Does healthy food prevent obesity

Huntington †Clash of Civilizations

Huntington – Clash of Civilizations Free Online Research Papers In his famous article Clash of Civilizations?, which was published in the summer of 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs, Huntington proclaims that with the end of the Cold War, a new basis of division has emerged in the world; the ideological conflicts of the past will be replaced by inter-cultural conflicts involving civilizations. Huntington identifies seven or eight major, contemporary civilizations: the Western, Latin American and Orthodox (these two possibly being derivations of Western civilization but with an own cultural identity), Islamic, Sinic, Hindu and Japanese, with the possibility of an African civilization completing the list. Furthermore, the conflict is unavoidable and will take place across civilizational borders or fault-lines. The clash will almost inevitably affect Australia as well, since it is part of Western civilization as shown in 2.1 – and due to the intensity of the clash Western vs. Islamic civilizations, Australia could face challenges due to its Muslim neighbours. Furthermore, Australia is also affected, not only by such fault-line conflicts, but also by the possibility of a loss of cultural identity due to its attempts to integrate in economic regional institutions such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Another example for the special case that Australia offers is the aspect of the torn countries. These are nations that have their own homogeneous culture and can’t be affiliated to a civilization as understood by Huntington, which would leave Australia as an independent entity. To what extent Huntington is right with his affirmations, and if they can really steer the system of modern international politics, will be discussed by applying his thoughts to Australia as a showcase scenario. For a better understanding of the underlying problems, we will firstly depict Huntington’s statements and later apply his thoughts to the situation of Australia in the international system. By doing so, we will prove Huntingtons paradigm wrong in various ways. 2. What are Civilizations and why will they clash For Huntington the grouping of countries into the first, second or third world is no longer of importance. The only thing that matters is their cultural and ethnic, in short, civilizational allegiance. But what are civilizations, in which ways do they differ from one another and why will they clash? 2.1 Civilizations, Culture and Religion Culture is the highest level of identity for Huntington, it is the broadest level of identification an individual can have with a collective (i.e. ethnic or religious groups). It is what all Arabs or Hindus have in common and at the same time, differentiates them from Westerners or Africans. It is, in a sense, the smallest common noun in a group itself defined by culture. And this cultural entity is what takes the form of a civilization. The criteria by which he differs civilizations from one another are origin, religion, language, history, values, customs and traditions, institutions. According to this, Huntington divides the world into eight civilizations: the Western, Latin American, Orthodox, Islamic, Sinic, Hindu, Japanese and African. Five of these have their respective core state (leading country) or states: for Western civilization it is the European Union (EU) and the United States; for the Orthodox civilization it is Russia; for the Sinic civilization, China; for the Hindu civilization, India; and for the Japanese civilization, Japan. There is no such core state for the Islamic civilization (being so widespread Huntington prefers to point out three subdivisions: the Arabic, Turkish and Malaysian ), nor for Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. The division of countries into civilizations seems random since Greece is not part of Western civilization but of the Slavic-orthodox, even though it is a member of the European Union and NATO and Western civilization is based on the classic-Greek civilization. Furthermore, even though they both form part of the Islamic civilization, there is little in common between Tunisia and Indonesia apart from religion. Thus, the central aspect in Huntington’s differentiation between civilizations is of religious nature even if he prefers to call it cultural. In der modernen Welt ist Religion eine zentrale, vielleicht sogar die zentrale Kraft, welche die Menschen motiviert und mobilisiert.â€Å" â€Å"()Menschen kmpfen und sterben fà ¼r ihren Glauben.â€Å" To the six major civilizations Huntington has depicted, we can assign one world religion or subordinate branch (the catholic/protestant and the orthodox are all Christians) to each Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Christianit y, and Islam – or to put it in his own words: †die grossen Religionen sind () in einem sehr realen Sinn die Grundlagen, auf denen die grossen Zivilisationen ruhen.â€Å" 2.2 Why Civilizations will Clash Huntington exposes six reasons why it will come to a clash between civilizations. First, the differences between civilizations are basic. They are â€Å"the product of centuriesâ€Å" and „far more fundamental than differences among political ideologies and political regimesâ€Å" Since man is born into them, they play a substantial part in the kind of education received. This implies that differing views in subjects such as God and man or family values of a socio-political kind will inevitably lead to conflict. Second, the increasing interactions between civilizations make the differences and commonalities between them clearer, sharpening predilections or prejudices and thus intensifying cultural consciousness. Third, the global economic modernization estranges people from their traditional identities, weakening the nation state as source of identity and fostering the revival of religion and religious movements. â€Å"Global has no roots and people want roots.â€Å" Only through globalization do people notice their cultural belonging. Fourth, the West, with its dominating role in the international stage, can either motivate to join or create the opposite †back to the rootsâ€Å" phenomenon. Other civilizations won’t let their values be felt as inferior to those of the West, and they †increasingly have the desire, the will and the resources to shape the world in non-Western ways.† Fifth, the impossibility to change cultural differences makes it very difficult to overcome them since †they are less easily compromised and resolved than political and economic onesâ€Å". So the question asked by Huntington is †what are you?â€Å", since †a person can be half-French and half-Arab and simultaneously even a citizen of two countries. It is more difficult to be half-Catholic and half-Muslim. â€Å" Again, the religious belief is the biggest defining element when finding out the alignment of the individual. Finally, the increase in economic regionalism will reinforce civilization-consciousness and at the same time can only succeed based on a common culture. NAFTA (Mexico became member in 1996), ASEAN or Mercosur serve as examples, as do the difficulties Japan faces in creating a similar economic institution. 2.3 The Conflicts along the Faultlines and the Kin-country Syndrome The faultlines are the borders between civilizations, which is where the cultural battles will take place. It seems that Western and Islamic civilizations have been in conflict for the past thirteen-hundred years culminating in the Iraqi and Yugoslavian wars, †(t)his centuries old military interaction between the West and Islam is unlikely to decline. It could become more virulent.† The next idea worthy of comment is the kin-country syndrome which holds for a self-evident truth, that the rallying of allies is easiest and almost exclusive to countries of the same civilization 2.4 The West versus the Rest The West dominates every aspect of international relations, be it of political, security or economic kind since it plays the leading and founding role in the major international institutions (i.e. U.N., IMF, WTO). For instance, it has three seats out of five in the U.N. Security Council and â€Å"(t)hrough the IMF the West promotes its economic interests and imposes on other nations the economic policies it thinks appropriate.† Huntington sees the actions taken by the West as assuring and maintaining of Western predominance in the globe, which he finds necessary. But at the same time, other states, like China, will not accept a world in which its values are regarded as inferior to those of the West and will not accept global socio-economic institutions which limit its possibilities. â€Å"The values that are most important in the West are least important worldwide† and trying to affirm or impose them on an international institution or maybe even on another culture ca n cause misunderstandings and will lead to a re-indigenization or reaffirmation of traditional values. Huntington sees three possible reactions to Western hegemony from other states. The first option is to follow a course of isolation from the West and western policies as North Korea does. Unluckily though, this can only be achieved through massive public-control by the state so as to avoid the cultural Westoxication of the nation in question. This is not only costly but also proves to be a Herculean task, since ranging from the internet to the purchase of the simplest necessity, the West is almost always involved and present (for example the free market, freedom of speech, etc). The second possibility is â€Å"band-wagoningâ€Å" which means to try and join a country on the rise instead of looking for the classical balance of power. It involves accepting the leading country’s values and institutions. Turkey would be a good example since it is trying to join the EU. It is also what Huntington denominates a torn country, which will be explained in the following chapter. The third and last possibility is for a country or group of them to try and build a counter-balance to the West. To work though, they need a more or less equal military capacity as well as economic power, and while cooperating with each other (either intra- or inter-civilizational) to â€Å"[preserve] indigenous values and institutions; in short, to modernize but not to Westernize.â€Å" So Huntington acknowledges that the existing structure of international institutions is indeed a product of Western hegemony and reflects Western values. Only by adopting a policy of coexistence and recognizing the legitimacy of the values the other civilizations hold as sacred, can a violent conflict between civilizations be avoided. 2.5 The Torn Countries A torn country has a homogenial culture (i.e. customs, history, religion, etc.) Normally its history, culture and traditions are mostly non-Western but their leaders, according to Huntington , usually seek a bandwagoning strategy to join the West but they also have to heed the wishes of the antagonistic, traditionalist forces. For a torn country to be accepted into a new civilization, there are three requirements it must meet: First, the intellectual elite of the country must be willing to and support the change, since they are the ones to make the future changes. Second, the citizens of the country must be willing to adopt their new identity as well, since they are the bearers of the burden. Third, the civilization the country in question wants to join must be willing â€Å"to embrace the convert†. 3. Making the Case for Australia 3.1 Australias Place in the World According to Huntingtons own explanation, Australia is part of Western civilization. About 95% of Australians are of European descent (mostly British and Irish), with a minority of its population being of Asian (1,5%) or indigenous (2.2%) descent. Around 70% of its population has Christian beliefs, and its form of government is a Parliamentary Monarchy (i. e. Democratic form of government); which undoubtedly situates Australia in the midst of western countries. 3.2 Conflicts and Faultlines Now that the question of Australias civilizational affiliation is cleared, the question of intercultural conflicts arises. First, the most obvious faultline that affects Australia emerges from the border with Indonesia, a Islamic country. Since the 1970s the greatest priority of Australian foreign policy had been to have good diplomatic ties with Indonesia. So it came, that PMs Whitlam, Hawke and Keating kept supporting Indonesia in a show of Chamberlainesque appeasement, even after they had invaded East-Timor (a predominantly Catholic country) in 1975 . When John Howard was elected in 1996, he immediately sent peacekeeping forces into East Timor and advocated Australias support for their independence. The role of this support of an essentially Christian country against a Muslim nation was detrimental to Australias reputation with other Muslim countries. One could also argue, that the political cost of mobilization to help East Timor was lower, since East Timor is also a Christian country. This would prove Huntingtons idea of the kin-country syndrome. This is supported as well by various other decisions made on foreign policy. John Howards foreign policy initiatives during his administration where mainly directed at strengthening the link between Australia and the USA, culminating in a belligerent engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq . Clearly a political course of bandwagoning with the stronger power. Thus, the combination of supporting the US and the Timorese against the Muslim World has had detrimental effects on Australias relationship with Middle Eastern countries and some Asian countries, which has only been improved through the generous relief given to the victims of the Tsunami of 2004. 3.3 Australia, a Torn Country? Australia has undertaken important steps towards economic integration in the South-East Pacific region. It has joined APEC and shown true commitment to its cause by enlarging its annual budget allowance for APEC in 2007 up to AU14.5$ According to Huntington, this shows that Australian leaders are aiming at making a torn country in reverse out of Australia. This means, that they seek to defect from western civilization and to redefine themselves as an Asian country. According to Huntington, Australian leaders argued that their countries future lay within the dynamic economies of East Asia. Yet as Huntington poses, close economic cooperation normally requires a cultural base (like in the EU, Mercosur or NAFTA). Taking the thought even further, even if the Australian elites where willing to go that far, the Australian population would have to give their consent (a very improbable thing to happen) and the new hosting Civilization would have to accept the newcomer (Australia), which is about as improbable . As of now, not a single country has succesfully realigned itself within a new civilizational community, and the chances of it happening look rather bleak. To support the idea of the problematic realignment – in terms of financial interests – it suffices to check the proposals for an All- Asian Free Trade Zone presented by Malaysia in 1990 called the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) or East Asia Economic Group (EAEG), which encompassed member states of ASEAN The initiative was presented due to the dissatisfaction of joining ASEAN (an Asian-states-only institution) with APEC (which has member states from the western civilization as well- i.e. USA, Australia) and was aimed at leaving out any western powers. In the end little was done to materialize any final agreements on implementation of EAEC . Still, this serves as an example to clarify to what extent Australia would have faced difficulties in trying to align itself in a new Civilization. The core countries would have left them out. 4. Conclusion All in all, Huntington presents his thoughts clearly and finds some strong arguments to back his different thesis. After having applied parts of his work to Australia the credit one must give him seems to rise. Yet one should beware taking his work as the new paradigm for international relations since some of his ideas are still unproven. In Australias case, economic cooperation with its neighbours can ensure a rise in the living standards of the nations involved, which in itself has the gracious side effect of improving conditions for democracies to foster. According to the modernization theory, richer populations usually expect more freedom from their governing elite, which in the end usually results in a turn towards a more democratic environment. The better news is that democracies have the tendency to sort problems with other democratic countries in non-violent ways, making a peaceful coexistence easier. That way, Australia could very well forfeit belligerent stands on its diver se neighbours along its faultlines, and instead focus on economic development and free trade. The rise in the budget made for APEC shows that it is willing to invest in means of fighting corruption and empowering free trade in its neighbouring countries which according to Huntingtons Hobbesian view of international relations would seem imposible. List of â€Å"Australia.† Der Fischer Weltalmanach: 2006. Frankfurt a. M. 2006 Huntington, Samuel P.: Kampf der Kulturen, Die Neugestaltung der Weltpolitik im 21. Jahrhundert. Mà ¼nchen: 1996 Huntington, Samuel P.: â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations?† Foreign Affairs, Volume 72 Nr.3, Summer 1993 Fickling, David: â€Å"Australia to send troops to Afghanistan† The Guardian Wednsday July 13, 2005 Hopkins, Andrea: â€Å"Australia let Indonesia invade East Timor in 1975† The Guardian Wednesday September 13, 2000 Information on ASEANs decision regarding EAEC, in: aseansec.org/9269.htm Lubbers, R.F.M: â€Å"A response to Samuel Huntington.† September 1997. December 20th 2007 â€Å"Australia Increases Contribution to APEC.† News Release Issued by the 19th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting Sydney: September 6, 2007 REUTERS: â€Å"Our alliance with the US remains pivotal† The Guardian, Saturday October 9 2004 Rushdie, Salman: â€Å"Yes, this is about Islam.† New York Times, November 2, 2001, January 24, 2008 Triandis, Harry C.: â€Å"Cross-Cultural Studies of Individualism and Collectivism. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.† New York Times, Dec. 25, 1990 â€Å"Und dann die Atombombe. Gesprch mit Professor Samuel Huntington† Der Spiegel, Nr. 48, 25.11.1996 Research Papers on Huntington - Clash of CivilizationsCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBringing Democracy to AfricaAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andPETSTEL analysis of IndiaEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaHip-Hop is Art

Task 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Task 3 - Essay Example Foremost, the Mughal Empire had collapsed and regional states had taken centre stage (Page, 2003). As a result, thirst for power by political contestants took center stage as they sought to consolidate power in coastal states through support from the Company administrators. Second, trade rivalries between the British and French prompted each one to build alliances with opponent political groups for purposes of extracting maximum benefits for their respective trade companies (Page, 2003). Furthermore, the personal ambitions of amassing wealth were at play in the company’s political involvement. However, one event proved vital in establishing company rule. It was the British victory over the French in Southeast India and consequent fomenting of their presence in Bengal (Page, 2003). Consequently, the company created Indian Sepoy armies that were used to gradually gain economic control over the expansive Indian territory and dismantling any forms of resistance (Page, 2003). The B ritish vision for India was one whereby the population was unified in speaking one language. Consequently, from 1818 to 1857, the company rule enforced social reforms and government policies based on British values. The company rule faced rebellion from the indigenous Hindus and Indians. It was known as the Sepoy rebellion of 1857. The rebellion was precipitated by several factors that were instigated by the British company. First, the Indians were offended by the apparent efforts by the British to convert them to Christianity. Second, the Indians were angered by the British efforts to instill social change by ending slavery and improving the social status of women in households. However, the boiling point arose when the Sepoy soldiers were forced to bite cartridges that were oiled with animal fat before loading them in their guns (Page, 2003). Apparently, the animal fat used was an affront to Hindu religion since it was derived from pig and cow fat. Consequently, the aggrieved Sepo ys rebelled against the British soldiers and the rebellion spurned across Central and Northern India (Page, 2003). However, the rebellion was defeated by the British army and the aftermath was burnt down villages, loss of innocent Indian lives and a wave of mistrust between the Indians and British. As a result, the British changed tact by removing the company rule and establishing a British Colony in India (Page, 2003). However, a wave of Indian nationalism led by rising middle class nationals started to agitate for Indian independence from Britain. One such movement was the Indian National congress that espoused political unity in the push for independence by 1914. B. Comparison of Tactics The Indian Independence Movement employed a non violent resistance against the British colonial rule. It was led by the revolutionary leader, Mahatma Gandhi. The movement preached a united and non violent Indian resistance against the British rule. Mahatma Gandhi drew his method of non violence f rom the philosophical tactics employed by Baba Ram Singh during the Kuka Movement of 1870s (Page, 2003).The resistance came after a backdrop of issues that the colonial government was perpetrating against the Indians. First, the British had divided the India into regions classified as the Princely states and British India (Page, 2003). The Britons had devised the partitioning as a tool for

The UK is a member of the European Union but has not adopted the euro Essay

The UK is a member of the European Union but has not adopted the euro as its currency. To what extent do the benefits of membership of a monetary union such as the Eurozone outweigh the costs - Essay Example It also aimed to enhance aggregate employment opportunities in these counties. In order to enhance the level of employability, EMU aims to enhance capital investment levels of its member states. Higher sustainability of pensions and public finances are also achieved in these countries through activities of EMU. The Union tries to improve social status of its member states by increasing the extent of welfare maximizing activities in such markets (Minford, 2010). EMU provides monetary assistance to its member states at times of emergency or crisis. If a country faces severe credit crunch and is unable to borrow money from the external market at particular rates, then it can avail the financial assistance facility of EMU. The country needs to firstly negotiate its borrowing program with the European Council and International Monetary Fund (Watt, 2014). The programme also needs to be accepted by other member states of the Union. Finally, after considering all legal regulations, the country receives the loan from European Central Bank (ECB). The amount, rates of interest, duration and procurement related activities are managed by European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) unit (Minford, 2010). The EMU helps to stimulate economic growth within its member countries. For ensuring this, the Union tries to enhance the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) in these countries. Higher FDI inflow in encouraged by eliminating the transaction cost and lowering risks associated with exchange rate volatilities. Lesser exchange rate volatility helps in stabilizing the prices of goods and services in the market. Moreover, employability in these countries also reflects low fluctuation due to greater stability in wage rates. Transaction costs are the expenses incurred for selling and buying securities in the share market. Such costs are composed of payments of brokers and expenses of spreads. EMU eliminates

Nike Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Nike - Research Paper Example This is to say that the company is one of the richest companies in Oregon. Mission statement and goals Nike’s Mission statement is: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. According to Bill Bowerman, everybody who has a body is an athlete. The company therefore aims at bringing inspiration and innovation to the entire humanity. The company has five goals for its business processes. These are, to provide an environment which develops individuals to maximize their contribution to Nike, to provide innovative and quality products and services both internally and externally, to identify consumer segment opportunities that are focused, to establish and nurture good emotional ties with groups of consumer and to maximize profits (nikerepository.com 1). History and products Nike was founded in January 1964 by Philip Knight, a track athlete in the University of Oregon, and his coach Bill Bowerman. They gave the company the name Blue Ribbon Sports . Initially, the company operated as a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger (the current ASICS), a Japanese shoe maker. At that time, it was making high sales at local track meetings and other evens related to sports out of an automobile that belonged to Knight. The company grew rapidly and opened its first retail store in 1967. By 1971, its relationship with Onitsuka was almost ending and Blue Ribbon Sports prepared to launch its own line of shoes that would bear the Swoosh latest designed by Carolyn Davidson (nikerepository.com 1). In January 1971, Nike first used the swoosh and released its first group of products named Nike and bearing the swoosh. Their first products were brands of truck running shoes. In 1978, Knight and Bowerman changed the name of the company to Nike corporation. By 1980, the company had taken over almost half of the athletic footwear market even without TV advertisements. Since then, the company has expanded and as of November 2008, it had acquired some companies to become it s own major subsidiaries. These are Converse Inc, Umbro, Cole Haan and Hurley International and Nike Golf. Other Nike subsidiaries are Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc and Exeter Brands Group LLC. Nike produces a vast range of sports equipment and sportswear. Currently, the company produces a variety of shoes, shorts, jerseys, baselayers and other types of sportswear designed for use in a range of sport like basketball, ice hockey, cricket, tennins, lacrosse and other track and field sports. The name Nike is the name of a Greek goddess of victory and Nike Corporation markets all its products under its own name. This also include Nike Pro, Nike Golf, Nike+, Nike Skateboarding. Some of the products produced or sold by its subsidiaries are marketed under different brand names for example Air Jordan/Jordans which are sold by its Jordan brand subsidiary. Manufacturing, marketing and supply chain In order to meet its global demand, Nike has contracted over 700 shoe factories and these factories are now manufacturing Nike-branded products. Most of the contacted factories are located in Asia including China, India ,Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. CRS Wire. (2005). Manufacturing and marketing is therefore achieved is therefore through subsidiaries and contracted companies. Currently, the company operate in over 160 countries globally. Nike recognised the need develop a well-coordinated and efficient SC for the

Imprisonment In This Way For The Gas English Literature Essay

Imprisonment In This Way For The Gas English Literature Essay Imprisonment: it can take many forms, traditional imprisonment in a penitentiary, a non literal form of feeling imprisoned by being impoverished, and the literal form, a concentration camp. But the form that is quite misunderstood and undertaken is imprisonment in literature. Imprisonment in literature can evolve and stem out so many different ways. You could describe the life of a concentration camp victim, to a young boy trapped by his parents in his home, or a young man living up in trees. This form of imprisonment is the most understated form of seeing imprisonment, although many works of literature show us how their characters are imprisoned. Its ironic how a man sitting in a prison will read a novel, or collection of short stories, who might not be in the same situation as him, but understand what is going on to him, that imprisoned protagonist. Tadeusz Borowski and Italo Calvino have masterfully incorporated and portrayed the motif and theme of imprisonment into their works Th is Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen and Baron In The Trees respectively, along with enticing and detailed diction, their works make for great literature. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman, is written by a Polish Holocaust survivor Tadeusz Borowski, and is the title piece and first story of his collection of short stories. Borowski was not one of the Jews, but a poet who suffered from depression. For this reason, the Nazis had sufficient reason to detain him at Auschwitz and Dachau because he was considered a political prisoner. Borowskis views toward his fellow prisoners and the Nazis were fairly different than normally seen by concentration camp survivors, mainly because he was not Jewish. According to Karen Bernarda, it wasnt that Borowskis viewed his incarceration in any more positive terms than the Jews with who he was imprisoned with, but he does not seem to be able to separate the prisoners and the Nazis into villains and victims. In the story, This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, the narrator Tadek, has become a member of a group called Canada, which was responsible for rummaging through the Jews individual belo ngings in search of any hidden treasures they can save. Tadek, however, does in fact know that most or all these people coming off the trains are going to be sent to the gas chambers, and yet decides not tell them this. During this time, however, Tadek feels profound indignity about his job, but he also believes the Jews are the ones responsible for their imprisonment in the concentration camps, and also feels it was the despondent Jews who have destined him to feel ashamed of himself. Borowski says, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] I am furious, simply furious with these people-furious because I must be here because of them. I feel no pity. I am not sorry theyre going to the gas chamber. Damn them all! I could throw myself at them, beat them with my fists.(Borowski 116) The unfair argument that Tadek is trying to show is that even the concentration camp prisoners who worked for the Nazis suffered as much as the Jews did, even though they were a*llowed to survive. Bu*t they were also forced to wo*rk for the Nazis which was, for Borowski, even more dehumanizing than being allowed to die. Imprisoned workers were forced to carry dead Jews to the crematorium, as well as witness countless other sickening and despicable acts. Not only is Tadek imprisoned physically, he is imprisoned mentally as well. Just the sheer fact that someone is running your life, and not letting you make your own decisions or choices, makes you feel as though you are an imprisoned slave. If you were not mentally capable of taking this into consideration it was very unlikely that you would have survived in the Holocaust. It took a great deal of mental and physical strength to get through the imprisonment techniques of the Nazi regime. Set in the peaceful valley of Ombrosa during the period of intellectual and social ferment, Italo Calvinos The Baron in the Trees relates the story of Cosimo Piovasco di Rondà ², along with Cosimos brother Biagio, whom is the narrator, provides the history and long standing tension of their family. Cosimos father, Baron Arminio, married the General of the War of Succession, Corradina. The Baron, who is half-mad with a malicious streak, seems to abuse his children continuously; and while Corradina is fighting in the war on horseback it eventually causes the children to run wild, become crazy, and ultimately not listen to their father. One day, when the Baron invites the Courts of France to lunch at noon, Battista arrives with her new French cuisine meal, snails. When Arminio forces Cosimo to eat the snails, it comes apparent to Cosimo and the reader that he can no longer handle his fathers abuse and yelling. Fleeing from the table and storming out of the house, Cosimo uses his abilit y to climb up a live oak tree in the backyard. In contrast to This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman, Cosimo escaped the imprisonment and harsh antics of his father in order to live a better life. However, Cosimo was entering into another imprisoned lifestyle, one in the trees. Being that Cosimo is imprisoned in the trees, he is deprived of the items, pleasures, and opportunities that lie just beneath him on the ground, This would lead one to the thought that your choice will trap you, whether it be an existential choice or not. Your choice will lead to a different path, a path that has an unpredictable future. Maybe an imprisoned lifestyle is just inevitable. Maybe with every decision you make you are entering more and more into the imprisonment of your own life. Unknowing what will happen in the future, Cosimo jumps out of the trees and into the hot air balloon, he now becomes imprisoned within that hot air balloon for an unknown amount of time. According to Jessica Page Morrell, Whatever your themes-abandonment, loneliness, lawlessness, justice, the dangers of seduction-the setting can enhance these concepts. In This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman, Tadeusz Borowski provides the grotesque, inhumane, setting of the Holocaust in order to provide a dual insight to the life of the Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps. Borowski gives us a brief idea of how isolated these camps were, and how he himself was isolated. Morrell states that geography and weather are used most often as devices for isolation, and being that these concentration camps were so far from any type of civilization it is an excellent setting and place for the short stories. Right away Borowski starts his first short story with, All of us walk around naked. The delousing is finally over, and our striped suits are back from the tanks of Cyclone B solution [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the heat is unbearable. The camp has been sealed off tight (Bor owski 29). This is a prime example of how setting enhanced the theme of imprisonment all while showing the inhumane and unethical practices used by the Nazis. The setting of Baron In The Trees is unvaried throughout the novel, but the main setting would be in the trees. From the trees, Cosimo explained to his brother, he could see the earth more visibly. Free from the dull routine of an earthbound existence, the Baron had fantastic adventures with pirates, women and spies, and still had time to read, and study. Cosimos imprisonment, was not bad at all times, he got to enjoy some of the pleasure that people on the ground have the honor of doing. The setting of Baron In The Trees not only enhances the theme of the novel, but it also develops a sense of place that plays an interactive aspect of the fictional novel that saturates mood and meaning all while making the reader rely on visual and sensory references (Morrell 171). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary imprisonment means, to put in or as if in prison; confine, and literature means imaginative or creative writing. When put together, the ideas are implausible; the author takes the reader into a whole other world. This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentelmen and Baron in The Trees, are two excellent works of literature which portray the imprisonment of their respective characters exquisitely. Word Count: 1,454

Technology and Education Essay -- Technological Essays

Technology and Education The idea of integrating technology (like computers in every classroom and an overhead projector that is connected to the teachers computer) into education is a relatively new idea, and when I first started researching the topic I tried to look for the adverse effects of technology and education. Through my research I have decided that integrating technology into the classroom is indeed a good idea. Even though some teachers and students have a hard time working with the new technology many schools are starting to use, the adverse effects of technology do not compare with all the benefits of integrating technology into education. The Ameritech Electronic University School Classroom is a recently developed facility at Kent State University. The goal of this project is to give students in Kindergarten to 12th grade a chance to work with the latest technology (Drew par. 2). The classroom is equipped with 12 networked computers, a scanner, a printer, videoconferencing cameras connected to several computers, digital still-frame cameras, camcorders, and a VCR (Drew par.2). The goal of this project is to see what advantages or disadvantages would surface from having students work in a technologically advanced setting. The researchers who were conducting this experiment would observe and tape the classroom dynamics. The first major success of this program was that both the students and the teachers felt comfortable using the hardware and software by the end of the allotted time. At first the teachers indicated that they were somewhat ill-prepared to work in the Ameritech classroom but by the end of the semester they all indicated they were vary deft in working with the programs. The teachers also n... ...nology are also ways that we are glorifying God; because every smidgen of knowledge that we gain, no matter how the knowledge is delivered, helps us understand the glory of our Lord. Works Cited Drees, William B. ""Playing God? Yes!" Religion in the Light of Technology." Zygon volume 37 number 3 September 2002. November 30, 2002 <http://www.firstsearch.com>. Tiene, C. Drew and Pamela Luft. "Classroom Dynamics in a Technology-Rich Learning Environment." Learning and Leading with Technology. version 29 number 4 December 2001/January 2002. October 16, 2002 <http://www.firstsearch.com>. Morgan, Konrad and Madeleine Morgan and John Hall. "Psychological Developments in High Technology Teaching and Learning Environments." British Journal of Educational Technology. version 31 number 1 January 2000. November 30, 2002 <http://www.firstsearch.com>.

Pythagorean Philosophy

â€Å"Music is the harmonization of opposites, the unification of disparate things, and the conciliation of warring elements†¦ Music is the basis of agreement among things in nature and of the best government in the universe. As a rule it assumes the guise of harmony in the universe, of lawful government in a state, and of a sensible way of life in the home. It brings together and Every school student will recognize his name as the originator of that theorem which offers many cheerful facts about the square on the hypotenuse. Many European philosophers will call him the father of philosophy. Many scientists will call him he father of science. To musicians, nonetheless, Pythagoras is the father of music. According to Johnston, it was a much told story that one day the young Pythagoras was passing a blacksmith's shop and his ear was caught by the regular intervals of sounds from the anvil. When he discovered that the hammers were of different weights, it occured to him that the intervals might be related to those weights. Pythagoras was correct. Pythagorean philosophy maintained that all things are numbers. Based on the belief that numbers were the building blocks of everything, Pythagoras began linking numbers and music. Revolutionizing music, Pythagoras' findings generated theorems and standards for musical scales, relationships, instruments, and creative formation. Musical scales became defined, and taught. Instrument makers began a precision approach to device construction. Composers developed new attitudes of composition that encompassed a foundation of numeric value in addition to melody. All three approaches were based on Pythagorean philosophy. Thus, Pythagoras' relationship between numbers and music had a profound influence on future musical education, The intrinsic discovery made by Pythagoras was the potential rder to the chaos of music. Pythagoras began subdividing different intervals and pitches into distinct notes. Mathematically he divided intervals into wholes, thirds, and halves. â€Å"Four distinct musical ratios were discovered: the tone, its fourth, its fifth, and its octave. † (Johnston, 1989). From these ratios the Pythagorean scale was introduced. This scale revolutionized music. Pythagorean relationships of ratios held true for any initial pitch. This discovery, in turn, reformed musical education. â€Å"With the standardization of music, musical creativity could be recorded, taught, and reproduced. † (Rowell, 1983). Modern day finger exercises, such as the Hanons, are neither based on melody or creativity. They are simply based on the Pythagorean scale, and are executed from various initial pitches. Creating a foundation for musical representation, works became recordable. From the Pythagorean scale and simple mathematical calculations, different scales or modes were developed. The Dorian, Lydian, Locrian, and Ecclesiastical modes were all developed from the foundation of Pythagoras. † (Johnston, 1989). â€Å"The basic foundations of musical education are based on the various modes of scalar relationships. † (Ferrara, 1991). Pythagoras' discoveries created starting point for structured music. From this, diverse educational schemes were created upon basic themes. Pythagoras and his mathematics created the foundation for musical education According to Rowell, Pythagoras began his experiments demonstrating the tones of bells of different sizes. Bells of variant size produce different harmonic ratios. † (Ferrara, 1991). Analyzing the different ratios, Pythagoras began defining different musical pitches based on bell diameter, and density. â€Å"Based on Pythagorean harmonic relationships, and Pythagorean geometry, bell-makers began constructing bells with the principal itch prime tone, and hum tones consisting of a fourth, a fifth, and the octave. † (Johnston, 1989). Ironically or coincidentally, these tones were all members of the Pythagorean scale. In addition, Pythagoras initiated comparable experimentation with pipes of different lengths. Through this method of study he unearthed two astonishing inferences. When pipes of different lengths were hammered, they emitted different pitches, and when air was passed through these pipes respectively, alike results were attained. This sparked a revolution in the construction of melodic percussive instruments, as well as the wind instruments. Similarly, Pythagoras studied strings of different thickness stretched over altered lengths, and found another instance of numeric, musical correspondence. He discovered the initial length generated the strings primary tone, while dissecting the string in half yielded an octave, thirds produced a fifth, quarters produced a fourth, and fifths produced a third. â€Å"The circumstances around Pythagoras' discovery in relation to strings and their resonance is astounding, and these catalyzed the production of stringed instruments. † (Benade, 1976). In a way, music is lucky that Pythagoras' attitude to experimentation was as it was. His insight was indeed correct, and the realms of instrumentation would never be the same again. Furthermore, many composers adapted a mathematical model for music. According to Rowell, Schillinger, a famous composer, and musical teacher of Gershwin, suggested an array of procedures for deriving new scales, rhythms, and structures by applying various mathematical transformations and permutations. His approach was enormously popular, and widely respected. â€Å"The influence comes from a Pythagoreanism. Wherever this system has been successfully used, it has been by composers who were already well trained enough to distinguish the musical results. In 1804, Ludwig van Beethoven began growing deaf. He had begun composing at age seven and would compose another twenty-five years after his impairment took full effect. Creating music in a state of inaudibility, Beethoven had to rely on the relationships between pitches to produce his music. â€Å"Composers, such as Beethoven, could rely on the structured musical relationships that instructed their creativity. † (Ferrara, 1991). Without Pythagorean musical structure, Beethoven could not have created many of his astounding compositions, and would have failed to establish himself as one of the two greatest musicians of all ime. Speaking of the greatest musicians of all time, perhaps another name comes to mind, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. â€Å"Mozart is clearly the greatest musician who ever lived. † (Ferrara, 1991). Mozart composed within the arena of his own mind. When he spoke to musicians in his orchestra, he spoke in relationship terms of thirds, fourths and fifths, and many others. Within deep analysis of Mozart's music, musical scholars have discovered distinct similarities within his composition technique. According to Rowell, initially within a Mozart composition, Mozart introduces a primary melodic theme. He then reproduces hat melody in a different pitch using mathematical transposition. After this, a second melodic theme is created. Returning to the initial theme, Mozart spirals the melody through a number of pitch changes, and returns the listener to the original pitch that began their journey. â€Å"Mozart's comprehension of mathematics and melody is inequitable to other composers. This is clearly evident in one of his most famous works, his symphony number forty in G-minor† (Ferrara, 1991). Without the structure of musical relationship these aforementioned musicians could not have achieved their musical aspirations. Pythagorean theories created the basis for their musical endeavours. Mathematical music would not have been produced without these theories. Without audibility, consequently, music has no value, unless the relationship between written and performed music is so clearly defined, that it achieves a new sense of mental audibility to the Pythagorean skilled listener.. As clearly stated above, Pythagoras' correlation between music and numbers influenced musical members in every aspect of musical creation. His conceptualization and experimentation molded modern musical practices, instruments, and music itself nto what it is today. What Pathagoras found so wonderful was that his elegant, abstract train of thought produced something that people everywhere already knew to be aesthetically pleasing. Ultimately music is how our brains intrepret the arithmetic, or the sounds, or the nerve impulses and how our interpretation matches what the performers, instrument makers, and composers thought they were doing during their respective creation. Pythagoras simply mathematized a foundation for these occurances. â€Å"He had discovered a connection between arithmetic and aesthetics, between the natural world and the human soul.

Five Things You Dont Know About Africa

Five Things You Don't Know About Africa 1. Africa is not a country Okay. You do know this, but people frequently refer to Africa as though it were a country. Sometimes, people will actually say, â€Å"Countries like India and Africa†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , but more often they simply refer to Africa as though the entire continent faced similar problems or had similar cultures or histories. There are, however, 54 sovereign states in Africa plus the disputed territory of Western Sahara. 2. Africa is not all poor, rural, or overpopulated Africa is an incredibly diverse continent politically, socially, and economically. To get an idea of how people’s lives and opportunities differ across Africa, consider that in 2013: Life expectancy ranged from 45 (Sierra Leone) to 75 (Libya Tunisia)Children per family ranged from 1.4 (Mauritius) to 7.6 (Niger)Population density (people per square mile) ranged from 3 (Namibia) to 639 (Mauritius)GDP per capita in current US dollars ranged from 226 (Malawi) to 11,965 (Libya)Cell phones per 1000 people ranged from 35 (Eritrea) to 1359 (Seychelles) (All above data from the World Bank) 3. There were empires and kingdoms in Africa long before the modern era The most famous ancient kingdom, of course, is Egypt, which existed in one form or another, from roughly 3,150 to 332 B.C.E. Carthage is also well known due to its wars with Rome, but there were numerous other ancient kingdoms and empires, including Kush-Meroe in present-day Sudan and Axum in Ethiopia, each of which lasted for over 1,000 years. Two of the more famous states of what is sometimes referred to as the medieval era in African history are the Kingdoms of Mali (c.1230-1600) and Great Zimbabwe (c. 1200-1450). These were both rich states involved in intercontinental trade. Archeological digs at Zimbabwe have revealed coins and commodities from as far away as China, and these are but a few examples of the wealthy and powerful states that flourished in Africa before European colonization. 4.  With the exception of Ethiopia, every African country has English, French, Portuguese, or Arabic as one of their official languages Arabic has long been spoken widely in northern and western Africa. Then, between 1885 and 1914, Europe colonized all of Africa with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia. One consequence of this colonization was that after independence, the former colonies kept the language of their colonizer as one of their official languages, even if it was a second language for many citizens.The Republic of Liberia was not technically colonized, but it had been founded by African-American settlers in 1847 and so already had English as its official language.This left the Kingdom of Ethiopia as the only African kingdom not to be colonized, though it was briefly conquered by Italy in the lead-up to World War II. Its official language is Amharic, but many students study English as a foreign language in school. 5. There are currently two female Presidents in Africa Another common misconception is that women are oppressed across Africa. There are cultures and countries where women do not have equal rights or receive respect equal to that of men, but there are other states where women are legally equal to men and have broken the glass ceiling of politics – a feat the United States of America has yet to match. In Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has served as president since 2006, and in the Central African Republic, Catherine Samba-Panza was selected the Acting President leading into the 2015 elections. Previous female heads of state include, Joyce Banda (President, Malawi), Sylvie Kinigi (Acting President, Burundi), and Rose Francine Ragombà © (Acting President, Gabon).

The Rise Of Japanese Militarism Essays - Empire Of Japan, Militarism

The Rise Of Japanese Militarism Essays - Empire Of Japan, Militarism The Rise of Japanese Militarism Japan's political journey from its quasi-democratic government in the 1920's to its radical nationalism of the mid 1930's, the collapse of democratic institutions, and the eventual military state was not an overnight transformation. There was no coup d'etat, no march on Rome, no storming of the Bastille. Instead, it was a political journey that allowed a semi-democratic nation to transform itself into a military dictatorship. The forces that aided in this transformation were the failed promises of the Meiji Restoration that were represented in the stagnation of the Japanese economy, the perceived capitulation of the Japanese parliamentary leaders to the western powers, a compliant public, and an independent military. The ground work for Japanese militarism was a compliant Japanese public. This pliant public was created through a variety of factors. Beginning in the 1890's the public education system indoctrinated students in the ideas of nationalism, loyalty to the emperor and traditionalist ideas of self-sacrifice and obedience. Thus ideas that were originally propagated to mobilize support for the Meiji government were easily diverted to form broad support for foreign militarism. Japanese society also still held many of the remnants of feudal culture such as strong confusion beliefs that stressed support for social order and lack of emphasis on individualist values. These values taught obedience not to a democratic but to the emperor; so the fact that the militaristic government of the 1930's ruled under the emperor meant that the Japanese were loyal to this government just as they had been to the government of the 1920's. So when Japan's militaristic government implemented programs characteristic of totalitarian governments such as strong media control, a thought police, and community organizations the public did little to protest. Shintoism provided a religious justification for nationalism and support for the militaristic government. Shintoism before the 1930's was primarily a nativistic religion which stressed nature and harmony. But during the 1930's it became a ideological weapon teaching Japanese that they were a superior country that had a right to expand and that its government was divinely lead by a descendent of the sun god. The independence and decentralization of the military allowed it to act largely on its own will as characterized in the Manchurian incident in 1931 and the Marco Polo bridge explosion in Shanghai. Because these incidents went unpunished and the Japanese public rallied around them the military was able to push for greater militarism and an increasingly active role in government till the entire government was run by the military. The London Treaty and Japan's rejection by large European powers at the Versailles conference angered many in the military who felt that Japan was being denied its place at the table with the great powers. This lead to a disenfranchisement with the parliamentary government who the military felt had capitulated to the western powers in treaties and by stopping its colonial expansion during the nineteen twenties. Once Japan commenced on the path of militarism it found that because of its technological edge it could defeat other Asian powers this increased Japan's sense of superiority and feed the fires of nationalism. These fires grew as following the 1931 Manchurian incident Japan invaded Manchuria then most China. In South East Asia Japan quickly expanded breaking up British, Portuguese, and Dutch colonialism. Japanese militarism occurred not by an organized plan but rather through passive acceptance by the Japanese public. A compliant Japanese public coupled with a independent army were two factors that pushed Japan toward militarism in the 1930's.

Understanding the process of economic change in a global world Essay

Understanding the process of economic change in a global world - Essay Example When people are particularly sensitive to our vastly changing environment and they emphasize their awareness to the multifarious problems that economists are facing, we could easily deal with improving the transition third world economies together., that we use tools to control our world that are very blunt instruments. Thus, North suggested that â€Å"the only tools that we have that allow us to try to shape the world we are in, are the formal rules of the game† (p. 11). In order to illustrate the rules of the game, North narrates an anecdote when he visited Moscow together with three other Americans. They were tasked by the Soviet Academy of Scientists to go to Moscow to advise the Soviet Union on its economy. The first American said, all you have to do is privatize and all will be well. The second American said, all you have to do is eliminate government, and all will be well. The third American said, all you have to do is have the computer and all will be well. I was the fourth American and I said, don't pay attention to the first three speakers; the problems are much more complicated (p. 10-11). North presented the solution would be privatization, the â€Å"catch-all panacea† to al Russia’s ills. But North warned that â€Å"privatization without the fundamental structure of the rule of law and enforcement mechanisms to go with it does not produce desirable results† (p. 12). He mentioned that there is privatization in Latin America, but privatization in the context of government fostered monopolies produces a world that does not look at all like what you want.

The second language teaching Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

The second language teaching - Research Proposal Example In this light, this paper discusses the design, use and aims of a set of integrated skills materials that have been designed to teach and reinforce the future tense to a group of six students, aged 16-17, who are preparing the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) examination for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The skills covered will range from listening to speaking, and from reading to writing in a ninety-minute session. The learning environment is a small English language institute for non-native speakers (NNS) of English with a modern language laboratory, equipped with a teacher's terminal and twelve individual student terminals. Each student terminal consists of a desk and an internet-enabled computer. The desk is wooden, on the face of which are call buttons to the teacher's terminal, adequate writing space and a mouse, as well as a glass screen giving visibility to the monitor beneath. To one side of the desk is the central processing unit (CPU), providing access to features such as a headset, CD and diskette-drives for individual practice. The teacher's terminal has the same features with additional buttons for her to monitor and assign tasks. In addition, the lab has a whiteboard, flip charts, large television, DVD-player and slide projector, and is next door to the document centre, which has subscriptions to many English language publications. These resources facilitate the employment of a v ariety of integrated materials in facilitating maximum and optimal language acquisition and practice (Levy, 1997). The laboratory offers the learners to opportunity to be immersed in English through a maximum of methods, and accounts in part for their relative ease with the language at their level. Hinkel and Fotos (2002) in their book, New Perspectives in Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, trace the change in attitudes to and perspectives about effective grammar pedagogy, showing how teachers have moved from textbook delivery and memorization of grammatical rules and structure, through audio-lingual, then functional, then cognitive, then to communicative language teaching (Allwright, 1979, 1990), particularly in L2 contexts (Hinkel and Fotos, 2002, pp. 2-4). The latter approach and its offshoot humanistic approach, developed to correct the problem of learners who "knew grammar rules but could not use the target language communicatively, and others [who] urgently needed immediate survival competency in English" (Hinkel and Fotos, 2002, p. 4). These approaches saw formal language teaching being superceded by "natural" acquisition through real communication, by means of exposure to a variety of language uses, namely listening, reading, speaking and writing.