Political Ideologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Ideologies - Essay Example The purpose of communism is to have common ownership of properties. The government regulates access to labor and its produce on to what is satisfactorily needed by each individual in the society. There are different kinds and forms of communism developed by several philosophers such as Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. But we shall focus on the economic reforms that both Libertarianism and Communism wish to offer. Communism believes that the working class is the solution, and that giving more power to the working class, dissolving any division in the society and avoiding any possible exploitation from the capitalist class can eliminate a division in society. This is why the government chooses to regulate the economy, and abolishes private ownership. Communism sees capitalism as a mere exploitation of the working class. Rousseau's (1978) origin story of the bourgeois political order holds that the ideology of communism, evolves through a pledge by the citizenry, a social pact to establish equality among each other, that they will place themselves under the same conditions and enjoy the same rights (p. 76). Libertarianism and Communism are two opposite ideology, put it simply, the first gives importance and the sanctity of an individual’s freedom, separate from any control by society. It is the free will and independence of man and his own volition that controls his fate. On the other hand, the Communist is ruled by the society, as a working class, co-equal in everything without any other class or division. It is unity between every man, without having one man better than the other. This â€Å"one† society regulates and controls each other, making sure that no one man exploits another. The Libertarian wishes every man to love â€Å"live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others" (Boaz, p. 2). The Communist ideology on the other hand abolishes the idea of â€Å"private property† and follows common ownership. A man is viewed as one with society. It is the society and the community that holds property in order to prevent any division in society, of having one person higher or richer than the other. Economically, a very good example of this ideology of libertarianism is economic freedom through the doctrine of laissez faire, in which free enterprise between businesses is upheld without government intervention. The opposite of this would be the ideology imposed by Communism, in which the government takes economic control, to avoid the business owners or so called capitalists to exploit its working class. The defect of Communism lies on the very existence of every individual, the component of free will. In order to attain equality and fairness, the Communist removes every chance for an individual to work better for his own accomplishments. He is not allowed to go beyond his means or ability in order to have a better and improved life. The control of the mean and resources infringes the righ t of each individual to be rich and successful by his own work and self-motivation. There is hindrance to self-actualization and self-fulfillment. In a country like the United States of America, were all, if not every nationality is part of its citizenry, libertarianism is more appropriate. A free enterprise

The wedding banquet by Ang Lee Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The wedding banquet by Ang Lee - Movie Review Example The film’s main plot revolves around immigrant homosexual couples, named as Wai-Tung Gao (from Taiwan) and Simon. But Wai-Tung was forced to marry a bankrupt lady named as Wei-Wei. Besides, Wai-Tung agrees to marry because he does not like to dishearten his parents. Meanwhile, Wei-Wei gets impregnated from Wai-Tung. On the other side, Wai-Tung discloses his sexual interest to his mother. In the end, Wai-Tung’s father accepts his son’s sexual interest and goes back to his motherland. Besides, Wei-Wei gives birth to a child and accepts Simon to her family. In short, sexual orientation becomes acceptable within Wai-Tung’s private circle. In the film, the director makes use of the main characters as his mouthpiece to share his opinion on homosexuality. Cliff Mills opines that, â€Å"The Wedding Banquet script is based on a true story about a gay Taiwanese immigrant living in New York City with his partner† (59). One can see that the gay couple in the film tries to hide their sexual interest because they consider that the society will not accept their relationship. Besides, the problems faced by the gay couple can be generalized to the wider context of the social problems faced by gay people. Still, the female protagonist (say, Wei-Wei) shows acceptance to the gay couple. In short, the director sheds light into the problems faced by gay people. In the film, the western society does not hesitate to accept homosexual people to the core of the society. On the other side, those who represent Eastern society hesitate to accept homosexuality as a sexual interest. Fran Martin states that, â€Å"In its negotiation of the positioning of Taiwan vis-a-vis the US and hence ‘the rest of the world’, The Wedding Banquet stages a kind of postcolonial cultural clash between two regimes of sexuality: broadly a ‘Chinese-familial’ regime, and a regime of ‘American gay identity’ † (143). To be specific, the

Discuss Marxs concepts of alienation and exploitation Essay

Discuss Marxs concepts of alienation and exploitation - Essay Example Some would say that Alienation itself is a completely subjective state of being, this is debatable at best. His theory relies on Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity (1841), which argues that the idea of God has alienated the characteristics of the human being. Stirner would take the analysis further in The Ego and Its Own (1844), declaring that even 'humanity' is an alienating ideal for the individual, to which Marx and Engels responded in The German Ideology (1845). According to Karl Marx, there are many ways that people are alienated in capitalism. The workers apparently lose control of their lives and selves in not having any control of their work. Workers, thus, never become powerful, self-realized human beings in any significant sense. Marx attributes four types of alienation in labour under capitalism:[1] alienation of the worker from the product, since this is appropriated by the capitalist class, and so escapes the worker's control; alienation from the act of production itself, such that work comes to be a meaningless activity, offering little or no intrinsic satisfactions.

Research Project, Focus, Type Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Project, Focus, Type - Essay Example An entrepreneur could not commence a new venture or expand an existing business without accurate and updated information. Nonetheless, the pertinent information about the chosen country, economy, political conditions, laws and regulations, environment, technology, demographics, psychographics, behavioral, cultural and social factors, competitors and market potential is obtained through secondary and primary research. For instance, this marketing research and data collection should be considered as a useful project, because it becomes essential for survival, growth and sustainability of a business entity. The marketers than analyse this information and use for innovation, branding and differentiation. The information garnered will be analyzed and evaluated to develop certain alternatives and policies that could benefit the restaurant as a whole. For instance, the research project will help identifying new business opportunities followed by gaps in market. This would later benefit in expansion and betterment. In addition, the research will study societal changes, purchasing power and consumption trends after which we could improve our existing marketing and advertising campaigns, internal display and food products. The research will include primary (through surveys, focus groups and interviews) and secondary (available online published articles, journals, reviews, reports etc.) information. In addition, it would be comprehensive and descriptive in nature because the researcher will cover all major marketing related issues and points. The economic recession has resulted in massive unemployment and decline in consumer purchasing power (real incomes); therefore, customers demand high quality food products at reasonably lower prices. In other words, price factor will now play the most important role in success and prosperity of the restaurant in tough economic conditions. The literature would be gathered initially through secondary research because it is easily available and cheaper than primary (first hand) information. Websites, online databases, digital communities (Face Book, twitter, my space etc) and web logs may provide sufficient literature that could be used as a starting point. Any weaknesses and irrelevance will then be removed through collection of primary data.

Amazon.com - Not Your Average Bookstore Case Study

Amazon.com - Not Your Average Bookstore - Case Study Example Other than customer comments, Amazon websites records numbers of customers, the products they review and pages they visit. After analyzing those records, Amazon recognizes sale/purchase patterns and makes business strategies accordingly. Is Amazon using disruptive or sustaining technology to run its business? A disruptive technology is the one that creates new market and value network. Amazon.com mostly incorporates disruptive technology. For instance; when Amazon website was formed, books purchase constituted a very small fraction of the items for sale but with the launch of Amazon online bookstore, it has redefined book’s market. People visit Amazon websites to read reviews on a book and make decision about purchasing the book. Things didn’t stop there; Amazon launched its book reading application, Kindle. It is an eBook reader and uses e-Ink technology which consumes very small battery power, this way people can take their collection of favorite books anywhere they w ant. Other applications like Amazon S3, Vine and Amazon MP3 all offer new technologies. Interactive interface technology used by Amazon really makes the shopping experience worthwhile. Online Music downloading and online storage application such as S3, all count as disruptive technologies. How is Amazon using personalization to keep its customers loyal? Amazon incorporates personalized recommendations to keep its customers loyal. ... ications like Amazon.com Auctions, zShops (independent third party sellers) and Amazon.com Marketplace (here customers can buy and sell used items), Amazon is offering almost everything to its customers on their fingertips. All of this contributes to increasing customer loyalty. How has Amazon used technology to revamp the bookselling industry? Amazon has completely refurbished the bookselling industry. Amazon bookstore has become a trademark name for book publishers and customers. For instance, Jeffery Bezos, the CEO of Amazon implemented a smart business strategy by making virtual book store accessible from all across the globe. When Bezos first initiated the list of 20 items online, books were a small ticket item on it, but later when Amazon created thousands of virtual book stores, Amazon Bookstore became a house hold name for book purchases. No book store could store 5 million books published each year but Amazon. Technology enabled Amazon to handle such a large amount of data a nd make it available to customers. It won’t be exaggeration saying that eBook concept was popularized by Amazon. Later with the introduction of eBook reader, Kindle; Amazon totally revamped the bookselling industry. Kindle incorporates another technology to download books for its eBook readers through ‘Whispernet’ on a wireless network, ‘Sprint Nextel Network’. Initial offering from Kindle included over 90,000 books, magazines and journals. How can Amazon use mbusiness to increase sales? There is tremendous potential in mbusiness or mcommerce. According to the research firm Strategy Analysts, mcommerce industry was supposed to be exceeding $200bn by 2005 with 350 million customers generating $14bn annually, and this is 2012, it is easy to figure out what potential mbusiness

Water pollution prevention Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Water pollution prevention - Research Paper Example For a sustainable life on planet earth, water is one of the most important indispensable commodity without which survival of human life and all the other life forms is not possible. It affects our economy, health and lifestyle.The major utilization of this resource is in industries such as agriculture, hydroelectric power generation, transportation, industry along with domestic and commercial uses. Major portions of the earth’s surface are covered with water in the form of oceans and ice caps and therefore difficult to recover; however, only 3% of these water bodies (rivers, lakes) constitute fresh water available for human consumption. Also rainwater is a major source of our water supply on earth. Water pollution has become a global environmental issue due to rapid industrialization, population boom, increased economic activities and demand for fresh water has increased manifolds in the past years. Any detrimental variation (physical, chemical or biological) in the state of w ater by contamination of harmful substances is known as water pollution (Goel1). It influences all the water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans and ground water. It affects human beings, plants, animals, birds and fish etc. and is responsible for disturbing the natural ecosystem on earth. There are several sources for water contamination however; there are two primary routes through which these contaminants enter surface water, ground water, drinking water and soil/sediment water. (a) Point source pollution. The discharge of distinct pollutant sources directly into water bodies and aquatic systems (USEPA 14). For example: 1. Domestic/Municipal sewage: The waste water generated from household/commercial activities contains organic (food waste) and inorganic waste (nitrates and phosphates) (WWF 2). The amount of organic waste that water bodies can degrade is determined in terms of Biological oxygen demand. BOD is the amount of oxygen required by the microorganisms to decompose organ ic matter and thus the higher amount of BOD in a water body signifies that it is polluted with organic waste. However, inorganic wastes produced largely by soaps and detergents are non-degradable and upon entering the water bodies causes serious implications on ecosystem. 2. Industrial effluents: Waste water containing organic pollutants and toxic chemicals (lead, mercury, nitrates and phosphates) from manufacturing and processing industries causes water pollution. Also, disposal of solid and gaseous wastes from nuclear and thermal power plants are a source of water pollution (Agarwal 37). 3. Agriculture: Agricultural wastes include manure, slurries and run off. Manure being rich in nitrates and phosphates seeps in the sediments/ground water causing water pollution. 4. Atmospheric gases: As a result of industrial gaseous emissions and automobile exhaust the concentration of dissolved gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and carbon dioxide is increased sufficientl y in atmosphere. Subsequently, the water in close proximity to these polluted areas becomes concentrated with these gases resulting in water pollution (Agarwal 39). (b) Non-point source pollution (NPS): Contaminants entering indirectly into water bodies through ground/soil water or atmosphere through rain comprise of NPS. These include gaseous emissions from factories, automobiles, agricultural run-off etc. (USEPA 13). Agricultural NPS is the leading source of water quality degradation and is majorly caused by runoff soils carrying fertilizers, growth hormone residue, pesticides and heavy metals etc. Other sources of water pollution include spillage of oil and harmful substances in water bodies, atmospheric deposition, marine dumping, radioactive wastes and global warming. All of these have devastating and extensive damage effects on aquatic life (Agarwal 37). Harmful effects of water pollution are: 1. Source of contaminants/pathogens to human beings: According to UN world water Ass essment Program, around 2.3

Hearing Loss Attributed to the 21st Century use of Personal Music Player Essay Example for Free

Hearing Loss Attributed to the 21st Century use of Personal Music Player Essay In the recent few years leisure noise has become one of the threats to the hearing as it can reach high volumes and an increasing number of people are exposed. The danger is not only exposed by the music from the clubs but also it has been extended to the new generation of music players which are known to produce sounds at high volumes. Across Europe it is estimated that millions of people are using personal music players on a daily basis and in most of the cases these gadgets are being used inappropriately putting the user at a great risk of ear damage. This is a serious concern as the emerging technology may cause numerous problems to the people who are fond of using these entertainment gadgets. To add salt into the injury the users are exposing themselves to this particular danger for a long time as they are spending substantial time listening to music using ear phones. The amount of time one exposes to the sound of loud music from the personal music players increases the chances of hearing loss. The children and the youth are at risk as they have been noted to constitute the highest proportion of users. In this paper I will discuss the dangers involved in the use of personal music player and at the same time bring into the understanding who should be blamed for the hearing loss as a result of the constant use of these gadgets. Is it the makers of the personal music players or should we blame the users for putting their life at risk? A scientific study that was carried out for the European Union revealed that noise from the personal music players is a routine pollution for many people. It threatens permanent damage of the ear to as many as hundred million people in Europe and other parts of the world. The report indicated that those people who listened to the music for a continuous five hours per week on high volume were exposing themselves to high noise than it is allowed in the factory work places. This means that users of the personal music player who prefer to listen to their music on high volume are at a worse position than workers who are located in a noisy factory in an industrial hub. (Linkov,I and Steevens,J 2009 359) Experts argue that the maximum volume from these equipments can generate as much noise as an aero plane that is taking off. That kind of noise is enough to make a person have a quick and permanent hearing loss. The worst thing according to this report is that the users do not realize the problem until very late. This is the time when the damage has already been caused and nothing can be done about it. It is a very sad situation where a young person with bright future prospects losses his or her ability to hear at such an early age, it can be a very devastating experience but whom do we blame? Do we pass the buck to the manufacturer of these gadgets fro their neglect or do we blame the users for sometimes knowingly exposing themselves to dangers through their constant use of the music players. (Jameson,P and Romer,D 2008 347) The MP3 generation is headed for permanent hearing impairment in the cause of their lives. The youth are at the greatest risk as well as the older people too, in twenty seven countries across Europe it is estimated that fifty to a hundred million people out of five hundred people may be listening to a portable personal music player at any given time. Equivalents of five percent listeners who expose themselves to these new generation entertainment gadgets for more than one hour are at the greatest risk. These statistics have raised fears among some people prompting them to take some actions so as to avoid a future generation which has numerous problems which has been caused by things which can only be described as luxurious. In the year 2006 a man in Louisiana sued one of the manufacturing firms, The Apple claiming that this company had failed to take enough steps to prevent the problem of hearing loss among the users of one its popular product, the iPod. The suit which was filed in a federal district court in California city of San Jose claimed that iPod produces a sound which is as loud as one hundred and fifteen decibels when the maximum sound that is considered safe for listening is eighty five decibels. To this man the Apple Company was to blame for the problem that is threatening to have millions of deaf people in some years to come. I tend to disagree with his sentiments as it is clearly evident that the ipods sold by this company and many other manufacturer comes with a warning in the manual where the users are warned about the dangers they expose themselves into through playing the music in high volumes from their personal music players. It is blatantly clear that the users expose themselves to the risk of hearing loss through ignoring the warnings given by the manufacturers. The companies can not escape blame too, such warnings are printed using very tiny fonts such that not all the users might get a chance to read the small inscriptions which are usually placed on a page where the user might not even see. (Kirk,R and Mayshork,C 2007 73) The risk involved do not only come from ipods, the portable phones and personal stereos pose a similar problem as their earphones leads to a high sound exposure than any other type of a listening device. It has been stressed that young people who continue to expose themselves through listening to the high volume music from their music devices usually run into the risk of developing some hearing complications by the time they hit their twenties. Problems such as persistent tinnitus which is induced by high volume music has been reported common among the people in their youth and are constant users of the personal music devices. Despite this problem the same people continue using these devices. Therefore the problem squarely lies with the users, they are clearly aware of the risks involved, they have gone through numerous problems which have been as a result of their insatiable appetite for entertainment but they still continue to expose themselves to the risk. This can only be termed as deliberate move by these users to harm themselves and it is for this reason we can not blame the companies for the problems that are being experienced by the MP3 generation. The manufacturing firms only came to fill the gap that existed; they offer satisfaction to the people who are keen on entertainment especially when they are on move. They have clearly indicated the dangers one can expose him or herself to if the device is not used properly, that is if it is put on high volumes but the users choose to ignore such information for their personal reasons. (Tulchinsky,T and Varavikova,N 2000 285) The choices we make in life determine the direction we head, if we make the right ones we will always be on the right direction, if we happen to take the wrong choices as we mostly do then we are bound to blame others for the trouble we may get ourselves into later in our lives. It is extremely important for us to make the right decision as pertaining what we do as the opposite can lead to devastating effects. People have a choice of either buying a personal music player or any other similar device, they make a choice as to whether they will listen to the music high or low, it is basically a matter of choice. There is nothing about MP3 technology that can directly lead to hearing loss. It is the choice we make. For those users who choose to always put their devices at manageable and recommended sounds the problem of hearing impairment might not affect them but for those who choose to ignore the warnings given by the manufacturers, this problem will affect the rest of their lives. They just make a mistake of listening to the music on loud volumes for too long therefore exposing themselves to al manner of dangers associated with the noise. (Chan,S and Kwok,S 2003 34) The European Union is planning to regulate the volumes on personal music players and other stereos due to the fears that usage of these devices is causing the damage to the ears. This action has been precipitated by the findings of the scientific commission which was given a task of coming out with ways in to which this problem that is threatening the ability of million to hear can be tackled. In normal circumstances the personal music players are allowed to go up to one hundred decibels but when it used with an inbuilt headphones the sound can go up to one hundred and twenty. This is way above the recommended safe sound volumes which are close to eighty five. The recommended sound levels by the European Union committee are eighty, a figure which has been pointed out as safe enough to warrant any fears. This clearly points out that it is only a matter of educating the users on how they are supposed to go about listening to music using their sophisticated technology. If someone decided to ignore the message, he or she can not blame the manufacturing company for the problems that hearing problems which might occur later in life due to inappropriate use of the device (Linkov,I and Steevens,J 2009 359) For the sake of those who ignore the information given by the manufacturers, the makers of these devices should be advised to limit the volume levels so that they do not exceed the recommended limits. Though this might affect their sales it is the right thing to do as it will save those who have a problem following the given instructions. The company will in the short term suffer minimal losses but in the long term they will have more users as they will have expanded the markets as the effects of these devices to the ears will be minimal. The users will have won the confident of the music players as they have been set according to the standards which are considered safe for average use. (Davis,G 2004 40) The government can not limit the time a given person will spend on the personal music player. This is an individual choice; we spend as much time as we can get on these entertainment gadgets. Therefore it is up to the users to limit themselves as to how long they are going to be exposed . The user should ensure that they spend less time listening to the music through their devices to minimise the risk involved. All these points indicate that the manufacturing companies have no role to play as far as the usage of the personal music player is concerned. Their duty is to inform the users of the dangers involved through playing it loud and continuos exposure over a long period. The rest lies with the person using the gadget to decide how much time he or she is going to spend listening and on what volume they will get their music. If one decides to put his or her health at risk you can not turn at the company and blame it for the presonal problems which were as aresult of own volition. The government has the responsibility of ensuring that the manufacturing company follow the standards as far as making of the personal music players is concerned. This will go a long way in saving the users who are conscious about their health. The recommeded standards should include limiting the volume settings to a particular level which can not harm the user even if the decide to ignore the warnings. People need to take a responsibility as far as their actions are concerned. There is a need for every user to take precautiosn as far as usage of these devices is concerned. Inappropriate use can lead to devastatiting health effects which would have been prevented if the user was careful. Technology advancement has come to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. This can only be achieved if we use this technology appropriately,use of personal music player beyond the recommended sound volume can lead to seroius effects which are not related to the manufacturing. The user have all the responsibility to ensure that this piece of sophistication does not harm him or her rather it serves the right purpose which is entertainment. (Markel,G 2007 25) The manufacturing company should carry a warning on the users who violate the instructions which comes along with the product. They have a responsibility to save the end users from their own ignorance. They can do this through offering and sponsoring sessions where users get to be taught on the proper methods of handling these entertainment equipement. This can help save some people but the biggest part should be played by the end user,they must use the device responsbly so as to avoid complications that might be brought by high sound volumes besides the time spent listening to the music at the expense of other important actiivities such as studying. The sole responsbility of the hearing loss as a result of inappropriate use of the personal music player and other related devices lies squarely on the user. He or she has the ability to control its use and therefore ealding a healthy life. (Anderson,B 2004 103) Work Cited Tulchinsky,T and Varavikova,N The New Public Health:An Introduction for the 21st Century,Academic Press (2000) Linkov,I and Steevens,J Nanomaterials ,Spring Publishers (2009) Davis,G How to do Everything with your iPod and iPod Mini,Mac Graw Hill Professionals (2004) Chan,S and Kwok,S Culture and Humanity in the new Millenium:the Future of Human Value Chinese University Press (2003) Kirk,R and Mayshork,C Personal Health in Ecological Perspective,Mosby (2007) Markel,G Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction,Geraldine Markel (2007) Jameson,P and Romer,D The Changing Portrayal of the Adloescents on the Media Since 1950,Oxford University Press (2008) Anderson,B Bringing Business to Life:Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility,ASQ Quality Publishers (2004)