Immanuel Kant S Moral Theory Essay

Although Kant’s moral theory makes many great points about fairness and equality, the negatives of the theory outweigh the positives. Kant’s moral theory would never be able to function in today’s society. His theory is based solely on always fulfilling your moral duty. Which would be impossible since once someone told a lie or showed emotion everything would fall apart. Due to the fact that everyone wouldn’t trust anyone anymore which wouldn’t end up well. Deontology is defined as the theory of duty. Kant’s moral theory can be categorized as a deontological theory, due to his belief that you have a moral duty to fulfill (Kant 114). Kant believes that all people have intrinsic or inherent value. Which in simple terms mean that we as human beings are held to a higher standard; to know what is right and wrong (Kant 114). Kant states that there are only two principles for an action to be morally right. First, you must have done the action out of the motivation of good will. Kant defines good will as â€Å"To act out of duty, out of a concern and respect for the moral law†(Kant 114). Good will plays a very important role on assessing the moral worth of an action. Kant explains that you can’t just have good will for an action but also you must do the right thing. So without good will you couldn’t determine any action morally right. The second principle is that the action must conform to moral law. If you follow these two Blezien 3 principles the outcome being good or bad is not your responsibility (Kant 113). Moral law is universal and is determined by categorical imperatives. The use of categorical imperatives plays a big role in Kant’s overall moral theory. The first categorical imperative formulation is â€Å" Act only on that maxim that you can will as a universal law† (Kant 116). This categorical imperative applies to everyone and focuses on your thought process before you act on something. You must ask yourself is what I’m about to do something I can approve of others doing on the regular? If you can’t approve of others committing the same act then your action wouldn’t pass the categorical imperative test. Kant’s second formulation is â€Å" Always treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end† (Kant 117). The second categorical imperative applies to your individual self and everyone else. This imperative focuses on how you should always acknowledge everyone’s value and existence. There is never a time where you should use someone or let someone use you. My first time reading about Kant’s moral theory I thought there were only weaknesses. After I spent more time analyzing the theory, I found that there are both strengths and weaknesses. A strength that I found was how Kant really expressed that everyone is to be treated equally. Kant says that since all humans are rational beings that we are all capable of respecting others. This is a strength because with everyone using their moral obligation to treat each other equally things would be a lot easier. People would not only consider themselves before acting on something but they would have to make sure they are Blezien 3 considering the moral thing to do. If this idea of equality were universal and followed by everyone; there would be a lot less violence, depression, and racial tension. Which would leave everyone overall satisfied since everybody is following the moral law. A critical weakness I found in Kant’s moral theory is that he says there is a right and wrong for everything. This is a weakness because; there are many examples where using good will isn’t the best answer. For example when I read that Kant suggested that if a killer comes to your house; and asked where your friend is to kill him you must tell the truth. That seems a little extreme and I have to disagree that would be the best thing to do. Your emotions would sure be going crazy which already makes your answer morally wrong according to Kant. He needs to know where to draw the line and shouldn’t be only on one side. In this paper I have described the basic principles of Kant’s moral theory. I have learned that without having a good will you can never be morally right according to Kant. His categorical imperatives show a lot of fairness and equality, but when it comes down something simple like lying to someone who wants to kill your friend to save your friends life you’re not morally correct. Overall, Kant’s moral theory was very interesting to study how philosophers thought back then. I wonder what Kant would think if he knew how much we let our emotions affect our decisions.

Classical School of Criminology: Definitions of some terminology Essay

Introduction The Classical School of Criminology emerged during the period of Enlightenment and was to become an important role player in the scientific study of Criminology. The Classical School of thought offered the first naturalistic explanation of crime and basic ideas about crime and a criminal justice system were developed. (Bezuidenhoud, 2013, p. 126) The Classical school and its proponents left a legacy which can be seen in the Constitutions of many countries (including South Africa) and form the basis and foundation of many laws and Criminological theories. Here following is a discussion on three (3) of the concepts (Hedonism, Death Penalty and Deterrence) as introduced by the Classical School but with particular attention paid to how these concepts form a part of modern day Criminology and how the current concepts can be improved upon in South African Law. 1. Hedonism 2. Social Contract 3. Law 4. Deterrence 5. Due process of law 6. Death Penalty Hedonism The concept of Hedonism is grounded in several scientific fields of study. In Psychology the definition for Hedonism is given as: â€Å"the theory that conduct and especially all human behaviour are fundamentally motivated by the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain†. (Hedonism. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th Ed.) Jeremy Bentham in his book Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) defines Hedonism as â€Å"A doctrine with the central tenet that the achievement of pleasure or happiness is the main goal of life. (Bentham, Jeremy, (1988), Chap 5) The word ‘hedonism’ comes from the ancient Greek for ‘pleasure’. Psychological or motivational hedonism claims that only pleasure or pain motivates us. Ethical or evaluative hedonism claims that only pleasure has worth or value and only pain or displeasure has disvalue or the opposite of worth. Jeremy Bentham asserted both psychological and ethical hedonism with the first two sentences of his book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation: â€Å"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain, and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do†. Debate about hedonism was a feature too of many centuries before Bentham, and this has also continued after him. (Bentham, Jeremy, (1988), Chap 1) In layman’s terms Hedonism implies that every human has the inborn desire and compulsion to weigh pleasure and pain up against each other and ultimately choose to go for the pleasure option. Therefore laws should be formulated in such a way that, bearing in mind the innate desires for pleasure, man will be curtailed by †pain†. Any person should be able to weigh the pleasure to be gained by an illegal act against the punishment (pain) decreed by law and subsequently to decide against the act. (Philips, A.R., (2014), Slide 19) In modern-day South Africa nothing seems to have changed. It is merely the forms of pleasure and pain that have evolved due to the technological changes since the 18th century. The search for pleasure has become more powerful with all citizens; society in general and government aiming at gaining â€Å"pleasure† sometimes at any cost. The ordinary citizen sees the level of luxury of the â€Å"haves† and will consider anything to be able to experience the same level of pleasure. Furthermore, certain promises were made 20 years ago when the country moved from apartheid to democracy. Although huge strides have been made there has been a definite widening of the gap between the â€Å"haves† and the â€Å"have-nots†. Simplistically crime has evolved into the one sector of the poor turning them to crime to achieve a level of survival (those who have experienced no or very little improvement in their lives) while another sector is driven to crime purely by greed. The  desire for fast, easy money through crimes such as drugs and prostitution. Death Penalty Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) together with Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was considered to be the most influencial during the Classical School period. Beccaria famously writing mostly about Deterrence as prevention of crime and Punishment should fit the crime Beccaria also called for the abolition of capital punishment. He offered three Main arguments: first, that the death penalty is not useful within a rational and well-ordered Criminal justice system; second that capital punishment is illegitimate under a social Contractarian theory of political obligation; and, third, that the irrevocable nature of the death Penalty is incompatible with the fallible human judgments that are necessarily involved in Capital punishment. Every time a remarkable crime occurs – remarkable either because of the fame of the victim or the extraordinary brutality of the act – there are people calling for a debate on the restoration of the death penalty in South Africa; for the protection of good people, children, and the whole of society against monsters. When it comes to death penalty the Constitution of South Africa is very clear too; there are three basic rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights which focuses on the unconstitutionality of state sanctioned murder. These rights are: the right to life, the right to freedom and security of the person and the right to dignity (SA Constitution, (1996), Section 12 (1)) The death penalty is a highly contentious issue which has been the subject of much debate, writings and research. Botswana still passes the Death sentence and is the country with the lowest crime rate. As stated in The Botswana travel Guide (2013) stated: â€Å"People in Botswana are very friendly and the crime rate is low.† Could the reason for this be that the Death sentence (an act of revenge) acts as Deterrence on a general level? This is a proverbial can of worms that I would definitely not like to open. South Africa’s Death sentence history is a very murky one. About 3500 inmates were hung in the previous century. Of these were 130 whose only crime was fighting for freedom for all South African citizens. (Is this the most ghoulish tourist attraction in the world? Gallows where 3500 were hanged declared a national, monument in South Africa, (2011, 15 December) My personal view on the topic is that we should maintain the status quo for several reasons. 1. Being a Christian I believe in the Commandment â€Å"Thou shall not kill† 2. Killing a killer does not make is right. 3. The Death sentence is purely an act of revenge and serves no purpose as deterrence. One could however argue the point that Abortion (which is legalized in this country) is also murder. Murder of intent but once again another contentious issue. Death sentencing, in my opinion, is barbaric, inhumane, and cruel and has no place in our modern society and Constitution. Deterrence According to the Classical school â€Å"the law was to protect the rights of both society and the individual, and its chief purpose was to deter criminal behaviour. Therefore Classical law emphasized moral responsibility and the duty of citizens to consider fully the consequences of behaviour before they acted†¦.. The role of punishment, according to Bentham, in itself was evil and should be used only to exclude some greater evil. Thus, the only justification for punishment was Deterrence. The Classical school saw two forms of Deterrence: a specific or individual form and a general or societal form.† (Williams, P.W. and McShane, M.D., (2014), pg. 17) Individual Deterrence is aimed at the individual who has committed the crime. The punishment should therefore be equal to the crime committed so that the offender will remember the unpleasantness of the punishment and not repeat the activity again. General or societal deterrence is aimed at the society at large. The severity of punishment should be determined by the extent of damage to the public welfare. BUT the aim of punishment should be to restrain the criminal from causing any further damage (individual deterrence) and deter others from crime (general deterrence). (Carlitz, A., (2013), Chap 5) In South Africa today our penal system makes provision for 3 aims of punishment: Retribution, deterrence and Rehabilitation. All three aimed at providing peace, harmony and safety for all its citizens. Our Constitution leans more heavily towards Rehabilitation. All attempts are therefore made to ensure that the offender learns from his punishment and rehabilitates to become a productive member of our society. Deterrence is to my mind a positive way of dealing with offenders. If implemented correctly it can go a long way in leading to a better society. However there seems to be different rules for different people. Deterrence has very little value if punishment for high-profile offenders is reduced while the ordinary citizen has to face the full wrath of the law. The society looks at the preferential treatment of certain high-profile citizens. Examples of preferential treatment. 1. Schabir Shaik (Durban businessman and friend of President Jacob Zuma): On 8 June he was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment on each of the two counts of corruption, as well as 3 years on the count of fraud. The sentences will run concurrently, giving him an effective 15year prison term. On 3 March 2009 Shaik was released on medical parole, after serving two years and four months of his 15-year prison term. Since that time he has been seen regularly busy with activities which clearly refuted his alleged medical condition (Opposition slams release of Schabir Shaik, (2009, 3 March), p. 1) and Schabir Shaik’s parole paradise, 2010, 8 January, p.1) 2. Jackie Selebi (SA Police Commissioner): Selebi was found guilty of corruption on 2 July 2010 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on 3 August 2010. His appeal against his sentence was rejected by the Supreme Court of Appeal on 2 December 2011, after the court unanimously ruled against him. However, he was released on medical parole in July 2012. (Selebi guilty of corruption, (2010, 2 July), p. 1) Tony Yengeni (South African politician): In 2004, Yengeni was convicted of  defrauding parliament by accepting a discount on a luxury car during the tendering process for a controversial arms deal while he was the member of a parliamentary committee reporting on the same deal. The case against Michael Woerfel was withdrawn since Yengeni was found not guilty on the charges involving Woerfel. Yengeni entered Pollsmoor Prison near Cape Town on 24 August 2006, was immediately transferred to more modern Malmesbury prison, but was released on parole on 15 January 2007 — after completing a mere four months of the four-year sentence. ((Tony Yengeni. (n.d.). In Wikipedia.) Cases such as the three mentioned above, do not sit well with the South African citizens. Such cases make people suspicious and negative towards our legal system. They do very little to act as a Deterrence since citizens believe that you will only receive fair treatment if you are somebody important. Conclusion One could argue that the Classical School was extremely radical regarding the rights of criminals and working tirelessly at proving that criminals were forced into crime by various internal and external factors because of the appalling circumstances and inhumane punishments that went on in the centuries prior to the enlightenment. They could seem to have had an axe to grind and wrote prolifically on the topic. What can however not be disputed is that they were very forward in their thinking and set the stage for many reforms to take place in the penal system. The value of their proposals is proven by the number of countries that have entrenched in their constitutions many of the changes advocated by the writers of the Classical School. Many of the ideas championed by Beccaria in such rights as freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, the right to a speedy trial, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, the right to a prohibition of ex post facto laws, the right to confront one’s accusers, and equality under law, contained in the Bill of Rights and other documents at the heart of Western legal systems today. (Bezuidenhoud, C., Ed, (2013), p. 127) Bibliography Associated Press, (December 15, 2011), Is this the most ghoulish tourist attraction in the world? Gallows where 3500 were hanged declared a national, monument in South Africa, Daily Mail. Bentham, Jeremy, (1988), The Principles of Morals and Legislation. Amherst: Prometheus Books. Bezuidenhoud, C, Ed., (2013), A Southern African Perspective on Fundamental Criminology, Cape Town, Heineman Botswana, (n.d.), In Wikitravel, Retrieved on February 17, 2014 from http://wikitravel.org/ Carlitz, A., (2013), Theoretical foundation of Sentencing, Bloemfontein Groenewald, Y., (March 3, 2009), Opposition slams release of Schabir Shaik, Mail and Guardian. Groenewald, Y., (January 8, 2010), Schabir Shaik’s Parole Paradise, Mail & Guardian Hedonism. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th Ed.). Retrieved from http://www.mw.com/dictionary/hedonismp. Jackie Selebi (December 30, 2013), In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopaedia, Retrieved on 2014 February, 17 from http://en.wikipedia.org/ Philips, A.R., (2014), Crime Causation according to the Classical School, Bloemfontein. South African Constitution, (1996), Cape Town Tony Yengeni, (n.d.), In Wikipedia: The Free encyclopaedia, Retrieved on February 17, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/ Wiliams P.W. & McShane, M.D., (2014) Criminological Theories, 6th Ed, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Sickle cell anemia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sickle cell anemia - Research Paper Example Most people do not know the difference between the sickle cell disease and the sickle cell trait and instead they ignore all this and discover only after the baby has been screened and found to have the trait or the disease. If the mothers were aware about the sickle cell anaemia, they would go for screening but for most mothers they are not aware of the disease and they therefore cannot be educated on how to take care of themselves and their children when it comes to anaemia. Sickle cell anaemia has been said to be mostly evident in African- American women. The interview taken showed that most of them were not aware that the disease is most prominent among them and they were not aware of what to do if they are found to be having the said disease. The demographics of the sample show that most of the women who were interviewed are paid below 50,000 dollars. An interview should have been conducted that shows the search relating to those women who are paid above 50,000 dollars in order to reflect how poverty contributes to the disease. This would have shown if most of the women who are paid over 50,000 dollars have been screened and if they aware about the disease or if it is just a matter of ignorance from everyone. The sample was only focused on African -American women who earned less than 50,000 dollars. It would have been widened to include women who were not African-American so that it can be shown that the disease is mainly prone to African-American women. This would have created the distinction between other ethnic groups and tribes and the African- American women. The sample indeed showed that most of the pregnant women were not aware about the disease but this could be so because they do not receive any education regarding the disease and therefore get into relationships without knowing if they have the disease or not. Others choose not to share such information to their partners out of fear of what would happen if they gave out such information. It has b een said that most of the women fear telling their husbands that they have the disease. A sample of husbands who have sickle cell or those whose children have sickle cell should also have been included to see if they are aware of how the disease is transferred. Ignorant husband are also a contributory factor to the spread of the disease. If you take an example of the men who have sickle cell anaemia, a fraction of the men would have portrayed that most of them did not share with their wives the fact that they had anaemia. Another study would have been carried out for those husbands who did have the sickle cell disease to reflect whether they shared the fact to their wives and if they shared it what precautions they took. The spouse’s ignorance too, leads to the spread of the disease as much as it is a disease that is rampant among pregnant mothers. The knowledge of one of the spouses would have contributed a great deal if they shared the fact to their partners. Since their pa rtners do not want to tell their wives that, they have sickle cell anaemia and on the other hand, the wives fear telling their husbands this leads to a situation where the disease is only discovered while giving birth. A sample of the children with anaemia should have been taken to reveal whether the children are aware of the disease or for those who have it whether they are on medication or if they are on treatment for the same. A great risk is

Proctor and Gamble Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Proctor and Gamble - Term Paper Example Being in the Fortune 500 list shows that the organization has strong worth and quality while they conduct their business in producing goods and services for the consumers (PG.com Home: Sustainability, company, brands, 2011). The operations of Procter and Gamble are present in above 80 countries worldwide. The brand range of this organization is numbering up to 300. That is 300 brands in the market of around 160 countries at a global level. The brand range of Procter and Gamble consist of beauty care products, the Gillette products and the various types of household care products (PG.com Home: Sustainability, company, brands, 2011). Procter and Gamble have the confidence that 3 billion times a day, the products of P&G touch the lives of the people. The headquarters for this organization is in Cincinnati, Ohio. The number of employees working for this organization is around 138,000 employees. To provide products and services to consumers that are branded and possess a high quality level and also give valuable products to consumers so that consumers have a healthy life style and also focus on healthy living for the generations that come ahead. This vision for Procter and Gamble will result in successful sales of the products due to the consumers; this makes the organisation more profitable and valuable, allowing the communities and shareholders to have a successful living and working life as well. Principles of the organization help in framing a strong mission and vision of the organization. The principles of the organization should be embed within the employees so that they perform their work accordingly and produce the best results. The Principles of Procter and Gamble are: To equally value the interests of the organization and the interests of the individual. If the individual’s interests and the organization’s interest are in

Critically discuss why marketing internationally requires a good Essay

Critically discuss why marketing internationally requires a good understanding of Relationship Marketing and cultural differences - Essay Example at with no awareness of religious, symbolic and other peculiarities of a country-partner it is impossible to reach understanding and gain your business partners. Many failures in business happen due to the lack of knowledge in the field of cross cultural differences. A lot of works are devoted to research and discussion about relationship marketing either with regard to customers’ study, industrial businesses, and business-to-business marketing and other aspects. The main focus of this proposal is works devoted to the discussion of the relational view (Anderson and Narus, 1990; Dwyer et al., 1987). This choice can be explained by the sources’ relevance to the countries chosen for this proposal: China and Japan. In accordance with the relational view, a specificity of South countries is reflected in their peculiar attitude to personal attention in business. These countries are focused on background information on their partners and human factor is of high importance to them. In the process of dissertation proposal it is intended to find out peculiarities of target businesses’ cultures (in China and Japan) and work out strategies and methods for foreign partners to do their business in compliance with the cultural background of businesses in South countries. Many studies have been conducted to research the cross cultural differences of various aspects in personality behavior – starting from psychological side, and ending with the difference in business leadership and online and computer attitudes; however there is still a question – whether these the results of these studies are relevant and is it possible to assume that cross cultural differences exist – or based on the older economic theories, all personalities have similar behavioral patterns which are not different across cultures? The experimental researches conducted in the area of cross cultural differences in personality have found that people behave in different and various ways, in

Technology Evaluation and Recommendation Research Paper - 1

Technology Evaluation and Recommendation - Research Paper Example At the same time as dealing with these challenges, business organizations always struggle with how to defend their intellectual property by minimizing the costs and harm to brand that can result from unintended exposure of employee and customer data (Penton Media, Inc., 2012). Additionally, data and information security has come on top on the list of the main issues that are being faced by information systems executives nowadays. In this scenario, there are numerous aspects and factors that cause serious issues to data and information security. Some of the important aspects that can create serious security issues can include illegal access to a computer or network, or storage room, destruction due to fire, flood, earthquake and hurricane. At the present, a large number of researches are being carried out to determine the ways and suggest solutions to make organizational data information more secure. In fact, it is essential to deal with these issues as they can cause customersâ€℠¢ dissatisfaction or even whole business failure (Loch & Carr, 1992; Penton Media, Inc., 2012; Shulman, 2006). This report presents an analysis of the potential threats to the data and also suggests solutions for them. One of the major security issues that can cause a serious challenge for data security is excessive privilege abuse. When database or application users are provided access to databases with privileges that go beyond the needs of their working job purpose, in this scenario, these privileges can be used for carrying out illegal tasks. In addition, a given data user ends up with extreme privileges for the simple cause that database administrators do not have the time to describe as well as update rough access privilege control method for every user (Shulman, 2006). This problem can be resolved by using various techniques. One of the basic techniques is a username and password based access. Though, it is easy to use but in many cases users forget their passwords and these passwords are accessed by illegal users. Another solution to deal with this problem is the implementation of effective security measures against the excessive privileges that is established through the query-level access control. In this scenario, the query-level access control mechanism will limit database rights to minimum necessary SQL processes (UPDATE, SELECT, etc.) and data. In addition, the granularity of database access control has to expand beyond the table to specific rows of columns in a table (Shulman, 2006). Another major threat is backup data exposure. This is another most important data security problem that is based on the backup database storage media that is completely unprotected from attack. As an effect, a number of high profile and data related security breaches can happen and any person can illegally access the database backup tapes and hard disks (Ponemon, 2007). Though, username and passwords based technique can be used to deal with this issue but it is not as much effective (as discussed above). In order to deal with this issue all data backups have to be encrypted. At the present, there are numerous encryption techniques available. Some of the well-known techniques that can be used for this purpose include public key cryptography and hashing. These techniques are very effective in protecting the data (Ponemon, 2007). T

Studies On Genetic Polymorphism Of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes And Other Essay

Studies On Genetic Polymorphism Of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes And Other Relevant Genes In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - Essay Example Overall, this kind of "out breeding" rendered Arab populations more susceptible to genetic disorders when it comes to consanguinity. This may be explained by the fact that the out-breeding introduced a variety of deleterious recessive alleles common among other populations apart from the alleles already common among Arabs. Therefore, data obtained from other ethnic groups cannot be applied to the Arab population. There is no previous report available on the genetic polymorphism of CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP11B1, CYP11B2, Haptoglobin, ACE, PPARG2, TCF7L2, Haptoglobin and IL-1RA and their association with T2DM in the Arab population. Hence, the present research project has been undertaken with the aim to establish the genetic polymorphism of these genes in the Arab population and to carry out the Association study of genetic variants of these genes with T2DM. Relevance The proposed study will facilitate improvement of the drug therapy and diagnosis of T2DM in the Arab population residing in the UAE. The study may find new genetic risk factors of T2DM in Arabs which can be utilized as targets for early diagnosis of T2DM, screening and more personalized medical therapy and potential development of new antidiabetic drugs. The primary objective of this project falls within the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030. This, this study will lead to substantial improvements in quality of life for affected individuals and a reduction inof healthcare costs.... in Abu Dhabi with the aim of studying the Genetic Polymorphism Of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes and Other Relevant Genes In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and related Complications in Arabs Residing in the UAE. Our long term goals are to utilize the outcome of the study in individualization of drug therapy and molecular diagnosis of T2DM in the Arab population residing in the UAE, to develop new techniques for molecular diagnosis of T2DM, to find new genetic risk factors of T2DM in Arabs which will be utilized as markers of early diagnosis of T2DM as well as targets for development of new antidiabetic drugs, to find the prevalence of genetic polymorphism of the above mentioned genes in the Saudi Arab population and to work towards the individualization of drug therapy for T2DM based on the genetic profile of patients. Our immediate goals are to study allele and genotype frequencies of CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP11B1, CYP11B2, Haptoglobin, ACE, PPARG2, TCF7L2, and IL-1RA in the Saudi Arabian population, to carry out the association study of genetic variants in these genes with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and related hypertension and nephropathy, as well as to compare the allele and genotype frequencies found in Arabs with those in other ethnic groups. Project Description Background DRUG METABOLISM AND CYTOCHROME P450 (CYP) Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) represent a super family of heme-containing proteins, found primarily in the liver. Eighteen gene families, consisting of 43 subfamilies, 57 active and 58 pseudogenes, exist in the human (Nelson et al, 2004). The members of the first 3 families (CYP1, 2 and3) are involved in the metabolism of drugs. Hence, these CYPs play an important role in the pharmacokinetics of drugs. It is now well documented that large

Ethical Issue Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Issue - Research Paper Example Introduction End of life decision making has become a major focus of attention in healthcare sector, reflected in the media, legislation, research, and health professional education. Nurses are the primary caregivers to patients as they struggle to make difficult decisions, either in advance of serious illness or at the end of life, and to family members coping with impending loss. Nurses thus have a central role to play in ongoing efforts to improve both the care that dying patients receive and the readiness of individuals to plan for this last phase of life. No matter where nurses function in their varied roles, they are faced with ethical decisions that can impact them and their patients in equal measure. The legal and ethical issues are significant in this era of increased campaign to improve the overall quality of healthcare. Strict adherence to the legal policies and healthcare practice ethical standards serves to boost the performance of healthcare proffesionals Review and Eva luation of Issue Ethical issues near the end of life (EOL) often arise because of concerns about how much and what kind of care make sense for someone with a limited life expectancy, particularly if the patient is very old. There is often conflict between physicians or nurses and family members about what constitutes appropriate care (Keegan, Drick & Watson, 2011). Many of these conflicts can be avoided by clarifying who makes the difficult decisions to limit care and by advance care planning. Understanding the ethical and legal framework in which such decisions are made can also transform what appear to be problematic questions into straightforward answers. Ethical decision making is complex and difficult. For this reason, many professions compose ethical codes to aid their practitioners, to aid those in the profession in dealing with perplexing situations that inevitably arise (Keegan, Drick & Watson, 2011). The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics is of course one suc h code. It outlines the important general values, duties, and responsibilities that flow from the specific role of being a nurse. The relationship of the individual practitioner to the code, however, is an aspect of professional moral life that requires interpretation and may not always be well understood (Fry, Veatch & Taylor, 2011). A historical and theoretical analysis of the ANA Code can provide for an understanding as to how it is to be used not as a substitute for moral thinking but as an aid to moral thinking. According to Nightingale’s theoretical approach of observation and determining what needs to be done in caring for those dying and their families, there is still the unknown of what takes place in the present moment. End of life is associated with a substantial burden of suffering among many dying individuals as well as health and financial consequences that extend to family members and society. When Nightingale entered nursing, there were no formal ethical stand ards, but she embodied and advocated for the need of high ethical standards herself. In formalization stage, some organization, person, or persons amalgamates earlier traditions, precepts, practices, and rules, attempting to construct a coherent assemblage out of them, and, in the process, attempts to rationalize and justify them, and the field more generally, often emphasizing ideals of service to others and dedication to some public good (Lachman, 2006). The

Rail car brake caliper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rail car brake caliper - Assignment Example Non-Ferrous metals are costly. Yield strength refers to the minimum tension that yields plastic deformations (Somaiya, Wieffering & Blaine, 2008). Tensile strength refers to minimum stress essential for the failure of the material. Fracture resistance is significant in measuring strain degree. Describes the resistance of a material to fracture and is measured using the aggregate energy contained in the material (Somaiya, Wieffering & Blaine, 2008). In the design of the brake caliper, toughness is important since strong materials absorb more energy compared to fragile ones. Tension tests include; static tension tests, which define the infringement point of the material and compression tests that determine the material’s reaction to crushing (Somaiya, Wieffering & Blaine, 2008). In general, tensile testing determines the strength and amount of stretch in the material. The failure point is the ultimate strength. Torsion test measures the relationship between stress-strain of a material. Hardness tests, which include Brinell hardness test, which uses a steel ball with enormous force. The applied weight for harder materials like iron and steel is about 3000kg while that of softer materials like aluminium alloys and copper is about 500kg (Somaiya, Wieffering & Blaine, 2008).Vickers hardness test is obtained by dividing force by the external area. Rockwell hardness test measures the penetration depth in the material to determine the hardness. Scratch test involves scratching harder materials to rank their hardness. Harder materials scratch the softer ones. Mohs hardness scale is applicable. Rebound test utilizes changes in potential energy to determine the hardness. Indentation tests utilize the impression of force on the material to test for hardness. Aluminum oxides make calipers abrasives that boost friction because of its low density. Steel filler recommended

There are no moral absolutes Essay Example for Free

There are no moral absolutes Essay Moral absolutism is the view that morale standards are unchanging and universal. On the opposite side of the spectrum there is a relativist approach. Relativists believe that moral claims are true or false depending on the moral standpoint. These opposing viewpoints can bring about great societal and political debates even in the modern days. Recent examples include the attempt to legalise euthanasia in the UK and the protest to get rid of abortion laws in the Republic of Ireland. Both of these situations are trying to legalise specific forms of murder. An absolutist in this situation will argue that all killing is wrong therefore current laws are right, whereas a relativist would look at specific standpoints, such as quality of life for euthanasia. In this essay I will attempt to explore both sides of the argument coming to my conclusion that relativism is a superior standpoint and that there are no moral absolutes. Some absolutist people disagree with the above statement about moral absolutes. This is because absolutism is a deontological argument which judges the morality of an action based on the actions appliance to rules. For Christians these rules might link back to the Ten Commandments. One of which is â€Å"thou shalt not murder†, this clearly and undeniably is an unbreakable law in the eyes of an absolutist. Another argument for their being moral absolute is that of a criticism to relativist acts. By Relativist thinking it is quite easy to come to the conclusion that slavery was a perfectly moral thing to do. To an absolutist, slavery did not become immoral when it was abolished, it was simply always immoral and being imposed by immoral governments. Per Contra the relativist approach has been backed by many a philosopher including the famous Empiricist, John Locke. Locke believed that absolutes were an abomination from his religious standpoint. He believed this because Absolutism subjected people to abide by absolute rules set by other people at some point. This goes against his belief that all people were created equal by God. By enforcing Absolutism we raise our rule imposing leaders to a God like Status of which no man should be. Furthermore this goes against the fist commandment that men should serve God alone; if we serve a ruler we can then not worship God. Another argument for Relativism is that absolutist moral standards, in some circumstances can lead onto extreme evils. The famous example that illustrates this is that of a crazed axe-murderer coming to your front door and asking you where your children are. Now a relativist could lie based on the circumstances thus saving his children whereas an absolutist must tell the murderer where the children are with full knowledge that they will be killed, thus allowing an even greater evil to be committed, they could even be called an accessory to the murder of their own children. Furthermore there cannot be moral absolutes as eventually they will contradict each other. For example, Jewish doctors in the Holocaust performed abortions to prevent women from being sent to the gas chambers. Two rules here are conflicting. One of which is that Doctors should not perform abortions and another that Doctors should try and save lives. Either way from an absolutist standpoint the doctor will be doing the wrong thing, but a relativist approach allows us to overlook this. On the other hand, there may have to be moral absolutes, because if everything is relativists then how do we decide what rules to abide by. If two tribes cross paths on a Sunday and one of which believes that a sacrifice should be made on Sunday whereas the other tribe does not, if the first tribe then sacrifices a member of the other tribe, it that then morally right or wrong. A relativist would say that it is right for the first tribe but wrong for the second. But how can society work based on right for me, wrong for you system without falling into moral conflict and chaos. Moreover, some relativist arguments when further analysed have absolutist roots, proving there are moral absolutes. For example, the Eskimo practice of leaving female infants out to die as so future male hunters could thrive appeared to be a significant disagreement between their moral systems and ours therefore seeming to deny the universal approach of Absolutism. But when dug deeper, given the hardships of the Eskimos to survive and limited resources for survival, keeping every child puts the whole family at risk. So there is actually a fundamental moral value of preserving life that we share with the Eskimos. The only difference being that they have to make choices based on what they value most (future hunters), these choices we do not have to face. This said the Eskimo example is also a benefactor the relativist approach of situation ethics. Joseph Fletcher, founder of situation ethics argued that in certain situations, absolutist principle have to be put to one side in order to do the right thing. He believed that absolutism didn’t lead to the best of most loving outcome, and the best thing to do may be to break a rule. Utilitarian also reject moral absolutes and focus more on consequences. They believe that the right action is the one that brings the most pleasure and the least pain. Sometimes this may admit Killing in order to save more lives. For Jeremy Bentham, there was no rule he would not break in order to bring about greater happiness. In short if there are no moral absolutes we are left with a Relativist state of mind. This is the belief that moral reasoning is a matter of taste and opinion and is subjective and relative to time and culture. Leading to conclusions such as the killing of Eskimo girls to be morally correct and the act of abortion by a World War 2 doctor also to be moral. Whereas if there are moral absolutes than the same moral rules are applicable all across the world and throughout history. These rules may be some form of innate knowledge or come from the divinity of God and do not change as opinion does. Meaning that if slavery comes back into fashion and is agreed upon to be good, it does not make it morale. In conclusion, I hold a relativist point of view because different cultures have to adapt to live in their surroundings. Extreme measures are often taken for survival which to us in western society would seem abhorrent; however it is for the greater good of future generations. I very much believe that ends justify the means therefore making me a Consequentialist even if rules such as absolutist murder have to be broken. Finally morale absolutes can also seem cruel, for example branding Euthanasia as murder makes people live their final days in unimaginable pain, whereas a relativist approach could give people a dignified end to their life, is that not moral.

Gender Discrimination In Education In Afghanistan Sociology Essay

Gender Discrimination In Education In Afghanistan Sociology Essay Afghanistan is one of the toughest regions for women to survive. Although the country has a highest number of school-going populations, gender disparities in education remain high. Women discrimination in the education system is a pervasive practice, which the political systems have not considered it seriously. Many girls opt to attend to their domestic duties because of the fear they have about insurgents and other group, which usually attack them in various learning institutions. Compared to boys, the societal norms and practices do not favor the girl because they hold minor roles in the building of the society and culture. Research question What are the reasons of gender discrimination in the education in Afghanistan? Proposed claims During the Taliban rule, women oppression and denial to access education has been evident by several attacks insurgent have orchestrated in schools. It is good to note that, this political system exercised male dominance and hegemonic practices against the women because of their position in the society. Socio-cultural norms and practices within the Afghans contribute largely to the discriminative way of sharing resources like education in the community. At the primary school level, the literacy level of girls for aged 15-24 stands at 18%, while the literacy level for bay at the same age bracket remains at 50%. More than half the boys have a chance of completing education compared to girls (Brodsky, Portnoy, Scheibler, Carrilo, 2012). Cultural practices and traditions encouraged boys to further their studies because of the leadership positions they occupied in the society. According to a report filed by the Human Rights Commission in Afghanistan, parents elucidate that major challenges affecting their daughters is insecurity and accessibility of education. Others stated that a girl child ought to attend to domestic duties, engage in productive activities to enable her family earn a living and children marriages (Whitsel Mehran, 2010 p. 504). The Islamic the Islamic rule under the Taliban government did not allow women in public areas. For this reason, other girls opt to remain indoors for fear of execution of assault by law enforcers. This situation influenced the way girls attended schools as opposed to boys who had the time to acquire knowledge. Factors contributing to gender discrimination in education in Afghanistan The Brutal Taliban Rule The Taliban became prominent in 1994 after they took power and ruled the Afghanistan in a dictatorial way. The group targeted women in such a way that many succumbed to health complications, others lost their lives, and the majority lacked the power to acquire knowledge at institutions of learning. Since most of the schools in Afghanistan are gender-segregated, the insurgent group conducted several attacks on girls in order to deprive them from acquiring basic education. It was a rule that girls ought to stay away from public places; the school was a public place where they socialized. According to the Taliban rule, oppressing women was a show of winning despite losing the victory at the battlefields. In Takhar province, the Taliban group poisoned 40 girls student, some of which succumbed to severe health complication (Facar, 2006 p. 31). This group burnt girls schools because they wanted to get rid of the enlightened generation of women, which could challenge their political ideolog ies and power. Before the Taliban assumed power, Afghanistan was a peaceful place, which ensured equality between boys and girls with regard to knowledge acquisition. Thereafter, when the Taliban ruled, they perpetrated egregious acts of violence against young girls. Such actions induced fear in girls who were at learning institutions because they knew anytime they face attackers (Spink, 2005 p. 197). In a certain incidence, In Tukhar province insurgents attached a girls school at night, raped students, assaulted and kidnapped others. For this reason, many abandoned learning as they moved to Iran and Pakistan for refuge. In 1999, Talibans jailed and deported a female worker who was helping Afghanistan women in engaging in home-based work. In Kabul, female teachers lost their jobs, a move that crippled learning in some institutions. Since these teachers attended mainly elementary classes in girls schools, children missed fundamental of education making some to record poor marks in examinations. The Taliban also restricted female from enrolling at the Kabul University. The rationale behind it was the facility was full to capacity and that women should wait for the government to construct another facility. Society norms and practices According to norms and practices of the Afghans, women had no authority over certain traditional practices like marriage. In the video, it was stated that many parents married off their young daughters without their consent because the parents wanted to raise resources, which could sustain the rest of the family (men). Following this initiative, many girls were pulled out of schools or deprived the right to education because they will get married. Some families forced their girl children to stay indoors because they were afraid of fines and penalties, which societal leaders could charge upon exposing their siblings. Brodsky, Portnoy, Scheibler Carrilo, (2012) asserts that the culture has a requirement, which states that girls should not compete with men in any way; going to school as boys do was a form of competition, which the society did not allow. Moreover, culture also required that girls and boys should be segregated in any gathering or event. This doctrine was also exercised a t government institutions, which had a mandate of building schools and allocating other resources. Such an environment does not promote healthy competition during learning. There is a possibility that girls will perform poorly. In the Video, Parish Will of World Edition state that, the society has had a perception that girls should only acquire basic primary education, which sometimes is not essential. With this in mind, many parents had not until recently realized the importance of supporting their daughters education. How working knowledge influenced topic selection In my relationship with female colleagues, i interviewed a few who stated that the major problem, which they face in their pursuit of education, was discrimination and oppression from men. Many asserted that male dominated societies could not favor them or support their educational needs. Apart from that, I noted that the number of female teachers and other workers at various places of work was low. I wanted to establish the rationale behind the situation. I considered that the topic was important for research because I wanted to explore the problem and establish some of the problems, which have led to the situation. Misunderstandings about the topic During the time women were oppressed and discriminated, I do not understand the reason why insurgent and the Taliban targeted women. The explanation given does not give a clear reason for the brutal activities women went through. I consider that Afghanistan men could have been target of Taliban because they can challenge their rule of law. The Islamic rules and practices have given women an equal opportunity as men to pursue various sectors and acquire knowledge in order to develop the society. The Taliban were also Islam, but did not adhere to this requirement. There has been no evidence showing or explaining why women were denied the right of education. Conclusion Indeed women in Afghanistan were denied the right of education. The Taliban used their authority to oppress and deprive women from learning because they wanted to eliminate the likelihood of having enlightened future leaders, who could challenge some of their political ideologies. Although the society still holds that women should remain passive to societal practices and activities, I will carry out sensitization campaigns, which will enlighten women and teach some fundamental rights that they need to demand from the authority. In addition, religious leaders will also be used in teaching the society against the practices, which discriminate against the women. Annotated Reference list Brodsky, A., Portnoy, G., Scheibler, J., Carrilo, A. (2012). Beyond (ABCs) Education, community and feminism in Afghanistan. Journal of Community Psychology, 40(1), 159-181. This journal highlights how Socio-cultural norms and practices within the Afghans has contributed in the oppressive way through which resources and services like education have been shared in the community. The author cites evidence stating that, at the primary school level, the literacy level of girls for aged 15-24 stands at 18%, while the literacy level for bay at the same age bracket remains at 50%. More than half the boys have a chance of completing education compared to girls. Facar, M. (2006). The pendulum of gender politics in Afghanistan. Central Asia Survey, 25(1), 27-59. This source gives a historical perspective of how the Afghanistan society lived during the time before and after the Taliban. The author observes that because most of the schools in Afghanistan are gender-segregated, the insurgent groups have always conducted several attacks on girls in order to restrict them from acquiring basic education. It was a rule that girls ought to stay away from public places; the school was a public place where they socialized. The author adds that oppressing women was a show of winning despite losing the victory at the battlefields. He cites an example in Takhar province, where Taliban group poisoned 40 girls student, some of which succumbed to severe health complication . Spink, J. (2005). Education and politics in Afghanistan: the importance of an education system in peace building and reconstruction. Journal of Peace Education, 2(2), 195-207. In this source, the author gives the picture of the situation after the Taliban assumed power. He explains and demonstrates how women underwent difficult situations in their pursuit of education. He observes that men were favored unlike women who suffered perpetration and egregious acts of violence from the insurgents. Whitsel, C., Mehran, W. (2010). School, work and community-level differences in Afghanistan and Tajikistan: divergence in secondary school enrolment of youth. Central Asia Survey, 29(4), 501-519. In this source the author, identify various problems that lead to the low number of women registration in secondary schools. He observes that traditional norms and practices also deprived women from accessing education by forcing them to stay at home while boys went to school.

Paradise by Toni Morrison Essay examples -- Papers Paradise Toni Morri

Paradise by Toni Morrison Throughout many of Toni Morrison?s novels, the plot is built around some conflict for her characters to overcome. Paradise, in particular, uses the relationships between women as a means of reaching this desired end. Paradise, a novel centered around the destruction of a convent and the women in it, supports this idea by showing how this building serves as a haven for dejected women (Smith). The bulk of the novel takes place during and after WWII and focuses on an all black town in Oklahoma. It is through the course of the novel that we see Morrison weave the bonds of women into the text as a means of healing the scars inflicted upon her characters in their respective societies. Paradise deals with the lives of dejected women and the support group the women form for each other. Morrison draws attention to this key issue by removing the element of race from the novel, a heavy contrast to her earlier works, by not allowing the reader to know the races of the women. Thus the relationships present throughout the work can be seen strictly through the contrast between the abusive and damaging relationships found outside of the convent to the supportive and loving ones in the convent. This removal of race also allows us to see the bigger picture, which is not dictated by race (Smith). By examining the relationships in the novel, we see two distinct arenas dealing with identity and the women, which is the world outside of the convent, and the convent. Before reaching the convent, identity for the women is a broken notion in which the men they associate with dictate. The first woman we are introduced to is Mavis. Her relationship with her husband is an example of the type of subservience c... ...998 Nelson, Bredin. Women?s Friendships. http://hss.fullerton.edu/womens/bredin/spring99/fr Online. 16. November. 1999. Radicalesbians. ?The Woman Identified Woman.? http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/womid/ Online. 16. November. 1999. Shorter-Gooden, Kamea & Washington, N. Shenell. ?Young Black and Female: The Challenge of weaving an identity.? Journal of Adolescents July 1995 19. 466. Smith, Dinitia. ?Not Categorizing Characters by Race? http://englishlit.about.com/arts/englishlit/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/01/11/home/morrison.html Online. 16. November. 1999. Toni Morrison Chat http://www.pathfinder.com/time/community/transcripts/chattr012198.html Online. 16. November. 1999. Traustadottir, Rannveig. Gender patterns in friendships. http://web.syr.edu/~thechp/genpat.htm Online. 16. November. 1999.

René Descartes Does Not Reject Sense Perception Essay -- Philosophy Re

Renà © Descartes Does Not Reject Sense Perception Some have suggested that Renà © Descartes argues that sense perception relies on the mind rather than on the body. Descartes asserts that we can know our mind more readily than we can know our body. In support of this idea he gives the example of a piece of wax which is observed in its solid form and its liquid form. After pointing out the difficulties of relying on the senses of the physical body to understand the nature of the wax he makes this claim: [P]erception ... is neither a seeing, nor a touching, nor an imagining. ... [R]ather it is an inspection on the part of the mind alone (Section 31). 1 This quote is perhaps the most direct statement of the author's thesis on this subject. I contend that, based upon the arguments presented in the Second Meditation, Descartes shows that we can use our senses to help us understand the true nature of things, but the senses alone are inadequate to determine truth (since they are often deceived), and that all that may be known with certainty (truth) are those things we know by our judgment, thinking, and understanding of them in our minds. Descartes' argument does not necessarily reject any role of the senses in the process of understanding. Steps of the Argument: Descartes began his argument in the First Meditation by questioning or calling into doubt everything that he knew. After examining all the things he thought he knew about himself and the world he concluded (the details of that argument are beyond the scope of this essay) that the only thing he knew with absolute certainty is that I am, I exist (Section 25). Having established the fact that he has a real existence of some kind he then said But I do not yet understand... ...y some shape, of being enclosed in a place, and of filling up a space in such a way as to exclude any other body from it; ..." [followed by other features not related to extension]. (Section 26) [5] Perceptio : a related word perceptione in I:11 is translated as knowledge, or perception. In II:5 vel odoratu percipi is translated as [the sense of] smell. In II:7 percipiat is translated perceive or know. In II:11 perceptiones is translated perceptions, notions, or ideas. In II:12 solà ¢ mente percipere is rendered "it is the mind alone which perceives it" (Veitch), "it is my mind alone which perceives it" (Haldane), "I perceive it through the mind alone" (Cress). In II:14 perfectius evidentiusque percipiebam is translated "evident and perfect conception" (Haldane), "clearer and more perfect perception" (Veitch), and "perceived more perfectly and evidently" (Cress).

Essay --

Kiryakov et.al.,(2004) have argued that semantic annotation needs to be based upon domain knowledge and not to be isolated from ontological commitments. Thus, they use ontology associations to annotate and index concepts from documents. SEWISE (Gardarin et al., 2003) uses ontologies only for describing a common data model in a given application domain that supports Web information organization and retrieval. TAP (Guha et al., 2003) represents documents and concepts are nodes using a semantic network. The main objectives of TAP are the development of a distributed query infrastructure for ontology data and augmentation of queries with data from surrounding nodes. However TAP supports only keyword search without ranking. Mayfield and Finin (2003) combine ontology-based techniques and text-based retrieval in a blind relevance feedback iteration. In their approach, taxonomies are used for query expansion, and for enhancing the semantic annotations of the documents. The documents are anno tated with the help of RDF triples, but ontology-based queries are restricted to boolean string search...

Ecology: Petroleum and Caspian Sea

People from ancient times has an impact on the environment. As a result, this versatile centuries of human activity has left a deep mark on modern soil and vegetation, air and drinking (water) environment and wildlife. Man depletes non-renewable natural resources and threatens the production of those items that could be renewed. It changes the nature of the environment, upon which his physical and mental existence as biological and social phenomenon. Environmental pollution is becoming more acute, alarming. Barbarous, destructive attitude of the central departments of natural resources of Kazakhstan led 70-90. To the environmental crisis in the country, take in some regions of the catastrophic nature. One of the toughest environmental problems is the radioactive contamination of the territory of Kazakhstan. Nuclear tests conducted since 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site resulted in contamination of vast territories in central and eastern Kazakhstan. The country has had five landfills, where nuclear tests were conducted in the vicinity of its borders is a Chinese Lop Nor test site. Radiation background in Kazakhstan increased as a result of the formation of ozone holes in spacecraft launch from the Baikonur. Huge challenge for Kazakhstan of the radioactive waste. Thus, UMP Factory has amassed about 100,000 tons of waste contaminated with uranium, thorium, and waste storage facility located in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. In Kazakhstan there are only 3 repository for nuclear waste and they are all located in the aquifer. That seriousness of the problem of radioactive contamination has led to one of the first laws of sovereign Kazakhstan was the decree of 30. 08. 1991, the banning of tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. One of the most serious environmental problems of Kazakhstan became the depletion of water resources. Increased consumption of fresh water, primarily for irrigated agriculture led to salinization and depletion of natural water sources. Particularly disastrous was the shallowing of the Aral Sea due to irrational use of water Amu Darya and Syr Darya. The sea level dropped by 13 meters, who uncovered the seabed turned into a salt desert. The annual dust storms spread the salt on the vast territory of Eurasia. The decrease mirrors the sea has led to a change in wind direction and climatic characteristics of the region. A similar situation exists in Lake Balkhash, the level of which is 10-15 years fell by 2. -3 meters. At the same time, the rise of the Caspian Sea, caused by ill-conceived decision stripping the Gulf of Kara-Bogazgol. Already flooded huge areas of coastal grazing areas and promising oil-bearing areas. Zyryanovsk lead and Leninogorsk polymetallic complexes have led to contamination of the Irtysh. Alarming environmental situation prevailing in the valley of the rivers Ili and the Urals. In the critical condition of the land resources of Kazakhstan, depleted fertile arable land, pasture becomes desert. Remains a serious problem of air pollution, especially in large industrial centers. National priority in the â€Å"Strategy 2030† RK include: environmental safety, rational use of natural resources, environmental well-being of citizens and some of the problems of social ecology. Reaction to the first environmental crises and catastrophes was expressed in the â€Å"Environment Act† of 1997. The problem of ecology and conservation – is rational and planned use of natural resources, protect the environment from pollution is a planned system of state control, international and public events aimed at the rational use, protection and restoration of natural resources, the satisfaction of material and cultural needs of future generations. National environmental issues Zones of ecological disaster in the Republic of Kazakhstan to continue to be the Aral Sea and Semipalatinsk regions, where there have been destroying the natural ecological systems, degradation of flora and fauna, due to unfavorable environmental conditions caused substantial harm to public health. Currently, the regions adjacent to the former Semipalatinsk test site (85 settlements with a population of almost 72 thousand people), there is a high level of cancer incidence and mortality, cardiovascular diseases, congenital malformations among newborns and the effects of premature aging. In the Aral Sea ecological disaster zone (178 settlements with a population of 186 thousand people) has a high level of gastrointestinal diseases and anemia, especially among women and children, infant mortality and birth defects. Depletion and pollution of water resources, and TZ problems associated with intensive development of resources of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan belongs to the category of countries with a large deficit of water resources. Currently, water bodies are polluted heavily in mining, metallurgical and chemical industries, utilities and cities represent a real environmental threat. Of the rivers of southern Kazakhstan the most polluted Badam and Talas. In Badam discharged wastewater Shymkent Oil-GIRO industrial complex in Talas – waste water of sugar and alcohol plants. Near Taraz sewage plant primary processing of wool, leather and shoe factory and other enterprises polluted Talas – Assinskoe field of groundwater, which is the only source of water supply the city of Taraz. Continuing pollution channel Talas-Asse and surrounding areas from sewage Taraz phosphorus plant. Wastewater Karaganda synthetic rubber plant, mercury-containing contaminated river Nura and Nurinskoe reservoir. Mercury-contaminated stream, and the Nura River, used for water supply and livestock watering. Water pollution has reached such proportions that in the basins of several rivers breached natural biological and hydro chemical regimes. Severe pollution are Syr Darya, Lake Balkhash, etc. The main pollutants of water sources are ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, petroleum and chemical industries, waste water which significantly increases the water content of harmful substances. Transboundary environmental problems pose a real external threat to the ecological security of the country, a decision which is provided with modern actions of neighboring states in the framework of international treaties. In early 2003, Kazakhstan joined the Bazilskoy Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their disposal, which allowed to establish new customs regulations on the declaration of hazardous wastes and prevent their subsequent flow into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the guise of recycled materials and products.

Workforce Diversity and the impact SHRM has towards Competitive Advantage

Workforce Diversity covers a wide variety of differences, which include race, gender, age, culture, nationality, religion, sexuality, interests, needs and desires (Hartel & Fujimoto, 2000). In order to explain workforce diversity in depth, this essay will utilise Race/Ethnicity as the key diversity characteristic, discussing the various theories and practices used in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) to develop and manage diversity. In order to achieve increased organisational performance, a strategic plan must be implemented to position people throughout the organisation; and to manage these diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and nurture their creativity and innovation, diverse recruitment and training is undertaken. Through the use of the diverse labour pool available when recruiting, an organisation can benefit from the different skills and knowledge obtained by the diverse employees. Secondly, their creativity, innovation network range, uniqueness and rarity, serve as a means of giving the organisation unique resources and processes that competitors are unable to produce or replicate, resulting in the organisation benefiting from a human capital based competitive advantage. This essay discusses workforce diversity, competitive advantage, diversity orientation, diversity openness, and effects of diversity on team and individual performance, and diversity management. Due to the effects globalisation has on the organisations today, organisations must diversify the methods in which they manage their human resources and establish a competitive advantage to compete in the current global market. By defining the presence of differences among members of social units (Jackson et al. , 1995, as cited in D’Netto & Sohal, 1999), different types of diversity can be identified and the groups can be categorised in order to manage them effective and efficiently. According to H?rtel and Fujimoto (2000), Workforce diversity is categorised into two dimensions: Observable differences and Underlying differences. Firstly, observable differences take into account the diverse characteristics such as race, gender, age, verbal/non-verbal behaviours. Secondly, underlying difference encapsulates less observable differences such as values/beliefs, sexual orientation, skills/knowledge, and religion. These two dimensions contribute to the influence of the process and outcomes of many organisations. As suggested by Ayoko and H?rtel, impact of diversity of workgroups has been a focus for most studies on diversity; however, in diversity studies from Cox and Blake (1991) and Jackson (1992), cultural heterogeneity differences in race, ethnicity and national origin have been the focal point. Experiences of lower cohesion and social integration (Hambrick, 1994), more conflict, higher turnover, less trust, less job satisfaction, more stress, more absenteeism, and more communication difficulties ( Alder, 1991; O’Reilly et al. 1992; Zenger and Lawrence, 1989) are shown as the key comparisons in the research between diverse workgroups and homogeneous groups. Diversity has both positive effects such as increasing opportunity for creativity and negative effects such as increasing the likelihood of dissatisfaction and failure to identify with one’s workgroup (Milliken and Martin, 1996). Richard Florida (2004, 2005; Lee et al. 2004) argues that diversity influences economic comp etitiveness directly by fostering creativity and innovation, which are elements for promoting rarity and unique ideas and concepts, giving an organisation an advantage in its market. Organisations that acknowledge workforce diversity and its different viewpoints, and facilitate unique and creative approaches to problem solving, increase creativity and innovation within the company, leading to increased organisation performance and competitive advantage. By utilising the diversity and realising its potential, organisations are able to attract and retain the best talent available, reduce costs due to lower turnover and fewer lawsuits; enhanced market understanding and market ability; greater creativity and innovations; better problem solving; greater organisational flexibility, better decision making, and better overall performance (Cox, 1993; Cox and Blake, 1991; Cox, 1991; Robinson and Dechant, 1997; Carlozzi, 1999; Griscombe and Mattis, 2002; McAllister, 1997; Watson et al. 1993). Allan et al. (2007) suggests the negative effects of diversity to organisational performance such as lower employee satisfaction and higher turnover (O’Reilly et al. , 1989), creating a sense of detachment (Tsui et al. , 1992), lower cohesiveness, and difficulties in communications, and intergroup conflict and tension (Richard et al. , 2003; Cox, 1993). These effects of poor diverse planning and management would have severe and damaging results for the organisation. The use of Strategic Human Resource Management and Diversity Management are used to manage the broad definition of diversity, inclusive of everyone and values the differences that each individual brings to the organisation. The need for a broader definition is recognised by Loden (1993), realising that theories only based on affirmative action and equal employment opportunity tend to focus only on women and minorities which result in organisation efforts that are sectioned with the outcome of other groups feeling disenfranchised. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) uses people as one of its components to gain competitive advantage. To be able to retain this advantage, the resources must remain scarce and hard to duplicate, have the inability to be directly substituted, and enable companies to pursue opportunities (Barney, 1991; Boyd & Wright, 1992). The key to a competitive advantage is how well the human resources work within the company (Pfeffer, 1994), leading to the creation of value, hard to imitate, and is rare which in turn increases sustainability of the competitive advantage. As the global market and its demographic characteristics of its customers change, so must an organisation’s to retain a competitive edge in the market (Cox, 1994). As communities become more multicultural, organisations must change their human resource structure so that it is aligned with the customer’s needs, as the organisation span widens globally, employees are then needed to understand the customer’s references and requirements (Cox & Blake, 1991). In order to maximise diverse employees, Diversity-oriented Human Resource Management (HRM) is utilised and is achieved through the implementation of HRM policies. By strategically focusing on processes such as employee attraction and recruitment, retainment, training and development, and organisational alignment (Denton, 1992; H?rtel & Fujimoto, 2010; Rosen & Lovelace, 1991), diverse employees can be promoted to assist an organisation to manage the challenges the come with today’s diverse marketplace. Problems arise for HRM when implementing diversity initiatives, such as convincing top management that the initiatives will benefit the organisation. Management can see the diverse initiatives as being too expensive, production may be reduced and disruption the workplace (D’Netto & Sohal, 1999). On the other hand, diverse-oriented organisations not only accept diversity, they also recognise it as an integral part of the organisation (Richard & Johnson, 2001). The key aspects of diversity orientation: work design, staffing, training, and compensation are all embedded with the foundation of diversity, thus being valued as the core part of the organisation. It is through the bundling of the HRM policies and practices that direct the organisation towards diversity and diversity management. The organisation activities of training and development, work design, staffing, and compensation programs need to all supporting and reinforcing diversity for the constitution of diversity orientation to be successful. Coinciding with the organisational activities suggested previously, procedural fairness must be undertaken so that both majority and minority groups do not experience a sense of feeling left out. Diversity orientation is a rewarding tool when striving for competitive advantage; however, diversity orientation is not universal. The effectiveness of diversity orientation involves a substantial commitment of resources and a willingness to experience inefficiencies for a time, although through persistence, this tolerance for inefficiency may be of great benefit for organisations desiring innovation, high-commitment work environments, and the ability to face dynamic environments. To be able to effectively manage diversity, the implementation of SHRM policies and procedures regarding recruitment and training must first be undertaken. Problems need to be identified so that the correct policies and procedures can be put into place. D’Netto and Sohal (1999) suggest several â€Å"best practices† be used to improve workforce diversity management during recruiting and selection; job descriptions and selection progress that cover job relevant duties, qualifications, and experience and comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Successful organisations can benefit from orkforce diversity by creating an organisation environment which attracts people from diverse labour markets. A competitive edge is promoted by selecting the right people for the correct task regardless of race (Cornelius, 1999). Through recruitment, human capital is used as a driver for competitive advantage by selecting diverse individuals with specific, unique, and rare skills, increa ses the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation, exploiting market opportunities, and neutralise potential threats (Barney, 1991; Ulrich & Lake, 1991). Human capital that is not readily available in the labour market and not easily duplicated by other organisations provides a potential source of competitive advantage (Snell, Youndt & Wright, 1996). Management needs to proactively communicate the organisation’s commitment and reasons for valuing diversity, invest in training, socialisation, and other efforts to manage conflicts effectively (Richard et al. , 2002). Once the right people have been employed it is then up to Human Resource management to implement diversity orientated training, helping to retain the diverse workforce and to focus on the organisation as a whole, creating an environment where clear, unambiguous policies and procedures are initiated. Training can create an awareness of certain traps and provide strategies for addressing any underlying issues (Barry & Bateman, 1996). A well implemented training program will provide employees with a better understanding of each other’s race, culture, gender, religion, and sexual preferences. It will help those who are not from diverse backgrounds identify the strengths and opportunities that are supplied by the minority groups. Communication problems can be addressed through proper diverse training, helping employees understand that minority groups are handled differently according to their skills and knowledge as opposed to the employment due to their minority status. The benefit of diversity-orientated training is that it reduces the amount of bias from both employees and management, allowing the diverse groups to be accepted for the skills and knowledge they offer, which in turn, leads to a more productive, innovative, and creative organisation and promotes cohesion and cooperation between colleagues (H?rtel & Fujimoto, 2010), resulting in human resources and practices that are of a competitive nature. The first two theories Social Identity and Similarity Attraction both dentify the negative effects that diversity can have on an organisation and how it can also affect the competitive advantage, in the form of human resource. Firstly, Festinger’s (1954) studies of Social Identity theory focus on the development of social identity which results in the comparison of individuals towards other group members. The outcome of these comparisons can result in the individual with either a positive or negative self-image (Richard & Johnson, 2001), an d desire to be part of the group or wanting to leave a group. Social Identity theory suggests that being part of a group creates a feeling of collective representation of self-identity and behaviour. According to Tajfel (1982), â€Å"the psychological process associated with this theory generates distinct group behaviour, such as, solidarity within a group, conformity to group norms, and discrimination against out groups†. The second theory of Similarity Attraction (Byrne, 1971) is reliant upon demographic characteristics such as race. Similarities are perceived by individuals and compared to other members of a group, fostering trust, mutual cooperation and interaction. These effects lead to sub groups which, in turn, lead to less effective team function as a whole. Finally, theory that describes the positive attributes to diversity is the Information Processing and Decision Making Theories (Gruenfeld et al. , 1996), suggesting that decision making and exchanging of information are improved within groups that are more diverse. Benefits arising from diversity are their ability to use a greater variety of resources, allowing the use of more diverse networks. The key to dealing with all of these theories of diversity are correct usage of Diversity Management, allowing management to identify the characteristics of each and deal with them accordingly, in doing so conflict, absenteeism, and discrimination are reduced, allowing for cohesion, creativity and innovation to be produced. Competitive advantage, organisation effectiveness, increased productivity and coherent organisational environment are all outcomes that can be acquired through the correct implementation of Diversity Management. These can be achieved through the building of specific skills, creating of policies and drafting practices (D’Netto & Sohal, 1999), which in turn, get the best results from every employee. The management of diversity can be identified as the leveraging and use of cultural differences in people’s skills, ideas nd creativity to contribute to a common goal in such a way that an organisation can achieve an advantage above that of the organisations competition (Deversky, 1994; Fernandez, 1993; Morrison, 1992). The management of diverse groups is becoming increasingly difficult. Globalisation is a large contributor to workforce diversity, increased migration as a result of the opening of foreign borders, especially from different countries where people were originally migration from, resulting in a wider span of people with diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds populating the country. In order to achieve competitive advantage through the use of diversity and SHRM, ethnic diverse individuals/employees must be strategically managed so that their diverse attributes can be utilised within the organisation, leading to organisation performance and efficiency. Diversity Management focuses on the inclusion of the full span of diverse employees, allowing them to perform to their full potential, ensuring that their wellbeing, both individually and in the organisation remain positive. Introducing training, development, and affective leadership are concepts that help develop diverse employees. According to H?rtel and Fujimoto (2010), it is reported that employees working in a diversity managed organisation have an improved work-life and higher cohesion among employees. Diversity Management has many positive effects which include understanding that minority viewpoints foster quality of thought, performance, and decision making (Nemeth, 1992), and that groups made up of larger diverse backgrounds and characteristics produce a wider variety of ideas, solutions, and alternatives than those groups with similar demographic characteristics (Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Jackson, 1992). Once these viewpoints are identified and understood, procedures and practices can be implemented to embed their skills and knowledge resulting in better organisational performance. Task conflict, when using diverse groups to problem solve complex, non-routine tasks, results in disagreements amongst members about task, including viewpoints ideas and opinions, utilising their skills, knowledge, abilities, and perspectives, leading to more complete analysis of the issues and improved decision-making and performance (Jehn, 1995; Pelled, 1996). In conclusion to the discussion of the previous associative approaches to managing diversity, the essay found limitations as a result of the quantity of differences that incorporate diversity, it would be limited to arguing the characteristic of Race/Ethnicity and the effects that workforce diversity has on its contribution to competitive advantage. The review concluded that the need for a contingency approach is needed to manage diversity effectively, as problems are constantly arising due to the ever changing demographical characteristics of today’s global market. Individuals from diverse cultures are migrating to areas in which they previously were not. This results in the need for continuously updated training and recruitment with placement of diverse individuals into positions to effectively communicate and network with global customers.

Reflective Piece †“Why?” Essay

Cast away in the distances, abandoned some may call it searching for a better life, others may utter. Trying to find a better way, Parents may justify. Truly, did you think it would make it any better? Financially†¦ the world you seek to provide an answer? Where’s your justification? Does money make the world go round or does a household make it? You see the fine line drawn, A child thrown into the dark to search for the dim light. On the brink, some may survive Fallen, some never saw the light again, But for both their days were always dark. What does a man left in the wild to be raised by animals become? Nothing– physically, an animal mentally. Who can love a child more than a parent can? Anyone . . . but what’s its value? Just naught for the heart will forever be digging for The original source of love. For the mother, from the father, And when abandoned, the heart will still dig, Digging on a hardened floor, Searching for the light, searching for love, Searching for care and attention, In the wrong place, in the cold ground, Where the humanity sheds, and a lustful soul craves destruction. Depression creates a shell, Suicidal tendencies take the roles of demons And seduces like a brightly coloured snake. Ropes become an attraction, Death becomes a consistent thought Violence becomes a an expression of goodwill, Goodwill that is not even there, How can the unwanted love? How can the empty live unless he has a strong heart And once again, who’s there to love And what do you love with but the heart? Language Analysis The reflective piece, ‘Why?’ is a poem written from a teenagers point of view and it serves to inform the reader of how a teen may feel when their parents have migrated leaving them in the care of somebody else who is incapable of caring for them. Language registers and dialectal variation can be seen throughout the passage and they will be analysed. Language registers refers to the perceived attitude and level of formality associated with a variety of language. A formal register is seen in the piece and this is due to the fact that the writer is talking to a mature audience. This formal tone is appropriate as the subject matter being discussed is one of a serious nature. The stage from childhood to adulthood, that is, teenage years is of paramount importance as this defines what type of person they will become when they are adults. This could be the difference between becoming a juvenile delinquent and a model student. An example of this can be seen in lines 30 – 35. Where the persona speaks of being depressed to the point where hanging one’s self would be the only right thing to do Dialectal variation refers to the spoken and written differences within a speech community. Throughout this reflective piece Standard English is used. The writer may have chosen to use Standard English due to the fact that it they are addressing a mature audience to whom the message is being delivered and in most instances are not au fait with the trending teenage slang. On the other hand the fact that the persona is addressing a mature audience using a formal tone may lead to them using  Standard English. This is so as when addressing persons older than them, teenagers usually speak English. An example of a situation like this could be the classroom setting and the target audience of the poem are persons in authority and parents. Another reason could be due to the fact that the persona sees English as being superior to Patois and as such does not use it.

Architecture in the Middle Ages: Chartres Cathedral Essay

The cathedral was the most important building in the town of Chartres. It was the centre of the economy, the most famous landmark and the focal point of almost every activity that is provided by civic buildings in towns today. Chartres cathedral has upheld its importance in the life of the people within the community, and has lived up to its labour and expectations. The cathedral was important in the everyday life of all, whether it was used as a church, a marketplace, or just a marvel for all to view. Because of its diversity, it brought a lot of attention and prosperity to the city of Chartres, which helped it grow more, which then created a magnificent cycle to be lived up to. Chartres cathedral was an important structure in Medieval Europe because of its religious aspects, socio-economic impact and architectural styles that it brought forward. Religion plays a key role in many lives today, and has been for many years—Chartres cathedral fed this appetite with the stories behind the windows, the history behind the sacred tunic and the uses behind the labyrinth. For the longest time, the stained glass in Chartres were one of the main sources of religious knowledge. The windows have been supplying all around it with the stories of the Old Testament, the Virgin Mary and the life of Christ—many of the windows were used as â€Å"a ready source of instruction for the illiterate population† because education was not as valued in these times. These windows, through their extreme importance, proved to be a huge benefactor in the lives of the inhabitants of Chartres. In addition, the cathedral was said to have housed a tunic that supposedly belonged to Blessed Virgin Mary. This tunic was thought to be lost when the first cathedral burned down, but â€Å"after three days of cooling, priests who had taken shelter in the underground vaults emerged from the ruins, amongst many witnesses, with the relic intact. † This in itself had proven to the people of Chartres to be a miracle, and it was believed to be a sign from Mary herself, therefore the construction was begun again. It was also believed that this tunic provided the community and the church with a protection, and when the townspeople believed they had been deserted by their protector in the fire, they thought that â€Å"the rebuilding was futile. The labyrinth also provided to the religion aspect of Chartres cathedral. This labyrinth was used as a pilgrimage or for repentance, though â€Å"as a pilgrimage it was a questing, searching journey with the hope of becoming closer to God. † The labyrinth was considered to be a religious, protected part of the church because it survived the fire, and once you get to the middle, you are greeted by a cross, a symbol of enlightenment. Although the religion makes up a good portion of the history of Chartres, the socio-economic aspects have to be considered when judging its importance. Chartres cathedral gained its importance socially and economically by its mysteries, its uses as a market and its uses as a social club. The mysteries of Chartres cathedral, such as the tunic and the windows, attract much attention to the community, which helps increase population as well as the money created from tourists. It is the fact that â€Å"Chartres’ windows are unique in the sense that a stained glass window became the object of devotion† that makes people keep coming back for more. Also, Chartres cathedral was used socio-economically in the ways that it had been used as a marketplace within the community; â€Å"The cathedral was the most important building in the town of Chartres. It was the centre of the economy, the most famous landmark and the focal point of almost every activity that is provided by civic buildings in towns today. † As well as there being merchants within the doors of the cathedral, there were also the odd workers who were â€Å"gathered in the cathedral seeking jobs, such as carpenters and masons. † To add to that, Chartres cathedral was used as a social club during World War II. While the windows were removed from it, the Germans would use the cathedral as a social club during their occupation in France. This cathedral is first seen as †¦a place of worship and reverence, sacred to God. But crossing that threshold in the Middle Ages took you into many places at once: a town hall, a social club, even a marketplace, and yet also a temple, a place of authority, and indeed nothing less than a kind of heaven itself. Although Chartres is known for its socio-economic success, its architecture is also a renowned subject pertaining to this cathedral. This cathedral is important because it has changed the way that many people look at architecture by looking at new architectural features, structural defeats and architect’s modesty. â€Å"In 1194, the master-builder of Chartres outlined new principles which would inspire all the great architects of the 13th century†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬â€Chartres cathedral had â€Å"established several new architectural features never seen before (flying buttresses and the arches used) and pioneered new techniques for construction at high elevations above ground (†¦war machines†¦ into hoisting cranes). This would later change some of the techniques used to build and create other Gothic styled cathedrals. Also, this cathedral had overcome a couple structural defeats to add to its list of greatness. Chartres had to succumb to many different fires over its span, and it had to keep on getting rebuilt time after time. Also, with towers standing at around 115 metres tall, this cathedral had been the tallest of its kind around—â€Å"before this, nothing had ever been built at such heights. †Another aspect adding to the importance of this building architecturally is the modesty and selflessness of the architects that planned its building. Many of the architects involved in the creation of this cathedral have went on nameless because it doesn’t matter who made it, but what was made—â€Å" To make something as exquisite as this without wanting to smash your†¦ name all over it. All you hear about nowadays is people making names, not things. † The religious aspects, socio-economic impacts and architectural styles of the Chartres cathedral are the reason it deserves to be known as an important structure. Chartres was built and rebuilt based on its religious hopes and beliefs, and it served to be an occupant to the people while the other problems of the time were occurring. This building was also beneficial for the townsfolk because they had a way to get together, trade, and communicate in a safe and forgiving place, under the eyes of God. The architecture in itself is enough to consider this building important: it provided architects with ways of getting around their problems and it bettered things to use and do to improve what I being done. Chartres has been a very helpful and important building in helping us study past beliefs, life and helping us to acquire the knowledge we need for innovations and the construction of future great buildings, much like this one.

Taxation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Taxation - Assignment Example But at the same time you must keep in mind that starting out in self-employment poses many difficulties and you would have to work very hard with no guarantee of a regular income. But first of all you must assess for yourself if you are suitable for self-employment which requires total self commitment, ability to work long business hours which in turn requires physical and mental strength and, last but not the least, complete support from your family. Then you have to do market research to identify the opportunities available in your selected field. Since you are currently employed with a computer software company it is obvious you have the technical skills, but do you have the business skills to run your business. If you lack these skills you shall have to learn them fast from the information that I am about to provide you and from other sources. When you start out on your own in business you can do so as a sole trader, in partnership or by setting up a limited company. You have indicated that you wish to start your business as a sole trader, which means, you intend to set up your business on your own. Starting out as a sole trader is relatively easy and straightforward but if your business fails your liability is unlimited or in other words all your assets will be legally available and can be used to pay your creditors. If you intend to start your business from your home you are likely to be requiring Planning Permission. In case you are going to use one or two rooms in your home you would need to apply for a partial change of use from domestic to commercial purpose. In case you intend constructing a shed or additional room for your business you may require planning permission for which you shall have to contact your local authorities. Market research is very important before you set up your business in your chosen field but let me caution you that no amount of research will guarantee you success. However, your market

Discuss Adorno's and the Frankfurt Sschools Concept that Celebrities Essay

Discuss Adorno's and the Frankfurt Sschools Concept that Celebrities Are One of the Means Through Twhich Capitalism Achieves it - Essay Example According to Boldrin and Levine (2002), â€Å"†¦countries are better off facilitating processes that are attractive to multinational companies and countries† (p. 212). Furthermore, the western culture has had the biggest influence on many other cultures in the world, to the angst or happiness of different people. The internet and the advent of computers have had a very big role to play in this spread of celebrity lifestyle. unlike in the past, with the click of the mouse, a fan can follow what their favorite celebrity is doing, what they eat, where they live and the minutest details of their lives. This, many people tend to imitate. This has led to many companies endorsing celebrities to market their products, banking on the fact that whatever the celebrities will be wearing, eating or be seen with will have the masses of their fans following suit, hence increase their sales. Needless to say, this does not come cheap, both to the endorsing companies and to the masses foll owing blindly. Social control is a phenomenon that is experienced by masses in the world, whether they are aware of it or not. It s described as the influence on individuals’ behaviors by institutions in the public through public opinion, social and religious organizations, use of force or violence, through appealing to people’s emotions and desires and also through use of leaders or celebrities in order to bring out certain reactions from the public in general. In the past, social control was a positive force that was meant to keep the fabric of society intact and keep evil and criminal activities at bay. However, with the media becoming more and more powerful, they have tapped into the idea of social control to influence people in order to gain monetary and other kinds of benefits, at the detriment of the whole society. This is seen through the influence caused by advertisements, TV and radio programs and wide coverage of celebrity lives, making masses desire the sam e kind and try to imitate this. Hui (2002) points out that â€Å"we found that, at least in the case of movies, the supply of creative work responded to economic incentives and consumer behavior† (p. 217.). The fact that the world has become largely capitalist is a factor that is stoking this flame. The result of this is mass deception, where the populations are made to believe that what they are seeing is the ideal of life and that they should strive to achieve these standards set by the media and celebrities. This is despite the fact that the lives celebrities live cost a fortune and cannot be achieved, at least in the short run, by most ordinary people. The result is that people have engaged in very destructive habits in order to buy into this deception. These habits include borrowing and using credit facilities beyond their means in order to get what the media has suggested, gambling, criminal activities, disregarding the old methods of working hard in order to achieve su ccess and instead depending too much on lotteries and wasting more money, amongst other socially deviant activities in order to feed their desires. According to The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" Adorno and Horkheimer Frankfurt school, this is exactly what the media and the celebrity culture is using to deceive the masses. In their argument, Adorno and Horkhe