The Failing Discourse of the US Government Essay - 2496 Words

In the United States, perpetual conflict is most noticeable in the political system. The cause of the conflict is not that we have a two party system but rather that the parties are divided not by ideology, but by identifying themselves as the antithesis of the other party. This kind of mentality hinders the progression of ideas and prevents social and cultural growth. This is not a violent conflict over land or over religion; it is a conflict over the very soul of the United States. By identifying themselves as antitheses, they leave no room for growth in compromise or collaboration. Palliating this dilemma is extremely difficult and differs greatly from the typical conflict because they are already supposedly representatives of†¦show more content†¦Whether these allegations are true or not, this type of mudslinging deflates the citizenry’s belief that the government is able to get things done and is working in the best interests of the people. Thus, government rhetoric is destructive to the unity of the US because of its polarity, which pits Americans against one another. So, how does a nation over come these issues? One possibility is to eliminate parties all-together, but this probably would not change anything. It would only push the colluding into the shadows. The only real solution is to stop the polarization by having politicians realize they are actually on the same side and must stop fighting each other. This can be done through conflic t transformation, but there must also be disincentives to using inflammatory rhetoric and colluding. These events are prevalent in ideological disagreements like abortion rights and in both practical disagreements like healthcare, and only through conflict transformation can there be any movement in the stagnant US political system. The public debate over abortion in the United States has intensified since the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. Advocates on each side of the debate often hint that we must select between two stark options: â€Å"Pro-life† and â€Å"Pro-choice.† Strong pro-life advocates claim that abortion is immoral (except perhaps in a few cases) because the fetus is a human being from theShow MoreRelatedAmusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman1180 Words   |  5 Pagesmeaning. Postman’s purpose to spread the word of this discourse and inform them of how much society is being set back due to the over indulging of television Opening the book, Postman explains how he will fulfill showing that a â€Å"great media-metaphor shift has taken place in America, with the result that content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsense† (pg. 16). There are two major points First: under the printing press, discourse In America was different from what it is now—generallyRead MoreReflection Of A Discourse Community1591 Words   |  7 Pagescommunity is a group of individual people gathered together to form a whole, like a school, local church, government entity, non-profit organization, sport team, etc. This whole can make reference to a discourse community. According to John Swales, discourse communities are unions where individuals have a common purpose, and communicate to achieve this. There are six characteristics that make up a discourse community. They are a set of common public goals, mechanisms of communication among its members, theRead MoreSocial Class Of Social Mobility1491 Words   |  6 Pagescan be achieved. The extent to which social mobility can be attained is directly tied to various factors such as the intersectionality of people’s identity and government aid stigmatization. In the few exceptions, where individuals achieved social mobility— rising from lower class to middle class, it was through the safety-net that government programs provided. The myth of feasible social mobility through talent and a moral high ground has transcended generations and cemented itself in American cultureRead MoreThe Authors and Their Works1283 Words   |  5 Pagesplays a significant role in the writing of their biographies. Everybody is subjective; we are all to an extent shaped by what is around us. The selected works mark turning points in the writing of the life of Cook, and each of them is considered as an important work within the field of Cook studies. They all display certain characteristics and carry certain discourses that mark them as also being evocative of their respective time periods. Cook scholars have often tried to prove or disprove certainRead MoreEffects of Economic Globalization and Integration1397 Words   |  6 Pagesexchange currency, and the US directly invested in the reconstruction of European economies. In the 1970s, a breakdown of Bretton Woods agreement removed America as the hegemonic power; fixed exchange rates fell apart, and eventually the Washington Consensus removed standard currency. The ability for individual states to manipulate their currency– especially in developing nations –regulated market fluctuation. By 1983 the amount of money in the central banks of governments was three times greater thanRead MoreRhetorical Analysis : Scott Pruitt And The Environment1538 Words   |  7 Pagesadministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt denies the importance of climate change, he is a pro-industry former attorney general of Oklahoma. Epstein dances around rhetoric on both sides of the polarized climate change debate, creating a discourse which seems unbiased to the casual reader. This rhetorical analysis will strive to keep its proverbial ear to the ground and listen to the elephants hustling in the distance. References leading to right-wing contributors, language that evokes a senseRead MoreMedia Representation of the Rwandan Genocide1202 Words   |  5 Pagesability to withhold or disperse information and thus promptly misconstrue global events. This is analogous to the study of International Relations where representation can serve to manipulate the interpretation of events. In the case of Rwanda, in failing to visually represent the genocide, the media was unsuccessful in galvanizing the in ternational community to respond to the mass killings (Gilboa, 2000). 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Nowhere in The Prince or The Discourses does Machiavelli explicitly make morality or ethics his concern. Nor does he openly eschew it. Only one specific ethical system, the Christian ethic has no place in Machiavelli. That is easily inferred because fromRead MoreDefining A Failed State Of The Soviet Union1992 Words   |  8 Pagesof the 20th century and after the fall of the Soviet Union. Since then, the concept has morphed and shifted in response to development by its proponents and criticism by its detractors. Although accepted as a contemporary facet of foreign policy discourse, the term has its conceptual basis in early state formation theory. An early definition of a state asserts that a state succeeds (i.e. does not fail) if it maintains the legitimate use of force within its borders (Weber 1919). This thread of legitimate

The Damaging Impact of Overpopulation on the Environment...

The Damaging Impact of Overpopulation on the Environment 6.5 billion†¦This is not a whole lot of bacteria, but when it comes to humans, it is a very formidable number. The human population has been increasing at an extremely high rate in the last century and unfortunately, not much has been done to slow down this process. Undoubtedly, overpopulation is a global issue. It is global because it pertains to all of humanity, but global also means that it affects the whole world, i.e. the environment. Almost all human activities impact negatively the environment in one form or another, and as human population expands, the damaging effects on the environment multiply. Here are some of the most imminent environmental problems that results†¦show more content†¦The situation is even worse when it comes to ocean exploitation and pollution. Over fishing changes the balance in coastal ecosystems and decreases fish populations. Sometimes it might even lead to extinction of certain marine species. Over fishing also damages coral reefs, beca use it allows algae to overgrow them. It turns out that the ocean is the ultimate garbage dump * because eventually all of the sewage, sediment from forest clearing, fertilizer and pesticide run-off flow into it. It is important to preserve the ocean, not only because it is an important source of food, but also because it plays a major role in climate regulation. The circulation of cold and warm water protects the earth from extreme temperature fluctuations. In addition, oceans absorbs between 30 and 40% of the CO2 given off as a result of human activity, thus keeping global warming at stake. 3. Soil Degradation. Population growth results increases the demand for food production. Since the arable land in many of the overpopulated regions is limited, farmers begin to cultivate dry, hilly, nutrient-poor areas that are not very suitable for farming. Exploiting such lands makes them easily susceptible to erosion and loss of nutrients. For example, in search for farmland in Indonesia, peasants have been planting their crops on steep slopes. As a result, almost one half of Javas land is now inShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Overpopulation923 Words   |  4 PagesMalthusian focuses on bringing importance to the issue of overpopulation and how it strains many aspects of our lives such as the environment, and economy. Therefore, Thomas Robert Malthus’ theory of overpopulation is a prime example of the dangers overpopulation can have on our planet if there are no measures taken to ensure that there will be a sustainable future. For instance, we are going through a crisis in many parts of the world where overpopulation is an issue and is resulting in poverty. AdditionallyRead MoreOverpopulation Is A Problem Of Overpopulation1529 Words   |  7 Pagesthe whole humankind. Overpopulation is a problem that every nation is facing but sometimes over looked by due to lack of understanding and awareness. This is a serious issue that should be taken care of immediately. Overpopulation is an undesirable situation where the number of existing human populace surpasses the carrying capability of Earth. There are main factors that are contributing overpopulation such as the rising birth rate and declining of mortality rate. Overpopulation occurs when the birthRead MoreEffects Of Population Pollution Essay1464 Words   |  6 Pageseach year, which is unfortunately causing negative impacts on the environment. Each day the air around us is becoming more polluted as the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere caused by human activities increases each day. As population continues to gradually increase, it is causing harmful effects in terms of air pollution. An increase in the number of people directly varies with the pollution that is emitted into the environment. Moreso, the human population is polluting the airRead MoreOverpopulation : Sustainability Of Human Life1438 Words   |  6 PagesOverpopulation: Sustainability of Human Life Overpopulation, in my belief, is becoming one of the foremost problems facing human civilization. This complex, permeating issue will likely prove to be a problem of paramount importance for all people in the future. Overpopulation is a serious global issue that is often overlooked by most people. This is likely due to lack of knowledge and fast paced distracting lifestyles we embrace this day and age. While it is not a common problem or subject we speakRead MoreHunting Is An Essential Component Of Conservation944 Words   |  4 Pagesdisease and landscaping damage. Animal overpopulation in some areas is destroying nature, such as backyard landscapes and damaging agricultural crops. In some areas of overpopulation, food is becoming hard to come by and the animals have started to eat endangered plants and other things that they would normally not. There are a few people may look at hunting and say that it is not right, but others look at hunting and see food and helping to maintain the environment. Hunting helps the population ofRead MoreTaking a Look at Overpopulation877 Words   |  4 Pagesin some cases. Traditional ways are also seen as a cause of population growth, with men having as many as 10 wives. Our biggest cause of overpopulation many have argued to be the lack of education, education on birth control, family planning and the impacts on the environment caused by growth in population. This issue of overpopulation in Africa has a huge impact on the country and its government to feed all these mouths, and often they rely on foreign help from the northern better off continentsRead MoreTwo Possible Approaches to Addressing Externatlities Essay1593 Words   |  7 Pagesoperations, and a bargaining method to be put in place for individuals producing the pollution, and for the individuals affected by it. Pigou and Coarse each suggested potential methods to increase the enticement of the well-being of humanity and our environment. 2. Hawken, Porter and others have talked about the role of government in terms of markets and developing sustainable behaviors. For example, you read about and discussed Hawken’s concept of ‘restoring the guardian;’ Porter’s thesis that we canRead MoreThe Great Barrier Reef Is Important1142 Words   |  5 Pagesau/navigation/services/gbr-and-torres-strait-vts/ 1.2- Most reef-building corals contain photosynthetic algae, termed zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues. The corals and algae have a mutualistic association. The coral provides the algae a environment and compound they need for photosynthesis. Biotic Factors of this ecosystem- 2.1- There are approximately 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef, six out of seven species of turtles that live in the reef, fourteen speciesRead MoreImpact Of Overpopulation On The Society Essay2112 Words   |  9 PagesImpacts of Overpopulation The simple fact that humans do not live in isolation makes it necessary for them to institute structures of living such as families, tribes, and contemporary nations and other groupings of societies. Human live in groups as they attempt to share the available space, resources, and other interests. Therefore, coexistence is an inevitable element of nature, there has to be a peaceful relationship, for instance, between humans and animals to guarantee the survival of bothRead MoreThe Effective Concept of Lifeboat Ethics Essay1482 Words   |  6 Pagesboat that has a capacity of 60, but there are 100 people in the water swimming towards the boat. There are three logical solutions to this problem: admit all of the 100 to board the boat with the 50 people on it already and risk drowning from overpopulation, allow only 10 people on the boat and exclude the other 90, or to not admit anyone at all. Hardin also elaborates that if those on the boat choose to give up their place for one in the water, â€Å"The net result of conscience-stricken people giving

A Modest Proposal Response Paper Example For Students

A Modest Proposal Response Paper For many people throughout the United States, it is a melancholy but common sight to see broken families, separated children, and squabbling spouses. In a society in which over 20% of marriages end in divorce, it is not surprising that the majority of todays children grow up in a one parent marriage. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that in 1993, about 1,187,000 divorces were granted in the U.S., affecting 1,075,000 children. Sadly, some children are even deprived of seeing their mother or father throughout their entire childhood. Many others are allowed to visit one of their parents only once or twice a month. This lack of family unity results in emotional and psychological problems for both the parents and the children. I think it is agreed by most people that the increasing rate of divorce and the problems related to it are subjects of great concern. In fact, anyone who could devise a plan that would restore family unity and bring meaning to the line till death do you part deserves a medal. Having turned my thoughts to the issue for several years now, I have developed a reasonable solution. I humbly propose that the government create a new department, The Department of Marriage Control and Enforcement (DMCE). It will be the job of this agency to prevent troubled marriages from occurring in the first place and to eliminate divorces all together. After a couple has recited their vows, the tradition of exchanging wedding rings will be abolished. Instead, a DMCA official will lock a steel ring onto the bride and the groom. The steel rings will symbolize the newly wedded couples commitment to one another and the fact that their future time together has no end. The DMCA official will then weld a three-foot-long chain to each ring, forcing the couple to remain together at all times. Chaining a couple together will prevent couples from obtaining a divorce because the couples will be chained together for the rest of their life. Since couples will be chained together, they will b e forced to think long and hard about marriage before they exchange their vows. Additionally, chaining a couple together will result in increased communication between wives and husbands. Because they will always be together, they will be required to communicate with each other. No secrets will exist between the two. Also, adultery will be greatly reduced due to the fact that spouses are never separated by more than three feet. But my intention is far from being confined to assisting only the bride and groom. It is very likely that during their marriage a couple will want to have children. Immediately after a child is born, a DMCA official will lock a steel ring around his waist and chain him to the couple. The chain will ensure that the child receives proper the proper attention needed to mature into a healthy individual. It will also increase family unity and ensure that a parent is involved in the childs life. At the age of 18, or whenever the parent deems fit, a DMCA official will unlock the child from the family chain to start dating and eventually create a new family chain. As for the number of people who decide not to marry, I am not in the least concerned, because every day they are growing older and dying without reproducing. If two individuals have a child out of wedlock, the baby must immediately be adopted by a married couple and chained to their family. Growing up in a united family will teach the child the virtues of marriage and the child will be more likely to marry than to remain single. Since there will a greater percentage of married couples, they will reproduce at a faster rate than those who decide to remain single. Eventually, the number of singles will become so insignificant that every person will marry someone else in order to avoid discrimination. .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .postImageUrl , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:hover , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:visited , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:active { border:0!important; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:active , .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2 .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue03567b637d8b34f9f842438c693a3c2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The most dangerous game EssayI have too long digressed and will return to my original subject. There are many obvious advantages to my proposal, all of which will benefit society in one way or another. Because parents will not be able to divorce one another, the psychological and emotional problems between the

Methods of Warfare in 1st World War free essay sample

What methods of warfare were used in World War 1 and how did they change over the duration of the War? German Plan: In 1914 when war was declared Germany soon thought of a plan that they thought would win them the war known as the Schlieffen Plan which was soon put into action. The plan was if they could send all their troops through Belgium into France and take France within a matter of weeks before the Russian army was mobilised they could send all their troops to face Russia when Russia’s forces had fully mobilised. And so have a better chance of defeating Russia. Germany estimated it would take six weeks to conquer France and Belgium leaving them time to move their troops to the Eastern Front before Russia was fully engaged in the war. French Plan: In 1914 when war broke out the French followed their Plan 17 which was to send all their troops charging across the frontier and attack deep into Germany forcing the German soldiers to surrender. We will write a custom essay sample on Methods of Warfare in 1st World War or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And so the French launched an attack on German forces in Alsace-Lorraine, the French troops were cut down by German machine gun fire and artillery, within 12 days 200,000 French troops had been killed forcing them to abandon the plan and retreat to Paris. British plan: In order to help out the French Britain created a small force they planned would help the French troops stop the Germans and so England sent the British Expeditionary Force (150,000 professional trained, well equipped troops) in 1914 to France in order to hold off the German forces and to hopefully help beat back the German troops. Unfortunately in September 1914 the BEF were pushed back to Marne where they and the French stopped the German advance and pushed them back to the River Aisne. It was here where both sides dug themselves in in trenches leading to a large stalemate between both sides. Trench Warfare: During the First World War trench warfare was the most common type of warfare used, due to the fact that tanks had only recently been created and aircraft were not very developed. The trenches stretched from the sea at Ostend all the way to the Alps. These trenches caused a stalemate due to the fact that taking an enemy’s trench was extremely difficult because they were well defended by many machine guns that would kill any incoming infantry. Machine were large, heavy guns that were devastatingly effective as defensive weapons as they could fire eight bullets per second killing platoons of soldiers in minutes if they went over the top. During the war artillery caused the most casualties as they often destroyed enemy positions and killed the soldiers within them. Even though the enemy would just go deep into the trenches underground where they would be safest from the bombs. Artillery guns were very inaccurate at the beginning of the war but by the end of the war artillery was more powerful and much more accurate. A key weapon used to drive enemies out of the trenches was poison gas. The gas could be in a grenade that could be chucked into a enemy trench or fired in an artillery shell or even dropped by plane. The gas tended to be chlorine causing soldiers to struggle to breathe or mustard gas that blinded or killed its victims. Lastly the trenches were very unhygienic, full of dead bodies and gunge of mud and blood on the floor. This meant bacteria and infections spread very quickly and so diseases were common which took the lives of many soldiers on both sides. Land Warfare: Before the war Land warfare was only infantry and artillery but British inventors in 1914 thought of the idea of the tank, which they took to generals, but was rejected as though it would be impractical but Churchill disagreed and funded the project. Tanks were first used two years later in the Battle of the Somme; they advanced ahead of the infantry crushing the enemies’ defences and then spray the enemy with machine gun fire. Seeing this the British morale was boosted as they thought Tanks could lead to the breakthrough that will win them the war. Unfortunately the tanks were very slow, not very maneuverable and unreliable as many tanks broke down before they reached the enemy. The first real success for tanks was at Cambria in 1917 where they easily broke through enemy lines but the infantry behind couldn’t keep up. By the end of the war both forces were using armor piercing machine guns and adapted field guns to destroy tanks meaning tanks weren’t as invincible as they thought they were at the beginning of the war. Air warfare: In 1914 planes had only recently been invented and so at first they were very simple and used to fly over enemy targets or trenches etc, and take pictures, which they would then take back to head quarters. When planes were seen taking pictures enemy aircraft would try to shoot them down, at first the pilot would fire pistols and rifles from their planes at their enemy as they hadn’t though of a way to shoot in-between the propeller without hitting and braking the propeller. It was not until April 1915 they had fixed this problem by fitting a machine gun that was synchronized so that bullets missed the propeller and by 1918 spectacular dog fights were taking place in the air with more advanced airplanes with more advanced weapons that played a large part in slowing down the German advance. So in four years the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps had gone from having 37 planes to 23,000 planes but really the air war was little compared to the war at land and sea. Sea Warfare: Lastly before the war Britain had the largest fleet of advanced ships in the world that belittled the German fleet. Throughout the war there were very few battles on the sea. British Ships were used more for blockading German ports and supply lines hoping this would cause Germany to run out of resources and surrender. The only major sea battle was the Battle of Jutland where the British fleet lost 14 ships but destroyed 11 German ships and successfully maintained the blockade. Throughout the war Germany used its U-boats to destroy merchant ships and allied war ships, at first the U-boat would warn the ship it was about to be attacked but this convention was abandoned later in 1915. To stop the losses of Allied ships, Britain created: Q-ships that looked like merchant ships but had heavy guns on board; Mines to stop U-boats going through the English channel; Depth charges that sometimes when dropped hit U-boats and destroyed them; Convoys to protect merchant ships and Long-Range aircraft to protect the convoys.

Deforestation in Brazil Research Paper Example

Deforestation in Brazil Paper In Brazil, the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a very big issue. In this report I will explain the connections of the deforestation to the Brazilian environment and economic development, and for extra reference I will relate these to the included map. The deforestation of the Amazon seems to be necessary to economic development in Brazil. Along with this, sadly the Amazon rainforest is being demolished at a alarming rate and it is causing major environmental issues including loss of bio-diversity, decreased hardwoods, world climate change and many others. To the indigenous people, the Amazon is a source of incalculable water, carbon sequestering, and it is very bio-diverse. When it is being deforested then all of the resources that it provides get smaller and smaller until there is eventually going to be nothing left. An article in National Geographic states â€Å"During the past 40 years, close to 20 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been cut down, more than in all the previous 450 years since European colonization began. (Wallace) † This fact, along with the shown deforestation on the included map should help you realize the mass of rainforest that is being cut down. We will write a custom essay sample on Deforestation in Brazil specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Deforestation in Brazil specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Deforestation in Brazil specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Deforestation comes with a price though, the environment. Brazil is loosing precious hardwoods, bio-diversity and soil everyday but the largest problem continues to be carbon emissions. â€Å"Deforestation, a critical contributor to climate change, effectively accounts for 20 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and 70 percent of the emissions in Brazil. Halting new deforestation, experts say, is as powerful a way to combat warming as closing the world’s coal plants. (New York Times, 2009)† Brazils environment is being destroyed by deforestation and the global environment is being effected just as bad. If you look at the checkered areas on the map you will see the parts of the Amazon that are already deforested and no longer there, the spotted areas are old deforestation hot spots and the striped areas are the relatively new hotspots. At the rate that the rainforest is being cleared you can expect all these areas to grow by probably 50% by next year. Geography professor Robert Walker from Michigan State university says â€Å"80 to 90 percent of all cleared land in the region (the Brazilian Amazon) is attributable to some form of pasture or ranching. Cattle ranching is a huge part of Brazils economy and one of the main reasons why deforestation continues at such a rapid pace today. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is directly connected to the overall economic development of Brazil. Brazil’s economy depends on the rainforest for things such as medicines, hardwoods, fruits and nuts, food and other resources that are collected and exported all over the world. The logg ing industry is one of the largest reasons that Brazil’s forests are being destroyed. The wood is being collected and shipped off around the world. This is helping the Brazilian economy grow and become part of a global market. In the article Logging in the Amazon the writer tells us â€Å"Huge majestic trees like the Samauma, also known as the Queen of the Forest, are being exploited to make cheap plywood for construction industries in the US, Japan and Europe. (2005)† this is just one example of the many uses of the wood collected from the Amazon. Along with logging another economic reason the Amazon is being destroyed is for cattle farming (beef industry). The forest is being rapidly cleared to make more room for pastures for cattle to graze in. The article Deforestation in the Amazon states that between 1990 and 2001 the percentage of Europes processed meat imports that came from Brazil rose from 40 to 74 percent and by 2003 for the first time ever, the growth in Brazilian cattle production—80 percent of which was in the Amazon—was largely export driven. (Butler) And more cattle means more deforestation. But it is also a huge income source for Brazil and a main factor in their economic growth. An online article by Rhett Butler states â€Å"Brazilian deforestation is strongly correlated to the economic health of the country: the decline in deforestation from 1988-1991 nicely matched the economic slowdown during the same period, while the rocketing rate of deforestation from 1993-1998 paralleled Brazils period of rapid economic growth. † This clearly shows how directly correlated the deforestation of the Amazon is with the economic development of Brazil. There is a major connection between the deforestation of the Amazon and Brazil’s environment and economic growth. Like I said earlier the deforestation is constantly changing Brazil’s environment. The loss of bio-diversity, hard-woods, and the constant carbon emissions coming out of brazil are going to keep on growing effecting the entire world. Although the deforestation of the Amazon is not good for the environment it directly impacts Brazil’s economic development by providing a source of income and trade partners through major industries such as logging and cattle farming. Butler, R. (n. d. ). Deforestation in the amazon. Retrieved from http://www. mongabay. com/brazil. html Butler, R. (2008, July 31). Future threats to the amazon rain forest . Retrieved from http://news. mongabay. com/2008/0801-amazon. html Camill, P. (1999). The deforestation of the amazon: a case study in understanding ecosystems and their value. Retrieved from http://library. buffalo. edu/libraries/projects/cases/amazon. html Cimitile, M. (2009, January 9). Amazon deforestation: Earths heart and lungs dismembered. Live Science, Retrieved from http://www. livescience. com/3201 amazon-deforestation-earth-heart-lungs-dismembered. html Frey, E. (2002). Tropical deforestation in the amazon: an economic analysis of rondonia, brazil. Issues in Political Economy, 11, Retrieved from http://org. elon. edu/ipe/frey1. pdf Rosenthal, E. (2009, August 21). In brazil, paying farmers to let the trees stand . New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2009/08/22/science/earth/22degrees. html Shukla, J. , Nobre, C. Sellers, P. (1991, April 29). Amazonian deforestation and regional climate change Journal of Climate, 4, 957-988. Retrieved from http://weatherdata. org/people/Shuklas Articles/1991/Amazonian. PDF Wallace, S. (n. d. ). Farming the amazon. Retrieved from http://environment. nationalgeographic. com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/

Free Essays on Antigones Battle

Antigone’s Battle Most people look up to heroes, like athletes, actors, fire fighters, or police men. But in Sopholes’ play Antigone, there were two tragic heroes, Antigone was the tragic heroine. A tragic hero is someone who is not completely good or completely bad, someone who falls from tremendous good and recognizes their tragic flaw. In these three ways Antigone was the tragic heroine. There are many ways Antigone proves she is a good person, such as when she wants to bury her brother, Polyneices,† But Polyneices who fought as bravely and died as miserably†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (693). One way that shows she was not as good as we all thought was when she yelled at her sister Ismene. â€Å"And now you can prove what you are: a true sister, or a traitor to your family† (693). And that is why she is neither good nor bad. Pride brought Antigone down throughout the play. For instance when she accepted her punishment for burying Polyneices, â€Å"I should have praise and honor for what I have done. All these men would praise me† (710). Here is another way, her pride got in her way, she yelled at Ismene, â€Å"Yes save yourself, I shall not envy you. There are those who will praise you. I shall have honor too† (711). Antigone’s pride killed her. By the end of the play, Antigone recognized that her pride got her where she was. She realized it when she was going to her death, and when the chorus said she had a choice. â€Å"You have made your choice your death is the doing of your conscious hand.† (724). She recognized her error at the worst possible time. As you can see Antione has all the qualities of a tragic hero. I think she was the tragic heroine because she did what she believed in, which made her a good person. She did something and did not care what the punishment was, which made her proud. She also did what everyone else wanted to do but they did not have the guts to do it, which made her recognize her error. She loved her brother, ... Free Essays on Antigone's Battle Free Essays on Antigone's Battle Antigone’s Battle Most people look up to heroes, like athletes, actors, fire fighters, or police men. But in Sopholes’ play Antigone, there were two tragic heroes, Antigone was the tragic heroine. A tragic hero is someone who is not completely good or completely bad, someone who falls from tremendous good and recognizes their tragic flaw. In these three ways Antigone was the tragic heroine. There are many ways Antigone proves she is a good person, such as when she wants to bury her brother, Polyneices,† But Polyneices who fought as bravely and died as miserably†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (693). One way that shows she was not as good as we all thought was when she yelled at her sister Ismene. â€Å"And now you can prove what you are: a true sister, or a traitor to your family† (693). And that is why she is neither good nor bad. Pride brought Antigone down throughout the play. For instance when she accepted her punishment for burying Polyneices, â€Å"I should have praise and honor for what I have done. All these men would praise me† (710). Here is another way, her pride got in her way, she yelled at Ismene, â€Å"Yes save yourself, I shall not envy you. There are those who will praise you. I shall have honor too† (711). Antigone’s pride killed her. By the end of the play, Antigone recognized that her pride got her where she was. She realized it when she was going to her death, and when the chorus said she had a choice. â€Å"You have made your choice your death is the doing of your conscious hand.† (724). She recognized her error at the worst possible time. As you can see Antione has all the qualities of a tragic hero. I think she was the tragic heroine because she did what she believed in, which made her a good person. She did something and did not care what the punishment was, which made her proud. She also did what everyone else wanted to do but they did not have the guts to do it, which made her recognize her error. She loved her brother, ...

Mini-Project (Second) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mini-Project (Second) - Essay Example All management projects contain risks of one sort or another. These arise from interactions between the project objectives and uncertainty. A risk is â€Å"an uncertain event which, should it occur, would have an effect on achieving the objectives†. (APM PRAM Guide, 1997) The business, technical and project risks are listed below. The impact level of each risk is stated in the table, and these are given ratings and assigned priorities. Important recommendations are given on how the risks should have been managed. 6. Change in production train specification made it necessary to add another five feet to the length of the new building (only discovered when holding down bolts for the new train were laid out on site). Similarly for catalogue descriptions and specifications for other equipment 6. Manufacturing drawings for the critical long-lead equipment sat in a junior clerk’s in-tray awaiting approval and caused a two week delay and contributing to a later construction schedule conflict in tying-in the new services Uncertainty (or probability of occurrence) is classified as either very low (1), low (2), medium (3), high (4) or very high (5). The impact level is graded and scored the same. The two figures are multiplied to give the priority rating. The fact that not all stakeholders’ roles were clearly defined and especially that the project managers were not even aware of the importance of some stakeholders until much later was a great risk. For instance, â€Å"The VP Production and VP Sales and Estimating were important stakeholders who got involved in the project much later than they should have been.† (Group 1) And, the local inspection authority’s latest safety standards were not taken into account for the paint disposal arrangements. This was a potential environmental risk. The inadequate pre-planning was another great risk and an important part of this was project design, budgeting and scheduling.

How Secure is Your Data, Information and Information Systems Assignment

How Secure is Your Data, Information and Information Systems Technology - Assignment Example As the discussion this will ensure that in cases where virus wipe out important information, there can still be a source of reference. In the author's own organization, he believes upgrading our antivirus system as exists in your organization will do us a lot of good. The issue of insider threat is something that we both touched on as part of the trends in security issues. The reporter however did not mention the case of employee negligence. He believes that from the elaboration that you give about employee negligence and how it applies to your organization, having much emphasis on employee training will be a solution to the problem that you currently face. This is because through training, most of the cases of negligence can be dealt with as employees will gain the needed experience to handle all forms of security system cases. In the reporter's own organization, he is going to take a lot of inspiration from your organization on the use of specific employee based rules to ensure tha t all forms of insider breaches are dealt away with.

Reading and Writing with an Attitude Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading and Writing with an Attitude - Essay Example Ultimately, although procrastination can adversely affect all forms of production and output, it is an especially bad habit with regards to the process of writing due to the fact that the writing process cannot be completed in a single sitting. As a function of the reading, planning, outlining, drafting, and revising process, it is necessary to budget a great deal of time for the writing process in order to make sure that it is complete and relevant to the subject matter or requirements that have been set out. Moreover, proofreading the finished product also takes time and seeking to make any last minute additions for relevance takes time as well. With regards to how I acquired this particular shortcoming, it can be simply enough understood that it was acquired as a result of improper time management early in my scholastic endeavors. With regards to the impacts that it has had, these can be understood to be wholly negative. Ultimately, as a means of correcting this habit, it has been necessary for me to seek to meticulously budget my time so that procrastination in the writing process cannot even be a

Effects of Globalization on Business

Effects of Globalization on Business Introduction Globalization indicates to the entire exertion towards making the world worldwide group as a one town. Products that were just found in western nations can now be found over the globe. Presently immature ranges can appreciate the advantages of experimental advances and mechanical advancement accessible in created nations for the change and development of their regions. Because of globalization the economies of the world are as a rule progressively coordinated, illustration cellular telephones and web have brought individuals closer. The world is turning into a littler spot. Work can be outsourced to any piece of the world that has a web association due to changes in activity base one has the capacity achieve one's destination in a brief while. Globalization can likewise be characterized as a progressing process by which local economies, social orders and societies have ended up coordinated through a globe spreading over system of correspondence and exchange. The procedure of globalization incorporates various variables, which are fast innovation advancements that make worldwide interchanges conceivable, political improvements, for example, the fall of socialism, and transportation advancements that make voyaging speedier and more continuous. For sure, globalization has positive and negative effects on business, education and society. Below are discussed briefly about the effects of globalization on business. Globalization increases the competition among the international companies No wonder that globalization is very effective in the right time and the exact place when activated according to the proper mechanism. It plays an effective role in the competition between many companies. Now, it is easier if you are in China and selling your products in the US market. Here is the sense of competition. A standout amongst the most noticeable beneficial outcomes of globalization is the enhanced nature of items because of globe competition. Client administration and the 'client is the ruler' ways to deal with generation have prompted enhanced nature of items and administrations. As the local organizations need to battle out outside competition, they are constrained to raise their guidelines and consumer loyalty levels to make due in the business. In addition, when a worldwide brand enters another nation, it comes in riding on some goodwill, which it needs to satisfy. This makes competition in the business sector and a survival of the fittest circumstance. The beneficial outcomes of globalization on society are numerous! Not every great practice were conceived in one human advancement. The world that we live in today is a consequence of a few societies meeting up. Individuals of one society, if responsive, have a tendency to see the defects in their way of life and get the way of life, which is more right or tuned in to the times. Social orders have ended up bigger as they have invited individuals of different human advancements and foundations and made an entire new culture they could call their own. Cooking styles, dialects and traditions have spread all because of globalization. The same can be said in regards to motion pictures, musical styles and other fine arts. They too have moved starting with one nation then onto the next, leaving an impact on a society which has embraced them. Globalization can lead to high investment in the world One of the major attribute is the high and intensive market investment domestically and globally. Globalization plays a massive role in encouraging investors to give in their capitals in order to gain higher and expandable revenues. A standout amongst the most noticeable constructive outcomes of globalization in India is the stream of remote capital. A considerable measure of organizations have straightforwardly put resources into India, by beginning generation units in India, yet what we likewise need to see is the measure of Foreign Investment Inflow that streams into the creating nations. Indian organizations, which have been performing admirably, both in India and off the shores, will pull in a considerable measure of remote investment, and subsequently pushes up the store of outside trade accessible in India. This is likewise one of the beneficial outcomes of globalization in America and other created nations as creating nations issue them a decent investment suggestion. Administrators' targets may not be the same with those of stockholders in a few circumstances. The more perplexing the partnership the more troublesome it is for shareholders to screen administration's activities whereby it gives the administrators more flexibility to act in their own self enthusiasm to the detriment of shareholders. Multinational firms are more unpredictable than national firms are. Supervisors may support global enhancement because it diminishes firm particular hazard or adds to their glory. These objectives may be of minimal enthusiasm to shareholders. This dissimilarity of hobbies in the middle of shareholders and chiefs may lessen the estimation of multinationals with respect to residential firms. Globalization can help company open new branches in new branches in the world For sure, globalization has been the key factor recently in the last few decades. It all started in the late years of the past millennium where big developed countries called for globalization. The markets are now open and extremely expanding. The sole company can be operating in many markets around the world. As a small business owner, you can start domestically and later open branches in the very close future in different countries. This way you are making extra profits and a global admired brand. With the existence of internet and satellite, people are no closely monitoring the best products in terms of quality and affordability. Now also you can do your shopping online from the Far East countries and receive it at your doorstep. Best developing markets in created nations are an aftereffect of privatization of state claimed commercial enterprises. All together for these commercial ventures to expand customer interest a significant number of them are endeavoring to grow and extend their worth bind to a universal level. The effect of globalization on business administration is seen by the sudden increment of number of exchanges over the outskirts. In ensuring yields and looking after intensity, businesses are keeping on developing an extensive variety of their foot shaped impression as it brings down expense and appreciates economies of scale. Multinational partnerships is a consequence of globalization. They possess a focal part inside the procedure of globalization as confirm through worldwide remote direct investment inflows. Their fixations inside Europe in western economies has prompted size limitations, thusly there is a requirement for new topographical ranges to work whereby they will confront a considerable measure of competition in the business sector. Through this they will augment their business sector and appreciate economies of scale as globalization encourages time space pressure, economies contend at all levels including that of pulling in financial specialists. Conclusion To sum it up, globalization has the marvelous positive effects on business in terms of flexibility and free trade between countries and markets. Considering every one of these components, it can be inferred that globalization has positive effect on business advancement for a few reasons. These elements incorporate expanding competition that brings down costs and expand nature of items. The following is expanded investment opportunities, which prompt quicker advancement of business. In conclusion, it offers access to the new advancements that can support to businesses to get higher benefit. It is accepted that globalization is an advancement, which is not going to be ended, and this procedure presumably will keep on widening.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Larry’s letter is instrumental in forcing Keller to realise his fault. Discuss (20M) All My Sons a play by Arthur Miller was staged at the coronet theatre in January 1947 and ran for 328 performances. The play was well constructed and realistic in nature, and it was extremely popular among the audiences. All My Sons started in the middle of things and spends most of the play uncovering the facts of the past so that the audience can see the last act consequences in the present.The play actually deals with the fate of Joe Keller, an uneducated self-made man who has committed an atrocious act during World War II. The play ends with the suicide of the Joe Keller who repents after being exposed with the content of his son Larry’s letter. As mentioned earlier, Joe Keller is an uneducated self-made man who has committed an atrocious act during World War II. Keller has as partner Steve Deever and their factory manufactures cylinder heads for aircrafts. During the war, they rece ive a contract from the army to supply cylinder heads on an urgent basis.However the cylinder heads had hairline cracks in them and Keller is immediately informed by Deever. But Keller asked Deever to get the cylinder heads welded and that he would take full responsibility of the damaged products. Unfortunately those damaged cylinder heads cause twenty-one planes to crash killing their pilots. However at the trial Keller denies responsibility and is exonerated, and the blame shifts to Steve Deever who is imprisoned. Following that Joe Keller lives in total impunity with his family.However when he is confronted with the content of his son Larry’s letter, he is forced to realise his fault. In fact Larry’s letter was intended to his fiancee Ann, in which he reveals that he was shamed by his father’s involvement in fraud and profiteering. Consequently he committed suicide by allowing his plane to crash. However the content of the letter was kept secret by Ann becaus e of her selfish motive to get married to Chris who is Larry’s brother. Moreover she did not want to break the harmony of the home of her would be in laws.But finally the content of the letter is revealed to Kate Keller by Ann because the former is still refusing the union of Ann and Chris. Consequently Ann uses the letter as her trump card to save her future union with Chris and the letter forces Kate to accept to accept Larry’s death and her husband’s crime of killing twenty one pilots. Moreover Chris is also made aware of the content of the letter and is unwilling to forgive his father. Consequently Joe Keller is confronted by Chris and based on the content of Larry’s letter, Joe keller is compelled to reveal the truth of the case to Chris.Joe Keller tries to justify his acts by arguing that he had worked in the interest of his family. But Chris being an idealist condemns the act of his father. Finally Joe Keller realises his fault and understands the disastrous implications of his actions. In order to escape from guilt and repay for his crime, he commits suicide. To conclude, it can be said that the Larry’s letter is indeed of prime importance in making Joe Keller realise his fault, but who unfortunately has a tragic end.

Discussion and Application Questions Essay

1. (a) The mission statement should be a clear, short, and to the point representation of the companies purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, public image, the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability. The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee who is evaluating a strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a very complex set of ideas. (b) Medtronic gives a strategic direction to its organization by committing to the research, design, manufacturing, and the sale of their product. (c) My career mission statement: Obtain my degree to position myself for future advancement within the organization I work. Exceed expectations by persistence, professionalism, and integrity. 2.(a) Empire State competencies is providing adult education through individualizes degree programs, distance learning, and flexible independent studies. (b) My favorite restaurant competencies are customer service and a large variety of beer and soups. (c) Dell’s competencies are customer service and technology. 3.The main result of each of the three phases of the strategic marketing process. (a) Planning: Marketing plans (or programs) that define goals and the marketing mix strategies to achieve them. (b)Implementation: Results (memos or computer outputs) that describe the outcomes of implementing the plans. (c)Control: Corrective action memos, triggered by comparing results with plans, that (1) suggest solutions to problems and (2) take advantage of opportunities. 4. Select one strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat from the SWOT analysis for Ben and Jerry’s shown in Figure 2-6, and suggest a specific possible action that Unilever might take to exploit or address each one. Strength: Prestigious, well-known brand name among U.S. consumers and Unilever can expand its growth globally as is a market for quality ice cream. Weakness: Need for experience managers to help grow. Unilever is the world’s largest ice cream company and has the resources Ben and Jerry need. Opportunity: Unilever can help Ben and Jerry react to the demand for frozen yogurt and other low-fat desserts by using their knowledge and experience. Threat: Pillsbury and Haagen-Dazs brands are their competitor’s and Unilever being the largest ice cream company would help them increase their market share.

Actuellement Is a French False Cognate

Actuellement Is a French False Cognate Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them. French and English have hundreds of cognates, which are words that look alike or are pronounced the same in both languages. There are true cognates (similar meanings), false cognates (different meanings) and semi-false cognates (some similar, some different meanings). The French adverb actuellement looks an awful lot like the English word actually, but looks can be deceiving.  Its really the  case of a  false cognate, because these two words mean completely different things: Actuellement means at the present time and should be translated as right now or currently.  Actually means in fact and should be translated as  en fait,   vrai dire  or vraiment. Still, many people have not assimilated this lesson, and  actuellement  is mistakenly used to mean actually so often that  you  have to read the sentence two or three times to decide what the person actually means. How to Remember Which Is Which If you need a memory device, keep this in mind: Actualità ©Ã‚  refers to a  current event.  If you can remember this, you shouldnt have trouble remembering that actuellement and actually are false cognates with different meanings. Or you can remember the etymology. The root word of actually is actual, which means real or true. (Depending on the context, actual can be translated as  rà ©el,  vrai,  và ©ritable,  positif, or  concret.)  By extension then, actually means in fact. Meanwhile, the French root word for actuellement is the French adjective actuel, which means current or present. So actuellement  naturally refers to time as well and, by extension, means currently or right now. Examples of Correct Usage Je travaille actuellement. (I am currently working.)Le problà ¨me actuel (The current/present problem)Actually, I dont know him. (En fait, je ne le connais pas.)The actual value (La valeur rà ©elle)

Critically analyse the link between open frontiers and the p essays

Critically analyse the link between open frontiers and the p essays Non-harmonisation of indirect taxes within the EU is a problem Brussels appears to be having much difficulty dealing with. Taxation upon fuel, tobacco and alcohol, as well as Value Added Tax (VAT) are but some of the categories that fall under the banner of indirect taxation, and with each respected sovereign state within the EU currently adopting their own policy on such matters it can be easily understood how in a proposed free market problems are arising. Open frontiers can be linked to the problem as it is widely acknowledged and viewed on a daily basis that by visiting various countries within the EU, citizens can make savings upon products they would have previously bought at home, costing their respected governments vast amounts in lost revenue from the taxation, whilst at the same time benefiting the country where the products were purchased. The differences are negatively affecting business throughout the EU and are clearly a barrier to free trade that needs to be addres sed. Open frontiers and the principle of free movement go hand in hand. Free movement is part of the social charter and a success story for the European Union, citizens have the right to work or create a business in any EU state, and therefore open frontiers are necessary. Perhaps, the lack of harmonisation is a fault not caused by open frontiers, but one that is merely exploited while such discrepancies exist. Harmonisation of not just indirect, but all taxes is clearly the aim for the Union, as then more barriers to trade will have been cleared, creating a level playing field for the whole of Europe, and thus allowing further economic potential to be filled. VAT levels throughout the EU vary from as little as 15% in Luxembourg, to as high as 25% in Denmark, with all other states residing in the area between. Many throughout Europe abuse these differences. It is naturally beneficial for a businessman to buy his goods from a country tha...

BUSINESS ETHICS ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BUSINESS ETHICS ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example ny name, Kenneth Lay was made the Chief Executive Officer and he wanted to expand Enron’s market share as well as the type of markets Enron was in since he had a very different vision for the new shape of the company (Welch, 2005). Houston Natural Gas had previously been in the business of making their money from junk bonds which were also used in the formation of Enron. At the same time, Kenneth Lay wanted to become the biggest player in the energy sector through successful trade earnings from futures contracts (NPR, 2006). To his advantage, Spectrum 7, an oil-well concern welcomed a partnership with Enron a year after its creation. Spectrum 7 was headed by George W. Bush, son of the then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. With falling gas prices in the mid 1980’s, Enron and other gas firms vigorously lobbied for deregulation to get benefits for themselves (Thomas, 2002). It has been known for many years that ethically dubious political connections can help a business but such situations often come to light if the business is unsuccessful (Medawar, 1976). The deregulation action came into effect when buyers switched to the fuel oil as the cheaper alternative. Fluctuating gas prices allowed Enron to start marketing gas futures; securing gas prices at a later date promised to their stakeholders. Similarly, the company lobbied once again for electricity just before selling electric power futures contracts (NPR, 2006). From then on, Enron was aggressive in expanding its services in other sectors such as the water utility sector by creating a company named Azurix which partly collapsed on the NYSE in 1999 and finally shut down operations in 2001 (Thomas, 2002). Concurrently, Jeffery Skilling who had been hired in 1990 to lead the financial side of Enron’s operation became a major personality of the energy trading businesses and became the president and COO for Enron. He built wealth reserves for the company by trading in thirty different industries and was

Critique essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critique - Essay Example After perusing her points and arguments, one may be left scratching one’s head because the author appears out of touch. Here is the idea: Ms. Ehrenreich has painted two pictures, that of a man and a woman. In her depictions, the man is aggressive, go-getter, tough and brazen. One could hardly dispute that since men do tend to be boisterous, insensitive, loud and forceful. But there is something wrong about the way women were articulated in the article. Essentially, the writer was admonishing women to toughen up: that being tough is the most important lesson she and most women should learn from men. To rationalize this she cited many arguments that - in the process - depicted an idea of women from the author’s perspective. She first used a personal experience as an example. In a convention, she met a prestigious professor who invited her to his room. The invitation was supposed to be for the purpose of meeting of the minds or something to that effect. Ms. Ehrenreich obli ged, so she found herself with the professor in his room - in a conversation that turned out to be more than intelligent discourse. The man made several passes and sexual innuendos. From a simple and rigid perspective, the conclusion one would get would be, of course, repulsion. The author was properly disgusted, as the professor grew more and more lecherous by the minute. But there is more than what meets the eye in this situation. When a man - who is still virtually a stranger - invites a woman to his room, there is some sexual undertone to that gesture. It is going to be an intellectual discourse, so why not a more casual setting like a cafe or the bar? The room is an intimate place and the invitation should already hint something more than simply â€Å"meeting of the minds†. If Ms. Ehrenreich has helpfully provided the exact invitation, her readers might have no difficulty identifying it as a pick up line. The author accepted, so in principle she is accommodating the init ial overtures. And to think that she still stayed for 20 minutes. She must have perplexed the professor immensely. It is very difficult not to think about the author as naive and that is saying something because she stated that she is already thirty years old. She actually blushed while recounting the episode. Later in her article, Ehrenreich would claim that â€Å"we (women) tend to assume that it is our responsibility to keep everything â€Å"nice†. Unfortunately, she did not provide factual basis or empirical evidence to back this claim. But the question begs to be asked: Is it really the case? That women assume that role? It is perhaps part of her argument that women are trained to be ladylike all their lives. She defined â€Å"ladylikeness† as a persistent servility masked as â€Å"niceness†. One is hard pressed to disagree with this point. It is unfair to claim that this is the case in the American society when women are accepted across all positions and roles that are unladylike in the author’s book. There are women in the police force, in the army, in politics. There are female CEOs who most assuredly have climbed the corporate ladder not by being ladylike. It is also unfair to claim that American women are weak and that they need to toughen up. It is not uncommon for women to be aggressive these days, to be ambitious and to get and do what they want. Gender equality has been institutionalized in America. Even a sexually

Making an out line of essay.(Cinema studies) Essay

Making an out line of .(Cinema studies) - Essay Example Thus the inner emotions and desires of a lesbian spectator can be made visible to the audience through the movies. The main concept underlying the idea of cinephilia is fetishism. The author discusses a number of video artists, photographers and filmmakers who utilizes glamour photography, film clips and stories and myths from the stars. The essay highlights the idea of fetishism, lesbian culture, cross-dressing and composite portrait, all of which contributes towards making the lesbianism in cinema more vivid. The exploration of the idea of lesbian spectatorship unfolds several sensitive facts that usually do not come out to the forefront but the artists mind can read into all kinds of perversion, which is not confined, only to the gays. The idea here is to emphasize upon the fact that the heroine Bette Davis would prefer something special and not the usual heterosexual intimacy, which is apparently rejected. Ultimately it is desire that the Hollywood relies upon. The celebrities came out in the 1990s self-identifying themselves with the lesbian audience and previously it was thought of losing their credibility in the process. However time has proved that many lesbian audiences do buy tickets. The female homosexuality has contributed to the appeal of the star system mainly to women. However, the lesbians in the society were not really conspicuous but the lesbian fandom has been extensively documented. Works on spectatorships emphasizes on the need for privileged relationship between the women audience and the female stars. The works also focus on the crushes on female stars and how they represent their relationship with the stars, which goes beyond imagination. The lesbian audience identifies their desires through the stars in the movies. This section discusses about the works that explore lesbian adolescents’ views on their favorite stars. The teenager lesbians are interviewed and the idea is mainly to deal with the adolescent awakening rather

Inter-American system of human rights protection Essay Example for Free

Inter-American system of human rights protection Essay Human Rights are certain inherent, inalienable, immutable, inviolate freedoms and rights of man which no one can take away. These include the right to life, liberty, equality and dignity. The United States of America recognizing these rights established the Inter American system of Human Rights by adopting the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights. Pursuant to the adoption of these instruments the Inter American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter American Court of Human Rights were established to promote and protect Human Rights of individuals. PART A 1. It is pertinent to note that the Inter American Commission on Human Rights primarily seeks to promote consciousness about Human Rights amongst the people of the country. Its functions mainly include receiving complaints, analyzing and investigating them. It has powers of observation and collection of data regarding Human Rights violations in the member States. It can also visit on site and conduct seminars and meetings to promote awareness regarding Human Rights. When a complaint is referred to the Commission, it can after conducting its investigation and analysis publish a report and send it to the State. This report is recommendatory in nature and not mandatory. Hence the Commission can only recommend that the State take due notice of the human rights violations and take appropriate reparatory measures. In the alternative, the Commission can seek opinion from the Inter American Court of Human Rights. So also, in the present case, the Commission has no powers to enforce the law laid down by the State of Colorado but can only request the State to take precautionary measures so as to ensure that human rights are not infringed upon. 2. With respect to the second question, it is seen that as per Article 2 of the Statute of the Inter American Court of Human Rights, the Court has adjudicatory jurisdiction vis a vis a human rights violation brought before it by the Commission or any Member State of the Organization of American States. The said Article refers to Articles 61-63 of the American convention on Human Rights which clearly state that the Court can order the State to allow the human being to enjoy his human right and also order for either monetary or non monetary compensation for the injury so caused. Such an order passed by the American Court would be binding on the State. The provision further clarifies that in case an act or omission on the part of the State would cause irreparable loss to the person, the Commission can take such provisional measures to ensure that the irreparable loss is not caused. It would thus transpire that in the present case, the Inter American Court of Human Rights can enforce the law requiring the Colorado State police to arrest an individual disobeying the restraining order. 3. In the present case various provisions of the various human rights enactments are violated. The Commission can primarily seek to apply Articles 1, 5, 6, 9, 18 24 of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. Article 1 of the American Declaration states that all persons have equal right to life, liberty, and personal security. Article 5 6 deal with a person’s right to protection of self as well as family. Article 9 talks about a person’s right to inviolability of home while 18 24 talks of fair trial and the right to approach the court for remedy. A brief reading of the petition tells us how each of these rights have been violated by omission to act on the part of the State. These clauses are applicable even if the United States have not ratified this Declaration. Further Article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights which deals with a persons right to protect his honor and home and also gives him the right to seek judicial remedy in case of infringement is another provision that the Commission can consider and apply to this particular case. According to the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, a duty is laid on the State to punish those persons or their accomplices who commit the crime of forced disappearance of others. This clause has been violated by the husband of the petitioner who allegedly kidnapped their daughters and the police department can be held liable as they stood mute spectators to the whole thing. Article 7 of the Convention of Belem do Para (the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women) condemns all forms of violence against women and seeks to punish such persons who have committed such crimes by enacting proper laws and proper investigation. The Convention also requires that the State should enact and adopt such laws which will help refrain a person from committing such acts of harassment and also ensure that persons who are victims of such violence are given timely and proper hearing. This is a right guaranteed to all women and more so to women who are victims of domestic violence. The police in this particular case having full knowledge of the fact that the petitioner was a victim of domestic violence chose to ignore her pleas and thereby ignore this provision. 4. Prior to considering the kind of jurisdiction that the Inter American Court of Human Rights would have in this present case, it is necessary to list the basic kinds of jurisdiction available to the Court in general. Jurisdiction of the Inter American Court is broadly classified into– Provisional, Advisory and Adjudicatory or contentious Jurisdiction. In provisional jurisdiction, the Court has the power to act in situations that are grave and urgent and require immediate intervention without which grave harm shall be caused to the victim (Buergenthal, 1982, p.241). In Advisory Jurisdiction the Court can give its opinion on the various provisions of the Convention as well as other treaties and also opinionate on the compatibility of the domestic law with any treaty (Buergenthal, 1982, p. 242). In order to avail the adjudicatory or contentious jurisdiction is concerned, it is necessary that the member States subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the Inter American Court (Pasqualucci, 2003, p. 88). It is also necessary for the Convention or treaty in question to grant the jurisdiction to the Court. An illustration to explain this point would be that the Inter American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women very clearly states that the Commission has only advisory jurisdiction and no contentious jurisdiction in respect of complaints filed under its provisions (Pasqualucci, 2003, p. 91). The jurisdiction clause also states that the Inter American Court cannot naturally assume the role of an appellate authority. It cannot make right any wrong decision of the national courts. However, if there is a gross violation of the human rights enshrined in any treaty and if this gross violation were to cause irreparable harm to the individual, then the Inter American Court may interfere and record that the proper procedures as laid down in the treaties were not followed. In the present case, the United States by virtue of having ratified the American Convention, has given people the individual right to approach the Commission for violation of human rights. However, this jurisdiction in advisory in nature and not adjudicatory as it has not yet subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the Inter American Court. Thus any person through the Commission can seek the advisory jurisdiction of the Inter American Court even if the Member State has not subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the Court (Buergenthal, 1982, p. 244) 5. Procedurally, the Commission on receiving a petition shall initially register it and see if it has complied with all the rules of procedure and if the petition does not comply then the Commission will send it back to the petitioner so as to ensure compliance. Once the petition conforms to the rules then the Commission shall then send relevant parts of the petition to the State for its response, for which the State is given two months time. However, in serious and urgent cases, the State is asked to respond immediately. This is done to ensure the veracity of the petition and to ensure that the petition still subsists. The commission may also require the State to present its observations on the admissibility and merits of the case at hand. Once the observations of the parties are submitted or the time period given to each party has lapsed, the Commission will verify the merits of the case based on the facts before it and decide whether to admit it or reject it. In the present case too the Commission should first satisfy itself as to the compliance of all the rules of procedure and then seek observations from the State and other parties concerned. 6. The Commission will then confirm as to whether the petitioner has exhausted all the available domestic remedies. However, in cases where the domestic legislation does not provide for due process of law or where the petitioner is refrained from pursuing domestic remedies then the above provision does not hold true. The Commission has to ensure that the petition before it has been filed within six months of receipt of the decision of the domestic remedy. In this case the petitioner has exhausted all the possible domestic remedies and has not been successful in the same. The Supreme Court of the United States has also rejected the petition of the petitioner and has passed its final judgment in the matter. The Commission should then decide on the admissibility of the petition by setting up a working group. In the present case, it is seen that the Commission has held the petition admissible. When the Commission finds a petition admissible it creates an admissibility report that is made public and the case is then registered and the parties are notified of the same. After the case has been registered, the Commission invites additional observations in writing from all parties concerned. A time limit for submitting these observations is set by the Commission. In some cases, the Commission can also convene a hearing to enable the parties to present their points of view. In this case too, the Commission has opened the case and the parties are informed about the same. Additional observations have been requested from the parties and the Commission has in fact convened a hearing. In this case, the United States government has responded by stating that it has taken proper and adequate measures to combat domestic violence and that the remedies in the domestic judicial system are adequate to tackle the problem. In the hearing the Petitioner will be able to present her case before the Commission in person. After hearing the case of both sides and also after going through the written observations submitted by both parties, the Commission will deliberate on the merits of the case and formulate a report. 7. The first document that the Commission publishes in response to a case is the admissibility report wherein it admits the case and registers it. This report has already been published by the Commission and has been sent to the parties concerned. The Commission has then convened a hearing on the issue and will deliberate on the case after the hearing. The next important document that the Commission publishes is the Preliminary report on the merits of the case. This report contains the preliminary observations and the recommendations of the Commission. 8. If the Commission feels that there is no violation, then the report is published and sent immediately to all parties concerned. In case the Commission feels that some provisions have indeed been violated then a preliminary report is made and sent to the State along with the recommendations proposed by the Commission. 9. In case the State complies with the recommendations given in the preliminary report, the Commission will notify the petitioner as to the same. However, in cases where the State does not comply with the same, the Commission can approach the Inter American Court for adjudication. However, in the present case as the United States has not subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the Court, the said remedy is not available to the Commission in case of non compliance. In the present case, the Commission should deliberate on the observations sent by the parties, investigate on site to determine the veracity of the facts, interview the various concerned individuals and then send its preliminary report to the State along with its recommendations. If the State fails to comply with the same within three months of it being sent, the Commission then has to issue a final report that contains its opinion, final conclusions and final recommendations. The Commission should then send it across to all parties concerned and make a note of it in its Annual report. The Commission should take active steps in terms of follow up to evaluate the actual compliance of the recommendations by the parties. 10. In this present case, if the Commission publishes its preliminary report wherein it holds that there has been violation of human rights and recommends certain precautionary measures to the State then it would mean that the petition has succeeded partially. By partially, it is meant that the violation has been recognized by the Commission. However, for the petition to succeed completely, the State has to comply with the recommendations given by the Commission. If the State refuses to accept the recommendations of the Commission, then the petition would have failed as the petitioner has not achieved any major reliefs but has only obtained a theoretical order that envisages the ideal situation vis a vis human rights.

Manipulation of Syntax in Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingw

Ernest Hemingway has a superbly unique style of writing in Hills Like White Elephants. His short, to the point syntax and sentence style plays a great role in helping readers understand the theme of this short story. The critique M.A.K. Halliday observed, â€Å"The story is frequently generated by the repetition of words, clauses, and groups of related words or ethical sets† (Link, Alex). The first set of dialogue that can be pulled from this story is story is short and to the point. The American states, â€Å"We can have the whole world.† Jig replies with â€Å"No, we can’t† (Hemingway, Ernest). The sentence length is very short, yet there is a hidden meaning behind the small talk. Jig is referring to not having the baby. She can have everything, but her will to decide things. She can’t have a baby due to unloving pressure from the American. It is in sync with the tone of the story perfectly. The tone is forward, direct, and shallow. Tha t is exactly what happens in this dialogue. There is no emotion, just pure sarcasm on a huge topic. Abortion to this couple is nothing more then a qui...

Content and Process Theories of Motivation Essay

Motivation is simply the methods by which an organisation can encourage it employees to increase their performance, both in quantity of output and in quality. Performance could also be in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the organisation’s operations. simply put, motivation is about the ways a business can encourage staff to give their best. The term motivation has been defined by different scholars using different formats and views, according to Dr Stephen P. Robbins, this is the process that account for an individuals intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal (S. P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour 9ed, p.155). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says that motivation is the act or process of motivating, the condition of being motivated, a motivating for a stimulus or influence, incentive, drive. Jones, George & Hill (2000) Motivation as physical forces that determine the direction of a person’s behaviour, a person’s level of effort and a person’s level of persistence in the face of obstacles. S.Hall believes motivation to be a process where members of a group pull together to effect an organisation through loyalty and commitment. some of these authors have gone as far as developing theories and models to help explain the motivation process. These include The Abraham Maslow hierarchy of Needs, Frederick Herzberg’s motivation and hygiene factors etc. Content and process theories of motivation The sum total of motivation theories can be broadly classified into two main categories; the content theories and the process theories. Content Theories deal with â€Å"what† motivates people and it is concerned with individual needs and goals. Authors like Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg and McClelland studied motivation from a â€Å"content† perspective. Content theorists believe that everyone has the same set of needs and expectations from a job. these needs are in physical, social and psychological forms. Process Theories deal with the â€Å"process† of motivation and is concerned with â€Å"how† motivation occurs. Authors such as Vroom, Porter & Lawler, Adams and Locke studied motivation from a â€Å"process† perspective. Process theories are more individualistic. ie they assume each individual has his/her unique set of needs and hence unique motivational factors. Content Theories deal with â€Å"what† motivates people and it is concerned with individual needs and goals. Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg and McClelland studied motivation from a â€Å"content† perspective. Process Theories deal with the â€Å"process† of motivation and is concerned with â€Å"how† motivation occurs. Vroom, Porter & Lawler, Adams and Locke studied motivation from a â€Å"process† perspective.

Free Will in Scientific Psychology Essay

Actions are freer than others, and the difference is palpably important in terms of inner process, subjective perception, and social consequences. Psychology can study the difference between freer and less free actions without making dubious metaphysical commitments. Human evolution seems to have created a relatively new, more complex form of action control that corresponds to popular notions of free will. It is marked by self-control and rational choice, both of which are highly adaptive, especially for functioning within culture. The processes that create these forms of free will may be biologically costly and therefore are only used occasionally, so that people are likely to remain only incompletely self-disciplined, virtuous, and rational. BACKGROUND What shall I do? Why did you do that? Are people captains of their fate, or are they mere products of their times and victims of circumstances? Should they be held responsible for their actions? These and similar questions pertain to the psychological problem of free will, also known as freedom of action. At the core of the question of free will is a debate about the psychological causes of action. That is, is the person an autonomous entity who genuinely chooses how to act from among multiple possible options? Or is the person essentially just one link in a causal chain, so that the person’s actions are merely the inevitable product of lawful causes stemming from prior events, and no one ever could have acted differently than how he or she actually did? My thesis is that free will can be understood in terms of the different processes that control human action and that, indeed, these differences correspond to what laypersons generally mean when they distinguish free from unfree action. To discuss free will in the terms of scienti? c psychology is therefore to invoke notions of self-regulation, controlled processes, behavioral plasticity, and conscious decisionmaking. Address correspondence to Roy F. Baumeister, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306; e-mail: baumeister@psy. fsu. edu. The extreme positions on free will have been staked out through centuries of philosophical debate. On the negative side, the deterministic position can be traced from Democritus through Spinoza, Comte, and Freud. It leaves no room for free human choice. Everything that happens is the unavoidable product of prior causes. The universe resembles a giant machine, grinding along exactly as it must. There is no difference between the categories of possible and actual in this view: Everything that happened was inevitable, and nothing else was ever possible. The subjective impression that when you make a choice you really can choose any of several options is an illusion, because forces outside your consciousness are in motion to determine what you will choose, even if you do not know until the last minute what that choice will be. On the other side, Jean-Paul Sartre (1943/1974) argued passionately in favor of human freedom. He contended that people are always, inevitably free—‘‘condemned to freedom,’’ in his famous phrase. Life is a series of choice points, and at each choice point, you could have chosen differently than you did. (Thus, the category of the possible is far, far more vast than the category of the actual, in this view. ) When people say they could not help acting as they did, they are engaging in self-deception (bad faith, in Sartre’s term), because they could actually have acted otherwise—could have held their tongue, walked another step, resisted the temptation, and so forth. Other outcomes really were possible. In between those extremes, many thinkers have proposed limited or partial freedom. Kant (1797/1967) proposed that people have a capacity for free action but only use it sometimes. For him, freedom meant acting in a morally virtuous manner based on enlightened reasoning. His argument thus aptly sets up the emphasis on self-control and rational choice as two widely adaptive forms of free will. If free will is only occasional, whereas behavior is constantly occurring, then it is necessary to posit two systems for guiding behavior: a default one that mostly runs the show and an occasional one that sometimes intervenes to make changes. Free will should be understood not as the starter or motor of action but rather as a passenger who occasionally grabs the steering wheel or even as just a navigator who says to turn left up ahead. 14 Copyright r 2008 Association for Psychological Science Volume 3—Number 1 Roy F. Baumeister OBJECTIONS TO THE VERY IDEA Many psychologists disdain the idea of free will, for several reasons. First, some think that in order to be a scientist it is necessary to believe in determinism, because a scientist studies causality and cannot tolerate or accept exceptions. Second, and related to the ? rst, free choice (especially the full, extreme case of total freedom) cannot seem to be explained in scienti? c terms. Causality is how the human mind generally (and the scienti? c mind particularly) understands events, and there is no way to explain a free action causally. In other words, even if free will exists, there is no use in scientists talking about it, because there would be no replicable patterns of behavior. (On this I disagree most emphatically—see below. Third, and perhaps more formidably, plenty of research has by now shown that people are sometimes mistaken when they believe their actions to be free, insofar as factors outside their awareness do exert a causal in? uence on them (e. g. , Bargh, 1994; Wegner, 2002; Wilson, 2002). The fact that automatic, nonconscious processes are the direct causes of action (e. g. , Libet, 1985, 1999) seems now well established and has dealt a severe blow to some theories of conscious free will. But new theories of action have separated the deciding from the initiating (Gollwitzer, 1999), and free conscious choosing may have its main role in the deciding (deliberative) stage. To illustrate, free will would have more to do with deciding (now) to walk to the store when the rain stops (later) than with directing each footstep during the actual trip. Modern research methods and technology have emphasized slicing behavior into milliseconds, but these advances may paradoxically conceal the important role of conscious choice, which is mainly seen at the macro level (Donald, 2002). Meanwhile, there are several objections to the determinists too. To require scientists to believe in determinism seems unwarranted. After all, the deterministic hypothesis—that every event is fully and inevitably caused by prior events and nothing else than what happened was ever possible—is itself unproven and even unprovable, so it requires a big leap of faith. Determinism is also contrary to everyday experience (in which people do make choices, and they believe subjectively that more than one outcome is possible). Moreover, to say that scienti?c data and especially psychological data point to determinism is itself severely overstated. Most psychological experiments demonstrate probabilistic rather than deterministic causation: A given cause changes the odds of a particular response but almost never operates with the complete inevitability that deterministic causality would entail. These objections do not disprove determinism, but they certainly raise questions. It seems unreasonable to require that every scientist must believe something that is unproven, unproveable, contrary to daily experience, and incongruent with our data. A further objection to determinism is the observation that freedom and choice are woven deeply into the fabric of human relations and activities. If freedom and choice are completely illusions—if the outcome of every choice was inevitable all along—why must people agonize so over decisions? Why do they argue and strive so much for the right to decide (that is, for power and liberty)? Why has so much political, economic, and social struggle been aimed at increasing freedom if freedom is just an illusion? The presence versus absence of choice, control, autonomy, and freedom has been shown to be a signi?cant causal factor in many aspects of human life, including dissonance and consistency (Linder, Cooper, & Jones, 1967), reactance (Brehm, 1966), stress and coping (Glass, Singer, & Friedman, 1969), and motivated performance (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Moreover, with few circumscribed exceptions, people almost always prefer freedom and are better off with it—and seemingly not just because the lack of freedom prevents them from securing tangible rewards. It is not as if people would be ? ne with slavery or prison if only the food were better. Countless people have risked and sacri?ced their lives in ? ghting to achieve and defend freedom, and it is very dif? cult to ? nd historical instances of uprisings or wars based on a demand for less freedom. Laypersons may not understand the concept of free will in the same way as philosophers and scientists, but they use ‘‘freedom’’ to denote some psychological phenomena that are powerful and important. PSYCHOLOGY’S TASK In my opinion, it would be a mistake for psychologists to argue about whether free will exists and to debate the conceptual details. Philosophers and others have already spent centuries re? ning the concepts through such argument, and repeating their work would not be a good use of time and effort. In comparison with philosophers, psychologists are amateurs at conceptual re? nement and debate but are specialists at conducting experimental tests of causal hypotheses. Our expertise is thus not well suited for ascertaining the existence or nonexistence of free will, which is probably impossible to prove. Researchers such as Wegner (2002) and Bargh and Morsella (2008, this issue) may show that people are sometimes unaware of the causes of particular behaviors, but such ?ndings are incapable of establishing that all behaviors are the result of ? rm causal processes of which people are unaware. Conversely, it seems equally impossible to prove that a given person could have acted differently than he or she did under exactly the same circumstances. Psychology’s contribution lies elsewhere. Psychologists should focus on what we do best: collecting evidence about measurable variance in behaviors and inner processes and identifying consistent patterns in them. With free will, it seems most productive for psychologists to start with the well-documented observation that some acts are freer than others. As already noted, dissonance, reactance, coping with stress, and other behaviors have been shown in the laboratory to depend on variations in freedom and choice. Hence, it is only necessary to assume that there are genuine phenomena behind those subjective and objective Volume 3—Number 1 15 Free Will in Scienti? c Psychology differences in freedom. In a nutshell, we should explain what happens differently between free and unfree actions. Thus, the optimal agenda for psychology would be to ? nd out what people mean when they use concepts of freedom, choice, and responsibility in their daily lives and then to illuminate the inner processes that produce those phenomena. WHAT MAKES ACTION FREE? A starting point for psychology is to identify what aspects of an action make people regard it as free versus unfree. To be sure, some factors can contribute to a mistaken sense of freedom in one’s own action. Wegner (2002) showed that when the thought of an event immediately precedes its actual occurrence, people believe they have caused it, even if in reality they have not. For example, when participants who were moving a cursor around a computer screen along with someone else (akin to having four hands on the pointer on a Ouija board) heard the name of some image mentioned and then the cursor stopped there 2 s later, they believed that they had intentionally caused the cursor to stop, even though the stopping was actually programmed by the apparatus (Wegner & Wheatley, 1999). There are several ways to interpret these ? ndings. One is to suggest that all conscious will and volition are illusions: From the observation that people are sometimes mistaken about conscious will, one could extrapolate that they are always mistaken. Another is to suggest that people do not have a direct, introspective way of knowing when they initiate action, and so they rely on salient cues to give them the feel and subjective impression of having acted or chosen, and this system of cues can be fooled. Shifts in the social distribution of causality and agency are important to people, and these correspond to social phenomena that people have encountered for millennia. Power, for example, confers on one person the right to make decisions that may affect others (e. g. , Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003), and the long history of power struggles can be viewed as being about who gets to choose. Studies by Brehm (1966) and his colleagues have also shown that people are very sensitive to having their freedom of choice restricted by others. When an option is taken away from them, they respond by desiring that option more, by trying actively to reassert that freedom and take that option, and even by aggressing against whomever restricted their freedom. Such patterns seem hard to reconcile with the view that all free will and choice (in every sense) are illusions: Why would people care so much about something that is entirely inconsequential? Another approach to understanding what people mean by free will is to have participants rate how free a stimulus person’s actions are. Stillman, Sparks, Baumeister, and Tice (2006) had participants rate scenarios that varied systematically along several dimensions. Participants rated people’s actions as freest when their choices were made after conscious deliberation, when their actions went against external pressure rather than going along with it, and when people acted against their shortterm self-interest. Thus conscious, rational choice and selfcontrol seem to be integral parts of what people perceive as free. When people wrote autobiographical accounts of their own acts that felt free or unfree, pursuing long-term personal goals was central to the feeling of freedom. The difference suggests that people see free will in others as useful for restraining their socially undesirable impulses, but in themselves they see free will in the sustained pursuit of (enlightened) self-interest. As Dennett (1984, 2003) has argued, free will is hardly worth having unless it helps you get something you want. THE EVOLUTION OF FREEDOM Several recent authors have argued that human freedom of action is a product of evolutionary processes (e. g. , Dennett, 2003). I proposed that the de? ning thrust of human psychological evolution was selection in favor of cultural capability (Baumeister, 2005). That process might well have included a new, different way of controlling behavior, whose purpose was enabling the beast to function in a complex, information-based society. The hallmarks of this new form of behavioral control include personal responsibility, conscious deliberation, invoking abstract rules and principles to guide actions, autonomous initiative, and a capacity to resist urges that have earlier evolutionary roots but that may be incompatible with civilized life (e. g. , eating any food you ? nd when hungry, including what is on the plates of other restaurant patrons). Whether this pattern will satisfy the various theological and philosophical de? nitions of free will is hard to say, but it could well correspond to what ordinary people mean when they speak of free action. The previous section noted that free will has to be useful for bene? ting the person. Evolution has favored animals with psychological processes insofar as those processes help them pursue their goals. A more intelligent animal, for example, may be better able to ? nd food and reproduce than a less intelligent one. In human cultural life, however, there is sometimes a tradeoff between short-term and long-term goals, and much of the success of the human species is based on our ability to sacri? ce short-term goals for the long-term ones, as in delay of grati? cation (Mischel & Ayduk, 2004). For example, taking someone else’s food may bring short-term bene? ts, but if it leads the other group members to imprison or expel the person, it could be self-defeating in the long run. Hence free will may be most useful in fostering the pursuit of enlightened self-interest. Were evolution working instead to enable the human animal to pursue what it wants right now to maximum effect, it might have promoted physical strength, speed, and ferocity rather than brainpower and social skills. But to succeed and live harmoniously in a cultural group, the animal is best served by being able to inhibit its impulses and desires. Perhaps ironically, free will is necessary to enable people to follow rules. 16 Volume 3—Number 1 Roy F. Baumeister Let me focus brie? y on two of the most important phenomena that are associated with the concept of free will: self-control and rational intelligent choice. The cultural-animal argument has the following assumptions. First, self-control and smart choice are much more highly developed in humans than in other animals and thus are among the most distinctively human traits. Second, these traits are highly conducive for living in a cultural society. Third, these traits are probably interrelated in the sense of sharing some inner processes and mechanisms, which suggests that one evolved ? rst and the other piggy-backed on the ? rst one’s system. My speculative evolutionary scenario is that self-control evolved ? rst, because it is useful already in merely social (as opposed to cultural) groups. For example, it would be natural for hungry animals to eat food that they see and want, but in many social groups the alpha male would beat up any other who tries to take his food or usurp his other prerogatives. Therefore, in order to live in social groups, animals must develop the capacity to restrain their impulses and bring their behavior into line with externally imposed constraints. Moving from social to cultural groups substantially increases the importance of following rules, including moral principles, laws, commands, religious prescriptions, norms, and customs. Rational intelligent choice, then, evolved later than selfcontrol and was even more distinctively associated with culture. Culture is based on information, and the large amount of information in a culture creates great opportunities for reasoning powers to sort through it and draw action-relevant conclusions. Human decision making is far more complex and varied than that in other species. As Searle (2001) pointed out, rationality is widely regarded as a central human trait, but not all have noticed that rationality entails at least some limited concept of free will—at least to the extent that one can alter one’s behavior on the basis of that reasoning. Put another way, self-control gives the capacity to alter your behavior to conform to the group’s rules, and rationality enables you to work out your own rules and then behave accordingly. This line of thought ? ts the view of free will as a sometime thing. People are incompletely rational and self-controlled. They have the capacity for acting for acting rationally and exerting self-control, but they only use it sometimes. This suggests the capacity is limited. WHY FREE WILL IS LIMITED Our research on ego depletion provides one way to understand why free will is at best an occasional phenomenon. In testing several competing theories about self-regulation, we consistently found that people performed relatively poorly at almost any self-control task if they had recently performed a different self-control task (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). The implication is that some resource is used up by the ? rst act of self-control, leaving less available for the second. Choice may also deplete the same resource. Vohs et al.(2006) found that making a series of choices led to poorer self-control on subsequent, unrelated tasks, as compared with just thinking about items or answering questions about them without making choices among them. The fact that effortful choice uses the same resource as self-control links the two main forms of free will and supports the idea that they share a common underlying mechanism. Thus, the traditional concept of ‘‘willpower’’ does appear to be a useful metaphor, insofar as both self-control and rational choice rely on some kind of power. To move beyond metaphor, Gailliot et al.(2007) began studying blood-glucose dynamics. Glucose is a chemical in the bloodstream that is the fuel for brain (and other) activities. Although all brain processes use glucose, some use much more than others, and self-control is a likely candidate to be one of these more expensive processes. Gailliot et al. (2007) found that acts of self-control caused reductions in the levels of glucose in the bloodstream, and that low levels of blood glucose after initial acts of self-control were strongly correlated with poor self-control on subsequent tasks. Moreover, experimental administrations of glucose counteracted some of the ego-depletion effects. That is, drinking a glass of lemonade with sugar enabled people to perform well at self-control even if they had recently gone through a depleting exercise of self-control. Lemonade made with a sugar substitute (thus not furnishing glucose) had no effect. These ? ndings suggest that human evolution developed a second, new, and expensive way of controlling action. It involved using relatively large quantities of the body’s caloric energy to fuel complex psychological processes. If the cultural-animal argument is correct, then these processes should have improved biological success by enabling people to behave in more advantageous ways. Ample evidence con? rms that this second executive mode of action control has adaptive bene? ts and that when its resources are depleted or inadequate, behavior is less successful. Nondepleted persons outperform ego-depleted ones at making effective and unbiased decisions (Amir, Dhar, Pocheptsaya, & Baumeister, 2007), at logical reasoning and intelligent thought (Schmeichel, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2003), and at active coping with unexpected setbacks (Vohs & Baumeister, 2006). Self-control has multiple bene? ts, and people who are high on the trait end up more successful in work and school, are more popular and better liked, have healthier and more stable relationships, commit fewer crimes, and have less psychopathology (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Mischel, Shoda, & Peake, 1988; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). And as for following rules generally, there is some cross-cultural evidence that countries with higher rule of law report signi? cantly higher subjective well-being (Veenhoven, 2004). Volume 3—Number 1 17 Free Will in Scienti? c Psychology BELIEVING IN FREEDOM This brief article has argued that psychology’s task is to ? nd out what people perceive as free will and what genuine psychological phenomena underlie those perceptions. Such investigations will not establish whether free will exists according to some philosophical or theological de? nitions, and it remains possible that many laypersons’ beliefs about free will are partly or wholly mistaken. If free will is entirely an illusion, however, then it becomes especially perplexing that people devote so much time and effort to sustaining those illusions. Belief in free will is highly relevant to many social, legal, and moral judgments. For example, if all actions are fully caused and therefore inevitable, why does the legal system spend so much time trying to establish whether a perpetrator was acting freely? ‘‘Heat of passion’’ crimes are just as fully caused as any other crimes, in that view, so it makes little sense for judges to award lighter sentences. Yet they do. One possible explanation for the widespread social belief in free will is that it helps produce socially desirable and harmonious actions. To return to the cultural-animal framework, I am assuming that people evolved so as to be able to live and work in culture (Baumeister, 2005). Anything that makes people better able to do that, including improvements in cooperation and prosocial actions or reductions in antisocial actions, would therefore be bene? cial. To speculate, cultures that believed in free will might have outreproduced and supplanted cultures that did not. Belief in free will does support socially desirable actions, according to Vohs and Schooler (2008). They found that participants who had been induced to disbelieve in free will were subsequently more likely than a control group to cheat on a test. Further studies by Baumeister, Masicampo, and DeWall (2006) using the Vohs–Schooler methods found that inducing participants to disbelieve in free will made them more aggressive and less helpful toward others. If we combine the cheating, aggression, and helping ? ndings, it seems reasonable to suggest that belief in free will is conducive to better, more harmonious social behavior. CONCLUSION A scienti?c approach to free will should perhaps start with the view that freedom of action evolved as a new, more sophisticated form of controlling behavior. Its two components, self-control and rational intelligent choice, conferred important advantages by enabling the human animal to function within a cultural society. Recent evidence about ego depletion and glucose dynamics suggests that this new, freer form of action control is biologically expensive, which may help explain why free will is only used occasionally. Nonetheless, even its occasional use may contribute greatly to increasing the ? Exibility and adaptive diversity of human behavior. Acknowledgments—Work on this article was facilitated by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, and it builds on research supported by Grant MH57039 from the National Institute of Mental Health. REFERENCES Amir, O. , Dhar, R. , Pocheptsaya, A. , & Baumeister, R. F. (2007). The fatigued decision maker: Ego depletion changes decision process and outcome. Manuscript submitted for publication. Bargh, J. A. (1994). The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, ef? ciency, intention, and control in social cognition. In R. S. Wyer Jr. , & T. K. Srull (Eds. ), Handbook of social cognition (2nd ed. , pp. 1–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Bargh, J. A. , & Morsella, E. 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