Religions of the World Jesus/Mohammed

Two thousand years have come and gone, but still they remain the unfinished story that refuses to go away. Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew from rural first-century Galilee, and Mohammed from Mecca are without doubt the most famous and most influential human beings who ever walked the face of the earth. Their influence may at present be declining in a few countries of Western Europe and parts of North America, as has from time to time transpired elsewhere.But the global fact is that the adherents of Jesus and Mohammed are more widespread and more numerous, and make up a greater part of the world's population, than at any time in history. Two billion people identify themselves as Christians; well over a billion Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet of God (Freedman 2001). Unnumbered others identify themselves as know and respect his memory as a wise and holy man. This work begins with tracing the lives of Jesus and Mohammed historically. Then it deals with different aspects of the practice and th e teaching of Jesus and Mohammed. How their messages are being carried out in the world today will be considered in the conclusion.The personality of Mohammed remains obscure in spite of his sayings and the many legends about him. There have been almost as many theories about the Prophet as there are biographers. According to tradition, he was born in A.D. 570, about five years after the death of Justinian, into a cadet branch of one of the leading families of Mecca. His father died before Mohammed was born, and his mother died when he was still a small child. First his grandfather, then an uncle, who was in the caravan trade, reared him.As a youth in the busy center of Mecca he probably learned to read and write enough to keep commercial accounts; he also heard Jewish and Christian teachers and early became interested in their religious ideas. Mohammed must have suffered, in these early years, from hardships, and he evidently became aware of the misery of many of his fellowmen. The se early experiences were later to be the basis of his fervent denunciations of social injustice. At the age of twenty-five, he married a wealthy widow and probably went on some long caravan trips, at least to Syria.This gave him further contacts with Jewish, Christian, and Persian religious teachers. At the age of forty, after spending much time in fasting and solitary meditation, he heard a voice calling him to proclaim the uniqueness and power of Allah. Mohammed seemingly did not, at first, conceive of himself as the conscious preacher of a new religion. It was only the opposition from those about him at Mecca that drove him on to set up a new religious community with distinctive doctrines and institutions. In 632 Mohammed died, the last of all the founders of great world religions.Little is known of the early life of Jesus Christ. Born a few years before the year 1 A. D. in Bethlehem of Judaea, he lived in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, until he was about thirty years of age. We h ave no reason to doubt the tradition that after the death of Joseph, the head of the family, Jesus became the main support of Mary and the younger children. He worked at his trade, that of a carpenter, and lived the life which would be expected of a religiously-minded young Hebrew.At about the age of thirty Jesus suddenly appeared at the Jordan, where John, a cousin of his, was performing the rite of baptism on those who came professing a desire to amend their ways and live better lives. Jesus also came and, against the scruples of John, who saw that Jesus was in different case from the others, was baptized. It marked a turning-point, for with the outward ritual act came an inner spiritual experience of profound significance for Jesus. A voice assured him that he was in a unique sense his Father's â€Å"beloved Son,† in whom he was â€Å"well pleased† (Borg 1997). It seems to have been the consummation of his thought and prayer and eager yearning for many years.He had received his revelation; he would proclaim God as a Father and men as his sons. He was filled with a sense of mission, of having a work to do and a message to deliver, which to the end of his life did not leave him for a moment. He went from place to place in Palestine preaching in the synagogues and out-of-door places wherever the people congregated, and talking to individuals and to groups as they came to him with their questions and problems. He began to gather about him a little company of disciples, which soon grew to twelve and which accompanied him on all his journeys.He spent much time in giving them instruction and on several occasions sent them out to heal and to preach. Jesus came to establish a kingdom, and this was the burden of his message. But he never forgot that the form of the Kingdom and many things connected with its coming were of lesser significance than the inner meaning and the principles on which it was based. The first of these was man's relationship with G od.Jesus was not only a teacher; he was a worker of miracles. The Gospels tell us that he cured the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, fed the hungry, stilled the storm, and even raised the dead. Much was made of these wonders by former generations of Christians, who used them as proofs of the divine character of the One who performed them. Such use of these incidents does not produce the effect it once did and is being discarded.A closer study of the attitude of Jesus toward his own miraculous power clearly indicates that he minimized its significance. He would have men secure a better perspective and realize that moral power was on a higher level than the ability to work marvels. With this in view it scarcely seems congruous to use the miracles in a way which could scarcely be acceptable to Jesus himself. But of all the impressions Jesus made the strongest was that he was in touch with God his Father and that this was the explanation of all the wonderful things about him.Jesus, h owever, was not only winning followers and bringing them close to God; he had come into collision with the religious authorities of his people, and in the end lost his life at their hands. They were formalists and as such had not averted the danger of losing sight of the vital principles of their religion. Jesus was an innovator, and felt free to act in accordance with the inner spirit of the old precepts even when by doing so he ran counter to the letter of the law.When Jesus appeared in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, He was seized and, after having had a preliminary hearing before the Jewish high priest and Sanhedrin, was taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator, and was condemned to death. He was crucified, together with two criminals, and died at the end of six hours' agony on the cross. His body was taken down by friends in the early evening and laid in a rock-hewn tomb. The hopes of his disciples were dashed to the ground, and undoubtedly the Jewish leaders a nd the Roman authorities thought they had rid themselves of an exceedingly troublesome creature (Allen 1998).But such was not to be, for a very remarkable thing happened the third day after. To the utter amazement of his disciples, who had not recovered from the paralyzing effect of their grief and disappointment, Jesus appeared to them so unmistakably that they were convinced that death had not been able to hold its victim and that Jesus was alive.Their new enthusiasm, the founding of the Christian Church on the assurance of the presence of the living Christ, the adoption of the first day of the week as a memorial of the day when Jesus reappeared alive -all these historic facts bear witness to the genuineness of the disciples' testimony that the same Jesus who had journeyed with them, who had died and had been laid away in the tomb, was raised from the dead, their living Master forevermore. They immediately went out to preach â€Å"the gospel of the resurrection,† and with t hat the history of the Christian Church was begun.Mohammed's teaching, from the beginning, shows strong Jewish and Christian influence. Mohammed learned the great stories of the Old Testament; especially was he impressed with the life of Abraham whom he later considered one of his own predecessors and who he claimed had founded the Ka' bah at Mecca. He, likewise, learned of the Christian Trinity whom he understood to be God the Father, Mary the Mother, and Jesus the Son.He was looking for common ground on which to found a faith for all monotheists. He had a profound respect for Jews and Christians, especially for the Jews, though when they refused to join him and when later they thwarted him, he attacked them fiercely. Mohammed took from Jewish, Christian, and also Persian teaching only what he wanted, and he combined all he borrowed in a set of ideas that always bore his own mark. In the Koran, for example, he uses the characters of the Bible as successful advocates in the past of the doctrines of Mohammed in the present. Mohammed called the Jews and the Christians the â€Å"People of the Book,† and he came to believe himself called to give his own people, the Arabs, a book.Soon after Mohammed's death in 632, a wave of conquest gathered in all of Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and part of Persia. In less than a century all of North Africa, Spain, Asia Minor, and Central Asia to the Indus River were swept by the conquering armies of Islam. These conquests were as orderly as they were speedy; little damage seems to have been done, and immediately after the Arab armies entered an area they organized it. The Arab annexation, at first, meant little more than a change of rulers.Life and social institutions went on as before with little interference and no forced conversions; the conquered peoples could even keep their own religion by paying a tax. The Arab colonies planted in each new territory became the centers from which Islamic religious ideas spread a nd in which, at the same time, a new culture developed. Not until the new peoples, like the Seljuks, who were outside the Graeco-Roman tradition, were converted to Mohammedanism did Islam become fanatical. Indeed, no such militant intolerance as characterized the Christian attack on paganism was normally shown by the Mohammedans until into the eleventh century.The reasons for these fantastic conquests were various. To his own people, especially to the desert tribes, Mohammed offered war and booty, and to those who lived in the Arab towns he offered the extension of commerce. Caravans travelled in the midst of the Muslim armies. For those who died, Islam promised a glowing paradise. One drop of blood shed in battle, even a single night spent under arms would count for more than two months of prayer or fasting.Christianity and Islam have, like every other religion, developed their own mythology. These mythologies are at its height in the beautiful imagery that centers around the festi vals of Christmas, Easter and Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha (â€Å"Eid† or â€Å"Id† means festival). Indeed, there is today a rediscovery of the value of myth in human life. Today Christianity and Islam provide a good framework for the religious life. Some people, possibly lots of people, would claim that if Jesus and Mohammed were wrong, they can no longer be relevant. That claim can probably be disputed on theological grounds (Freedman 2001).The remarkable ‘footprint' of Jesus and Mohammed in history has strangely contradictory implications for an encounter with them today. On the one hand, it means that a true and adequate understanding of the men remains a vital task, even as third millennium has dawned. Just as in the first century Jesus was embraced as Saviour of the world by Jews and Gentiles excluded from religious and political power, so today he is welcomed above all by ordinary, poor and marginalised people – in the west and the east, and especia lly in the South. Like Paul, they see him, God's gospel, as having the power to liberate them from sin, their personal sins, the socio-political, cultural and structural sins of their nations, cultures and churches and the unjust economic and technological structures of the so-called ‘global village'.At least in the western world, it remains true that we can understand neither Christian faith nor much of the world around us if we do not come to terms with Jesus of Nazareth and the two millennia of engagement with his heritage. The followers of Jesus and Mohammed live in every country of the globe. They read and speak of these people in a thousand tongues. For them, the world's creation and destiny hold together in their gods, the wholly human and visible icon of the wholly transcendent and invisible God. Jesus and Mohammed animate their cultures, creeds and aspirations.ReferencesAllen, Charlotte. (1998).The human Christ: the search for the historical Jesus. Oxford: Lion.Borg, Marcus J., ed. (1997). Jesus at 2000. Boulder: Westview Press.Freedman, David Noel. (2001). The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI.

Judaism and Collaboration Assessment Guide

Collaboration Assessment Guide Please complete this guide and submit it with your evidence to the collaboration assessment. Part One: Team Evaluation Rate your team according to each of the performance criteria below. Consider the work of all members, including you. Use the comment area to explain your rating. 3=Always Rating for You: 2=Usually 1 -?Sometimes 0=Never Criteria: Rating for the Team: Comments: Listened to others 3 They listened to what everyone had to say Showed respect for others' opinionsEven if one of us did not like an opinion, we still respected it Completed assigned duties We all completed the assigned parts Participated in discussions We had great discussions Attended meetings on time We were all on time Stayed on task We didn't get off task Completed high-quality work 2 I did research Completed work on time We completed it on the date we agreed on Part Two: Reflection Respond to the following questions with two to three sentences each. What collaboration task did your group complete? The collaboration task that my group completed was the â€Å"stolen girls† and the Jews in concentration camps.They have a few similarities such as, racism and they are both being prejudice. Describe your specific contribution to the group's final product. The specific contribution to our final product was comparing the stolen girl and Jews in concentration camps. We finished it within a reasonable amount of time. What did you enjoy most about working with others on this lesson/task? Explain. What I enjoyed most about working with others on this task was the team work we put into the project. Also, how we all got along and it all worked out smoothly. How did your team deal with conflict?Explain. We did not have any conflicts while we worked on our project. We had a god time working together. Do you feel others were happy with your participation in the lesson/task? Explain. I do indeed feel like others were happy with my participation on the project. In m y opinion, I did all I had to do to be a great worker. What will you do differently, if anything, in your next online collaboration opportunity?

Exploring duality in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

When Stevenson wrote the novella ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ he seemed to have been influenced by various ideas. The first goes all the way back to an ancient Greek philosopher ‘Plato’. His theory of dualism was imaged as two horses clashing with one another. He believed that every human being was a charioteer trying to keep them balanced and in control. One horse being black representing the animal demonic side; this is the side being harder to control and contains instinctive drives. This expresses the dark side. Stevenson took this concept to another level and gave off the impression that in his novella the dark horse had been liberated taking over the white horse. The white horse portrayed intelligence, moral senses, and the angelic side of mankind. This side had less energy but responded to all the commands exactly. Jekyll evidently being a scientist had more characteristics of the higher horse (white), but every one has a demonic side it is natural to have a bit of dark side to them. Hyde stood by the dark horse he was all defective and didn’t take any consequences for his actions. Hyde’s charter was vey monstrous and beastly. This takes me onto the idea of Charles Darwin; his concept to duality was the idea of there being a ‘beast in a man’. He believed that mankind originated from apes. He also believed that there was two parts to human nature. Stevenson took this to an extreme when he introduced the character ‘Hyde’. Although there isn’t an exact description of Hyde’s appearance, Enfield did say in the first chapter â€Å"He is not easy to describe, there is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable†, â€Å"and he must be deformed somewhere†. This quote is the best to show the beastliness of Hyde. His actions also are not very human like a good example of this is when he tramples over a little girl. Stevenson adapts Darwin’s idea to his novella. The third and final influence was the Victorian society at the time. In this society men were forced to ‘hide’ their secrets from their public lives. There was a lot of hypocrisy in the Victorian times. People said one thing and did the other. Stevenson takes this idea; this influence is proved in the first chapter when Enfield and Mr Utterson talk about ‘Hyde’. â€Å"No sir I had a delicacy; was the reply ‘I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgement. You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone, you sit quietly on top of the hill; and away the stone goes, starting other;† â€Å"and the family have to change their name. No sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask. This is stating the fact that people in the Victorian times stayed out of each other business as they didn’t want people to ask about their personal lives. Men in those times got away with almost anything in Hyde’s case he got away with murder. People kept them selves to their selves, but they felt it was right to ask about other people. This shows dualism in a way that people were two faced as they kept secrets form each other. Before Jekyll become a scientist he was a very happy man that loved life and lived it to the fullest. Jekyll was born with everything given to him, he wanted to enjoy life but also wanted to have a status in the public eye; he wanted both things. This explains the duality of life. Jekyll says in one of the chapters ‘in concealed in on my own pleasures’ this means that his pleasure and desires were kept to him self. In order to achieve in life, he felt that he had to hide his faults from the world. The first information we are given about Dr Jekyll is form his old friend Dr Lanyon; he mentions the reason why they do not see much of each other. â€Å"Jekyll became too fanciful for me†. And that Dr Jekyll was interested in â€Å"such unscientific balderdash† This partly explains Jekyll personality as these comments would make the reader curious to know what Dr. Jekyll is up to. Later in the novella Jekyll makes his first appearance, he is described to be a ‘large, well made, smooth-faced man of fifty†¦but every mark of capacity and kindness†. To the reader he appears to be a kind man who you would not expect to do anything wrong. This is a sign of dualism in a way that Jekyll is given a false upfront of what he is really like. Jekyll also describes his personality as a â€Å"gaiety of disposition† Stevenson deliberately made this quote vague, but it instantly shows the slyness in Dr Jekyll does not want to tell anyone about his personality or life and exactly the things he got up to. This was because in the Victorian times you couldn’t talk about ‘prostitutes’ this was classed as completely wrong, you would be discarded from the society. Jekyll wanted to explore the dualism in a man and so he did; split his personality into good and evil. This is why he came up with the potion. When Jekyll first take the potion he describes his feelings in ‘The strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ Jekyll says at first ‘The most racking pangs succeeded’ he was in great pain, but then rapidly the feelings changed to the ‘incredibly sweet’ † I felt younger, lighter, happier in the body† already he experiences freedom. Jekyll was able to see a new side to the world, the evil side! He explains that these feelings ‘delighted him like wine’. Moreover, Jekyll desire from early life is to separate the two selves that are apparent but equally present. Jekyll learns how to free Hyde. But did try to control Hyde coming out, when Jekyll tries to cage Hyde for good, when he tried this Hyde didn’t come out for a long time, but Hyde was itching to come out, in the end Hyde burst out stronger than ever and becomes the more dominant one. Hyde was the powerful one while Jekyll loses the control he could maintain when he alone had actions. Jekyll becomes addicted to Hyde there for more dosages were needed. Eventually it is clear that Dr Jekyll is no longer in conduct of the transformation. In Henry Jekyll full statement of the case he says ‘I had not wakened where I seemed to be but in the little room in Soho where I was accustomed to sleep in the body of Edward Hyde’ Jekyll says he wasn’t in control anymore. A proof of this is when he says â€Å"yes I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde† Dr Jekyll is more accepted into the society as being a scientist, people look up to him and respects him. In Jekyll full statement of the case he says â€Å"I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public†. This is telling us that Jekyll is giving off the impression that he is good at his profession almost being bigheaded. Hyde is the complete opposite his actions do not have consequences; Hyde’s behaviour is very ape like, just like his appearance (this goes back to Darwin’s theory.)The other characters cannot describe his outside shell as it is too hideous to describe. Hyde’s character is extremely cruel and evil. For example when he just tramples over the child in the first chapter, this shows the lack of respect for others. It also shows he is amoral. Stevenson used this marked contrast to make his point in dualism; every human being contains opposite forces within them, there’s always a different person behind a facade. This shows dualism in a whole different level. Stevenson used an aptonym for Hyde as his character â€Å"hides† in another character. The style of Stevenson’s writing is sometimes complicated as some of the sentences are longer than modern readers would normally read. Also the vocabulary is dated, and a lot of the words in the novel are no longer used. The most complex parts of the story are in Jekyll’s confession at the end. Sometimes Stevenson uses metaphors such as when Mr Enfield describes where he first met Mr Hyde as â€Å"some place at the end of the world†. He uses a lot of similes to show how inhuman Hyde really is, for example â€Å"like some damned Juggernaut† and â€Å"like Satan†. Alliteration highlights the unpleasantness of Mr Hyde; he is described as â€Å"downright detestable† and â€Å"hardly human†. Onomatopoeia emphasises the animal qualities of Mr Hyde by describing the sounds he makes as â€Å"hissing†, â€Å"snarled† and â€Å"husky†. Throughout the novella the theme of ‘hypocrisy’ is very large. Almost every character is a hypocrite take for example the police man. When the police man realised that the victim of the murder was a famous MP. You can tell from the police man face that his professional ambition meant a lot, as this would better his career and maybe lead to an early retirement. Jekyll is the ultimate hypocrite in the novella although he lives part of his life as someone else he cannot accept the natural evil inside him so he separates them. Hyde’s house keeper is another character that shows hypocrisy. She displays â€Å"odious joys† when she hears that her employer, Mr Hyde is in trouble with the police. She is described as having a face that is â€Å"worn smooth† with hypocrisy. Stevenson often uses the weather to reflect the evil within the surroundings. For example some scenes are described as foggy, which creates a sense of eeriness and mystery. Also wind is used to make the environment seem like it is full of violence and menace. Changes in the weather, for instance when Poole and Utterson are getting ready to break into Jekyll’s laboratory, also create a dark and evil atmosphere as when the wind caused the clouds to cover the moon. The house itself shows secret and hypocrisy as well. In contrast the door of Dr. Jekyll home â€Å"wore a great air of wealth and comfort†, whilst the inside of the house is described as â€Å"warmed †¦ by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets of oak†. The good friend of Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Utterson, often spoke of it as â€Å"the pleasantest room in London.† This gives a totally different impression to that of Mr Hyde’s home. The description of Mr Hyde’s door would make it appear that the house was abandoned by the state of it. But as you enter the house there is a sense of elegance, luxury and good taste. You would expect it to be empty and unclean. A Victorian reader would not associate these two people together as they both live in different environments. They would only realise the association between them when Mr Hyde presents a cheque to the child’s family, bearing Dr. Jekyll name. This would make the reader curious of how these two know each other. However later on the reader is surprised to see that the inside of Mr Hyde’s house contains good wines, good pictures, silver plates, elegant table linen and thick carpets. These are items you would expect to see in Dr. Jekyll house. The dualism in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is almost similar to the modern days. Jekyll as a scientist had a super ego. He was very intelligent to come up with a potion that split a mans personality, but when the character Hyde occurs, he is the complete opposite. As humans we want a balanced ego, we want desires to be fulfilled but not all desires are good. So this makes a dynamic equilibrium. This was the theory of Freud. Jekyll is dominated by superego but Hyde being the id is trying to push his way in, which he does succeed in the end. In my opinion I think that Jekyll has a balanced ego as in the end he wanted to destroy both good and evil. I think this shows he is being considerate as he could have carried on being Hyde if he wanted to. â€Å"There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul†. I think this is Jekyll thinking in terms of his super ego as I think this q uote shows that he wants to get rid of Hyde as the emphasis is on the word â€Å"finally†. The dualism in the story is significant to the book, without duality in the book it would have a different perspective on the whole. Stevenson’s main aim was to put his point across about duality. Stevenson reveals that the duality of human nature runs deeper than good and evil to rational versus and reputation versus true nature. Stevenson also uses different narrators to the book to give an alternative view on Hyde and Jekyll. No single account could explain to the reader the views of characters associated with Jekyll and Hyde. For example without the support of his friend Utterson, Jekyll would not be as strong Overall I think that this novella is very complex, but has an excellent understanding to it. I think Stevenson put the theme of â€Å"duality† init in an interesting way and related it very well to the Victorian society at the time. Stevenson also comments on the constant war and balance between the two characters. â€Å"There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul†. In almost all stories the good always wins in the end as Jekyll rightly committed suicide as there was no other way out. However it also could be seen as the evil getting the best of the good side as Hyde took over Jekyll’s life and Jekyll producing the potion in the first place. I think that the story relates to this day and age in a way that people are hypocrites and have two sides to them, it gives a strong message to what could happen in the outcome.

Return on Expectation v Return on investment in Management Development Dissertation

Return on Expectation v Return on investment in Management Development Training - Dissertation Example The approach to address the demands of repeatability, rigor and uniqueness has two important features (McLinden & Trochim, 1998, p.1). Firstly it requires obtaining a preponderance of such evidences which demonstrates that expectations for the program impact originally leading towards the investments were met. Secondly it must also provide evidence with substantial methodological vigour for withstanding the scrutiny. In pursuing this approach, the evaluation paradigm is shifted to a ‘legal’ framework. Under the framework, if the conclusion arrived at is such that training adds value then the evidence used is required to be persuasive (McLinden & Trochim, 1998, p.1). This evidentiary standard is considered enough to reach a clear and reasonable conclusion regarding value of the program (McLinden & Trochim, 1998, p.1). ... ows that the program has achieved the three Cs, Correspondence Consistency Consensus (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005, p.66) Assessment of the value begins with the assessment of the outcomes that are expected from the program. Expectations might arise from the stakeholders who have different beliefs about the impacts of the programs (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005, p.66). The executives might be concerned about the strategic issues like the effectiveness of the programs during changes in market conditions, while those building the training modules would be concerned with the tactical details like whether group activities would be most effective in conveying the content (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005, p.66). The need for realising the expectations and measuring them was realised when trainers were unable to define the outcomes that stakeholders expected in measurable terms (Kirkpatrick, 2009, p.184). Given the multiple views which exists and differ from each other, defining values necessarily means popul ating the expectations of impacts with multiple perspectives. For the development of the training programs the multiple perspectives includes project managers, content experts, instructional designers and other stakeholders. Successful measurement of value includes integrating the diverse expectations into a single consensus about which the program seeks to achieve (McLinden & Trochim, 1998, p.2). On the other hand the Return on Investment (ROI) on training is considered to be primary tool for the forecasting and evaluation of the benefits of training programs and for conducting of the ROI analysis. The topic has emerged as the most popular concept in HRD conferences and other conventional agenda in organisations (Phillips, 2003, p.9). Pressure from the senior managers and clients has

Harrison Bergeron and V For Vendetta Analysis Essay

Harrison Bergeron and V For Vendetta Analysis - Essay Example In such kind of societies, it is seen that the government is to be feared by the people: it has both the authority and the armed forces to enforce its will upon the people. But McTeigue has other ideas, declaring that â€Å"people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people,† emphasizing the concept of freedom over oppression. In this case, the researcher would try to expound the statement of McTeige through two outstanding literary pieces: the short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† (Vonnegut Jr. n. p.) and McTeigue’s film â€Å"V for Vendetta.† The short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† which was written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., tries to picture a society with absolute equality, wherein people are actually equal in all concepts (Vonnegut Jr. n. p.). As stated in the story, The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law; they were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else; nobody was better looking than anybody else; nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. (Vonnegut Jr. n. p.) In able to ensure that all people was absolutely equal, the government actually created the office of the â€Å"United States Handicapper General,† wherein the intelligent would be handicapped by a loud noise distracting them (resulting to the fact that all people would be â€Å"averagely intelligent), athletic people would have to wear weights in order to be as fast and as athletic as normal people, and where beautiful people would have to wear masks (Vonnegut Jr. n. p.). Due to such handicaps, society actually resulted to a collection of individuals who are absolutely equal in every way, all of them stupid, dumb, and following authority without question (Vonnegut Jr. n. p.). This short story, which actually serves as a political satire, shows how the aim of governments to ensure absolute equality actually harms the natural differences of people, and how it both oppresses the rights of individuals to be who they are, harming the welfare of society as a whole. From this message, it can be seen that the freedom of individuals over oppression must be upheld, for it does not only benefit the welfare of the people, but the welfare and well-being of society as a whole. While Kurt Vonnegut Jr. used a satirical narrative to describe how oppression harms the well being of society and makes it dysfunctional, Director James McTeigue opted to use a different way to show why freedom must reign supreme over oppression, and why governments must be afraid of the people: he used the movie â€Å"V for Vendetta† (McTeigue, n. p.). This movie actually talks about the time when the government of Britain comes to be dominated by the fascist †Å"Norsefire Party,† turning Britain into a totalitarian state (McTeigue, n. p.). As the Norsefire Party takes power and gains hold of the parliament (following the bioterrorist attacks that will claim

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Term paper - Essay Example describes the desired method of handling patient care and the type of interpersonal skills development necessary to achieve patient satisfaction and personal satisfaction in this career. This paper describes the important components of a philosophy and applies them to the field of nursing. â€Å"Nurses who are self-motivated, continue their education, and are active in professional organizations enjoy career satisfaction and provide better healthcare† (Smalley, 2005, p.59). In the nursing environment, being self-motivated is part of an internal desire to be responsive and dynamic when delivering patient care. Less-motivated nurses rely on policy and procedure to drive their decision-making, moving around the patient environment waiting for their next round of administrative instructions. Self-motivation is a very important component of having a philosophy, as the desire to provide patient care must include the ability to regulate one’s own actions. For example, a nurse is going to be exposed to different patients with different emotional needs, therefore a successful nurse must be able to respond to these needs in ways which are meaningful to the patient, culturally. It should be part of the nurse’s internal beliefs where the patient’s need s are put first and should be a paramount objective. However, a nurse with a total self-motivated philosophy might conduct additional, self-motivated research on cultural or sociological patterns of patients so that they can relate to them better at the emotional or cultural level. The self-motivated aspect of nursing philosophy can also be a career goal philosophy, where superior performance without the need for administrative intervention can lead to a better nursing reputation or better, measurable patient care. Another component which is important for a philosophy is to realize that â€Å"health is the expression of physical, psychological, spiritual, and social well-being† (ju.edu, 2009, p.1). A caregiver who only

Dealing with Unhealthy Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dealing with Unhealthy Food - Essay Example From this essay highlights that the national rate of obesity in the case of adults is twenty four percent while it has been approximated to be as high as fifty two percent in Manchester and the adjacent Clay County. There have been efforts to understand the degree of obesity from various quarters and recently, Michelle Obama, the first lady, lead other stakeholders in unveiling the findings of a task force on obesity. The findings showed that the rate of obesity in children was increasing and there were a limited number of places where people could purchase foods that were nutritious. Places such as Manchester are likely to be more affected by the obesity crisis in future as there is no department that is responsible for recreation or parks. Apart from this, most of the establishments that operate up to late at night are fast food places and this is quickly increasing the number of overweight people.This study discusses that the issue of being overweight may also be attributed to the feeding culture as children are required to clean their plates at mealtimes before they can leave the table. The children are required to eat all their food even when they are already full. There is also the issue of denial or a fear of knowing and the people consider that the only time there are supposed to be weighed is when they go to the doctor even though they do not visit the doctor. Others eve consider obesity as a hereditary issue that they are not in a position to control.

Controlling Cyber Deviance in the Workplace Assignment

Controlling Cyber Deviance in the Workplace - Assignment Example Cyber deviance is on the rise in many workplaces as most employees engage in Internet abuse unrelated to work. Employees use the Internet for other purposes including sending personal emails and chatting with friends and family members. According to Kimberly (2014), several studies have confirmed that the majority of employees in many companies abuse the Internet (P. 194). Among the most common cyber deviance recorded include, surfing the Internet during work hours, accessing pornography, online chatting, gaming and shopping at work. New studies show that cyber deviance among employees during working hours, costs corporations many cash in lost revenues, reduced productivity, draining network resources, adverse publicity and possible legal liability (Kimberly, 2014). As such, it is paramount for employers and companies to develop strategies to deal with cyber deviance among employees to reduce the loss. This paper will focus on the possible reduction of workplace cyber deviance among employees in a travel agency. In such a company, employees are equipped with the Internet access for various work purposes. Travel orders and payments for such a firm are done online. Some employees are mandated with the role of ensuring travellers buy their tickets on time and are put on the right vehicles. Due to widespread Internet usage for such a company, chances of possible cyber deviance among the employees are very high. As discussed earlier, cyber deviance and consequent Internet abuse can result in enormous losses for this travel company. The company needs a comprehensive action plan to ensure that cyber deviance among its employees is minimal. This paper proposes a holistic action plan to deal with cyber deviance for the company. The action plan to reduce cyber deviance for the enterprise is the Internet Acceptable Usage Policy (IAUP).  Ã‚  

Group Development within Apollo 13 Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group Development within Apollo 13 - Movie Review Example Lastly and in many cases, most important, would be the stage of performance, or performing. This would be the stage at which individuals within the group would truly come together as one and be able to effectively execute that which they would wish to do so. From a cinematic standpoint, the movie to consider for this exercise would be the Ron Howard directed 'Apollo 13'. Based upon the events that occurred for the Apollo 13 crew that almost did not return home from their mission, the three primary characters are as follows: Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert. With formation, the final group of men on the mission would be re-formed together, after the discovery of the potential illness of one of the original men selected for the crew. With Lovell and Haise, they would have already been through the forming process together and as such, would have grown more accustomed to one another, than they necessarily would have been with the new addition of Jack Swigert. The storming phase would be most apparent between Swigert and Hase, with Lovell serving as the intermediary.

The text the color purple Essay Example for Free

The text the color purple Essay The text ‘The Color Purple’, in both the novel by Alice Walker and the film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg, show Celies, a broken, mistreated girl, developing into an independent, strong woman, despite the physical, emotion and sexual abuse that she faces throughout her life. Each representation of the text take on a different approach as to how it portrays Celie’s search for self through her relationships with other characters-particularly Nettie and Shug-, her belief in God, her struggle for independence and fight against the oppression Albert forces on her. The novel tends to be more confronting while the harshness of the mistreatment is softened in the film by the placid music, comical elements and the fact that physical violence is hardly seen. Though the film and novel vary significantly and utilize different techniques to express the general ideas, both explore the major themes of racism, male dominance and family relationships. The novel tells the story through Celies letters, and therefore the reader knows nothing more than what Celie writes. This strong, single point of view makes the story much more personal and the effect of her innocent, frank language make the injustices she is put through even more stirring. The book uses Celies short, blunt sentences to convey her fear and turmoil, opening with a simple confronting sentence: â€Å"you better never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy†. Celie starts as a scared, confused girl with nothing in the world but her faith in God and her love for her younger sister, Nettie. The film, however, begins with direct contrasts to this, with the two sisters laughing and playing clapping games in a beautiful field of purple, Celie’s pregnancy not revealed until she steps out to meet ‘Pa’ in which the light music stops abruptly. The film used this lighter opening to soften the impact of the rape and to show her innocence and youth, as well as immediately show the closeness she shares with Nettie. Celie grew up with no self-formed opinion of herself, believing the negative comments that others spoke of her: â€Å"Celie you got the ugliest smile this side of creation†. The years of abuse made her submissive and silent, never speaking up for herself in order to survive. Shots of Celie watching events from behind props, windows or with her face turned down demonstrate the invisible nature that she has developed in the film. As the film had to keep running time down, Celie’s life is skipped through. This is done with a clever camera position showing young Celies shadow reading, her voice gradually getting deeper and her reading more fluent, the shadow changing to the figure of a woman. Recurring snapshots of the letterbox in various conditions as well as the use of dates aid the films quicker progression through the plot. Gaps left in the story by these skips in time are filled in with a voiceover. The novel illustrates Celies fear of males through word choice and blunt statements, as well as Celies husband being referred to as simply Mr. _____ for a significant part of the book , whereas the film used visual techniques such as lighting and camera angles. Many low angle camera shots of Albert or ‘Pa’ enclosed by shadows or looking down upon the females give the impression of dominance. Close-ups highlighting the expression of fear on Celie’s face or at sinister intentions of the male characters at the start of the film compared to the close ups of Celie as a confident woman after she found her identity show the change that she has undergone. This change in Celie occurs with the introduction of Shug and Sofia into her life. The two contrasting women are both strong and free and teach Celie that women do not have to be ruled by men. Celies main influence is Shug, who is loved by Albert as well as Celie, whose attachment to Shug is depicted through her primary role in the story of Celies life. Shug plays an extremely imperative part in Celies search for self by being the affectionate, encouraging person that Celie always needed. Most importantly, she teaches Celie to love herself and be happy with whom she is as a person. Shug opens Celies mind by removing other peoples influence on her belief in God, explaining that â€Å"not being tied to what God looks like frees us†. The turning point in both the book and the novel is when Celie discovers that Albert has hidden Nettie’s letters from her for all these years. Her love of Nettie, who she believes to be â€Å"the only one to ever love me† had helped her to stay strong through the years and endure Albert’s abuse. When she finds that he had been keeping Nettie from her, her rage breaks her fear of him and gives her the courage to leave the house and move to Memphis with Shug. Albert summarizes what he believes to be her weaknesses when he says â€Å"You black, you poor, you ugly, you a woman. Goddamn you nothing at all†. Celies retaliation by cursing him with â€Å"everything you even think about is going to fail until you do right by me† shows just how far she has come already. Albert’s insult poses a challenge for Celie. She goes out to find happiness and become self-sufficient, despite Albert’s condemnation. The novel looks at the progress that Celie makes with her sewing of pants. This is symbolic of the protest against discrimination against women and is a major part of Celie’s search for self. The film however skips through this, instead focusing on the symbolism of the purple field in Celie’s happiest moments-her childhood with Nettie, her walk with Shug after she returns home a successful woman and her reuniting with Nettie at the very end. The conclusion of the novel seemed to be much more rounded, with all the strings of the past woven neatly into a final letter in which she addresses â€Å"Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear everything. Dear God†. In this letter we find out that Nettie and her husband, Olivia, Adam and Adams wife have returned home from Africa. Celie and Nettie now have their own house, after finding out the truth about their ‘Pa’, Shug as come back to Celie, Sofia and Harpo are once again happy together and Celie has forgiven Albert for the past, now valuing him as a friend. It is this connection that eventually brings them together as friends. Though the film and novel vary significantly and utilize different techniques to express the general ideas, both explore the major themes of abuse, oppression, male dominance and family relationships. The central character, Celie, finds her identity through the help of those she loves and her personal strength to accept the past and move on with the future.

Impact of Immigration in America

Impact of Immigration in America Brach Hadean Immigration in America The most vital and maybe special historic components adding to the personality for the US system is the range of backgrounds from where the nation’s resident come. Immigrants from nearly every spot associated within the globe have actually been determined enough to leave their particular ancestral houses and work out a brand new life in the US. Except for the American Indian, Eskimos and local Hawaiians, every American is both an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants. The circulation of individuals to what is today the United States Of America started in the the sixteenth century. Information technology proceeded mostly unrestricted until 1921, till congress enacted legislation establishing quotas for the wide range of the individuals that could enter the United States Of America. Most importantly, this continuing immigration made a great and remarkable jump in populace in the United States Of America. However, the influence of immigration and the growth of the United States Of America goes far beyond its influence on the dimensions of the population. The wave of immigrants that started to enlarge within the 1840s and crested at the conclusion of nineteenth century made feasible the impressive commercial and industrial development of the United States Of America, as well as territorial development. Another influence function of US immigration happens to be the ethic, financial and spiritual range associated with immigrants. Various other countries can track their particular development to size influxes of immigrants. Circumstances overseas as well as in the United States Of America triggered these individuals to show up here in great waves. Nearly all African immigrants arrived prior the Civil War, but unlike most various other immigrants, they didn’t come by their own accord. Chinese workers, recruited to aid creation of the railroads, set roots in huge numbers in the western Coast within the 1850s and 1860s. A lot of men and women from north and west Europe emerged before 1880. At the conclusion of the nineteenth and start of the 20th century, various others from Southern, Eastern and Central Europe came in bigger quantities for a number of years. Hungarians and Cubans have actually fled their particular homelands to escape communist regimes. Politics and Immigration The cultural range made possible by immigration in the United States Of America has enriched US songs, literary works, art, etc. This has additionally had an apparent influence on the United States political system. The most significant facets for the US for many immigrants happens to be a practically endless chances to take part in the American community despite their particular novice standing. After five year’s of good standing residence together with the passing of a number of exams in the concepts of federal government and legislation in the US, any person may become a US resident. The needs and requirements of the naturalized residents have actually supplied inputs for the United states political system. Once the wide range of possible immigrant voters increased, politicians started looking for techniques to win their particular electoral assistance. One particularly efficient means would be to spend even more effort looking into the happenings in nations from where huge figures of immigrants had come. In an effort to charm brand new voters throughout the nineteenth century, the nations government started to support issues associated with certain circumstances in various other nations. The Emergence of Ethnic Politics Much more essential, had been the influence of immigrant groups in the United states governmental system as they became involved in the government procedure. Many of these immigrants were indeed peasant farmers from their particular country of origin . They had little to no formal training education in crafts, investments or careers. The very first immigrants attracted from many nations had been in most cases apathetic and highly dubious of politics, and they regarded this a regulating device. It was in the nations hubs of towns and cities that the immigrants initially became linked with politics. Sooner or later they became linked, mastering all that politics could offer their particular passion by assisting to supply them with tasks and neighborhood solutions. They discovered furthermore that politics supplied networks of development for the highly motivated people in the immigrant group, which discovered their particular place in the government it self, either becoming a frontrunn ers or serving frontrunners on their own. Numerous immigrants shortly discovered that, when they ran for a particular office, they could bring in a considerable wide range of ballots from member of votes from people in their particular immigrant collective. As immigrants made up bigger and bigger levels of voters within the metropolitan areas, they became more and more effective in electing their particular people to general public positions. The immigrant politician tried to discover tasks for people in their own cultural group. Just as crucial, he aided them withe guidelines, legislation and obligations of citizenship in positions where in the vocabulary ended up being unknown and hard to learn. In return for these favors, the immigrant voters added to continued governmental help. This design, which appeared in the last half of the nineteenth century, profoundly affected the nature associated with the US governmental system. The design ended up being private and individual instead of focused toward wide problems of general public plan. Certainly, it had been focused toward getting the financial protection of immigrants in a realm of uncertainly. No matter what appeal might be presented to immigrants to become part of the modern or maj or governmental movements, the device that opened the doors to immigrants ensured their loyalty because of the opportunity originally given. Immigrants thus never ever became an essential power in reform politics. The very early individualistic and personal direction of immigrant politics ended up being changed with 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants. Politics based on favors started steadily to minimize as second-generation immigrants at the conclusion of the nineteenth century reacted to the increasing failure of urban area employers to provide all their particular requirements. Second generation immigrants had additionally an even more extended consciousness of this opportunities of politics than their particular forebears. The cultural groups within the urban centers started to join modern and liberal governmental motions and by the time the New Deal contract came into existence in the 1930s they constituted a crucial base of help for the democratic party. Cultural Politics and American Pluralism Possibly, one of the most essential results of immigration in American governmental life happens to be the extension of ethic identification in American politics. This respect to nationwide beginnings is of good relevance whenever a possible prospect is selected for public office. Additionally, it influences the casting of ballots, the framing of problems, the filling of community tasks and a lot of other issues in the government. The continuation of ethic identification is particularly significant because it reinforces the pluralistic personality associated with the United states political system. It adds to the complexity of causes affecting the tasks of federal government and it will help to make sure that governmental aid is going to be extensively provided. Since there are incredibly numerous ethic distinctions, no one group is in a position to obtain control of the equipment necessary for control of the US federal government. In spite of the perseverance in maintaining ethic identification, many ethic groups have grown to be adequately assimilated into American culture to subordinate this identification for their identification as US citizens. This is because of the capacity regarding the governmental portions of this culture to take the newcomers into the governmental and social procedure. The Ebony in the American Situation Unlike various other ethic groups, black American, whove been here prior to the creation associated with the republic, havent been in a position to take part completely in the government. Despite their expertise aided by the vocabulary or their typical values with bulk of People in America, they are held outside the framework of the United states culture. Rules, statutes and customs had been piled against them, preventing them from voting, from equal education and the right to live in an area of their choosing if affordable. Even after reformation, numerous blacks continue to be annoyed at their particular incapacity to play a role in the inputs of governmental system. They think there are no particular officials through who they may be able channel their needs or who can express their issues adequately. Some black colored individuals believe that aggression and violence may be their only way to counteract this ineffectiveness within the governmental system. Cultural variety can be both a benifit and a hindrance. In a lot of instances, it has a tendency to deteriorate and prevent a person or group from obtaining control, therefore permitting most of the groups to take part in the democratic processes. Conversely, like in the scenario of black colored United states, whenever any solitary group is not incorporated into the procedure, the democratic beliefs are not satisfied. Altering Patterns of Immigration In the past years remarkable modifications have actually taken hold within the diverse populace of immigrants who are assimilating into America. Whereas within the past, many immigrants arrived from Northern Europe, nowadays practically one 3rd of all of the immigrants come from Asia. This development reflects an improvement in the immigration legislation in 1965, that Eastern Hemisphere and Europeans nations are placed on equivalent ground; not more than 20,000 immigrants per 12 months from each nation are permitted to enter the United States Of America. Of certain importance would be the fact that immigrants these days are attracted through the elites of the local nations, instead of through the lower classes. It has triggered a mind drain who has badly crippled a lot of Asian nations. The issue of Illegal Aliens By the conclusion of the 1970s the United States Of America had been confronted using the uncommon issue of coping with millions of unlawful aliens. Its impossible to acquire a precise count of illegal immigrants, the Immigration and Naturalization division places the cumulative figure at 6 to 8 million. The issue is especially in the Southwest, in which happens to be an apparent intrusion of Mexicans, looking to escape the extensive impoverishment in their own personal nation. It was projected that huge numbers of unlawful Mexicans cross the country’s borders looking for employment, that a few of the United states companies provide due to the lower wages. The issue of illegal aliens reflect change in the immigration plan that today significantly restrict immigration. Whereas previous immigrants established the anchor for the current work force and the literal feeling they created a great deal of America, the descendants regarding the initial immigrants today start to see the increase of individuals from overseas as a risk for their jobs in a nation of lower than filled national employment. Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_immigration_to_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States http://www.history.com/topics/u-s-immigration-before-1965 http://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm;jsessionid=f8302211001397524805099?bhcp=1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American) http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/american-government/american-political-culture/section2.rhtml

Education in the age of globalisation

Education in the age of globalisation Introduction What does education have to do with globalisation? The answer is simple: everything. The most recent wave of globalisation, which began in the 1980s, is being driven by the knowledge economy and, in turn, this knowledge economy is being facilitated by globalisation. Without education, the knowledge economy collapses. So anyone talking about globalisation is also talking about the knowledge economy and education. First, globalisation. Sometimes the concept seems like a many-headed dragon (Giddens, 2000). To some, the phenomenon is as old as the world itself just think of the great kingdoms of antiquity, the voyages of discovery, the great waves of migration in the 19th century, etc.. After the world wars, international institutions were created which were supposed to lead to global governance, a type of world government which would establish a new world order. However, the most recent wave of globalisation has swept over this like a deluge. As a result of increasing internationalisation in production and distribution networks, sovereign states are suddenly being downgraded to water-carriers of international big business. The laws of the free market are imposed upon them, for fear of being ignored by investors. Some institutions that were supposed to guarantee the creation of the new world order are themselves preaching deregulation and worldwide competition. In other words, in debates about globalisation, we are not usually talking about the globalisation trend in its generic sense (the increasing trend towards worldwide interdependence, driven by telecommunications). The model of globalisation that is so controversial that it has become the target of fierce demonstrations, is one that is coloured by neo-liberal ideology. It is the globalisation of the free market, driven by competition and the quest for profit. Both heads of the monster also refer to the knowledge society. In the first definition, the Internet and the media play a key role: ideas move at the speed of light around the world and ensure that every innovation that catches on also takes on worldwide proportions. This means that anyone who can master the Internet and the media is at the source and acquires power. In the second definition, the establishment of the global neo-liberal market economy, knowledge, IT and information play just as important a role. A great many services that do not require physical proximity (such as information processing, accounting, financial services, translation, etc.) can indeed be produced anywhere in the world and delivered to the other side of the globe. Moreover, markets are connected across the world so that information about production, prices, innovations, etc., is distributed over the Internet in the blink of an eye. This significantly increases the transparency of the markets and boosts co mpetition. Our leaders have also understood that our competitive advantage in the global market economy no longer rests on the possession of raw materials or manpower, but on our grey matter: knowledge. The Lisbon Strategy: knowledge as both competitive weapon and social cement? During the 2000 spring summit in Lisbon, EU leaders elevated the knowledge economy to the ultimate goal of the decade: making the EU into the largest and most dynamic knowledge economy in the world, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The exegesis of this text is a fascinating activity. At first sight, one sentence contains the most obvious contradictions: on the one hand, the desire to be a winner in the global competitive struggle is clear while, on the other hand, we find the desire to counteract the social and regional polarisation that results from the neo-liberal market economy, using the same investments in knowledge. It seems to be a typically political sample compromise between heads of state on right and left, all wanting to put their eggs in the EU basket without checking whether their agendas are in any way reconcilable. The fact is that the Lisbon agenda can be taken in many different ways. For the marketeers, it is first and foremost about playing out comparative advantages on world markets. According to the Heckscher-Ohlin theorems of international trade theory, free trade will spontaneously cause trading partners to specialise in producing those goods and services in which they have a comparative advantage. Where necessary, the government may lend a helping hand. If we assume that Europe is relatively poor in raw materials and labour, but rich in brain power, then investing in education, research and development is indeed the recipe for success. Investment in RD has to be increased, up to 3% of gross domestic product. The innovative climate has to be nurtured, including by establishing innovation platforms, incubation centres, public investment in eco-technology, etc.. Information and communication technologies are key areas of economic development. The number of scientifically and technically educated people at secondary and higher levels must be dramatically increa sed. The connection between education and the labour market must be improved. The flow of unqualified school-leavers must be cut by half. Participation in life-long learning must be increased and every adult must have access to basic IT skills. By specialising in knowledge-intensive sectors according to the forecasts of neo-classical trade theory the European economy will grow further and the Third World will also benefit as a result because the flipside of the coin is that labour-intensive activities will be outsourced to low-wage countries. Both sides, North and South, can only benefit as a result. The World Bank looked and saw that it was good: according to the Bank, the new globalisers a group of 23 developing countries that have opened up their borders (China, India, Brazil and others) saw average economic growth in the 1990s (per head of population) of 5% per year. In the rich countries, where globalisation was promoted, this growth was 2% per year, while the stragglers, countries that sealed themselves off, experienced negative average growth (World Bank, 2002). At the same time, the OECD and the EU learned from research that the knowledge economy was once again to set them on the path of sustainable growth. Temple (2001) found that every additional year of education by the working population increases national income by about 10%. This effect can be broken down into a level effect and a growth effect: the former means that the working population is more productive and therefore generates more income. The growth effect can be attributed to the fact that the more highly e ducated have also learned to learn: even after leaving the classroom they continue to behave creatively and flexibly under changing circumstances, producing a snowball effect as a result. As far as investment in research and development is concerned, the figures are just as telling: Sakurai et al. (1996) estimate the average rate of return from RD activities at 15%, with exceptions up to 40-50% in some countries and sectors. In other words, every euro a company or government invests in RD is fully recovered in an average of 7 years. The observation that few investments are as profitable as investments in education and research is perhaps one of the most important findings to come out of social sciences in the past decade. The European Commission has also received this message loud and clear (de la Fuente Ciccone, 2002). So much for the good news. However, the way in which globalisation and the knowledge economy can be reconciled with social cohesion within the EU is not specified anywhere. Even the built-in pattern, that the global free market actually undermines social cohesion within Europe, is not discussed anywhere in EU documents. Indeed, the associated specialisation in knowledge-intensive sectors boosts the demand for highly specialised scientists and technically educated labour. The increasing shortages in these labour market segments will exert upward pressure on the wages of these workers. On the other hand, the outsourcing of low-skilled, labour-intensive production processes leads to reduced demand and a structural surplus of unskilled labour, which means that the wages and working conditions of these groups are also gradually undermined (Wood, 1994). Whether this polarisation on the labour market is caused by globalisation itself or by technological evolution or the tertiarisation of th e economy is more like a discussion of the gender of the angels: the three trends are after all dimensions of the same knowledge economy. Inequality in Europe, even in the whole of the rich North, has been systematically increasing since the mid-1980s (Fà ¶rster, 2000). According to Pontusson et al. (2002), some countries are still managing to curb inequality by a strong trade union movement and/or public employment, but these counteracting forces are coming under increasing pressure. The Lisbon strategy therefore seems like trying to square the circle. The more the member states encourage it, the less social cohesion there is. The EU does have structural funds available to promote social cohesion (both between regions and between the highly skilled and unskilled). Since the enlargement of the EU, however (itself also a stage in globalisation), these structural funds themselves have lost some of their influence because they have not grown in proportion to the size of the Union, certainly not in proportion to the drastically wider gap within the EU28. In our opinion, the only way to reconcile the knowledge economy with the objective of greater social cohesion and is through mass investment in education. The difference between this approach and the previous is that investment in education influences the supply side of the labour market, while globalisation and intensification of the knowledge-intensive production sectors influence the demand side. This difference is essential: perhaps it requires some explanation. RD investment and specialisation in knowledge-intensive trade (IT, financial services, pharmaceuticals, eco-technology, etc.), as we have said, boost the demand for highly skilled workers, while the outsourcing of unskilled production sectors causes a decline in the demand for unskilled workers. All other things being equal, this shift in the demand for labour causes a reverse redistribution of employment and income, from unqualified to highly qualified. Rather than stimulating this (spontaneous) trend, policy must be geared towards bringing about similar shifts on the supply side of the labour market. Education and vocational training are actually geared towards converting unskilled workers into more highly skilled workers: if this process can (at least) keep pace with the shifts on the demand side, inequality can be kept in check, or even reduced. It is a race against time and, if we claim that large-scale investment in education is needed, the distribution of this investment itsel f among the various sections of the population is also of great importance. The deeply ingrained Matthew effect in education and life-long learning actually threatens to undermine the effectiveness of this strategy. From a social perspective, the first priority in education policy is to eliminate the flow of unqualified school-leavers from education; the second priority is the literacy plan and the third is to increase the supply of engineers and those with scientific and technical skills. Not everyone will agree with this ranking. It is a question of social choice. The Lisbon strategy does not actually contradict this approach but nor does it lead automatically to the desired result. As we wrote in the introduction to this section, it seems like a sample compromise between diverging national priorities. Anything is possible with such compromises. We can characterise the contrasting policy alternatives described above as knowledge-intensive versus knowledge-extensive. The knowledge-intensive path, which gives priority to the development of advanced technology, will boost economic growth in the short term, but gradually become bogged down on the labour market, further dualisation of society and social unrest. The knowledge-extensive path, which gives preference to a raft of basic skills for as many people as possible, will perhaps deliver less visible results in the short term but, in the longer term, lead to more sustainable growth. The debate surrounding the correct mix has, to our knowledge, not yet been explicitly pursued. Free movement of education services The education sector is not only an involved party in the globalisation process; it is itself also partly the subject of it. In the 1990s, the WTO (World Trade Organization) launched an offensive (in the Uruguay round and again in 2001 in the Doha round) to involve a number of subsidised services in the negotiations about trade liberalisation as well. In principle, every service over which the government does not have a genuine monopoly can be discussed at the negotiating table. Education services are included here as soon as private organisers of education are admitted, even if they are 100% subsidised by the state. This is certainly the case in Belgium, given that the free education network alone is larger than the two official networks combined. International trade in education services can take various forms: from distance learning across national borders, international student or lecturer mobility, to the establishment of campuses abroad (Knight, 2002). Of course, it is up to the members themselves to decide, through free negotiations, whether they want to open up their education sectors to international competition. The EU commissioner for trade, who acts during the GATS negotiations on behalf of all EU member states, had given undertakings during the Uruguay round for privately financed education (in other words the commercial or at least unsubsidised education circuit). All compulsory education and most higher education therefore fall de facto outside the scope of GATS. Only entirely private schools and commercial initiatives in adult education were liberalised. What does this mean in practice? We are not used to talking about trade in educational services, even less about their liberalisation. After all, import tariffs are never charged Trade barriers do not, however, consist solely of import tariffs, but also of what are known as non-tariff obstacles (e.g. quota restrictions, quality standards, recognition procedures for fore ign qualifications, etc.). Once a party has opened up its borders, it must at least apply the general principles of GATS in this respect. Market access means that no quantitative barriers may be imposed, such as a ceiling of x foreign students or y branches of foreign schools. The most-favoured clause means that no privileges can be denied to one member if they are committed to another member of the WHO.  [1]  The principle of national treatment implies that, when there is free access to foreign service providers, no different standards or subsidy rules can be imposed on provisions of domestic or foreign origin. Furthermore, undertakings are irrevocable and WHO members hand over jurisdiction over any conflicts to a panel of international trade experts. The GATS initiative was not exactly welcomed with great enthusiasm. Its intentions were good: to increase prosperity by bringing burgeoning service sectors out of their national cocoons and to allow matching between demand and supply to take place across national borders. Liberalisation means diversification, greater freedom of choice, more efficiency and quality incentives and perhaps also less of a burden on the government budget. On the international stage, the major Anglo-Saxon countries were clearly in favour of the initiative. After all, they have had a strong comparative advantage right from the start because the working language of their education systems is the most important world language. E-courses, whether or not supported by specialist call centres, are very attractive as an export product because they are associated with huge economies of scale. However, the reception of foreign students can also be a lucrative business. For example, Australia is making big bucks with the tens of thousands of Asians attending university there. Even if this export education is partially subsidised, return effects can still be gained from other spending by foreign students and, if the best brains can then be retained in the host country, the picture is even more favourable. As importers, some major developing countries, led by China, can also make money from liberalisation. Thanks to the meteoric growth of its economy, the Chinese government cannot satisfy the increased demand for higher education. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students begin their studies abroad every year, possibly with a grant from their government. Most of them come back with Western qualifications and join the countrys scientific and technological elite. The Chinese government saves on higher education because most migrants pay for their studies abroad themselves. In some cases, multinationals investing in China establish their own colleges to train suitable executives. By contrast, in the European education sector, liberalisation and commercialisation meet with great reticence, not entirely without justification (OKeeffe, 2003; Hanley and Frederiksson, 2003). Not for nothing do governments curb market effects in education because of the risk of market failure. A free, competitive market also requires homogenous goods (a nursing qualification in country A should have the same value as in country B); at the same time, all those involved must be well-informed about the quality and cost price of the goods. Power concentrations (e.g. of large universities or associations) are out of the question, etc.. None of these conditions for healthy competition is truly fulfilled. Education is a very complex, opaque market. If all this applies to domestic provisions, how much more then to foreign provisions? Will liberalisation not lead automatically to privatisation and price increases? Does globalisation of the education sector not open the door to the suppressi on of national culture? It is not actually clear to what extent all these objections are founded. It is a fact that the EU pursues a somewhat ambiguous strategy in this area. It portrays itself to the outside world as the defender of a regulated, protected education sector but, internally, despite its subsidiary role regarding education, it promotes liberalisation by all means available. The Bologna process and the Copenhagen process should create a European educational space for higher and vocational education respectively, in which supply and demand can move freely. Harmonisation of structures, recognition of qualifications obtained elsewhere and the development of a uniform, transparent European Qualification Framework should help to enable EU citizens to brush up or refine their skills in other member states. Erasmus grants should boost student mobility and, last but not least, the EU services directive (the infamous Bolkestein directive) has led to the free movement of educational services within the E U, which that same EU is fighting at the GATS negotiating table. So what effects should we expect? To begin with, remember that compulsory education is also not subject to the services directive or the GATS rules, so that a great deal of movement should not be expected at this level. Secondly, higher education will also remain largely subsidised in the future. Free movement in this sector will perhaps lead to a downwards levelling off of subsidies (or an upwards levelling off of registration fees). After all, in an open educational space, a member state cannot allow itself to offer cheaper education than its neighbouring countries for very long. In the long term, thousands of students from other member states could benefit from this transnational generosity. After all, different prices cannot be charged to EU students and to domestic students. In higher and adult education, an increased registration fee is not actually undemocratic: it counteracts the misplaced redistribution currently ravaging these segments because the better-off make disproport ionately more use of education which is partly funded by less well-off taxpayers. The democratisation of higher and adult education is not threatened if increased registration fees are coupled with higher study grants. The creation of a more transparent, uniform European educational space can, we believe, only be regarded as a positive phenomenon. It is the task of the government, where the market fails, to ensure that the educational supply is more transparent. This allows the user to choose more freely. The competition between provisions is also heightened as a result, which should lead to better quality and/or lower cost price. Nonetheless, the impending commercialisation of higher education may also have detrimental effects: in this context, education is gradually reduced to its most utilitarian dimension. As the student himself finances a larger share of the cost of education, he will also be more likely to choose the more lucrative studies. In particular, humanities and cultural sciences could come under pressure as a result. If society attaches importance to an adequate balance between courses of study, it will also have to build in the required incentives for this (e.g. by differentiated registration fees). Another risk the intensification of the brain drain is covered in the final section of our paper. Last but not least, at international level, the risks of any forms of market forces in education are of course present, specifically increasing polarisation in quality and prestige among educational establishments. The Cambridges, Paris VIs, Munichs and Stockholms are undoubtedly becoming even more of a major draw within a unified European higher education space. It will not be long before they increase their registration fees and tighten up their entry conditions in order to cream off the European elite. Regional colleges, by contrast, will see a weakening of the target audience as a result of the same mechanisms. If access to higher education (and, even more so, adult education) is to remain democratic, European directives will also have to be enacted, as was also necessary for the liberalisation of other public welfare services. For example, Flemish higher education is already feeling the consequences of entry restrictions in the Netherlands. The question is whether this will be s ustainable in a context where international student mobility is on the increase. On the whole, the free movement of educational services does not look as scary as many make it out to be. It is important that a distinction be made between compulsory education, on the one hand, which belongs to the field of basic social rights, and further education and training on the other hand. In these latter segments, partial commercialisation should not automatically lead to social breakdown. It can even contribute to a more balanced financing mix, which is necessary to cope with the growing participation trend in the future. EU legislation will still have to ensure the required limit conditions to prevent negative social side effects. Education and Third World development In the above sections, we have largely confined ourselves to the European perspective. What do education and the knowledge society mean for the Third World? Curiously enough, the theory regarding the social role of education in the development literature is much richer and more subtle than in Western education literature. Whereas the Chicago economist Becker (1964) labelled education as an individual investment in human capital, with a financial return in terms of future income, the Bengali Sen (Sen, 1999) teaches us that education can also be regarded more broadly as an investment in capabilities which subsequently enable higher levels of functioning to be attained at the levels of health, family life, social participation, etc.. Empirical research underpins this position and demonstrates that a higher level of education also leads to better nutrition, health (e.g. AIDS prevention), housing, sex education, etc. (MacMahon, 1999; Saito, 2003). Moreover, investment in education generates many spill-over effects on the wider society. People learn from one another. Education also has a positive influence on security (prevention of high-risk and delinquent behaviour), social commitment, civil responsibility and the quality of democratic decisions. Research increasingly points to the role of education in the development of social capital (de la Fuente and Ciccone, 2002). These positive social effects are most clear in the context of gender-specific anti-poverty programmes. For instance, more education for women is associated with better family planning and better nutrition, health and training for children (for a summary of the results, see Behrman, 1997). In order to break through the vicious circle of poverty and disease, education and training programmes for girls and women are essential. In this context, UNICEF talks correctly of the multiplier effect of education for girls (UNICEF, 2004). These positive external effects ar e an additional reason for government intervention in education and training. Sufficient evidence exists that educational investment in developing countries produces a higher return than in developed countries (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos, 2004). This difference is a direct indication of the need for education in the acquisition of basic skills. In addition, Behrman (1997) points out that, as far as subsequent educational investments in their children are concerned, basic education or basic literacy for women is more important than achieving higher levels of education. Sen (2002) also emphasises the role of basic education and the role which this plays in increasing the required human security and further human and social development. Cost-benefit analyses have demonstrated that investments in pre-school education and basic education have a higher rate of return than spending on secondary and higher education particularly in developing countries (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos, 2004; Cunha et al., 2006). In multilateral development cooperation, these findings have been well received. At the World Conference in Jomtien (Thailand), in 1990, the Education For All (EFA) initiative was launched under the auspices of UNESCO. All parties agreed with the position that universal, compulsory, free, public and good-quality basic education is the cornerstone of an education strategy which also includes secondary, further, vocational and adult education. During the international Education Conference in Dakar (2000), the importance of education for all was again underlined and 6 objectives were formulated, two of which were later adopted as millennium objectives (completion of basic education by all young people and equal educational opportunities for girls and boys at all levels by 2015). The key target groups of the EFA campaign are the 80 million children who have never been to school and the 800 million illiterate adults in the world. Every developing country participating in EFA draws up a na tional education action plan that fits in with the national poverty reduction strategy (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) and gives priority to basic education. This action plan is tested on all relevant social actors. A set of indicators is envisaged which can be used to test effective implementation. Monitoring and evaluation are entrusted to one single financier by the international community, per receiving country. In an attempt to accelerate the EFA train further, in 2002 the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) was launched, encouraged by the World Bank, which both international financial backers and receiving countries can join on a voluntary basis. In addition to endorsing the EFA principles, donors are asked for an additional commitment to long-term financing and receiving governments are asked to commit to transparent evaluation. The least that can be said about EFA and FTI is that they have the wind in their sails. Participation and invested resources are rising phenomenally. Since 2000, official development help for education worldwide has more than doubled. Nonetheless, the challenges are still considerable: the major enemies of education are poverty (and, associated with this, child labour), war, the debt burden, migration, mismanagement and disease. In crisis regions, education simply grinds to a halt. In some countries, the ravages of AIDS on teaching staff are so severe that it is barely possible to replace sick and deceased teachersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In addition, it has to be said that the interests of financial backers and receiving countries, even if both groups have noble objectives, do not always coincide. The governments of developing countries are happy to make use of international support so that they can spend some of their own budgets on other priorities. On the other hand, the leading role of the World Bank in the FTI is not totally altruistic. One of the conditions for support, specifically, is that the national EFA action plans be linked to poverty reduction plans (PRSP): the latter are the World Banks key aid instruments. This means that multilateral educational aid serves as a lever to reinforce the influence of the World Bank on its customers. It is known that this external pressure is not always popular. Along with development aid, pro-globalist, liberal policy ideas are also dished out to receiving countries. In the past, for example, they were often obliged to reduce their import tariffs or food subsidies, which hit farmers and consumers particularly hard. Brain drain One of the reasons why the return on higher education in developing countries is relatively low has to do with the brain drain from developing countries to the rich North a phenomenon that does not exactly mesh with the predictions of international trade theory. In the first section of our paper, we referred to the theory of comparative advantages: every country will specialise in exporting goods and services for which the production factors are present in relative excess. Robert Mundell (1957) demonstrated that the international mobility of production factors can be regarded as a substitute for trade in goods, and with the same effect. In specific terms, this would mean that if developing countries have a surplus of unskilled labour and rich countries relatively large numbers of highly skilled people, we would expect a South-North migration of unskilled workers and a North-South migration of highly skilled workers. In both cases, migrants are attracted by the fact that, in the host country, they are relatively better paid than in their own countries because they are relatively scarcer there. In reality, the dominant pattern is a South-North migration of both unskilled and highly skilled workers. In 2005, around 4 million legal migrants (and an unknown number of illegals) flooded into the rich OECD countries (OECD, 2007). These figures do not include temporary migration. Upon closer inspection, the contradiction between theory and practice can be explained by a series of factors, of which we highlight only the most important. Firstly, the rich North dominates the world economy to such an extent that it also depresses demand for highly skilled people in the Third World. Secondly, governments in the North do not pursue a liberal policy when it comes to immigration. When push comes to shove, they place restraints on the laws of neo-classical trade theory, erect barriers to unskilled immigrants and are even actively recruiting the more highly skilled workers to fill existing bo

The Significance of the Townspeople and Emilys Father in A Rose for Em

A necrophiliac is described as a person who has an obsessive fascination with death and corpses (Mifflin 1). Emily, a necrophiliac in the story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† is a deranged, lost, and confused woman. A story filled with many symbols that help the stories meaning. The only man Emily knew growing up was her father. He taught her to trust no man, and no man would ever be good for her. He was highly favored through the town and everyone looked to him. The small town of curious and nosey people makes the story of â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† The town’s people are curious to know Emily’s every step, or wondering what she is going to do next, her appearance, and where the horrible smell in her house comes from. She meets a man in this small town and they become lovers. She then kills him with rat poisoning and sleeps with him every night until finally her time is up and everybody in her town finds out the real truth. Through out the whole story of â€Å"A Rose for Emily† no one ever knows who the people are in her town and we never find out there age, size, color, and whether or not they personally know Emily or not. They are just townspeople, townspeople who gossip. We only know what the people are saying about her and how judgmental they are being through out the whole story. According to Faulkner, in his Short Story Criticism he says, â€Å"Miss Emily constantly for fifty or sixty years; they are anonymous townspeople, for neither names nor sexes nor occupations are given or hinted at; and they seem to be naà ¯ve watchers, for they speak as though they did not understand the meaning of events at the time they occurred. Further, they are of undetermined age. By details given the story there neither older nor younger nor of the same age as Miss Em... ...again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows- sort of tragic and serene† (Faulkner 31). Emily father was highly favored in the town. Faulkner writes in his Short Story Criticism, â€Å"The Griersons have always been â€Å"high and mighty,† somehow above â€Å"the gross, teeming world†¦.† Emily’s father was well respected and occasionally loaned the town money. That made her a wealthy child and she basically had everything a child wanted. Emily’s father was a very serious man and Emily’s mind was violated by her father’s strict mentality. After Emily’s father being the only man in her life, he dies and she find it hard to let go of him. Because of her father, she possessed a stubborn outlook on life and how thing should be. She practically secluded her self from society for the remainder of her life.

Interrelation of Physical and Social Characteristics in Society :: Anthropology

Interrelation of Physical and Social Characteristics in Society Cultures on this planet are infinitely diverse and quite different from each other as well. Many of the customs and rituals that are practiced in the United States are diverse in nature as well, but are similar in more ways to each other than to cultures in other regions of the world. It seems that a great deal of a culture’s core stems from their surrounding environment, and the pressures that this puts on those trying to live there. A culture’s physical and social characteristics are interrelated, and play an important role in the development of a society and the personalities of the people. Marriage, jobs, and politics are all areas of a culture that are influenced by a person’s environment. In the U.S., monogamy is the â€Å"normal† structure of marriage, and is a logic choice considering the type of environment we live in. Independence training is emphasized to prepare people for obtaining the highest standard of living in the U.S. Being better than another is important in this society, and is stressed to most people from a very early age. Living away from one’s parents is not only expected but also often desired by both the child and the parents. Mobility is a huge factor in the work force, and the less one is â€Å"tied down† to, the easier it is to make the necessary transitions. In other societies, forms of marriage other than monogamy make more sense, and make life easier. For example, the !Kung San live together in small groups, in which everyone takes care of all the children, and much of life is not privately shielded from the group. Their openness and sharing of childcare and lifestyles is also portrayed in their food gathering activities. The villagers gather food and then distribute it to not only their own â€Å"nuclear† family, but to others as well. It would be too hard to survive on your own in this environment, so the group structure works well. Inheritance of lands and goods also plays an important role in the structuring of societies and families in other cultures outside of the U.S. Cultures such as the Inuit, Tibetans, and Marquesan Islanders of Polynesia, practice polyandry, the marriage of more than one man to a single woman. This is common for brothers who do not wish to divide up their father’s lands, so they will marry the same woman and both retain the entire estate.

Movie crash

The film that had an impact on me was the movie Crash.   This Oscar-winning movie written and directed by Paul Haggis showed so many lessons about life that are important.   The movie demonstrated the need for empathy in this world.   No matter what color or sex or size, people need to show more empathy to one another.     But this movie is also about the anger and frustration that we carry around with us everyday as well.   Living in the modern day world is tough, but we need to find better ways to relate to each other.   As Robert Jensen says, â€Å"We all carry around racial/ethnic baggage that’s packed with unfair stereotypes, long-stewing grievances, raw anger and crazy fears.   Even when we think we have made progress, we find ourselves caught in frustratingly complex racial webs from which we can’t seem to get untangled† (Jensen). No matter where we are from around the world, the point remains that we need to find better ways to get along.   Not just with those from other places and backgrounds but with those next to us who deserve better.     This idea of â€Å"It ´s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We ´re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.† means that we need more relating and touch and understanding from the people around us.   This idea of being able to relate to each other and get along is shown over and over again in this movie One example of the theme of getting along are the characters of Rick and Jean (Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock), a rich white couple.   Rick is a DA who tries to remain unprejudiced, but the viewer feels like he is all about image so he can be re-elected.   Nothing â€Å"real† seems to come from him, and the viewer suspects that he is having an affair with his white co-worker.   Jean, on the other hand, is all real.   She is increidibly prejudiced against the Hispanic locksmith who comes to the house.   She very clearly tells her husband exactly what she thinks. â€Å"I would like the locks changed again in the morning. And you know   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   what, you might mention that next time we'd appreciate it if they didn't   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   send a gang member†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She is a mean person, and she has this one memorable quote.   She is talking with a so-called friend on the phone and she begins to explain the way she feels, â€Å" I am angry all the time†¦ and I don't know why† (Crash).   The viewer wonders how many others feel this way.   Jean has supposedly everyone that anyone would want.   She has lots of money and a rich and important husband.   She can do anetying she wants, but she has nobody in her life. If a woman like this is angry all the time, what can that say for the rest of us? She berates and chastises everyone due to her own unhappiness, and I believe that may just be the general state of the world.   And at one point, she tells her maid that she is indeed her best friend.   This is the maid who has taken her to the hospital after she has fallen down the stairs; her friends were too busy.   We need to find ways to connect with each other and make our lieves more fulfilling, so that we can have relationships with other people. That is the lesson that Jean teaches in the film.   the old adage that money cannot buy happiness is shown again.   Meaningful people in our lives bring happiness. Another character who displayed the importance of relationships, and was the opposite of Jean’s character was the Latino locksmith Daniel (Michael Pena).   By first glance this man did not have half of what Jean’s character did.   He was just a working-class guy trying to make a living.   However, when we catch a glimpse of him at home with his family, our take is altogether different.   The viewer sees him under the covers with his daughter telling her a sotyr about the invisible cloak and being a dad and a family man.   His story is plauful and fun, not just matter of fact. â€Å"She had these little stubby wings, like she could've glued them on, you know, like I'm gonna believe she's a fairy. So she said, â€Å"I'll prove it.† So she reaches into her backpack and pulls out this invisible cloak and she ties it around my neck. And she tells me that it's impenetrable. You know   what impenetrable means? It means nothing can go through it. No bullets, nothing. She told me that if I wore it, nothing would hurt me. And I did. And my whole life, I never got shot, stabbed, nothing. I mean, how weird   is that?† (Crash). He enjoys his time with his daughter, like tucking her in at night.   It seems that he is good at his job, but he works to live rather than lives to work.   he lloves his wife and his daughter, and the viewer cringes at the idea of something horrible happening in this family.   The scene where Daniel’s daughter almost gets shot is one of the most tense of the film.   This man, while he does not have money or status, shows the viewer what life is all about.   he forms meaningful connections in life, and these are what sustain him. And there is another character who seems to be in the middle, between Jean and Daniel in his ability or lack of ability to form relationships.   This is officer Ryan.   While he is a racist cop and does some terrible things in this movie, he is also a human being as evidenced by the scenes with his father.   Because of his powerlessness at home, he is able to commit horrible atrocities at work and yet, turn around and do something entirely redeeming.   His sense of powerlessness is because his father may have cancer, but their HMO prevents them from using a different doctor. His father is having prostate trouble, and the viewer sees the two of them together at night in the bathroom.   The humiliation in these scenes is overwhelming, and the love between father and son is clearly shown.   But Officer Ryan takes all that out on those around him.   He tries to appeal to the caseworker Shaniqua, but he still insults her by lashing out about affirmative action.   In the end, she cannot form a connection with him, and she honestly anwers his pleas with, â€Å"Your father sounds like a good man. And if he'd come in here today I probably would have approved his request. But he didn't come in, you did. And for his sake, that's a real shame.† We can’t really blame Shaniqua for not wanting to help him, but the viewer wishes that she would.   Again and again we are shown what happens when we lack compassion and empathy for others and do not form relationships. The title itself and the opening quote implies that we are too busy with our own lives to get to know others, but that many of our preconceived notions or prejudices would be gone if only we would take the time.   This applies for people from all walks of life.   If rich people never do things where they come into contact with different types of people, the preconceived notions will continue to exist.   The other lesson here is that everyone has a story and a reason for acting the way they do.   If human beings could just take the time to learn about toehrs, we could at least begin to understand why they act the way they do.   Crash does a phenomenal job of showing us these things without preaching. Works Cited Chang, Jeff and Chan, Sylvia.   â€Å"Can White Hollywood Get Race Right?†Ã‚   Posted July 19, 2005.   Retrived April 27, 2007 at http://www.alternet.org/movies/23597/?page=3 Jensen, Robert and Wosnitzer, Robert.   2006.   â€Å"Crash the and Self-Indulgence of White   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   America†.   Retrieved April 26, 2007 at    http://www.nthposition.com/crashandtheself-indulgence.php