Idioms: Meaning of Life and Wild Goose Chase

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of its constituent words. Below is a list of some idioms with their meaning and usage.IDIOM| MEANING| TURN OVER A NEW LEAF| Changing for the better| After Atif was released from prison, he decided to turn over a new leaf and become an honest man.IDIOM| MEANING| HIT BELOW THE BELT| To act in an unfair matter| The candidate of the opposition party spread false rumours about the Minister. People felt that he was hitting below the belt.IDIOM| MEANING| GIFT OF THE GAB| The ability to speak well| He was able to keep the audiences amused with his stories. She surely has the gift of the gab.IDIOM| MEANING| WILD GOOSE CHASE| Futile search| Searching for hidden gold in the village field is nothing but a wild goose chase.IDIOM| MEANING| FACE THE MUSIC| To face the consequences of one’s action| I lost my father’s pen. I will have to face the music when I reach home.IDIOM| MEANING| MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHIL L| To give great importance to minor things| Ibtisam stopped talking to Ruman because he did not lend him his notebook. I think he is making a mountain out of a moleh IDIOM| MEANING|THROW IN THE TOWEL| To accept defeat| I am unable to solve this question. I am ready to throw in the towel.IDIOM| MEANING| NO STONE UNTURNED| Make all possible efforts| My friend has joined two coaching classes. He is leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to get into an engineering college.IDIOM| MEANING| BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN ONE’S MOUTH| To be born in a very rich family| Abrar was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. isr father gave him an expensive car on his eighteenth birthday.IDIOM| MEANING| KEEP ONE’S FINGERS CROSSED| Hope for a positive outcome| My results come out day after tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Role of Language in the Internet and the effect of the Internet on Language

The Internet is one of the most remarkable things human beings have ever made. With the past few decades, internet has become so popular and it is an integral part of our daily lives. Email, instant messaging and chat are rapidly replacing the conventional forms of correspondence, and the Web has become the first port of call for both information enquiry and leisure activity. How is this affecting language? There is a widespread view that as ‘technospeak’ comes to rule, standards will be lost. This project is an attempt to explore this linguistic problem.A qualitative and also quantitative study is conducted here to see how internet’s global scale and intensity is having an effect on language in general, and on individual languages in particular. Covering a range of Internet genres, including e-mail, chat and the Web, this is a revealing account of how the Internet is radically changing the way we use language. The thesis work will first discuss the role of langua ge in the internet and thereafter, the effect of the internet on language with central focus on the latter.David Crystal, in his book Language and the Internet says that language is at the heart of internet. Internet comes increasingly to be viewed from a social perspective, so the role of language becomes central. Thus internet is a medium of communication which is inevitable aided by language. Whether it is browsing, blogging, chatting or e-mails, language has a great role to play because if we do not know the language, then we cannot use the internet at all. The influence of internet over the language has to be viewed in much broader aspect.There is of course nothing new about the fears accompanying the emergence of a new communications technology. In the fifteenth century, the arrival of printing was widely perceived by the Church as an invention of Satan, the hierarchy fearing that the dissemination of uncensored ideas would lead to a breakdown of social order and put innumerab le souls at deadly risks. Around 400 years later, similar concerns about censorship and control were widespread with the arrival of telegraph. When telephone arrived, people said it would undermine the society.And when broadcasting enabled selected voices to be heard by millions, there was an immediate debate over which norms to use as correct pronunciation, how to achieve clarity, etc. Internet is an amalgamation of television, telephone, and conventional publishing, and the term cyberspace has been coined to capture the notion of a world of information present or possible in digital form. The electronic medium presents us with a channel that facilitates and constrains our ability to communicate in ways that are fundamentally different from those found in other semiotic situations.Many of the expectations and practices which we associate with spoken and written language does not hold valid in the way we communicate using internet. Therefore the first attempt of this research is to investigate the linguistic properties of the so –called ‘electronic revolution’, and to take a view on whether the way in which we use language on the Internet is becoming so different from our previous linguistic behaviours that it might genuinely be described as revolutionary. The wide use of internet has led to a new branch in linguistics called netlinguistics that deals with the study of internet language.It has brought tremendous effect in the daily language of people, and mainly in the English language. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is the communicative transaction that occurs through the use of two or more networked computers. While the term traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer mediated formats, for example; instant messaging, chat rooms, email and so on, it has also been applied to other forms of text-based interaction such as text messaging. Popular forms of CMC include email, video, audio or text chat, bulletin boards, blogs etc.The Internet slang came into use primarily in order to ease communication. Such short-cuts save time for the writer but it may be difficult for the reader to comprehend. Slang is also a way to indicate a group membership in Internet. Internet slang does not constitute a homogeneous language variety. It differs according to the user and the type of Internet situation. Some examples of Internet slang are: letter homophones, abbreviations, acronyms etc. An abbreviation for abbreviations is â€Å"CU† for â€Å"See you†.An acronym, on the other hand, is a subset of abbreviations and is formed from the initial components of a word. Examples of common acronyms include â€Å"LOL† for â€Å"laugh out loud† or â€Å"lots of love† and â€Å"BTW† for â€Å"by the way†. There are also combinations of both, like â€Å"CUL8R† for â€Å"see you later†. Punctuation, Capitalization and other symbols, such features are co mmonly used for emphasis or stress. Periods or exclamation marks may be used repeatedly for emphasis, such as â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. † or â€Å"!!!!!!!!!! â€Å". Grammatical punctuation rules are also relaxed on the Internet.â€Å"E-mail† may simply be expressed as â€Å"email†, and apostrophes can be dropped so that â€Å"John's book† becomes â€Å"johns book†. Examples of capitalization include â€Å"STOP IT†, which can convey a stronger emotion of annoyance as opposed to â€Å"stop it†. Bold, underline and italics are also used to indicate stress. Onomatopoeic or stylized spellings have also become popularized on the Internet. One well-known example is â€Å"hahaha† to indicate â€Å"laughter†. Onomatopoeic spellings are very language specific. For instance, in Spanish, laughter will be spelt as â€Å"jajaja† instead.Deliberate misspellings, such as â€Å"sauce† for â€Å"source†, are also used . Keyboard generated emoticons and smileys; Emoticons are generally found in web forums, instant messengers and online games. They are culture-specific and certain emoticons are only found in some languages but not in others. For example, the Japanese equivalent of emoticons, kaomoji literally meaning â€Å"face marks†, focus on the eyes instead of the mouth as in Western emoticons. They are also meant to be read right-side up, for example, ^_^ as opposed to sideways, =). More recently than face emoticons, other emoticon symbols such as Role of Language in the Internet and the effect of the Internet on Language The Internet is one of the most remarkable things human beings have ever made. With the past few decades, internet has become so popular and it is an integral part of our daily lives. Email, instant messaging and chat are rapidly replacing the conventional forms of correspondence, and the Web has become the first port of call for both information enquiry and leisure activity. How is this affecting language? There is a widespread view that as ‘technospeak’ comes to rule, standards will be lost. This project is an attempt to explore this linguistic problem.A qualitative and also quantitative study is conducted here to see how internet’s global scale and intensity is having an effect on language in general, and on individual languages in particular. Covering a range of Internet genres, including e-mail, chat and the Web, this is a revealing account of how the Internet is radically changing the way we use language. The thesis work will first discuss the role of langua ge in the internet and thereafter, the effect of the internet on language with central focus on the latter.David Crystal, in his book Language and the Internet says that language is at the heart of internet. Internet comes increasingly to be viewed from a social perspective, so the role of language becomes central. Thus internet is a medium of communication which is inevitable aided by language. Whether it is browsing, blogging, chatting or e-mails, language has a great role to play because if we do not know the language, then we cannot use the internet at all. The influence of internet over the language has to be viewed in much broader aspect.There is of course nothing new about the fears accompanying the emergence of a new communications technology. In the fifteenth century, the arrival of printing was widely perceived by the Church as an invention of Satan, the hierarchy fearing that the dissemination of uncensored ideas would lead to a breakdown of social order and put innumerab le souls at deadly risks. Around 400 years later, similar concerns about censorship and control were widespread with the arrival of telegraph. When telephone arrived, people said it would undermine the society.And when broadcasting enabled selected voices to be heard by millions, there was an immediate debate over which norms to use as correct pronunciation, how to achieve clarity, etc. Internet is an amalgamation of television, telephone, and conventional publishing, and the term cyberspace has been coined to capture the notion of a world of information present or possible in digital form. The electronic medium presents us with a channel that facilitates and constrains our ability to communicate in ways that are fundamentally different from those found in other semiotic situations.Many of the expectations and practices which we associate with spoken and written language does not hold valid in the way we communicate using internet. Therefore the first attempt of this research is to investigate the linguistic properties of the so –called ‘electronic revolution’, and to take a view on whether the way in which we use language on the Internet is becoming so different from our previous linguistic behaviours that it might genuinely be described as revolutionary. The wide use of internet has led to a new branch in linguistics called netlinguistics that deals with the study of internet language.It has brought tremendous effect in the daily language of people, and mainly in the English language. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is the communicative transaction that occurs through the use of two or more networked computers. While the term traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer mediated formats, for example; instant messaging, chat rooms, email and so on, it has also been applied to other forms of text-based interaction such as text messaging. Popular forms of CMC include email, video, audio or text chat, bulletin boards, blogs etc.The Internet slang came into use primarily in order to ease communication. Such short-cuts save time for the writer but it may be difficult for the reader to comprehend. Slang is also a way to indicate a group membership in Internet. Internet slang does not constitute a homogeneous language variety. It differs according to the user and the type of Internet situation. Some examples of Internet slang are: letter homophones, abbreviations, acronyms etc. An abbreviation for abbreviations is â€Å"CU† for â€Å"See you†.An acronym, on the other hand, is a subset of abbreviations and is formed from the initial components of a word. Examples of common acronyms include â€Å"LOL† for â€Å"laugh out loud† or â€Å"lots of love† and â€Å"BTW† for â€Å"by the way†. There are also combinations of both, like â€Å"CUL8R† for â€Å"see you later†. Punctuation, Capitalization and other symbols, such features are co mmonly used for emphasis or stress. Periods or exclamation marks may be used repeatedly for emphasis, such as â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. † or â€Å"!!!!!!!!!! â€Å". Grammatical punctuation rules are also relaxed on the Internet.â€Å"E-mail† may simply be expressed as â€Å"email†, and apostrophes can be dropped so that â€Å"John's book† becomes â€Å"johns book†. Examples of capitalization include â€Å"STOP IT†, which can convey a stronger emotion of annoyance as opposed to â€Å"stop it†. Bold, underline and italics are also used to indicate stress. Onomatopoeic or stylized spellings have also become popularized on the Internet. One well-known example is â€Å"hahaha† to indicate â€Å"laughter†. Onomatopoeic spellings are very language specific. For instance, in Spanish, laughter will be spelt as â€Å"jajaja† instead.Deliberate misspellings, such as â€Å"sauce† for â€Å"source†, are also used . Keyboard generated emoticons and smileys; Emoticons are generally found in web forums, instant messengers and online games. They are culture-specific and certain emoticons are only found in some languages but not in others. For example, the Japanese equivalent of emoticons, kaomoji literally meaning â€Å"face marks†, focus on the eyes instead of the mouth as in Western emoticons. They are also meant to be read right-side up, for example, ^_^ as opposed to sideways, =). More recently than face emoticons, other emoticon symbols such as

Hamlet’s Madness

â€Å"I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw† (Foakes 213). This is a classic example of the â€Å"wild and whirling words† (I.v.134) with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his â€Å"antic disposition,† Hamlet is very sane indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. Hamlet is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted â€Å"handsaw† or heron, in other words, that, very far form being mad, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. Hamlet's madness was feigned for a purpose. He warned his friends he intended to fake madness, but Gertrude as well as Claudius saw through it, and even the slightly dull-witted Polonius was suspicious. His public face is one of insanity but, in his private moments of soliloquy, through his confidences to Horatio, and in his careful plans of action, we see that his madness is assumed. After the Ghost's first appearance to Hamlet, Hamlet decides that when he finds it suitable or advantageous to him, he will put on a mask of madness. He confides to Horatio that when he finds the occasion appropriate, he will â€Å"put an antic disposition on† (I.v.173). This strategy gives Hamlet a chance to find proof of Claudius's guilt and to contemplate his revenge tactic (Burton 2). Although he has sworn to avenge his father's murder, he is not sure of the Ghost's origins: â€Å"The spirit that I have seen May be the devil† (II.ii.596-7). He uses his apparent madness as a delaying tactic to buy time in which to discover whether the Ghost's tale of murder is true and to decide how to handle the situation. At the same time, he wants to appear unthreatening and harmless so that people will divulge information to him, much in the same way that an adult will talk about an important secret in the presence of a young child (Boyce 232). To convince everyone of his madness, Hamlet spends many hours walking back and forth alone in the lobby, speaking those â€Å"wild and whirling words† which make little sense on the surface but in fact carry a meaningful subtext. Although he appears to have lost touch with reality, he keeps reminding us that he is not at all â€Å"far gone, far gone† (II.ii.187) as Polonius claims, but is in fact very much in command of himself and the situation. With his ranting and raving and his seemingly useless pacing of the lobby, Hamlet manages to appear quite mad. The naive and trusting Ophelia believes in and is devastated by what she sees as his downfall: â€Å"O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! . . . The expectancy and rose of the fair state . . . quite, quite down!† (III.i.152,4,6). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are also fully convinced. They are Hamlet's equals in age but are far inferior in intellect and therefore don't understand that he is faking. However, although Hamlet manages to convince these simple friends and Ophelia of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude and even Polonius eventually see through his behavior. Claudius is constantly on his guard because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. The king is suspicious of Hamlet from the very beginning. He denies Hamlet permission to return to university so that he can keep an eye on him close by. When Hamlet starts acting strangely, Claudius gets all the more suspicious and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. Their instructions are to discover why Hamlet is pretending to be mad: â€Å"And can you, by no drift of circumstance, Get from him why he puts on this confusion Grating so harshly all his days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy† (III. i.1-4). The reason Claudius is so reluctant to believe that Ophelia's rejection has caused Hamlet's lunacy is that he doesn't believe in his madness at all (Kirsch 2: 507). When Claudius realizes through the play-within-the-play that Hamlet knows the truth about his father's death, he immediately sends him away to England. The prevailing piece of evidence demonstrating Claudius's knowledge of Hamlet's sanity is the fact that he feels threatened enough by Hamlet to order him killed by the king of England: â€Å"For like the hectic in my blood he rages And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun† (IV.iii.67-9). In the scene in his mother's bedroom, Hamlet tells Gertrude that his insanity is assumed: I have utter'd: bring me to the test And I the matter will reword, which madness Even without this confirmation, the Queen has seen through his act (Burton 2). While Hamlet is reprimanding her, she is so upset that she describes his words as â€Å"daggers† (III.iv.98) and claims, † Thou hast cleft my heart in twain† (III.iv.158). The words of a madman could not have penetrated her soul to such an extent. The queen takes every word Hamlet says seriously, proving she respects him and believes his mind to be sound. Furthermore, she believes Hamlet's confession of sanity immediately. She does not question him at all but instead promises to keep it her secret. â€Å"I have no life to breathe What though hast said to me† (III.iv.200-1). Even Polonius can see that Hamlet has not completely lost touch with the world. Although he frequently misses the meanings of Hamlet's remarks and insults, he does recognize that they make some sense. When asked if he recognizes Polonius, Hamlet promptly replies, â€Å"Excellent well; you are a fishmonger† (II.ii.172). Although the response seems crazy since a fish-seller would look completely unlike the expensively dressed lord Polonius, Hamlet is actually criticizing Polonius for his management of Ophelia, since â€Å"fishmonger† is Elizabethan slang for â€Å"pimp† (Boyce 237). He plays mind-games with Polonius, getting him in crazy talk to agree first that a cloud looks like a camel, then a weasel and finally a whale, and in a very sane aside, he then comments that â€Å"they fool me to the top of my bent† (III.ii.375). After the confusing conversation with Hamlet he remarks, † Though this be madness, yet there is method in't† (II.ii.205). When his theory of rejected love proves wrong, he becomes very suspicious of Hamlet's behavior and offers to test it by hiding behind the â€Å"arras† in Gertrude's bedroom so that he can listen in on Hamlet's private conversation with his mother. Polonius' suspicions about the legitimacy of Hamlet's madness lead to his death when Hamlet stabs the â€Å"arras† in the mistaken belief that the eavesdropper is Claudius. Hamlet's soliloquies, his confidences to Horatio, and his elaborate plans are by far the most convincing proof of his sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet's soliloquies reveal his inner thoughts, which are completely rational (Kirsch 511). In one such speech, Hamlet criticizes himself for not having yet taken action to avenge his father's murder: â€Å"O what a rogue and peasant slave am I Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words† (II. ii. 545, 581-3). Hamlet calls himself a â€Å"dull and muddy-mettled rascal† (II.ii.563), a villain and a coward, but when he realizes that his anger doesn't achieve anything practical other than the unpacking of his heart, he stops. These are not the thoughts of a madman; his emotions are real and his thoughts are those of a rational man. Even when he contemplates suicide in the â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy, his reasons himself out of it through a very sane consideration of the dangers of an unknown afterlife: â€Å"And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought† (III. i. 85-6). A further important proof of his sanity is how patiently he devises plans to prepare for his revenge. As he explains to Horatio, his â€Å"antic disposition† is a device to test his enemies. His mounting of the play-within-the-play is another well-laid plan to trap Claudius into admitting guilt: â€Å"The play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king† (II.ii.602-3) and even when the play brings him concrete proof, he is careful not to rush to take his revenge at the wrong moment. He could easily kill Claudius while he is praying but restrains himself so that there is no chance of Claudius's entering heaven. Although Hamlet's patience can be seen as an example of his procrastination, the Foakes think that it is rather a sign of rationality. Hamlet shows himself perfectly capable of action, as well as of rational thought, in escaping the king's armed guard, dispatching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in England, dealing with the pirates and making it back to Denmark. In addition, the letter Horatio from him through the ambassador bound for England is clear and precise and shows no signs of a befuddled mind (Burton 1). Finally, we are convinced of Hamlet's sanity by his very normal reactions to the people around him. He is perfectly sane, friendly and courteous with the players, giving them good acting tips, which they appreciate and respect. When Polonius and Claudius test the rejected love theory by â€Å"loosing† Ophelia to him, Hamlet acts completely rationally. He greets Ophelia sweetly, gets a little cold when he remembers that he has not seen her â€Å"for this many a day,† is very hurt when she returns his remembrances, and becomes completely furious, insulting womankind in general, when she lies to him about her father's whereabouts and he realizes he is being spied on. He reacts the way any hurt young rejected lover would. This shows that he is very sane and rational indeed Throughout the play, Hamlet†s calculating mind lets him get away with all of his actions. He is the most sane person in the play and he uses his â€Å"antic disposition† to manipulate people, confuse everyone, and investigate anything he wants. He is fully aware of all of his actions and the consequences that they will have on the other characters in the play. Shakespeare†s genius shows through in the character of Hamlet. He was able to show Hamlet outwardly as a madman, but still keep the audience believing that he was still very sane underneath. Hamlet puts on his antic disposition very well. He is, in fact, â€Å"sane throughout the entire play† (Boyce 239).

“Graduation” written by Maya Angelou Essay

Anticipation Imagine how it would feel to have someone of another race speak at your graduation and put your race down. This is the story of â€Å"Graduation† written by Maya Angelou. In this story we see how a young black girl awaits with great pride and anticipation her graduation day. When the day finally arrives, her dreams and expectations are shadowed by the speech that Mr. Donleavy, a white man, gave to the graduating class of 1940. At the end of the story we see how the class valedictorian, Henry Reed comes back with encouraging words that help the entire audience become alive and feel like they were on top again. Maya Angelou used a very important literary element in this story called tone. Tone is the attitude the speaker has towards themselves, their subjects, and their audience. In this case the speaker in this story is the young black girl. In the beginning of the story the black girl speaks with pride and self-confidence. She thinks very highly of herself when she states, â€Å"†¦I was going to be lovely. A walking model of all the various styles of fine hand sewing and it didn’t worry me that I was only twelve years old and merely graduating from the eighth grade†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The joy in her voice is felt when she stated â€Å"†¦my work alone had awarded me to a top place and I was going to be one of the first called in the graduating ceremonies. No absences, nor tardiness, and my academic work was among the best of the year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Unfortunately pride and joy were not the only tone used by the speaker. In the middle of the story we see the girl angry and disappointed at the outcome of her graduation. As I described in the introduction, Mr. Donleavy addressed her graduating class with continuous remarks about the white class. He went on to say that â€Å"†¦the white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileo’s and Madame Curies and Edison’s and Gauguins †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The young girl couldn’t believe what she was hearing. â€Å"Graduation, hush-hush magic time of frills and gifts and congratulations and diploma, was finished for me before my name was called. The accomplishments was nothing. Donleavy  had exposed us †¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this sentence we can actually feel the frustration and anger she felt. At the end of the story we see how her mood changed from being angry to feeling proud of herself and her race once again. This was the outcome of a poem read by her class valedictorian, Henry Reed. â€Å"The word of Patrick Henry had made such an impression on me that I had been able to stretch myself tall and trembling and, I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death †¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this sentence the young girl feels proud to be black and to be part of the graduating class of 1940. She put aside all the awful remarks made by Mr. Donleavy and rejoiced with the encouraging words given by Henry Reed. She was proud of her race and proud to be graduating due to her full academic accomplishments. In conclusion the story of â€Å"Graduation† was very interesting. It was able to fully demonstrate the literary element of tone. In my opinion, the message in this story is that we should all be proud of who we are, what we do, and where we come from. Pay less attention to what others say or think about you, and worry more about what you think and what you want to accomplish.

Arguments against CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility While there may be people who are for the idea of corporate social responsibility, there are also others who oppose to it. One of whom, as we all know, is Milton Friedman. He believes that only individuals can have social responsibilities and that the purpose of a corporation Is to provide the highest possible returns to shareholders while obeying all the laws and regulations. There are 5 mall arguments against CARS.First of all, it lowers economic efficiency and profits. CARS also imposes unequal costs among competitors and imposes hidden costs which are passed on to stakeholders. Also, more often than not, carrying out these social responsibilities require skills which businesses may lack. Lastly, it places responsibility on business rather than individuals. A business may have to allocate a certain amount of resources Just to meet the needs of the people and environment.Suppose the firm currently has an unproductive operation in a certain country an d it would definitely be better for the company if it closes this operation down but this will also mean that al the employees will lose their Jobs and Income. This will affect their livelihood and probably their families as well. For the firm to have corporate social responsibility, this will mean that the firm will have to keep It going so as to ensure their well-being Is taken care of.However, this results In costs that are higher than necessary which ultimately leads to lower profits. Stockholders get a smaller return on their investments, making it more difficult for the firm to acquire more capital to sustain the company in the long run. Another example will be when a firm invests more in a reticular technology so as to ensure that environmental concerns are met but this may backfire especially if there is only a handful of consumers who actually care about these environmentally-friendly products.They may not be willing to pay a slightly higher price for such products. This ag ain reduces profits and lower economic efficiency. Money used in attaining greener technology can otherwise be invested elsewhere to yield higher returns that will be more beneficial to the company. Even though corporate social responsibility Is well-intended, such social costless lower businesses efficiency, thereby depriving society of higher levels of economic productivity needed to maintain everyone's standard of living.Moving on, the reason why it imposes unequal costs among competitors is because the more responsible companies would have incurred higher costs, putting them at a competitive disadvantage compared to other companies in the same industry. In a highly competitive market, the more responsible companies are even at risk of being out of business since their less responsible opponents will attempt to capture a larger market share.

Global Warming and the Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global Warming and the Climate Change - Essay Example Human activities have led to exacerbated changes in climate than natural forces. The contribution of natural forces to climate change remains insignificant in comparison to human activities. The cause and effect factor of global warming poses critical social, economic and environmental needs that have to be accounted for at all costs. The central point in this pursuit is industrialization process, which seems to take advanced and sophisticated positions every single day. Therefore, human activities have been and still are the driving force behind global warming (Maslin, 2007). Greenhouse effects are primarily held accountable for the persistent global warming. Greenhouse gases are said to play a major role in the ever-rising global atmospheric temperatures. The extent to which these gases cause global warming varies across global warming debates. For instance, the persistent rise in global temperatures is attributed to the depletion of the ozone layer. On the same note, there are arguments that what the globe is experiencing is a mere natural cycle of climate change (Handmer & Dovers, 2010). This means that the role played by greenhouse gases in the global context is limited, and thus climate change is a course of nature. Carbon dioxide has been named as the primary greenhouse gas that enormously contributed to the presently experienced persistent global warming. Scientists have differed in this debate, arguing for and against the link between carbon dioxide and global warming. Regions that have considerably low emission levels have been at least as worse off as the rest of the world, supporting the bid for debaters against linking carbon dioxide to global warming. This has further been advanced to the trade of emissions, although the world remains divided on the rationale behind the practice.

Narration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Narration - Essay Example An experience I had had that made me realize the significance of diversity in American society was an accidental visit at a public elementary school during one of my afternoon strolls. The playground, visible through the open gates, was filled with students of different cultural backgrounds that I could not help but observe them from afar. It appeared to me that besides the kids whose descendants must have been British Pilgrims, the playground was also littered with Afro-Americans, Native Indians and Hispanics, who could probably trace their respective lineage to the days of the Atlantic Slave Trade. In addition to this assortment of races, a bird’s eye view impressed on me that some of these little boys and girls were sons and daughters of Asian immigrants presumably coming from India, China, Korea, the Philippines, and Japan. My instinct also entertained the appearance of other students, who could pass on as â€Å"white† Americans, but may actually have had Irish-Scot s, French, German or Italian heritage rather than British. That was how diverse the school was and as an onlooker, I felt like I was observing the miniature representation of the United Nations and was deeply reminded of the phrase â€Å"unity in diversity.† Having witnessed the goings-on at the playground of such a culturally diverse school, I was brought to the realization that so much has changed in America over the last six centuries. It was ironic how colonials waged the American Revolution to free themselves from British rule, but denied their slaves this very same right to freedom. Slavery, as worded in Frederick Douglass’ narrative, was a living â€Å"hell† through which dark-skinned individuals must enter a â€Å"blood-stained gate† (14). Had this hellish part of American history persisted to this day, it would have been impossible to establish multi-racial schools cramped with happy children in playful harmony, such

American Revoloutinary Way in New Jersey and how New Jersey's Research Paper

American Revoloutinary Way in New Jersey and how New Jersey's Geographic Location play a huge role in the war - Research Paper Example New Jersey also called the crossroads of the American Revolution for it is located at the central position of the new nation and acted as the military capital. However, it was not all of the people of the New Jersey who vividly advocated foe independence. The British was joined by African slaves who were promised freedom, for example, colonel Tye who was a slave after escaping and joining the British army which lead to regular raids against the people of New Jersey. During this time of American Revolution, the New Jersey community was made up of extremely diverse cultural groups of who were not equally distributed over the colony’s land surface. These social groups were difficult for the British to unite them, since every social group occupied different and distinct area. Additionally, the culture defined the way of life which affected the people activities and also the landscapes made by man that can be identified by means of their traits and characteristics complexes this ma de completely governing the colony very difficult for the British since every group had a different form of dwelling preferred by various groups in New Jersey this made New Jersey difficult to unite it war since it would cripple the British in the Americans economy hence an able to support the fight (Fischer, pp 45 262). New Jersey also was an important area which was used to disrupt British supply units. George Washington used forts on the Delaware River where he could mount an attack British supply troop as they sailed to Philadelphia. It was organized that men in whale boats crossed the Hudson and then raided New York city and long island and then captured the shipping that were to be taken to sandy hook where they used New Yolk harbor as the staging area. Additionally, ships that were located at Southern Jersey port raided British ships at the entrance point. Jersey also provided iron products for

Critically evaluate the consequences of the consumers increased Essay

Critically evaluate the consequences of the consumers increased expectation that news should be free for content producers, advertisers and consumers - Essay Example Appurtenant to the digital revolution has been the radicalisation of communication modes, with the inception of chat rooms, email, instant messaging and blogs. In turn these novel communication modes have reshaped social interaction in the contemporary social framework within the continuous movement towards global homogenous cultural paradigms and international business networks (Volmer & Precourt, 2008). Indeed, Volmer and Precourt (2008) refer to the comments of a 2007 interview with Nike vice president Trevor Edwards, who commented that â€Å"gone are the days of one shoe, one advertising campaign, Now you’ve got to engage consumers on every level† (In Vomer & Precourt, 2008, p.2). A prime example of one of these levels is the immediacy of the social network Twitter, which enables instantaneous connectivity with consumers. As such, Comm et al highlight that â€Å"businesses can harness the immediacy of Twitter to innovate and build relationships like never before† (2009, p.xiv). However, whilst the social networking phenomenon clearly enables businesses a much wider level of access to potential customers; the increase in networking and peer to peer information dissemination has led to an increased expectation that news and content should be free (Shimp, 2008; Gupta, 2009). Furthermore, the increase in consumer control has led to consumers wanting more information before purchasing and the availability of free information has led to an expectation of free content (Volmer & Precourt, 2008). Accordingly, the increased consumer control and expectation of certain content being free clearly impacts the traditional method of advertising and marketing as a result of changes in consumer expectation. For example, business leader and Squidoo creator Seth Godin refers to the fact that consumers are more likely to be

Analyze the scholarly literature for ways in which a leader Research Paper

Analyze the scholarly literature for ways in which a leader facilitates the creation of a shared vision - Research Paper Example When the Romans came to speak with the slaves, they asked who was Spartacus, and Spartacus immediately stood up and stated that he was Spartacus. After he did this, every man stood up as well as said that he was Spartacus, and every man was crucified for this. The point that Senge was trying to make was that Spartacus, as a leader, was able to transmit a shared vision to which every slave was committed, and this vision was that they all should be free. Because he was able to do this for his men, they literally would die for him (Senge, 1990, pp. 205-206). So, how does a leader inspire this same sort of loyalty? By creating a shared vision. A shared vision is one that the leader envisions, and every follower envisions the same thing. Each person in the organization has a picture in their heads about this vision, and this vision is in their hearts, a part of each and every person. Each person cares about this vision, and desire to be connected to everybody else in carrying out this vision. In other words, it is not just the leader conjuring up a vision for the organization, and transmitting the vision, essentially imposing his vision on others. It is the leader transmitting this vision in such a way that every member of the organization has the same vision, therefore will be truly committed to make the vision happen (Senge, 1990, p. 206). How this shared vision comes into being, along with ideas on making this happen that are the ideas of other researchers and writers, is the topic of this paper. The first factor in creating a shared vision is by acknowledging the strengths of individual members, and by acknowledging each individual members personal vision of the organization at its best (Senge, 1990, p. 212). Essential to this is composing a team, as opposed to a group. Plenart (1995) tells the story of team building in Malaysia. His team was composed of a mix of Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus who, initially, did not understand one

Continental Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Continental Philosophy - Essay Example Hegel was refuted as part of the emergence of Anglo-American analytic philosophy in England, a century ago. Around the beginning of the last century three philosophical tendencies emerged with the influence of Hegel’s Analytical approach: American pragmatism, Analytic philosophy, and Phenomenological movement. C S Peirce is considered as the founding father of American Pragmatism. J H Lambert and Immanuel Kant exhibited phenomenological tendencies whereas, Phenomenological movement and debate was set in motion by Edmund Husserl. Thus, it is difficult to understand Hegel’s contribution to the problem of knowledge and contemporary debate on knowledge. The romantic period flourished with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant who emphasized the self, creativity, imagination, and values of art in their works: Kant’s idea, that human beings do not see the world directly but through a number of categories, resulted in looking at the world in a subjective perspective. Rousseau, in Social Contract, attempted to describe a society in which natural nobility and liberty of the spirit could flourish. Philosophers and writers like Goethe, Schelling, and Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel nurtured romanticism in Germany, while their contemporaries Coleridge and Wordsworth propagated it in Britain during eighteenth century. Existentialism began in the first half of 19th century with Kierkegaard, who was concerned with the individual’s subjective experience to religious faith, and criticized Hegel’s approach of analyzing the existence of individuals in an abstract and impersonal way. The school of existentialism gained prominence wi th Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. Camus believed that life was essentially absurd and that the modern world is full of injustice. Analytic philosophy played an important role in the English speaking

ENG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

ENG - Essay Example Having come across certain definitions and details that account for how ‘doublespeak’ generally functions, it seems that such type of language has taken on the nature or role of leading expressions to ambiguity or to euphemistic, evasive, or obscure forms. The language, otherwise known as ‘gobbledygook’, is treated as such for the deliberate intention of confusing the way an individual understands an idea by tradition. One may find it amply necessary to ask ‘why would this be so when we have rules to follow in communication especially in the technical or grammatical aspect of constructing logical thought’? In my view, based on real experience, doublespeak is sometimes being applied on instances when a person needs to be subtle or mellow, say, in breaking an upsetting news. At another situation, it can be utilized in campaigns or propagandas by a political party or socio-cultural organization in attempting to persuade the public into becoming int erested in a belief or philosophy that represents its cause. The degree by which ‘doublespeak’ affects a person may be evaluated at random on the basis of perceptions developed upon encounter of each language form which could emerge to be a jargon, inflated language, as well as that which similarly occurs to manifest a sound of ambiguity or groundless generalizations. Since these forms operate with distinct characteristics, doublespeak may be perceived to cause a varying degree of impact depending upon which form is involved and the type of people and event destined to interpret the information being delivered by a doublespeak source. As such, while using jargon works for a closed group with particular set of knowledge or principle lingoes, promoting gobbledygook may otherwise serve the interest of individuals with rare tolerance and capacity to pick up any sense of the matter dealt with despite the utter meaninglessness and deceitfulness of a doublespeak. Moreover, â⠂¬Ëœdoublespeak’ has become common in use in our society at current times that it appears automatic for most people to comprehend words in their new context. This is quite evident in the frequent application of some phrases like ‘senior citizen’, ‘person of interest’, ‘detainee’, and ‘passed away’ in place of an ‘old person’, ‘suspect in crime’, ‘prison-of-war’, and ‘died’, respectively, among a long list of doublespeak items. Whether at home, at work, at school, or elsewhere, I have had more than several circumstances of hearing, overhearing, reading, and having ‘doublespeak’ spoken of by myself. One time I gave my classmate a ring to ask about a specific lesson I missed then he responded with â€Å"Hold on please, I’m in the ‘middle of something’† rather than saying he was too busy at the moment. While having our dinner, my mother t old us â€Å"I believe that guy is ‘crossing over to the other side’† in reference to one of our neighbors whose good behaviour was gradually turning wicked. On campus grounds at another occasion, I heard two members of the faculty discussing ‘capital punishment’ which likewise meant ‘death penalty’. Somewhere I realize that using doublespeak matters in a way that it tends to make an intellectual impression so that people who reserve rich and colourful vocabulary of doublespeak must be thought of as effective communicators or masters of idioms and are thus able to express themselves in any

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

MOTIVATION - Essay Example They feel empty, nothing drives them. There are a number of things that Sue can do to work to increase her motivation. It would be a real shame if she simply stayed unmotivated throughout school as she would probably learn very little and also she would probably get poor grades. To begin with, Sue can try to visualize her future. She needs to set goals, but these are goals she should also be able to understand and to see in her mind's eye. She wants to get a good job in the business sector. She should think of herself in the future dressed up in a nice suit and sitting in a comfortable office with a mahogany floor. Then she should work backwards. How did get to this office? What did she have to do? How nice is her job?--does she like the money and power that come from it? What does she have to do to get there? These kinds of questions will focus Sue on the task at hand. She wants to get a job: so what is the best way to do that? She needs to be able to make a connection between her p resent abilities and her future goals. It may not be easy to do if she has a poor imagination or generally a very unambitious person, but it may be helpful in the long run. She can also look to the McClelland achievement theory for help. In this theory it helps to have harmonious relationships with others that will help her to feel more ambitious.

Assignment 1 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignment 1 - Case Study Example 1). Using positioning strategy, retailers are making consumers aware of an expected increase in the prices of chicken products. They are also making consumers aware of the reason behind the increase in order to satisfy them. In the article, it is evident that Australian meat producers have researched the market to know the reason behind the expected increase in the chicken price. The research shows that chicken meat is one of the most favorite proteins of Australians who like to eat loads of chicken per year. Through research about prices, the meat producers have concluded that a significant increase in the international grain prices over the last three months is going to increase the chicken price in the Australian markets. Moreover, they have also researched about other products, such as, wheat the prices of which have increased by $100 a ton recently which is nearly a thirty percent increase in wheat prices. However, they say that chicken prices are not going to increase by more than five percent. Again, the producers are trying to make a good use of positioning to make consumers aware of the overall expected increase in prices. Another concept of marketing evident from the article is market equilibrium. According to Ali (2011), the difference between demand and supply has always a huge impact on overall market. The producers know that increased white meat prices will force consumers to eat red meat that will cause a decrease in the demand of white meat. The producers are trying to use this concept by saying that a decrease in the demand of white meat because of increased chicken prices will force suppliers to reduce feed prices which will consequently decrease the price of chicken in the Australian

International Terrorism (FALN) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Terrorism (FALN) - Essay Example The FALN was most active during the 1970s and 1980s, but their activities have drastically declined in the last two decades. In the FALN's Communiquà © #1 of October 26, 1974, their Central Command states that they have been advocating an armed revolution since 1969 for the purpose of eliminating "yanki colonialism" from Puerto Rico, by committing acts of violence in the US and against US interests in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Armed Forces of National Liberation, 1974, p.2). The reference to yanki colonialism refers to the capitalistic dominance of Puerto Rico by the influence of the US economy. At this time they acknowledged the bombing of major US corporations, as well as bombings of department stores and the Newark NJ Police Department in the spring of 1974. By late 1979, the FALN had become Puerto Rico's most significant terrorist group and according to Francis (1979), "About 75 actions and at least five deaths resulted from FAL"s [sic] terrorism, the most significant being the Fraunces Tavern bombing in New York City on January 24, 1975, in which four died. In 1977-78, FALN carried out nineteen bombing actions in the continental U.S." (p.14). The decade of the 1980s would see an increased visibility of the FALN as they continued their violent movement advocating independence for Puerto Rico. The 1980s would see the FALN become the most threatening terrorist organization in this hemisphere, but by the end of the decade they had subsided in their activities. In March of 1980, FALN terrorists seized the Dominican Republic's embassy in Bogot Columbia and issued a statement threatening to attack nuclear power plants within the US (Sater, 1981, p.vi). Through the 1980s, the FALN worked with other Latin American terrorist groups and struck targets throughout the region, in Puerto Rico, and on the US mainland. In the 1980s the FALN "claimed credit for more than 100 bombings at mainland train stations, airports, and multinational corporations" as well as US government installations in Puerto Rico (Morris, 1995, p.57). In 1980-1981, several key members of the FALN were arrested and convicted of multiple serious federal crimes that resulted in their incarceration for as long as 50 years (Kushner, 2003, p.129). During 1982 and 1983, the group conducted sporadic bombings, most notabl y the 1982 New Year's Eve attacks in New York City (Kushner, 2003, p.129). After further arrests in 1982 and 1983, and a 1985 raid on FALN headquarters in Puerto Rico, the activities of the FALN almost completely subsided (Kushner, 2003, p.130). During their period of activity, the FALN was blamed for approximately 400 bombings, 18 deaths, and millions of dollars in property damage (Hewitt, 2000, p.28). The FALN is noted as being one of the most violent organizations to ever operate on the US mainland. Membership An evaluation of the FALN's membership includes the numbers, their motivations, and the outside influences that facilitated their activities. During the FALN's most active period, the membership rose to well over 100 active members, and retained a membership of approximately 120 members after the arrests of the 1980s (Hewitt, 2000, p.33; Kushner, 2003, p.1

Concepts of Supply and the Elasticity of Demand Essay

Concepts of Supply and the Elasticity of Demand - Essay Example Due to the fact that the market for many goods and services has a very inelastic price elasticity of demand, the actual level of demand that consumers express bears little relation to the price that is being offered for the commodity.   This particular graph is indicative of an elastic demand curve. It is important to bear in mind that the demand curve is not steeply sloping; rather, it exhibits a gradual decline as the price fluctuates. Naturally, determinants such as consumer time horizon will greatly impact the total elasticity that is represented in the above representation by elongating and flattening the demand curve as a result of the fact that the consumer believes that the cost is likely to change within the near future. Similar changes to the demand curve will also be noted if/when changes to the consumer’s income are noted and/or if the availability of substitutes weakens or strengthens the demand that has hitherto been illustrated.   Similarly, â€Å"cross-price elasticity† is a term that is used to measure the responsiveness of the demand for a given good to the change in the price of a competing good. This level of change is given as a percentage point and is derived as a function of measuring the percentage change in the price of the secondary good/commodity. As a quick example, if the price of shipping were to increase by 10% and the price of the finished good itself were to decrease by 25%, the following formula would be used to calculate the cross-price elasticity of the given good: -25/10= -2.5. In this way, the reader can see the level to which competing goods/commodities play with relation to the elasticity of demand for a given product within the marketplace.

Business Proposal Regarding a Business Idea Essay

Business Proposal Regarding a Business Idea - Essay Example Business Name - Maritime Transportation Company will be the name of the business. The name is easy to pronounce and remembered. The business will start at the beginning of October 2012 and will be based at Hamshire town, Englang, United Kingdom. Form of Business - Business will be sole-proprietorship, run and managed by Eric Mayoma who has experience in driving and business skills in entrepreneurship education acquired from Dakota State Technical Teachers Training College as described by Mulcahy, (2011, p. 142). The owner chose this type of business because of its market in the growing population. Another reason is that there is adequate means or chances of employment in the State. The entrepreneur decided to take this business given that he has adequate resources in education and enough money to start the business. In this type of business, there is less competition as compared to other businesses in the market like passenger service vehicles and petroleum oil selling companies. Business Location - It is located at Hamshire Town. The entrepreneur chose the location because of the following reasons, transport network, availability of electricity, security is tight, and near to customers (Adamson, 2005, p. 291) The business will deal with the buying, storing, and transporting all the different types of hardware especially those used for building in the building industry. These goods are stored and sold to the customer. Customers who do not have any means of transport are given a means of transport at a minimal fee. Also, loading and off loading products to the vehicle is free as a form of motivating the customers to come again. Other services in the business will include giving discount to customers, who buy in large quantities. This creates good public relation by rendering services to customers in selling, packing, and transportation to their destination. Customers strategically locate the business building to enhance ease identification. This is because customers are coming to purchase other goods and services from shops, warehouse, and the supermarket along the two roads. The business will consist of two warehouses, a 3-roomed office, one for the manager, secretary, reception room, and a conference hall. Many clients especially on the left wing have not hired the newly established building. Therefore, the entrepreneur sees that as an opportunity to his business as explained by Root & Koenig, (2006, p. 182). The business will mainly be known as sole-proprietorship and owned by one person. The business was chosen for a number of reasons. The reasons include profit

Environmental Causes of Delinquency Research Paper

Environmental Causes of Delinquency - Research Paper Example It highlights the similarities and differences between them by explaining how each factor influences criminal behaviour among the minors. As environmental factors, they tend to rely on each other to form the identity of the minors as they grow up. However, when they are all controlled, the youths can be prevented from engaging in criminal acts and develop into normal, law-adhering citizen. Keywords: Delinquent Behaviour, Crime, Environment, Youths, Juveniles, Minors, Drugs, Families, Poverty, Social Setting, Gender, Peer Group, Street Gangs, Robbery, Sexual Activities, Drug Abuse Introduction For a long time, juvenile delinquency has been a key concern in societies and the governments all over the world. It not only costs the youths themselves, but also the society in large; the general government’s time and financial resources are used to combat criminal activities among the youth. In considerable terms, children’s experience in the social setting, way of being brought up, and association contribute to shaping their characters and interests in life as they grow up. There are many factors in the environment that influence a child’s development, and consequently, participation in delinquency, such as social and economic factors affecting their personal lives, morale, confidence, and the well being of their families. What the children or minors hear and see from the environment remains quite clear in their memory, and most of the time, they are always persuaded to practice it to satisfy their quest. Ever wondered why young girls and men engage in sexual behaviours, form gangs, get convinced to drop out from school, commit murders, and engage in vandalism or any other illegal acts? Well, the root of causes lies in the environmental factors and control. Influence of Family Characteristics The family is the pillar of the child in development and largely contributes to what minors’ associate with early in life. At first, it begins with par ental supervision and the quality of the established relationship between the parents and the child. Based on supervision, parents get to correct their children’s behaviour early before they develop into serious problems. In many cases, due to poor supervision or lack of it, the minors have become addicts to watching unregulated programmes in the absence of their parents, contributing to depiction of violent movies and pornography, which are psychologically unhealthy for their age. The parents sometimes fail to control their children’s access to the internet or what they watch out of ignorance, viewing it as an escape to perform their other demanding roles. With such an opportunity, in their state of sexual curiosity, it easily leads to subsequent sexual crimes through the media that expose them to incest, rapes, child pornography, and prostitution as they watch cartoon pornography. The minors will copy the acts to identify themselves with movie stars who may be commit ting crimes, the fact of which might be unknown to the children. It goes without mentioning that parents should also use effective disciplining techniques to correct and not harshly punish the minors because to them, it could seem unjust and could even increase their anger to transform into something else. Children brought up in broken families or by separated

The Ideal Society Essay Example for Free

The Ideal Society Essay In its altruistic sense, the government acts as an instrument of representation of the people who have formed it and therefore has the responsibility to govern society as an epitome of all wills unified into a single essence. However, a government does not necessarily possess power, since power is mediated or delegated by society itself to a select group of leaders that use such power in order to benefit the community as a whole. Still, in the long run, as society evolves from its crude state where no set of laws and morals govern human condition, the individual learns to commune with the other and learn to harmonize the human condition. From human experience, social laws are formed and these laws become the basis for the formation of a culture. It is through value-ideas and the word culture is in itself a finite segment in which prominent events are included. In a primitive society, man is concerned with the environment and experience around it. From these habits and practices, it becomes a cultural norm that acts as a basis of living. On the other hand, society remains communal in terms of daily activities. These cultural precepts, in the crude sense, act only as guidelines or moral markers for human beings to regulate and base their actions upon. Breaking such norms correspond to specific punishments, depending on the gravity of the crime. These become the basis for the formulation of established laws and norms in society and as it continually evolves into a deeper and larger aspect, more perspectives are taken into account. In a basic precept of society, there are no sets of laws and moral norms to guide human act. Man first establishes a communal society in which everybody benefits from labor produced as a whole. In each communal group, there are no perceptions on race, gender, or color. Rather, the perspective lies on the group itself (tribe). This society lives in harmony with little or no thought in individual freedom. However, as society develops, with the need for private property and division of labor, the human race then adopts institutions of law for the protection of their rights. In addition, man is engaged in frequent competition and also becomes heavily dependent upon fellow men. Their individualistic essence is lost and there is a looming threat on mans freedom. Yet, by abandoning individual claims in order to join together through a generally accepted social agreement or contract, individuals can preserve their individuality and at the same time enjoy their freedom. Individuals submit to the rule of the general will—the collective agreement which protects individuals from being superseded by the will of others and ensures that this agreement is protected and obeyed because the majority becomes the authors of the law. As the progression of history treads on its usual path, it is inevitable for the human race to stratify and improve its prevalent political and social systems in order to adjust with the demands of industrial and scientific progression. Naturally, the evolution of the human race coincides with the development and diversification of ideas and concepts. Society however, remains on its crudest form, even with the presence of new ideas and perspectives. For individuals basic essence of self-need remains the same and as long as individuals remain such, society can never change. Not every aspect of government is perfect but in essence, the idea remains good and noble. However, once these structures are put into context, there are still some gaping holes with regard its structure. The prevalent government forms are as follows: Democracy, Despotism, Anarchy, Monarchy, Theocracy, and among others. A Monarchical government is one of the oldest forms of societal control through the ruling of the noble elite. However, the evidence through history suggests that the monarchy further instigates social class struggle, oppression, and abuse. Theocracy has the same effect though society is controlled by the religious elite. Anarchy is the complete opposite of the government, basing from the simple precept that humans are motivated by selfish desires and thus no form of government can adhere or address the needs of the many. Democracy is probably the closest form of an ideal government in a given society since its main ideals give emphasis on sovereignty and equality and liberalism. Society is organized through a single, governing body that has the supreme authority to uphold and enforce the laws which society has created. This type of government is separated by three powers that have distinctive qualities in terms of authority, scope and power so as to prevent abuse and dereliction of duty. In terms of individual subjectivity, French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rosseau in his work The Social Contract discusses the natural inclination of man to develop ‘social contracts’ that represent simultaneously the idea of the whole and individual need: â€Å"Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will, and in our corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole† (Rousseau 2002, p. ). From this premise, societal behaviour naturally acts according to the contribution to the good; that is, the general will acts as the supreme law of the land because of equality it tries to espouse. Like any other government however, we cannot say Democracy is the ideal state of society; rather, it is close to the ideal societal structure because of its advocacies on freedom, equality and liberty. Unlike the authoritarian rules of monarchy, theocracy, plutocracy or any other form of government where authority comes from a single person or single group, these kinds of governments are only applicable to societies in turmoil or chaos. Democracy allows a sense of individual freedom wherein it coincides with the greater good. In order to satisfy the basic human nature of individuality, an ideal government never takes for granted or abuses the individual spirit through constant tyranny and dictatorship. In addition, an ideal government provides stability and organization in a specific society it governs upon; the people itself is the government, and the representatives they elect are servants who fulfil their duties by addressing the needs of the people and country.

Ansoffs Matrix Explanation Essay Example for Free

Ansoffs Matrix Explanation Essay Using the same product in the same market, however altering the looks or the style of the product to make is look new to encourage higher sales. E.g. Coca-Cola using different styles of coke and using different advertising campaigns to sell the same coke product. Product development When a new product is used in the same market. For example if coke sold juice, it would still be in the same drinks market however it would be a different product. New market Market development Selling the same product to a new market. It has a higher risk because it is a different set of customers. An example of this is Tesco’s expansion into petrol sales. Diversification A new product to be sold in a completely new market. This has a higher risk because it is a completely new idea and may not catch-up quickly which may lead to the company making a loss. A good example of the unrelated diversification is Richard Branson. He took advantage of the virgin brand and diversified into various fields such as entertainment, air and rail travel foods etc. Ansoff’s Matrix Main Definition: â€Å"The Ansoff Matrix is a strategic planning tool that provides a framework to help executives, senior managers and marketers devise strategies for future growth. It was created by Russian American, applied mathematician and business manager, Igor Ansoff† The Ansoff Growth matrix is a marketing planning tool that helps a business determine its product and market growth strategy

Essay Globalization Consumerism And Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay

Essay Globalization Consumerism And Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay Sustainable development has been a globally paradigm in different areas. Citizens lifestyle has an important relationship with the sustainability of a city. In living environment area, world-wide experts have adopted the Agenda 21 and tried to find the appropriate way to achieve a sustainable living lifestyle. According to Agenda 21, the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances. However, as the global population increasing, how to balance the relationship between resources supply and demand is still a research question. For communities and individuals, special attention should be paid to the demand for natural resources generated by unsustainable consumption and to the efficient use of those resources consistent with the goal of minimizing depletion and reducing pollution. In other word s, the communities and individuals should look for an appropriate living style towards achieving sustainable goal. Although government has been put much efforts to encourage people to do some reduction of pollution, reduction of energy consumption, and waste recycling, actually there is still a long distance to reach the goal of sustainability, and there should be a series of fundamentally changes for individuals to adopt to pursue a green, sustainable society. Globalization Globalization means quite different things to different people. In general, globalization is a process that promotes world-wide exchanges of national and cultural resources. It includes economic globalization, social cultural globalization, and environmental globalization. In recent decades, the world markets have become increasingly integrated. As Lindert and Williamson 2011 pointed out, world market integration is not a new phenomenon, but it has steadily increased since the 1820s if we exclude the period between the two World Wars. A long-term correlation between the globalization of international markets and environmental degradation is quite obviously. The globalization of markets also brought about the globalization of environmental problems. Global climate change, ozone layer, reduction of biodiversity, over consumption of natural resources, desertification are all global environmental degradation brought after the economic globalization. The industrial revolution use large am ount of natural resources as materials in the process, as well as the deterioration of their quality as a consequence of pollution. The acceleration of economic growth led to the increasing of world population that promoted the deterioration of environment. Lifestyle and sustainability Concept of sustainable development The concept of sustainability means that something is maintained for a period of long time. The concept of sustainable development came out of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in 1972.() Since the publication of the UN Brundtland Commission report  Our Common Future  in 1987, the concept of sustainability has become associated with the integration of economic, social, and environmental development to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The conference was held to let all nations agree to act to reduce pollution together to share the resources equally. Since 1972, it has become clear that what we do has an impact on the environment, from the climate change, desertification, and the destruction of forests to the disappearance of species. By introducing the word sustainable, the discussion on environmental development got a social and economic dimension, especially by the inclusion of the Nort h- South dialogue and discussion of the rights of future generations. This finally led to the world community holding the United Nations Convention on Education and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 where the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework on Climate Change, the Rio Declaration and 38 of the 40 chapters of Agenda 21 were agreed. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was set up to review progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and other UNCED documents. The Commission meets every year and more than 1,000 N.G.Os are accredited to participate in the Commissions work. Concept of lifestyle The concept of lifestyle comes from social science and refers to a bundle of practices or ways of behaving that are meaningful for individual as well for the community. Lifestyle includes different ways of socializing with others and different types of consumption of everything, from houses to clothes, food, and leisure time activities. Lifestyle could reflect individuals attitude and values and at the same time signals these to others through visible, or conspicuous, consumption. Sustainable lifestyle can thus be defined as bundles of practices that are tied together by attitudes related to sustainable development, or as ways of living that in practice lead to sustainable development. In 1992 at the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro, there was an international agreement on promoting sustainable development and thus also promoting sustainable lifestyle. Following the line of the Brundtland report, the conference reached consensus on the so-called Agenda 21 programme, which contains detailed guidelines and objectives, in a nonlegally binding language, and advice on how NGOs, citizens, and other actors can be involved in the process. The slogan was act local -think global and during the 1990s Local Agenda activities were initiated in many countries by both authorities and NGOs. In 2007-08 such initiatives received renewed interest, with global climate being high on the political agenda. Local Agenda 21 was no longer a catchword, though the concept of sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles was then used together with climate discussions. The processes of Local Agenda 21 build on the idea that changes must come from below, from changes in the everyday life of ordinary consumers. Current lifestyle When talking about living lifestyle, tobacco use, poor nutrition, obesity, elevated stress, and suboptimal sleep will come into ones mind, these are major contributors to the pandemic of lifestyle-related conditions, morbidity, and premature death (E dean) Preventable lifestyle-related conditions such as ischemic heart disease, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema (largely smoking related), hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and some cancers, are not only leading causes of disability and premature death in high-income countries, but increasingly in middle- and low-income countries.  (stop) Compared to the impact of environment brought from lifestyle, the bad lifestyle seems to have much effect on individuals health. However, from long-term sight, bad lifestyle will bring waste of resources, pollution of environment and at last hinder the development of society. When talking about the lifestyle related to consumerism, green consumerism should be advocated. What is green consumerism? In short, who and why buy. current global levels of domestic energy consumption and waste production have been acknowledges as important contribution to detrimental environmental change (United Nations 1998) Political and academic interest in this component of sustainable development implementation has stimulated debates in post-industrial nations concerning the social practices of contemporary consumerism (Macnaghten and Urry 1998) and how we will live in the future (De Young 1993) n response there has been a call for the development of national policies and strategies to encourage changes in consumption patterns (UNCED 1992:64). One approach has been the promotion of environmentally-friendly lifestyles which often take the form of media or community campaigns (for further analysis see Hobson 2001). These campaigns encourage individuals not only to decrease the amount consumed, but also to alter the nature of goods consumed (lUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991; Librova 1999). Changing Lifestyles Towards Sustainability From a policy perspective, it is relevant to discuss how to promote more sustainable lifestyles. Changes can be initiated from the bottom-up, where people experiment with changing lifestyles, or from the top-down, where authorities make initiatives to promote changing lifestyles. Authorities can promote changes by political initiatives such as economic incentives or green taxes and through information and labeling of green products and campaigns focusing on changing attitudes. Furthermore, authorities can focus on establishing the physical infrastructure which supports sustainable lifestyles: public transportation, renewable energy production, recycling waste system, and so on. What follows describes, first, the people who have made radical changes to their lifestyles and, second, evaluations on initiatives to get ordinary people to change their lifestyle in a more sustainable direction. In the last couple of decades, some citizens have chosen more radical lifestyle changes and have joined so-called eco-villages. Some of the catchwords of this approach are closed cycles and self-sufficiency: water and waste should be recycled, energy locally produced from renewable resources, and the technologies organised in neighborhoods to strengthen and revitalize local social life. The ecological vision is followed by the social vision of a holistic everyday life a life that is not split between work, family, and home. In this sense, the eco-villages follow in the footsteps of the collectivist movement of the 1960s and 1970s and are a reaction against the lifestyle in detached suburban houses. Furthermore, in some of the eco-villages there is a spiritual relation with nature and an ethical concern for future generations. The people deciding to build and live in these eco-villages thus establish other physical, social, and cultural structures around their everyday life as part o f living a sustainable lifestyle. In the environmental debate, it has been questioned to what extent this type of experiment is part of a broader solution to sustainable development or whether these structures are only isolated pockets. Some of the alternative technological solutions, such as solar heating or wind power, had their hesitant first beginnings in these alternative environments. However, some of the eco-villages and other grassroots experiments had such alternative visual expressions that might have frightened the not-so-dedicated others from choosing sustainable lifestyles. This raises the question of whether sustainable lifestyles are only for those who want to live an alternative life or whether they should be mainstreamed and made available for a broader audience. In the twenty-first century, however, this debate might seem less topical, as grassroots approaches and more mainstream approaches to sustainable lifestyles appear to converge Many public initiatives have tried to persuade citizens to live a more sustainable life, and there are also examples of studies following the extent to which these types of efforts have an effect. In general, social science approaches dealing with these issues can be divided into psychological and sociological approaches. As an example of the psychological approach, a study performed by Abrahamse and others in the Netherlands followed the effects of an Internet-based tool that used a combination of tailored information, goal setting, and feedback on households direct and indirect energy consumption. An evaluation after 5 months showed that households gained a significant direct energy saving of 5%, whereas there was no measurable effect on indirect energy consumption. It is thus possible to document a small but significant relation between knowledge and action. From a sociological approach, the UK campaign Action at home, which is part of the Global Action Plan that originally developed in the United States during the late 1980s, has been evaluated by Hobson, and this evaluation questions the simple relation between knowledge and change of behavior. The Action at home campaign was a 6-month voluntary programme where households were provided with information, support, and feedback in a local setting enabling local support and networking between participants. An evaluation based on qualitative interviews suggests rethinking the ideas on information, barriers, and behavioural change. Information should be seen as a much more constructivist approach, where people use and develop arguments through conversations with others, rather than by receiving objective knowledge. The focus should be on the whole array of social structures sustaining specific behaviors, rather than on only barriers to action, and finally the understanding of behavioral chan ge should rather focus on how debate can bring unnoticed routines that are never consciously thought of. Though there are disagreements in the understanding of behavior and the role of information between the social and the psychological approach, it is possible to draw some general recommendations on how to best persuade people to change to a more sustainable lifestyle: Communication should be as specific and personalized as possible, and information should be as adjusted to the lifestyle of the citizens as possible, thereby making the advice meaningful and useful for the citizens attitudes and practices. With climate change high on the political agenda, especially before the climate summit conference in Copenhagen in 2009, sustainable lifestyles have gained renewed interest among the public, politicians, and academics. Will this interest be a short bobble followed by resignation? Will it be the start of mainstreaming sustainable lifestyles so they spread and become the norm? Or, will there continue to be a development fuelled by the tension between initiatives by different actors? Sustainability is a contested concept, and developments in the structures and practices of everyday life continue to change and thus provide new challenges for what a sustainable lifestyle is or should be. In the future, there is also a need to continue experimenting, debating, and developing new approaches to sustainable lifestyles Linking lifestyle and climate change literature The concept of lifestyle in the behavioural sciences has been studied in connection with social class [31,81,64 -66,86,87,47 ], culture-specific consumption patterns [ 22,30,52,79 ] as well as individual choice [25,7,6 ]. Social theorists have described how the disappearance of norms and economic limitations, mass consumption and the market have gradually removed restrictions and made the individual lifestyle a more appropriate way to describe differences in action, world views and consump-tion. Research suggests that the consumption behavior of individuals constitute a more or less coherent con-sumption pattern because individual tastes and prefer-ences conform to socially determined structures [13,19]. The fact that conspicuous consumption [17,77] is seen as a status symbol of wealthy people makes the less afflu-ent aspire to emulate this lifestyle [ 5 ]. Individuals use consumer goods to preserve their position in the social hierarchy [ 12]. A convergence of lifestyles has been accelerated by homogenisation in the human system over time and space due to the globalisation of the built environment, occupations, industry, trade and advertis-ing. Lifestyle is also described in an operational sense through the correlation between the level and pattern of consumption and socio-economic and demographic parameters such as age, family size, occupation, income, gender, education and ethnicity. Consequent energy and emission outcomes vary widely ( Table 1) calling for more inclusive action strategy to avoid leakages. The focus of change needs to be on the hotspots and patterns of energy consumption. Attempts to change energy consumption pattern are likely to lead to a change in energy consump-tion behaviour that make up the complete pattern. In the energy literature in the late 1980s, the energy researchers introduced the lifestyle concept into the study of energy consumption and established a positive correlation be-tween better lifestyle and high-energy consumption for both households and individuals. Kaya identity [34] has been used to show how both the individual and aggregate consumption pattern are an important driver of emission level along with the technology choice. Recent literature Suggestion

Impact of the Media in the Vietnam War

Impact of the Media in the Vietnam War By the spring of 1975, the Vietnam War had ended in victory for the enemies of the United States and ever since this, historians have been preoccupied with explaining why America failed in Vietnam. In the most part, the Vietnam War has been portrayed as a military failure, and whilst this is true it ignores the highly decisive role of the media. Hanson recognises that there is a distinctive lack of theoretical assessment of the impact of the media on foreign policy. Therefore I am to prove amongst other facts that it was the role of the media which inevitably led to American failure in the Vietnam War. As James Reston concluded; Maybe historians will agree that the reporters and the cameras were decisive in the endand forced the withdrawal of American power from Vietnam. Firstly it will assess why the American press stopped supporting American intervention in Vietnam. The Tet offensive in 1968 is often pin pointed by historians as the event from which the perception of the wars success changed. I will then assess how the media affected American withdrawal and how much influence the media had on policy making of the American government. Another key question that this dissertation will address is what and how other deciding factors caused American failure. Many historians have focused on the military failures and I will assess how this is an accurate assessment of American involvement. By addressing these questions I will, furthermore, be able to argue whether or not American failure in Vietnam was inevitable which has become the argument for many historians. However further research on the subject highlights that domestic issues such as the growing anti-war movement affected withdrawal. From this I would like to assess the nature in which the press reported on such groups and if the media influenced their growth. Many primary and secondary sources have been used to research this dissertation. I have focused my attention to The New York Times as it is a liberal broadsheet published across America and is considered to be a paper which was highly critical of the war. During my research into secondary sources I have noticed that particular articles have often been selected from this newspaper by various historians. I will use some of these articles alongside others that have not previously been included in research to deepen the understanding of the medias role. By using a variety of these articles I will be able to support or disprove current historical thought on the subject. The positive of using newspapers in my research, is that I easily uncover patterns in reporting styles and can map the changes of opinions. Negatively however, newspapers are generally as biased; reporters can often use their articles to air their own personal opinions and may not reflect their audiences beliefs. They may also be bias as they are producing an opinion that will have been dictated from the papers editors and will follow their policy on the war. I have also used the Museum of Broadcast Communication, which is an online archive that has stored radio and television broadcasts from America. Current research into Vietnam focuses on newspaper articles and by using these broadcasts I hope to find a greater understanding into the role the whole media played. Hallin believes that using television in assessing the role of the media is vital as it made Vietnam politically unique. The advantage of using these broadcasts is that the tone used by the reporters indicates how they perceived the war at that time and mean that there may be less misinterpretation of their view. Again, like the newspapers, there will be a degree of bias and this does not always reflect the American publics opinions. In some cases the television reports are often accused of enforcing particular views of the war on the public. One criticism of American intervention in Vietnam is that America failed to learn from its mistakes in the Korean War. The hindsight that we have after such conflicts can make it seem as though a particular decision was gravely needed or acted as a catalyst. However, as historians, it is vital that whilst studying the Vietnam War, we do not assess the war in a modern day context but from the position at that time. Therefore I shall assess how the conflict is placed on the global scene during the Cold War, and how it places within American society at the time. The development of the media is also an issue I had to consider in my research due to the technological advancements that it has faced. The nature in which media is used is also subject to change, and therefore its role must be effectively defined and evaluated. McCormick argues that the role of the media did not begin after the cold war but that it expanded within it, with coverage reaching into peoples homes. Another example would be from the First World War, when photography was used for reconnaissance purposes and data collection. The army later used photography as a form of propaganda to recruit men for the war. This example shows the changing nature of photography and the Vietnam War was no exception. Photography takes on a new role and Susan Moellers study on the effects of three iconic images highlights that photographs begin to sum up entire wars and that they make war comprehensible to American civilians and the wider world. Photography and other media forms are always used for a particular purpose and it is important to consider their purpose in the interpretation of the sources. America had prospered greatly in the World Wars; industry had grown significantly and as a consequence Americas economy was achieving new heights. This therefore shows that America had much to lose if it no longer controlled the markets of the world. The ideological subtext of the Cold War is imperative in understanding the failures of America in Vietnam. This helps to explain how it was perceived that if communism was to gain power, that the economy of said country would be hostile to the free market system; and so a policy to protect Americas interests was needed. Walli believes that the hysteria and myths created by Truman were necessary for the American and global public to support America in its actions. Truman is said to have used the media to create this hysteria in the first place and shows how the government manipulated the media. In which case, this statement may explain why the government resented the media during the conflict as they were unable to control and manipulate it so easily. As Smith states, the Vietnam War was a product of a global pattern of conflict and must be discussed in the context of global developments for information to be correctly used. So, the Vietnam War must be assessed as one of a number of conflicts after the Second World War. America played a leading role in several of these cold war conflicts, such as, Korea, Cuba, Laos, Greece and the Berlin. As literature of the time reflects, America was portrayed as the guardian angel of these countries freedoms against the evil of Communism. This echoes the position of the elites like Nixon, who pleaded for anti-communist faith, Communism is evil because it denies God and defies man. However real the threat of Communist expansionism actually was, to the people of America it posed a serious threat to the freedoms that they had become accustomed to. When, in reality, the Soviet Union was far from being in a position to begin colonising and spreading the Communist ideology. It is also naà ¯ve of Ame rica to have believed that every revolutionary group was a puppet of the Kremlin. This dissertation will examine the role of the media as the agent of American failure. It would be naive to blame the media alone and the dissertation will also look at other factors that contributed to American failure and assess which ultimately led to American withdrawal. Historiography: The Vietnam War has drawn the attention of many scholars since Americas intervention in the war. Caprini believed that this is because where lines between consensus, legitimate controversy and deviance become blurred, such as in the Vietnam War, that debate expands. As Herring points out many of the issues still contested today are the issues that Americans debated during the war. There are many questions which are regularly debated between historians on this topic such as why did America involve itself in Vietnam? Did America fail in Vietnam and was American intervention doomed to failure? Most importantly for this study is the question, why did America fail in Vietnam? Previous studies on the Vietnam War have often made assumptions and judgements on American intervention. This has therefore led to two different schools of interpretation on the nature of the war and Cohen believes that a historians judgement on the nature of the war will determine the tone of their research. For example revisionists believe that the war in Vietnam was that the war was an act of aggression by the North Vietnamese on the South. This would therefore lead to the historians such as Smith, who justifies American escalation of the war in Vietnam. However other historians believe that America were not justified in their actions and that it was in fact a revolutionary war and that the Vietnamese where fighting for their independence against the French and then the Americans. Historians such as Kolko and Kahin have heavily criticised American intervention in the Vietnam War as immoral and that America was trying to preserve economic interests. These different interpretations will therefore influence how they view successes and failures of America, or even if the same event is a success or a failure. Devine believes that more recent analysis of the Vietnam War has lead to a growth of resentment for American involvement in the Vietnam War and consequent failures. Historians such as Lens and Kolko seek to evaluate Americas motives and efficiency. However, Lens is overly critical of the American motives within the war and the methods that they use in the wider global context. This therefore reflects Devines statement of growing resentment for American involvement, but also demonstrates that literature on the Cold War in general has growing resentment for America. Schreckers investigation into McCarthyism in the United States can similarly be seen as overly critical. However, after reflecting this book, many can sympathise with her well constructed argument. Nonetheless, there is literature on the subject of resentment of American involvement evident in the emotively written book, Vietnam North, by Burchett. This is a written documentary constructed during the period focusing on the experiences and opinions of the North Vietnamese. Whilst extremely useful to historians for its insight into an area which previously lacked much attention, if looked at in isolation, it can paint a very bleak image of American involvement. Pieces such as these most definitely influence the works of modern day historians as they reach to new sources for information. The sources which historians use will also effect of they construct their arguments. Research into Vietnam has become more enlightened in recent years with the release of more sources. However there are still many sources still unavailable or insufficiently used, whilst historians have begun to use more Vietnamese sources Kiernan highlights that this is an area which needs much more attention and will contribute the most to historical understanding. It is also important to consider that interpretations of sources can be widely different according to historians perspective on the war generally. Therefore it is important to remain neutral in the analysis of primary sources and to consider them within the context of the cold war period. Hallins work focuses on the use of media sources, he clearly recognises that media was not the same all over America, and the provenances of the source can change how and why they were written. The Vietnam War can not be analysed in a simplistic form as there are many different dimensions to it. Fisher highlights that America was not fighting one enemy; surface level analysis by historians has led to a basic review of cold war ideology. The war in Vietnam is not a clear cut battle between capitalism and communism because there is also a strong nationalist movement, the fight for independence being strong feature in the Vietnamese war. Some historians believe that the war actually stems from a civil war within South Vietnam, between southern rebels and a Saigon government with far heavier foreign backing. Therefore the assessment has been made that America failed in Vietnam because they assumed that dividing Vietnam in half would automatically make the South all obey Diems regime without question. Whilst this may be an important dimension to consider, the division of Vietnam is not why America failed. The importance of Diem and Americas failure to hold elections in Vietnam i s a plausible beginning to American failure. Most importantly, current studies on the subject ignore the medias influence on America with regard to the Diem regime. Hammond recognises that American reporters were disliked by Diems regime because they reported freely about their opinions of the war and often criticised the role the South Vietnamese were playing. Where many historians have ignored this dimension Hammond explores it and concludes that these negative reports acted as catalyst to disenchant the war with the American people. This assessment does not mean that the reports were a hate campaign against Diem but that reports were not complimentary to the South Vietnamese forces, and instead fully supported the American troops. Caprini reiterates this point with the example of the Buddhist crisis in May 1963 which questions Diems regime but not the overall goal of American involvement. Kleins collection of essays in, The Vietnam Era; Media and popular culture in the US and Vietnam take an orthodox and post-revisionist view of the war in Vietnam. This is evident from the outset of the book as Klein criticises the American government for creating the atmosphere of anti-communism to lure the American people into conflicts. The book assesses the importance of the role of the media and how the anti-war movement grew. There does seem to be little attempt to address the military failures or strategic decisions which would have ultimately led to the reports of the press and protests of the anti-war movement. However, Klein does recognise that the popular culture was influenced and flooded by material from novelists who tend to stereotype the Vietnamese as dehumanised others and criticises their stance as ignorant. Again such statements as these led to criticism of American government involvement in the war as imperialistic and non-accidental. The in depth study of non pres s material by Klein has greatly added to the knowledge on the debate of the effects of media materials on American perceptions of the war. He assesses more the creation of those images and perceptions before the book focuses on the development of anti-war movements. A key question raised by Caprini in a following essay in Kleins book reveals that the lack of anti-war movement may be because the media did not consider Vietnam news worthy until 1961. Therefore there is less coverage to convince people to stop supporting the war effort. This may reveal why the media had no influence in American withdrawal earlier in the war or as Caprini states that coverage before 1961 was limited to propaganda style film segments. Hammond seeks to examine the relationship between the media and military during the Vietnam War. The main argument in these books are that it was the militarys strategic decisions which led to American failure, but it is the press who were seen as responsible for making the American public aware of these issues. This reflects many of the military leaders opinions of the time as well as the governments and as another historian, Hallin points out even the enlisted men where beginning to resent the press and view them as their enemy. Hammond seems to be aiming to highlight relationship problems between the press and the government to prevent future conflicts. In contrast Hallin examines the changing role that the media played in the Vietnam War and does recognise that the media played a vital role in the changing of American policy in Vietnam. However instead of blaming the failure on the strategic decisions of the military as Hammond does, Hallin believes that it was the presidential a dministrations fault for not creating restrictions for the media in the form of censorship. Although these historians both vary on what they believe to be most important in the medias role and effect, there are points of agreement. For example, Hammond also believes that there were some attempts to censor information released to the press, that this had little affect, but that America ultimately did not set into place any system of censorship in the media. Many historians have laid the blame of American failure to different presidents. For example, Hammond asserts Kennedys importance as he was preoccupied in Europe and Cuba, and he postponed decisions through compromise and didnt efficiently quash mid-level officers from airing their views to the press about American policies. Smith, although not really assessing why America failed in Vietnam, does begin to discuss how each president led to escalation of the war. Beginning with justifying Kennedys actions Smith believes that it was ultimately Johnsons fault for his inappropriate approach to the war which did not contribute to American success. There is a great deal of discussion over this issue and another perspective is that Truman planted the seeds of failure with his policies. Even earlier though is the presidency of Eisenhower, and Gardener and Anderson believe that it was Eisenhower who created the ideological approach which constantly dictated American policies of the post second world war period which created problems for following administrations. How Did the Media Cause American Failure?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Failure of America in the Vietnam War can be accredited to the medias portrayal of the conflict. Current discussions on America intervention and what caused the failure can all be linked with the media explosion during the period of critical and investigative journalism, which forced American withdrawal and changes in policy making. Within Powlick and Katzs reviews of literature on this subject they believe that it was in fact the elites with in government that argued what the media articulated to the public and that foreign policy was not affected by public opinion. Previously investigated factors such as the role of the South Vietnamese and American governments and the military strategies employed in the failure of America in Vietnam can all be attributed to the media coverage which surrounded the conflict. This chapter will critically assess each of these factors in relation to media primary sources and which will pro duce the conclusion that the media did have play an important role in American failure. How did the media cover the war? As previously stated, the nature of media coverage was ever changing and during the Vietnam War these changes increased the impact that the reports. The coverage of the Vietnam War was not always at the same intensity throughout the conflict and may explain why America failed as intensity grew the prospect of failure grew. There is a consensus among historians that press coverage of the Vietnam War only began to grow after 1961 and reached its height in 1968. However, Edmond notes that after 1968 coverage of the Vietnam War by the press and television had greatly declined. Parallel to the rise of media attention to the war between 1961 and 1968, was the rise in more critical reports about American policies and South Vietnamese forces impact in the conflict. The reports were not wholly positive or wholly negative regarding Vietnam, but there was a rise in criticism as the war progresses. However, before 1965 most of the coverage was mainly positive which may coincide with the fact tha t only after the summer of 1964 did American foreign policy change in Vietnam. At this point Johnson begins escalation by introducing retaliatory air strikes against the North Vietnamese. Interestingly, during the early stages of the conflict, reports that were deemed too controversial were edited to suit the papers stance on the war. H. D. S. Greenway, a reporter for Time magazine and The Washington Post from 1967 to 1975, felt that before the Tet offensive that we would write something and the magazine would ignore it if it wasnt upbeat. This shows that the papers were fuelling the deluded optimism, which in effect when removed in the Tet offensive, led to huge disillusionment of the American public. It also displays how in the most part press, television and radio all followed the official line. It is recognised by John Shaw that Many American editors ignored what their correspondents in Vietnam were telling them in favour of the Washington version. Cleary this statement by Shaw is sustained by comments like that of Greenwoods and other reporters who testify that their stories are not being published. This hesitancy within the media to report the negatives as well as the positives in the earlier stages may have been the reason for prolonged American involvement as since the level of criticism increase more pressure is asserted onto the government for policy changes. In this case it is not the reporters who are to blame for American failure in the war but their editors. This is because had the American public realised the truth behind Vietnam earlier then government policy may have changed and consequently America may not have failed. It is still believed today that the press will reflect the norms and accepted thoughts in society. It will rarely go against popular assumptions for fear of damaging business. As a consequence of these theories, one would assume that it would also affect the way in which articles were written and determine how the television and radio represented their stories. For example Chomsky and Herman believed that the anti-communist ideology provided the media with a framework to report within. If you were seen to question the reports, you may be accused of being unpatriotic and so you would be socially excluded whilst McCarthyism was at its height. This is best illustrated in the earlier articles on the Vietnam War by supporting the war effort and that following articles retain the a half hearted optimism. Due to the heightened fear of Communism through McCarthyism any questioning of the American policy in Vietnam would have been greatly disapproved of. An interpretation of this information would show that the media propped up American success due to the social conditioning of the period. The tone of the reports were also generally optimistic during the early stages of the war because the majority of the information that they were given was from the government. Another reason for the positive reporting may be due to the fact there were no permanent reporters based in Saigon initially, so they were unable to report everything as they saw it, and instead had to rely on official reports. The only daily newspaper with a full-time correspondent at the time was the New York Times, whilst other papers had to rely on news agencies. This may explain why this paper took a particularly critical line on Vietnam as they were able to see the escalation of American involvement in the war first hand. The article by Jacques Nevard in the New York Times in July 1962 displays this official line of optimism coupled with some questioning. The article remains positive about the success of the helicopter mission, reported to have swept about twenty miles. Reporting at this time largely focuses on a quantative method to measure success, and the large area covered here praises the American forces. These figurers were widely accepted when published whilst later on in the war there is a criticism of the figures used in these reports. This positive and supportive tone continues through to 1965 where Mohr reports that the United States is still in a defensive position, although a strong one. This consistency shows that the illusion that America could still win the war was still believed by most of America. Therefore, the media could be blamed for pursuing information and a line which would ultimately lead to great resentment from American public on the war in Vietnam, particularly after the T et offensive as victory becomes unlikely. The Media and South Vietnamese Government: The medias relationship with the South Vietnamese Government also undergoes rapid changes during the Vietnam War. For example the Diems regime treats the media with suspicion and there are many restrictions in place to prevent reporting on the conflict by internal press and external press. However this does not remain the same as the war progresses, with the removal of Diem, the new government is weary of losing the support of its press and lifts restrictions. These two approaches to the media have had many consequences and caused the failure in Vietnam for America. Nevards article shows the freedom of reporting before Diem imposed his restrictions in its releasing of military mission details and shows early criticism of South Vietnamese forces. Typically, the report is mainly positive about American involvement, following the official line of optimism, but does criticise the South Vietnamese forces; Some United States officers here are alarmed over the growing dependence of Vietnamese army shows the criticism of the army whilst referring to the American army as sophisticated support. The article also shows how the media would release what Diem believed to be important strategic information relating to numbers of troops and new missions, e.g. 1,000 Government troops were landed yesterday and Forty-one Air Force helicopters were used in the operation, which if intercepted by the North Vietnamese could be used to plan attacks and strategies. This could therefore lead to the military defeat of American and South Vietnamese military forces. Reports lacking in success stories for the South Vietnamese or American troops may also be as used as propaganda pieces of the enemy. This psychologically would give the North Vietnamese insurgent forces an advantage which would lead to American failure. Johnson for example recognises doom and gloom dont win wars, which reiterates the importance psychology in fighting the war in an interview with Cronkite. Moreover the gallop polls construct a narrative of American support for the war which corresponds to how American intervention is going. Diems request that America censor their media becomes an issue as historian Hallin concludes that if the Kennedy administration had censored the media, it could be interpreted that America was running a war and which would contradict its public relations strategy. However three months later in the New York Times, Halberstam reports that Diem is enforcing his own measures to create censorship. Some historians believe that these measures acted as an irritant and actually increased more critical reporting in Vietnam as the reporters felt that their freedoms were being removed. The torrent of articles criticising Diems regime are best illustrated in Halberstams article, feel they are being muzzled by the South Vietnamese Government. The choices of words such as muzzled in this report are fundamental in the understanding of the stance of the reporter, as they are emotive. Therefore the animosity of the reporter to Diem can be seen whilst representing the idea through the military opinions. The entire negative reporting surrounding Diems regime eventually leads to the American government having to distance itself as the American public begin to see that the South Vietnamese government is corrupt and prejudice. Furthermore this is all brought to a head during the Buddhist crisis in which reporters are heavily criticised for their role and two reporters are expelled. The South Vietnamese governments reaction simply demonstrates how the media are obviously an effective force in the creation of public opinion. This also highlights Americas inability to have created and sustained a new government in South Vietnam, which can be measured as a failure caused by media coverage. The affect of the media in this situation also creates numerous discussions by the Kennedy administration in building up anti-Diem forces in Saigon and consequently implementing the coup to remove Diem from office. The new government in Vietnam took on a very different approach to the media and wished not to come under heavy criticism from the press. In a memorandum from Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Special Assistant to the Under Secretary in 1963, it highlighted the South Vietnamese government has: In part, fear of criticism in the foreign press has inclined the new government to lean over backwards as regards press freedom. Also, there is some suspicion that those with power over the press are using it selectively against preferred targets. In any case, the performance of the press has not improved matters greatly and some better balance between freedom and license is urgently needed. This would highlight that the media has directly affected policies of the South Vietnamese government. The fact that this is reported within the Kennedy administration could show that this concern may have effected communications with the American government and South Vietnamese government. The Media and United States Government:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There appears to be great tension between the government officials and the media during the Vietnam War, McMahon stresses that the President Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy all believed that the press was their worse enemy. Herring and Robinson equally refer to how the media was opposed to the American Government. This is due to the growing criticism of the media on the Government which is at its height between 1968 and 1972. Although it is argued by Edmonds that the media had no effect on the policy making of American administration, it is clear from a memorandum from the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Special Assistant to the Under Secretary in 1963, that the press do have an effect on morale, The N.Y Times editorial and Reston and Lippmann columns on the subject were a body blow to morale in Saigon. This therefore shows that the government are aware that the media do have an effect on opinions on the war, a nd consequently this would be addressed in future policies in the Vietnam War.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further evidence that the media have an effect on the American and Vietnamese public can also be found in the notes of a meeting in 1968 between Secretary McNamara, President Johnson, General Wheeler, Clark Clifford, CIA Director Helms and Walt Rostow on the topic of proposed action beyond the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) into North Vietnam. The comments made in the discussion reveal that decisions would consider how the press would report on the matter and how best to release the information into the press. Therefore this would indicate that the American government were definitely affected by the press coverage and that the press could easily control the success or failures of the war. CIA Director Helms is quoted to have said; It is a great thing if you can keep it out of the hands of the press, which would reinforce this theory. Kovach recognises that new technological advances pose new problems for the elite, as each new technology has allowed untrained voices to comment on discussions, which he believes should only be debated by elites. Resentment from the media towards the government would have become much more erratic had the government prevented their coverage of the Vietnam War, and possibly cre