Philosophy essay writing
Research Paper Topics On War
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Daisy in The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald Essay -- Great Gatsby Fitzgera
Daisy in The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald All through the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Daisy Buchanan experiences numerous recognizable changes. Daisy is an image of riches and of guarantees broken. She is a character we develop to feel frustrated about yet most likely ought not. Conceived Daisy Fay in Louisville, Kentucky, Daisy was consistently the princess in the pinnacle, the brilliant young lady that each man longed for having. ?She wearing white, and had a little white roadster, and all the day long the phone rang in her home and energized youthful officials from Camp Taylor requested the benefit of hoarding her that night,? (79). Daisy is excellent, rich, and shows up exceptionally honest as a young lady, despite the fact that it is later proposed that she was very indiscriminate. While she was the object of each man?s want, Daisy was frantically enamored with Jay Gatsby. Daisy attempted to get away to New York to watch Gatsby leave for war however was forestalled by her folks since Jay didn't fulfill their guidelines. They objected to him since he didn't have as much cash or originate from a family in a similar social class as their own. In spite of the fact that Daisy composed letters to Gatsby and vowed to stay steadfast she wedded Tom Buchanan from Chicago the following year. Tom was extraordinarily well off and ?the day preceding the wedding he gave her a pearl necklace esteemed at 300 and fifty thousand dollars,? (80). Daisy appeared to be frantically enamored with her new spouse and seemed to be cheerful. Daisy has been hitched to Tom for a significant extensive measure of time and they have just had a little girl when Daisy?s cousin, Nick, returns in Daisy?s life. Mrs. Buchanan is amazingly cordial with her cousin and consistently appears to be happy to see h... ...nted everybody to feel frustrated about Daisy. In any case, one thinks that its difficult to feel frustrated about somebody also off as herself. She is an image of cash and the debasement it brings. One must be mindful so as not to distinguish Daisy with the green light toward the finish of her dock. The green light is the guarantee, the fantasy. Daisy herself is considerably less than that. Indeed, even Gatsby must understand that having Daisy in the substance is a whole lot not as much as what he envisioned it would be the point at which he went gaga for the possibility of her. While Daisy Buchanan experiences various changes all through the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, she stays an image of riches, broken guarantees, and dreams defiled. While one thinks that its simple to feel frustrated about her, she is in no methods the survivor of the novel. Work Cited F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992
Saturday, August 22, 2020
With Reference to Your Own Research?
Regarding your own exploration to what degree do you imagine that acting in a socially capable manner is nowâ essential for organizations? Social dependable permits business to make a positive relationship with the network and furthermore then condition inside their activity. Organizations that utilization socially capable are Marks and Spencer. They have done this by making an activity consider Plan A where they can produce ? 85 million from simply lessening costs. Setting aside this measure of cash they are allowed the chance to extend the M&S brand, this is one of their principle goals where they need to have a M&S store inside a 30 minutes span of every client. With M&S sparing ? 185 million they have had the option to a constructive relationship with the network that they are in.What they have likewise done is that they have been clearing out the communityââ¬â¢s lakes and waterways this is excellent as they will be hoping to show that they are thinking about the earth, being social dependable is an awesome advertising procedure as they will pick up exposure, and this will prompt more individuals turning out to be progressively mindful that M&S are taking care of the earth and individuals will bolster the thought. They will do this through shopping at M&S. The hindrances of social liable for organizations, for example, M&S are that they will have lost an open door cost as they have had the option to spare ? 85 million they should pick whether they need to keep supporting the neighborhood network or increment their piece of the overall industry. As M&S need to build their piece of the pie they won't be capable botch chances this way, however they must have a decent connection with the neighborhood network. M&S are currently supporting reasonable exchange and natural food, this unsafe as this is asking client whether they need to pay more for food or go to one of M&Sââ¬â¢s contenders and begin shopping with them as b oth reasonable exchange and natural will cost more than some other food.By being social dependable M&S will have issues going in to developing markets, for example, Brazil a d China. With China having the option to remove 600 million individuals from destitution M&S will have lost the ideal opportunity to misuse that. Brazil have huge occasions occurring in the following 3 years with the world cup in 2014 and the Rio Olympics in 2016, contributing another store inside this region will assist them with expanding both market size and furthermore brand mindfulness M&S working benefits have fallen . by 1. 8%, this isn't useful for organizations such s M&S attempting to turn out to be increasingly social mindful, with this decline in benefits they will have less cash to spend on their Plan A venture. With representatives being informed that they should tidy up waterways and lakes M&S should have the option to persuade their laborers enough, this could cost M&S a l ot of cash just to get workers to do this. One of social obligation is to care for workers, making them clean a lake or streams could cause them to feel as though they are not being utilized to their maximum capacity and could bring about them taking mechanical action.M&S have been truly adept at diminishing their measure of carbon outflow being discharged and this is appeared as they have had the option to spare 28% more vitality contrasted with the measure of vitality utilized in 2007. Being social capable can help numerous organizations, for example, M&S monetarily as they won't have to pay such a great amount for their contamination charge this can bring about them having the option to expand their overall revenue and helping them bolsters the network more.Problems that M&S can likewise confront is that a portion of their clients may not accept that they will support their locale and may believe that they are only an advertising trick, this is significant that M& S show those individuals that they are truly helping the network and to do this they could distribute the measure of cash they have and give them what they need to spend it on. In general social obligation is presently basic for business to do as they can help the stores nearby network and business. With them sparing ? 85 million they must pick whether they need to exercuite their Plan A successfully or attempt and open more M&S stores inside creating nations, for example, Brazil and China. Particularly where there are two of the worldsââ¬â¢s greatest occasions occurring in Brazil inside 2 years of one another. To utilize their Plan A M&S should design and exercuite it all around ok that the network can feel like as though they have had a gigantic effect inside their locale. In any case, with cost decrease happening their benefit will increment.
Sunday, August 2, 2020
30 Books by Florida Authors Affected by Hurricane Irma
30 Books by Florida Authors Affected by Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma made landfall over South Florida on Sunday, September 10th. The devastation left in the storms wake caused the state to go dark. The millions affectedby power outages, storm damage, and floodinginclude some of my friends, teachers, and favorite Florida authors. Some of these authors stayed to weather the storm. Others watched from afar as loved ones desperately tried to evacuate and homes were damaged or destroyed. Two, Chantel Acevedo and M. Evelina Galang, missed their book launches because of Hurricane Irma. But there is something we can do to help. The best way to support authors is to buy their books. Consider buying one or two (or all 30!) of these authors books to help pick Florida up after Hurricane Irma. *All descriptions were borrowed from Goodreads. Fiction by Florida Authors Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haitito the women who first reared her. Driving the King by Ravi Howard The war is over, the soldiers are returning, and Nat King Cole is back in his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, for a rare performance. His childhood friend, Nat Weary, plans to propose to his sweetheart, and the singer will honor their moment with a special song. But while the world has changed, segregated Jim Crow Montgomery remains the same. When a white man attacks Cole with a pipe, Weary leaps from the audience to defend himâ"an act that will lead to a 10-year prison sentence. The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel Reina Castillo is the alluring young woman whose beloved brother is serving a death sentence for a crime that shocked the community, throwing a baby off a bridgeâ"a crime for which Reina secretly blames herself. With her brothers death, though devastated and in mourning, Reina is finally released from her prison vigil. Seeking anonymity, she moves to a sleepy town in the Florida Keys The Living Infinite by Chantel Acevedo After her cloistered childhood at the Spanish court, her youth spent in exile, and a loveless marriage, Eulalia gladly departs Europe for the New World. In the company of Thomas Aragon, the son of her one-time wet nurse and a small-town bookseller with a thirst for adventure, she travels by ship first to a Cuba bubbling with revolutionary fervor then on to the 1893 Chicago World Fair. Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber At thirteen, Felice Muir ran away from home to punish herself for some horrible thing she had doneâ"leaving a hole in the hearts of her pastry-chef mother, her real estate attorney father, and her foodie-entrepreneurial brother. After five years of scrounging for food, drugs, and shelter on Miami Beach, Felice is now turning eighteen, and she and the family she left behind must reckon with the consequences of her actionsâ"and make life-affirming choices about what matters to them most, now and in the future. The Well-Dressed Bear Will (Never) Be Found by Jarod Roselló There is a bear loose in the city. He is violent and unpredictable. A menace. If you see this bear, please contact the authorities. Do not approach him, do not call out to him, do not follow him into alleyways or darkened places. Do not go looking for this bear. He is very dangerous. He is also very hard to find. Requiem by Teresa Carmody A lonely man plainchants for the waitress he once stalked, a sonless father serenades a fatherless son, and a bereft family gathers to bury a parent, providing an aching chorus of what is left. The Nix by Nathan Hill Meet Samuel Andresen-Anderson: stalled writer, bored teacher at a local college, obsessive player of an online video game. He hasnt seen his mother, Faye, since she walked out when he was a child. But then one day there she is, all over the news, throwing rocks at a presidential candidate. Felt in the Jaw by Kristen Arnett A young dancer suddenly loses language while her family struggles to understand their new roles. A mother endures a horrifying spider bite while camping with her daughters in the backyard. A family reunion goes sour when a group of cousins are left to their own devices. The Heaven of Animals by Jamie Poissant From two friends racing to save the life an alligator in âLizard Manâ to a girl helping her boyfriend face his greatest fears in âThe End of Aaron,â from a man who stalks death on an Atlanta street corner to a brotherâs surprise at the surreal, improbable beauty of a late night encounter with a wolf, Poissant creates worlds that shine with honesty and dark complexity, but also with a profound compassion. These are stories hell-bent on hope. We Cant Help It If Were From Florida: New Stories from a Sinking Peninsula by Shane Hinton (Editor) Florida is more than just fodder for hard-boiled crime novels and zany farces. This anthology of new stories and essays challenges a star-studded line up of current and former Floridians to write about the state through a literary lens, though not without the requisite weirdness. The Florida within this book contains: lightning, oil spills, road rage, a lizard tied to a balloon, swimmers, sleepwalkers, characters that love Florida, characters that hate Florida, and at least three sinkholes. The Clairvoyants by Karen Brown On the family homestead by the sea where she grew up, Martha Mary saw ghosts. As a young woman, she hopes to distance herself from those spirits by escaping to an inland college town. There, she is absorbed by a budding romance, relieved by separation from an unstable sister, and disinterested in the flyers seeking information about a young woman whoâs disappearedâ"until one Indian summer afternoon when the missing woman appears beneath Marthaâs apartment window, wearing a down coat, her hair coated with ice. Made for Love by Alissa Nutting Hazel has just moved into a trailer park of senior citizens, with her father and Dianeâ"his extremely lifelike sex dollâ"as her roommates. Life with Hazelâs father is strained at best, but her only alternative seems even bleaker. Sheâs just run out on her marriage to Byron Gogol, CEO and founder of Gogol Industries, a monolithic corporation hell-bent on making its products and technologies indispensable in daily life. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady by Elizabeth Stuckey-French Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences. Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler From one of Americaâs most important writers, Perfume River is an exquisite novel that examines family ties and the legacy of the Vietnam War through the portrait of a single North Florida family. Robert Quinlan is a seventy-year-old historian, teaching at Florida State University, where his wife Darla is also tenured. Their marriage, forged in the fervor of anti-Vietnam-war protests, now bears the fractures of time, both personal and historical, with the couple trapped in an existence of morning coffee and solitary jogging and separate offices. Arcadia by Lauren Groff In the fields and forests of western New York State in the late 1960s, several dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding what becomes a famous commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this lyrical, rollicking, tragic, and exquisite utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after. The story is told from the point of view of Bit, a fascinating character and the first child born in Arcadia. This is my personal favorite novel of hers. Nonfiction by Florida Authors Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy by Ira Sukrungruang On one side of the door, the rich smell of sweet, spicy food and the calm of Buddhist devotion; on the other, the strangeness of a new land. Honestly, Ira has been one of my favorite nonfiction writers ever since I heard him read in undergrad. Hes one of those writers that deserves a little (okay, a lot of) fame. Lolas House: Filipino Women Living with War by M. Evelina Galang Lolasâ House tells the stories, in unprecedented detail, of sixteen surviving Filipino âcomfort women.â During World War II more than 1,000 Filipino women and girls were kidnapped by the Imperial Japanese Army. They were taken from their homes, snatched from roadsides, and chased down in fields. Overall the Japanese forced 400,000 women across Asia into sexual slavery. M. Evelina Galang began researching these stories in the 1990s as 173 lolas, âgranniesâ in Tagalog, emerged after decades of shame and silence to demand recognition and justice from the Japanese government. Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard In the collectionâs title essay, Gerard volunteers at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, a world renowned bird refuge. There she meets its founder, who once modeled with a pelican on his arm for a Dewarâs Scotch campaign but has since declined into a pit of fraud and madness. He becomes our embezzling protagonist whose tales about the birds he ârescuesâ never quite add up. Poetry by Florida Authors The Trouble with Humpadori by Vidhu Aggarwal Readers follows the progress of Hump (a.k.a. Humpadori, Hum, Om) a racialized, monstrous, performing entity that morphs across genders and commodity forms. Structured as a set of slapstick theatrical acts borrowing from American comedy routines and minstrel traditions, the book moves from lyric intimacy to predatory rage, examining the textures of feeling available to marginalized bodies in a globalized world. Big-Eyed Afraid by Erica Dawson Big-Eyed Afraid is a fast-paced, breathlessly witty and illuminating riff on the multiple effects of race, sex, biology and social pressure on who we are and how we see ourselves. Dawsons dazzling rhymes, her perfect pitch for an array of idioms ranging from the smutty to the sacred, and her extraordinary combination of metrical control and jazz-like syntactical elaboration make her work feel at one and the same time chiseled and improvised, traditional and utterly distinct. Alan Shapiro 90 Miles: Selected And New Poems by Virgil Suarez Ninety miles separate Cuba and Key West, Florida. Crossing that distance, thousands of Cubans have lost their lives. For Cuban American poet Virgil Suárez, that expanse of ocean represents the state of exile, which he has imaginatively bridged in over two decades of compelling poetry. Scald by Denise Duhamel When her âsmartâ phone keeps asking her to autocorrect her name to Denise Richards, Denise Duhamel begins a journey that takes on celebrity, sex, reproduction, and religion with her characteristic wit and insight. The poems in Scald engage feminism in two waysâ"committing to and battling withâ"various principles and beliefs. Florida Poems by Campbell McGrath Moving effortlessly from prehistory to the space age, he catalogues Floridas natural wonders and historical figureheads, from Ponce de León to Walt Disney, William Bartram to Chuck E. Cheese the bewhiskered Mephistopheles of ring toss,/the diabolical vampire of our transcendent ideals.' Body Switch by Terri Witek A collection of personal, tragic, and wildly experimental poems that, to quote Erica Dawson, shapeshift before our eyes.' Special thanks to Terri for helping me compile this list. You can also check out her other books, Exit Island and Shipwreck Dress for more Floridian flavor. On the Street of Divine Love by Barbara Hamby Perhaps Paul Kareem Taylor said it best in his piece called On the Road Again: Barbara Hambys American Odyssey: Reading Barbara Hambys poetry is like going on a road trip, one where the woman behind the wheel lets you ride shotgun as she speeds across the open highways of an America where drive-in movie theaters still show Janet Leigh films on Friday nights, hardware stores have not been driven out of business by soulless corporate titans, and where long poetic lines first introduced by Walt Whitman and resurrected by Ginsberg are pregnant with a thousand reasons to marvel at the world we inhabit.' Get Up, Please: Poems by David Kirby In comical and complex poems, David Kirby examines our extraordinarily human condition through the lens of our ordinary daily lives. These keenly observant poems range from the streets of India, Russia, Turkey, and Port Arthur, Texas, to the imaginations of fellow poets Keats and Rilke, and to ruminations on the mundane side of life via the imperfect sandwich. Mud Song by Terry Ann Thaxton A landscape of pine forests, palmettos, gopher tortoises and armadillos contains the clues that guide Terry Ann Thaxton s search for herself. As a fifth-generation Floridian, she knows, however, that the natural world is never more than a stone s throw away from its destruction. The path she follows takes her to the edge of the past s sinkholes and the daily chaos of roads forever under construction. These poems make sharp turns. Trauma is never far from beauty, desire never far from fear, and images are often as surprising as they are stunning. The Abridged History of Rainfall by Jay Hopler Jay Hoplers second collection, a mourning song for his father, is an elegy of uproar, a careening hymn to disaster and its aftermath. In lyric poems by turns droll and desolate, Hopler documents the struggle to live in the face of great loss, a task that sends him ranging through Floridas torrid subtropics, the mountains of the American West, the streets of Rome, and the Umbrian countryside. Slant Six by Erin Belieu Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection thatâs equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human conditionâ¦. Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice Publishers Weekly via Goodreads. Did I ungraciously leave out your favorite living Florida author? Add them plus your favorite book of theirs in the comments.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Essay on Weapons Accountability - 988 Words
Weapons Accountability in the Military The history of weapons started centuries ago when cave people initially developed a weapon called a bow and arrow, for hunting purposes. They created this weapon from yew or elm for the bow and the arrowââ¬â¢s shaft, and used animal ligaments, or sinew to add tension to the bow. Archeologists have also found arrow heads made of sharp rocks and angled bones from different types of animals. These artifacts are all over the world displayed beautifully in museums to make new civilization realize the important role weapons have played in daily life. The next major improvement in weapons technology came from the Chinese civilization, the inventers of gun powder. Initially used for the purpose of demolitionâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦We seem to take it for granted that weââ¬â¢re going to have our weapon on us at all times. Here in a war zone, as much as in a survival situation back stateside, there will be many times when a soldier is not within armââ¬â¢s length of his firearm. He might be working on a vehicle in the motor pool, or having a cigarette outside, or just hanging around his living quarters. At none of these times is his rifle likely to be in hand or slung behind his back. Another factor is that, despite the fact that weââ¬â¢re in a war zone, in this war at least, soldiers donââ¬â¢t fire their rifles too terribly often. Those of us in signal units certainly donââ¬â¢t. Most of the time, your firearm is less a weapon than a damned thing you have to carry around all the time. This leads to complacency. A soldierââ¬â¢s job type can be a distraction factor, too. My job description doesnââ¬â¢t have anything to do with shooting at people, and when Iââ¬â¢m sitting in the TCF checking on link and reading mail, I donââ¬â¢t give my rifle a second thought. The same is true of most other soldiers; even combat arms soldiers lose track of their rifles when theyââ¬â¢re working on vehicles, doing work detail, and so on. Out of sight, out of mind. Survival situations can bring their own share of distractions, too. What does this teach us? Very simply, it teaches us that even in a place where you would think your weapon is the most important thing youShow MoreRelatedWeapon accountability Essay775 Words à |à 4 PagesWeapon Accountability 20140320 The date was September 14, 2012. At around 10 p.m. Camp Leatherneck was attacked by 15 insurgents. These attackers, organized into three teams, began an assault on the airfield of Bastion. While wearing U.S. Army uniforms, the attackers toted automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and suicide vests. While aboard Camp Leatherneck/Camp Bastion, they inflicted incredible damage to the air-wing. Destroying six AV-8B Harrier jets and damaging two othersRead MoreEssay on Accountability in Army885 Words à |à 4 PagesA Soldierââ¬â¢s Accountability A soldier of the United States Army has many values that are set forth in the ââ¬Å"Soldierââ¬â¢s Creed.â⬠The Soldierââ¬â¢s Creed states: I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in myRead MoreCompleting assigned tasks in the army1098 Words à |à 5 Pagesplatoon motto that was assigned to me. I have let down my peers and my supervisors. Not completing a task could equate to almost anything such as pushing out those last few repetitions of pushups or sprinting that last stretch on your run, keeping accountability of sensitive items, following orders given to you by your superior so chaos will not follow, not focusing and using the four fundamentals of Basic Rifle Marksmanship while qualifying, or not paying attention to or bothering to give it your allRead MoreSmall Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Trafficking Essay1392 Words à |à 6 PagesThe effects of small arms and light weapons (SALW) trafficking has come under scrutiny in the past decade due to the amount of weapons U.S. SALW manufacturers are hemorrhaging overseas primarily because traceability, culpability, and transparency of in formation are difficult to come by. Small arms are for personal use and include, ââ¬Å"pistols, rifles,... assault rifles and light machine guns.â⬠Light weapons include ââ¬Å"heavy machine guns,... portable antiaircraft guns, portable antitank guns,... and explosiveRead MoreThe Death Of A Man1174 Words à |à 5 Pagesto protect its citizens. The chasm between citizen and state was exacerbated after the war because of the precarious security situation, the prevalence of favoritism, the lack of accountability and punishment, the prevalence of corruption and the random spread of weapons as well as the popularity of the idea that weapons are what make a man... ISIS, the refugees, and the fear of cases of random shooting is going to occur is what leads, most of the Lebanese to as they describe it, to sleep betterRead MoreMental Health Evaluations For Gun Purchase1168 Words à |à 5 Pagesvery popular topic today, and rightfully so. The media has shined light on mass shootings that have claimed many lives and destroyed families. The question is on who, or what does the blame fall on. Are the gun owners the responsible, or are the weapons themselves to blame? A solution that has been set forth concludes that in order to become a firearm owner, mental stability should be proved. Should government enforce mental health evaluations for gun purchase? Yes, to Mental Health EvaluationsRead MoreSecuring Military Gear Essay5060 Words à |à 21 PagesThe definition of sensitive items is anything that considered classified or a mission essential item. They range anywhere from protective wear, maps, patrol routes, nods (night vision goggles) or simply your weapon. The meaning of securing your sensitive items mainly is maintaining accountability for opsec (operation security), mission success and a soldiers overall readiness. If an item is lost and the enemy gets his/her hands on that item it could compromise the mission at hand or give them intelligenceRead MoreImplications Of A Ban On Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems2043 Words à |à 9 PagesImplications of a ban on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: A critical literature review Abstract The primary objective of this study is to summarise the findings of a review of recent literature on lethal autonomous weapon systems. This study seeks to address concerns articulated by some scholars on banning the autonomous weapons. This paper argues that such a ban might be challenging for several reasons and can hinder the future development of artificial intelligent systems. Finally, the paperRead MoreSTANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE5008 Words à |à 21 Pagesjoint agreement for the arms room SOP between the 2-52 AVN REGT (host unit) and tenant units. e. Establish procedures for the security and accountability of sensitive items authorized and stored in unit arms room. 3. RESPONSIBILITY a. Commander (1) Appoint in writing a disinterested E-6 or above who will conduct a monthly inventory of all weapons, ammunition and sensitive items. (2) Ensure that proper security measures are being maintained and enforced. (3) Update this SOPRead MoreThe Rights Of Gun Control Essay2396 Words à |à 10 Pagesabolished it will produce the death of countless lives. Many people believe that gun control signifies the safety of weapon operation and new laws, but itââ¬â¢s more of a restriction of obtaining them which leaves many Americans helpless when tragedy may occur. For one to truly be able to have gun-safe zones are to have people who know how to properly utilize and be knowledgeable of the weapons they own . For the United States being able to have control of the people who have guns is crucial due to the mass
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Fiasco Report - WorldCom - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1720 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Fiasco Report WorldCom The team members do not have any relationship with WorldCom Overview of WorldCom (WC) WC started its journey as a small company known as Long Distance Discount Services (à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âLDDSà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ) in 1983, based in Clinton, Mississippi. In 1985 LDDS selected Bernard Ebbers, one of the major investors of the company, to be its CEO. The company went public as a corporation in 1989 after merging with Advantage Companies Inc. Donââ¬â¢t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Fiasco Report WorldCom" essay for you Create order The company name was changed to LDDS WorldCom in 1995 and MCI WorldCom in 1998. During the 1990s, the firm acquired a number of telecommunications firms that helped it to grow from $154 million in 1990 to $39.2 billion in 2001, placing it 42nd among Fortune 500 companies[i]. Significant acquisitions included the 1998 takeover of MCI, which made it the second largest U.S. long distance carrier, and the purchases of UUNet, CompuServe, and America Onlineà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s data network, which put WC among the leading operators of Internet infrastructure. In 2001 the company had an employee base of 85,000 workers with a presence in more than 70 countries. From the outside, WC appeared to be a strong leader of growth. In reality, the appearance was nothing more than a perception. On June 25, 2002, the company revealed that it had been involved in fraudulent reporting of its numbers by stating a $3 billion profit when in fact it was a half-a-billion dollar loss. After an investigation w as conducted, a total of $11 billion in misstatements was revealed[ii]. As a result investors in WC have suffered major losses: the market value of the companyà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s common stock plunged from about $150 billion in January 2000 to less than $150 million as of July 1, 2002[iii]. WorldComà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s Product Market Focus Initially, it was a provider of long distance phone services to businesses and residents. Later the company diversified its business to internet service and solution, Data and IP Services, IT Solutions and Hosting, Networks management, Premises Equipment (PE), Security, Voice, VoIP, and Wireless network to reach a customer base of 20 million. However, increase in the number of services and the products are mainly attributed to the new acquisitions and mergers with new companies. During the pick of the business, WC provided mission-critical communications services for thousands of businesses around the world, owned and operated a global IP (In ternet Protocol) backbone that provided connectivity in more than 2,600 cities and in more than 100 countries. In 2001 it carried a significant amount of the worlds Internet traffic, specifically 50% of total worldwide e-mails and 50% of US Internet traffic. It also owned and operated 75 data centers on five different continents. Merger and Strategy was the key for WorldCom growth strategy Throughout its journey since the inception WC choose merger and acquisition strategy for its growth. The company evolved into the second largest long distance telephone company in the United States and one of the largest companies handling worldwide Internet data traffic through the successful completion of 65 acquisitions. [iv] Between 1991 and 1997, WC spent almost $60 billion in the acquisition of many of these companies and accumulated $41 billion in debt[v]. Two of these acquisitions were particularly significant. The MFS Communications acquisition enabled WC to obtain UUNet, a major su pplier of Internet services to business, and MCI Communications, thus providing them one of the largest providers of business and consumer telephone service. By 1997, WCs stock price grew from pennies per share to over $60 a share[vi]. During those days of the internet boom, WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s strategy seemed to be perfect to everyone and investment banks, analysts and brokers recommended WC as a strong buyà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã to investors. The analystsà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢ recommendations, coupled with the continued rise of the stock market, made WC a very demanding and desirable stock to the investors. The top management explored this advantage (high stock price) to use WC stock as the vehicle to continue to purchase additional companies. The acquisition of MFS Communications and MCI Communications were, perhaps, the most significant in the long list of WC acquisitions. With the acquisition of MFS Communications and its UUNet unit, WC suddenly had an investment story to offer about the value of combining long distance, local service and data communications.[vii] In late 1997, WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s offer of $35 billion for the acquisition of MCI was 1.8 times more than the nearest offer made by British Telecommunications Corporation ($19 billion). MCI took WCs deal making WC a truly significant global telecommunications company[viii]. Issues affecting WordComà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s Growth Strategy WC growth strategy was solely focused on mergers and acquisitions, not product development, innovation and customer satisfaction. It engaged in nearly 70 merger and acquisition deals in less than five years but did not focus on integrating organizational culture, structure and appropriate management control mechanisms. As a result, it was observed that by the early 2000s, the revenue of the company was diminishing. Furthermore, it was facing an emerging problem in 1990s of oversupply in telecommunications as the industry rushed to build fibre optic networks and o ther infrastructure based on overly optimistic Internet growth projections. WC and other telecommunications firms had experienced reduced demand as the internet boom ended and the economy entered recession. Their revenues had fallen short of expectations, while debt taken on to finance mergers and infrastructure investment remained. In this circumstance, the desire to conceal the bad news on company earning from the stock market investors created a powerful incentive for the top management to engage in fraudulent accounting reporting[ix]. The Management Controls Failure Fraud began at WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s corporate headquarters, in the late 1990à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s[x]. Several employees were involved, including: Bernard Ebbers CEO, Scott Sullivan CFO, David Myers à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â¬Å" Senior VP Controller, Buford Yates, Director of General Accounting, Betty Vinson à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â¬Å" employee under Yates, and Troy Normand à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â¬Å" employee under Yates[xi]. WC paid various fees to use or lease facilities belonging to third parties. Normally, these fees were reported as an expense on the income statement, which were filed with the other financial statements on a quarterly and annual basis. The financial statements also included commentary and guidance from WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s senior management regarding future earnings. Typically this guidance pointed toward continued positive growth in earnings. In July 2000, WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s expenses as a percentage of total revenue had begun to increase above historic averages[xii]. The fees paid for leasing were the primary drivers of this increase. This resulted in a decline in the rate of growth of WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s earnings. The risk of missing investor analystsà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢ forecasts had increased, and with that the possibility of stock declines also increased. By October 2000, Sullivan believed that expenses as a percentage of revenue were too high to meet analystsà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢ exp ectations, and that expenses were higher than previous guidance statements suggested they would be[xiii]. With Ebberà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s approval, Sullivan instructed Myers, and those working under him to make entries in WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s general ledger that credited (and therefore reduced) expenses, and debited reserve and capital accounts (increasing these accounts)[xiv]. This series of transactions had the effect of increasing net income. This activity continued until June 2002[xv]. During this time, WC did not disclose these transactions to their external auditing firm, Arthur Anderson. The transactions were also not reported in SEC filings[xvi]. The fraud committed at WC was uncovered by a team of internal auditors in 2002[xvii]. The discovery was brought forward to the internal audit committee and board of directors. Once the board knew, several executives at WC were either fired by the board, or resigned, and the SEC began their investigation. Research Plan Outline To efficiently and effectively conduct our research on WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s corporate scandal, we split the research into two areas: The WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s fiasco itself, and an academic understanding of the control systems in place (and the ones that were missing). The first stage of the research component involves becoming familiar with the WC scandal from archives of reputable newspapers and business magazines. Secondly, we will examine the allegations brought upon WC by the SEC. We will also seek peer-reviewed academic journals for more details and insights into the incident allowing us to conduct an analysis of the role management controls played in the fiasco. In order to best understand WCà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s corporate scandal, we have to be familiar with well-known frameworks to analyze fraud, corporate governance, managerial controls, and compliance. As the purpose of this research is to seek for academic standard or frameworks in the above mentioned areas, we sh ould rely on information or publications from regulators, or generally accepted principals, such as US-GAAP. We may obtain information from academic, peer- reviewed journals. This research will be conducted concurrently with the studying of the WC fiasco as it does not require any sequence and therefore, can be conducted independently. End Notes [i] Lyke, Bob Jickling, Mark, WorldCom: The Accounting Scandal CRS Report for Congress,P-2, Updated August 29,2002 [ii] Ashraf, Javiriyah, The accounting fraud at WorldCom: The causes, the Characteristics, the consequences, and the lessons learned [iii] Ibid,p-2 [iv] Eichenwald, Kurt (2002). For WorldCom, Acquisitions Were Behind its Rise and Fall, New York Times (August 8), A-1 [v] Romero, Simon, Atlas, Rava D. (2002). WorldComs Collapse: The Overview. New York Times (July 22), A-1 [vi] Browning, E. S. (1997). Is the Praise for WorldCom Too Much? Wall Street Journal (October 8), p. C-24. [vii] Eichenwald, Op. cit., p. A-3 [viii] Ibid [ix] Lyke, Op Cit. P-2 [x] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âMCI Inc.à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 January 2014. Web. 2 February 2014. à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCI_Inc.à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã [xi] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âSullivanà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. 2 March 2004. Web. 2 February 2014. https://www.justice.gov/opa/sullivan.pdf [xii] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âWorldCom Scandal: A Look Back at One of the Biggest Corporate Scandals in U.S. Historyà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Yahoo Voices. Yahoo Incorporated. 8 March 2007. Web. 2 February 2014. https://voices.yahoo.com/worldcom-scandal-look-back-one-biggest-225686.html [xiii] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âSullivanà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. 2 March 2004. Web. 2 February 2014. https://www.justice.gov/opa/sullivan.pdf [xiv] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âWorldcomà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s ex-boss gets 25 yearsà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã BBC News. 13 July 2005. Web. 2 February 2014. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4680221.stm [xv] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âPrepared Remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroftà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Attorney Generalà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s Office 2 March 2004. Web. 2 February 2014. https://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2004/030204agweb.htm [xvi] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âSullivanà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. 2 March 2004. Web. 2 February 2014. https://www.justice.gov/opa/sullivan.pdf [xvii] à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âMCI Inc.à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 January 2014. Web. 2 February 2014. à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCI_Inc.à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Albert Einsteinââ¬â¢s vs. Newton General Theory of Relativity Free Essays
string(194) " walking in parallel lines \(since they are walking only in a straight line\), is one will stand behind them in between them, he/she will notice that those two people will start to drift apart\." Albert Einstein, most famously known as a physicist, was a contributor to the scientific world with his many known researches and humanitarian work. As a Nobel Prize Winner in 1921, his chronicled and more important works include Special Theory of Relativity (1905), Relativity (English Translation, 1920 and 1950), General Theory of Relativity (1916), Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926), and The Evolution of Physics (1938). (Nobel Prize Foundation, 1921) In all his important works, Einsteinââ¬â¢s Theory of Relativity has lead the way for how science currently views time, space, energy, and gravity. We will write a custom essay sample on Albert Einsteinââ¬â¢s vs. Newton: General Theory of Relativity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Relativity, which all motion must be defined relative to a frame of reference and that space and time are relative, rather than absolute concepts, consists of two principal parts: The theory dealing with uniform motion, or the Special Theory of Relativity (1905) and the theory dealing with gravity, or the General Theory of Relativity (1916). (dictionary. com, pars. 2) Einsteinââ¬â¢s Special Theory of Relativity is the physical theory of measurement in inertial frames of reference. Although Einsteinââ¬â¢s Special Theory of Relativity was ââ¬Å"specialâ⬠because it dealt only with inertial reference frames; his General Theory of Relativity accounts not only for these, but also for bodies that accelerate and are based on the postulate that the local effects of a gravitational field and of acceleration of an inertial system are identical. (dictionary. com, pars. 2) An example of Einsteinââ¬â¢s Special Relativity: One of the peculiar aspects of Einsteinââ¬â¢s theory of special relativity is that the length of objects moving at relativistic speeds undergo a contraction along the dimension of motion. An observer at rest (relative to the moving object) would observe the moving object to be shorter in length. General relativity or the general theory of relativity (GR) in whole is the geometric theory of gravitation. It is what we currently define as gravity in modern physics. GR integrates with special relativity in relatively, but GR consists of Newtonââ¬â¢s law of universal gravitation and describes gravity as a property of the geometry of space and time. Even though special relativity intertwines a lot with general relativity, these two viewpoints are really what GR is about and relate greatly to each other. In the first viewpoint of GR, it is a theory of the behavior of space and time. Before the 20th century, all physics theorists assumed space and time to be absolutes, or separated from each other. Now called spacetime, together space and time formed a background within which matter moved. (Felder, pars. 4-5) In Einsteinââ¬â¢s theory of GR, this physical theory was to describe how different kinds of matter would interact with each other and predict their motions. The theories of space and time greatly changed after the development of the Special Relativity Theory and shortly later the General Relativity Theory by Einstein. This results that space and time came to be viewed as the important variables in physics, which are capable of being changed by the mater within them and in turn changing the way that matter behaves. (Felder, pars. 5) Spacetime is an important factor in GR. In Newtonââ¬â¢s world and before the 20th century, physics space and time again were viewed completely separately. In relativity theory, time is the fourth dimension our world has instead of the three one would think there is. It is hard to picture a 4D world, so to make things simpler letââ¬â¢s picture a 2D world. As shown in diagram 1, we can view spacetime as a 2D surface where the horizontal direction is space and the vertical direction is time. The diagram below shows the world line of an object in a one-dimensional space (Felder, pars. 7): (Diagram 1) A spacetime diagram like this is very critical to help in understanding relativity. It answers questions like: Whatââ¬â¢s the world line of a particle at rest? What the world line of a particle moving with constant speed in one direction? How would you describe the motion of a particle with the world line shown below? Viewing spacetime this way allows us to formulate physics in new ways. It is a similar way in getting Newtonââ¬â¢s first law of motion, which states that an object with no force acting on it will move in a straight line at a constant and we can just say that the world line of a free object (one with no forces on it) is a straight line. speed (Harrison, pars. 6) Comparing to Newtonââ¬â¢s laws, spacetime are considered two separate things, while in relativity, both in special and general theory, it is necessary to view spacetime as one. In GR this team of spacetime is curved by the effects of gravity. Now in GR, curved space often refers to a spatial geometry, which is not ââ¬Å"flat. â⬠Spacetime becomes curved in the response to the effects of matter and there is no gravitational force deflecting objects from their natural, straight paths. This puts gravity to correspond to changes in the properties of space and time, which in turn changes the straightest-possible paths that objects will naturally follow. So the act of curving is caused by the energy-momentum of matter and affects matters behaviors. In Newtonââ¬â¢s first law of motion, it states that, where an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. In a curved spacetime what used to be straight lines are now twisted and bent, and particles with no forces acting on them are seen to move along curved paths. (Physics Classroom, pars. 1) John Archibald Wheeler, an American theoretical physicist, paraphrases, ââ¬Å"Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve. â⬠(Britannica Encyclopedia, pars. ) To explain curved space in an example, suppose there are two people. Each person stands two feet apart from each other facing the same direction and begins walking straight. Even though one might think the two people are walking in parallel lines (since they are walking only in a straight line), is one will stand behind them in between them, he/she will notice that those two people will start to drift apart. You read "Albert Einsteinââ¬â¢s vs. Newton: General Theory of Relativity" in category "Papers" In awhile the two people will become four feet apart instead of the 2 feet that they started on and both are not pointed in exactly the same direction as they started on. One might assume itââ¬â¢s because one is not going in a ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠line. (Picture of Geodesics) Although, what is a ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠line? One assumes that a straight line means being parallel or that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. But in curved space path that stay parallel to each other are not paths of minimal distance and vice-versa, there is no path in space that fits a ââ¬Å"straightâ⬠line being parallel or the shortest distance. In space, a straight line is curved and the shortest path between two points is called a geodesic. The second viewpoint of general relativity is described as a theory of gravity. In Newtonââ¬â¢s second law of motion, that states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables ââ¬â the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. (Physics classroom, pars. 2) In other words, getting two massive bodies like the Earth and Newtonââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"famousâ⬠apple are going to pull each other because of the law of gravity. To explain further, if an apple started out at rest and when it just breaks off from a tree, gravity would make it move towards the Earth until it collided with it. Newtonââ¬â¢s curiosity of a fallen apple not only explains his law of gravity and the falling of apples, but also the orbit of the moon about the Earth, the motions or the planets about the sun, and much more. Einsteinââ¬â¢s theory of GR relates to this because it explains all of Newtonââ¬â¢s laws, but in a very different way. In GR, a massive body like the sun causes the spacetime around it to curve and this act of curving in turn affects the motion of the planets, causing them to orbit around the sun. In Newtonââ¬â¢s second law of motion, these objects (i. e. the earth and the apple) will have a gravitational attraction, causing them to accelerate towards each other until they eventually collide. In GR, the same effect will happen, but the description is different because gravity is not a force in GR. Objects neither exert nor feel any-non-gravitational forces, so basically the objects should act like free particles moving alone geodesics. (Felder, pars. 5) In a flat spacetime, which has no gravity, the geodesics would be in straight lines. Since objects started out at rest, their world lines would be vertical lines, this means that they would always stay the same distance from each other. However, in the effects of gravity, we know that the objects will have spacetime around it. In a curved space, parallel lines do not always stay parallel. The geodesics in this curved spacetime start out parallel but over time it doesnââ¬â¢t. This results in the objects colliding. Einstein shows that although Newtonââ¬â¢s theory of two objects colliding is predicted, the underlying description of the curved space is different. To show an example about gravity and curved space with a couple of geodesics, here is another graph (Felder, pars. 14): To explain the graph in more detail, the yellow rectangle is the sun (and the space around the sun is really three-dimensional), the spatial axis is ââ¬Å"râ⬠(radius) instead of x, and ââ¬Å"tâ⬠(time) instead of y. The geodesic lines (red ; blue, respectively) are the particles moving directly towards or away from the sun. The red geodesic shows that an object initially at rest will curve towards the sun. Even an object moving away from the sun could fall back in if it were moving slowly. While the blue geodesics, is for the particle starting out at the same place but with an initial outward velocity large enough that I will never fall back, objects that have an escape velocity. Explaining the basis of GR helps form a stepping stone to Einsteinââ¬â¢s more complicated theories and consequences, along with some knowledge of the General Theory of Relativity. In this very complicated version by Einstein of Newtonââ¬â¢s laws of motion, it in fact shows not that Einstein just complicated Newtonââ¬â¢s theories, but showed that results are not the same. The result in fact that objects collide are there and come out slightly the same, but the behavior is different. Spacetime is therefore ââ¬Å"curvedâ⬠as a straight line. The theory of GR has brought the science world to a dramatic position of understanding the universe. Space and time, in which were two separate things are now explained as one union with each other. In GR gravity is not only viewed as a force but now as a description of the geometry of the universe. This helps scientists envision the universe in a more dramatic and insightful way. As Albert Einstein was forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence, he quoted: ââ¬Å"Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. â⬠Works Cited ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠Pac Bell. ; http://home. pacbell. net/kidwell5/aebio. html; ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, Colliers Encyclopedia, (MacMillan, 1985) Volume 8, pg. 684-685 ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, World Book, (World Book Inc. , 1999) Volume 6, pg. 146-147 ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, Encyclopedia Britanica, ( Encyclopedia Britanica Inc. , 1997) Volume 4, pg. 403 ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, Current Biography Whoââ¬â¢s News and Why, (H. W. Wilson Co. , 1953) Volume 1953, pg. 178-180 ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, Current Biography Whoââ¬â¢s News and Why, (H. W. Wilson Co. , 1955) Volume 1955, pg. 177-178 ââ¬Å"Albert Einsteinâ⬠, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, (Oxford University Press, 1994) Second Edition, pg. 206-208 Felder, Gary. North Carolina State ââ¬â Math and Physic Help. 2003. ;http://www4. ncsu. edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/papers/gr1. html; ââ¬Å"general relativity. â⬠Dictionary. com Unabridged (v 1. 1). Random House, Inc. 05 Feb. 2009. ;Dictionary. com http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/general relativity;. General Relativityâ⬠Albert Einstein Biography, Spark Notes. 05 Feb 2009 ;http://www. sparknotes. com/biography/einstein/section7. rhtml; Geroch, Robert. General Relativity from A to B. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. Harrison, David M. Homepage. 18 August 2007 ;http://www. upscale. utoronto. ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/GenRel/GenRel. html; Leaving Certificate Physics Homepage. ââ¬Å"Einsteinââ¬â¢s Theory of Special Relativity. â⬠;http://www. teachnet. ie/torourke/Physicswebsite/Relativistic%20Length%20Co traction. htm; ââ¬Å"Newtonââ¬â¢s Laws. â⬠The Physics Classroom. 1996-2009. ;http://www. physicsclassroom. com/Class/newtlaws/u2l1a. cfm; Nobel Prize Foundation. Nobel Lectures, Phys ics: Albert Einstein. 1901-1921. ; http://nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio. html; Truth ; Reality. ââ¬Å"Einstein Relativity. â⬠1997-2009. ; http://www. spaceandmotion. com/albert- einsteins-theory-of-general-relativity. htm; Wald, Robert M. General Relativity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. How to cite Albert Einsteinââ¬â¢s vs. Newton: General Theory of Relativity, Papers
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia Essay Example Essay Example
Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia? Essay Example Paper Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia Essay Introduction The political configurations of constituent nations in the Asian continent have seen many significant changes over the last fifty years. The conclusion of the Second World War served as the precipitant event in transforming the erstwhile colonies in Asia into independent, sovereign nations. But, not all transformations have led to positive consequences. It would be simplistic to not look beyond official labels attached to governments in these nations. For example, classifying an Asian nation as a democracy or a dictatorship without taking into account the complex and often subtle political realities can lead to distorted perceptions. It is the objective of this essay to understand the real social, economic and demographic parameters that define a civil society and evaluate political transitions in Asia in this context. Many analysts have pointed out that the salient features of a vibrant democracy are quite different from superficial symbols of a democratic setup as seen in many coun tries across Asia. For example, in countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, etc, which were colonies of European imperial powers until half a century back, the effects of the protracted period of imperialism are still evident in the way their institutions function. These post-colonial societies are at crossroads of history and have to overcome challenges in the realm of economics and politics if they are to emerge as competent players in the new world order. In order to make an objective assessment of political transitions in Asia, we need to adopt a broad historical approach to the subject. While wide-ranging references add to the merit of analysis, care has been taken not to indulge in standards of moral relativism when evaluating the state of democracy in this region. Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia? Essay Body Paragraphs To begin with, let us consider the case of East Timor and its turbulent road to independence. It is now accepted in hindsight that the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975 was a blatant act of aggression, although it is a well documented fact that the western media did not strictly condemn the Indonesian atrocities in East Timor as and when it happened. By giving due consideration to facts and by applying universally accepted standard of human rights, it is obvious that the invasion of East Timor was perpetrated by an Indonesian leadership that is both authoritarian and ruthless (Fox, 2004). More than two decades later, with Megawati Sukarnoputri contending for political leadership of the country, the dark legacy of authoritarianism is still part of the fabric of the political establishment. This can be discerned from the fact that Megawati made no concessions to Timorese independence (not even local level autonomy) in the lead up to the elections. This goes to prove that democr acy and the instrument of elections alone are not sufficient for imposing acceptable standards of freedom, equality and justice in a country, which goes to strengthen the thesis that superficial labels and nominal institutions does not imply a functioning democracy (Razack, 2006). This is true as much in Asia as anywhere else in the world. Also, the catastrophe in East Timor cannot be divorced from the broader equations of power and dominance. While the close diplomatic relationship between the United States of America and Australia is well known, the role assumed by Indonesia as a subordinate agent of these two more powerful entities is not often mentioned in political scholarship. To elaborate further, for nearly forty years since 1965, the Australian government supported the atrocities carried out by General Suharto in neighbouring Indonesia. Jonathan Fox draws out this case of hypocrisy in an emphatic style thus, ââ¬Å"During the long years of Suhartoââ¬â¢s dictatorship, whi ch was shored up by western capital, governments and the World Bank, state terrorism on a breathtaking scale was ignored. Australian prime ministers were far too busy lauding the ââ¬Å"investment partnershipâ⬠in resource-rich Indonesia. Suhartoââ¬â¢s annexation of East Timor, which cost the lives of a third of the population, was described by the foreign minister Gareth Evans as ââ¬Å"irreversibleâ⬠. As Evans succinctly put it, there were ââ¬Å"zillionsâ⬠of dollars to be made from the oil and gas reserves in the Timor Seaâ⬠. (Fox, 2004) Another important aspect of post-independent history of this region is the blatant disregard for legislative power as well as the judiciary. As a result, several leaders have misappropriated their executive powers to impose emergency rule over the citizens and civil institutions, making the institution of democracy a total farce. While several justifications have been forwarded for the application of emergency powers, none has been accepted as valid by neutral observers of the international community. This infringement on legal and parliamentary authority had happened in almost all nations of the South East Asian bloc, including Indonesia and Philippines, which is ironical considering the fact that these two nations were supposed to be the more advanced in the region. The invoking of emergency powers by President Fidel Ramos in Philippines remains a classic case of abuse of power (Razack, 2006). A disturbing trend witnessed in East Asian democracies is the smooth transformation of the old authoritarian elite into top leadership of political parties. This defeats the very purpose of intended progressive changes, as those individuals accustomed to exercising autocratic rule assume roles in democratic institutions. Author Mervyn Bendle cites the example of the KMT in Thailand, the leaders of which held undisputed power in the countryââ¬â¢s days of dictatorship as well as in the new period of democrac y. While political organization might have changed for the better, the regime has effectively been the same. The successful entry of authoritarian ruling class into democratic institutions is achieved, as in Thailand and Philippines, through patronage and intimidation of uninformed, illiterate and underprivileged masses. This is clearly evident from the re-emergence of autocrats from the Marcos era in the Philippines. So, political transitions in Asia need to be seen in their overall impact on civil society, as opposed to basing the assessment on token and illusory indicators of progress and prosperity (Bendle, 2005). A deeper analysis of the Asian polity reveals several nexuses between political parties and business corporations. In almost all countries of the region, the influential business class interferes in democratic processes, thereby undermining the will of the electorate. Razack terms this phenomenon as ââ¬Å"money politicsâ⬠, where political manoeuvres that favour b usiness interests can be bought with money. The disconnection between the military and electoral democracy is another major concern for people of the region. The South East Asian region had seen its share of military coups, which subvert the power of the citizens in determining political outcomes. The central financial institutions of the region wield too much power in shaping economic policies. Moreover, the central banks of Thailand and Korea basically act as agents of the IMF. The policy framework within which they work ensures that the international economic order is maintained, even at the cost of depriving its own citizensââ¬â¢ basic necessities of living (Razack, 2006). Considering that China is predicted to be the next global superpower and at present the fastest growing economy, it requires a more detailed analysis. For the prospects and fortunes of China and its people will have ripple effects on other nations in the Asian continent. To gain a historical perspective on this key nation, we should go as far back as the communist revolution of the late 1940s, and the subsequent formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, since when many developments have taken place both within the party as well as for Chinese citizens. The CCP and its cadres ââ¬Å"are changing in ways that make creative solutions to political governance problems feasible than a repeated violent reaction to social change, as in 1989â⬠(Smith, 2003). While progress and reform is on the party agenda, its leadership still retains useful traditions and customs. A case in point is the utilization of nomenklatura system for selecting party leaders. Its critics will point to its shortcomings, including its inability to curb corruption within the party ranks. But the nomenklatura system was not devised to deter corruption. Also, the cadre responsibility system was meant to act as an analytical tool for zeroing in on the primary goals of the party and assessing the success o f various policy initiatives; and it has proved equal to this stated objective (Dickson, 2006). The political transitions in China over the last sixty years have not been without moments of indiscretion and impasse. When in September of 1949, the communist revolution was complete and the CCP ascended to power, the people of China were relieved and also hopeful; Relieved of closing a conflict-ridden chapter of their recent history and hopeful of a brighter future. It can safely be said that their hopes were fulfilled to a large extent. The CCP has to be credited for bringing about a degree of economic and political stability in the first decade of their reign. The subsequent years proved to be more challenging for the CCP leadership, which had to deal with famine caused by its Great Leap Forward program. From these early days, when the party and its members were still learning the ropes of governance it has now become a sophisticated and well coordinated political machine. The party building efforts in modern urban settlements (also called ââ¬Ëshequââ¬â¢) is an innovative move (Smith, 2003). Further, ââ¬Å"Such local experiments in limited political reform are creating a mixed regime based on one-party rule, Mandarin traditions, and intra-party elections, which will be democratic in its own terms even if not by Western standards.Chinese business classes are likely to play a role that their European counterparts did in the past by eventually promoting democratizationâ⬠. (Smith, 2003) We will write a custom essay sample on Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia? Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia? Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Why does the definition of civil society matter to the evaluation of political transitions in Asia? 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