Analysis of Spring offensive Essay

Spring hostile; by Wilfred Owens centers around the pointlessness for war. There is a striking complexity between the first and last scarcely any verses, as in the first place everything is quiet, slow and wonderful. From the fifth refrain onwards, there is an abrupt change from the tranquil condition, to an episode of action. The sonnet begins with harmony and quietness. ‘Lying simple, were quiet and finding agreeable chests and knees, Carelessly slept.’ However even this from the get-go in the entry the last two lines hint the brutality which is yet to come. ‘To face the distinct, clear sky past the edge, realizing their feet had arrived at the finish of the world.’ The sky being depicted as clear, proposes that there is no good thing lying in front of them and when ‘feet’ is utilized in the entry it infers that it is their feet that keeps them strolling on ahead. It shows their hesitance, that, whenever given a decision, they wouldn’t be taking this way. The second refrain portrays the generosity of nature to the warriors. It mitigates their torment and the breeze makes them loose. ‘by the may breeze, murmurous with wasp and midge, for summer overflowed into their veins, similar to an infused tranquilize for their bodies’ pains’ Bodies’ torments suggests that they have just been battling at another front. It is a prologue to the following two lines of the sonnet, which like the past refrain are notice about the approaching war. ‘sharp on their spirits balanced the unavoidable line of grass, frightfully flashed the sky’s puzzling glass’ The inevitable line of grass behind depicted is the combat zone and the sky blazing, gives an admonition for what is going to occur. As a continuation of the second verse, the third refrain, likewise depicts nature, as being their ally. ‘where the buttercup Had favored with their gold’ However, there is expanded notice. The briers are depicted as hands, which could grip and attempt to keep you from going anyplace ‘Where the little thistles would not yield, But grasped and clung to them like saddening hands; they inhale like trees unstirred’ The fourth verse is diverse to some degree distinctive to the initial three refrains as, it has little notice of nature. In this verse, the warriors are beingâ prepared for war, yet there isn't notice nor sign of it. ‘No cautions Of trumpets, no high banners, no clamourous haste’ However when it is said ‘the sun, similar to a companion with whom their affection is done.’ The possibility of death is fortified into the psyches of the peruser, as the sun speaks to life and to express goodbye to it, would mean demise. The last two lines of the sonnet additionally depict life and what they will lose with this fight. The fifth verse is the start of the war. The speed of the sonnet increments drastically. The initial two lines depict their drive activity and the remainder of the refrain, the response. Rather than having a real adversary retaliating, Owen has depicted nature battling the troopers. All the view made by the war, has been depicted as things brought about naturally. ‘And immediately the entire sky ignited With wrath again them’ this expression was utilized to delineate the abrupt blast of the bombs, yet to express that the ‘sky’ consumed, he accentuates the degree of the fight. By utilizing nature to portray the battling and the consequences of the it, it causes the adversary to appear to be gigantic and the fight miserable, it additionally gives the inclination that everything is against them. After utilizing ‘earth set unexpected cups In thousands for their blood’ It infers that the entire world needed their blood to be shed in puddles on the gr ound. The last line likewise depicts the demise of numerous warriors. ‘chasmed and steepened sheer to interminable space’ This hints the earth abruptly split and gobbled everybody up with it, and a successful procedure of pronouncing the destruction of many. The last refrain is the end to the occasion, and it is likewise in this verse a greater amount of the artists disdain for war is educated to the peruser. In a continuation to the past verse, the writer advises us with the damaging nature regarding war, which is likewise cunningly depicted as condition being the foe, however not at all like previously, there are not many despite everything standing and battling. ‘of them who running on that last high spot Leapt to quick inconspicuous slugs or went up On the hot impact and rage of hell’s upsurge or plunged and fell away past this world’s verge,’ After every single numerous that were left, wound up being slaughtered in the variety of projectiles and bomb impacts. There is a lot of incongruity in this refrain of the sonnet. ‘Some state God got them even before they fell’ The word which is striking is ‘some’ It indicates that maybe god didn’tâ catch them, and they additionally k icked the bucket, just to show up in heck, much the same as those which figured out how to endure. The writer tells that those that remained were massive to their adversary, successively to win the war. ‘With superhuman inhumanities’ By utilizing these articulations, the artist has featured the degree acted by the men as they are supposed to be inhumanities rather than savageries. The last four lines of the sonnet shows the artists thought on war. Their fight is depicted as having ‘immemorial shames’, which indicates that the war was silly and the triumph unfilled. This is promoted by the last line of the sonnet ‘why talk not they of friends that went under?’ This tells the overcomers of the war didn't chat about their dead associates and it infers that it would have just brought upon torment and further the idea: that war is futile. The sonnet has been composed with style. Despite the fact that differentiate through nature is utilized to misrepresent the effect of war, it is successful in the sonnet. Owen has unmistakably prevail with regards to communicating his perspective on harmony and the pointlessness of war.

And Justice For All essays

Also, Justice For All articles All through current American culture certain laws passed by the greater part have been viewed as low by an astute minority. Be that as it may, with the coherent and enthusiastic intrigue of hard took on conflicts, voices have been heard, and the psyches of the greater part can once in a while be changed over to see reality. Thoreau, in the wake of going through a night in prison and seeing reality holed up behind the purposeful publicity of the dominant part, became persuaded that he could no longer acknowledge his legislatures conduct of passing laws that advantage the greater part with corrupting the minority. Its very unexpected that by the legislature detaining Thoreau he became more liberated then ever previously. He had the option to perceive how the legislature transformed serenely slanted men into controllable machines. Thoreau perceived how the legislature managed its residents as just a body, while totally dismissing the sense, keenness, and good convictions of its kin. In his article Civil Disobedience, Thoreau expressed that a legislature governed by lion's share in all cases can't be founded on equity. He further accepted that under an administration which detains any unreasonably, the genuine spot for a simply man is likewise jail. This point made by Thoreau can be viewed as reality since forever. A simply man never sits by unobtrusively viewing the lion's share corrupt the minority to suit their own indecent purposes. Like Thoreau, another simply man who stood apart from the tranquil minority was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lord was, too, ready to languish over his perspectives to stop racial isolation, and was captured on various events for holding solid in his accepts and spreading his message all through the psyches of all Gods youngsters. Lord regularly refered to soul as a manual for complying with just laws and resisting out of line ones. In a paper composed by King titled A letter from Birmingham Jail, King obviously characterizes the understanding of the differerence between the two family... <! Also, Justice For All papers For over two decades Detective David Reichert has committed his opportunity to the Green River Killer case. Throughout the years the Green River Killer has killed at any rate 49 ladies, potentially near 90. The executioner got his name after the assemblages of two casualties found in the Green River in Seattle. Bodies were constantly discovered, every one additionally insulting to the cops. The executioner reliably utilized whores as his casualties. The killings started in 1982, and by 1983 a man named Gary Ridgway was connected to the homicides. Witnesses said Ridgway got Marie Malvar, 18, who later turned up missing. Prior that equivalent year he was captured for requesting a female cop acting like a whore. Ridgway was met and denied everything; police later discharged him. Bodies kept on surfacing, yet every lead ended up being an impasse. In February 1984 a whore approached and advised police Gary Ridgway had attempted to choke her two years prior. The cops sought after Ridgway a s a suspect, however there was insufficient proof to convict him. A long time went with no new leads until 2001 when Reichert, presently sheriff, recommended utilizing new DNA innovation. Reicherts doubts were affirmed; the DNA from past wrongdoing scenes coordinated that of Gary Ridgway. Ridgway was accused of homicide and investigators will look for capital punishment in court. At last equity will be accomplished. (McCarthy 56-63) The calm, upscale neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut isn't the spot wrongdoings are submitted. That changed on Halloween of 1975; the assortment of 15-year-old Martha Moxley was found under a tree in the Moxleys yard. Martha was beaten and cut over and over with a golf club. She had last been seen with her neighbors Tommy and Michael Skakel. Numerous individuals accept the case was not seriously sought after on the grounds that the Skakels were cousins of the Kennedy family. The case was investigated, barely any suspects were named, and previously ... <!

GetResponse Review Responsible Email Marketing Tool

GetResponse Review Responsible Email Marketing Tool Make Money Online Queries? Struggling To Get Traffic To Your Blog? Sign Up On (HBB) Forum Now!GetResponse Review: Responsible Email Marketing ToolUpdated On 02/12/2017Author : Chitraparna SinhaTopic : GetResponseShort URL : https://hbb.me/2j9szLU CONNECT WITH HBB ON SOCIAL MEDIA Follow @HellBoundBlogLet me discuss the awesome features of GetResponse:Landing Page CreatorYou can develop in simple three steps high converting landing pages.Step 1 You have the choice of selecting a template from more than 100 professional landing pages.Step 2 Easy to customize your landing page with the help of a strong drag and drop editor.Step 3 You can publish your landing page on your own domains, other free domains or your Facebook Fan Page.Responsive Email DesignThere are more than 500 email templates that are responsive in nature. You can select the one that appeals you and your business the most.Email CreatorWith the help of this awesome email creator, you can create unique and interesting em ails using the new drag and drop editor that provides myriad editing options.Email IntelligenceYou are given access to the smartest, simplest and the most advanced analytics tool for your emails. With the help of this tool, you can maximize your ROI. For instance, you get to know the number of times, the emails drafted by you were shared on the various social media channels; also, you are aware of the exact time of the day when your subscribers are active and much more like these.A/B TestingTo improvise the performance of your emails, you can test, analyze and modify them. You also get to know the mail which with subject line gets the most link click through rates, or gets opened the maximum number of times.List BoosterYou can import all your contacts from your external storage media like hard disk and from other mail clients as well like Yahoo, Gmail, and others. These contacts can be directed into campaigns drafted in a single click. The emails can be scheduled to suit your conven ience.Inbox PreviewCheck your email structure and design in all the popular email services like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Mail5.0, Opera and others in just a single click. This helps you to be sure that your emails and newsletters look perfectly on the screen of your subscribers irrespective of the media they chose to read your email or newsletters.WebinarsGetResponse is the first service that offers the complete solution for webinar marketing. This inevitably increases the engagement and conversion rate. You have the option to engage your audience and interact with them through polls, whiteboards, chat, screen sharing and YouTube integration.Form BuilderYou can collect the information of new subscribers with the help of pre-coded forms that are embedded on your blog, Facebook Fan Page or website. With the aid of these forms, the new visitors on your site can sign-up to get information about your products and services.With the help of GetResponse, you can create multitude line s of advertising that you cannot help but be totally impressed by the services. You can create jaw-dropping newsletters, attractive landing pages and other things that help you achieve all your short-term and long-term business goals.Pros of GetResponseWhen you compare GetResponse with its counterparts, you will find it cheaper with more services on offer.The comprehensive and reporting split testing services are very powerful.Once, you compose your response emails; it provides you to take a review of your emails and newsletters drafted on various version of smartphones. Thus, you can make sure that your emails and other literature sent to your subscribers look good before you press “submit” button.Its landing page creator has very powerful features, but you need to subscribe to a higher plan to enjoy the full version of this facility.For 30 days, you can enjoy the full services without spending even a single penny. The free trial is incredible! If you find the services solving your purpose, then why not buy a plan! After all, there is a price attached to all Good Things, isn’t?It provides comprehensive support round the clock through email and chat.The mobile app of GetResponse works perfectly for both IOS (7.0+) and Android (2.4+).Cons of GetResponseAlthough the drag and drop interface is a powerful tool and aids in designing the emails, I found it to be on the fiddly side slightly.The Templates for RSS-HTML E-Newsletters are limited in number.There is no refund policy, no free plan or any hidden charges.Plans PaymentYou get 30 days free trail in which you can add up to 250 subscribers, and you are not required to enter any credit card details.After your trial period ends and you chose to pay for one whole year, you can save approximately 18%, and if you pay for two years in advance, you get saving of 30%. If you wish to want to enjoy the services of GetRepsonse for a longer time, then it is definitely a good deal. Apart from these, there are other fo ur types of plans namely E-mail Plan, Pro Plan, Max plan and Enterprise Plan.Undoubtedly, GetResponse is a leader in the market for the amazing features it offers as the email service provider at unbelievably affordable costs. Enroll in GetResponse email marketing service and take your business to a new level.Editor RatingRated 4.5 stars Outstanding80%GetResponse Reviewed by: Chitraparna SinhaPublished on: 07/04/2016Last modified: 02/12/2017Grab GetResponse NOW!

Guidelines on grading a paper

When you read someones paper, you read the thoughts and ideas that this person had during writing. And it is very important to grade the writing properly. The common mistake that readers make is their grading the paper according to the personality that turned that paper in. And when doing that, the fairness of the grade is under a big question. We behave ourselves according to the society and of course we fall under the societal influence while being in class. But the paper one hands in, is the reflection of ones true personality and character. So this is why we must grade what we have read and felt about it, and not what we have experienced in the past. We should pay attention to the style of the written paper to be sure that the paper is written by a particular, writer and not plagiarized. The other thing you should make notice of is the grammar part. Because the grammar reflects how keen was the writer to write this paper and how much time did he spend on it. Try to pay as much attention to the words, phrases and sentences as possible. Also examine the word order and expressions used in the paper. The main purpose of the paper should be clear and exact in order not to get in a confusion of any type. Everything is supposed to be logically grounded, simple and understandable for the reader. The beginning of the paper must have at least 4 general statements. But then it is supposed to get more concrete. When you read the paper you should draw the outline in your mind, to make sure that this paper was planned and then written, otherwise the outline will be either too simple or too difficult to picture. Speaking in general, the gist of the paper should have sense and a particular opinion must be written, properly supported and presented. While writing a paper people use to have one common mistake they unconsciously retell the story mentioned in the source or in the requirements. If this happens correct the writer who made such a mistake and make a proper mark for him. I hope that with the help of these directions, you will be able to grade papers properly and fair.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( Adhd ) - 995 Words

Does Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder Lead to Substance Abuse? Although most children are incredibly active running, playing, jumping and screaming some of these children cannot simply control their actions very easily. These children are mostly identified as having behavioral problems, they have a hard time following rules and staying focused in one subject. Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been identified many years ago, and as the time passed this psychological disorder has evolved. Today ADHD is the most common disorder diagnosed in children in which males are diagnosed more than females. ADHD impacts the psychosocial perspective of a child as well as their conformity to the accepted social behavior.†¦show more content†¦When ADHD was recognized it first appeared as â€Å"Hyperkinetic reaction of childhood† leaving out characteristics of impulsivity. Later in 1980 ADHD was renamed as â€Å"Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)† suggesting that hyperactivity was not important to the criteria of the di sorder. Although ADHD criteria have changed over time the idea of where it originates has remain the same. Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder originates in the brain. Studies have shown the problem is prefrontal cortical dysfunction. The cause of the disorder is mainly hereditary; research has shown increased percentages of biological factors as opposed to environmental factors. Some environmental factors include exposure to lead, smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Environmental factors can also contribute to the severity of the symptoms. I believe if parents continue to discipline their child with ADHD the symptoms of hyperactivity will decrease to some extent as oppose to a child that is not disciplined. To properly diagnose someone with ADHD professionals turn to the criteria used in the current edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Children have to show symptoms before the age of twelve to be diagnosed with ADHD. They also have to show these symptoms in different environments, some examples include at school, home, or social settings. Six

Essay on Geography A2 Exam Question - 1025 Words

Geog task 51 – exam question Discuss the impacts of storm events in the British Isles and evaluate the responses to them (40 marks) ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- The British Isles has a cool temperate western maritime climate including four seasons and various weather conditions. Storms come and go some so weak they are unnoticed and some bring in heavy winds and torrential rain and thunder. Depressions are areas of low atmospheric pressure which produce cloudy, rainy and windy weather. These low-pressure systems often begin in the Atlantic, moving eastwards towards the UK. They are responsible for the UKs†¦show more content†¦The sewers and sewage systems were flooded, creating dark colored flood waters. This also lead to water contamination and diseases being spread more easily. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- We can see how great the impact of the 1987 storm was by comparing it to Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23rd, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph on the morning of Monday, August 29th in Louisiana. The hurricane covered over 500km area and went approximately 160 miles inland. As a result of hurricane Katrina, damage to the U.S was approximately $80 billion nearly triple the damage brought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. However, in New Orleans 2,000 people died as opposed to 12 in Britain. The structure of the buildings in the area was good with well built concrete housing, this resulted in fewer deaths. The number of deaths could have been far higher a s the depression was not as strong as the USA hurricane. The impacts in the USA was far greater than that of the UK. At least 1,800 people died in the hurricane with consequentialShow MoreRelatedTalent Management at Infosys4075 Words   |  17 Pagesand a test of Communicative English Language. The duration of the tests is around 90 minutes. About Application Form: An Application Form has to be filled, before the commencement of the Examination, which consists of 4 pages and contains questions regarding our personal details, like †¢ Date, Place of Birth †¢ Blood Group †¢ Allergies †¢ Last Major illness / Surgery with specific date †¢ Eye Vision †¢ Parent s Details †¢ Passport Details (optional, in caseRead MoreDescribe with Examples How Schools May Demonstrate and Uphold Their Aims:14953 Words   |  60 Pagessixteen or eighteen. | Grammar Schools(11-16 year olds or 18) | Grammar schools are state secondary schools, which select their pupils by means of examination taken by children at age eleven, known as Eleven Plus. Pupils who will have to pass the exam for entering the local grammar school. The school offers a sixth form as in Year 12/13, where children can study after the age of sixteen. Grammar schools are single sexed school, children either goes to a boys Grammar school or a girls Grammar SchoolRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pages For more information about our products, contact us at: Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center 1-800-423-0563 For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com. Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted by e-mail to thomsonrights@thomson.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09 08 07 ExamView  ® and ExamView Pro  ® are registered trademarks of FSCreations, Inc. Windows is a registeredRead MoreHuman Resources Management150900 Words   |  604 Pagesdecisions. Administrative Role of HR Management The administrative role of HR management is heavily oriented to processing and record keeping. Maintaining employee files and HR-related databases, processing employee benefits claims, answering questions about tuition and/or sick leave policies, and compiling and submitting required state and federal government reports are all examples of the administrative nature of HR management. These activities must be performed efficiently and promptly. HoweverRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational Practices? 30 Point/Counterpoint Lost in Translation? 31 Questions for Review 32 Experiential Exercise Workforce Diversity 32 Ethical Dilemma Jekyll and Hyde 33 Case Incident 1 â€Å"Lessons for ‘Undercover’ Bosses† 34 Case Incident 2 Era of the Disposable Worker? 35 vii viii CONTENTS 2 2 The Individual

Ethical Dilemmas in social work practice free essay sample

In every profession: we as the professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is a conflict of moral principles, occurring when a person is faced in certain situations, where adhering particularly principal might result in the violation of the other (Buzzle. com, 2014). In the Department of Education (DOE) we identify the students and families of the New York City public school system as our clients. Our families and students develop a strong relationships with staff, which is normal. Students spend 181 days of the year in school with educational, clerical and clinical staff (schools. nyc. gov, 2014). As a family worker of the DOE I am faced with ethical dilemmas that force me to check self and take a professional stance towards a situation. Dilemmas at the your workplaces can sometimes be the hardest decision to make in life, however as a professional we must take the proper steps to move further and not jeopardize our license and/ or career. As a family worker of the School Base Support Team, I have the most parent contact due to the many hats I wear in my position. At the department of education I take on many roles and help out in different sectors of the educational system. I build relations with parents, grandparents, foster parents, service providers, outside case manager, workers of the Administration for Children Services (ACS) and our students. In building these relationships, we as staff have a lot of outside commonalities (i. e. social clubs, mutual friends, shared interest and come from the same geographical community). In my position, I have an advantage over a lot of staff. I come from the community that I work in, I have observed many of the children that enroll into my school grow and develop inside and outside of the school setting. Most of the children, that attend this educational institute, parents have grown up with me in the same community and we share the same cultural background as well as upbringing. This advantage can have its ups and downs, especially when faced with ethical dilemmas. I am the person whom makes the initial contact with the parent in different situations: before an evaluation is started, when attendance is a lacking, when a special education student is involved in a situation, when outreach is needed for specified reasons and when Office of Children and Family Services needs to be notified. Being such an asset to the educational institute and the community sometimes put me in a position where ethical dilemmas can occur. An ethical dilemma that I can remember taking place during my second year in my position as a Family Worker/ Clerical Associate. I was well aware of the basic codes of ethics and as a young lady, who resided in the community where 97% of the student body also resided, I put a lot of things in perspective before working in my community. I limited my social network friends, became very humble, and made it clear to the parents that I had prior relationships during my childhood that â€Å"my job is my job†¦ its business! † There was now a new relationship that was forming as an administrator/ family worker in the educational institute where the families are our clients. As a familiar face from my community, this forced me to reflect on dual relationships as discussed in â€Å"Beyond the code of ethics, Part I†, it leaves an open door to necessary exception, so keeping a strictly professional relationship helps me avoid dilemmas (Freud Krug, 2002). Relationships in the field are very important and can be the drive for change. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) core value of importance of human relationships ethical principal looks at the importance of the relationship, building stronger relationships with meaning to promote, restore, maintain, and better wellbeing of individuals, families, social groups, organizations and communities (NASW, 2008). I always kept my relationships with parents and families strictly professional to avoid any mishaps or miscommunications. As a Family worker I assist with the monitoring of daily attendance and when attendance is alarming it is my responsibility to follow specific protocol before reporting a case of educational neglect due to excessive absences from school. Ms. SmithX, A single parent of two, works a full-time job and has a hard time getting her school aged daughter to school regularly or if she does attend, getting her to school on time. I am very familiar with the parent of this child, she was currently very involved in the school before taking on this new job that has her working long and hard hours. I grew up with this parent, Ms. SmithX, on the same street of my neighborhood, we played together as kids, attended the same schools and even hung out together our late teen years. When this student attendance became alarming, I took the proper steps to alert this parent of the issue of the attendance as well as finding ways to help the problem as a professional. My thoughts at first being that I knew her for a long time- would she be responsive and proactive in fixing the issue before ACS got involved? I’ve sent home a notice to meet with Ms. SmithX to discuss the issue of attendance via mail as well as with the child and reached out via phone numerous times. I was then forced to make a home visit. This family resided out of the school zone and many option were at hand. A home visit was conducted and as the parent opened the door she was relieved to see it was me, a familiar face, who was going to assist with finding a resolution for this issue. I began the home visit by re-introducing myself and the reason for the visit. Ms. SmithX was well aware and seem very compassionate about getting help. Ms. SmithX was given many options: busing transportation, advocacy for schedule change at the job, and even an automatic transfer to a closer school in their zone. Ms. SmithX was scheduled to come in for a meeting a few days after the home visit. Upon exiting the home, I spoke to Ms. SmithX 1 to 1 and I express to her in a professional manner â€Å"this is my career and my job, nothing personal I am just trying to help you as a parent to our student. † Ms. SmithX was very clear on the process and the consequences if she did not follow through with process on adjusting the issue. By the looks of things it look like Ms. SmithX was overwhelmed. Ms. SmithX never showed up and 3 attempts was made after that to try and get her in office to discuss the concerns of attendance, academics and the possible chance of her being reported to OCFS if change does not occur. In following through my supervisor was aware of the prior relationship and ask if it would be difficult for me to follow through on this process due to the parent being incompliant of the resources put in to play to help with her situation. I express to my supervisor that I was going to do this professionally and ethically and I knew it was time for me to make the decision. It was very hard because I had faith that Ms. SmithX was going to make that change. The call to OCFS was made and the report went as far as a removal. The feeling that came over me, made me feel as if I was in a tug-of-war with myself. In the article â€Å"Identifying the discomfort†, discuss Anderson’s views of the study of ethical dilemmas encountered by social workers-in-training and the two ethical issues arising from the subjective evidence which were lack of confidentiality and allowing self determination to come into play even when it may be difficult and painful for the client (Dodd, 2007). I knew that this would hurt Ms. SmithX but I also knew she was going to get the help that she needed. To watch someone I grew up with, from the same cultural and educational background, fail and lose her children hurt me to my core but if I didn’t act immediately the situation could have got worse. As a social worker-in-training, the deontological perspective was the bases for reasoning in this case. I acted as, if it was my duty to make sure this child was in a safe place and made the decision I felt was morally right. Base on the power point presentation, Social work ethics and the decision making process, from Practice Lab II it states that Deontology is obligation or rule based and that runs concurrent to the approach I took on reasoning this dilemma and the Utilitarian (Teleology) is a more outcome-based approach and right and wrong are determined by consequences of the act (Hunter, 2014). In the Utilitarian perspective I had to acknowledge and consider the consequences for self as well as other and get more pleasure and avoid the pain but that wasn’t the best approach in this situation. Two years later, I cross path with Ms. SmithX again in public with her two children. Ms. SmithX thanked me for doing what I had to do because it was a wake-up call for her. Ms. SmithX talked about her experiences and what she is doing differently now. It was truly a blessing to see such blessings come from an ethical dilemma such as that one.

Allegory of the Cave free essay sample

The allegory of the cave is a story written by Plato a Greek philosopher.   It is more of an extended allegory whereby human beings are portrayed as being imprisoned by their own bodies and the thoughts they perceive from what they see.   In this article, Plato tries to explore what would happen if human beings encountered what he calls the true reality.   That is, what would happen if people clearly understood and embraced the meaning and the impact of philosophy. Plato imagines what would happen if the chained men in the cave are suddenly released from bondage and let free. The Allegory. The Allegory of the Cave presents a metaphor which contrasts what man thinks and believes to what is the reality.   According to this allegory, what we think and perceive is imperfect and is just a shadow or reflection of what is true.   In this story, the fictional representation of the prisoners and the basic philosophical tenets are used to present the metaphor. We will write a custom essay sample on Allegory of the Cave or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page    In this allegory, the cave is lit by the light of a blazing fire which is contrasted with that of the sun outside the cave. Prisoners in the cave are chained in a way that they can not move and all they can see are the shadows of moving puppets which are illuminated by the fire and reflected on the wall in front of them.   The cave prisoners tend to think that the shadows are a reality since they have no knowledge of any other reality (Cohen, 2002).    Plato argues that if one of the prisoners was allowed to see the world outside that cave, he would realize that the shadows are not real but for those inside the cave, any news about any reality apart from the shadows they are used to is likely to be met with rejection and hostility.  Ã‚   The prisoners view the world outside the cave as a source of dangerous wisdom and knowledge which is to be avoided rather than embraced. Interpretation. The caves in this case represent the world of senses in which most people are trapped and imprisoned in their own thoughts.   The journey to the outside world signifies an ascent to embrace philosophy and change in the real world.   This allegory suggests that people all over the world are trapped by their own illusions of what they consider to be the reality and for this reason, their capacity to understand and embrace the reality is flawed.   By making an effort to think beyond what is obvious and superficial, people have the potential of fleeing themselves from what is false or untrue and getting to see the truth or the reality. This allegory basically defines the process of enlightenment represented by four major stages which one has to pass through before being fully enlightened.   The shadows on the wall represent the notions which people have encrafted in their minds which though related to the reality, they are quite different from the what is true. The puppets from which the shadows are cast represent what most people mistake to be real things in the world.   Once one is able to free himself from these notions and the things which are superficial, he or she steps into the real world which is full of real ideas and is able to see the sun which represents the goodness in reality. Once at this stage, a person is now fully aware of the truth and in most cases, the truth is too much to bare that only few people are able to embrace it.   Most people tend to return to their caves and continue living in darkness as they were before.   This marks the end of the enlightenment process. Relevance of Platos allegory to the contemporary organizational life. Platos allegory brings out clearly the importance of an organizational culture and the ideology of similar normative thinking in any institution and this is what makes it very relevant to the contemporary organizational life.   An organizational culture refers to the personality of a given organization.   It comprises of certain values, beliefs, norms and assumptions which posses the power to influence the behavior of the members of that organization. Most organizations are known to uphold a culture which promotes common thinking among its team members.   Plato tries to address the dangers which might result from group think.   When people refuse to engage in critical thinking, they become imprisoned by their own thoughts (Franz,   2007). This allegory is particularly important to the culture of those corporations which tend to concentrate so much on individualism for the benefit of the organization.   Most organizations in the world today have people trapped in a culture which acts as a cave for imprisoning its members thus prevent their growth and prosperity.   Such organizations are afraid to accept any change due to excess insecurities and the fear of transformation. Caves encountered in my career. Many people who are working in organizations are often trapped by illusions which imprison them in dark caves full of false shadows.   One such cave is whereby i worked as a receptionist with very little college education.   The organization i worked for did not offer its employees any chance to further their education for the fear that if they did, they might demand higher pays or be poached by other better paying organizations. In my mind i hard the notion that i could save the little money i earned to buy all the nice things i wanted in life and i was so scared of leaving the organization for fear of the unknown.   This was however just an illusion which was far from the reality.   It had created a cave for me where i couldnt think beyond the few dollars i earned per day.   However, after much effort i managed to free myself from from the cave and i was able to see the reality of not having proper education.   I then decided to quit from that organization and further my education in order to get a better job. Sources of conflicts. When people see different organizational shadows and images which they think are the reality, conflicts arise.   By shadows and images here we mean the thoughts, notions, senses and beliefs perceived in the minds of different people in an organization.   Such conflicts arise when the different organizational values clash with personal values.   Sources of organizational conflicts include changes in the organizational structure, conflicting goals, limited resources and poor communication within the organization (Franz, 2007). In a case where people in an organization have different notions concerning a certain issue, it becomes very hard to reach a consensus without critical group thinking. The conflicts are even harder to resolve when each person involved in the conflict believes that the notion they have (shadow) is right one hence rejecting any efforts to reach an agreement.   Such thinking requires some people to compromise their views for the sake of the organizational life and culture. Mechanisms used in a conflicting situation.   In the event of a conflict in an organization, every one tries to convince himself that his view is the right one.   According to expert psychologists, the human cognitive processes have a way of dealing with thoughts which are contradicting.   This mechanism is known as the cognitive dissonance and it is responsible for dealing with contradiction and giving the perception that what we think is actually the right thing (Festinger and Carlsmith,   2002). Allegory of the Cave free essay sample Plato is considered as one of the greatest thinkers of all time. He was the student of Socrates and mentor of Aristotle. His Allegory of the Cave can be found in Book VII of the book The Republic. Plato uses the story to explain the theory of dualism and the two world theory in knowledge. Allegory is a kind of metaphor to explain and differentiate two things. It has two meanings, the literal meaning in the story and the symbolical meaning. In the story, the people in the cave view the shadows that they can see as the reality or truth. The prisoners represent the people and the cave represents the physical and material world that we sense and live. Another symbol in the allegory is the chain or imprisonment of the people in the cave. It is the belief and sophistry of the people that leads them to the false reality and far away from the truth. We will write a custom essay sample on Allegory of the Cave or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The fire is the source of unintelligible and false truth perceived by the prisoners. Moreover, the puppeteers who use the fire to cast shadows are false philosophers that aims to make the prisoners be blinded forever from the reality. The escaped prisoner symbolizes a person that already perceived the real truth by looking and observing the things outside the cave. He can also be perceived as the philosopher.

The Side Effects of Prosperity essays

The Side Effects of Prosperity essays The Fifties were a prosperous time, involving economic growth and increased social capabilities, introducing many new concepts which contributed to a vast number of possibilities. These possibilities turned into reality with the transformation of a dying industrial economy to a booming one. But these possibilities brought an underlying chaos along with its prosperous ideals. The main goal of attaining prosperity was to make money. The need for materialistic possessions was emphasized as the society was looking for a more comfortable way of life. Credit became more popular as people were buying great deals of goods, and making expensive purchases to build more stable and comfortable homes. Unemployment was on the rise because both parents in families worked to increase their purchasing power. This unemployment caused already wealthy people to become wealthier while unemployed people drifted into deeper poverty. A large gap appeared between the classes, creating general discomfort of the society as a whole. During the 1950s the entertainment industry also flourished. Media has always had a phenomenal effect on the way the general public perceives things, and the introduction of the television and many new artists pushed the development of a celebrity-obsessed society. The biggest contribution to the entertainment industry was the rise of Elvis, who commenced a new trend of admiring and obsessing over celebrities. The increase of teenagers also gave the entertainment industry a helpful boost since most teenagers had more free time than the average adult and were able to develop a massive craze over single celebrities. The perception of life was altered, the media concentrated on influencing young adults desire for fun and comfort, making the resulting teenagers sway towards being lazy and undisciplined. The emergence of the television was a result of the growing knowledge of technology. The ...

Kinship System and Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kinship System and Culture - Research Paper Example A study on the kinship system of the San reflects that they belonged to a nuclear family comprising of father, mother and children. The kinship connection in relation to both mother and father is important among the San’s. This particular kinship system is referred to as the bilateral kinship system. Because of the bilateral kinship system among the San, there is a presence of relative in every band living nearby.   The San’s are prohibited to marry their second cousins or marrying someone close in relationship to the person. San girls oppose marriage at an early age. The women in the San culture are highly responsible for the gathering of their foods.   Women generally collect fruits, lemons, nuts, while the no vegetarian food is collected by the men.   The San families work together as a group.   The kinship system they had helps them to survive in disasters.   If one family is unable to collect food for a day, they move to other families and take the foods from them. San people live in large number of groups and a group may consist of more than 30 members. The groups are connected by marriage and kinship and help them in providing safety and comfort. During scarcity of food and other needs they move on to other camps and take their help. Marriage between inter band members strengthens the harmony among the groups. The kinship system actually affects the thought process of the San. It is because of their necessity to live in dependence of the group, for which the inter-group marriage has become popular.

Developing Strategic Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developing Strategic Thinking - Essay Example The major competition came with the advent and enhancements of Google as it took the major chunk of the market share from Google, with its ever innovative stance towards its competition and Google did give a tough time to Yahoo. The biggest competition came with the innovative features and benefits that Google mail provided, compared to Yahoo mail. However, after suffering and losing its market share to Google, Yahoo began its revamping projects and today is doing quite well, in the existing competitive arena. Yahoo can actually be translated to be called as a SMART company2. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed3 – SMART objectives seek to define the future of a business alongside control. These are defined to mark long-term objectives and long-term goals of an organization. Yahoo or any other business would only be defined as SMART if it corporate these towards its strategic objectives. Fundamentally, this implies that the goals are precisely stated (specific), quantifiable (measurable) so easy to compare the achievement level, realizable (achievable) in terms of the possibility to attain them, practical (realistic) in viability, and specifically having a time horizon (timed) associated to it4. The business that sets its strategic goals using this benchmark is considered to be a SMART company. When it comes to the information technology-oriented structure of the industry such as the one in which Yahoo prevails, the significance of applying SMART objectives increases drastically, mainly because such industries are ever changing with drastic changes coming in, the out of the box ideas bringing in extreme changes overnight.  Assuming the example of Bill Gates who aimed at having a computer on palms of every user, and palm-tops has gained the momentum in sales today.

Health vs Happiness Essay Example for Free

Health vs Happiness Essay Picture this: you are hungry, busy, and don’t really feel like cooking or cleaning. So you dash to the nearest fast food joint and order a fat, juicy burger with some fries and a soda to wash it down. Once in a while this may be okay, but if you find yourself taking this easy way out more than once a week, there may be consequences. The American Heart Association states that diets high in salt, cholesterol, sugar and fat can take away from other essential nutrient levels. This may lead to heart problems or obesity. Practicing little or no physical activity can lead to further health complications. Is it a waste of time to watch what you eat or how you exercise? Maybe not. Skipping those fast food meals and substituting with a sandwich made at home or packing leftovers for lunch takes no more time than pulling into the drive through. Getting up and walking around your office a few minutes each day is better than sitting at your desk all day. If you do choose tha fast food route, park your car and go inside to order. If you think life is too short to care about what you eat, think again. You may, in fact, be shortening your life by taking shortcuts. If you are a smoker, that makes it much shorter. Some people may feel that they are happier if they can eat what they want when they want it. But is being overweight, fatigued and lazy being happy? For me, it is not. I am not the perfect picture of health, but I do feel that being healthy is being happy. I did not watch what I was eating or how I was taking care of myself until I became pregnant. I started eating healthier, drinking more water, and feeling better. Feeling better physically made me happier. I am no longer pregnant and still plan on keeping the healthy habits I kept while pregnant. Keeping healthy habits also gives one more energy, which in turn may help with exercising. Eating healthy and exercising could reduce stress. Less stress equals more happiness. So does being healthy mean being happy? I say to each his own. If you are happy being obese and having health problems, then so be it. I, for one, am happy being healthy.

All Quiet On The Western Front :: essays research papers

The story of several schoolmates who symbolize a generation destroyed by the dehumanisation of the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front tells of the men who died, and the tragically changed lives of those who survived. Remarque follows the story of Paul Bà ¤umer, a young infantryman, from his last days of school to his death three years later. Whereas the journey motif is typically used to portray a positive character development, that of Paul is deliberately the opposite. In what has been dubbed the greatest antiwar novel of all time, Remarque depicts the way in which Paul is snatched away from humanity by the brutality of war. However while Paul and his comrades become separated from society, and begin to rely on their basic survival instincts, in their own surroundings they still show humane qualities such as compassion, camaraderie, support and remorse. Paul’s transformation from human to soldier begins in training camp, and is reinforced by the trauma at the front. His return home further alienates him from society, and Paul begins to feel safe at the front with his friends. Nonetheless throughout the novel suffering and mortality bare Paul’s true side, and he momentarily regains his former self. Bà ¤umer, the German word for tree, is an early indication that Paul must remain firmly rooted in reality to survive the brutality of war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even when the novel begins, all Paul has known is death, horror, fear, distress, and despair. He describes the other soldiers in his company, including his German school mates with whom he enlisted after constant lecturing from their school master, Kantorek. The pressures of nationalism and bravery had forced even the most reluctant students to enlist. However weeks of essential training caused any appeal the military may have held for them to be lost. Corporal Himmelstoss, the boys’ instructor, callously victimizes them with constant bed remaking, sweeping snow, softening stiff boot leather and crawling through the mud. While this seems to be somewhat cruel treatment, it was in fact beneficial for the soldiers. â€Å"†¦the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong, practical sense of esprit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war – comradeship.† (p23) The time spent at training camp prepared the boys for what was to come, by making them tough and brutal, while at the same time creating an army that does not stop to question its orders.

Krugman Analysis

The Story Behind Financial Deregulation a. Wild Optimism & the Deregulation Movement b. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) PART II: THE SOLUTION Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) ; a. Exhibit A: The Great Depression b. The Initial Stimulus Effort Was Too Small 9. Solution Specifics a. Stimulus Specifics b. Additional Federal Reserve Actions c. Housing Relief (et. L. ) 10. Objection #2: The Danger of Government Debt (and Response) ; . The Problem of Investor Confidence b. The Problem of Paying off the Debt in the Future 1 1 . Objection #3: The Danger of Inflation (and Response) Section 4: The Chances of Government Stimulus Being Implemented (and How to Improve Them) 12. Pragmatic Politics and the Coming Election a. An Obama Sweep b. An Obama Win, and a Divided Parliament c. A Rooney Victory 13. Conclusion Since the housing and financial crash of 2008, America's economy has been stuck deep in the doldrums.Indeed, GAP has remained well beneath pre-2008 levels, and employment levels have failed to recover. In an effort to resuscitate the economy, the American government tried first to Jump-start it through stimulus spending, and has now replaced this approach with greater austerity. Nothing seems to be working. For Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Grumman, though, the answer is clear: the problem is that the original stimulus effort was too small, and, since that time, the government is moving squarely in the wrong direction.Indeed, Grumman argues that America's current situation bares a striking resemblance to the stagnation of the Great Depression, and that history has taught us what to do in such situations: the overspent must take an aggressive approach to stimulate the economy into recovery. This is the argument that Grumman makes in his new book ‘End This D epression Now! ‘ Now, Grumman is not a proponent of big government spending under normal conditions. Indeed, even in a recession, German's preferred approach is to drop interest rates in order to spur consumer spending.The problem now is that interest rates are already at zero, and this has not been enough to get consumer spending off the ground, thus leaving the economy in what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. For Grumman, the liquidity trap is actually quite common in economic downturns that allow financial crashes (as is the case with the current one, and as was the case with the Great Depression), and is why such slumps tend to be deep and prolonged. According to Grumman, the best and surest way to save the economy from a liquidity trap is for the government to step in and undertake the spending that consumers won't.That is, the government must stimulate the economy back into action, until consumers can get back on their feet enough to take over for themselves. For Grum man, this is precisely what happened in America during WI, when the government's military spending served to stimulate the economy and save it from the rips of the Great Depression. Now, German's opponents will point out that the American government has already tried the stimulus approach during this downturn, and that this strategy did not work, thus showing that it cannot be relied upon.What's more, these same opponents argue that the government's debt is already enormous, and indeed dangerously high, and that further government spending at this point may well render the debt completely unmanageable, if not force the government into insolvency (which is indeed a threat that is currently being faced by several countries in the European Union). Finally, German's detractors maintain that pumping more money into the economy at this time only threatens to drive up inflation to dangerous levels, perhaps even triggering a hyperinflation spiral.Grumman, though, claims that he has answers to all of these objections. In the first place, as noted above, the author maintains that the failure of the government's first stimulus effort did not prove that this approach is ineffective, but that it simply wasn't large enough to do the trick. Second, Grumman argues that though government debt does pose a concern, America's debt is actually not that dangerous by historical tankards. What's more, since America has its own currency (unlike the countries of the European Union), it is able to print money to turn over its debt, thus preventing the possibility of bankruptcy.Finally, with regards to inflation, Grumman contends that inflation simply cannot get off the ground in a depressed economy (as the current situation would attest to), and that when it is triggered in an upturn the government can always reverse its policy, thus keeping it firmly in check. Here is Paul Grumman speaking about his new book (Part II of the interview is available on Youth): http://www. Tube. Com/watch? What follows is a full executive summary of End This Depression NOW! By Paul Grumman.PART l: THE PROBLEM Grumman begins by way of establishing the gravity of the problems that America's economy is currently facing. This can be seen in the numbers. To begin with, consider America's Gross Domestic Product (GAP). As Grumman notes, GAP indicates â€Å"the total value of goods and services that are produced in an economy, adjusted for inflation†¦ In a given period of time† (loc. 274). As such, GAP provides a general picture of how much an economy is producing, and how quickly it is growing.Between the Great Depression and the beginning of the current recession, America's GAP grew at an average rate of between 2% to 2. 5% per year (loc. 277). The biggest downturn during this time occurred between 1979 and 1982, when America's economy experienced a ‘double dip' recession-?which Grumman characterizes as essentially â€Å"two recessions in close succession that are best v iewed as basically a single slump with a stutter in the middle† (loc. 283). At the low point of this recession, in 1982, America's â€Å"real GAP was 2 percent below its previous peak† (loc. 83), meaning it basically went flat. However, the author continues, the economy rebounded very quickly in the immediate aftermath, â€Å"growing at a 7 percent rate for the next two years-?morning in America'-?and then returned to its normal growth track† (loc. 283). When we look at the latest recession, we find that the low point occurred between 2007 and 2009. When compared with the recession of the late sass's and early sass's, we find that the latest â€Å"plunge†¦ As steeper and sharper, with real GAP falling 5 percent over the course of eighteen months† (loc. 287). What's more, the American economy has not seen a strong recovery this time around, as â€Å"growth since the official end of the recession has actually been lower than normal† (loc. 287). A ll in all, the author claims, â€Å"the U. S. Economy is [currently] operating about 7 percent below its potential† (loc. 295), and has lost $3 trillion in value since the slump began (loc. 299).Most significant of all, though, is that the economy shows no signs of a major come back any time soon; thus leading Grumman to conclude that â€Å"at this point we'll be very lucky if we get away with a cumulative output loss of ‘only $5 trillion† (loc. 299). . Unemployment Is Way Up While the GAP numbers are certainly telling, the more significant numbers, according to Grumman, are those concerning unemployment. As the author reminds us, unemployment statistics cover only those who are looking for work but who can't find it, and â€Å"in December 2011 that amounted to more than 13 million Americans, up from 6. 8 million in 2007† (loc. 94). This is already a staggering number, but when you take into account all of those people who have stopped looking for work out of frustration, or who have taken part-time work out of desperation, this number balloons even Geiger: â€Å"by this broader measure there are about 24 million unemployed Americans -?about 15 percent of the workforce-?roughly double the number before the crisis† (loc. 202). And since the current slump has dragged on so long, the number of people who have been out of work long-term (meaning 6 months to 1 year, or longer [loc. 224]) has risen to levels not seen since the Great Depression.Indeed, Grumman writes that â€Å"not since the sass's have so many Americans found themselves trapped in a permanent stats of Joblessness† (loc. 228). The unemployment numbers are particularly important, the author argues, since hey bring home the human element of the story. Indeed, while GAP statistics represent the abstract loss of an entire economy, unemployment numbers reflect the loss of income of real people. What's more, unemployment not only affects income, but self-esteem as w ell: â€Å"people who want to work but can't find work suffer greatly, not Just from the loss of income but from a diminished sense of self-worth.And that's a major reason why mass unemployment-?which has now been going on for years-?is such a tragedy' (loc. 173). Adding to the tragedy here is the fact that those who are shut out of the Job market or long stretches end up being stigmatize, which can hurt their prospects of landing work in the future: â€Å"Does being unemployed for a long time really erode work skills, and make you a poor hire? Does the fact that you were one of the long-term unemployed indicate that you were a loser in the first place? Maybe not, but many employers think it does, and for the worker that may be all that matters.Lose a Job in this economy, and it's very hard to find another; stay unemployed long enough, and you will be considered unemployable† (loc. 241). While all of these factors have very such affected people who were already in the Job ma rket, it has been even worse for young people who had not yet established themselves before the recession hit. Indeed, unemployment levels among the young tend to be higher than the general population in the best of times, but in the worst of times they tend to get hit even harder. As Grumman notes, â€Å"truly , this is a terrible time to be young†¦Roughly one in four recent graduates is either unemployed or working only part-time. There has also been a notable drop in wages for those who do have full-time Jobs that don't make use of their education† (loc. 249-58). 3. The Potential Long-Term Consequences When it comes to the plight of young people, as well as those who have found themselves shut out of the Job market for an extended period, these phenomena not only affect those directly involved, but also threaten to damage the economy in the long term. This proves to be the case because, as mentioned, present unemployment, or underemployment, can threaten future opport unities.As Grumman explains, â€Å"if workers who have been Jobless for extended periods come to be seen as unemployable, that's a long-term reduction in the economy's effective workforce, and hence in its productive capacity. The plight of college graduates forced to take Jobs that don't use their skills is somewhat similar: as time goes by, they may find themselves demoted, at least in the eyes of potential employers, to the status of low- skilled workers, which will mean that their education goes to waste† (loc. 324). And lost employment opportunities is not the only way that a prolonged slump can adversely affect future economic performance.As Grumman argues, an extended downturn tends to deter businesses from investing in and expanding their operations, which can leave them in a position where they are unable to meet emend when the economy finally does turn around and demand picks up: â€Å"the problem is that if and when the economy finally does recover, it will bump u p against capacity limits and production bottlenecks much sooner than it would have if the persistent slump hadn't given businesses every reason to stop investing in the future† (loc. 328).German's claim that an extended economic downturn does in fact have significant long time repercussions is bolstered by an MIFF study that looked at previous recessions. As the author explains, â€Å"the International Monetary Fund has tidied the aftermath of past financial crises in a number of countries, and its findings are deeply disturbing: not only do such crises inflict severe short-run damage; they seem to take a huge long-term toll as well, with growth and employment shifted more or less permanently onto a lower track† (loc. 41). Even more important, for Grumman, is that there is also evidence that a concerted effort to pull an economy up out of a slump can mitigate the future damage (loc. 341). For the author, then, the message is clear: America is in the midst of a very ser ious and damaging slump; the longer the country remains in the slump, the worse things ill be in the long run. As such, we must take swift and direct action to extricate the nation from the current situation.Before we take a look at what form Grumman thinks this action should take, it well help to hear the author's assessment of the current situation, and what he thinks landed the country here to begin with. According to Grumman, while America's current situation is really quite dire, the reason why the country finds itself in this situation is really rather simple. It all has to do with demand: â€Å"why is unemployment so high, and economic output so low? Because we-?where by We' I mean consumers, businesses, and governments combined-?aren't spending enough†¦ E are suffering from a severe overall lack of demand† (loc. 453-62). Actually, this whole scenario is unfolding as somewhat of a domino effect, as is the case with all downturns. To be specific, consumers have sto pped spending, which means that businesses do not feel the need to hire more employees and/or ramp up production; and since production is down, governments are earning less revenue through taxes, and are themselves more reluctant to spend (loc. 459). So, how does a country get itself out of this kind of slump?Under normal circumstances America's Central Bank (the Federal Reserve), would pump more money into the economy, thereby lowering the interest rate (by the law of supply and demand) (loc. 554-59, 590). This has the effect of making credit cheaper, which spurs individuals to lower their savings and consumer more, thus pulling the economy out of the slump. As Grumman reports, this strategy has proven to be very effective over the years: â€Å"it worked spectacularly after the severe recession of 1981-82, which the Fed was able to turn within a few months into a rapid economic recovery -?morning in America.It worked, albeit more slowly and more hesitantly, after the 1990-91 and 2 001 recessions† (loc. 559). The problem this time around is that when the recession hit in 2008 interest rates were already at the rock bottom rate of zero percent, meaning the Fed could not lower them any further (loc. 594). Since that time the interest rate has remained at zero, but, through it all, even this has not been enough to spur consumer spending to the point where it has been able to rescue the economy from its slump.When interest rates are at zero, and people still aren't spending, you have what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it's what happens when zero isn't low enough, when the Fed has saturated the economy with liquidity to such an extent that there's no cost to holding more cash, yet overall demand remains IoW' (loc. 596). And for the author, this is the crux of the issue. According to Grumman, a major part of the problem this time around is that when the latest recession hit, a large number of Americans were already deep in deb t due to the housing crash, as well as other personal debt.What this meant is that even at zero percent interest a vast number of Americans could not afford to resume pending, for they had to get out of their debilitating debt first (loc. 755, 774, 2240). Nor is that the worst of it. Indeed, one of the most straightforward ways to get out of debt is to sell off your assets. But when a large number of people try to sell off their assets (including their houses) all at once, this drives down the price of the assets, thus reducing the amount of money that people can raise in order to pay off their debt, thus exacerbating the problem (loc. 63). But there's more! As the prices of assets fall, the purchasing power of money correspondingly increases (called fellatio), and this increases the relative burden of debt (for the money that you are paying back your debt with is ever increasing in value), thus complicating the matter even further (loc. 767). 5. The Root of the Problem: The Deregul ation of the Financial Sector Now, a lot has been made of the issue of how Americans came to be so indebted in the first place, for this was a major part of why the current problem is so bad.Commentators on the right tend to blame borrowers who took out loans that they were not in a position to pay back, as well as government supported agencies who provided cheap loans to under-funded home-owners (loc. 059). Commentators on the left, on the other hand, tend to put the blame on deregulation in the financial industry, which allowed banking and investment companies to take on undue risk, as well as the banking and investment companies themselves who took advantage of the situation by way of providing loans to overly-risky borrowers. Grumman himself is primarily in the latter camp.To begin with, Grumman claims that the vast majority of bad mortgage loans were made by private firms, not the much maligned government-sponsored Fannies Mae and Freddie Mac (loc. 1072); who, the author conten ds, got into the bad mortgage name only very late (loc. 1072), and not nearly to the extent that private companies did (loc. 1072). But the root of the problem, according to Grumman, is the steady deregulation of the financial industry that began under Reagan in the sass's, and that culminated with the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, which repealed a provision of the Glass-Steal Act.Glass-Steal was a bill passed in 1933 to deal with the ongoing Great Depression (loc. 977). The major provision in the bill was that commercial banking deposits would be insured up to a certain point by the federal government (loc. 977). This was meant o restore confidence in banks, many of whom had fallen to bank runs in the previous years (loc. 977). The issue with insuring bank deposits, though, is that this creates a moral hazard for the banks. For the banks know that they will ultimately be bailed out by the government (meaning taxpayers) if they fall into insolvency (loc. 86); and, as such, they are tempted to make overly-risky investments. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it could have created a situation in which bankers could raise lots of money, no questions asked-?hey, it's all government insured-?then put that money into high-risk, high stakes investments, curing that it was heads they win, tails taxpayers lose† (loc. 986). In order to protect against this moral hazard, the legislators behind Glass-Steal also included a provision that stipulated that commercial banks could not act as investment banks. This was meant to keep commercial bank deposits safe from overly-risky investments.As Grumman notes, â€Å"any bank accepting deposits was restricted to the business of making loans; you couldn't use depositors' funds to speculate in stock markets or commodities, and in fact you couldn't house such speculative activities under the same institutional roof† (loc. 990). In 1999, though, this provision of the Glass-Steal Act was repealed by the Grammar-Leach-Bailey A ct (loc. 1017). According to Grumman, this move was the height of irresponsibility, and was a major contributor to the extreme risk-taking environment that led directly to the financial crash of 2008 (loc. 007-1017). For the author, though, the repealing of Glass-Steal was not the only article of deregulation that prompted the crash. Indeed, he identifies several pieces of anti-regulatory legislation that also had a hand to play in triggering the whole mess, from President Carter's Monetary Control Act of 1980 (â€Å"which ended isolations that had prevented banks from paying interest on many kinds of deposits† [loc. 1003]); to President Reggae's Garn-SST. German Act of 1982 (â€Å"which relaxed restrictions on the kinds of loans banks could make† [loc. 003]); to the failure of legislators to keep up with new innovations in the financial industry, such as shadow banks (loc. 1029-42). Now, unlike some left-wing commentators, Grumman is not prepared to let consumers off the hook entirely for the debt problems that complicated the crash. Indeed, the author (following the economic thinker Hyman Minsk) argues that a big actor behind the growth of consumer debt in the recent past was a general natural tendency for people to forget about the dangers of debt during good times (loc. 733, 798-815).As Grumman explains, â€Å"an economy with low debt tends to be an economy in which debt looks safe, an economy in which the memory of the bad things debt can do fades into the mists of history. Over time, the perception that debt is safe leads to more relaxed lending standards; businesses and families alike develop the habit of borrowing; and the overall level of leverage in the economy rises† (loc. 810). As the quote makes clear, the optimism in question touched all Americans, not Just the lenders, and so all involved deserve some share of the responsibility (loc. 33, 806). 6. The Story Behind Financial Deregulation According to Grumman, though, it was u ltimately the lack of regulations that allowed this selective memory and wild optimism to become dangerous, for the regulations were essentially keeping these sentiments in check (loc. 838). Now, it may rightly be said that the same emotions that led to growing debt also influenced the legislation that allowed it to become dangerous in the end (loc. 40). But for Grumman, there were other reasons behind financial deregulation that are also important to consider.For one, even before regulations were removed from the financial sector, the government had already begun to deregulate other industries (such as air travel, trucking, and oil and gas) (loc. 999-1003). These reforms had led to significant gains in efficiency in these industries (loc. 999), and thus many were optimistic that the same approach would work in the financial sector. The problem, as Grumman points out, is that â€Å"banking is not like trucking, and the effect of deregulation was not so such to encourage efficiency as to encourage risk taking† (loc. 007). B. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) Over and above the factors mentioned above, though, Grumman argues that there is a still more sinister explanation behind the deregulation of the financial sector. And this has to do with the political influence of those who benefited most from it: the bankers themselves. Take the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, for instance (which, you will recall, revoked a crucial regulatory provision of the Glass-Steal Act).As Grumman points out, the gassing of the Act was largely influenced by the lobbying of Citron and Travelers Group, who in 1998 had wanted to amalgamate to become Citreous, but who had encountered obstacles due to Glass- Steal (loc. 1043, 1357-65). And even before this, the political elite stood in defense of increasing deregulation, despite initial indications that the measures were problematic (loc. 1414, 1130). Indeed, as Grumman is wont to stres s, the problems posed by deregulation did not begin with the financial crash of 2008.Instead, they began to surface even in the sass's when the banking sector was first deregulated. For instance, in 1989 the Federal government was forced to shut down the thrift banking industry due to a collapse induced by bad debt (loc. 1099-1120). A desperate move that put taxpayers on the hook for $130 billion (loc. 1120). Then, in the sass's, further difficulties arose when several large commercial banks over-extended themselves â€Å"in lending to commercial real-estate developers† (loc. 1119).Finally, â€Å"in 1998, with much of the emerging world in financial crisis, the failure of a single hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management, froze financial markets in much the same way that the failure f Lehman Brothers would freeze markets a decade later† (loc. 1123). For Grumman, all of these events should have acted as clear warning signs that there was something seriously wrong with f inancial deregulation (loc. 1 125-30). So why did the political elite fail to heed the warning signs? For Grumman, this become a good deal more understandable when we appreciate how profitable deregulation was for the financial sector (loc. 142), and how much influence this sector has on government. Indeed, as the author points out, while deregulation did virtually nothing to increase the incomes of middle class families (loc. 137, 1190), the move was a great boon to the wealthy (loc. 1142, 1201), and especially the bankers themselves (loc. 1300, 1418). In addition, it's no secret that the wealthy, and the financial sector in particular, has a major influence on government (loc. 1351). This influence exists not only in the form of significant monetary contributions (loc. 346), but in the two-way cross-over between the financial sector and political office (loc. 1380, 1392). What's more, the influence of the wealthy has been increasing as the rich have gotten richer since the time wh en deregulation first took off (loc. 1388). Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus Grumman certainly maintains that reforms in financial sector regulations are needed if the country is to avoid falling into future debacles such as it finds itself in presently.For him, though, the more important question has to do with how to get the country out of its current situation. As you will recall, Grumman contends that America's problem now is that it is in the midst of a liquidity trap. That is, interest rates are already at zero, and yet this still isn't enough to reignite consumer pending. What's more, since consumers aren't spending, businesses have no reason to hire workers and/or expand their operations, and so they aren't spending either (loc. 461). Any yet, for Grumman, this lack of spending is very much the heart of the problem.So what can be done? According to Grumman, the answer is simple: the government mus t step in and take over the role of spending (loc. 879). As the author puts it, â€Å"the essential point is that what we need to get out of this current depression is another burst of government spending. Is it really that simple? Would it really be that easy? Basically, yes† (loc. 688). German's argument is that government spending will put money into the hands of the people, who will then be able to recover enough to resume spending themselves.As consumer spending increases, businesses will increase production and hire more workers, thus fully pulling the economy out of its current slump (loc. 679). 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) Now, some argue that government spending doesn't actually increase demand and spur the economy at all, since, they claim, all it really does is take resources from one sector of the economy and transfer them to another.The argument is well-rendered by Brian Riddle of the right wing thing tank the Heri tage Foundation, who Grumman quotes in his book: â€Å"the grand Keynesian myth is that you can spend money and thereby increase demand. And it's a myth because Congress does not have a vault of money to distribute in the economy. Every dollar Congress injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. You're not creating new demand you're Just transferring it from one group of people to another† (loc. 474).Now, for Grumman, this argument may hold true under normal circumstances, when banks are lending and companies are competing for resources (loc. 2369). But in a depressed economy this is not the case. Rather, in such a situation banks are not lending because safe investments net very little profit, and risky investments are, well, too risky (loc. 2369). So in a depressed economy, resources go unused by the private sector (loc. 2079). This being the case, government spending does not displace private spending; rather, it does nothing but increase d emand

Thanksgiving in Germany

Various cultures and nationalities celebrate a successful harvest every fall and the festivities usually involve both religious and non-religious elements. On the one hand, people offer prayerful thanks for a fruitful growing season, for enough food to survive the winter, for their community’s health and well-being, and then add their sincere desire to renew their good fortune in the coming spring. On the other hand, people also delight in having crops of fruits, grains, and vegetables to trade for non-agricultural goods that make their lives more bearable. People worldwide, especially those involved in agriculture, share these common elements after the growing season. German Thanksgiving, das Erntedankfest In Germany, Thanksgiving—(â€Å"das Erntedankfest,† i.e.,Thanksgiving Harvest Festival)—is strongly entrenched in German culture. Erntedankfest is usually observed on the first Sunday of October (04 October 2015 this year), although the timing is not hard and fast nationwide. For example, in many of the wine regions (there are a lot of them in Germany), vintners are more likely to celebrate Erntedankfest in late November after the grape harvest. Regardless of the timing, Erntedankfest is usually more religious than non-religious. At their core and despite their renowned scientific, engineering, and technological wizardry, Germans are very, very close to Mother Nature (â€Å"naturnah†), so, while the economic benefits of a bountiful harvest are always well received, Germans never forget that, without the beneficial guiding force of nature, the harvest would not have gone as well. As one would expect, Erntedankfest, whenever it takes place, includes the usual community events of preachers’ homilies reminding listeners that, whatever their successes, they didn’t achieve it on their own, of colorful parades meandering through the city center, of the selection and crowning of a local beauty as harvest queen, and, of course, of lots of food, music, drink, dancing, and generally enthusiastic revelry. In some of the larger towns, fireworks displays are not uncommon.   Since Erntedankfest stems from both rural and religious roots, some other traditions should interest you. Churchgoers load freshly harvested crops such as fruits, vegetables, and their byproducts, e.g., bread, cheese, etc., as well as canned goods, into sturdy baskets, much like picnic baskets, and take them to their church in mid-morning. Following the Erntedankfest service, the preacher blesses the food and the parishioners  Mohnstriezel distribute it to the poor. Local craftsmen and craftswomen make large, colorful wreaths from wheat or maize to display on one’s door, and they also fashion crowns of various sizes to mount on buildings and to carry in their parades. In many towns and villages, children equipped with lanterns go from house to house in the evening (â€Å"der Laternenumzug†). After the public events, individual families gather at home to enjoy a celebratory meal, often one that has been influenced by American and Canadian traditions. Who hasn’t seen treacly American films of extended families traveling great distances to be together on Thanksgiving? Fortunately, this sentimental aspect of Thanksgiving hasn’t yet polluted German Erntedankfest. The most prominent North American influence and, to many people, particularly those who favor the turkey’s abundance of white meat, the most welcome influence is the growing preference for a roasted turkey (â€Å"der Truthahn†), rather than a roasted goose (â€Å"die Gans†). Turkeys are much leaner, and, consequently, somewhat drier, while a well roasted goose is certainly more savory. If the family cook knows what s/he’s doing, a good six-kilo goose is probably the tastier choice; however, geese have a lot of fat. That fat should be drained, saved, and used to pan-fry sliced potatoes a few days later, so be prepared. Some families have their own traditions and serve duck, rabbit, or roast (pork or beef) as the main course. I’ve even enjoyed a truly magnificent carp (a scale from which I still have in my wallet as protection against poverty). Many such meals feature the superb Mohnstriezel, a sweet braided bun originating in Austria, containing poppy seeds, almonds, lemon rind, raisins, etc. Regardless of the main dish, the side dishes, which are invariably regional, are always incredibly tasty and unique. The main thing to remember about Erntedankfest is that the food and the drink are merely the background. The Erntedankfest’s real stars are â€Å"die Gemà ¼tlichkeit, die Kameradschaft, und die Agape† (the cosiness, the camaraderie, and the agape [the love of God for man and of man for God]).