Charles Hamilton Houston Civil Rights Attorney and Mentor

Overview When attorney Charles Hamilton Houston wanted show the inequality of segregation, he did not only present arguments in a courtroom. While arguing Brown v. Board of Education, Houston took a camera throughout South Carolina to identify examples of inequality existing in African-American and white public schools.   In the documentary The Road to Brown, judge Juanita Kidd Stout described Houston’s strategy by saying, ...All right, if you want it separate but equal, I will make it so expensive for it to be separate that you will have to abandon your separateness.   Key Achievements First African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review.Served as Dean of Howard University Law School.Helped dismantle Jim Crow laws as the litigation direction of the NAACP.Trained future U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Early Life and Education Houston was born on September 3, 1895 in Washington DC. Houston’s father, William, was an attorney and his mother, Mary was a hairstylist and seamstress. Following a graduation from M Street High School, Houston attended Amherst College in Massachusetts. Houston was a member of Phi Betta Kappa and when he graduated in 1915, he was the class valedictorian. Two years later, Houston joined the U.S. Army and trained in Iowa. While serving in the army, Houston was deployed to France where his experiences with racial discrimination fueled his interest in studying law. In 1919 Houston returned to the United States and began studying law at Harvard Law School. Houston became the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review and was mentored by Felix Frankfurter, who would later serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. When Houston graduated in 1922, he was received the Frederick Sheldon Fellowship which allowed him to continue studying law at the University of Madrid. Attorney, Law Educator and Mentor Houston returned to the United States in 1924 and joined his father’s law practice. He also joined the faculty of Howard University School of Law. He would go on to become the school’s dean where he would mentor future lawyers such as Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill. Both Marshall and Hill were recruited by Houston to work for the NAACP and its legal efforts. Yet it was Houston’s work with the NAACP that allowed him to rise to prominence as an attorney. Recruited by Walter White, Houston began working the NAACP as its first special counsel in the early 1930s.   For the next twenty years, Houston played an integral role in civil rights cases brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. His strategy for defeating Jim Crow laws was by showing that the inequities present in â€Å"separate but equal† policy established by Plessy v. Ferguson  in 1896. In cases such as Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, Houston argued that was unconstitutional for Missouri to discriminate against African-American students wishing to enroll in the state’s law school since there was no comparable institution for students of color. While waging civil rights battles, Houston also mentored future lawyers such as Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill at Howard University School of Law. Both Marshall and Hill were recruited by Houston to work for the NAACP and its legal efforts. Although Houston died before the Brown v. Board of Education decision was handed down, his strategies were used by Marshall and Hill. Death Houston died in 1950 in Washington D.C. In his honor, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School opened in 2005.

President Obama’s Diplomatic Style Toward Africa Putting...

A NEW APPROACH TO AFRICA The world was watching as the son of an African settled into his position in the oval office. And it did not take long for the world to find reason to be disappointed. Within the first year of his presidency journalists in Africa, Europe, and the U.S. were reporting on his lack of involvement with Africa. Comparisons between Bush and Obama were focused on foreign assistance and the HIV/AIDS relief program. Many were wondering why there was no ground breaking initiative from Washington to Africa and these questions have turned to abandon in his second term. It would not be wrong to say that George W. Bush probably did more for this continent. Theres a growing realization that Obama has no desire to be some kind†¦show more content†¦There are many aspects of Obama’s style that are reminiscent of his predecessors and we see many initiatives and policies that Bush and Clinton enacted that Obama is in full support of. But there is a great deal of c hange in the presidential style when it comes to engagement with African nations, leaders, and citizens. Obama’s rhetoric has always had a sense of affection and trust for the African people. Like a parent or older sibling, he deeply understands that hovering is never as powerful as confidence and faith in a person’s ability to do the right thing and prosper. Obama is entrusting the future of Africa to Africans themselves and he expects them to fully own this responsibility. His statements from long before his presidency have shown this belief. In 2006 he told the Associated Press that, Ultimately, a new generation of Africans have to recognize the international community, the international relief organizations or the United States cant help Africa if its own leaders are undermining the possibilities of progress. This is a hard message for people all over the world to swallow when the opposing message of giving alms to this, the poorest of continents, is a message str ongly promoted by celebrities and governments alike. But with evidence revealing that aid can actually deepen the poverty of Africans and slows the growth of nations, perhaps this new approach is a breath of fresh air for everyone. In the last decade a flood of research

Differentiate between Inferior goods and Giffen goods in the context of income effect and substitution effect free essay sample

In economics, an inferior good is a good that decreases in demand when consumer income rises, unlike normal goods, for which the opposite is observed. Normal goods are those for which consumers demand increases when their income increases. This would be the opposite of a superior good, one that is often associated with wealth and the wealthy, whereas an inferior good is often associated with lower socio-economic groups. In economics and consumer theory, a Giffen good is one which people paradoxically consume more of as the price rises, violating the law of demand. In normal situations, as the price of a good rises, the substitution effect causes consumers to purchase less of it and more of substitute goods. In the Giffen good situation, the income effect dominates, leading people to buy more of the good, even as its price rises. All Giffen goods are inferior goods, but not all inferior goods are Giffen goods. We will write a custom essay sample on Differentiate between Inferior goods and Giffen goods in the context of income effect and substitution effect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Giffen goods are difficult to find because a number of conditions must be satisfied for the associated behavior to be observed. One reason for the difficulty in finding Giffen goods that is Giffen originally envisioned a specific situation faced by individuals in a state of poverty. Modern consumer behavior research methods often deal in aggregates that average out income levels and are too blunt an instrument to capture these specific situations. Furthermore, complicating the matter are the requirements for limited availability of substitutes, as well as that the consumers are not so poor that they can only afford the inferior good. It is for this reason that many text books use the term Giffen paradox rather than Giffen good. Income Effect The income effect is defined as the result of a change in a products price relative to the consumers disposable income. When the price of a good changes, the real, or actual, income of the consumer who wants that good changes. If the price goes up, then the consumer is worse off, since he has less disposable income. Therefore, he can buy less of the good, or not buy it at all. Substitution Effect The substitution effect occurs when, as the result of a price increase, the consumer will substitute another product in its place, or forgo the product altogether. This concept, however, depends on what sort of product has gone up in price, and how the consumer views that product. If the product is a necessity, then the substitution effect will become clear, since the consumer, who cannot do without the product, will shift, or substitute, a lower-cost version of the same item. A special type of inferior good may exist known as the Giffen good, which would disobey the law of demand. Quite simply, when the price of a Giffen good increases, the demand for that good increases. This would have to be a good that is such a large proportion of a person or markets consumption that the income effect of a price increase would produce, effectively, more demand. The observed demand curve would slope upward, indicating positive elasticity. It was noted by Sir Robert Giffen III that in Ireland during the 19th century there was a rise in the price of bread. The poor people were forced to reduce their consumption of meat and expensive items as eggs etc. Now bread being still the cheapest food, so they started consuming more of it though its price was rising. This phenomenon is often described as Giffens Paradox. Conditions for Giffen goods Total consumption on the good forms a large part of the budget The total amount the consumer spends on the good should form a large fraction of the consumers budget. Only in such a case does an increase in the price of the good create a budget shortage significant enough to cause a shift in other consumption patterns. In other words, an increase in its price should produce a significant income effect. The good must be inferior The good must be an inferior good in order for the budget shortage on the part of consumers to cause an increase in consumption. In other words, the good must be inferior for the income effect to increase its consumption due to substitution away from costly and superior alternatives. Close substitutes must be absent but not-so-close substitutes must exist Finally, the cost difference with substitutes must be sufficiently substantial that even with the increase in price, it is still attractive as an inferior good. In other words, the substitution effect created by an increase in its relative price should be too small to counter the income effect created by the increased costs. Alternative explanations for apparent Giffen goods Just because the quantity demanded for a good increases with increases in its price does not imply that the good is a Giffen good. To qualify as a Giffen good, the quantity demanded must increase despite the fact that the substitution effect works against it: in other words, the value that buyers place on the good does not increase. Substitution and Income Effect: These two terms are very familiar to anybody who has taken an intermediate course in macroeconomics. With the recent articles regarding volunteerism and labor statistics, I thought that it was very timely to write on these two very important concepts. Let’s start with a thought experiment: if you were to receive a 10% increase in your hourly wage, would you increase, decrease, or maintain your hours worked? Believe it or not, any answer is correct, despite many assumptions regarding the positive slope of labor supply curves. The reason that any answer is correct lies in an understanding of substitution and income effects. The substitution effect is the change in consumption patterns due to a change in the relative prices of goods. For example, if private universities increase their tuition by 10% and public universities increase their tuition by only 2%, then it is very likely that we would see a shift in attendance from private to public universities (at least amongst students accepted to both). The same can be said across brands, goods, and even categories of goods. Examples would be the relative price of Pepsi vs. Coke, Red Meat vs. Poultry and Clothes vs. Entertainment. The income effect is the change in consumption patterns due to the change in purchasing power. This can occur from income increases, price changes, or even currency fluctuations. Since income is not a good in and of it (it can only be exchanged for goods and services, a point which has been debated recently by neuroeconomists), price decreases increase one’s purchasing power. For example, a decrease in the price of all cars allows you to buy either a cheaper car or a better car for the same price, thus increasing your utility. Goods typically fall into one of two categories: normal and inferior. These categorizations relate consumption of a good with a particular individual’s income. Normal goods increase in consumption as income increase while inferior goods decrease as income increases. Also, some goods can be normal or inferior only on certain ranges of an income spectrum. For example, education is a normal good: as one’s income increases (family income), demand for education increases. As one’s income increases, hot dog consumption, however, typically decreases. References

Smoking And Panic Disorder Essays - Smoking, Panic Disorder

Smoking And Panic Disorder Healthcentral.com printed an article citing smoking as a cause of panic attacks. In this article, Reuters Health states that daily smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to experience a panic attack for the first time. Panic attacks may include all or some of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and chest pain. Quitting smoking appears to somewhat reduce the risk of panic attacks. Each year, one third of adults have at least one panic attack. In addition, smoking has also been linked to depression, which can definitely cause a person to become easily frustrated and overwhelmed, possibly causing these unfortunate panic attacks to occur. The first survey was taken of 1,007 people aged 21-30 who are members of a Michigan HMO group. The other survey took a national sample of 4,411 people aged 15-54 years old. In both groups, daily smokers were much more likely to have experienced a first occurrence of a panic attack. In the HMO group, daily smokers had three times the risk of nonsmokers of having panic attacks. In the national sample, smokers' risk of the attacks was twice that of nonsmokers. Additionally, quitting smoking lowered the risk of panic attacks. The article states that the original experiment does not explain how smoking might lead to panic attacks, but smoking's effect on the lungs might be to blame. There are other explanations for the relationship. Smokers who develop respiratory problems, even mild ones, which affect breathing might get a false sensation that they are suffocating. This might lead to a panic attack. Additionally, the effect of nicotine on the brain may also provide an explanation for these findings.

Blood and Culture essays

Blood and Culture essays The State of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, creating a national homeland for all Jewish people throughout the world. The establishment of a uniquely Jewish state in the Arab controlled Middle East has created serious tension between the Jews and their Arab neighbors, and more specifically, the Palestinians. However, Israels problems regarding race and ethnicity extend far beyond the Jewish-Palestinian issue, and yet, they touch much closer to home for Israeli Jews. Although Israel was founded as a homeland where all Jews could live together as equals, there has been a high level of racial inequality for the Sephardic and Oriental Jews, which has been fueled in large part by the Ashkenazim. The lack of Jewish unity has created even more problems in an already tumultuous state. Israeli Jewish society is broken down into two major subsections, which have been designated, in large part, by country of origin: the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim. The definition of the Ashkenazim is fairly straightforward, referring to Jews from Germany, central or Eastern Europe, as well as the United States. A definition of the Sephardim is more involved; originally the Sephardim were all the Jews originating in Spain and Portugal who after the Inquisition lived in both Europe and in Oriental countries, Egypt and North Africa. However, today, Sephardim is more loosely defined, and now includes Jews of Mediterranean, Balkan, Aegean and Middle Eastern lands. If keeping with the strict definition of Sephardim, those Jews whose ancestors spoke dialects of Arabic, Berber, or Persian would not be considered Sephardim, but rather, as Edot Mizrah Mizrahim, (or Oriental Jews) meaning from the communities of the East. In order to remain impartial to the Israeli ethnicity issues, it is essential to understand that the term Oriental is often misused to mean Sephardic, but the two term...

Major General Benjamin Lincoln - American Revolution

Major General Benjamin Lincoln - American Revolution Benjamin Lincoln - Early Life: Born at Hingham, MA on January 24, 1733, Benjamin Lincoln was the son of Colonel Benjamin Lincoln and Elizabeth Thaxter Lincoln. The sixth child and first son of the family, the younger Benjamin benefited from his fathers prominent role in the colony. Working on the familys farm, he attended school locally. In 1754, Lincoln entered public service when he assumed the post of Hingham town constable. A year later, he joined the 3rd Regiment of the Suffolk County militia. His fathers regiment, Lincoln served as adjutant during the French Indian War. Though he did not see action in the conflict, he attained the rank of major by 1763. Elected a town selectman in 1765, Lincoln became increasingly critical of British policy towards the colonies. Condemning the Boston Massacre in 1770, Lincoln also encouraged Hingham residents to boycott British goods. Two years later, he earned a promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regiment and won election to the Massachusetts legislature. In 1774, following the Boston Tea Party and passage of the Intolerable Acts, the situation in Massachusetts rapidly changed. That fall, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, who had been appointed governor by London, dissolved the colonial legislature. Not to be deterred, Lincoln and his fellow legislators reformed the body as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and continued meeting. In short order this body became the government for the entire colony except British-held Boston. Due to his militia experience, Lincoln oversaw committees on military organization and supply. Benjamin Lincoln - The American Revolution Begins: In April 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the American Revolution, Lincolns role with the congress expanded as he assumed a position on its executive committee as well as its committee of safety. As the Siege of Boston commenced, he worked to direct supplies and food to the American lines outside the city. With the siege continuing, Lincoln received a promotion in January 1776 to major general in the Massachusetts militia. Following the British evacuation of Boston in March, he focused his attention on improving the colonys coastal defenses and later directed attacks against the remaining enemy warships in the harbor. Having achieved a degree of success in Massachusetts, Lincoln began pressing the colonys delegates to the Continental Congress for a suitable commission in the Continental Army. As he waited, he received a request to bring a brigade of militia south to assist General George Washingtons army at New York. Marching south in September, Lincolns men reached southwest Connecticut when they received orders from Washington to mount a raid across Long Island Sound. As the American position in New York collapsed, new orders arrived directing Lincoln to join Washingtons army as it retreated north. Helping to cover the American withdrawal, he was present at the Battle of White Plains on October 28. With the enlistments of his men expiring, Lincoln returned to Massachusetts later in the fall to aid in raising new units. Later marching south, he took part in operations in the Hudson Valley in January before finally receiving a commission in the Continental Army. Appointed a major general on February 14, 1777, Lincoln reported to Washingtons winter quarters at Morristown, NJ. Benjamin Lincoln - To the North: Placed in command of the American outpost at Bound Brook, NJ, Lincoln came under attack by Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis on April 13. Badly outnumbered and nearly surrounded, he successfully extricated the bulk of his command before retreating. In July, Washington dispatched Lincoln north to aid Major General Philip Schuyler in blocking an offensive south over Lake Champlain by Major General John Burgoyne. Tasked with organizing militia from New England, Lincoln operated from a base in southern in southern Vermont and began planning raids on the British supply lines around Fort Ticonderoga. As he worked to grow his forces, Lincoln clashed with Brigadier General John Stark who refused to subjugate his New Hampshire militia to Continental authority. Operating independently, Stark won a decisive victory over Hessian forces at the Battle of Bennington on August 16. Benjamin Lincoln - Saratoga: Having built a force of around 2,000 men, Lincoln began moving against Fort Ticonderoga in early September. Sending three 500-man detachments forward, his men attacked on September 19 and captured everything in the area except the fort itself. Lacking siege equipment, Lincolns men withdrew after four days of harassing the garrison. As his men regrouped, orders arrived from Major General Horatio Gates, who had replaced Schuyler in mid-August, requesting that Lincoln bring his men to Bemis Heights. Arriving on September 29, Lincoln found that the first part of the Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Freemans Farm, had already been fought. In the wake of the engagement, Gates and his chief subordinate, Major General Benedict Arnold, fell out leading to the latters dismissal. In reorganizing his command, Gates ultimately placed Lincoln in command of the armys right. When the second phase of the battle, the Battle of Bemis Heights, began on October 7, Lincoln remained in command of the American defenses while other elements of the army advanced to meet the British. As the fighting intensified, he directed reinforcements forward. The following day, Lincoln led a reconnaissance force forward and was wounded when a musket ball shattered his right ankle. Taken south to Albany for treatment, he then returned to Hingham to recover. Out of action for ten months, Lincoln rejoined Washingtons army in August 1778. During his convalescence, he had contemplated resigning over seniority issues but had been convinced to remain in the service. In September 1778, Congress appointed Lincoln to command the Southern Department replacing Major General Robert Howe. Benjamin Lincoln - In the South: Delayed in Philadelphia by Congress, Lincoln did not arrive at his new headquarters until December 4. As a result, he was unable to prevent the loss of Savannah later that month. Building his forces, Lincoln mounted a counter-offensive in Georgia in the spring of 1779 until a threat to Charleston, SC by Brigadier General Augustine Prevost forced him to fall back to defend the city. That fall, he utilized the new alliance with France to launch an attack against Savannah, GA. Partnering with French ships and troops under Vice Admiral Comte dEstaing, the two men laid siege to the city on September 16. As the siege dragged on, dEstaing became increasingly concerned about the threat posed to his ships by hurricane season and requested that the allied forces assault the British lines. Reliant on French support for continuing the siege, Lincoln had no choice but to agree. Moving forward, American and French forces attacked on October 8 but were unable to break through the British defenses. Though Lincoln pressed to continue the siege, dEstaing was unwilling to further risk his fleet. On October 18, the siege was abandoned and dEstaing departed the area. With the French departure, Lincoln retreated back to Charleston with his army. Working to strengthen his position at Charleston, he came under attack in March 1780 when a British invasion force led by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton landed. Forced into the citys defenses, Lincolns men were soon besieged. With his situation rapidly worsening, Lincoln attempted to negotiate with Clinton in late April to evacuate the city. These efforts were rebuffed as were later attempts to negotiate a surrender. On March 12, with part of city burning and under pressure from civic leaders, Lincoln capitulated. Surrendering unconditionally, the Americans were not granted the traditional honors of war by Clinton. The defeat proved one of the worst of the conflict for the Continental Army and remains the US Armys third-largest surrender. Benjamin Lincoln - Yorktown: Paroled, Lincoln returned to his farm in Hingham to await his formal exchange. Though he requested a court of inquiry for his actions at Charleston, none was ever formed and no charges were brought against him for his conduct. In November 1780, Lincoln was exchanged for Major General William Phillips and Baron Friedrich von Riedesel who had been captured at Saratoga. Returning to duty, he spent the winter of 1780-1781 recruiting in New England before moving south to rejoin Washingtons army outside New York. In August 1781, Lincoln marched south as Washington sought to trap Cornwallis army at Yorktown, VA. Supported by French forces under Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau, the American army arrived at Yorktown on September 28. Leading the armys 2nd Division, Lincolns men took part in the resulting Battle of Yorktown. Besieging the British, the Franco-American army compelled Cornwallis to surrender on October 17. Meeting with Cornwallis at the nearby Moore House, Washington demanded the same harsh conditions that the British had required of Lincoln the year before at Charleston. At noon on October 19 the French and American armies lined up to await the British surrender. Two hours later the British marched out with flags furled and their bands playing The World Turned Upside Down. Claiming he was ill, Cornwallis sent Brigadier General Charles OHara in his stead. Approaching the allied leadership, OHara attempted to surrender to Rochambeau but was told by the Frenchman to approach the Americans. As Cornwallis was not present, Washington directed OHara to surrender to Lincoln, who was now serving as his second-in-command. Benjamin Lincoln - Later Life: At the end of October 1781, Lincoln was appointed Secretary of War by Congress. He remained in this post until the formal end of hostilities two years later. Resuming his life in Massachusetts, he began speculating on land in Maine as well as negotiated treaties with the areas Native Americans. In January 1787, Governor James Bowdoin asked Lincoln to lead a privately-funded army to put down Shays Rebellion in the central and western parts of the state. Accepting, he marched through the rebelling areas and put and end to large-scale organized resistance. Later that year, Lincoln ran and won the post of lieutenant governor. Serving one term under Governor John Hancock, he remained active in politics and participated in the Massachusetts convention that ratified the US Constitution. Lincoln later accepted the position of collector for the Port of Boston. Retiring in 1809, he died at Hingham on May 9, 1810 and was buried in the towns cemetery. Selected Sources History of War: Benjamin LincolnPatriot Resource: Benjamin Lincoln Massachusetts Historical Society: Benjamin Lincoln

Literary Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literary Analysis - Research Paper Example The idea of the bug that Gregor Samsa becomes is intended to be loathsome, toxic, and unpleasant; something avoided by humans. This concept is essential to interpreting any of Kafka’s work. Kafka’s storytelling is characterized by pessimism, dark humor, and a keen wit. It exposes his underlying cynicism shaped by a life of exploitation, misery and injustice. Within this story, Kafka uses Gregor as a symbol and a means by which he could explore his own difficult relationship with his father as well as his sense of alienation from society. Gregor's metamorphosis causes him to be treated as something less than human, a feeling Kafka felt deeply as evidenced in its appearance in many of his other writings. Through Gregor's metamorphosis, Kafka is able to express the pain of his personal existence, allowing Gregor to reveal Kafka's social situation and embody the author's sense of social, religious, and philosophical alienation. There are too many biographical similarities b etween the fictional Gregor Samsa and the real Franz Kafka to deny the link and the probability that Gregor's impressions are closely aligned with those of his author. At the beginning of the story, Gregor is painted as the good son. He is a simple man, hardworking employee, and is highly self-sacrificing as he struggles to both support his family and pay off his parents' debts. He does all this without complaint even though he is afforded little consideration or appreciation from the family he is attempting to help. This image of Gregor's home life is very similar to what is known of Kafka's home life, particularly as it relates to the relationship between Kafka/Gregor and their respective fathers. Kafka's father, Herman, was a businessman who had little understanding or patience for a son that would not follow in his capable footsteps (Brod, 1976). After hearing his shortcomings recited to him over the course of years, Kafka felt reviled and unwanted, like vermin. This is confirme d in his unpublished â€Å"Letter to His Father†, in which he even refers to himself as â€Å"Ungeziefer† (Kafka, 2009); that is, as vermin (Brod, 43). Other evidence of Kafka's sense of intimidation by his father is the fact that he developed a stammer that became so severe in his father's presence that he could hardly communicate. This issue created yet greater alienation between Kafka and the remainder of his family, leading to a situation in which he wrote in his diary, they had become â€Å"all strangers to me, we are related only by blood† (Brod, 229). A later diary entry confessed Kafka's final analysis of this destructive relationship, writing that his father had "inevitably broken my spirit" (Brod, 231). Many of these sentiments can be found in the relationship between Gregor and his father in the story. Understanding Kafka's history makes it easy to trace how Gregor’s transformation reflects Kafka’s intense feelings of isolation and vulne rability as well as his frustration in not being able to protect himself or his emotions with any sort of ‘armor’, especially when dealing with his father. Gregor's father is immediately introduced as impatient, demanding, possessing a violent temper. When it is discovered Gregor is still at home at 6:45 in the morning, his father begins pounding on Gregor's door with his fist and turns away Gregor's breakfast. Every time Mr. Samsa enters the scene, it is with reference to violence. Upon the first appearance of Gregor before the rest of

Friedrich A. Hayeks Individualism and Economic Order Summary Essay

Friedrich A. Hayeks Individualism and Economic Order Summary - Essay Example The themes used by the writer indeed became the central ideas around which the entire book, which is actually made up of a collection of writings was written. Four of these basic ideas are summarized below. Facts and Fallacies of Individualism The economist holds a basic idea that individualism, and for that matter social order is neither a fact nor a fallacy but that it is both a true and false. First, the economist writes to associate individualism more to be a social order whereby regardless of the fact that people are expected to behave and react in a certain individualistic manner to meet their economic needs of life, they are at the same time obliged to act according to the larger interest of society. From this perspective, the economist goes on further to give vivid reasons why individualism and for that matter, the social order could be considered to be false. The explanation given is that â€Å"in social matters, one does not adhere to fixed principles but decides each ques tion "on its merits"; that one is generally guided by expediency† (Hayek, 1996, p. 1). Invariably, the writer is implying that no individual would be robotic to economic principles even when those principles deny him food on his table. This is what makes individualism true because people function economically according to the dictates of their conditions. On the other hand, there is a justification given as to why individualism and economic order could be true. With this, the economist explains that â€Å"principles, have a way of asserting themselves even if they are not explicitly recognized but are only implied in particular decisions (Hayek, 1996, p. 1).† In other words, even if a person defies the provisions of economic principles, the core values of these principles remain a fact and thus true. The use of Knowledge in Society In the second theme and basic knowledge explicitly outlined by the economist, he visits the availability of knowledge and the use of it ther eof in modern society. Whiles doing this, the economist related economies to social science by making the assertion that the provisions that make social existence possible form the basis of rational economic order (Gabby, 2005). To this, the economist emphasizes the point that what society really needs to manage its rational economic order is logic. By logic, the economist talks of using common sense presented at the individual stage of getting things worked out for a person. A clear sense, therefore, an endorsement is made by the writer of individualism as a fact by raising the point of logic. The economist further throws light on the fact that the logic needed to make things work out for individual entities within society comes about as a result of making use of available information, and thus knowledge.

Power point use in work envirnoment Essay Example for Free

Power point use in work envirnoment Essay Cynthia Computer Application-205 Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Microsoft Word-Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 lead global in the development and production of software and software-related services and solutions. Initially known for home computers, Microsoft, headquartered in Washington, now offers various operating systems and software for desktop computers. This multinational company strives to help the worldwide business community improve efficiency and productivity. In recent years, this company has battled criticism concerning what some consider monopolistic, anti-competitive business practices. Despite legal setbacks including antitrust violations sanctioned by the US Department of Justice, Microsoft remains a major player in its field. In today’s business environment demands the sharing of data, mobile technology and speedy communication. Microsoft provides tools enabling business to be productive and communicate effectively regardless of location. Outlook serves as the portal for e-mail, tasks, calendar and contacts. Microsoft office line workspace, boasting online storage space, enables users to save access and share documents throughout the world. Mobile Technology like smartphones, which supply the user with advanced computing options allow you to stay connected to businesses. Microsoft office Accounting Express 2008 offers small start-up or at home businesses a resource for accounting processing and procedures. The software includes invoices, budget and finance template and profit and loss statements. Office Excel surpasses manual, paper-based spreadsheets in terms of ease of use and accuracy. Businesses confront an ever-growing number of security threats. Many businesses elect to use Microsoft Vista operating system as a measure to protect their data. Vista boasts account control, troubleshooting and diagnostic features and spyware blocker. Microsoft Security Essentials, introduce in 2009, offers antimalware solutions at no cost to consumers who use Genuine Windows-based PCs. Large business may choose Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate; Ultimate offers Bit Lockers Drive Encryption for maximum data protection. Microsoft lost its standing as the leading global software company in May 2010. Apple, once on the verge of extinction focused on innovative, new consumer products to generate growth; a popular line of hand-held devices contributed to the company’s surge in profitability. In contrast, Microsoft, despite sporadic new systems releases, primarily lies mainly on preserving the existing business. Although Microsoft remains a strong player in the market, the company continues to face stiff competition. PowerPoint is an excellent tool for employee training and online learning. Business owners and company managers can use the programs to create compelling and interactive slide shows to demonstrate new products, train new workers and help existing customers get the most out of the products they buy. In fact there are a great many advantages to using PowerPoint as an online learning tool. One of the most powerful things about PowerPoint is the fact that it can corporate animation features and clip art. Its ability to incorporate sound is another powerful benefit of PowerPoint as an online learning tool. The sound functions of this program can make the slide show more interactive and less boring, and too can encourage visitors to stay with the training. Companies can use this interactive feature of PowerPoint to overcome problems and make their training sessions compelling. PowerPoint contains a number of powerful interactivity tools that makes it easy for users to engage the attention of the entire online audience. The improvement done to Excel 2007 and Excel 2010 is the ability to group the dates in the dropdown list into years and months. That means you don’t have to create a new column to identify the years and months of each row using Excel formulas. In Excel 2010, you can customize your own Ribbon tab. It can be used as commands in one place. In this way you do not have to click from one tab to another to find your commonly used command. In the earlier years of Excel (2003 and below), sorting can only be done based on the color coding in the cell, Not only that, you can also sort the records by the font color. That’s new in Excel 2002 and 2010. Multiple conditional is not made easy Excel 2007 and 2010. In the older Excel version 2003 and below, we are to count based on one single condition. When using Excel 2003, multiple conditions sum has to be done using the formula SUMPRODUCT or combining all the conditions into one before applying the formula SUMIF to data. With the new Excel 2007, you can now easily sum up the values based on more than one condition by using the SUMIF’s fomula.

Geography’s Impact on Culture and Society Essay -- Geography

Geography’s Impact on Culture and Society When studying ancient civilizations and the beginning societies in the world, the geography has shaped its story significantly. Depending on the location of the civilization society, whether or not water was nearby was crucial for its survival. With trade networks, metals, foods, and languages were spread. Weapons were able to be formed from these metals which led to a stronger military. Mountain ranges formed the boundaries of civilizations. Geography greatly impacted Asia, Africa and Europe. Asia Asia is â€Å"the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres†. Its land mass covers almost 9% of the Earth's surface area, 30% of its land area and it holds nearly 60% of the world's current human population . Most of central Asia is covered by cold steppes. Dictionary.com describes a steppe as â€Å"an extensive plain, especially one without trees† , consisting mainly of grasslands and considered to be a land that is â€Å"too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert† . The coastal border of Asia was inhabited by some of the world's earliest known civilizations that developed around fertile river valleys. These people â€Å"may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel with one another†1. The central steppe region had long been inhabited by nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes on horseback. The northernmost part of Asia, which includes much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to these steppe nomads, due to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated due to the geography of the land that made living conditions difficult.1 The center a... ... other surrounding Mediterranean lands, helping conquer new territories and further developing trade routes. â€Æ' Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/steppe?s=t http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppes Traditions and Encounters 26 Traditions and Encounters 33 Traditions and Encounters 88 Traditions and Encounters 89 Traditions and Encounters 102,103 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India Traditions and Encounters 310 Traditions and Encounters 310 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa Traditions and Encounters 52 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile Traditions and Encounters 58 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Greece http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens Traditions and Encounters 193

Mid-Term Break Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney ‘Mid-Term Break’ The main theme of ‘Mid-Term Break’ is the tragedy of the death of a young child, whose life ‘break[s]’ when he is only four years old; this tragedy also ‘break[s]’ the lives of others, specifically the child’s parents and brother. The tone of the poem is very sombre, as it explores the manifold ways in which lives are broken and shattered by death. In literal terms, the title refers to the ‘Mid-term Break’ of a school vacation; in this sense it is highly ironic, as the holiday the poem’s narrator gets from school after ‘six weeks’ of classes is not for a vacation, but for a funeral.However, as indicated in reference to the theme, ‘break’ has other meanings relating to the broken life of the dead child and to the broken life of those close to him. Additionally, ‘Mid-Term’ can be read not just as referring to a school holiday, but to a ter m of life; thus the child’s life has been broken prematurely, in ‘mid-term. ’ So while on a literal level the title refers to a school vacation, on a metaphoric level it refers to a life which has been broken before its natural span.Though the poem is set out in even three-lined verses, except for the anomalous last line, it is actually structured around three geographic locales, locales which are also distinguished from each other in temporal terms: the ‘college,’ location of the first verse, in which the narrator remains ‘all morning’ until ‘two o’clock,’ the narrator’s house, mainly the front porch and front room, where the narrator remains until ‘ten o’clock’ at night when the body is brought home and, finally, the upstairs room where the corpse is laid out, which the narrator visits the ‘Next morning. The movement is one from the exterior world of school and non-familial acquainta nces, to the interior world of the house, friends and family, and finally to the upstairs room where the narrator stands alone with the body of his brother. This movement can reflect the way in which death isolates us and sets us apart: as the narrator is increasingly isolated, finally left alone with the corpse, so death separates us from normal human interactions and leaves us alone to confront our mortality. This sense of increasing alienation from the world of normative human existence is marked throughout the poem.The first people the narrator refers to, in the first verse of the poem, are the ‘neighbours’ who drove him home; however, once at home, he is disconcerted to find his ‘father crying,’ an action which the narrator regards as disturbingly abnormal for a man who ‘had always taken funerals in his stride. ’ The baby’s actions in ‘coo[ing] and laugh[ing] and rock[ing] the pram’ also disturb the narrator, as he clea rly finds them incongruous; he is further ‘embarrassed/By old men standing up to shake [his] hand//And tell [him] they were ‘sorry for [his] trouble. ’ Alienation is increased as the narrator now uses personification to create a sense of disembodiment: ‘Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest;’ he is further distressed by his mother’s reaction, as she ‘coughed out angry tearless sighs. ’ Here, the unusual collocation of ‘coughed’ and ‘sighs’ works to create a sense of disturbance and discord: it is almost as if the mother’s actions make no logical sense.Finally, the narrator feels alienated even from his young brother: it is not his brother who is brought home at night but a ‘corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses. ’ Thus the narrator feels increasingly set apart from the world around him, even distanced from the body of his brother, profoundly alienated and intensely self-con scious of his own alienation. This self-consciousness, finally, is emphasised by the extensive use of the subject pronoun ‘I,’ the object pronoun ‘me’ and the possessive determiner ‘my’ in the first six verses of the poem.The narrator declares ‘I sat all morning;’ ‘our neighbours drove me;’ ‘I met my father;’ ‘I came in, and I was embarrassed;’ ‘to shake my hand;’ ‘tell me they were ‘sorry for my trouble;’’ ‘I was the eldest;’ ‘my mother held my hand;’ ‘I went up into the room’ This extensive self-reference is only abandoned in the last few lines of the poem, when the narrator finally looks at the body of his brother, ‘him,’ as ‘Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,/He lay in the four foot box as in his cot†¦. the bumper knocked him clear. ’ From a state of almost morbid self-aware ness, therefore, the narrator is brought into a contemplation of his brother’s body, a contemplation that leads him to reflect not just upon the subjective embarrassment he feels, but upon the objective tragedy of his brother’s death.

“Globalization” or “inter-nationalization” Essay

‘Whether we call it â€Å"globalization† or â€Å"inter-nationalization†, very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? Globalization is without doubt it is a â€Å"buzz† word of the time – it is a word that seems to be constantly mentioned in the news on the television or radio. But what does living in a â€Å"globalized† world really mean? As a starting point this essay will attempt to interpret its meaning by applying four main theories and using these theories to discuss the impact of globalization on individuals, organisations and states. It will go on to explore three different perspectives on global change and how each perspective might view its effects including identifying possible weaknesses in their arguments. This will enable a decision to be made as to what extent the question â€Å"whether we call it â€Å"globalization† or â€Å"inter-nationalization†, very few people, organisations or states stand to benefit can be agreed with. Globalization can be characterized by four distinctive features. First it involves a stretching of social, political and economic activities across nation-state boundaries. What is happening on what might be geographically the other side of the world, affects the other and specific local developments can have considerable global consequences. Examples of this would be global climate change, environmental issues such as pollution into the atmosphere and oceans, poverty etc. We are all losers in terms of global problems such as pollution – acid rain, toxic waste etc and it extremely daunting to think that we are totally limitless in our control of them. For example, in April 1986 an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the USSR. This caused a cloud carrying radioactive particles to hit Britain. Ten years on, as a result of the fall-out, 70,000 sheep in Cumbria remained contaminated (Cochrane, A. and Pain, K. (2004), p.18). Second, it is marked by the intensification of flows of trade. Technological developments have accelerated over the past 20 years – the introduction of mobile phones, the internet, satellite television means that communication across the planet is virtually instantaneous. There are hundreds of satellites floating above the earth, each one carrying a huge amount of information. Physical distance is no longer an issue – we are being brought much closer to news/issues/events from around the world – this could be seen as good or bad although for the ones that have it, access to much more information has to be a good thing. Losers would undoubtedly be people without internet access and organisations with a less developed communication infrastructure. The way people work is changing – working from home is now much more viable and this has to be a good thing for individuals and companies because it provides more flexibility all round. Third, it can be linked to increasing interpenetration or the bringing together distant cultures and societies face to face with each other at local level, good examples of this would be Microsoft, Coca Cola, McDonalds and Starbucks. This could be seen as good or bad, many people don’t like the fact that these huge companies put smaller privately owned companies out of business and that everything is becoming so uniformed – local places with â€Å"character† are being lost. Global trade on the whole is increasing which may mean more jobs, better employment prospects for some but on the down sound it may also mean many home communities are devastated when local companies are bought out by multinational ones that cut wages and benefits and/or moves production overseas. This could lead to the inequality gap widening further which will ultimately cause conflict and potentially from this point of view we are all losers here too. And forth, the development of a global infrastructure – the authority of nations is territorially bound therefore international organisations such as The United Nationals, The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation all play a part in regulating and governing the global system and are new forms of agency brought about because of globalization. It could be argued that in this borderless economy, nation states have no option but to accommodate global market forces due to their power, limiting their options. Furthermore, a growth in international trade (often due to lower trade barriers) will encourage more competition. This could be seen as having winners and losers but reducing trade barriers in particular may reduce the role of governments which, in turn, could encourage corruption. There is no doubt that many developing countries have increased their share of world trade as a result of globalization although this may be at the detriment of the poorer countries. There are three positions which all have a different perspective on the term globalization; these are the globalist, inter-nationalist and transformationalist and all three have strengths and weaknesses to their arguments. Globalists on the whole see Globalisation as something that is real and is happening – that changes are happening socially and economically and that it is an inevitable, irreversible development that should not be resisted. But globalists themselves fall into two categories – optimistic/positive globalists and pessimistic globalists. Optimistic/positive Globalists view it as a process that is beneficial. They would probably disagree with the statement that very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit because they welcome the changes that it brings such as improvement on the quality of life, raising living standards and the bringing together of societies and cultures – promoting a better understanding of each other. They acknowledge that globalisation is not all good news, that with it issues such as global environmental pollution, for example, but want citizens to take responsibility for their actions, to look for ways of minimising the damage through their own actions and through the use of new technologies. They may have overlooked however, that local Governments/authorities may be limited in their actions in relation to worldwide/global issues and that globalization is certainly not developing in an even handed way. In Tony Gidden’s Reith Lecture he quotes â€Å"Globalisation some argue creates a world of winners and losers, a few on the fast track to prosperity, the majority condemned to a life of misery and despair and indeed the statistics are daunting. The share of the poorest 5th of the world’s population in global income has dropped from 2.3% to 1.4% over the past 10 years. The proportion taken by the richest 5th on the other hand has risen† (Tony Gidden Reith Lecture â€Å"Runaway World† 1999). Pessimistic globalists regard it with hostility, believing that it increases inequality between nations, threatens employment and hinders social progress. Moreover they believe that globalization is making the world become more homogeneous with the demise of sovereignty and national identities as well as the demise of politicians’ capabilities to influence events. A pessimistic view would probably be that only the giant multi-national companies (usually American) stand to benefit since the US has a dominant economic, cultural and military position in the global scheme of things. They would probably view globalization as nothing more than corporate hegemony and would definitely agree with the statement about very few people, organizations or states benefiting. A weakness of the pessimistic globalist view is that they don’t seem to have a clear solution to the problem, it’s like they want to â€Å"reverse time† and go back to how it was. They undermine the e xisting structure but have no idea about any clear alternatives. According to the inter-nationalists all the talk about globalization is exactly that – just talk. They believe that the world carries on much the same as it ever did that it isn’t especially different from that which existed in previous periods and that increases in global trade across the world is just progression based on world trading links that have been established for many years – a continuation of the past. They argue that a good deal of economic exchange is between regions rather than being truly worldwide, for example countries of the European Union mostly trade among themselves. This whole view seems unrealistic. World financial flows have grown exponentially since the 1970’s and advances in technology have undoubtedly helped with transactions becoming instantaneous with 24 hour global financial markets. International trade has also grown to unprecedented levels and involves a much wider range of goods and services. As a result a weakness of theirs would be that underestimate the power of nation states and possibly put too much faith in the capabilities of national governments. The third – transformationslists – is somewhere in between the two. They believe that something is happening, that changes are taking place and that the effects of globalisation should not be underestimated. Unlike the globalists they believe that nothing is pre-determined or inevitable and that national, local and other agencies still have room for manoeuvre and that maybe new solutions may have to be found. A strength of the transformationalist is that they see sovereignty as having to be shared among other private and public agencies. They would probably sit on the fence as to whether people, organizations or states stand to benefit from globalization. Some people do benefit, some don’t. Some organisations benefit, some don’t, and so on. It might depend on who you are, what you are, where you live etc. A weakness of the transformationalist would be that they are somewhat blinded by the scale of global inequalities that are developing as a result of rationalisation as they tend to have more of a â€Å"regional† focus. The word â€Å"globalization† seems to have come from no where to be almost everywhere. Globalisation is political, technological, cultural and economic, it affects everyone and its effects can be seen everywhere. There are winners and losers but with reference to the original question in the introductory paragraph personally it would have to be a disagreement with this statement. Globalization is not something that should be shirked but the challenges it presents need to be controlled because it is now part of the way we live and it’s not going to go away. Metaphorically speaking it may mean a shrinking world but it is creating something that has never existed before and it is without doubt changing our world, for better or worse, no matter where or whom we happen to be. References Cochrane, A. and Pain, K, ‘A globalizing society’ in Held, D. (ed) (2004) Gidden Reith, A. Lecture â€Å"Runaway World† (1999) Held, D. â€Å"A globalizing world? Culture, economics, politics†, London, Routledge/The Open University

Amish and Australian Culture similarities and differences Essays

Amish and Australian Culture similarities and differences Essays Amish and Australian Culture similarities and differences Paper Amish and Australian Culture similarities and differences Paper Essay Topic: The Breadwinner There are many obvious differences seen from an outside perspective of Amiss and Australian society, but when looked at in more detail similarities in structure, roles and decision making appear. The Amiss society comes from a line of strict tradition and tight knit farming communities, whose values have changed little over time whereas as Australia is a post-industrial society which is constantly advancing in technology, culture and (something about the rights of women). The Amiss society is one that is much closed off and segregated from the wider world, their almost non-existent reliance on the society around them has limited their exposure to outside influences. The whole base of their identity is generated by an unwavering faith in God, as a result of this religion touches all aspects of their daily lives. The Orotund, a set of guidelines for religious Amiss living, dictates not only what they can wear but the way in which they perform tasks such as what tools can be used to plough your farm and what foods you can put in your meals. Although religion is an influential part of Australian society it takes nothing to the extent of the Amiss people with the Orotund. Australia is a widely multicultural society which cultures and values are derived from those of the people who migrated there, the variety in restaurants, religion and clothing style a direct reflection of the many influences brought to Australia. The essence of Amiss society is simple and mono-influential, a path to god, whereas the essence to Australian society is influenced by the many us vestures within. Due to the only influence of religion, the Amiss hinge all decision makings on the practices of the Rounding. It is perceived that the decision made by God, is the righteous and moral path and every decision is cogitated with the help of the lord. Consulting something or someone before decision making is seen in both societies as an Amiss person might consult their parents, the bishop or minister to find the virtuous decision, an Australian person would also consult a trusted person whose experience they value such as a parent or grandparent. The difference seen in decision making stems from how the societies allocate the responsibility of decision making. Amiss society have a strict hierarchy system that denotes the power from God to bishop then ministers, deacons, men, women then children. This dictation of power changes the life of a family as the father is solely responsible for the decision making within the household and male ministers and bishops make the decisions they think will benefit the community and please God. This is not reflected in Australian society as it values the importance Of the right to make decisions that affect oneself and the freedom of choice. Although many thing may influence a person in Australian societys session, money, partners and family, there is no authority that can make a decision for you, a husband doesnt make decisions for a wife and the church doesnt make a decision for you. This is seen as a critical necessity in Australian society, as liberation and rights are a value cherished by all but is not viewed as fundamental value in Amiss society. Authority in Amiss society also comes under the umbrella of religion, the Orotund dictates who has the power and authority and in what areas it can be exercised. Only men are allocated positions of power and there are no requirements for training Geiger education or theological training. This idea is not returned at all in Australian society, since the 1945 womens right movement women in Australia have been gaining power not only in the home but in the workplace and the business world and the liberation of women is seen as one of the proudest moments in Australian history for women. Ministers and Bishops in Amiss society are nominated by members of the church and chosen in a process that incorporates divine intervention and do not require any training for these positions, this may be a result of the low level of conventional cooling as well as the prohibition on high school and college education. This however is thoroughly encouraged in Australian society as higher level Of qualifications lead to generally higher regarded jobs and people are elected in positions of power based on their qualifications and appeal to the people. Amiss society is based on humbleness and simplicity and believe power will lead to pride and the abuse of power and Australian is a more liberal society denoting power based on qualification and democracy. Power and Authority is closely linked to the roles in an Amiss society. Within the household a man s the breadwinner, in charge of decisions and daily running of the family within the rules of the Orotund. He and his sons run the business or the farm while the women cook, clean and watch over small children during the day. This is not unusual to the Australian household, up until the revolution of womens rights the Amiss family structure mirrored that of an Australian family. Traditionally the Australian husband went out and provided for the family while the wife stayed home and catered to his needs. In modern Australia this is no longer custom, Australia has grown to a very anthropometry society with the rise of different home situations not seen in the Amiss community such as single parents and same sex couples. The roles have changed with many more women in the workplace and the slow acceptance of stay at home dads, it has become a choice made by each family and many variations are seen. When observed thoroughly in micro, mess and macro levels Amiss and Australian societies have fundamental similarities including historical gender role allocation and the influences for decision making.

Definition and Examples of Dialectic in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Dialectic in Rhetoric In rhetoric and logic, dialectic is the practice of arriving at a conclusion by the exchange of logical arguments, usually in the form of questions and answers. Adjective: dialectic or dialectical. In classical rhetoric, notes James Herrick, Sophists employed the method of  dialectic  in their teaching, or inventing arguments for and against a proposition. This approach taught students to argue either side of a case (The History and Theory of Rhetoric, 2001). One of the most famous sentences in Aristotles Rhetoric is the first one: Rhetoric is a counterpart (antistrophos) of dialectic.Etymology: From the Greek, speech, conversation Pronunciation: die-eh-LEK-tik Examples and Observations Zeno the Stoic suggests that while dialectic is a closed fist, rhetoric is an open hand (Cicero, De Oratore 113). Dialectic is a thing of closed logic, of minor and major premises leading inexorably toward irrefutable conclusions. Rhetoric is a signal toward decisions in the spaces left open before and after logic.(Ruth CA Higgins, The Empty Eloquence of Fools: Rhetoric in Classical Greece. Rediscovering Rhetoric, ed. by J.T. Gleeson and Ruth CA Higgins. Federation Press, 2008)In the simplest form of Socratic dialectic, the questioner and respondent begin with a proposition or a stock question, such as What is courage? Then, through the process of dialectical interrogation, the questioner attempts to lead the respondent into contradiction. The Greek term for the contradiction that generally signals the end of a round of dialectic is aporia.(Janet M. Atwell, Rhetoric Reclaimed: Aristotle and the Liberal Arts Tradition. Cornell University  Press, 1998)Aristotle on Dialectic and Rheto ric- Aristotle took a different view of the relationship between rhetoric and dialectic from what Plato had taken. Both, for Aristotle, are universal verbal arts, not limited to any specific subject matter, by which one could generate discourse and demonstrations on any question that might arise. The demonstrations, or arguments, of dialectic, differ from those of rhetoric in that dialectic derives its arguments from premises (protaseis) founded on universal opinion and rhetoric from particular opinions.(Thomas M. Conley, Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Longman, 1990)- Dialectical method necessarily presupposes a conversation between two parties. An important consequence of this is that a dialectical process leaves room for discovery, or invention, in a way that apodeictic normally cannot, for the cooperative or antagonistic encounter tends to yield results unanticipated by either party to the discussion. Aristotle opposes  syllogistic to inductive argumentation  separately for dialectic and apodeictic, further specifying enthymeme and paradigm.(Hayden W. Ausland, Socratic Induction in Plato and Aristotle. The Development of Dialectic from Plato to Aristotle, ed. by Jakob Leth Fink. Cambridge University Press, 2012) Dialectic From Medieval to Modern Times- In medieval times, dialectic had achieved a new importance at the expense of rhetoric, which was reduced to a doctrine of elocutio and actio (delivery) after the study of inventio and dispositio had been moved from rhetoric to dialectic. With [Petrus] Ramus this development culminated in a strict separation between dialectic and rhetoric, rhetoric being devoted exclusively to style, and dialectic being incorporated in logic . . .. The division (which is still very much alive in present-day argumentation theory) then resulted in two separate and mutually isolated paradigms, each conforming to different conceptions of argumentation, which were considered incompatible. Within the humanities, rhetoric has become a field for scholars of communication, language, and literature while dialectic, which was incorporated in logic and the sciences, almost disappeared from sight with the further formalization of logic in the nineteenth century.(Frans H. va n Eemeren, Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse: Extending the Pragma-Dialectical Theory of Argumentation. John Benjamins, 2010)- During the long interlude which started with the Scientific Revolution, dialectic virtually disappeared as a full-fledged discipline and was replaced by the search for a reliable scientific method and increasingly formalized logical systems. The art of debate did not give rise to any theoretical development, and references to Aristotles Topics quickly vanished from the intellectual scene. As to the art of persuasion, it was treated under the heading of rhetoric, which was devoted to the art of style and figures of speech. More recently, however, Aristotles dialectic, in close interaction with rhetoric, has inspired some important developments within the fields of argumentation theory and epistemology.(Marta Spranzi, The Art of Dialectic Between Dialogue and Rhetoric: The Aristotelian Tradition. John Benjamins, 2011) Hegelian DialecticThe word dialectic, as elaborated in the philosophy of Hegel [1770-1831], causes endless problems for people who are not German, and even for some who are. In a way, it is both a philosophical concept and a literary style. Derived from the ancient Greek term for the art of debate, it indicates an argument that maneuvers between contradictory points. It mediates, to use a favorite Frankfurt School word. And it gravitates toward doubt, demonstrating the power of negative thinking, as Herbert Marcuse once put it. Such twists and turns come naturally in the German language, whose sentences are themselves plotted in swerves, releasing their full meaning only with the final clinching action of the verb.(Alex Ross, The Naysayers. The New Yorker, September 15, 2014)Contemporary Theories of Rhetoric and Dialectic[Richard] Weaver (1970, 1985) believes that what he considers as the limitations of dialectic can be overcome (and its advantages maintained) through the use of rhet oric as a complement to dialectic. He defines rhetoric as truth plus its artful presentation, which means that it takes a dialectically secured position and shows its relationship to the world of prudential conduct (Foss, Foss, Trapp, 1985, p. 56). In his view, rhetoric supplements the knowledge gained through dialectic with a consideration of the character and situation of the audience. A sound rhetoric presupposes dialectic, bringing action to understanding. [Ernesto] Grassi (1980) aims to return to the definition of rhetoric espoused by the Italian Humanists to give rhetoric a new relevance for contemporary times, making use of the concept of ingenium- recognizing similarities- to grasp our ability to distinguish relationships and make connections. Returning to the ancient valuing of rhetoric as an art fundamental to human existence, Grassi identifies rhetoric with the power of language and human speech to generate a basis for human thought. For Grassi, the scope of rhetoric is much broader than argumentative discourse. It is the basic process by which we know the world.(Frans H. van Eemeren, Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse: Extending the Pragma-Dialectical Theory of Argumentation. John Benjamins, 2010)

The Minimum Wage Should Not Be Abolished Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Minimum Wage Should Not Be Abolished - Essay Example This discussion examines the benefits of raising the minimum wage not only for those workers who would gain monetarily but to employers as well and ultimately, the economy as a whole. Currently, the minimum wage stands at $7.25 which was increased from $5.85 per hour in July of 2009. This modest increase put minimum wage earners near the poverty line, about $16,000 for a family of three (Poverty Guidelines, 2006). The minimum wage had not been raised for seven years previous, the longest time span since the law first went into effect in 1938. This decline in the real value of the minimum wage over that seven years translated into lower real wages for millions of workers and contributed to the income gap between poor working families and the middle class. Raising the minimum wage allows those who make minimum salaries to keep up with inflation. It also helps those that need it the most such as single mothers and minorities. In addition, it will cause a ‘ripple effect’ in that wages will also increase for those that make just above the minimum. In 1968, a full-time employee who earned the minimum wage made what would be â€Å"the equivalent of $15,431 today, 44 percent more than today’s full-time minimum wage worker† (Lee, 1999, p. 1016). ... decreased by 20 percent since September 1997.   â€Å"The minimum wage still equals only 31 percent of the average wage for private sector, non-supervisory workers†¦ the lowest share since at least the end of World War II† (Bernstein & Shapiro, 2006). Some of those who oppose the increase have suggested that the dominant wage earner of families does not fall into the minimum wage category, that it normally applies to teenage summer workers. This assertion is not at all the case. The Economic Report of the President evaluated the evidence in 1999 and found that that this argument was indeed untrue stating in its report, â€Å"most minimum wage workers are adults from lower income families, and their wages are a major source of their families’ earnings† (Council of Economic Advisors, 1999, p. 111). Opponents also argue that raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy but, unlike the effects tax-cuts for the wealthiest Americans have on the economy, when t he poorest in society have extra income; they spend it on the necessities of life thus directly stimulating the local economy. Employers generally oppose increasing the minimum wage. Their claim is that they would be forced to lay-off employees to cover the extra costs. This claim, however, has been proven to be unfounded. On the front-end, employers may indeed pay more to their employees after a wage increase but, as evidence indicates, the increased costs to employers are usually compensated for by benefits. For example, employees who make a wage that allows their families to subsist, rather than not, are less likely to secure other employment which reduces the employer’s employee turnover rate thus reducing additional training and recruitment costs. It also results in a decrease in absenteeism as well as higher

Transportation and Facilities Management role in Military Essay

Transportation and Facilities Management role in Military - Essay Example In the proving this commitment, the US Army Force has a well instituted program scale named Optimal Stationing Army Force (OSAF) that has helped in setting and making of viable organizational strategies (Dell 421). OSAF has fundamentally helped the US Army in organizing various installation programs and setting up of operational platform for the US Army Force. The Optimal Stationing Army Force has been significantly applied in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). The OSAF provides a significant tool for planning and scheduling the installation and reinforcement of the military forces in manner destined at cutting expenditure and resources spent in maintaining and sustaining the US Army (Dell 421). Every military plan conducted on the basis of the OSAF is done in such way that it will be implemented under the lowest possible cost. OSAF program dictates that every stationing plan for any army unit has to meet particular standards without which the particular unit may be disreg arded. The standards include the availability of field for maneuver training, buildings and various requirements for training a unit. The OSAF also provides strict and explicit mechanism for determining and evaluating every station plan. With the provisions in the OSAF, Army leaders have been able to guide stationing analysts on the appropriate channels and systems to rely upon, those to change and those to ignore in making decisions that meet qualitative and qualitative metrics of Army Stationing. Furthermore, Army has substantially used the OSAF program as a tool for determining appropriate conditioning of various facilities as well as upgrading the underdeveloped and outdated facilities (Dell 423). The Optimal Stationing Army Force (OSAF) is said to cover and perhaps judgmental of only five types of Army installations out of the total thirteen types of the Army installation. The five types of installation stations run by OSAF include the maneuver centers, professional schools con trol and command, major training bases and training schools. As observed by Dell the installation centers operated by OSAF are somewhat different from the other centers not operated by OSAF as determined by the high population of soldiers in the OSAF operated stations (424). In dictating the installation costs, OSAF uses the principles of the Cost of Base Realignment Action (COBRA) Army to arrive at the per-person cost of running particular installation station. The cost of running an individual installation station is calculated in terms of the location, medical costs, repair costs housing operations, modernization costs and the amount of allowances offered. According to Dell the installation programs of various stations face numerous problems and challenges that are however solved and settled by the OSAF (424). One of the noted problems that faces and affects the smooth achievement of the installation programs in various stations is the unpredictability of the actual costs and exp enditures. This results from the variability in the installation costs of different units in particular stations. Another problem faced in the installation program of stations relies upon the high transport costs of the soldiers and their families during their

Investing in stocks and bonds Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Investing in stocks and bonds - Term Paper Example Consequently, the value of stock for that corporation tend to reflect the corporation’s earnings and experiences, going up when it is profitable and down when the company is experiencing losses. In essence, the higher the return potential, the higher the amount of risk associated with the stock. For example, investors in stock expect a high rate of return since they do not have a set schedule for repayment or fixed rate of return such as those in fixed-income securities. Even within this world of stocks, variations do exist in reward and return (Tyson, 2011). Blue chip stocks refer to stocks issued by corporations, which are firmly established within their given industries and possess a long history of paying dividends and producing earnings. Small capitalization stocks refer to shares from companies that are not that well established but have tremendous potential for growth. This can translate into a significant return for the investor. However, this comes with an increased potential for a greater decrease in value than would be expected from, say, a more established company. Bonds, on the other hand, involve making loans to corporations and other entities by investors (Wyckoff, 2009). Other entities normally involve various branches of the government that issue bonds to attract injection of capital without giving the investor managing control. In effect, the holder of the bond holds an IOU. If we were to invest in bonds, we would not expect any share in profits and would get a fixed investment return. This return is an interest rate on the bond and is also referred to as the coupon rate. It is calculated as the total percentage of the initial offering price of the bond. Bonds, just like common stocks, have a fluctuating market value, and if they are sold before their maturity date, they could produce a loss or gain in principle value (Wyckoff, 2009). If we were to invest

Developing a theory of mind at four years

Developing a theory of mind at four years Theory of Mind is a term introduced by Premack and Woodruff, (1978) it is considered the ability to infer the current mental state of others, their beliefs and desires (Gazzaniga, Ivry, Mangun, 2009). Theory of mind is vital in our understanding that others knowledge may differ from our own, it allows one to manipulate and interpret the actions and contemplations of another in terms of theoretical and intentional states. As such, we are able to surmise the mental states of others although they may not communicate them with visible cues, such as what they may be thinking or feeling, as well as the ability to distinguish between reality and belief. One of the major ongoing debates within developmental psychology is centred around the claim that a theory of mind does not develop until the age of 4. Although many agree with the claim there are countless theorists who believe that a theory of mind is innate therefore it must be present at birth (Fodor, 1992). This essay will be assessing contributing research towards this debate by looking at evidence for and against the claim in order to make an informed decision according to supporting research. One of the most effective ways to test for a theory of mind in young children is through the false-belief task, as passing the task indicates that the child is aware that others may have incorrect beliefs about the world. Wimmer and Perner (1983) found, from their unexpected transfer test, that a fully developed theory of mind does not appear before the age of 3 to 4 years. In this test infants were told to watch a scene in which a character, Maxi places chocolate in a drawer and walks away. While he is away his mother takes out the chocolate and grates some of it onto a cake, places it elsewhere then leaves. Maxi then returns and the experimenter asks where will Maxi look for the chocolate? Results found that children above the age of 5 had no problem attributing to Maxi a false belief. The study was later repeated to children under the age of 4, when it was found that children under the age of around 3.7 years failed to answer questions correctly. Thus this provides strong evidence that a theory of mind does not develop until around 4 years of age. Another classic experiment by Baron-Cohen et al (1985) was the Sally-Anne task where the experimenter had adopted similar characteristics used originally by Wimmer and Perner (1983) and tested Autistic children, normal children and those suffering from Downs syndrome for the presence of a Theory of Mind. It was found that the majority of normal and Downs syndrome children answered all questions correctly whereas autistic children found it difficult to comprehend what had happened and tended to answer incorrectly. Although Baron- Cohen et al were testing for a theory of mind in Downs syndrome and Autistic children, it should be noted that normal children and Downs syndrome children both appear to have a theory of mind; hence they would pass the task at 4 years old. An autistic person however would not have a theory of mind as their minds do not function in the same way as a normal child, therefore one may suggest that a theory of mind does appear at 4 years but not for people with aut ism. A further piece of evidence lies with Avis Harris who tested the universality of the false-belief task in their study of the Baka children of Cameroon. The Baka is a traditional, hunting and gathering, non literate society where none of the adults or children can read or have been schooled. Using the original false-belief task, Avis Harris tested 34 children aged between 3-5 years. Findings were similar to those in Western countries. However the results of this study shows flexibility in the age in which theory of mind develops. It is not necessarily 4 years within the Baka community which implies that there may not be universality in the age at which theory of mind appears to be present; the age is not 4 years it is in fact between 3 and 5. Another researcher who has tested for universality in theory of mind is Astington (1996) who gave the false-belief test to Quechua children in Peru, and Tainae children of New Guinea. The results were very incompatible with those from Western countries. Young children and even adolescents could not recognise false-beliefs in others, hence no theory of mind at the age of 4. This provides strong evidence of cultural variation, as the task has consistently proved that children aged 4 are able to answer correctly within most Western countries and this is still likely to be the case if ever replicated. It may however, be considered inappropriate to impose our Western false-belief task on people who have their own practises and teachings within their societies. This does not mean other cultures have no understanding of the mind, they may simply have their own means of perceiving others minds. Hence, children of other cultures and countries may have a theory of mind at the age of 4; we perhaps need to conduct research of a different method in such societies rather than the false-belief task. Due to the volume of research in support of the claim that theory of mind appears around the age of 4, psychologists have come up with theories to explain why this the happens to be the case. The Representational Deficit theory, also known as the theory-theory suggests that children develop beliefs or theories about other people, revise them and use them in a similar to manner to how we use scientific theories. As such, by using these theories, children are able to make predictions about new evidence, to interpret evidence, and to explain evidence (Gopnik, 2003). The theory-theory explanation is essentially a constructivist account as a rational understanding of the mind occurs by means of everyday theoretical constructs. Infants instigate with an initial primitive understanding of the mind, they accumulate data through interaction with the world and others around them which leads to a theory change and thus the development of a mature theory of mind at the age of 4 (Gopnik Wellman, 1994). Now looking at evidence against the claim, we must firstly take a look at theories and research which suggests that theory of mind does not in fact develop at 4 years. Problems with evidence for the claim are pointed out by researchers and are noted below. Theory of mind module is a theory which essentially goes against the claim that children do not develop a theory of mind until the age of 4. Fodor (1983) originally mentioned innate mental modules thus, in contrast to the theory-theory approach, many theorists have agreed with Fodor and argue that a psychological understanding of the mind is achieved via the computations of an innate mental module (Wellman, 2002). Researchers such as Fodor (1992) and Leslie (1987) have all come to a similar accord that there is an individual theory of mind module which creates depictions of human activity in terms of mental attitudes toward specific events (domain specific cognition). Evidence for the theory of mind module and against the theory theory is when researchers conducted theory of mind research on individuals with autism. They proposed that autistic children have impairment on their theory of mind module leading to inability to construe people in terms of mental states i.e. mind blindness (Leslie, 1987; Baron-Cohen et al 1985). However, as we established earlier, this may be due to the fact that autistic people do not have the same functioning of the mind as normal people and thus may have nothing to do with a module. Theory-theory has also been challenged by many researchers as there is over-reliance on false-belief tests. Lewis Osborne (1990), for example made the point that children can misunderstand the question being posed. Furthermore, Lewis, Freeman, Hagestadt Douglas (1994) stated that children may fail to understand and integrate key elements of the story. Another critique of the theory-theory is that there have been vast amounts of research of a theory of mind before the age of four. Early theorists, argue that children perform better in naturalistic environment for example Dunn (1988) provided a clear analysis of young childrens understanding of other family members desires, intentions and emotions. However one may argue that this is not actually evidence of a theory of mind, rather it is linked with developmental abilities, it does not mean that a theory of mind is acquired at this stage. It has also been found that children have other early (before the age of 4) abilities such as deception (Lewis, Stanger Sullivan, 1989), communicative abilities (Butterworth Jarrett, 1991) and pretence (Leslie, 1987). Numerous researchers have criticised tests such as the false-belief test. De Gelder (1987), for example pointed out that it is known that autistic children have difficulty with pretend play. Therefore, using dolls to represent real people may cause them some difficulties. However Leslie and Frith (1987) repeated the same study using real children and obtained similar findings. Furthermore, despite criticisms, false-belief tests have been replicated and the findings supported by many other researchers (Perner, Leekam Wimmer 1987; Gopnik Astington 1988). Mitchell (1996) agreed with the traditional nativist account of theory of mind. He believed theory of mind had to be present at birth. Mitchells view was that everybody is born with a theory of mind and a reality criterion and young children fail theory of mind tasks as they are guided by the reality criterion. He also emphasised on the reliance of reality with false belief tasks when making judgments. It does not mean young people are incapable of false belief, it simply suggests that the reality criterion is more dominant. Evidence for Mitchells theory takes form in a modified version of the deceptive box test (Mitchell Lacohee, 1991) originally created by Perner, Leekam Wimmer (1987). In the modified version, 63% of children answered correctly compared with 23% in the standard version. Both of the above theories have been deemed as plausible accounts of the theory of mind in children. However there does not seem to be adequate evidence against the claim. As theory of mind has been defined as the ability to understand others beliefs, this has not been seen to occur until the age of 4 (Perner, 1991). Another significant point is that although early abilities may be precursors to a real theory of mind, it does not mean that the change after 4 years does not exist. Gopnik, Slaughter Meltzoff (1994) named four conceptual changes in the development of a theory of mind which provided evidence that a fully developed theory of mind does not appear until the age of 4. A child showing signs of deception, communicative abilities and pretence should even be considered as irrelevant information when studying the theory of mind. Perner (1991) went on to say that pretence, deception etc may be over interpreted. After all, other developmental abilities are each to their own, their presence does not necessarily have to relate to a theory of mind. On balance it would be fair to state that a fully developed mature theory of mind does not appear before the age of 4 and there is not sufficient evidence to backup claims that say otherwise. Although, the majority of evidence relies heavily upon false-belief tasks, the task has been proven to be accurate and reliable. Additionally, Wellman, Cross Watsons meta-analysis (2001) showed that children around 4 years 0 months performed above chance on the false-belief task. They also found that the results were consistent across the period analysed and were not any different for earlier studies than later ones. This provides extremely strong evidence of a theory of mind at the age of 4 compared with nil evidence against the claim. It would therefore be appropriate to accept the claim that a theory of mind appears around the age of 4 years and this is extremely strong evidence in support of this claim. Astington, J. (1996). what is theoretical about the childs theory of mind?:a Vygotskain view of its development. In P. Carruthers, P. K. Smith (Eds.), Theories of Theories of Mind (p. 401). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Avis, J., Harris, P. (1991). Belief-Desire Reasoning among Baka Children:Evidence for a Universal Conception of Mind. Child Development , 62, 460-467. Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a theory of mind. Cognition , 37-46. Butterworth, G., Jarrett, N. (1991). What minds have in common is space: Spatial mechanisms serving joint visual attention in infancy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 9 (1), 55-72. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Masachusetts: MIT Press. Chomsky, N. (1986). The Leading Ideas of the Minimalist Programme. In H. L. Zeljko Boskovic (Ed.), Minimalist Syntax The Essential Readings (pp. 2-4). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. De Gelder, B. (1987). Discussion on not having a theory of mind. Cognition , 285-290. Dunn, J. (1988). The beginnings of social understanding. Harvard University Press. Fodor, J. (1992). A theory of the childs theory of mind. Cognition , 283-296. Fodor, J. A. (1992). A theory of the childs theory of mind. Cognition , 283-296. Fodor, J. A. (1983). The modularity of mind: an essay on faculty psychology. MIT Press. Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., Mangun, G. R. (2009). Cognitive Neuroscience:The Biology of the Mind. London: W. W. Norton Company Ltd. Gopnik, A. (2003). The Theory Theory as an Alternative to the Innateness Hypothesis. In L. M. Antony, N. Hornstein (Eds.), Chomsky and his Critics (pp. 238-254). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Gopnik, A., Astington, J. W. (1988). Childrens Understanding of Representational Change and Its Relation to the Understanding of False Belief and the Appearance-Reality Distinction. Child Development , 26-37. Gopnik, A., Wellman, H. (1994). The theory theory. In L. Hirschfield, S. Gelman (Eds.), Domain specificity in culture and cognition (pp. 257-293). New York: Cambridge University Press. Leslie, A. M. (1987). Pretense and representation: The origins of theory of mind. Psychological Review , 412-426. Leslie, A. M., Frith, U. (1988). Autistic childrens understanding of seeing, knowing and believing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 315-324. Lewis, C., Osborne, A. (1990). Three Year-Olds Problem with False Belief: Conceptual Deficit or Linguistic Artifact? Child Development , 1514-1519. Lewis, C., Freeman, N. H., Hagestadt, C., Douglas, H. (1994). Narrative access and production in preschoolers false belief reasoning. . Cognitive Development , 397-424. Lewis, M., Stanger, C., Sullivan, M. W. (1989). Deception in 3-year-olds. Developmental Psychology , 439-443. Meltzoff, A. N. (2002). Imitation as a Mechanism of Social Cognition:Origins of Empathy, Theory of Mind, and the Representation of Action. In U. Goswami (Ed.), Blackwells Handook of Childhood Cognitive Development (pp. 6-25). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Mitchell, P. (1996). Acquiring a Conception of Mind. East Sussex: Psychology Press. Perner, J. (1991). Understanding the representational mind. Learning, development, and conceptual change. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Perner, J., Leekam, S. R., Wimmer, H. (1987). Three-year-olds difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 125-137. Piaget, J. (1929). The childs conception of the world. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul Ltd. Piaget, J. (1999). The Psychology of Intelligence (2 ed.). (M. Percy, D. E. Berlyne, Trans.) London: Rputledge and Kegan and Paul Ltd. Premack, D., Woodruff, G. (1978). Chimpanzee problem-solving: a test for comprehension. Science , 532-535. Wellman, H. M. (2002). Understanding the Psychological World: Developing a Theory of Mind. In U. Goswami (Ed.), Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development (pp. 167-187). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., Watson, J. (2001). Meta-Analysis of Theory of Mind Development:The Truth about False Belief. Child Development , 72 (3), 655-684. Wimmer, H., Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young childrens understanding of deception. Cognition , 103-128.

The Unrecognizable Role in a Family Essay -- Literary Analysis

It is extraordinary to see how much the world has prospered through the ages. History means the period of time after writing was invented. It is seen through many of history’s works such as Romeo and Juliet, the everlasting story of love, and even through the eighteenth century’s SNL in Gulliver’s Travels. These classics define the meaning of history, but one novel that is easily forgotten with many others is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. In his novel Steinbeck establishes himself as a true futuristic thinker. Steinbeck borrows straight past the abolition of slavery and harks upon the equality of human rights. Essentially, in a time of a failing economy, it is first expected that there is a minimum sense of hospitality with the basic needs (food, water, and shelter), and are seen through the mercenary minor characters in Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck suggests a radical difference in the Joad family to the rest of the world. This dissimilarity in the main characters of the novel is a benchmark of people should be like in the Dust Bowl era. Before the Joad Family began their journey, the individual roles had merely begun to open up, and much of the importance of the characters was not yet realized. Pa Joad is a good, thoughtful man, and he plans the family’s trip to California with great care and consideration. This serves as one his only leadership roles throughout the novel. The stereotypical Man of the family in this era is found in Pa only in the beginning of the novel. â€Å"Who’s there? Tom intimidated by his bulging powerful muscles† (Steinbeck 71). This leadership role is later transferred to Ma Joad slowly throughout the novel with events such as the journey through the desert. The changing of role... ...n nobody travel back east, and the ragged man that the Joads meet at the campground confirms this fear. Even worse than a crowded labor market is the fact that the presumed opportunities because jobs are a fraud; inducing too many workers in order to drive down wages. The ragged men even suggest that the Joads will face a worse fate in California than they did in Oklahoma. Steinbeck really highlights the imperfect world that tags along with the Dust Bowl. It can definitely said that Steinbeck can be seen as a futuristic thinker as well as a hopeful author. By placing the imperfect world in our minds as the environment in the Grapes of Wrath, he allows a little light to flourish from the Joad family that symbolizes the perfect world. Much like Ma Joad’s leadership over Pa Joad the perfect world has overtaken the inhospitality or imperfect world in today’s society.