Essay on Social Stratification in the African American...

Social Stratification in the African American community has changed over the years. Social stratification is defined as a rigid subdivision of a society into a hierarchy of layers, differentiated on the basis of power, prestige, and wealth according to Webster’s dictionary. David Newman in Sociology Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life describes stratification as a ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society. From slavery to the present, the African American community has been seen to have lower status compared to white people. Today, the stratification or hierarchy difference between whites and black are not really noticeable, but it is still present. However, during†¦show more content†¦Many studies show that light skinned blacks were favored by the dominant white society allowing lighted skinned blacks to have a better opportunity for lighted skinned blacks in the business world. So the advantages by lighted skinned blacks have accumulated over time so the light complexion African Americans are seen as the most successful. Looking back in time, slaves were differentiated into mulattoes and pure blacks. Pure blacks did most of the outside labor leaving the house labor to mulattoes. For mulattoes, being a house servant brought advantages including food, shelter, and clothing. Mulattoes were trained for skilled occupations and these skills allowed mulattoes to separate themselves from other blacks. The light skinned blacks were exposed to cultural views and practices such as proper speech, dress, and mannerisms. Once a mulatto was emancipated, he/she was better prepared for negotiating with whites because mulattoes knew how to handle them. Mulattoes had a sense of being superior over the darker slaves. Because of the color similarities between mulattoes and whites, the mulattoes were the middle class between blacks and whites. As time progressed, the mulattoes’ stra tification was not superior over the blacks after World War I according to Frazier. The elite status was now based on professional standing, education, and economic standing. The shift in stratification was caused by blacks being able to haveShow MoreRelatedRacism And Racism Essay1448 Words   |  6 PagesHow does stratification system take place in African American communities? Many minority Communities are subjected to racism and discrimination within/ outside their communities. The social prejudices on the black community gives an example of a caste system where you re born into unequal groups based on their parents (race), most likely born into poverty if a minority. â€Å"Minority racial groups are more likely to experience multidimensional property than their white counterparts†, due to historicalRead MoreSocial Stratification1349 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ Social Stratification: Impacting Positions in Society Social stratification is vertical hierarchical arrangement which differentiate people as superior or inferior. Societies are stratified in three ways which are,1) Social Class; 2) Racial and Ethnic stratification; and 3) Gender. 1) Social Class: According to Karl Marx, Class society is based around a primary line of division between two antagonistic classes, those who owns the means of production and those who do not own. Comer addedRead MoreStratification Impact On Society877 Words   |  4 Pages The meaning of stratification is inequalities between people, community or society. It can happen socially or economically based on social status, class, ethnicity, income, wealth, race, religion, gender and power. Stratification is an unfair situation and we can find it almost in every society. In this case, resources in a society distributed unequally. For instance, in some society men and women treated differently. In Asia, some community believes that women cannot eat before man orRead MoreThe Structural Theory Of Poverty1031 Words   |  5 PagesIn today’s world, the United States is the leading economic powerhouse. However, poverty is still a prevalent and pervasive social problem (Arneso n, 2007). This paper will discuss the sociological concepts and theories surrounding this pertinent issue. In addition, it will point out the value of sociological research into this social ill. Lastly, it will present evidence to support the hypothesis that poverty is a structural failure. In contrast to the school of thought supported by a number ofRead MoreThe Novel Southland By Frank Sakai And Curtis Martin1545 Words   |  7 Pagesmain characters whose life is prompted by the racism in the Los Angeles neighborhoods. Stylistically, Revoyr’s deliberate prose permits readers an uncomfortable gratitude of the slow marks racism burns on the appearance of a community. Both the Japanese and African-American characters in book Southland wear the marks of prejudice, from removal to internment camps to LA rebellion racial profiling (Revoyr, 2003, pg. 68). Her prejudiced white cop character Nick Lawson does not brave out and speak hisRead MoreSocial Problems Perpetuated Essays1147 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout United States history, power of the upper class has been maintained by assigning â€Å"different† people a lower, less desirable, place in society, predisposing them to social inequalities. Social stratification creates a system of social classes in which people born into a specific class have different â€Å"life chances† (Macionis 28). These classes are somewhat maintained by the fact that people tend to â€Å"take care of their own,† meaning that members of the uppe r class generally favor other membersRead MoreGroup Dynamics and Individual Behaviors: The Asch Conformity Experiment820 Words   |  3 Pagestests are frequently construed as proof for the energy of conformity and normative social impact. Thats, the readiness to adapt openly to achieve social reward and steer clear of social punishment. Others have contended that its rational to make use of other individuals choice as evidence. Like the second perspective, the Asch conformity tests are reported as evidence for that self-categorization theory of social influence. From that perspective the Asch answers are construed as results of depersonalizationRead Moreâ€Å"A Proud-Acting Bunch†: The Issues of Suburbanization and Class Stratification in â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† 1462 Words   |  6 Pagesthose seeking refuge and comfort after a tumultuous time of war. Among those migrating from the cities to the suburbs were middle-class African Americans, who sought a suburban life that both â€Å"express[ed] and reinforce[d] their newly won social position.† (Wiese 101) However, this middle-class migration from urban areas left behind working class African Americans such as the Younger family of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun.† While the Younger family of â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† finallyRead MoreRace And Ethnicity Are Affected By Stratification938 Words   |  4 PagesBefore one might explain how race and ethnicity are affected by stratification. You first have to understand race and ethnicity in its self. Many people including me before I took this class thought they were the same thing. Racial groups are a group that is socially set apart because of obvious physical differences. An example of this is I come from Somalia but in the United States my race would be defined as black or African American. Ethnicity or ethnic groups are groups set apart from others becauseRead MoreThe Riots And Its Effe ct On Public Buildings935 Words   |  4 Pagessimilar event it to happen in a city near them (Dann, 2015). Theory Even though the death of Freddie Gray, who was an African-American, was the spark that ignited the Baltimore riots, the apparent view is it was not a race stratification based riot. By many accounts, the riots were caused by the economic class stratification of Baltimore. Even though Gray was African-American, his geographic location of residence played a more important role. Those from the less affluent areas of Baltimore have

Bram Stokers Dracula A Struggle to Maintain Victorian...

The Victorian men and women conveyed in Bram Stokers Dracula are pure and virtuous members of the upper and middle class. However, hiding behind this composed and civilized conception of England lies a dark and turbulent underbelly. This underbelly is the lumpenproletariat, whom Karl Marx defined as quot;the lowest and most degraded section of the proletariat; the ‘down and outs’ who make no contribution to the workers causequot;. Victorian culture discriminated against these vagrants, who were seen not only as shiftless and immoral, but dangerous as well. Sex was taboo and purity was held sacred to the Victorian middle and upper class, but prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases ran rampant among the lumpenproletariat. The rich†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The delineation between the lower and middle-upper classes can also be seen clearly in both parties attitudes towards superstition and science. While the privi leged classes are highly scientific and skeptical of superstition, the lower classes are just the opposite. Dr. Seward uses the phonograph machine, a cutting edge technology, to record his lengthy journal entries which include updates on his patient, Renfield, as well as the vampire problem. Dr. Seward and his advanced knowledge of science personify the attitude among the rich that science can explain all. He is scientific to the core, seeking a logical explanation for everything. Van Helsing wonders at his naivety and lack of imagination when faced with something purely unscientific. quot;Do you mean to tell me, friend John, that you have no suspicion as to what poor Lucy died of; not after all the hints given, not only by events, but by me?quot;(203). When he is confronted with the vampires, the situation rebukes Sewards principles of reason, eventually forcing him to accept the occult and superstition he had long denied. In contrast to the conservative scientific reasoning of Bri tains privileged, the lower classes of Victorian England were superstitious to a fault. Evidence is offered when Mina and Lucy talk to old Mr. Swales about tombstones: quot;You start on the assumption that all the poor... spirits, will have to take their tombstonesShow MoreRelateddracula1785 Words   |  8 PagesAspects on the Victorian Society Bram Stoker s Dracula, presents an interesting perspective on death and illness in the Victorian period. This can be viewed as a creativity on Stoker s part, or as a form of religious or social commentary on his changing era. There are several flaws presented throughout the novel as the plot unfolds, which are: characters in the novel dismiss the old traditional belief of the supernatural, the constant power struggle between the sexes and the Victorian views on sexualityRead MoreEnglish Literature in the Victorian Era2737 Words   |  11 PagesIm no lunatic man, Im a sane man fighting for his soul this quote from Bram Stoker’s- Dracula, illustrates and foreshadows that in the Victorian era, a quest for meaning was seen by the majority of society as ‘lunacy’, however the characters that Stoker uses, are represented ‘sane’, suggesting Stoker’s encouragement of a quest for meaning and purpose in the Victorian era of increasing uncertainty. Along with Stoker, Charles Dickens and Lord Alfred Tennyson also address the individual’s pursuitRead MoreBram Stokers Dracula: a Struggle to Maintain Victorian Upper and Middle Class1881 Words   |  8 PagesThe Victorian men and women conveyed in Bram Stokers Dracula are pure and virtuous members of the upper and middle class. However, hiding behind this composed and civilized conception of England lies a dark and turbulent underbelly. This underbelly is the lumpenproletariat, whom Karl Marx defined as the lowest and most degraded section of the proletariat; the ‘down and outs who make no contribution to the workers cause. Victorian culture discriminated against these vagrants, who were seenRead MoreHow Does a Marxist Reading of Dracula Open Up Meaning?2150 Words   |  9 PagesUnremarkable though it may seem, to affirm the obvious truism that Bram Stoker’s Dracula originates from a century that historians often describe as the most significant in terms of revolu tionary ideology, whilst wishing to avoid the clichà ©d view held, it is undeniable that the more one delves into the depths of this novel the greater wealth of meaning demonstrates significant correlation with Marxist ideology. The 19th Century saw the emergence of revolutionary socialist Karl Marx, who himself

Communication Barries free essay sample

Communication is the imparting or exchanging information and news with people around us. Therefore, communication is an important theme for our daily life. Without communications well in this generation, people may cause conflict between each other. Communication as well contains barriers like non-verbal signals, language, pre-judgement, relationships, listening, systems and emotional responses. According to my past communication barriers that I have experienced, in the past, I do not know how to speak or read in Chinese because I have study and use to the environment there in English primary school since I was young. After I finished my primary school, I entered the secondary school. I have found out that I am having difficulties to communicate with my schoolmates and teacher and they can’t communicate well with me. Moreover, in the secondary school now, as a Chinese student, the Chinese students are compulsory to attend Chinese classes and take the Chinese subject as a main subject other than the bahasa subject. We will write a custom essay sample on Communication Barries or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Not just that, I often having misunderstanding with my classmates with my language too. Next, I have also found that their lifestyle was totally different from me. For example, every Friday, the Muslim’s student will have to go for their pray in the noon of 12pm so that we also have to stop our class lesson on 12pm every Friday. In this situation, I have analyzed the problem that I am not use to it in my secondary school. First of all, I am having the problem of one of the communication barrier, language. The meaning in English to Chinese and Malay have various of different meaning that I can’t crop up and sometimes I could misunderstanding what are they trying to send me a message in a conversation. Next, the cultural problem. I may have not use to their cultural in the Malay secondary school. For example, I did not know that in the Chinese culture of sending them clock as a gift by meaning sending them off to death. Not just that, I have found out that Malay could not eat non-halal foods while the Chinese can’t eat cows. Lastly, the listening problem. As I use to the English’s school environment, sometimes I could misunderstand of my classmate speak to me. It is hard for me to crop up by sudden changing of my environment lifestyle. In order for me to encounter that I faced, I have been study and doing some research of language in my secondary school. I was impelled to follow up to the tuition classes to strengthen my Chinese and Malay’s language. Not just that, during my school time, I was practicing language with my classmates or even noted down that words to look for the dictionary to find out the meaning. As for the cultural problem, my classmates told me about their cultural lifestyle during recess or free time. I have learned one of the Malay’s lifestyle of eating by using the right hand. Moreover, if there any special occasion, my classmate would invite me to their house to celebrate with them so that I could easily understand their culture. Lastly, the listening, I encountered the problem by asking them to repeat or explain of what are they trying to message me during our conversation.

On Being a Good Teacher Essay Example For Students

On Being a Good Teacher Essay Teachers play a vital role in life of students. They are the most important ones when it comes to nourishing and influencing the life of students. This could mean that the future of students depends on the teachers we have in schools. An optimistic or even a pessimistic approach could change the entire life of children. Therefore, all teachers should try to be a good teacher. This means that they must have a good knowledge of their subject. They should know how to make a good expression in their class. Above all, a good teacher is the one who knows how to explain the content in an easier way and is able to find an individual approach to each student. In my 12 years of education I came across many teachers. Few of them were good teachers whereas many of them were reasonable. However there was only one teacher that I can truly relate to as a good teacher. His name was Sir Sajjad A. Siddiqui. He used to teach us O-levels Computer Science. He had all the qualities of a good teacher. In our first class, he had worked out a strategy. He came onto us with full force and make a very strict expression on us on our very first day. I along with my fellow student become fierce and dreaded that this course would be a hell of a course. However as the time passed, he started becoming lenient. At that point I comprehended that being strict on our very first day was his part of the strategy. He wanted to make us fear him so that we would not lie or do anything stupid in his class and believe me he did quite succeeded in his plan. Although he was now not very strict, he used to give us more and more work to do. He would even make us sit after school hours to finish our work. There even came a time when me and my fellow students became united and headed towards the principle. There we told the principle about how the teacher is very strict with us and how he sometimes mocks us and make us miserable. That being said the principle said, Apart from all this, do you easily understand whatever he teaches you? As soon as we agreed with him, the principle asked us to disperse saying that as long as he does his job and makes you students understand your syllabus, he is a good teacher. Although our principles definition of a good teacher was completely obsolete, I am glad that he did not took any action. This is because in the end we realized that we had a completely wrong perception about the teacher. In our whole batch, computer science was the only course in which not a single student was bellow D grade. In fact more than half of the class ended up getting As. I myself got A*. This was only because of our teacher. During the whole course he tried to keep up us off balance, forcing us to step into new and even more difficult challenges. Pushing the students off limits was one of the teachers characteristic that I found intriguing and considered him my best teacher. Another fascinating characteristic of my teacher was cooperation and coordination. Once a good student and teacher relation is created, he would do anything in his power to help his students in any way possible. Not only this, if he could not be able to solve his students problems he would somehow get the answer in a day or two. Apart from all this, his help was not only restricted to his course, but also he tried to help his students in other advance computer courses also. .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .postImageUrl , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:hover , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:visited , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:active { border:0!important; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:active , .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834 .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u610ead6e2bfc2f5d85da7f611647c834:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Computer Science EssayAs a matter of fact, when I was facing some serious difficulties in my A level Aict course, I went to him and asked for help. He not only facilitated me but also taught me some new concepts regarding my advanced course. Not only this, at another time one of my friend from outside the school needed some help with his project work in computer science course. I asked the teacher about my friends situation and he agreed to assist him. On his consent, I introduced my friend with him and they both got along very well. At the end of the course me as well as all my fellow students were very much inspired by our teacher that we even did a small play regarding him and his class on our annual dinner at school. Following the school, this teacher is the only one I am still in contact with. After I was done with my course, I really gave it a thought and decided that if I ever decided to be a teacher in future, I will try my level best to fill in his shoes as he was the one that inspired me and made me believe that through teaching we can sure make a difference in ones life.

Short stories - ‘The Bloody Chamber’ free essay sample

In the short stories in ‘The Bloody Chamber’, Carter is excessively interested in violent instincts, this viewpoint is correct to an extent but Carter has a feministic approach to her stories, which at some points more apparent. I find that her stories are in a literal sense driven by violent instincts but optimistic outlook of Carter that humans are capable of change is still evident. Violence is already embedded in fairytales and by bringing this to the surface; she is only catering to her adult audience. The violent instincts portrayed by the characters shows what happens when we give in to the animalistic nature that humans’ possess, ‘i’ll grind his bones to make my bread’ the countess is a prime example, although she is hinted to be a supernatural creature. Intersexuality of Jack and the Beanstalk places the vampire in the role of villain while that of Sleeping Beauty shows her as a victim . We will write a custom essay sample on Short stories ‘The Bloody Chamber’ or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The act of grinding brings in to mind the domestic practices of a woman at home having to prepare the task of feeding the family, perhaps Carter is suggesting that women too often are given no credit for their roles in society. Another interpretation is by H. Simpson, ‘The stories are â€Å"fired by the conviction that human nature is not immutable, that human beings are capable of change†. Although this notion is shared by Carter, it seems that some of her characters had to be driven to extremes to change. The marquis could only escape his violent instincts through his death and the countess shared the same fate, his favourite quote: There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and he ministrations of a torturer†. To the Marquis the sex act is inseparable from the act of murder, which we see reflected in the heroines diction when she describes the loss of her virginity as impalement’’. It could be said that humans are capable of changing but only when they face hardships which leads them to lose the purity of their virginity, the extensive imagery of snow symbolises Beauty’s purity, â€Å"white and unmarked as a spilled bolt of bridal satin†. Carter comments on this often in her short stories in ‘The Bloody Chamber’. Secondly, Carter is suggesting that while society remains its patriarchal self, violence will always be present and this is reflected in her short stories. Carter appears to be excessively interested in violent instincts because she wanted to explore the human nature. In the Company of Wolves, the narrator addresses the reader, from the perspective of someone involved in the story In ‘granny’s bed between the paws of the tender wolf’ suggests that this story is based on little red riding hood. The juxtaposition of tender and wolf, shows how Carter creates dominant male characters which though are presented as evil are also seen to be partly victimised by their role which they are trapped within. Although carter uses intertexuality and makes exospheric references to other folk tales, in ‘the company of wolves’, it is actually hinting at what it is like for females to go out into the world and immediately be in danger from men and the traps that they lay for them, ‘You are always in danger in the forest’. The forest is perhaps an allegory for society and in a sense women must use the strength that has derived through their female lineage e. g. Mothers, Grandmothers to face obstacles. Angela Carter presents a feminist agenda in which women are presented as controlling their own lives and destiny through using skills and attributes including their sexuality in the face of their objectification by men and this being the reason that Carter isn’t just interested in violent instincts. In ‘The courtship of Mr. Lyon’, the story is written in first person, giving the female protagonist the voice, a feminist move unlike Beauty in CML. In the tiger bride, the ‘earrings’ are used as symbols; only a man who is beast-like can truly feel sorry for objectifying a woman. Furthermore, Cater is in a way addressing the double standard that men live by traditionally. That men are also viewed by her as being capable of thought and compassion and not purely sexual driven beings although the animalistic qualities of men are evident it is systematically represented in ‘TBC’, through the imagery of cats, lions and wolves. However, in the ‘Snow Child’ the entire story can be seen as an allegory for the transitory nature of male desire, with the short-lived girl representing the male fantasy, while the Countess’ victory represents the triumph of feminism. In the ‘The courtship of Mr. Lyon’, the simile of the Beast’s eyes â€Å"green as agate† emphasise the materialistic nature of Beauty and her father, while Beauty using his eyes as a mirror to see â€Å"her own image reflected there† emphasises this. On the other hand it could be that TBC is ‘A critique of the idea of adult womanhood sanctioned by patriarchy and a suggested alternative to it’ E. C. Rose. It can be argued that ‘a suggested alternative’ would mean the part victimisation of men to allow the balance to tip in to the woman direction making the two sexes equal All in all, it is my belief that Carter is ambiguous about overall message in her short stories; nevertheless many of the stories can be linked to wider feminist messages. While violence is a theme of the short stories in the ‘The Bloody Chamber’, Carter doesn’t appear to be excessively interested in violent instincts, her characters’ just happen to be atypical to the gothic and fairytales.

Socialism in Africa and African Socialism

Socialism in Africa and African Socialism At independence,  African countries had to decide what type of state to put in place, and between 1950 and the mid-1980s, thirty-five of Africas countries adopted socialism at some point.  The leaders of these countries believed socialism offered their best chance to overcome the many obstacles these new states faced at independence. Initially, African leaders created new, hybrid versions of socialism, known as African socialism, but by the 1970s, several states turned to the more orthodox notion of socialism, known as scientific socialism. What was the appeal of socialism in Africa, and what made African socialism different from scientific socialism? The Appeal of Socialism Socialism was anti-imperial. The ideology of socialism is explicitly anti-imperial. While the U.S.S.R. (which was the face of socialism in the 1950s) was arguably an empire itself, its leading founder, Vladimir Lenin wrote one of the most famous anti-imperial texts of the 20th century: Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. In this work, Lenin not only critiqued colonialism but also argued that the profits from imperialism would ‘buy out’ the industrial workers of Europe. The workers’ revolution, he concluded, would have to come from the un-industrialized, underdeveloped countries of the world. This opposition of socialism to imperialism and the promise of revolution coming underdeveloped countries made it appealing to anti-colonial nationalists around the world in the 20th century.Socialism offered a way to break with Western markets.  To be truly independent, African states needed to be not only politically but also economically independent. But most we re trapped in the trading relations established under colonialism. European empires had used African colonies for natural resources, so, when those states achieved the independence they lacked industries. The major companies in Africa, such as the mining corporation  Union Minià ¨re du Haut-Katanga, were European-based and European-owned. By embracing socialist principles and working with socialist trading partners, African leaders hoped to escape the neo-colonial markets that colonialism had left them in. In the 1950s, socialism apparently had a proven track record.  When the USSR was formed in 1917 during the Russian revolution, it was an agrarian state with little industry. It was known as a backward country, but less than 30 years later, the U.S.S.R. had become one of two superpowers in the world. To escape their cycle of dependency, African states needed to industrialize and modernize their infrastructures very quickly, and African leaders hoped that by planning and controlling their national economies using socialism they could create economically competitive, modern states within a few decades.Socialism seemed to many like a more natural fit with African cultural and social norms than the individualist capitalism of the West.  Many African societies place great emphasis on reciprocity and community. The philosophy of  Ubuntu, which stresses the connected nature of people and encourages hospitality or giving, is often contrasted with the individualism of the West, and many African leaders argued that these values made socialism a better fit for African societies than capitalism.     One-party socialist states promised unity.  At independence, many African states were struggling to establish a sense of nationalism among the different groups that made up their population. Socialism offered a rationale for limiting political opposition, which leaders - even previously liberal ones - came to see as a threat to national unity and progress. Socialism in Colonial Africa In the decades before decolonization,  a few African intellectuals, such as  Leopold Senghor  were drawn to socialism in the decades before independence. Senghor read many of the iconic socialist works but was already proposing an African version of socialism, which would become known as African socialism in the early 1950s.   Several other nationalists, like the future President of Guinee,  Ahmad  Sà ©kou Tourà ©, were heavily involved in trade unions and demands for workers rights. These nationalists were often far less educated than men like Senghor, though, and few had the leisure to read, write, and debate socialist theory. Their struggle for living wages and basic protections from employers made socialism attractive to them, particularly the type of modified socialism that men like Senghor proposed. African Socialism Though African socialism was different from European, or Marxist, socialism in many respects, it was still essentially about trying to resolve social and economic inequalities by controlling the means of production. Socialism provided both a justification and a strategy for managing the economy through state control of markets and distribution. Nationalists, who had struggled for years and sometimes decades to escape the domination of the West had no interest, though, in becoming subservient to the U.S.S.R. They also didn’t want to bring in foreign political or cultural ideas;  they wanted to encourage and promote African social and political ideologies. So, the leaders who instituted socialist regimes shortly after independence - like in Senegal and Tanzania - did not reproduce Marxist-Leninist ideas.  Instead,  they developed new, African versions of socialism that supported some traditional structures while proclaiming that their societies were - and always had been - classless. African variants of socialism also permitted far more freedom of religion. Karl Marx called religion the opium of the people,  and more orthodox versions of socialism oppose religion far more than African socialist countries did. Religion or spirituality was and is highly important to the majority of African people, though, and African socialists did not restrict the practice of religion. Ujamaa The most well-known example of African socialism was Julius Nyereres radical policy of ujamaa, or villagization, in which he encouraged, and later forced  people to move to model villages so that they could participate in collective agriculture.  This policy, he felt, would solve many problems at once. It would help congregate Tanzanias rural population so that they could benefit from state services like education and healthcare. He also believed it would help overcome the tribalism that bedeviled many post-colonial states, and Tanzania did, in fact, largely avoid that particular problem. The implementation of  ujamaa  was flawed, though. Few who were forced to move by the state appreciated it, and some were forced to move at times that meant they had to leave fields already sown with that years harvest. Food production fell, and the countrys economy suffered. There were advances in terms of public education, but Tanzania was fast becoming one of Africas poorer countries, kept afloat by foreign aid. It was only in 1985, though Nyerere stepped down from power and Tanzania abandoned its experiment with African socialism. The Rise of Scientific Socialism in Africa By that point, African socialism had long been out of vogue. In fact, former proponents of African socialism were already starting to turn against the idea in the mid-1960s. In  a speech in 1967, Kwame Nkrumah argued that the term African socialism had become too vague to be useful. Each country had its own version and there was no agreed-upon statement of what African socialism was. Nkrumah also argued that the notion of African socialism was being used to promote myths about the pre-colonial era. He, rightly, argued that African societies had not been classless utopias, but rather had been marked by various kinds of social hierarchy, and he reminded his audience that African traders had willingly participated in the slave trade.  A wholesale return to pre-colonial values, he said, was not what Africans needed.   Nkrumah argued that what African states needed to do was return to more orthodox Marxist-Leninist socialist ideals or scientific socialism, and that is what several African states did in the 1970s, like Ethiopia and Mozambique. In practice, though, there were not many differences between African and scientific socialism. Scientific Versus African Socialism Scientific socialism dispensed with the rhetoric of African traditions and customary notions of community, and spoke of history in Marxist rather than romantic terms.  Like African socialism, though, scientific socialism in Africa was more tolerant of religion, and the agricultural basis of African economies meant that the policies of scientific socialists could not be that different than those of African socialist. It was more of a shift in ideas and message than practice.   Conclusion: Socialism in Africa In general, socialism in Africa did not outlive the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1989. The loss of a financial supporter and ally in the form of the U.S.S.R. was certainly a part of this, but so too was the need many African states had for loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. By the 1980s, these institutions required states to release state monopolies over production and distribution and privatize industry before they would agree to loans. The rhetoric of socialism was also falling out of favor, and populations pushed for multi-party states.  With the changing tied, most African states who had embraced socialism in one form or another embraced the wave of multi-party democracy that swept across Africa in the 1990s. Development is associated now with foreign trade and investment rather than state-controlled economies, but many are still waiting for the social infrastructures, like public education, funded health care, and developed transportation systems, that both socialism and development promised. Citations Pitcher, M. Anne, and Kelly M. Askew. African socialisms and postsocialisms. Africa 76.1 (2006)  Academic One File.Karl Marx, Introduction to  A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, (1843), available on the  Marxist Internet Archive.Nkrumah, Kwame. African Socialism Revisited, speech given at the  Africa Seminar, Cairo, transcribed by Dominic Tweedie, (1967), available on the  Marxist Internet Archive.Thomson, Alex. Introduction to African Politics.  London, GBR: Routledge, 2000.

BMS forum discussion- Summary post Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BMS forum discussion- Summary post - Essay Example The employees would be asked to give their response on several factors that leads to these problems as well as the possible ways of solving or their perception on the problem identified. Creation of departmental units that incorporates employees from various cadres in the organisation will bring the management and the employees to interact more often, a factor that is likely to break the communication barriers. Acquiring relevant information is the most important aspect of any business dealing with information management system. Data is the unprocessed piece of information while information the processed data. There are primary and secondary data; the former is collected using questionnaire when one is undertaking study, while secondary data involves using data that was collected by previous study. For instance, the organisation will depend entirely on the accounting section to provide financial data for the stakeholders and potential investors. Therefore, relevant information needs to be communicated after the auditing process to ensure its reliability. Good information must be reliable and reproducible, this can only be achieved if the one can follow the same approach used previously and obtain similar finding by repeating the entire process. The method for analysing data will depend on the variable and the expected results. If there are more than two dependent and independent variable, a multiple approach like multiple analysis of variance is appropriate, however, if the data is simple analysis of variance is appropriate. Data has one disadvantage of possible manipulation; besides, if the size is not representative it will give misleading information. The information on the other hand depends on data, hence may give misleading

International Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International Financial Management - Essay Example The basic types of exchange rate regimes are the fixed exchange rate and the floating exchange rate. In the latter case the market decides the movements of the exchange rate. Exchange rate volatility is a common denominator of a country's exposure to international risk through foreign transactions, whether international trade or investment (Madura, 2009). The higher the degree of exposure the higher the degree of risk associated with such exposure. Thus the exchange rate can be considered as an important indicator in monetary policy and it mainly depends on the monetary policy framework of a particular country. Exchange rate can be identified as a target for particular government's policy and that it can actively manage with the other components of a monetary policy such as inflation, balance of payments and so on. For instance the changes in exchange rate in a short term can impact on the real economy and the balance of payments and in the long term those effects can be adjusted with the exchange rate movements. Therefore developing countries that depend on commodity exports to a greater extent are more likely to face a greater degree of risk due to the fact that commodity prices in international markets are subject to huge fluctuations. As a result their currencies against those of advanced industrialized economies are weaker. Even the well developed countries especially UK has been faced with this reality but their ability to manipulate exchange rates in international markets is considerably higher when compared to those developing countries (Wheele, 1995). 2. Literature ReviewCurrently available literature on the subject of exchange rate regime and related price stabilization policy in a modern economy has both a theoretical approach and a broader empirical approach. Price stabilization policy refers to a government macroeconomic strategy designed and executed by the central bank to ensure stable economic growth based primarily on stable prices and lower unemployment levels. This is a contingency macroeconomic model that presupposes a smoothing out effect on erratic fluctuations in aggregate supply. Alogoskoufis (1992) shows that the broader policy level approach includes monitoring and adjusting cyclical growth process and interest rates so that aggregate demand can be managed to achieve broader macroeconomic policy goals.This

Illegal Immigrants - A Strain on the US Economy Essay

Illegal Immigrants - A Strain on the US Economy - Essay Example Following discussion aims to illuminate the reality of the claim that â€Å"although illegal immigrants contribute to the US economy to a certain extent, it is important for the government to strictly control or regulate social services granted to them as demerits spawned by illegal immigration outweigh a few merits.† Social services received by illegal immigrants should be strictly controlled by the US government. This is because they have always proved a significant strain on the budget which is a fact of monumental importance particularly in current times marked by economic contraction. Illegal immigrants constitute a large part of the working class. Employers like to hire illegal immigrants because of the tendency to benefit from the option of cheap labor. Research conducted by the Department of Labor also proves that more than half of the workers who are assigned the task to pick crops to happen to be illegal immigrants (Finnegan). An increased labor class based on illegal immigrants poses damage to local workers. Research claims that â€Å"migrants perform tasks, at rates of pay, which most domestic workers would be unwilling to work at† (The Economic Affairs Committee 100).This suggests that many such jobs which should be given to locals are offered to illegal immigrants as they agr ee to do the same tasks for far lower prices. This benefits the employers but generates problematic issues for both locals and the federal government. As mentioned already, many rules and regulations were formulated in response to a rising rate of illegal immigration. â€Å"The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986† or IRCA is one such act worth mentioning here which clearly warns against hiring people residing illegally in the US (Fuqua 214). All employers are required to check the legal documents of their employees before selecting them. However, illegal immigrants still continue to be hired because they provision of myriad social services serves to encourage them.

Corporate Rescue Mechanisms of Judicial Management

Corporate Rescue Mechanisms of Judicial Management Two new insolvency processes was introduced by the Companies Act 2016 which are corporate rescue mechanisms of judicial management and corporate voluntary arrangement. These mechanisms aim to facilitate rehabilitation of company in the event of corporate insolvency to allow companies to restructure its debts and at the same time able to continue with its business as opposed to the only way of winding up under the old rule, subject to some conditions. Judicial management Judicial management as the name suggests is an order granted by court by way of application by the companys creditor or director. From the time an application is made, and for the duration of any judicial management order made, a moratorium will be in force.[1]Once order is granted, an insolvency practitioner or judicial manager will based on powers vest him,take charge of companys assets for over a period of six months which the order is in force and could be extended for another six months. The said insolvency practitioner or judicial managerwill first make a restructuring proposal for creditors approval which will be obtained by the creditors meeting and voting[2]. A majority approval of 75% of present creditors is required and the effect of restructuring proposal being approved is the proposal becomes binding on all creditors. Judicial management will not be available to institutions regulated by Capital Markets and services Act 2007 and Central Bank of Malaysia.[3] Besides that, judicial management order will only be granted if in applicant successfully show that there is a possibility of rehabilitation and by allowing such order creditors interest will be protected better than winding up process will. Corporate voluntary arrangement Corporate voluntary arrangement may be carried out betweencompanies with their unsecured creditors with minimal courts intervention. It will not be available to company with charge over its properties, public companies and similar with judicial management, institutions regulated by Capital Markets and services Act 2007 and Central Bank of Malaysia. Application for corporate voluntary arrangement could be made by companys director or judicial manager to the court which moratorium commences from this moment onwards. Application is to be supported with an insolvency practitioners statement on his opinion that the arrangement should be approved or disproved based on whether companys funds allow it to continue with its business. Unlike judicial management, under corporate voluntary arrangement there is a time limit to moratorium. After application to court an automatic moratorium kicks in for twenty eight days during which no legal action may commence against the said company[4]. Approval and the subsequent effect is the same as required under judicial management and the creditors meeting should be done within this moratorium period, upon which the moratorium ends. It could be extended for another sixty days by majority approval during said creditors meeting. The Companies Act 2016 also implemented added security feature by way of an insolvency test under s 112[5] to protect rights of parties trading with the company and rights of the creditors. Different solvency test applies for different circumstances but in overall, directors are to sign a solvency statement to declare that the company is solvent for the purpose of declaring dividend, share buyback and redemption of preference share, reduction of share capital or financial assistance. Insolvency-related amendments Companies Act 2016 has also incorporated some insolvency-related amendments, with the strengthening of the laws on receivership, winding up and schemes of arrangement. Receivership The receivership provisions in the CA 2016 substantially expand on the existing provisions in the Act. Section 375 and section 376 of CA 2016 set out the manner of appointing a receiver or a receiver and manager under an instrument or by the Court. S. 375(2)(a) of CA 2016 expressly sets out the agency status of a receiver appointed under a power conferred by an instrument. On part of receivers liability, section 182 of CA 1965 provides receiver to be liable for debts incurred by him in the course of the receivership or possession. The same is incorporated in section 381 of the CA 2016. Further to that, section 382 imposes personal liability on the receiver. Section 383 codified express powers of a receiver which are set out in the Sixth Schedule of the CA 2016. Presently, a receiver would have to derive his powers which expressly or impliedly conferred by Court. Winding up On the changes of winding up related sections, it can be noted that petition for winding up under section 218 CA1965 is generally presented subsequent to a final judgment. In the CA 2016, petition may also be presented without a judgment but after service of a s.218equivalent to section 466(1)(a) Notice of Demand pursuant to specifying the debt. In CA 1965, there is no time limit to file petition to wind up a company after the issuance of the statutory notice under s. 218(2)(a). CA 2016 in s. 466(2) now requires a petition to be filed in Court within six months of the statutory notice. This imposes time limitation for s.218 notice in order to curb abuse and to set useful timelines for potential settlement processes. Presently s.218(1)(m) and (n) permits the Court to order a winding up if a company is being used for unlawful purposes or any purpose prejudicial to national security or public interest or incompatible with peace, welfare, public order, security, good order or morality in Malaysia. S.465(2) of CA 2016 provides that, a finding by the Registrar that a company is being used for such purposes shall be received as prima facie evidence until proven otherwise. The effect is to reverse the burden of proof which then place on company to disprove the existence of the state of affairs said to exist by the Registrar in commencing the winding up action Section 218(2) has given minimum statutory amount for which a company may be presumed to be unable to pay its debts is RM500. Section 466 CA 2016 provides the amount now is to be prescribed by the Minister. Under the present s.223 CA 1965, all dispositions made after the commencement of the winding up by the Court are void unless the Court otherwise orders. Whereas s.472 CA 2016 provide exception to allow exempt dispositions which are defined as dispositions made by a liquidator, or by an interim liquidator,pursuant to a power conferred on them by the Act or rules of the Court that appointed them or by an order of the Court. This may facilitate the liquidators in carrying out their function as part of winding up process to liquidate the assets of the company as part of the without having to seek validation orders each time a disposition is made. S.493 CA 2016 is a new provision giving the Court power to terminate the winding up process. Currently termination of a winding up order is by way of a permanent stay under s.243which given court power to stay winding up. The same section is also used to seek a stay of winding up proceedings pending an appeal and this has continued to cause confusion. Cessation of a winding up as the power to stay in s.492 and the power to terminate in s.493 are clearly segregated. Twelfth schedule of CA 2016 sets out both the powers of a liquidator requiring the authority of the Court or a committee of inspection and powers which may be exercised independently of the same.Notable changes on s.236 CA1965 include the power to carry on the business of the company which increase from four weeks to 180 days after the date of the winding up order, to compromise debts not exceeding RM10,000which currently RM1,500 under s.236(2)(b) due to the company without approval of the Court/COI. This would enhanced the roles of liquidators to facilitate the smooth process of liquidation. Further, CA 2016 also provide more protection to employees as unsecured creditors under s.292(1)(b). The upper limit for the payment of wages or salary in the distribution of a companys property increased from RM5,000 to RM15,000 under s.527(1)(b) of CA 2016 Scheme of arrangement The scheme of arrangement provisions remains largely the same except for two of the more significant changes. In s.367 of CA 2016, upon application, the court may appoint an approved liquidator to assess the viability of a proposed scheme and prepare a report for submission to the meeting of creditors and members. This would enable an independent professional in the field of insolvency to determine the viability of the scheme and take into account the interests of all the stakeholders. Currently under s.176(10A) CA 1965 the court may grant a restraining order for not more than 90 days. Under s.368(2) CA 2016 the restraining order may be extended by court for not more than 9 months upon application to court. Further, s.176(10D) CA 1965 provides company disposes or acquires any property, other than in the ordinary course of its business, without leave of the Court, liable for monetary punishment of RM1 million. In CA 2016, the amount has increased to RM3 million as provided in s.368(7). [1]Malaysia: New Malaysian insolvency laws (2016) Available online http://restructuring.bakermckenzie.com/2016/11/06/malaysia-new-malaysian-insolvency-laws/ (Accessed on: 19th January 2017) [2]Malaysias New Insolvency Regime (2016) Available online http://www.klgates.com/malaysias-new-insolvency-regime-07-05-2016/   (Accessed on 20th January 2017) [3]Reform in the Malaysian Corporate Landscape Key Highlights under the New Companies Act (2016) Available online https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/my/Documents/tax/my-tax-espresso-reform-in-the-malaysian-corporate-landscape.pdf   (Accessed on 20th January 2017) [4] Corporate voluntary arragement (2016) Available online http://www.chooi.com.my/pdf/Chooi_Companies_Act_2016_corporate_voluntary_arrangement_975866_1.pdf ( Accessed on 21st January 2017) [5] Companies Act 2016, s 112

Why There is no Model Family? Essay -- Family Psychology, Family Value

â€Å"Family Aint Shit†: Why There is no Model Family A picture that pops into mind when one thinks of the term â€Å"family†: Mother prepares dinner, Father comes home from a hard day’s work, and the children walk into the house from school. The group sits at the dinner table and discusses the day’s activities with a genuine smile on their faces. Everything for this family is perfect. This example is just a traditional family portrait and is far from the reality of many modern families. It is so far from reality that the entire definition of â€Å"family† can be skewed into whatever subjective opinion one wants. Cold-blooded, homicidal menaces to society can create a â€Å"family† by forming a gang which may have more inner peace than a dysfunctional blood family. Friends can consider themselves family even when they share no blood ties. Gay couples, single males, and parents of different ethnicities can adopt a child and form the â€Å"legal† definition of a family. There is no set-in-stone definition of family; with the complexity of the modern world, the term â€Å"family† can be used to describe blood relations or simply any group of people a bond is felt with. The HBO drama The Sopranos promises to make its viewers rethink the term â€Å"family† with a tagline such as â€Å"Meet Tony Soprano, if one family doesn’t kill him†¦ the other family will† (IMDB). The two families the show speaks about are of two different worlds. The first family (often dysfunctional) is Tony Soprano’s blood family that includes his wife and children. The second family (a complete blood-splattered mess) is Tony’s Mafia affiliations. In the episode â€Å"The Happy Wanderer†, Tony takes the role as the head of house in both families and must balance his life between being a Mob boss and bei... ...ll always be there for your family when they need you, and they'll always be there for you. Blood related or not† (Urbandictionary). This definition is a perfect example of why family is about a bond between its members, not something defined by legality. Through many trials and tribulations, the multitudes of different types of families will continue to exist, breaking the mold of traditional ideas and redefining what we come to think of as â€Å"family†. Works Cited â€Å"Family.† Def. 23. Urbandictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. â€Å"The Happy Wanderer.† The Sopranos. HBO. 20 Feb. 2000. Television. â€Å"’The Sopranos’ (1999) - Taglines.† IMDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Vasquez, Adrian. Personal interview. 15 Feb. 2012. White, Rob. â€Å"Indigenous Youth and Gangs as Family.† Youth Studies Australia 28.3 (2009): 47-56. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. Why There is no Model Family? Essay -- Family Psychology, Family Value â€Å"Family Aint Shit†: Why There is no Model Family A picture that pops into mind when one thinks of the term â€Å"family†: Mother prepares dinner, Father comes home from a hard day’s work, and the children walk into the house from school. The group sits at the dinner table and discusses the day’s activities with a genuine smile on their faces. Everything for this family is perfect. This example is just a traditional family portrait and is far from the reality of many modern families. It is so far from reality that the entire definition of â€Å"family† can be skewed into whatever subjective opinion one wants. Cold-blooded, homicidal menaces to society can create a â€Å"family† by forming a gang which may have more inner peace than a dysfunctional blood family. Friends can consider themselves family even when they share no blood ties. Gay couples, single males, and parents of different ethnicities can adopt a child and form the â€Å"legal† definition of a family. There is no set-in-stone definition of family; with the complexity of the modern world, the term â€Å"family† can be used to describe blood relations or simply any group of people a bond is felt with. The HBO drama The Sopranos promises to make its viewers rethink the term â€Å"family† with a tagline such as â€Å"Meet Tony Soprano, if one family doesn’t kill him†¦ the other family will† (IMDB). The two families the show speaks about are of two different worlds. The first family (often dysfunctional) is Tony Soprano’s blood family that includes his wife and children. The second family (a complete blood-splattered mess) is Tony’s Mafia affiliations. In the episode â€Å"The Happy Wanderer†, Tony takes the role as the head of house in both families and must balance his life between being a Mob boss and bei... ...ll always be there for your family when they need you, and they'll always be there for you. Blood related or not† (Urbandictionary). This definition is a perfect example of why family is about a bond between its members, not something defined by legality. Through many trials and tribulations, the multitudes of different types of families will continue to exist, breaking the mold of traditional ideas and redefining what we come to think of as â€Å"family†. Works Cited â€Å"Family.† Def. 23. Urbandictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. â€Å"The Happy Wanderer.† The Sopranos. HBO. 20 Feb. 2000. Television. â€Å"’The Sopranos’ (1999) - Taglines.† IMDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Vasquez, Adrian. Personal interview. 15 Feb. 2012. White, Rob. â€Å"Indigenous Youth and Gangs as Family.† Youth Studies Australia 28.3 (2009): 47-56. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Competition in the Golf Equipment Industry

1. Discuss the trends in the golf equipment industry and how it may impact a company’s strategy. Ans: According to new the United States Golf Association (USGA), Golf equipment manufacturers are forced to launch the equipment within the limitation. Therefore, the product differentiation is not quite high while recreational golfers do not enjoy playing due to lack of innovational equipment. Also, the USGA states that there are various factors that result in the declining of golfers such as: Game difficulty: Golf equipment manufacturers are forced to follow the new USGA rules, thus, recreational golfers are suffered from the limitation of golf equipments. They cannot enjoy playing golf as much as before while new golfers face the difficulty of playing. – Time consuming for practice: According to the limited innovation of golf equipment, golfers need lots of time to practice while they also have take responsibility to their job and spend time with their families. – High golf fee: Some golfers realize that golf fee is high, as a result, they  cannot practice frequently. . Discuss the importance of innovation, brand, performance, and price in the golf equipment industry. Ans: Good reputation and image can lead to brand loyalty. That’s why many brands use lots of advertising expenditure to promote their brands. As the leading sports brand in the world, Nike has a clear marketing advantage over its competitors. Nike spends some of their annual revenues on advertising to build strong brands by using celebrity endorsements aim to grow the market share in the golf segment. Golf product brand equity depends on the performance of its endorsed players. The performances of the professional golfers sponsored by each brand strongly relates to sales. Innovation in the golf industry is an important part of equipment adoption. Because of the fleeting life span of golf clubs, adoption of new drivers and putters is critical to any golf equipment manufacturer’s strategy. Performance in golf equipment is closely tied to PGA professionals and well known amateurs who use certain clubs and brands to help promote the value of the equipment. Counterfeit golf equipment has continued to impact pricing of golf equipment by being sold worldwide which s a threat to the golf industry because the counterfeits can be sold much less than the originals. Callaway’s strength has been its line of Big Bertha drivers and the acquisition of the Top-Flite Golf company which allowed Callaway to manufacturer popular golf ball equipment. The weakness has been the golf club business which has lost money according to third quarter reporting. The financia l report shows a 28% of net sales in the third quarter of 2010 as compared to 31% of net sales in 2009 third quarter. TaylorMade’s strength has been its improvement to the drivers namely the r5 and r7 series which supplanted Callaway’s Big Bertha as the driver of choice for many golfers. The weakness of TaylorMade Golf has been in putters, irons and golf balls. Never really gaining in these fields over Callaway, much of this business was sold or minimized. Titleist’s strength is its golf ball market share. Its weakness has been its golf club line which has been targeted to elite golfers, though not adopted widely by many golfers. Ping Golf’s strength has been in the iron segment in 2008. Its weakness has been poor wedge sales  (Strickland III, Thompson, & Gamble, 2010, pp. C-95 – C-96). Nike’s strength is the marketability of its primary endorsement, Tiger Woods, along with its popular golf ball line. Its weakness has been a quality issue with product that was sold at less than suggested retail due to this issue. 3. Identify the strengths and weakness of Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Ping, and Nike. Determine which company has a competitive advantage in the marketplace and state why you believe this to be true. Ans: Overall the best golf company in my opinion is definetly, Titleist. Also, below, I listed the best product for each category of golf equipment. Driver: Taylor Made super quad Irons: Titleist AP2 (leading irons on tour); Woods: 906F4's; Hybrid: adams hybrids (leading hybrid on tour) Wedges: Titleist Vokey spin milled or 200 series (leading wedge on tour) Putter: any  Titleist Scotty Cameron  that fits you (leading putter on tour) Balls:  Titleist Pro V1  or Pro V1x (leading ball on tour and my personal favorites) Bag: Ping (they have outstanding long lasting quality bags! Glove: Titleist Yardage device: Bushnell Shoes: Footjoy (particularly Dry Joys) Grips: Lampkins or Golf Pride ( especially the dual density  lamkin grips) 4. Based on the company selected in the previous discussion, recommend how the company can ensure that its competitive advantage is sustained. a. Strong research and Innovation: The technology industry is one of the leading industries with respect to   strong research and innovation. And when it comes to setting the pace using innovation as leverage;  Apple and Sony  are the two companies that have held their leadership position using innovation as a competitive advantage. b. Brand Popularity: Being recognized all over the world as a respected brand is a  sustained competitive advantage that companies such as Virgin, Apple and Coca cola  have used as leverage to hold the market sway for years. Virgin is a company that has used its brand name as leverage to break into new markets  in completely new territories. . Corporate reputation: Corporate reputation is  a form of sustained competitive advantage  that companies such as Price Waterhouse and Berkshire Hathaway have leveraged to become world class entities. d. Strategic assets: Holding strategic assets such as  patents is a strong source of sustained competitive advantage  and General Electric has stood the test of time because of the several patents held. Mind you that possession of these stra tegic assets has made  General Electric one of the most powerful companies in the world. e. High volume production: Dangote Group of companies became one of the leading conglomerates in Africa because of its ability to produce goods on high volume and ensure a uniform price throughout  Nigeria. f. Access to working Capital: Generally, public liability companies (quoted companies) have a  sustained competitive advantage over private companies because of their infinite capacity to raise capital from the public. Take a look at  how Oracle acquired 57 companies in a space of five years  and Reliance Industries investing a billion dollars in a single swoop to open a chain of retail stores. . Superior Product or customer support: IKEA has become a market leader in the furniture industry because of its ability to provide superior product at an affordable rate; backed by a strong customer support system. h. Flexibility: The ability to change swiftly is a  strength and source of sustained competitive advantage that Microsoft  leveraged upon to become the largest software company in the world. i. Low pricing: Wal-Mart as at the time of this writing is the most capitalized company in the world. Thanks to its low pricing strategy that became its strong source of competitive advantage.

Adrienne Clarkson Biography

Adrienne Clarkson Biography A well-known CBC broadcaster, Adrienne Clarkson brought a new style to the role of Governor-General of Canada. Originally from Hong Kong, Adrienne Clarkson was the first immigrant and the first Chinese-Canadian to be Governor General. Adrienne Clarkson and her husband philosopher and author John Ralston-Saul kept a high profile, worked hard and traveled extensively to Canadian communities, both large and small, during her six years as Governor General. Reviews were mixed for Adrienne Clarksons tenure as Governor General. Many in the Canadian Forces, of which she was Commander-in-Chief, regarded Adrienne Clarkson fondly for going the extra mile for the troops. At the same time, some Canadians considered her elitist, and there was public criticism of her lavish spending, including taking a delegation on a $5-million circumpolar tour to Finland, Iceland, and Russia in 2003. Governor General of Canada 1999-2005 Birth Born February 10, 1939, in Hong Kong. Adrienne Clarkson came to Canada in 1942 as a refugee during the war and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. Education BA, English Literature - University of TorontoMA, English Literature - University of TorontoPost-graduate work - La Sorbonne, Paris, France Profession Broadcaster Adrienne Clarkson and the Arts Adrienne Clarkson was a host, writer and producer at CBC Television from 1965 to 1982. Her CBC programs included Take ThirtyAdrienne at LargeFifth EstateAdrienne Clarksons Summer FestivalAdrienne Clarkson PresentsSomething Special Adrienne Clarkson also served as Agent General for Ontario in Paris from 1982 to 1987 and was Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Civilization from 1995 to 1999. Adrienne Clarkson as Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson traveled extensively across Canada to meet Canadians where they live. In her first year as Governor General of Canada, she visited 81 communities and traveled 115,000 km (about 71,500 miles). She kept a similar pace for the next five years.One of the themes of Adrienne Clarksons time as Governor General was the North. In 2003, Adrienne Clarkson led a delegation on a three-week tour of Russia, Finland, and Iceland to raise Canadas profile and focus attention on northern foreign policy issues. She also spent time as Governor General in the Canadian north, including visits to the troubled communities of Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu. Adrienne Clarkson established the Governor Generals Northern Medal to be awarded for achievements contributing to the evolution and reaffirmation of the Canadian North as part of the Canadian national identity.Adrienne Clarkson made a point of visiting Canadian troops in the field, going to Kosovo and Bosnia, spending Christmas on frigates i n the Gulf, and New Year 2005 in Kabul. Adrienne Clarkson was asked by Prime Minister Paul Martin to stay on an extra year to provide stability and experience when Parliament was faced with a minority government.When Adrienne Clarkson left office, it was announced that an Institute for Canadian Citizenship would be created in her honor, with up to $10 million in government backing.

Binge Drinking Among College Students

Binge Drinking Among College Students Free Online Research Papers Introduction Many studies have shown that the age of onset of heavy drinking has been strongly linked to the formation of harmful drinking habits later in life (Berkowitz, 1990; Glassman, 2010). The increased levels of binge drinking and alcohol abuse reported among university students within one year of entering college may possibly point to increases in alcohol-related public health issues in the future (Kim, Chan, Chow, Fung, Cheuk, Griffiths, 2009). Research and theory have provided pertinent information about binge drinking and how prevalent the issue is among college students. Binge drinking among college students has been identified as the number one threat to campus life (Wheeler, 2009). College students today are drinking more frequently and in greater amounts than ever before (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, 2007). Dangerous amounts of alcohol consumption are simply not safe, and will most likely produce negative outcomes. The p urpose of this paper is to discuss how binge drinking is defined and measured. It will also review several studies on binge drinking and how it correlates with college students. Additionally, original research was conducted to examine the binge drinking trends of Texas State University Students. Literature Review Operationalizing â€Å"Binge Drinking† Conventionally, the criteria for assessing high-risk drinking includes: five or more drinks for males and four or more drinks for women during one sitting, event, or occasion within the previous two weeks (Glassman, 2010). Although, some research simply states five or more drinks in one sitting, which does not include the gender variable. Also, asking respondents to recall specific time frames from a night of heavy drinking may also compromise the validity of research data. Further, the five or more/four or more drinking criterion does not adequately assess the intoxication levels or more extreme levels of alcohol consumption (Glassman, 2010). Yet, others in the field recognize that men metabolize alcohol more efficiently than women and distinctions should be accounted for when measuring this behavior. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Advisory Council attempted to clarify the issue by defining a binge as: a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 gram percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male) or 4 or more drinks (female) in about 2 hours† (National Institute on Alcohol and Abuse, 2004, p. 357). Prevalence of Binge Drinking Data from multiple surveys indicate that the majority of college students consume alcohol (Presley, Meilman, Lyerla, 1994). College students drink more frequently and in greater numbers than their peers who do not attend college (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, 1997). Defined as five consecutive drinks for men and four consecutive drinks for women within a two-week period, binge drinking occurs among 44% of college students, which has remained constant over time (Glassman, 2010). On average, college students consume 9.6 drinks per week. White, Kraus Swatzwelder (2006) conducted surveys at a moderate-sized state university in the northeast United States via flyers, announcements, and a web site maintained by the Psychology Department. Participants completed the anonymous surveys in exchange for credit toward completion of a research-participation requirement for introductory psychology courses. The results showed that 41% of males and 34% of females consume alcohol at or a bove the binge drink threshold. Many different environmental and social factors can influence a college students’ behavior. For example, the presence of a Greek system, student involvement in athletics, students’ residence (dorm or apartment), size of the university, alcohol outlet density and alcohol prices are all variables that can influence decisions of a student (Wheeler, 2009). Research indicates that when college students drink at these levels, their risk for alcohol related consequences increases significantly and suggest that the term â€Å"binge† is justified based on scientific evidence (Glassman, 2010). According to the Harvard School of Public Health College Study, which was conducted on 89% of the first year entrants of college, 53% of all alcohol-related injuries occurred from people who consumed one to five drinks, whereas 21% occurred from those who consumed eight or more drinks. This data was gathered from anonymous questionnaires that were sent to all students prior to the fall semester registration. Also, there is almost universal agreement among college administration and health professionals that alcohol abuse is the most widespread recreational drug used by college students, and that binge drinking is a major health problem (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1995). Faced with this issue, and no apparent immediat e solution, in the summer of 2008, 200 college presidents proposed that lawmakers consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years. Their efforts were dubbed the Amethyst Initiative, an idea based on the assumption that the current laws and prohibitions against drinking may actually be encouraging students to binge drink (Deas Clark, 2009). Most literature gives little evidence that lowering the drinking age will solve the binge drinking problem. However, there is considerable evidence that this action may actually intensify the issue. For example, high school students 18 years old and younger seem to be keeping pace with college peers in terms of alcohol consumption. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2004), 62% of tenth graders and 72% of twelfth graders have used alcohol and 41% of tenth graders and 55% of twelfth graders have been drunk. Also, 65% of college students who drink alcohol began drinking in high school and only 13% of college students began drinking after entering college. This data was collected from a study that was conducted in two stages. The first stage selected 148 institutions, half two-year and half four-year, with probability proportional to undergraduate enrollment. The second stage randomly sampled undergraduates in the 136 institutions that chose to participate, targeti ng 72 students from each two-year school and 56 from each four-year school. The questionnaire was mailed to 7,442 students for self-administration and completed by 4,814 (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2007). Finally, lowering the drinking age seems to negate research on neurobiological development. The data suggests that cognitive functions, such as impulse control and decision making, are still developing into early adulthood (Wheeler, 2009). During this period of critical development major regions of the young adult’s brain is at risk due to the neurotoxin effects of excessive alcohol consumption. Obviously, a better alternative to lowering the drinking age is to increase research efforts designed to give a better understanding of why so many students engage in such self-destructing behavior. In seeking some answers to some of these questions, researchers have conducted studies on the motive and expectations underlying excessive drinking in the college population. Some believe that college students just do not see an issue with binge drinking. This may be because students tend to identify hangovers as the most serious consequence of excessive drinking. Others suggest that students drink in order to obtain valued outcomes or as a means of coping with stress (Crundell, 1995). Berkowitz (1990) insists that the satisfaction of social needs and peer influence are the most important factors leading to binge drinking. Research on peer influence has shown that individuals who have friends who drink are more likely to begin drinking, and that individuals who binge drink are likely to have friends who drink (Wheeler, 2009). Duncan, Biosjoly, Kremer, Levy Eccles (2005) state, â€Å" as long as individuals are free to choose their friends, it is possible that someone’s substance abuse behavior or personal characteristics associated with substance abuse are affecting his or her choice of peer group† (p. 376). According to Wheeler (2009), young adults are the heaviest drinkers in the United States. College students drink more often and in heavier amounts than people who do not attend college. This seems consistent with Crundall’s (1995) notion that alcohol consumption is a major part of the culture of college life, a so-called rite of passage into adulthood. Drinking alcohol is typically perceived by most students as part of the college experience. The college culture undoubtedly plays a role in student drinking, but some researchers may have exaggerated its effects. As Wheeler (2009) reports, â€Å"While the heaviest drinkers are at greater risk for harm, they are relatively few and generate proportionally small amounts of all drinking harms† (p. 174). This idea is supported by Weschler, Lee, Kuo, Seibring, Nelson Lee (2002), who used factor analyses and IRT analyses while conducting their studies, found that the top 17% of students in a sample of 353 undergraduate drinkers who drink alcohol heavily and frequently, consume 68% of the alcohol drank by college students. There also other shortcomings associated with the traditional high-risk drinking measure. Glassman (2010) proposes combing the five/four drinking measure with the frequency of engaging in the behavior (3 or more times in a one week period), a term he describes as â€Å"heavy and frequent† (Glassman, 2010). The research indicates that this group is most at risk for experiencing the negative consequences associated with alcohol use. Another area in which specialized research is needed involves event-specific drinking occasions among college students. For example, on a college football game day, drinking alcohol takes place for an extended period of time (usually before, during, and after a game). For these types of events, the term, â€Å"Extreme Ritualistic Alcohol Consumption† (ERAC) was created. ERAC, defined as consuming 10 or more drinks in a day by males, and 8 or more drinks for a female, constitutes an event or context-specific drinking pattern in which peopl e drink more than they would under normal circumstances (Deas et al., 2009). Methods Secondary data was used during the original research of the binge drinking trends of Texas State University students. Information was gathered in Spring of 2009, as part of a Research Methods in Criminal Justice course at Texas State University. Convenience sampling was used, which means that the sample group in the study was comprised of TSU students who were, basically, given the surveys at the convenience of the researcher. The surveyed students were anonymous, meaning there is no possible way to link the answers to any one survey to any specific student. They surveys, which were IRB approved by Texas State University, were self-administered by the students. Overall, the ending sample size was 146 Texas State students, which may limit the data due to the low number. This small sample size may not be completely representative of the Texas State University population. The survey questions vary in type, but the data gathered portrays an accurate depiction of the studentsâ€℠¢ binge drinking habits. The survey consists of 74 questions total, 11 personal drinking behavior questions, 14 binge drinking questions, 11 questions covering the survey taker’s attitude towards drinking, 9 background questions, 5 demographic questions, and 23 personal attitudes and behaviors. The possible answers varied from simply â€Å"Yes or No† to Gottfredson and Hirshi’s Low Self-Control Scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree). Results The sample size of this study was 146 Texas State University students. The majority of the sample, 58%, was Caucasian. Another 29% were Hispanic. The remaining 13% were another race. The sample consisted of 45% male participants and 55% female participants. The majority of the sample was 21 years and older (70%). Of these participants, only 26% are Criminal Justice majors. Juniors and Seniors represented most of the sample size (74%) of the sample, as opposed to only 26% Freshman and Sophomores. Surprisingly, only 11% of the sample stated they were a member of a traditional fraternity or sorority, and only 17% indicated they were an athlete at the university. For the purpose of this paper, fiver questions from the survey were selected, and those results were analyzed. Twenty-four percent of the surveyed students indicated they have attended school while drunk. Additionally, 80% of the participants admitted to binge drinking at a house party at some point. Only 29% of the sample indicated they have engaged in sexual intercourse after binge drinking and later regretted it. Thirty-five percent of the surveyed students have blacked out (become unconscious after consuming a large amount of alcohol) due to binge drinking. Finally, 61% of the sample did not believe the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years. The questions were also analyzed by the demographic, sex. It was found males were significantly more likely than females to attend class while drunk, binge drink at a house party, have sex with someone after binge drinking and later regret it, and black out after binge drinking (p

Air pollution in Shanghai, China Research Paper

Air pollution in Shanghai, China - Research Paper Example he Old city, Putua, Yangpu, and Zhabei with Chongming, Pudong, Western suburbs , Zhujiajiao and Southern suburbs making up the outer districts of the greater Shanghai city. The presence of the historic houses called the Shikumen just blends the European flair design with the Chinese houses. It is an industrial hub in china. The city is believed to rise to prominence after china lost the 1842 1st opium war. Shanghai’s climate is described as humid sub tropic. The city has two airports, with other means of transport such as use of buses, taxis, train and boats. Shanghai is located in the northern hemisphere. The latitude and longitude of the city is 31010’N,1210 28’E. The latitude with relation to the equator makes it same as Cairo, Brisbane and New Orleans. It is in the same hemisphere as Tokyo city. Air pollution is among the topics most often discussed this year in Shanghai city. The past two weeks has seen the people living in the Yangtze River delta breath air that was considered most polluted in a period of five years. Zhang, the director of the Shanghai environmental protection bureau considers transportation as the major source of pollution associate with air. Factory and emission from vehicles are considered the main pollutant in shanghai city. The measurement of the shanghai air pollution keeps on fluctuating from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups. Air pollution in shanghai is real. Particles in the shanghai environment tend to impair visibility due to the presence of smog in the atmosphere. Pollution in the shanghai city is caused by the emissions from the large number of vehicles in the city, dust particles, Emission from factories, coal combustions, and construction sites in various parts of Shanghai (Chan & Xiaohong, 25). Fine particles from such emissions are known to enter the blood circulation in the lung when inhaled from the atmosphere. They are therefore considered detrimental to the health of the human being. When the people

Teen smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teen smoking - Essay Example As a child, I remember waking up to my father coughing uncontrollably. I would always dutifully ask if he was okay, to which he answered yes, silencing any of my lingering objections. What could I have done differently? After reflecting on my fathers death, I have come to realize that if the laws were written in such a way to impose severe punishment upon teenage smokers, no one else would have to die from this slow-killing diseases. With laws in place to catch early users before they become life-time users, a multitude of future smokers would be avoided due to such laws. Why not treat cigarette smoking like one would treat alcohol use ? Our laws governing alcohol use is such that no one under the age of 21 can buy or consume alcohol Similarly, if an adult over the age of 21 facilitates a minor with alcohol, they can be charged and fined up to $1,000 for each minor that they outfitted with alcohol. If a teenager spends a night in jail for smoking illegally, then perhaps he or she would think twice about ever picking up a cigarette again. Additionally, the tacking on of fines to a minor who has used a fake ID or a proxy to ascertain cigarettes. Usually when someone is forced to pay a fine for a misdemeanor or is placed on probation, their likelihood of doing the same thing again becomes minimal. Alternatively, perhaps the police should fine the teenager. In â€Å"Teen Smokers Should Worry About Fines,† Eric Zorn suggests, "This isnt a new idea. PUP laws-so named because they ban the purchase, use and possession tobacco by minors-have been around for decades. Chicagos dates to 1992 and calls for a $25 fine for the first offense"(1) Certainly if these fines are the law, Ive never been aware of it - principally because the cops do not enforce the statutes. In the Zorn article, Professor Leonard from DePaul University in Chicago reveals that if the PUP laws had been successfully enforced, numerous teenagers would have quit long ago - or perhaps

Nursing in Partnership with Faith Based Parish Nurses Research Paper

Nursing in Partnership with Faith Based Parish Nurses - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that faith based communities consider health a vital ingredient in the continuity of their faith. Therefore, healthy human beings must reconsider their concentration on their faith and other activities that strengthen their faith. In most cases, the faith based communities consider providing better health care facilities to the people that would wish to join their faith. The core reason of this approach is to ensure the believers are not distracted from their activities. Healthy people are more likely to be focused on their faith at all times, which strengthens the community as their faith is not jeopardized. For instance, a healthy person will not feel any ailments. However, an ailing person will not have the mindset of holding on to his/her faith constantly. This reduces the commitment of the believers in their faith. Under such circumstances, providing healing is the appropriate approach. The heritage of health and healing in the faith b ased communities is instigated to provide care for the underprivileged. There are some people in the world that are underprivileged and do not have avenues of attaining better health. Since their faith and beliefs state that they should help the underprivileged, they have an obligation to do so. In many instances, faith based communities will find better ways of helping the underprivileged in the society at all costs. This is an approach that strengthens both their faith and activities in helping the society. Apparently, many faith based communities consider this their obligation as stated by their faith.... Nursing is a profession that requires amassed human resources. Therefore, a larger number of professionals working in the sector will have a positive impact on the provision of the services (Solari-Twadell and McDermott, 2006). In essence, for many professionals working for a universal goal, this will be a prudent approach in giving high quality services. In the recent past, the nursing profession has been facing several challenges which include a limited number of professionals. This has adversely affected service provision in the nursing profession as they are unable to serve all the people that need their services. This has been a looming drawback to the nursing profession as they are not able to provide adequate health care services. To rectify such a situation, the faith based communities prefer to help by partnering with community nurses. This creates a scenario where the people offering the services are in large numbers. As such, the nursing sector has a large number of people that offer services to people that need them. The quality of services is improved when community nurses partner with parish nurses. The parish nurses are guided with their faith and beliefs in the profession. With such, the people that need the services are treated with the best care and health services. This is a benefit to the society as it gets the best care and health services. Partnership between community nurses and parish nurses helps in reducing the instances of stigmatization. This is especially helpful to the underprivileged people of the society. In any society, there are some people that can afford paying for the services they need. On the other hand, some people do not have this opportunity and can hardly pay for medical services. As such, they will forego some

Jung’s Unconscious Mind Essay Example for Free

Jung’s Unconscious Mind Essay In his description and explanation of the fourth dimension of the unconscious mind, Carl Jung uses an example involving one of his patients to justify his addition of the collective unconscious as the fourth part of Freud’s unconscious mind. His patient had successfully completed the psychoanalytic process of transference but was still not cured. This was the end of the process of psychoanalytic transference developed and practiced by Sigmund Freud. This led Jung to believe that the unconscious consisted of more than the components of repression, as was believed by Freud. If what she had been repressing had been discovered and was now being embraced in her conscious mind, her condition should have improved according to Freud’s theory. Her condition had not improved thus, Jung felt that there must be more. Jung began to look to her dreams, which he believed to be essentially photos of the unconscious mind at work. He found patterns that appeared ideal to and should have allowed psychoanalytic transference to function sufficiently. Despite her achievement of transference, the woman was still not well. He continued to observe her dreams. She had likened him, the doctor, to an amalgamation of her father and a lover who embodied the admirable traits of her father just as the process would call for. This should have led to her cure but it did not. Due to the fact she had not yet improved, he continued to observe her dreams until one day, he realized that she had likened him not just to the amalgamation of father and lover but, to a more divine figure. Though she was not a religious person, he figured that she had a â€Å"longing for a god†¦ welling up from our deepest darkest instinctual nature (Jung, 492). Her problem was not one of repressed feelings but a longing for something higher to guide and protect her. Possibly in the time that her father was alive, he was able to serve that purpose. With him gone, the urge regained influence. The urge was not one of conscious mind. It was an attempt to replace the Christian faith she had abandoned with something real. She likened the doctor to a god and because she knew her relationship with the doctor to be intimate, it helped her to feel closer to god. Freud’s definition of the unconscious mind included only things that had once been present in the conscious mind. The patient had never encountered the symbolic, ancient deities that were represented by the father figure of her dreams. There was a demand for more content in the definition of the unconscious mind. This psychological phenomenon has affected my attitude toward religion as well. I, like the patient in this case, abandoned my Christian upbringing for a more agnostic and eclectic practice. It is no doubt that there is such an instinctual nature to attempt to define and relate to the divine. It may be observed in the fact that people of all cultures, in all parts of the world have some type of religious belief and practice. There are many different types. The proof lies in their existence alone. Though they may vary in many ways, they are all a result of this passion which wells up from the deepest, darkest part of our beings. Of course, religion today has become part of our experience. During our childhood, we are introduced to religion by our parents. The proof of the unconscious mind’s longing is in the founders of these religions. These people had a passion that drove them to do more than they were required. The feelings of hunger, thirst and cold required them to hunt and seek shelter. These actions were result based purely of an experiential nature. Some of these people were good at what they had to do and were able to live more or less comfortably. Their minds had the leisure to allow the unconscious mind to play during their dreams. Given the chance, the unconscious mind played with the images of the divine. It drew from the collective unconscious of archetypal imagery. It gave them hints that there was more to what could be seen. It offered images of things good and offered means of achieving them. These men, these dreamers, acted out their dreams. They paid homage to what their intuitions, their unconscious minds, had shown them. They performed rituals imitating creatures not of this world. They went into trances and allowed themselves to be controlled completely by the unconscious mind. They performed the first rituals. They allowed their unconscious desires to dictate their actions. For these men, religion was intuitive. Now, we get the religious experience with its images and concepts, fed to us in a spoon with our mashed carrots. For us, we are conditioned into religion. I have always been more of a nonconformist. When I became old enough to question why, to critically examine more abstract concepts, to use my experiences of reality as a gage against what I was being told, I stepped out of conformity. At that point, I was antichristian. Free of the dogmas and the shelters they provided, my unconscious mind sought some sort of nourishment to quench the thirst for the fulfillment of spiritual energies. Off of the path, I soon found myself lost. So what did I do? I did what came natural. I delved into other religions. I began to study Buddhist teachings. I studied the Shinto practiced in Japan. I learned about the caste system of Indian culture. Why all this? I suppose that I needed to. I had taken out a part of my life and needed to fill it back in. I had taken away the food for my spiritual appetite. I broke my relationship to the divine. I was discontent with no place to release my spiritual energies. However, this was not a conscious decision. Outside of the Christian tradition within which I was brought up, I felt the genuine need for fulfillment of divine nature. For something bigger than myself and bigger than mankind as a whole. No one told me I had to find a proper outlet for spiritual energies. I was driven by an unknown force, a curiosity that masked a deeper desire to relate to the divine. I wandered. I stumbled. I tripped, fell, got back up and tripped again. Masked as curiosity, the passion of my unconscious mind has driven me to explore different methods. I have thumbed through religious books from all over the world. I attend religious ceremonies and festivals of different origin. My unconscious mind has created this curiosity in order to fulfill its own desire to be a part of and to be connected to something greater. I have abandoned my antichristian post now. I now exist outside of Christianity and am able to gaze upon it as an objective observer. I agree with many Christian principles. I agree with them though, on my own terms, in my own understanding. I stepped away from the religion to which I had been conditioned. I explored others as was deemed necessary by my curiosities and I have found some things that I believe to be true, some things that make me feel closer to the divine. The unconscious includes the ego, the superego, and the id. Unwanted memories are pushed into the unconscious mind to be put aside. They can cause many ailments when not properly discarded. These ailments may be alleviated by methods such as psychoanalytical transference. However, even after complete transference has been completed, there is still activity taking place in the unconscious mind. It is not limited to repression. Also dwelling in the subconscious mind is a collective consciousness composed of archetypal images and instincts. This is responsible for the imagery of our dreams, the universal perceptions of beauty and the desire to be somehow linked to the divine. I have seen it in my life and I have evidence of it in the fact that religion is present and dominates nearly every society around the globe.