: http://www.revisionguru.co.uk/economics/oligopoly.htm ) (Accessed 5th January 2010) Single Marketing Ltd (2010) [On line] UK Market Available at: http://www.singlemarketing.co.uk/uk_market.html (Accessed 5th January 2010) Teagasc (2010) [On line], Retailer Dominance and the Impact on Farmers: from Growing to Sustenance Available at: http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2004/20040226/paper2.asp (Accessed 5th January 2010) Telegraph (2010) [On line], UK Supermarkets Fixed Milk and Cheese Price Available at: Tutore2U(2010) [On line] Kinked Demand Curve Under Oligopoly Available at: http://tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/monopoly/kinked_demand.htm (Accessed 5th January 2010) Worve (2010) [On line] Oligopolies in Supermarkets Essay Available at: http://www.wovre.com/revision/oligopolies-in-supermarkets-essay/ (Accessed 5th January 2010)

Parent and Teenager Relationships Essay -- Papers Adolescent Teens Gro

Parent and Teenager Relationships As a child begins to enter adolescence, there appears to be a rise in conflict between the adolescent and parents. The amount of conflict differs from family to family and is dependent on many factors. It is mainly due to the changing characteristics and growing of the adolescent and the way in which the rest of the family adjusts to these changes. Adolescence is a time of challenge and change for both teens and parents. Teens are at a stage in life where they face a multitude of pressing decisions -- including those about friends, careers, sex, smoking, drinking, drugs and parental values. At the same time, they are confronted with profound physical, social and emotional changes. Myths of adolescence are perpetuated because adults do not spend the time and effort learning about normal, expected changes during this period. It is much easier for us to put a label on people rather than to try to understand them. The teen years are truly "high speed, high need" years. Here are some concepts of conflict and some areas to look out for. While most parents realize there are normal struggles between parents and teens as their sons and daughters struggle for independence and identity, they are often shocked by the length and intensity of the conflict. They are stunned by apparent rejection of some of their most sacred values and confused by their teenagers "acting up" and "acting out." In attempting to become psychologically independent of their parents, teens often attempt to move completely away from any control or influence by their parents. When the rejected teenager reaches the limit of patience and tolerance, he or she lashes out -- rejecting the family, the school, the church, the s... ...en. As a parent you also have to make sure you have certain expectations that need to be followed. You have to expect cooperation and courtesy at home as well as to be able to get a good night?s sleep without worrying where your teenager is. There are no magic, easy solutions. However, a parent is wise to communicate absolute support to a young teenager by letting them know that you love them and will always be there for them. As an adult, you must model acceptable adult behavior in all situations. If you can say "I'm sorry I got angry," or "I apologize for criticizing you before listening to all you have to say," teens will have more respect for all adults. It is also useful to remind young teenagers that it is easier to treat them as adults if they act like adults. And it is very useful to adult parents to remember that they were once teenagers themselves.

Alice Kyteler Sorcery Trial Essays -- Witchcraft European History Essa

Alice Kyteler Sorcery Trial The sorcery trial of Alice Kyteler was an important aspect and a contributing factor of the European With-Hunt. The trial helped to set a precedent and a point of reference for later witch-hunts and later trials. The trial of Alice Kyteler helped make the link between heresy and witchcraft, helped in making witchcraft a crime punishable under heretical laws, helped define what the acts of witchcraft are, and allowed for the authority of the church in matters of witchcraft, such as torture, to be defined. Heresy and witchcraft are interrelated and in some cases, one in the same. The charge of sorcery and witchcraft against Alice Kyteler helped to solidify the correlation drawn between magic and heresy. The sorcery trials that where held in Ireland where centered around the idea that the magic that was being performed somehow made the practitioners heretics. William Outlaw was accused of, â€Å"aiding, abetting and harboring heretics†¦usury, perjury, adultery, murder of clergy, and excommunications, to the total of thirty-four separate counts.†1 William Outlaw, son of Alice Kyteler, had the charges of heresy and helping those who where heretics combined to include other charges that fell under witchcraft. Outlaw was accused of helping heretics, who where also being charged with heresy, and using sorcery for the use of evil. In Nicholas Eymeric’s, written fifty years after the Kyteler trial, lists that â€Å"†¦some others, however, are magicians and di viners who are not pure chiromantics, but are contracted to heretics, as are those who show the honor of latria or dulia to the demons.† Eymeric also wrote that, â€Å"These people,† referring to the magicians, â€Å"are guilty of manifest heresy.†2 This s... ... Alan Kors and Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), 85. 3. Brian Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (London: Longman Group, 1995), 37. 4. Davidson, 26-27. 5. William Cardinal of Santa Sabina, â€Å"Magic and the Inquisition,† in Witchcraft in Europe 1100-1700, Alan Kors and Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), 81. 6. Davidson, 28 & 30. 7. Davidson, 82. 8. Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Spenger, â€Å"The Malleus Maleficarum,† in Witchcraft in Europe 1100-1700, Alan Kors and Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), 130. 9. Davidson, 28. 10. Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Spenger, â€Å"The Malleus Maleficarum,† in Witchcraft in Europe 1100-1700, Alan Kors and Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), 132. 11. Davidson, 62. 12. Levack, 77.

Labor Law Cases and Materials Essays -- employee union, national labor,

1. In the case Lechmere, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 502 U.S. 527 (1992), Lechmere was a large retail store located in a plaza that also contained several smaller satellite stores. In this case the union filed an unfair labor practice against Lechmere for violating Section 7 of the NLRA for not allowing its non-employee organizers to distribute literature on the companies parking lot. There was not sufficient area for on public property for these organizers to be able to speak with employees. In this case the NLRB ruled in favor of the union stating that â€Å"The right to distribute is not absolute, but must be accommodated to the circumstances, where it is impossible or unreasonably difficult for a union to distribute organizational literature to employees entirely off the employer’s premises, distribution on a nonworking area, such as the parking lot and the walkways between the parking lot and the gate, may be warranted.† In the case of Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 793 (1945), the employer fired four employees in total for violating the company’s policy stating, â€Å"Soliciting of any type cannot be permitted in the factory or offices.† One employee was soliciting union membership in the plant by passing out application cards to employees on his own time during lunch, and three other employees were discharged for wearing UAW-CIO union steward buttons in the plant after being requested to remove them. The NLRB ruled in favor of these employees having the reinstated and had the company remove its no solicitation rule because it violated Section 8(1) of the NLRA. You can see by these two cases that there is a difference between employee and non-employee union organizers. The main difference being in where they ... ...intention of entering in to a collective bargaining agreement. â€Å"Section 8(d) of the National Labor Relations Act states that â€Å"to bargain collectively is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising there under, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession† (Cox, Box, Gorman, Finkin, 2011). Works Cited Cox, A., Bok, D. C., Gorman, R. A., & Finkin, M. W. (2011). Labor law cases and materials. (5th ed.). New York, NY: Thompson Reuters/Foundation Press.

Gerschenkron Model

ECONOMIC HISTORY Answers Reading I 1. In the case of England, the agricultural sector played a key role in industrialization. This is mainly because, the increase in productivity in the sector led to an increase in the workers income, and this increase made possible for them to save more. The increase in savings led to an increase in investment in the industrial sector. When we are talking about a backward country, the process cannot be imitated.Backward countries had a traditional agriculture, and there was not an increase of productivity, so the agricultural sector could not finance the imports of capital needed. Also it was much easier to borrow money from institutions than being dependent of the agriculture. 2. Although Rostow thought that countries followed a stage-like pattern of development, Gerschenkron firmly disagreed with this assumption: Rostow implied that all countries repeat the same process of industrialization; this could be seen as a â€Å"inescapable law of econom ic development.The process of industrialization of the advance countries was not the same as of the backward countries. For example, England did not have any institution to finance its industrialization, in contrast to the late-comers, who had a whole international financing system built. This advantage of backwardness is what the Gerschenkron model is about. Each country had its own process of industrialization and it did not have to follow certain stages. 3. In order to industrialize, backward countries need to import large amounts of capital.The technology imported will come from the advance countries, and will help the relative backward countries to become advanced. The process of industrialization of these countries will take, in fact, much less time compared to the advanced countries, because the technology imported is far more efficient than those used in first place by the advanced countries when they were in the middle of the process. Since they have access to this new tech nology that the advanced countries did not have, these countries have an advantage for being backward economies. However, hese advantages do not come naturally to the country, but it is the government that needs to use the advantage in their favor in order to achieve a modern economy in less time. 4. a) Big Spurt: In the text Gerschenkron refers uses the term to describe the moment when the industrialization in a backward country begins, and there is a rapid economic growth. It is closely related to Rostow’s â€Å"take-off† but the big spurt focuses on the manufacturing and mining sector b) Missed opportunity: This term it is used to describe the failure of applying the proper substitutions in a given economy in order to obtain a big spurt.Like the case of Bulgaria when there was a failure to make the proper substitutions and there was not a big spurt. 5. The prerequisites for industrial growth are: a) Abolition of an archaic framework in agricultural organization: In order to increase the productivity of Land and of Labor, so there can be an increase of supply to face the increase of demand (due to the increase of population).This will increase the worker’s income, allowing them to save more, and therefore invest in the industry sector. b) Creation of a modern elite that seek economic growth: In Europe, the Noble class had no interest in changing their way of life (serfdom), so in order to access industrialization there is a need to create a group of influential entrepreneurs that seek a modern economy that is more productive and efficient. ) Provision of a social over-head capital in physical form: In the backward countries, there is a need of capital in order to industrialize. The government must seek this capital by borrowing it from financial institutions. Getting the capital by themselves was not an option, since there was not enough savings and it would have took much longer than just borrowing the capital.

Human Genetic Engineering Research: Where to draw the line

Abstract Human genetic engineering is the manipulation of an individual's genotype with the goal of choosing the phenotype (Singers 1). This has already been a very controversial issue when it has been done on animals, but tampering with humans takes this issue to a whole different level. It holds the promise of curing genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis and improving the immunity of people to viruses (Conner 4). However, it also opens up a whole new world where the laws of nature can be broken.Parents can choose to change the gender of their baby; they can choose to change their appearance, and they can even choose to change the mental faculties of their baby like memory and intelligence (Sanded 1). This seems like something out of a science fiction movie but with our rapidly increasing technology, it is definitely more than a possibility. The genetic engineering of humans can be the greatest thing to ever happen to us, however, such power can lead to corruption and cause us to re gress as beings. Are we trying to make the world a better place for each other or are we Just making the world more superficial or should I say artificial?That's the main question that is asked as the intriguing issue of human genetic engineering is further evaluated. Human Genetic Engineering: Where to Draw the Line Perfection is something that human beings really haven't been able to relate to very well, but thanks to our rapidly advancing technology, that could all change. Human genetic engineering may be the breakthrough we need to tear down the walls that keep us from being perfect. However, there are many questions that need to be answered and things that need to be considered before we attempt to break through the walls.For instance, what if those walls are there for a reason? What if those walls aren't supposed to be torn down? Maybe they are there to protect us from perfection or perhaps protect perfection from us. A disease-free world sounds good to everyone but what about a world where parents can actually design their own child? What if not only the sex of the baby could be chosen by parents but also the hair color, eye color, intelligence, and even their talents (Sanded 1)? This is the path that human genetic engineering is leading us to; however, our main concern should be where that path will end.Human genetic engineering should be used only to cure diseases or other disabilities and not to the extent where we start treating human life like a computer game. We all should strive to be perfect but we should also have a certain level of respect for life and the lessons it teaches us. Otherwise our quest for perfection will only lead us into destruction. Jacqueline Vaughn Sister's article Assistance and Treatment is about the struggle disabled people go through to fit into society. They are stereotyped as pitiful and pathetic and they are often discriminated against (Sweeter 3).There seems to be a prevailing belief in our society where people who ar e â€Å"in need of charity are thought to be incapable of living the same life as others† (Sweeter 3). Because of these beliefs and stereotypes, the progress to fully include the handicapped in American life made even more difficult (Sweeter 3). The disabled are a minority group and they have fought hard to be recognized as one, however, there's no doubt that if every handicap had a choice they would choose not to be handicapped whether they were being treated equally or not.No one would miss being blind or being deaf. That's why Sweeter, who is raising awareness for the discrimination of handicapped, would agree with the argument that the use of genetic engineering should be limited to curing diseases and disabilities. The cruelty shown towards the handicapped is the exact reason why we shouldn't allow parents to design their children. It will Just leave us with more inequality because our human nature tends not to show humility and respect for those who are less advantaged than us.Jack Donnelley article The Concept of Human Rights explains how humans can have rights naturally. Human rights are supposed to be equal rights (Donnelly 2). Therefore every human being has the same rights (Donnelly 2), but how does this work when relating to children. On one episode of the Steve Wilkes show, there was a transgender man who was upset about being born a woman because his parents decided to go through with a gender selection operation despite being told that he would have more male hormones than female hormones.So this man felt that his rights were violated even though he was still unborn and he's right. You can't force any human to go through a completely unnecessary procedure, so why would the rules change if they're your own kid? Are kids not human too? Parents are supposed to make decisions for the better of their children but this was Just an act of selfishness. Donnelly would agree with the argument that genetic engineering shouldn't be allowed to the ext ent that parents can design their own kids for that very reason. It's unethical, irresponsible, and potentially harmful to the child.Melvin Sooner's article Genetic Enhancement Should Be Left to Personal Choice is about why human genetic engineering should be a personal choice like getting breast implants or taking steroids (Conner 3). He argues that â€Å"there's no intrinsic preference between inserting genes and inserting steroids† (Conner 2). People are always finding ways to enhance life and this is Just another way to do it. He does agree, however, that â€Å"the weightiest moral problem in the quest for perfection is that, it increases inequality' but that doesn't mean we shouldn't complete the quest (Conner 7).Antibiotics at one point were being used irresponsibly, but â€Å"the ethical path is not to stop using them but to use them more Judiciously' (Conner 7). Conner would disagree with the argument that human genetic engineering shouldn't be allowed to the extent that parents can design their babies because he takes a very liberal approach on this issue. The problem with his argument is that he fails to understand that the quest for perfection involves eliminating inequality, not increasing it.If we are increasing inequality, all we're doing is backtracking on the progress we've made as human beings and that's not what we want. Michael Sandal's article Genetically Designing Babies is Unethical explains why human genetic engineering shouldn't be allowed at all. He argues that â€Å"changing our nature to fit the world rather than the other way around is an ethical defeat† and an attack on our freedom (Sanded 6). He looks back at the dark history of eugenics and how it was the driving force behind the Nazi holocaust (Sanded 1).It was done to eliminate all of whom the Nazis considered as undesirables. Sanded argues that in the same way, â€Å"the successful would be even more likely than they are now to see themselves as self-made and self-sufficient, and those at the bottom of society would be seen not as disadvantaged, but simply as unfit† (Sanded 6). Sanded would disagree with the argument that human genetic engineering should be allowed to a certain extent because he is against the whole idea of genetic engineering. What he fails to realize in his argument is that as human beings, we have an obligation to improve our lives.If we can have a cure for the flu or for bronchitis, why not have a cure for blindness, ATA Cash disease, or any other sickness or disability that doctors can do nothing about? Human genetic engineering should only be allowed for use in the medical field to cure diseases and disabilities and not to the point where human life becomes a game. Genetic engineering is a scientific concern, but without boundaries t becomes a moral concern. Life is the most sacred thing anyone can have and it needs to be approached with caution and respect.It is also a great teacher and one of the main lesso ns it tries to teach us is humility. Humility involves accepting others for who they are and plays a key role when it comes to our relationships. When you think about what really matters in life, family and relationships with others tend to come up first which is really no coincidence. The purpose of life seems to be to lift up those around us and genetically designing babies will do the exact opposite of that. Parents who would choose to do this are doing it for cynical and selfish purposes.They are taking the child's freedom away so they can satisfy their own desires and out of those desires will come corruption. That's why a line needs to be drawn about to what extent human genetic engineering can be used. With great power comes great responsibility, so this is something we really can't afford to play around with. If genetic engineering to cure diseases becomes almost accessible as the flu shot, we will be that much closer on our quest to perfection. One day we will get through t hat all, but it's going to take one brick at a time.

Stopping the Repetition of the Past: Musings of Antebellum America

Stopping the Repetition of the Past: Musings of Antebellum America Author Henry James has said that â€Å"it takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature. † For over one hundred years slavery had crippled the African American people and aided the white man; however, when the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect it would become a slow catalyst of change that would take over a century for the Civil Rights Movement to be at its pinnacle. Racial limits would be pushed, lasting tension would arise. A great American novel of this time should depict the questionable change in racial demographics of the United States. Set before African American freedom, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain has been incessantly praised by authors and critics of all levels for pushing boundaries. It needs to be placed â€Å"in the context first of other American novels and then of world literature† (Smiley 1). Much like the American way of leaving the old country behind and immigrating to the United States, the novel’s loveable, young country boy of a narrator, Huckleberry Finn, pulls in readers of all kinds and feels the loneliness of being on his own travelling in the south, save for his runaway slave friend Jim. Along their adventures up and down the Mississippi River to free Jim, the reader follows Huck’s moral development, which is built up during different episodes in the story, but ultimately undone in the end. Although the â€Å"roundabout† nature of the end of the novel and Huck’s moral regression has rendered distaste, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn deserves its place in the literary canon of American literature for its variable structure, good-natured narrator, and reflections of Antebellum America. In essence, the ending of Huckleberry Finn is its pitfall. Hemingway claims that if you read the novel, that â€Å"you must stop when Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. † One must go to where Huck tells Tom of stealing Jim out of slavery, where it is evident that Tom withholds the knowledge that he knows that Jim has already been freed. â€Å"What! Why Jim is – † he begins to say, but then stops talking before he reveals the facts (Twain 235). Tom Sawyer is â€Å"too fanciful, too extravagant,† making it clear that he is ultimately the ending’s drawback (Marx 10). It is clear that Tom Sawyer has begun planning his â€Å"adventure† almost immediately after finding out Jim was captured, and he takes advantage of his â€Å"best friend† Huck. According to James Pearl â€Å"the long and drawn out trick that Tom Sawyer plays on Jim makes the reader doubt if any real development has taken place† (2). After everything Huck does for Jim and the scrupulous opinions he forms, Tom comes back into the picture and pulls him back to his childish shenanigans. Huck allows his â€Å"so called friend† to take control of him, and the â€Å"follower† in him comes back out. He lets Tom boss him around and does all that he can to please him: â€Å"‘Oh, shucks, Huck Finn, if I was as ignorant as you I’d keep still – that’s what I’d do’† (Twain 248). Tom acts as another father figure to Huck: an additional lousy, bully like character. The natural growth of Huck and Jim’s friendship, the â€Å"pursuit of freedom and Huck’s gradual recognition of the slave’s humaneness – [are] rendered useless by the entrance of Tom Sawyer and his machinations to ‘free Jim’† (Peaches 15). Not only is Tom Sawyer unrealistic, but he is also charismatic and a natural leader, unfortunately in this case. At first, Huck questions Tom’s way of doing things â€Å"‘Confound it, it’s foolish, Tom,’† but later he becomes â€Å"Tom’s helpless accomplice, submissive and gullible† (Twain 250, Marx 12). Even Jim, â€Å"he couldn’t see no sense in the most of it, but he allowed we was white folks and knowed better than him† (Twain 256). â€Å"Huck is the passive observer,† who does not tell Tom what he is planning is wrong, and Jim is â€Å"the submissive sufferer of them, who does not fight back (Eliot 3). Tom adds unneeded agitation to a well written, historically reflecting novel. At the very end when Tom wakes up, he is asked why he would want to set a freed slave free and responds â€Å"‘Why, I wanted the adventure of it; and I’d ‘a’ waded neck-deep in blood to-goodness alive,’† behaving as an immature imp (Twain 292). After all that Tom and Huck put Jim through, some sort of reaction from Jim and a well-deserved outburst from Huck are expected; however, the actual response is quite the antithesis of what is expected. Huck still puts the menace on a pedestal, believing that â€Å"Tom Sawyer had done and took all that trouble and bother to set a free nigger free† (292). Jim does not even question Tom’s motives. When freed, Jim receives forty dollars from Tom, and the newly freed man claims in excitement â€Å"‘Dah, how, Huck, what I tell you†¦I tole you I ben rich wunst, en gwineter be rich ag’in, en it’s come true’† (294). While most of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not convincing, the ending surpasses the realm of improbability into ridiculousness. Leo Marx declares â€Å"the most obvious thing wrong with the ending, then, is the flimsy contrivance by which Clemens frees Jim,† which goes to say that although the ending is very humorous, it is quite agitating (9). This novel is a â€Å"masterpiece because it brings Western humor to perfection and yet transcends the narrow limit of it conventions. But the ending does not† (Marx 11). No matter how stirring the conclusion of the book is, there is still an insightful segment. During the â€Å"attempted† freeing of Jim, â€Å"Each shackle, chain, and discomfort applied by the boys to Jim makes Twain’s point that freeing a ‘free’ black man in the postbellum is protracted and difficult† (Godden, Mccay 11). Even after the Civil War ends and the Emancipation Proclamation is still in place, the actual â€Å"freedom† of African American men and women is not in attained. These oppressed people still live under the reign of a struggling, racially suppressive nation. A century after this period â€Å"freedom† is fought for again, yet won day by day. Just when the reader believes that some hope has arisen, Huck lights out for the territory just like he lights out from every other situation. Aunt Sally is â€Å"going to adopt [him] and sivilize [him] and [he] can’t stand it,† and that’s the end (Twain 296). No more to leave the reader thinking about how the narrator has developed immensely or how much struggle he has gone through, James Pearl has to â€Å"ask whether Huckleberry Finn goes in a line, or a circle† (1). Almost as soon as the reader opens the novel, which Hemingway has noted that â€Å"There was nothing before†¦There has been nothing good since,† an explanatory written by Mark Twain is seen. It is written that â€Å"In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods South-Western dialect,† as well as the use of many more speech patterns that have â€Å"not been done in a hap-hazard fashion, or by guess-work: but pains-takingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity† (Twain Explanatory). Right off the bat Twain establishes respectable ethos or credibility, which lays the framework of language in the novel. As its characters speak throughout the book, it is easy to differentiate between the varying dialects that are used. Jim is a prime example of Twain’s â€Å"pains-takingly† written dialect, â€Å"I tuck out en shin down de hill en ’spec to steal a skift ’long de sho’ some’ers ’bove de town, but dey wuz people a-stirren’ yit, so I hid†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (55). To the modern day reader this is difficult language to become adept to reading, but it is quote easy to see that it is exquisitely written. â€Å"Twain creates the impression of the American folk culture through his use of dialect and phonetic spelling, which mimics speech, rather than writing† (Pearl 1). Even though many of the adventures are improbable, the credibility of the characters in them are made more convincing by mimicking this â€Å"native tongue† The use of the word â€Å"nigger† in the novel creates a sense of fury in countless Americans. Henry Peaches mentions Fiedler when stating that the racial-slur â€Å"has the odious distinction of signifying all ‘the shame, the frustration, the rage, the fear’ that has been so much a part of the history of race relations in the United States† (Peaches 12). However, Peaches and Fiedler do not put into account the culture in which Huckleberry was raised. Twain â€Å"uses language to show that access to culture and education defines character† (Pearl 1). Huck was raised in the South during the 1800s, before the emancipation of slaves, so naturally he and many others in the novel would use the word without an afterthought. All of the negative racial undertones used by Huck are not simply the thoughts of a young boy, they are reflections of Twain. This is expressed during the King Solomon chapter, where Huck claims that Jim â€Å"had an uncommon level head, for a nigger† (Twain 86). As chapter fourteen unfolds, the question of equality of the American people comes into play. â€Å"The debate about the Americanness of Huckleberry Finn reveals the larger struggle to define American identity† (Pearl 1). This book came at a time after the slaves in the United States were freed, but it is based before that. It was a time when Americans needed to contemplate their country’s history, and define for themselves the difference between right and wrong. When Jim cannot seem to understand why French men and American men do not speak the same language, Twain is inferring that all men should be equal, merely because they are men. Whenever the mix of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River is mentioned, there is a sense of pressure and divided pride. Those who live on the Mississippi River feel their Southern pride, â€Å"The Child of Calamity†¦said there was nutritiousness in the mud, and a man that drunk Mississippi water could grow corn in his stomach if he wanted to† (Twain 101). Although this quote seems very silly, it brings to light the foolish, yet very real northern and southern rivalry Northerners and Southerners had differing opinions about slavery and human rights, â€Å"they talked about how Ohio water didn’t like to mix with Mississippi water† (101). Richard Godden and Mary Mccay point out that â€Å"Twain locates this conversation very specifically†¦ [that] the intersection is political as well as geographical† (10). Later on in chapter twenty-two Huck goes to another town where a lynch mob goes after Sherburn. Sherburn may have just shot a harmless drunkard, but his speech is eloquent. What comes out of the communicative man is an expression from Twain based upon Southern antics â€Å"‘Why, a man’s safe in the hands of ten thousand of your kind – as long as it’s daylight and you’re not behind him†¦Why don’t your juries hang murderers†¦you’re afraid to back down – afraid you’ll be found out for what you are – cowards’† (Twain 162). Twain makes clear once more the way he feels about the south. This town, much like the south had â€Å"to be moving back, and back, and back,† it was still caught in its old ways, unjust and antiquated (156). Even Huck speaks to this â€Å"because the people that’s always the most anxious for to hang a nigger that hain’t done just right is always the very ones that ain’t the most anxious to pay for him when they’ve got their satisfaction out of him,† meaning that those who take advantage of others are raved up to use them but do not want to make an effort to pay the repurcusions of it (288). When Huck speaks â€Å"there is no exaggeration of grammar or spelling or speech, there is no sentence or phrase to destroy the illusion that these are Huck’s own words† (Eliot 3). The use of a child narrator in this scene is key. Humans have a predisposed inclination to care for young children, and these jaded, insightful words that come from Huck evoke a deeper sense in the reader. Coming from a child, these words have a stronger sense of meaning. The language and sentence structure that Twain uses for his characters goes hand in hand with the often abnormal juxtaposition he often forms. One night his pap â€Å"was all tired out†¦[he] said he would rest a minute and then kill me† (Twain 41). This subtly included sentence adds immense effect The predominant use of simple sentence syntax which â€Å"allow(s) him to handle the surfaces of the world as they come at him, or to watch and record others doing likewise† (Godden, Mccay 12). There is neither judgment nor alarm in his tone. When Twain constructs sentences in this way it catches the reader off guard and creates a realization of the cruelty of the world that Huck has become so adjusted to. Choosing right from wrong seems impossible when the person that taught him to delineate right from wrong was a morally clouded father. This is exemplified again during the Grangerford episode when Huck starts out describing Colonel Grangerford, â€Å"He was kind as he could be†¦Everybody loved to have him around too; he was sunshine most always†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and then continues with the unexpected fact that â€Å"the old gentleman owned a lot of farms, and over a hundred niggers† (Twain 125, 126). This is ironic due to the contrast between Huck’s romanticized view of the lovely Colonel Grangerford and the reader’s understanding that the man inhumanely owns over a hundred beings. Huck has a basic, yet growing understanding of how slavery is cruel, but not enough to equate slave owners as unjust people. Then when the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons go to church with their guns â€Å"and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall,† Huck includes then that â€Å"It was pretty ornery preaching – all about brotherly love,† as if the situation was not ironic nor strange in any way (129). The juxtaposition included in this statement as well as the irony exemplifies Twain’s opinion of the ridiculousness of age old vendettas and family rivalries in the South. After everything they leave church with a â€Å"powerful lot to say about faith and the good works,† which exacerbates the foolishness of the feud, they speak of faith, but try to kill of their enemies every chance they get (129). Twain’s opinions are not kept out of his book, but are hidden in some cases. They have created such a lasting legacy for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The author’s opinions and a wide variety of characters enable the reader to have a wider viewpoint of the people in this period of history. Following the Sherburn incident, Huck goes to the circus. He does not transition whatsoever, â€Å"I could a staid (at Sherburn’s), if I’d a wanted to, but I didn’t want to. I went to the circus, and loafed around†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (162). This sudden change happens a few times throughout the novel to help illustrate the extent of Huck’s age and lack of capability to process life altering situations, such as the death of his dear friend Buck, which symbolizes the death of the boy’s childhood. He immediately goes back to the raft, â€Å"We said there warn’t no home like a raft,† and continues back on his adventures with Jim (134). This action â€Å"leaves room for endless variation and adventures, with the endless variation of America’s inhabitants† (Pearl 1). The reader is never really sure what to expect next in the novel, which leaves room for prediction. The seemingly random episodes are expertly crafted to show Huck’s moral development. America at the time is a big melting pot of different cultures, which come into play with shaping the narrator. Beginning in the first few pages of the novel, the reader gets their first taste of Huck as a narrator. He is goodhearted, and does not judge, which makes him an unbiased storyteller. Beginning with speaking about the author, Mark Twain, Huck says that â€Å"he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth† (Twain 13). Even when referring to his father who abuses him he does not see the wickedness in him, â€Å"but by and by pap got too handy with his hick’ry and I couldn’t stand it. I was all over welts† (37). By being an impartial narrator he allows â€Å"the reader to make his own moral reflections†¦He is the impassive observer: he does not interfere†¦he does not judge† (Eliot 2). T. S. Eliot is spot on when he says this. By being an â€Å"impassive observer†, the reader then takes Huck’s later moral development more seriously. During the Grangerford episode he learned that unique Emmeline Grangerford made poetry about people who had died and felt bad because no one wanted to make poetry about her once she died â€Å"so [he] tried to sweat out a verse or two [himself],† just because he felt that bad for a girl he had never met (Twain 124). This type of mature sincerity is uncommon among preadolescent boys. The development of Huck’s conscience comes a bit later in the novel, however the start of his moral growth begins before this. As soon as Huck and Jim meet again on the island Huck breaks norms of the time, and he chooses not to turn Jim in. â€Å"‘I said I wouldn’t [tell], and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun I will,† and he even claims that he does not care if â€Å"People call [him] a low down Abilitionist† (55). Although this scene is early in the novel it essentially sets the scene for the rest of the Huck’s progress, excluding the ending. Huck’s immediate reaction to help his newfound friend, whom he would be â€Å"incomplete without,† before he becomes well acquainted with him â€Å"is an unforgettable moment in the American experience,† and proves his heart is in the right place (Eliot 3, Marx). When he plays a mean, childish trick on Jim, who was once his slave, he apologizes â€Å"It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger,† and even when he apologized he â€Å"warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards† (Twain 95). T. S. Eliot claims that â€Å"the pathos and dignity of a boy, when reminded so humbly and humiliatingly, that his position in the world is not that of other boys, entitled from time to time a practical joke; but that he must bear, and bear alone, the responsibility of a man† (4). Huck must reason for himself right versus wrong, and act as an adult, even though the role models he has had in his life have consisted o f an alcoholic father and foster parents who try to â€Å"sivilize† him (13). This is where he realizes that he needs to do right from there on forward. He would not â€Å"do him no more mean tricks and [he] wouldn’t done that one if [he’d] a knowed it would make him feel that way† (95). â€Å"Huck learns that Jim has real feelings, recognizes humanity, and vows not to play any more tricks on him,† which is Huck’s first big step in moral development (Pearl 2). However, after this big step, when Jim and he came close to Cairo, Huck becomes nervous. He realizes what he is doing is â€Å"wrong† in society’s terms. It made him feel â€Å"all over trembly and feverish,† this is his conscience playing a role in his life decisions for once. Sacvan Bercovitch believes â€Å"Huck’s desire to fit in is underscored by his inability to do so†¦He believes in racism, class hierarchy, Southern aristocracy†¦,† which is completely inaccurate (14). Huck tries to believe in these things because society has forced him to believe in them, but he is questioning what he has been taught The situation â€Å"got to troubling [him] so [he] couldn’t rest,† then he â€Å"got to feeling so mean and so miserable [he] wished he was dead† (Twain 110). He â€Å"couldn’t get that out of [his] conscience, no how nor way† (110). Stealing â€Å"that poor old-woman[‘s]† slave â€Å"scorched [him] more and more† (110). Huck â€Å"has vision† for the first time in his life that society may not be right and decides that he would do whatever â€Å"come[s] handiest at the time,† and not what is necessarily â€Å"right† (Eliot 2, Twain 113). When contemplating turning his friend in, he â€Å"got to thinking over [their] trip down the river,† and that while they were floating along they talked and sang and laughed (222). This leads to Huck’s decision that he will â€Å"go to hell† if that is what it takes (223). Leo Marx believes that â€Å"this is the climactic moment in the ripening of his self-knowledge. By stating he will go to Hell, Huck â€Å"has surrendered to the notion of a principle of right and wrong (Cox 190). His friend Jim is his father figure and â€Å"the power of Jim’s personality erodes the prejudices that Huck’s culture has instilled† (Peaches 14). When Henry Peaches states that Huck’s â€Å"attitudes extend no fu rther than his love for Jim,† it is not necessarily true (13). Huck does love Jim, he has become â€Å"a surrogate father to Huck,† and he immediately agrees to help Jim as soon as he finds out on the island that Jim is a runaway (Peaches 16). He also claims that â€Å"there is no tangible reason to assume that the regard Huck acquires for Jim during his odyssey down the river is generalized to encompass all blacks† (Peaches 12, 13). Peaches is correct that there is no â€Å"tangible† evidence, but just because Huck saves Jim as opposed to some other runaway slave does not make his motives any less genuine. While the ending of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn arguably is its drawback, the capricious structure and language, delightful narrator, and observations of prewar United States unquestionably give the novel its place in the literary canon of American literature. Once it is accepted that the last twelve chapters of the book are disappointing, it is easy to see the merit in the rest of the piece. Depicting the feelings of southern citizens and African Americans before the Civil War, it gives a glimpse into the past of a torn country. The legacy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will last for many years to come because of the profound impact that is had upon both America and other nations. Mark Twain’s writing has exposed the wrongdoing of slavery to the American people. By writing the novel after the Civil War, he has forced the country to look back in shame on the disturbing act of slavery and to fight for the cause of equality. It will live on because it is a book for everyone. Subtly including dark images with satire offers many interpretations, therefore giving a book that younger children can read and not see more than a story, and mature readers can look at with a deeper understanding. By looking into the past, one can help stop the repetition of heinous acts in the future.