Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Christianity - Essay Example As Christians, we have the conceptual image of how Christ’s sufferings were like and I believe that before the movie The Passion of the Christ we did not fully conceive or imagine how truly terrible His pain and suffering was. Acknowledging this fact does not damage the image of Jesus Christ at all, it only makes it more powerful and we come to appreciate more and to understand more the ampleness of His sacrifice. At the same time, some argue that the movie is not entirely biblically accurate and that this could damage to the real version of the way we are supposed to perceive Christ’s crucifixion. In my opinion, the movie is generally biblically accurate, presenting the main events starting with the capture, trial and continuing with the punishments and the crucifixion of Christ. After all, the movie reflects the director’s idea over Christ’s crucifixion and does not pretend to be a general truth.

Australian Conscription in Vietnam War Essay Example for Free

Australian Conscription in Vietnam War Essay The conscription issue during the second Indo – China war in the 1960’s tore apart the fabric of Australian society and resulted in divisions in all sections of the community. There were many reasons for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, including the allegiance commitments of South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The introduction of conscription illustrates the main purpose of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The conscription issues and the war itself caused social division in reaction to the Vietnam War. In 1964 compulsory National Service was introduced under the National Service Act. The Defence Act was amended in May 1965 to provide that National Servicemen could be obliged to serve overseas, a provision that had been applied only once before – during World War Two. Paragraph one The Australian government supported the USA involvement in the Vietnam War, and Australia felt it was imperative that the North Vietnam have a proper defensive treaty, as a number of other countries felt the same way, so SEATO was created to deal with this situation. SEATO was a much stronger agreement to support Australia’s security needs in the Pacific. It also helped to highlight the growing division between Australia and Britain and the new dependence on the United States (US). † (N/A, The ANZUS Treaty and SEATO Alliance, 2013, Skwirk. com. au Interactive Schooling) Australia joined the SEATO because it could support Australia in the Pacific. As America joined in the Vietnam War, A ustralia supported them to join the war as well. The Australian government feared the idea of communism overtaking their nation, this fear lead to the decision of forcing their young men to be conscripted to join the war in South Vietnam. Conscription was a tremendous issue for the families of the young men who fought in the war because many males were being conscripted sent into the Vietnam War without any choice or opinion. As a result of the fear of communism, Australia decided to support the US to join the Vietnam War and fight for the South Vietnam. SEATO was one of the reasons that Australia joined the war, because it was a much stronger agreement to support Australian security of the needs in the Pacific, Australia joined the SEATO to against the North Vietnam. As Australia got involved the war, the conscription has leaded to the depressions and social divisions in the Australian society. Paragraph two The purpose of the second Indo-China war of conscription was to avoid communism spreading to Australia. This caused Australian men and women to become infuriated and create groups against conscription. Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was keen to get more supporters of his actions in Vietnam, to give them legitimacy. This was during the Cold War, both North and South Vietnam tried to gain the moral upper hand over the other in a way that does not happen today. â€Å"You have in us [the Australian Liberal delegation] not merely an understanding friend but one staunch in the belief of the need for your presence in Vietnam. We are not here because of our friendship, we are here because, like you, we believe it is right to be there and, like you, we believe American forces should stay there as long as it seems necessary to achieve the purpose of the South Vietnamese Government and the purpose that we join in formulating and progressing together. And so, sir, in the lonelier and perhaps even more disheartening moments which come to any national leader, I hope there will be a corner of your mind and heart which takes cheer from the fact that you have an admiring friend, a staunch friend that will be all the way with LBJ. ( Wikipedia, A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today, 2004, Today In Alternate History) From this speech -‘All The Way with LBJ’, to show that LBJ tried to convince other Australia to join the war with them together, and America knew that Australia would support them, and Australia had training teams in Vietnam before 1965, just as the Am erica did. The main reason that Australia was afraid of the communism was the domino theory, the countries of South-East Asia was like dominoes. If one ‘fell’ to communism, this would lead to the fall of another, and so on until all were ruled by communists. It is evidenced that Australia was very fearful of communism and of growing Asian power, by offering Australia’s full unquestioning support of the United States (US). Australia’s foreign policy is basically to secure protection by cuddling up to a more powerful friend; since World War Two America has been Australia’s powerful friend. Australia supported America by helping them in conflicts such as joining the Vietnam War was one of the prices that Australia paid for the protection. Paragraph three Conscription led to people combining together and creating groups to revolt against the conscription and Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The social divisions appeared in all sections of the Australian community. Conscription started as choosing 20-year-old males in Australia in 1964, but then it turned into conscripting teenagers. In 1964 compulsory National Service for 20-year-old males was introduced under the National Service Act. The selection of conscripts was made by a sortation or lottery draw based on date of birth, and conscripts were reduced to give two years’ continuous full-time service, followed by a further three years on the active reserve list. Young men who were subject to the conscription lottery also formed their own anti-conscription organization, the Youth Campaign Against Conscription. Like Save Our Sons, it spread to other states – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. (Wikipedia, 11 March 2013, Conscription in Australia) In 1965 a group of concerned Australian women who had ‘lost’ their husbands and sons joined together and created the Save Our Sons (S. O. S) which was established in Sydney with other branches later formed in Wollongong, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle and Adelaide. In the same year, young men who were subject to the conscription lottery also created their own organization the Youth Campaign Against Conscription (YCAC). One of the social divisions would be conscription affect people’s daily routine, and people were being anti-war and anti-conscription. Overall, the governments’ fear of communism spreading into Australia was why they chose to continue supporting the America. This is most likely because the war and conscription were mostly fused into one without taking account of a nuanced position that addresses the two issues separately. The importance of keeping the two issues separate is that the Government would have been more credible if it had simply pursued the war and not sent conscript. Conclusion In conclusion, conscription issue during the Vietnam War in the 1960’s put Australian society into the social divisions in all parts of Australian community, especially in 1966 people started to stand out and combined into organizations to against it. The reason that they supported and followed the United States (US) to join the Vietnam War would be Australian Government was afraid of the spreading of the communism. Australia supported the defence of the people in South Vietnam and intellectual consistency to accept the use of conscription in a war that was supposed to be fought in defence of freedom; instead the war got extended.

My special person essay :: essays research papers

MY SPECIAL PERSON â€Å"When I entered the classroom, for the very last time, I looked around at every little detail, many of which I’d probably ignored, for the past four years. Birds were singing in a synchronised melody as they flew past our classroom window. There was the natural aroma of fresh coffee coming from the teacher’s lounge next door. My classmates were sitting at their usual desk waiting for the first lesson to begin. But something was different today, something wasn’t right. And as I entered the classroom it hit me, like an unseen rocket headed to my heart†¦ †¦ The silence. All eyes were on me, some gave a sorry-you’re-leaving-smile, while others looked liked they were about to jump off the nearest window. These were my friends, not just any old friends of course, they felt like family, I grew up with these people and at that moment as I stared into each of their eyes I realized something, something which had always been staring back at me, these people were special. Each and everyone had something that made them unique and as they sat there shining like a thousand stars, one of them shined the brightest. Her long silky hair covered half of her face, but I knew she’d been crying, he chestnut coloured eyes tried to avoid meeting mine but when we did exchange glances, I have her a sympathetic smile and she returned the favour. The rest of that day was full of tears, hugs, a surprise party, games presents and goodbyes. That day will stay with me forever. However I am glad to say that wasn’t the last time I saw my friends and I’m even more glad to say that wasn’t the last time I saw my best friend. Its funny how two people, who are connected, become even closer when they’re apart. Fortunately Ginevra came to visit me in London twice after that, but I went back to see her in my hometown every year. As the years past, and as we grew, our friendship grew stronger, like an ever-growing tree, sending it’s roots deeper and deeper into the ground. Every year she would wait for me with open arms. Some people get worn-out with long distant friendship, but not her, she would always stick by me and never let me down. When I lived in Italy for all those nine years I never had the privilege to have any brothers or sisters so I considered her as my own flesh and blood.

biology presentation for the skeleton :: essays research papers

Intro – slide 1 – acetate 1 The skeleton of a human foetus is formed from tough but flexible cartilage that acts as a blueprint for bone construction. During ossification ( the changing of cartilage to bone) which begins before birth, the cartilage is broken down and the resulting space is filled by bone building mineral salts and protein fibres secreted by bone cells. Humans have a bony endoskeleton made up of 206 bones, although we are born with up to 300, but many of these fuse during childhood. slide 2 The skeleton is divided into two parts ; the axial and the appendiculur. Axial skeleton The axial skeleton consists of the skull, backbone and rib cage which forms the upright axis of the body. It helps to protect the brain, spinal cord and organs in the chest. Appendicular skeleton The appendicular skeleton consists of the upper and lower limbs and the pectoral (shoulder) and pelvis and girdles. The human pelvis is adapted for an upright stance. the lower limbs support the upper body and enable walking and other locomotory movements to take place, where as the upper limbs are used for manipulation. Slide three Just read off screen Slide four – acetate 2 Muscles are used to move your bones. Most muscles are joined at both ends to bones. They are joined to bones by non elastic tendons. Bones are held in place by strong fibres called ligaments. Slide five – acetate 3 Joints are formed when two or more bones come together. Most joints allow bones to move. The amount of movement depends on the type of joint. The elbow joint is a hinge joint. Joints that allow movement are called synovial joints. A synovial joint s adapted to enable a joint to move easily. They contain cartilage, ligaments, bones, synovial fluid and a synovial membrane. Slide six The bones provide the solid base on which the tendons and ligaments are fixed. They are very resistant to being compressed, bent and stretched. The cartilage is the smooth layer which covers the ends of the bones and which stops the bones rubbing together. It has high tensile strength, but it is not rigid. Can compressed and is able to act as a shock absorber. The ligaments are strong fibres that hold bones firmly together. they form a protective cover around the joint. Are very strong and sufficiently elastic to allow movement when the bones in the joint move, so reducing the chance of dislocating a joint.

Reflection and Reaction Paper Of Human Evolution Essay

INTRODUCTION Planet Of Life: Apes to Man narrated by Stacy Steach, tells us about the origin Of Human Evolution. According to the documentary film, 100, 000, 000 years Ago, the world was first inhabited by the dinosaurs. But, because of the asteroid 6 miles wide That struck the earth; it brought the end of the reign of the Dinosaurs. After being strucked by The Asteroid, the earth became life less. But, insects and plants and some small Mammals would Survive and populate the landscape. And, one of these is the Pregatoria, One of earth’s First Primate. It was an arboreal animal. The Earth regained its life source and bass tropical rainforest For hundreds of generation. This Large Habitat would nurture new families of primates. One of the oldest known signs of our origin and arrival are hominid imprints dating back 3 Million and a Half years ago. Human evolved from primates perhaps the apes that once lived in Southern Africa. This sumptuous forest may have helped to shape human kinds direct ancestors. In Lake Victoria in Kenya, Rusinga Island, The team led by Mary Leakey discovered the partial Skeleton Up a distant relative dating 60 Million Years Ago. Over decades Rusinga became Remarkable evidence of Human origins. There, found a Proconsul, these are earliest known ape. No other fossil ancestor has been reconstructed in such details. With their long fingers they Could grasp the branches firmly. They’ve been said to be related to humans, despite years of Analysis and ongoing scientific inquiry, it is not yet found possible to name all the limbs to Human Family Tree.

High and Low essays

High and Low essays This movie was quite flawless. It was very entertaining. The plot and script were both very well The name High and Low is a very creative title for this movie. It symbolizes so many different themes and events in the movie. One of the main things this title symbolizes is the difference between Gondo and the kidnapper. Gondo lives up high on a hill in a big house that overlooks the kidnappers house down in the slums of Tokyo. The high in the title represents Gondo and his wealth and the low represents the kidnapper and his poverty. The title also symbolizes Gondos financial situation. In the beginning of the movie we see him secretly buying enough stock to become the largest power in the company. This part in the movie is Gondos high point. Then after Sinichi is kidnapped he is forced to pay the kidnapper this money he so hardly worked to save. He ends up selling or mortgaging almost everyhthing he owns. This is Gondos low point. For the rest of the movie Gondo tries to get back to being a very powerful man like he once was. High and Low also refers to the different classes of society in Tokyo at the time. The high refers to Gondo and all the others who are part of the upper class. This class is made up of wealthy businessmen who make their money legitamently. The low class is made up of the poorer people who try to steal their money or who try to make their money some other way illegally. This is the kidnappers Overall this movie was very entertaining. I liked the way they made the only color in the movie pink, when the kidnapper burned the money. This little scene in the movie was very interesting and well done. ...

Caudipteryx - Facts and Figures

Caudipteryx - Facts and Figures Name: Caudipteryx (Greek for tail feather); pronounced cow-DIP-ter-ix Habitat: Lakesides and riverbeds of Asia Historical Period: Early Cretaceous (120-130 million years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet long and 20 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Primitive feathers; birdlike beak and feet About Caudipteryx If any single creature has conclusively settled the debate about the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, its Caudipteryx. The fossils of this turkey-sized dinosaur reveal startlingly birdlike characteristics, including feathers, a short, beaked head, and distinctly avian feet. For all its resemblance to birds, though, paleontologists agree that Caudipteryx was unable to flymaking it an intermediate species between land-bound dinosaurs and flying birds. However, not all scientists think that Caudipteryx proves that birds descended from dinosaurs. One school of thought maintains that this creature evolved from a species of bird that gradually lost the ability to fly (the same way penguins gradually evolved from flying ancestors). As with all dinosaurs reconstructed from fossils, its impossible to know (at least based on the evidence we now have) exactly where Caudipteryx stood on the dinosaur/bird spectrum.

Annotated Bibliography on Thoreaus essay Resistance to Civil Government †English Literature Essay

Annotated Bibliography on Thoreaus essay Resistance to Civil Government – English Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers The idea that I am pursuing in this annotated bibliography is whether or not the ideas suggested by Henry David Thoreau in his essay â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† are actually anarchy. To do this, I first found a definition of anarchy in Webster’s Dictionary. It defines anarchy as a lack of government in a state; lawlessness; confusion. Upon beginning research, I found that Thoreau’s essay was also published under the title â€Å"Civil Disobedience† and that most critics call it that. Eulau, Heinz â€Å"Wayside Challenger: Some Remarks on the Politics of Henry David Thoreau.† Thoreau: A Collection of Critical Essays. (1959): 117-130 Heinz Eulau writes that Thoreau â€Å"refused to vote because he considered the democratic ballet an ineffective political instrument† (119). Eulau says that Thoreau called for a better government at once, not for government to end at once. Eulau also says that â€Å"Such a government would anticipate and provide for reform, cherish its â€Å"wise minority† and encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults.† Thoreau is demanding a government that protects and serves its people, not itself. He probably saw the government not wanting to abolish slavery as one of the many ways that government works for government and not for the people it governs, because slavery kept a lot of money in the right places for the government. Eulau also says that Thoreau’s politics could not be brought into literal use because they were ambiguous. He says that Thoreau could not recognize why his ideas could not work â€Å"because he fell back, again and again, on the principle of individual conscience as the sole valid guide in the political action† (120). This, according to Eulau, is in conflict with the democratic principle of majority rule. I think that if the people were of the high conscience Thoreau assumed, then their majority would be of the same high conscience and thus they would make moral and just decisions for everyone. It’s too bad that the level of conscience Thoreau believed in does not exist for the majority of people today. Edel, Leon. Henry David Thoreau. (1970): 47p Leon Edel says that the essay â€Å"Civil Disobedience† is written to set up Thoreau’s argument for â€Å"men to offer noncompliance when their conscience dictates it† (38). He says that this idea in practice â€Å"has proved to be a passive way of making revolution† (38). Edel is focusing on Thoreau’s essay as a way of making changes, rather than a call for government to end. He argues that â€Å"passive resistance† does not work in all situations, saying that Nazis in tanks would surely run over people sitting in the road to protest them. He also says, â€Å"Thoreau’s civil disobedience presupposes a high state of conscience† (38). While I don’t share the same faith in man that Thoreau did, I do believe that if the high state of conscience he believed in could be achieved that his ideas would work. Edel also says, â€Å"Whether the personal anarchism Thoreau preached is possible in every age remains to be seenâ⠂¬  (39). I think that he is saying that by living the way he did, Thoreau achieved his own personal anarchy, while still being under the United States government. To use anarchy in this way would imply that it means freedom on an individual level, which is in some ways obtainable today, but everyone still must abide by laws. Glick, Wendell. â€Å"Civil Disobedience’: Thoreau’s Attack upon Relativism.† Western Humanities Review, Vol. VII No. 1 (1952): 35-42. Wendell Glick writes that Thoreau is calling only for a government that governs not at all when men are prepared for it. Glick says that Thoreau is addressing those no-government men the anarchists and extremists. According to Glick, Thoreau believed that these men fail to take into consideration the imperfection of the human species. So if Thoreau is calling for anarchy, he is not calling for anarchy as we think of it today. His anarchy is more like a utopian society, which can only exist when men become enlightened enough to govern themselves. Glick says that Thoreau considered governments only temporary arrangements whose purpose are to keep order until â€Å"the development of the individual should make them no longer necessary† (38). Glick adds â€Å"Thoreau did not object to government per se† (38). According to Glick, Thoreau was so angry at the tendency of government to â€Å"substitute the principal of social utility for the principle of absolute rightà ¢â‚¬  (38). I agree with Glick’s arguments that Thoreau did not totally write off government all together. Thoreau realized that the situation he wanted was not possible at his time, but he was very optimistic about the possibility of it occurring in the future. Kazin, Alfrid. Henry David Thoreau: Studies and Commentaries. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. (1972): 34-52. Alfrid Kazin says that Thoreau knew no Negroes and had never been oppressed; yet he claimed strong opposition to slavery. Kazin uses this to argue that Thoreau was an idealist whose ideas existed only in principle and not reality. He also says that Thoreau â€Å"proposed to teach others to be as free of society as himself† (44). Being free of society is hardly a synonym for anarchy. Kazin states that Thoreau â€Å"affirms the absolute right of the individual to obey his own conscience in defiance of an unknown law† (44). Disobeying a law is hardly anarchy, but could an argument not be made that obeying an unjust law is closer to anarchy? Democracy is based on government by the people, and not governing oneself by obeying an unjust law would then fit the definition of lawlessness (for oneself) in anarchy. Kazin quotes Thoreau as saying, â€Å"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison† (44). Thoreau is obvio usly making a reference to himself here, but I think that he cannot expect a perfect society in any shape or form, which is implied when he says that no one should be unjustly imprisoned. If imprisonment is to be used as punishment at all, human error will ensure that there will always be wrongfully imprisoned persons. Krutch, Joseph Wood. Henry David Thoreau. (1948): 298p Joseph Krutch writes that Thoreau â€Å"calls upon all honest men to do what he has done and to refuse active or even symbolical support to the state which countenances the nefarious institution of slavery† (134). Krutch also says that Thoreau is angry with those that feel they have done their part by just voting for the right person. I think Thoreau felt that no one was capable of leading everyone in the right way all the time and so all authority should be challenged. Krutch says that â€Å"Thoreau was not unaware of the fact that he assumed the existence of these conditions, and it certainly did not seem to him, as it seemed to certain of his critics, that the assumptions invalidated the argument† (136). Here he is referring to Thoreau’s assumption that man is in a high enough state of conscience to govern himself. This would suggest that Thoreau knew his ideas could not work in his time, and maybe not at any time. However, he still wanted to express wha t might be the best way to do things under ideal conditions, in hopes that they might drive man farther towards them. This I agree with, as I think Thoreau knew the limitations of man then and was writing idealistically about a better way to live. Madison, Charles A. â€Å"Henry David Thoreau: Transcendental Individualist.† Ethics, Vol. IV No. 2 (1944): 110-123. Charles Madison says that Thoreau â€Å"gravitated toward the principles of philosophical anarchism† (114). This would suggest that Thoreau wasn’t demanding exactly what he wrote about, but instead trying to get people to think and to resist that which they feel is wrong. He says that Thoreau’s reasoning is that the individual and not the state is the best judge of right and wrong. I think Thoreau assumes that all people can differentiate between right and wrong. I slightly disagree with him here because some people cannot see right and wrong. That being said, Thoreau also seems to think that all people will use their judgement of right and wrong to make good moral decisions. This does not work at all in today’s society, as many people can make the distinction but won’t follow through with the right action. I don’t see how society could have been that much different in Thoreau’s day. Madison says that Thoreau knew that men need ed government as long as greed and passion overtook them. This would again reiterate the idea of â€Å"philosophical anarchism,† which may be of better use as a teacher than it would be in practice. Nelson, William Stuart. â€Å"Thoreau and American Non-Violent Resistance.† Thoreau in Our Season. (1967): 14-18. William Nelson writes â€Å"It is yet to dawn fully upon the participants in sit-ins, freedom rides and other recent forms of non-violent resistance in the United States how deeply indebted they are to Henry David Thoreau† (14). He says that Thoreau â€Å"conceded that government is a present necessity but held that governments by their very nature are prone to err† (14). Thoreau would then not be calling for anarchy, but for a check to the errors of government by the people of a nation. Nelson says that what Thoreau really wants is â€Å"the assertion of the right of conscience in the presence of the rule of law† (15). I agree with this, as I think Thoreau was fine with law as long as it was just and moral. If the law is not just and moral, then man should resist until it is changed. Nelson says, â€Å"Civil resistance is not necessarily invoked against every law which is regarded as bad† (15). This reiterates that Thoreau did not mind all laws, ju st those that his conscience deemed unjust. Nichols, Charles H. â€Å"Thoreau on the Citizen and His Government.† PHYLON: The Atlanta University Review of Race and Culture, Vol. XIII No. 1 (1952): 19-24. Charles Nichols writes that Thoreau refused the government at his time any cooperation, while he stated his allegiance to a higher law. He says that the higher law Thoreau was looking for can be found in nature. Looking for any law at all would suggest that anarchy is not what Thoreau wanted. Anarchy by definition is the absence of laws. Thoreau did say, however, â€Å"he who lives by the highest law is in one sense lawless.† Thoreau meant that by living under the law of nature, a person is free. Nichols says â€Å"to vote thus for a man or measure with no consideration of what is morally right is to participate in a series of crimes against humanity (20). I think that voting for politicians or laws without morally judging them would bring about a state far worse than anarchy. Nichols says that the individuals Thoreau speaks of, the ones, who could and should govern themselves, would surely support a government that sought to establish and maintain justice. This would suggest that Thoreau just wants a better government, not anarchy. Saalbach, Robert Palmer. â€Å"Thoreau and Civil Disobedience.† Ball State University Forum Vol. XIII No. 4 (1972): 18-24. Robert Saalbach gives a definition of society, which to him is â€Å"a system of mutually accepted rules of conduct limiting the behavior of individuals† (19). He argues that without these rules there is not a society, but a collection of individuals that do not know how to act in reference to others. He also says that society is a game and cannot be played without rules. I think that rules are needed for society today, only because there are those that cannot and will not think for themselves, as well as those that are purely evil. Saalbach says, â€Å"Thoreau assumes that the law always follows expediency while conscience always follows the right† (20). I agree that Thoreau assumed that every person’s conscience always follows the right, but I think he realized that people don’t always follow their conscience. He felt that is what every person should strive for, realizing that some people do not follow a strict morality. Saalbach also argues that law and right cannot be distinguished from each other. I do not agree with this, as law can be something just to further the wants of those in power, which is not necessarily right. Vivas, Eliso. â€Å"Thoreau: The Paradox of Youth.† The New Student Vol. 7 No. 23 (1928): 5-8 Eliso Vivas says of Thoreau â€Å"He was an anarchist because he saw the essential uselessness of government† (5). I don’t think seeing government as useless necessarily labels a person an anarchist. Vivas says that Thoreau suggests that men only keep government around because they are afraid to do without its protection. Vivas says that Thoreau never felt a need for government because he was willing to share anything he owned with anyone. A society without government, but with people sharing everything they own does not sound like anarchy to me, although by definition it would be. Vivas uses the term â€Å"self-sufficient† to describe Thoreau and his ideas for a non-government. A society of self-sufficient individuals doesn’t sound like anarchy to me either. However, Thoreau was the exception and not the rule. Most people in my opinion could not deal with that kind of society. All of this information points to one thing and that is that Thoreau contradicts himself in his essay Civil Disobedience.† If he really wants no government at all, then he is calling for anarchy, but if he is only calling for this when man has a high enough conscience level, then it would not be the anarchy that I have defined. I think his main intention was to have people question the government, not to just take whatever it gives them. By saying that no government would be best, he drew attention to his essay because people are drawn to extremes. By just looking at it on the surface, I might call it anarchy, but I think Thoreau was calling for a kind of society that we don’t even have a word for, because we can’t see how it could exist. Research Papers on Annotated Bibliography on Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government" - English Literature EssayQuebec and CanadaBringing Democracy to AfricaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropePETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

Scarce Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scarce Resources - Essay Example He has the tendency to demand resources even though he does not need them. He may need a mobile phone. But, due to the enticements he receives from TV commercial and other forms of advertisements, he might want more features and capabilities of this product that is beyond his personal and professional needs. The truth that resources are scarce and humans have unlimited wants comprise the economic definition of scarcity. According to Investopedia, scarcity is "the basic economic problem which arises from people having unlimited wants while there are and always will be limited resources." Scarcity is an economic fact that points out the global condition wherein human wants outnumbers "the available supply of time, good and resources (Scarcity vs. Abundance)." This is the fact on which the science of economics is founded on. Resources, especially the non-renewable ones, are limited in its existence. It is therefore the job of the economists and managers to use them efficiently and effectively for the extending its use in its fullest potential. In all aspects and all levels of the economy managing the scarce resources plays a vital role. From households, community, to the national and the international level, proper allocation, distribution, and use of resources is very much needed. Whether it may be the buying of ingredients used for cooking a meal or imposing tariffs and other international trade policies on different commodities and services, effective management of resources is a critical responsibility shouldered by the household managers. For efficient resource distribution economists should do various economic decisions. Usually economic managers, from a household to a global setting are obliged to make trade-offs to maximize the use of different resources. Trade-offs are made when choices are made (collectively or by an individual) to get less of one resource to get more of others (Johnson). If, for example, a mother has to choose between purchasing bread and mayonnaise for her household, she has to make sure that the trade off made will be beneficial to optimize the satisfaction of her family. To evaluate the effectiveness of trade-offs made, opportunity costs should be highly considered. Opportunity cost is the highest esteemed or valued alternative that must be sacrificed to get something. In our last example the mother might consider that the value of bread is greater than the value of the mayonnaise on the basis that it is consumed more. The opportunity cost will be greater if the mother buy more mayonnaise than bread. In this scenario, we can say the trade-off is not economical. Scarcity in Households Jelin (1990) considers a household as social unit consisting of "undifferentiated set of individuals who equally share all activities linked to its maintenance." It is the most basic of social organizations, "a microcosm of relations of production, reproduction, and distribution." In a household setting, the allocation and distribution of resources is dynamic depending on its adaptation to internal and external influences. Daily activities in a household are highly influenced by political, social and other institutions. With all these changes in a household's daily activities the need of effective resources management is very necessary.

What was the primary issue(s) or problem(s) for Foucault in defining Essay

What was the primary issue(s) or problem(s) for Foucault in defining history, as appeared in Nietzsche, Genealogy, History - Essay Example (78). Thus according to Foucault history should not be a seamless attempt at identifying the natural origin of events. Peoples, cultures, but rather needs to consider how this idea of the "essence" has been fabricated. Not only how it has been fabricated, but why people feel the need for some kind of essence is an essential part of history for Foucault. Thus the "genealogy" that appears in the title of Foucault's book should concern itself with the details, co-incidences and sheer accidents that underlie the beginnings of knowledge, values and cultures rather than a search for a non-existent origin. In this manner Foucault appears to support Nietzsche's argument that traditional history sees itself as a tracing of development towards some kind of culmination; that it sees itself as believing in an eternal truth - whether it be of events, people, ideas, or religion. Nietzsche, and Foucault subscribes to the same view, suggests that what Foucault calls "effective history" can only be reached by seeing events as divergent, discordant and essentially in conflict. As Foucault puts it, it should involve the "shattering of the unity of man's being", as everything that has been considered to be immutable and immortal must in fact be placed within history. Thus they become mutable and mortal. Foucault, as is o Foucault, as is often the case within his work, focuses on the human body as a locus for this kind of history. Thus "the body is molded by a great many distinct regimes; it is broken down by the rhythms of work, rest and holidays; it is poisoned by food or values, through eating habits or moral laws; it constructs resistances" (87). Thus a history of the body, which Foucault attempts in other works, would involve identify these "distinct regimes" that shape the body, often conflicting with one another and thus creating stress upon the human being. Foucault argues that effective history should move form the distant, remote vantage point of traditional history towards a closeness. It needs to look at the details of life, identifying their contradictions, rather than at the universal processes and themes that may actually camouflage the reality of events. This closeness should not involve an emotional connection with the subject, but rather "an alienated view". Overall, Foucault argues that the role of historian as is commonly perceived and practiced leads to a false view of history rather than the contrar7y. Thus the attempt to gain absolute and comprehensive knowledge of history, through reducing events to their simplest elements in order to "explain" them actually avoids the true complexity of history. The traditional type of historian is in fact centered on himself and thus paints the world through his particular biases and opinions, rather than seeing the innate complexity and conflicts that occur within history. Foucault argues that it is necessary to revolt against his type of history if the true nature of it is to be understood, and if it is to really inform the present and the future. To conclude, Foucault essentially dissects the nature of History as it is normally performed within the academic world, suggesting that that attempt to find universal truths in fact masks the actual reality of the world. He

Corporate Governance ( principal-principal conflicts) Essay

Corporate Governance ( principal-principal conflicts) - Essay Example A conflict between employees and employer is an example of principal – agent conflict. Such a conflict can bring about obstacles in the productivity of a business along with potential hazard to morality of the employees. Both principal – principal conflict and principal – agent conflict could be resolved if certain standard principles are followed by the owners and shareholders of an organization. In case of these conflict, internal and external mechanism can be applied to reduce conflict issues. Internal mechanism in case of principal – principal conflict can be in the form of reduction of block holding and crossholding and by formulating an independent board of directors. Decentralization of the ownership is another way to reduce principal – principal conflict. A separate CEO and chairperson should be appointed in corporate firms to avoid disagreement between major and minor shareholders. External mechanism involves protection of minority shareholder through enforcement of law. In case of principal – agent conflict, internal mechanism involves better remunerative package and stock allotation and external mechanism involves better corporate law along with merger a nd takes over practice. Principal – agent conflict is common in U.S and U.K as the power is vested with shareholders and agents are controlled autonomously by them. In this situation, the agents tend to get dissatisfied with the compensation or facilities offered by the management. U.S. and U.K has numerous corporate firms which are privately owned and these often encounter disagreement with employees on matters concerning remuneration, benefits and working conditions. Since the autonomous power to take decision is held by shareholders, the interest of employees are sometimes given less importance. This kind of condition brings loss to company and agent in many ways as the relationship between them gets

Bell Chemicals Desicion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bell Chemicals Desicion - Coursework Example The solution is to chart out a decision that works best for the company's reputation and growth. Here the approach should be to take the sum total of the senior management group's (SMG) knowledge and intuition and work around it for the best results. My decision is to go for the Chemex machine. The characteristic of this decision can be termed as a rational approach to decision making. I have tried optimising in order to reach to this decision. In the words of Rue and Byars, "One rational approach, called optimizing, involves following six steps: (1) recognize the need for a decision; (2) establish, rank, and weigh the criteria; (3) gather available information and data; (4) identify possible alternatives; (5) evaluate each alternative with respect to each criteria; and (6) select the best alternative." (1992, p.73) This approach can be linked to the normative decision-making model, on which I have based the explanation of my decision or in other words the main body of my report. The company accountant has revealed that the company had recently financed nearly all its recent capital investments from its own retained profits for products and capital investments in other parts of the firm. ... Mr. Bell himself is not interested in much of outside funding. Capital required to install a new Chemex machine is much lower than the AFU unit. Internal funding will be a major issue for the firm in this financial year, as the company has exhausted accrued profits for expansion and developments in other parts of the firm. This will affect the funding of regular operations of the firm throughout the year. Operating cost of AFU unit is more than double of Chemex. The company is not in a position to cover additional cost of 18000 as operating cost against advantages, which are hardly visible or relevant to the firm at this market stage. Through the facts and assumptions given by the marketing manager - an experienced old timer of the Bell Chemicals, following information on current & expected market can be derived: Table 1: Bell Chemicals Ltd: Comparison of Current & Expected Market Curent Market Expected Market Annual Market Requirement 200000 Kg 250000 Kg Firm's Production Requirement 90000 Kg 100000 Kg There is no indication of any upsurge in market demand. With new competitors in the market, retaining present market share should be the aim. Research activities of the chief chemist in modifying the Preserve so that it can be used in wider range of food products has not given any fruitful result uptil now. Hence increase in demand of production is not predicted. Thus increase in production capacity by installing a new Chemex machine will be sufficient to cover the market growth for next two years. Production and selling cost estimate of 320 per Kg for AFU unit is advantageous as compared to 350 for Chemex machine. The AFU unit can reduce production and selling cost by 2700000 a year at current production rate (30 on 90000 Kg produced) but this

Examine Child Protection with a view to analysing and evaluating it in Essay

Examine Child Protection with a view to analysing and evaluating it in relation to Every Child Matters - Essay Example The program also intends to place the responsibility of child protection across all involved agencies. Finally, to prime the involved institutions to come up with solutions tailored to suit the unique circumstances of each case. Viewing this comprehensive child development program from a historical perspective gives us a better understanding of some of these objectives. For example, weak accountability and poor integration had for long been the bane of the support systems of yesteryears. Poor co-ordination and low standards of accountability had led to public distrust with these institutions. The various component agencies were not properly integrated which resulted in inefficiency and redundancy. For instance, â€Å"some children are assessed many times by different agencies and despite this may get no services. Children may experience a range of professionals involved in their lives but little continuity and consistency of support.† (Youth Justice: The Next Steps) Another area of concern with the older system was the general sense of apathy on part of child health-care professional. Unless health-care professionals approach their work with dedication and compassion, their effectiveness is always going to be sub-standard. Hence, the Every Child Matters program proposes ways in which a career in child-care is seen as attractive by the professionals. The cultural norms of the English society is as much to blame for this situation; as the roles assumed by child-care workers largely goes unappreciated and undervalued. This is reflected in the fact that for long the national vacancy rate in these services had hovered around the 10 percent mark, which is one of the highest in the industrial world. The relation between socio-economic background and child delinquency is an acknowledged fact. Hence, the government had realised that child protection should consider this important aspect of a child’s life as well. The

Bell Chemicals Desicion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bell Chemicals Desicion - Coursework Example The solution is to chart out a decision that works best for the company's reputation and growth. Here the approach should be to take the sum total of the senior management group's (SMG) knowledge and intuition and work around it for the best results. My decision is to go for the Chemex machine. The characteristic of this decision can be termed as a rational approach to decision making. I have tried optimising in order to reach to this decision. In the words of Rue and Byars, "One rational approach, called optimizing, involves following six steps: (1) recognize the need for a decision; (2) establish, rank, and weigh the criteria; (3) gather available information and data; (4) identify possible alternatives; (5) evaluate each alternative with respect to each criteria; and (6) select the best alternative." (1992, p.73) This approach can be linked to the normative decision-making model, on which I have based the explanation of my decision or in other words the main body of my report. The company accountant has revealed that the company had recently financed nearly all its recent capital investments from its own retained profits for products and capital investments in other parts of the firm. ... Mr. Bell himself is not interested in much of outside funding. Capital required to install a new Chemex machine is much lower than the AFU unit. Internal funding will be a major issue for the firm in this financial year, as the company has exhausted accrued profits for expansion and developments in other parts of the firm. This will affect the funding of regular operations of the firm throughout the year. Operating cost of AFU unit is more than double of Chemex. The company is not in a position to cover additional cost of 18000 as operating cost against advantages, which are hardly visible or relevant to the firm at this market stage. Through the facts and assumptions given by the marketing manager - an experienced old timer of the Bell Chemicals, following information on current & expected market can be derived: Table 1: Bell Chemicals Ltd: Comparison of Current & Expected Market Curent Market Expected Market Annual Market Requirement 200000 Kg 250000 Kg Firm's Production Requirement 90000 Kg 100000 Kg There is no indication of any upsurge in market demand. With new competitors in the market, retaining present market share should be the aim. Research activities of the chief chemist in modifying the Preserve so that it can be used in wider range of food products has not given any fruitful result uptil now. Hence increase in demand of production is not predicted. Thus increase in production capacity by installing a new Chemex machine will be sufficient to cover the market growth for next two years. Production and selling cost estimate of 320 per Kg for AFU unit is advantageous as compared to 350 for Chemex machine. The AFU unit can reduce production and selling cost by 2700000 a year at current production rate (30 on 90000 Kg produced) but this

Response Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response Paper - Assignment Example Additionally, with an introduction of innovative Korean entertainment products such as Korean movies and television programs, the situation is more likely to improve. The writer, therefore, analyses the integration of Korean culture in Japan through the perspectives of Japanese women who are fans of Winter Sonata (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). In the article, the writer creates a social conflict by explaining the differing opinion in the perception of Korean culture. In this regard, the writer’s mother has a pre juristic hatred against Koreans living in Japan despite her having a strong preference for the Winter Sonata, a Korean based television drama. The writer is very concerned because she had many Korean friends, she had learned the Korean language and had at one time taught it to primary school students. Her mother on the other had had limited information on Korean culture, as well as limited interaction with Koreans (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). The writer is puzzled by the popularity of the Winter Sonata in Japan despite the Korean prejudice. In the research, the author evaluated the differences among the Sonata fans. In addition, the writer also examined on the reason behind Sonora’s high popularity in middle-aged and elderly women. The author questions as to whether the show can be used to transform the negative perception of Korean culture by the Japanese society. Traditionally, the Japanese society had undermined the Korean culture due to historical reasons that are dated back in the early 1940s during the Second World War. Political and social injustices of the Korean society by Japan worsened the situation. In spite of this, the Korean culture has popularized a contemporary modern culture that is acceptable to Japanese culture. In this regard, the writer appreciates the role of Korean films, contemporary Korean music and international events (including the 2002 FIFA World Cup) as the main cornerstones of promoting integration of Korean society in

The Influence of Technology on Society and the Economy Essay Example for Free

The Influence of Technology on Society and the Economy Essay The nature of technology possessed by a society happens to be the defining characteristic of the self same society.   Thus, the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Industrial Age, and the Information Age are very appropriate terms used to define the nature of human society in different times (â€Å"Technology,† 2007).    Man’s living standards are to known to have been improving with new technologies cropping up as a result of his own efforts.   Thus, new technologies are also known to have a positive effect on the economy.    At the same time, however, it is a fact that those who do not use the new technologies also do not experience the greatest socioeconomic benefits of the new technologies.   This is the reason why man in the Information Age is presently observing the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots (Friedman, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Iron Age saw man using tools that were superior to those of the Stone Age.   Therefore, both the Iron Age and the Bronze Age increased man’s standard of living.   The tools that were made in the Iron Age and the Bronze Age led to an increase in efficiency as well as productivity.   By knowing how to make different objects with iron and bronze, man was also able to increase trade with his neighbors.   The introduction of new goods and services by way of trade automatically translated into higher standards of living than before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, new technologies must always translate into higher standards of living.   The sixteenth century saw new inventions that revolutionized manufacturing and other features of living.   The wheel-lock musket, the helicopter, the spinning wheel, the pocket watch, the diving bell, the seed drill, the camera obscura, the knitting machine, the compound microscope, the Gregorian Calendar, and the enameling of pottery were all brought into the world in the same century (â€Å"Timeline†).   All of these new technologies were not only used in trade, but also became a part of people’s daily lives.   As a matter of fact, at this point in time we cannot even imagine a world without these objects to help us out with our everyday routines.   Hence, society becomes dependent on technology that it has used successfully in the past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The late eighteenth and the nineteenth century saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution – a highly exciting time for man.   During the Industrial Revolution, man learned how to manufacture goods and services faster than before, and at lower costs of production.   The introduction of manufacturing machinery was undoubtedly a gigantic leap in the world of production. More importantly, the enhancement in efficiency and productivity experienced during that time grew the economy by leaps and bounds.   All the same, the industrialized nations at the time were separated from the non-industrialized nations that lacked the expertise for developing machinery.   The industrialized nations had to export the machinery to the non-industrialized nations.   However, they could only sell machinery to the non-industrialized nations when the latter found themselves in a position to pay for them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technologies developed in the last century have similarly influenced society.   The following passage explains some of the influences of the latest technologies on society:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technology-driven changes have been particularly evident in the past century.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Automobiles have created a more mobile, spread-out society; aircraft and improved   Ã‚  Ã‚   communications have led to a smaller world and, eventually, globalization; contraception   Ã‚  Ã‚   has revolutionized sexual mores; and improved sanitation, agriculture, and medicine have   Ã‚  Ã‚   extended life expectancy.   A technologically literate person recognizes the rate of technology   Ã‚  Ã‚   in these changes and accepts the reality that the future will be different from the present   Ã‚  Ã‚   largely because of technologies now coming into existence, from Internet-based activities to   Ã‚  Ã‚   genetic engineering and cloning (â€Å"Technology†). Following the Industrial Revolution, the Internet Revolution was the next most exciting technological change experienced by society.   Turning the world into a ‘global village’ where people around the world could communicate with each other at low costs and at any time, the Internet also revolutionized the way business is conducted.   Today, consumers from around the world may purchase goods sold online from almost any nation. This, of course, is in stark contrast to the shopping experiences on people’s travels when people could only be excited about foreign goods whilst traveling in foreign lands.   Businesses from around the world have grown tremendously because of the Internet.   The ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan explained some of the benefits of the Internet and other new technologies back in the year 2000:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The relationship between businesses and consumers already is being changed by the   Ã‚  Ã‚   expanding opportunities for e-commerce.   The forces unleashed by the Internet are almost   Ã‚  Ã‚   surely to be even more potent within and among businesses, where uncertainties are being   Ã‚  Ã‚   reduced by improving the quantity, the reliability, and the timeliness of information.   This is   Ã‚  Ã‚   the case in many recent initiatives, especially among our more seasoned companies, to   Ã‚  Ã‚   consolidate and rationalize their supply chains using the Internet. Not all technologies, information or otherwise, however, increase productivity—that is,   Ã‚  Ã‚   output per hour—by reducing the inputs necessary to produce existing products.   Some new   Ã‚  Ã‚   technologies bring about new goods and services with above average value added per   Ã‚  Ã‚   workhour.   The dramatic advances in biotechnology, for example, are significantly increasing   Ã‚  Ã‚   a broad range of productivity-expanding efforts in areas from agriculture to medicine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indeed, in our dynamic labor markets, the resources made redundant by better   Ã‚  Ã‚   information†¦are being drawn to the newer activities and newer products, many never before   Ã‚  Ã‚   contemplated or available.   The personal computer, with ever-widening applications in homes   Ã‚  Ã‚   and businesses, is one.   So are the fax and the cell phone.   The newer biotech innovations are   Ã‚  Ã‚   most especially of this type, particularly the remarkable breadth of medical and   Ã‚  Ã‚   pharmacological product development (â€Å"Remarks,† 2000). New technologies are enhancing man’s ability to create products and services of value.   In the boundless ocean of the digital culture, everything should appear as a blessing.   But, there are problems that the economy must face alongside the blessings.   In the music industry, for instance, the digital age has been seen as a mixed blessing.   Because of piracy or MP3’s, whichever name we give to the mixed blessing of the digital economy as it concerns the music industry, the digital economy is presently not in a state to flourish as much as possible even if the steadily rising numerical figures related to the growth of electronic commerce tell us another tale (Muhammad, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As mentioned previously, another problem facing the global economy in our times is the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, similar to the one experienced during the Industrial Revolution.   According to Friedman, those who are able to use the chip technology most productively today are naturally the winners in the global economy.   As compared to these successful nations and businesses are those suffering from the symptoms of Microchip Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which include economic slackness, along with a deficiency to increase the use of knowledge (Friedman). This is the reason why the World Trade Organization acts as a protestor of globalization – which is driven by the World Wide Web – on behalf of the poor nations whenever these nations are threatened by it (Lipsey, 2006).   Also according to Friedman, the wealth of the prosperous Bill Gates was at one point equal to the total net worth of at least a hundred million poorest of Americans. Another fact to explain the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots during the globalized Internet Age is that in the United States, the incomes of one-fifth of the poorest working families dropped between 1979 and 1995 by at least 21%, for the simple reason that they did not know how to adopt the new technology.   What is more, the incomes of one-fifth of the richest Americans increased by almost 30% during the same time period (Friedman).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Still, new technologies are known to be responsible for growing the economy by increasing organizational effectiveness, that is, in the organizations that can afford the new technologies.   Organizational effectiveness is for the organization to be doing everything that it knows how to do, and to be doing it well.   The organization knows how to manage its employees, and to manufacture the products or provide the services that it originally set out to manufacture or provide. However, in order to be effective in its operations, the organization should be managing its employees well, and manufacturing good quality products or providing high quality services to its customers.   In the organizational environment of today, the organization that is effective in its operations must be effectively using information technology.   This is, in fact, one of the requirements of organizational effectiveness in our times (Helms).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The computer software designed for the organization in our time helps to organize plans, letters, legal documents, articles, and countless other files as well as indispensable documents.   In other words, software can help to modernize as well as simplify the whole process of working with computer documents (â€Å"New Software,† 2006).   This helps the organization to do its job well, seeing that computer software is designed to perform routine tasks that humans might perform only with mistakes because they dislike and get easily wearied performing monotonous tasks.   Additionally, time is money in the business world.    By using computer software to handle routine tasks with speed, the rich organization is using its human resources at jobs that only skilled human beings would be able to handle.   Thus, everything at the organization runs well.   The computer software does its own job excellently, while the skilled human beings, without wasting time on routine tasks that computers can handle, perform jobs that computers cannot do.   Hence, computer software adds to the skills and specializations at the workplace, which in turn help to increase production, thereby benefiting the economy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the same time, however, it should be remembered that everybody in society does not benefit when the economy grows thanks to new technology.   Rather, the rich get richer and the poor become poorer.   This is the reason why the Internet Age has failed to raise the standards of living of the poorest people in the globe. References Friedman, T. L. (2000). The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization. New York: Anchor Books. Helms, M. M. Defining Organizational Effectiveness. Retrieved 28 October 2007, from http://www.daltonstate.edu/faculty/mhelms/citizen/2001_10_28.html. Lipsey, R. G. (2006, April 4). Don’t Give Up On WTO: Fix It. YaleGlobal. Muhammad, T. K. (1999, March). Leaders Of The Digital Economy. Black Enterprise, Vol. 29. New software is first of its kind; Solves file organization problems encountered by all computer users. (2006, September 14). M2 Presswire. Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan. (2000, January 13). The Federal Reserve Board. Retrieved 28 October 2007, from http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2000/200001132.htm. Technology Shaped By and Shaping Society. (2007). The National Academies. Retrieved 28 October 2007, from http://www.nae.edu/nae/techlithome.nsf/weblinks/KGRG-55SQTT?OpenDocument. Timeline 16th Century. Magic Dragon Multimedia. Retrieved 28 October 2007, from http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline16.html.

Health Care Of Underprivileged Children Health And Social Care Essay

Health Care Of Underprivileged Children Health And Social Care Essay In September 2000, representatives from 189 member states of the United Nations met at United Nations headquarters in New York and adopted the Millennium Declaration, a series of collective priorities on peace and security, the eradication of poverty, the environment and human rights. Following this declaration, a set of eight goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were drawn up as the blueprint to achieve noticeable results and improve the lives of people in developing countries by the target date of 2015. The eight MDGs include specific, measurable targets and timelines, for developing countries as well as for donor countries, civil society organizations and funding institutions such as the World Bank. All nations agreed to undertake specific follow-up measures to ensure that these goals were achieved in their own countries and commitments have been made to fund these initiatives. The MDGs Priorities for Children Each child is born with the right to survival, food and nutrition, health and shelter, an education, and to participation, equality and protection. The MDGs are especially important for the well-being of children: they promote health; quality education; protection against abuse, exploitation and violence. Our report pertains to the following millennium development goals: Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Extreme poverty hinders childrens access to nutrition, health care and education. Providing children with basic education, health care, nutrition and protection fulfills their rights, increasing their chances of survival and of a productive future. Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education Educating children is a tool to achieve all the MDGs. Primary education also includes the education of health in which it is taught how to take care of health as prevention is better than cure. Especially because many children in Pakistan have the propensity to fall sick frequently and thus cannot continue their education. So for getting education the childs health should be safeguarded at all costs. Goal 6: Combat HIV / AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Diseases undermine the development in the third world countries malaria, measles, polio and tuberculosis cause the deaths of millions of children who do not have good nutrition, sanitation or healthcare. We can prevent this substantially by promoting long-term primary health education and providing them with health insurance to safeguard their futures. What is Primary Health Care? Primary health care is a vital and an indispensable care of your health and it is also a foundation of the health care system which involves providing several initial primary level services to individual families and communities, through a team of health professionals, consultants and various doctors. Primary Health Care is based on 4 Key Pillars: Teams PHC is about working in teams to provide beneficial health care facilities to communities and individual, and to improve the continuity of care. It also diminishes duplication by ensuring your access to proper health professionals. Information PHC provides enhanced adroitness of information between doctors and expanded access to information and using modern tools like electronic health records and diagnostic devices to advance the eminence, access and coordination of health information. Access PHC gives you greater access to the right services when and where you need them. Healthy Living PHC believes in your better care and focuses on prevention, chronic conditions, and encouraging support for self-care. What Is Health Insurance? Insurance is loss by illness or physical injury. It facilitates you with all kinds of expenses from Medicare to all kind of hospital expenses. Health insurance can be directly purchased or can be given to any respective employee. Importance of Health Insurance Health insurance provides health in an affordable way for you and your loved ones that include your Medicare and family protection from the lofty fee of healthcare. (Rarely medical bills can be monetarily devastating and families pull through from such debts in a certain long period). Protects Your Future When someone gets insurance of his car or home, they mean to protect their family and themselves from financial sufferers. Insuring your health is same as that. Health care is way much costly than an insurance of other things. Read the facts below: The average cost of a trip to the emergency room for an adult is about $700, not including any hospital facilities, which may increase the bill to well over $1,000 A broken leg can cost up to $7,500 Average expenses for childbirth are up to $8,800, and well over $10,000 for C-section delivery The total cost of a hip replacement can run a whopping $32,000 Above instances sound scary, but with the right plan, one can protect Himself from most of these and other types of medical bills. Gets You the Care You Need Many people who do not have health insurance fails to get the medical care they need. That is because they are worried about the best treatment expenses. The key of beneficial health insurance is access to a large network of doctors and hospitals. Read the H.I benefits below: Quick and easy access to desirable medical needs. Peace of mind during a hard time because one knows they are covered. Affordable access to care and health information to keep you glee and healthy Is There A Need For Health Insurance In Pakistan? In Pakistan and India, at least one third of the 1.3 billion lives in urban hubs and of this population estimated 400 million earn less than $3 a day. The Pakistani government use just 0.9% of its GDP on health and even India uses only 1.9% of its GDP on a woefully under-resourced, inundated public health sector. Thus 97% of all healthcare outlays occur from out-of-pocket and catastrophic medical costs and treating major diseases in low cost are a main precipitant of cohort poverty. Major Health Insurance Providers (Underwriters) In Pakistan Allianz EFU Health Insurance Adamjee Health Insurance IGI Health Insurance United Insurance Company of Pakistan Asia Care Pak Qatar Takkaful Health care for the underprivileged Developing nations are overwhelmed by effort of under nutrition and a host of viruses. Outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases give a rough steer to the poor hygiene of the community (clean and safe drinking water is a dream for millions even now). In many nations health care is provided jointly by the government and the private sector, but the handful of public health institutions are the only hope for the needy people. The services of private hospitals are not up to the mark of the massive bulk of population belonging to the low-income zone. The private zone is apparently concerned only in remedial medicine and these hospitals and clinics are essentially run with a yield aim except for a handful of society that runs on charitable basis. We cannot blame the former group as it is not their duty to offer free health care to poor people. Many agendas aimed at the bar of transmissible diseases are run in under developed countries with the help of WHO, but even these agendas failed to give needed effect. The reasons for the failure of these national health agendas are multi factorial; the vital being is the lazy loom by the government officials implicated in implementing the agendas. (Rarely beneficiaries get less than 1% worth of what is imagined in the agenda). Consequently, the deprived of Pakistan are losing faith in the healthcare industry on the whole. The reasons can be summed up as follows: Lack of funds in the public health sector Lack of resources and equipment in government hospitals Lack of spur in government hospitals Lack of primary health education Poor utilization of services Improper staff recruitment in government hospitals Rampant illiteracy Inappropriate allocation of funds What is Naya Jeevan? NAYA JEEVANÂ ® is a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to enhancing the lives of low-income families. Naya Jeevan works in collaboration with corporate, academic, and non-profit institutions so that a new wave of social responsibility can be catalyzed that can then be leveraged to realize a positive sustainable outcome for all stakeholders. Naya Jeevan believes that philanthropy should not be a transient, ad-hoc event but be institutionalized as a fully integrated part of society. Vision To provide underprivileged children and their families throughout the emerging world with quality and affordable access to catastrophic healthcare. Objectives Reduction in poverty and mortality rates attributable to acute infectious diseases and lack of timely treatment. Reduction in disease outbreaks due to lack of preventive care. Reduction in the incidence of recreational/addictive substance abuse. Reduction in maternal mortality attributable to emergent pregnancy complications. Mitigation of urban child labor and child exploitation. Collective Social Responsibility through joint partnerships with the corporate, non-profit, academic and service sectors. Integrated social empowerment of the low income population. Business objectives to catalyze an ecosystem effect Poverty alleviation By reducing the financial impact of catastrophic medical expenses Reduction in maternal/child morality Through timely intervention and 24/7 access to ambulances, medical doctors, ERs, trauma centers, etc. Improvement in primary health outcomes Through preventive health education and behavioral change workshops Reduction in substance/drug abuse Through rehabilitation workshops and access to treatment centers Mitigation of child/labor/sexual/physical abuse Healthy breadwinners will enable children to remain in school and away from premature labor Naya Jeevan Value Added services: 24-hour medical hotline: 24/7 access to a qualified medical doctor Help with navigating the complex world of hospitals Help with claims management, settlement and trouble-shooting Beneficiary orientation (Training) Animated interactive presentation at client premise by a qualified medical doctor (same set of doctors who manage the helpline). Managing expectations what is covered, what is not, where to go, access to hospitals Case based claims scenarios Building of rapport and trust with beneficiaries Access to subsidized OPD and pharmacy network Quality checks on standard of treatment at the treating hospital Health awareness sessions (Workshops) Primary health care workshops on topics such as Healthy Heart Hand Hygiene Dental hygiene Nutrition and Weight Management Anti-smoking/ tobacco dental issues Annual health check-ups (Screening) Head to toe examination at clients premise No compromise on working hours Early diagnosis of diseases and management Aggregate Annual Health Report of employees (a health-o-meter of the organization) Targeted Preventive Health Workshops based on the findings Health insurance of underprivileged NGO schoolchildren project overview In February 2011, Naya Jeevan started on the innovative idea of insuring the health of children that fell under the umbrella of other NGOs. The idea was to provide quality healthcare to these children as they were willing to study but a disease or an injury incurred by them or a family member could potentially put an end to their dreams forever. Furthermore, most of these children did not have any awareness about primary health care, or about ways of preventing/ mitigating common ailments prevalent in their locality. Thus they would end up going to untrained professionals with inadequate or no qualifications for treatment of such ailments/ injuries, further exacerbating not only the medical problem at hand but also the unstable financial conditions of their families. Project Impact This project is designed to provide quality health care to underprivileged schoolchildren who cannot afford quality health which includes primary health care. Importance of Access Most children are healthy. Some may ask, therefore access to health care is important for children. In some important ways they are distinct in age groups. For health services they are entirely dependent on their adult caregivers, and are unaware from the advantages of health care and its benefits. Childrens health needs are also significantly different from those of adults. With the time children grown with a rapid change and it may cause them to get ill or get injured during their activities and if those diseases or injuries are not treated well so they can leave a huge affect on a childs physical and emotional development. The type, cruelty, and rate of health conditions that children practice also differ from adults. Childrens can experience a wider range of health issues if not have been taken care well and even though certain childhood conditions are quite mild in single instances, they have the tendency to lead to life-long disabilities. For example, chronic ear infections, if unchecked, can lead to hearing impairment, and possibly learning disabilities. The Limitations of Insurance Children have a beneficial impact on access when extending health insurance to low- income. This does not mean that children will inevitably have full access to health care, especially the deprived ones. Insured low-income children use fewer services than the richer, insured children. Moreover, poor children with insurance are less likely to go to a private physicians office and utilize community health centers, compared to their better-off counterparts. There are a number of reasons for these differences. The families of poor children with insurance face nonfinancial fences to health care that insurance cannot address, including transportation, child care, inconvenient location of services, and service hours that conflict with work. Children of immigrant families may face additional barriers, including an inability to speak in their primary language, fear of exile, and cultural conflicts with Western medicine. Therefore, providing insurance without developing a delivery system to serve the needs of low-income children does not have to produce the desired outcome of improved access to quality health care. NGO Schools under the Naya Jeevan health plan The project is a pilot to test out health insurance in NGO schools across Pakistan. In 2011 Naya Jeevan enrolled 8,334 NGO school children in the plan across the country. Participating Schools are Manzil School, Karachi Zindigi Trust, Karachi IISAR Foundation, Karachi DIL Schools, Khairpur Mashal School, Islamabad Manzil School (Karachi): Manzil is a Non-Profit Organization providing free education to children in the slum areas of Karachi. Starting with only 20 students in 2002, today Manzil has around 200 students who are being equipped with the highest quality of education, practical knowledge, skills and work ethics. It is situated in Quarter No1.Railway line near Bath Island Clifton. Manzil was started by a PhD student at CBM Ms. Shazia Mirza, after she observed the socio-economic divide in the region. She lived near the slum in a well off neighborhood and her house maid came from Raitee Line Bastee. Sensitized by the proximity of this other world, she started the school in a one room rent out from her pocket money. The majority of the community/bastee is ethnically conservative Pathans. The winning of the trust of this community has been one of the major successes of the initiative. Zindagi Trust Schools (Karachi): Zindagi Trusts program educates children who work in the urban slums of Pakistan. With nearly 2800 students, a 2.2-year accelerated primary education course is taught to the children who spend most of their days toiling in car-repair shops other general stores in Karachi, Lahore Rawalpindi. Permission is sought from the students parents and employers before enrolling them in the free schools to ensure success. The use of Government Buildings allows for a proper school experience with classrooms and blackboards. Right now Naya Jeevan is giving health plan to seven such schools in Karachi. IISAR Foundation (Karachi): IISAR was founded in 1990 by Prof. Dr. Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, with an aim to impart promote quality education irrespective of differences. IISAR is a world class center having concentrations in teaching and research, revelation-based knowledge and technology-based learning across the full range of the social, political and economic sciences. Its a non-profit organization and has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence. Mashal school (Islamabad): Mashal is a self-funded school (i.e. registered trust), comprising of 406 children in classes ranging from nursery to class 8. These children face hardships at home, as well as at work, when selling items such as flowers, shopping bags and sweets, and washing cars on the streets. They have little choice, but to survive on their own in the company of gangs on the street. They are vulnerable to abuse and exploitations of all forms. Despite most of the childrens traumatic past experiences, through the assistance of Mashal School, they are able to overcome their inhibitions and eventually develop a sense of trust and dignity which allows them to finally live their lives as children and possess a deserved sense of belonging. DIL schools (Khairpur): Developments in Literacy (DIL) has been working in Khairpur District, Sindh, since 1998. DILs mission is to combat illiteracy in the remote, underdeveloped regions of Pakistan by opening non-formal primary and middle schools for girls. DIL hopes to break the entrenched social taboos against female literacy by working with the communities and gradually empowering young girls to improve their future prospects through education. However it is only possible for a child to concentrate on their studies when they are in good health. Education does not only include learning how to read and write but also the knowledge of how to look after ones self and make ones life better. Thus DIL has embarked on a journey to improve both the health and nutritional status as well as alleviate the levels of literacy in the children of Khairpur. PLI policy: In 2011 with co-operation and research we introduced Profit and Loss Insurance (PLI Policy). The difference between the PLI Policy and the regular insurance policy can be explained by analogy of credit and debit. In conventional health insurance for the price of the premium you get a binding promise from the insurance company to cover claims under the plan. A group may have paid 50,000 PKR in premiums but used services of up to 100,000 PKR. On the flip side they client may have not used any services and have lost all the money in the premium. A managed care/PLI model is similar to a debit card. You spend what you have and the insurance company charges a fee for that. However, if you have any money left over, it is carried over to the next year unlike the premiums. Also, because it is your money you can choose which claims you want to settle in spite of them being policy exclusions. During this pilot year of micro-health care for children Naya Jeevan has tried to assess the efficacy of both models. The total coverage limit for both was set at 50,000 PKR for the inpatient and the rest of the money used as a pool for outpatient expenses on a reimbursement basis. Pictorial Representation: Number of school children: Number of claims: Health Awareness Services provided by Naya Jeevan: Aga khan anti-tobacco workshop:- Naya Jeevan partnered with Aga Khan University and there team of doctors delivered an anti-tobacco workshop at the schools. Many of the children re addicted to some form of tobacco over there. Thus many have sub-mucosal fibrosis, which is an irreversible narrowing of the mouth cavity due to oral tobacco use. Two children were found to have pre-malignant oral lesions. AKU delivered this workshop free of cost. In-house preventive health workshops:- Naya Jeevan believes in primary healthcare prevention. Children cant be in the best health if they dont have information about the disease process. Healthcare workshops belong to a mini interactive lecture series in collaboration with other corporate partners and the topics chosen are based upon the feedback received. Examples of healthcare workshops held to date are hand washing, dental and smoking/drug addiction, etc. Several workshops were delivered by our Medical Services team, including Healthy Heart, Sad Teeth Happy Teeth, Dental Hygiene and Hand Hygiene at schools. Re-fresher trainings:- Trainings are also being given by Naya Jeevan to parents who come to attend regular parent-teacher meetings at the schools, and to the teachers/ administrative staff. We have been conducting refresher trainings in many of the NGO schools, and have come to realize, among many things, that it would be of great help if instead of visiting these schools and delivering the trainings in person, we could have these schools periodically play a video recording of our training whenever they had a substantial number of parents visiting the school. Challenges of the program Data files are especially cumbersome. They are on hard copy and had to be re-entered into electronic form. This takes a lot of time and effort. Even the cards distribution is a difficult area as they had to be delivered class wise. Problems of unaffordability (both time and monetary) of parents to reach the panel network hospitals according to existing protocols has been a major barrier. Many children only suffer minor medical problems and need outpatient treatment. Therefore, collaboration with reliable hospitals in their vicinity is in progress. Language barrier has resulted in poor retention of information so far. Therefore, repeated refresher trainings were given to parents and teachers so that they may know the proper use of card. The small number of rejected claims shows that re-fresher trainings were effective. Lack of trust from parents was also a challenge in the reimbursement process. Parents werent sure that we will reimburse the money and that too within a month. Other than this they were not comfortable in submitting original medical bills and receipts to us. Lack of availability of audio-visual equipment/ electricity/ adequate space in every school to accommodate large groups of parents and teachers. The lack of interest shown by the teachers has been a major barrier. This has been solved by making them a stakeholder in the health plan also, with the understanding that they will take responsibility of taking the lead on making the health plan more comprehensive for the children. The slow process of setting up funds in vicinity hospitals: So far, Islamic International Medical Complex has been set up for Mashal School in Islamabad with plans for this model to be replicated to all schools systems. Keeping a proper school wise backup of claims that can be shown to anyone who wants to access the information anytime. Why We Chose Naya Jeevan Naya Jeevan targets that need of the underprivileged population that is not fulfilled by any other NGO i.e. affordable healthcare. Therefore, by increasing awareness about the importance of health insurance, and prevention of basic medical and dental issues (that can cause devastating health-related and financial problems later), one can greatly impact the quality of life for many low-income people. Need assessment: Through Naya Jeevan we intended to visit schools and putting up a workshop regarding health to kid. From this guidance the schools were expecting that the children will adjust their routine that wuill help them to take care of their health. Less resource was obtainable to present them that did not help to make children go fully aware with their health knowledge. We as health students have a lot of health awareness and of facts related to it which can be effortlessly distribute to those kids who are ignorant of diseases and health issues that need to be taken care of. Materials and equipment: Since these schools have no capital for organizing workshop we had to assemble every resource our self. All multimedia (speakers, projectors and screen) were organized by Naya Jeevan. We arranged pictorial illustration and miniature stories regarding health and distributed among kids. Our volunteer work As Naya Jeevan gives workshop to school children to improve the health education in and to increase awareness of how to take care of live. We volunteered with Naya Jeevan and visited one of the schools and gave workshops. This was quite an interactive session and we gave workshops in small groups so that they may understand well. This is quite a good learning for them and also for us. The following are the workshops we prepared and delivered for these schoolchildren: Hand Hygiene:Description: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvwd7yWW5ALmEZzijVQp0qSPcJA3RH57G9IRZevZXWqafhPy7B The Naya Jeevan Hand Hygiene workshop was developed to enlighten our valued beneficiaries about the importance of keeping your hands clean as our hands are the primary tools that enable us to accomplish various tasks. At the same time it also serves as a main mode of transmission of various infectious agents. The key learning objectives of the workshop include: When is it necessary to wash hands? What are the proper steps of hand washing? What is feco-oral route of transmission of germs? What are the important infections that can spread through feco-oral route and how can they be prevented? Duration: 60 minutes Infectious Diseases: In Pakistan, its the communicable diseases constitute the bulk of most illnesses. Just in recent years we have seen epidemics such as dengue fever. Description: C:UsersZaraDesktopimagesCAGJG6QU.jpg This workshop discusses at length, the prevention and combat strategies for infections such as typhoid, malaria, dengue, gastroenteritis, various forms of hepatitis and other most prevalent ones in Pakistan Duration: 50 minutes Dental Hygiene: Delivered by a dentist, this workshop deals with all the common teeth issues that result from poor oral hygiene. The dentist talks about the proper way of brushing teeth and the products like Paan, Gutka, betel nuts, cigarette etc that must be avoided in order to maintain oral hygiene. It also highlights some of the oral cancers that can result from use of addictive substances such as tobacco. Duration: 30 minutes Balanced Diet:Description: C:UsersZaraDesktopdiet imagesimagesCAQNOBSE.jpg A balanced diet is one that includes the Recommended Dietary Allowances, also called RDAs, for all the essential nutrients. These include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The physician discusses the nutritional requirements (in calories) for individuals based on gender, age, profession, physical activity and co-morbidities. Duration: 50 minutes Sustainability of results The project strongly inculcates the spirit of giving back and community engagement. Diffusion of a new idea goes through the following stages Knowledge Persuasion Decision Implementation Confirmation Problems faced: The Schools had problems like Non active involvement of teachers as of no personal benefit. Language fence. We have to speak in easy language Lack of partial resources Building faith in children Regulate in their ambiance. Schools were very keen on having their children screened, especially eye and dental screenings. Children cannot afford the taking care of their and were sad that they cant even buy a toothpaste and will continue with tooth powder The outcomes of these workshops: Children specifically big children started taking care of their health More calls started coming on helpline regarding basis health information These workshops created so much impact on the children that they also educated their family about health. There was a major issue in the panel hospital that hospital staff did not treated the poor children well considering it was a private hospital. We went to these hospitals and talked to those hospitals to treat these children well. After a week we got calls from schools that these workshop created a big impact and wanted us to design more workshop for the kids The school also reported us that these workshops created a big living difference and major difference were seen. The school children used to eat a lot of bubble gum and beetles. After the workshop the school noticed that 30% stopped eating it. It was also identified by the schools that there should be refresher workshop as the children memory forget the things soon. This is a new product that has required constant tweaking throughout the year and training and re-training of the schools. NGO schools currently require very close and regular contact throughout the year to encourage the uptake of services. The product has to be as simple as possible with cashless card based services for everything including out-patient services. Re-imbursement scenarios have to be kept at a minimum. Teachers have to be active stake-holders. Conclusion and recommendations All children need health care, whether for regular check-ups, for episodic health problems such as ear infections, or for chronic conditions. Because health services are relatively expensive, childrens access to care is largely dependent on whether or not they have health insurance. Unfortunately, far too many children are not covered and therefore, do not receive needed care. The health plan in the original format has not been successful. Naya Jeevan has quickly moved in to alter the original plan and make sure that the children benefit from their coverage. These include Insuring the teachers to make them a stakeholder in the childrens health. Most teachers are from the same community as the school and thus are the most important factor in increasing uptake of services. Depositing funds at a nearby identified network hospital is of essence. After the funds have been deposited, Naya

A Comparison of Romantic Love in Shakespeares Sonnets & As You Like It

Shakespeare's Sonnets & Romantic Love in As You Like It      Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It is clearly a pastoral comedy with a country setting, a theme revolving around love and a story which consists of a series of accidental meetings between characters and a resolution involving transformations of characters and divine intervention.   The comedy involves the traditional literary device of moving urban characters into the country where they have to deal with life in a different manner.   Whereas the pastoral comedy was usually a vehicle for satire on corrupted urban values, in this play the satire appears to be directed at the convention of Petrarchan love.(Rosenblum, 86)    Renaissance conventions of love were strongly influenced by the elaborate system of love called the Petrarchan tradition.   An Italian poet, Francesco Petrarch, wrote a cycle of sonnets to his beloved Laura, which became internationally popular.   In his poetry, Petrarch professes his undying love, and laments her cruelty for not returning his passionate devotion.   He also describes the inspiration for his love - a single glance from her eyes.   In the course of his sonnets, Petrarch and Laura never meet or speak.   She may not even know he exists.   Midway through the sonnet sequence Laura dies.   Petrarch continues to adore and mourn her in verse years after her death.   His lyric poetry, meant to be read and not performed, is the first form for the self in conflict.      English Renaissance poets admired and imitated Petrarch.   He centered his sonnets on a series of themes: Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time and Eternity.   Petrarch established the basic form of the Italian sonnet as fourteen lines divided into two clear parts, an opening o... ...rold.Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. Booth, Stephen, (ed).Shakespeare's Sonnets,New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. Dolan, Frances E (ed).William Shakespeare: As You Like It, New York:   Penguin Books, 2000. Garber, Marjorie. "The Education of Orlando." In Comedies from Shakespeare to Sheridan, Newark: Univ of Delaware Press, 1986. Hodges, Devon.   "Anatomy as Comedy." In Renaissance Fictions of Anatomy, pp50-67.   Amherst:   Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1985. Mowat, Barbara A. and Paul Werstine (ed.s)   As You Like It by William Shakespeare, New York: Pocket Books, 1997. Moulton, Charles Wells,(ed)   The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors Vol.1 (680-1638), New York: Peter Smith, 1935. Rosenblum, Joseph.  Ã‚   A Reader's Guide to Shakespeare,   Barnes & Noble Books, 1997.   

Rene Descartes is a Rationalist :: Rationalism vs Empiricism

There is a distinct difference between rationalism and empiricism. In fact, they are very plainly the direct opposite of each other. Rationalism is the belief in innate ideas, reason, and deduction. Empiricism is the belief in sense perception, induction, and that there are no innate ideas. With rationalism, believing in innate ideas means to have ideas before we are born.-for example, through reincarnation. Plato best explains this through his theory of the forms, which is the place where everyone goes and attains knowledge before they are taken back to the â€Å"visible world†. Innate ideas can explain why some people are just naturally better at some things than other people are- even if they have had the same experiences. Believing that reason is the main source of knowledge is another clear distinction of rationalism. Rationalists believe that the 5 senses only give you opinions, not reasons. For example, in Descartes’ wax argument, he explains how a candle has one shape to begin with- but once the candle is lit, it begins to melt, lose its fragrance, and take on a completely different shape than it had started with. This argument proves that our senses can be deceiving and that they should not be trusted. Deduction is the third characteristic of rationalism, which is to prove something with certainty rather than reason. For example, Descartes attempted to prove the existence of God through deductive reasoning in his third meditation. It went something like this: â€Å"I have an idea of a perfect substance, but I am not a perfect substance, so there is no way I could not be the cause of this idea, so there must be some formal reality which is a perfect substance- like God. Because only perfection can create perfection, and though it can also create imperfection- nothing that is imperfect can create something that is perfect. Unlike rationalists, empiricists believe that sense perception is the main source of knowledge. John Locke explained this by dividing ideas into 2 parts: 1) simple, and 2) complex. Simple ideas are based only on perception, like color, size, shape, etc. Complex ideas are formed when simple ideas are combined. Another belief of empiricists is that ideas are only acquired through experience, and not through innate ideas. Empiricists reject the concept of innate knowledge because, for example, if children had this knowledge, why do they not show it? Like why does a baby need to learn to walk or talk, why does he or she not have this knowledge at birth?