Marriage Imprisons Essay

Lectric Law Library defines marriage as, â€Å"A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife. By the terms freeman and freewoman in this definition are meant, not only that they are free and not slaves, but also that they are clear of all bars to a lawful marriage† (â€Å"Marriage†). Unfortunately, this written definition doesn’t always seem to be working in everyday life. In the short stories, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, An Adventure in Paris by Guy de Maupassant and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, a reader may find many examples that demonstrate how marriage imprisons people. In the vey first sentence in The Story of an Hour a reader finds out that the main character, Louise has heart trouble and may not be able to handle shock or surprise. At the same time, her heart problems symbolize her heartbreak over her role in life. From almost the beginning, the reader is given a clue that Louise has wanted to free herself from her marriage. Mrs. Mallard reacts to the news about her husband’s death with â€Å"sudden, wild abandonment† and locks herself in her bedroom (Chopin 123). The narrator notes that her reaction is not usual for a woman who has just lost her husband. She does not feel paralyzed or unable to accept his fate. She is able to quickly abandon her role as a wife. Ironically, her husband’s death makes Louise to feel alive for the first time. The author describes the beautiful change from winter to spring. The new season is a symbol of the transformation of Louise’s character. The open widow symbolizes all the possibilities that are now available to her. The story’s springtime setting also symbolizes her rebirth as an independent person. Now that her husband is dead, she will be free to assert herself in ways she never before dreamed while she was married. She states that she had loved her husband sometimes, but that now she would be â€Å"Free! Body and soul free!† (Chopin 124). The major irony of the story comes with the surprise at the end. Louise thought her freedom would come from her husband’s death. Instead, she gains freedom from his domination only in her own death after she finds out he’s alive. Unfortunately, long fee life she imagined lasted just for an hour. Another great example of imprisoned by marriage woman is the main character of An Adventure in Paris by Guy De Maupassant. In the story the author reveals a story of a married woman who has spent a great portion of her life at home raising her two children. Obviously, she neither had the chance to experience much excitement nor adventure through these years. Thus, â€Å"she felt that she was growing old without having known life† (De Maupassant 512). She often thought of the exciting life of Paris, wishing to free herself from the dull life she led, and to get the chance to experience some pleasure on her own. One day, she finds a pretext to get out of the house and goes â€Å"for a journey to Paris† (De Maupassant 512). She meets a well-know man, Jean Varin who shows her the way he lives in Paris. They go together for a walk, for a dinner, she even stays at his house for the night. Unfortunately, all she experiences next to his side is nothing comparing to what she dreamed of. She realizes that those well-known men in Paris aren’t any different than her own husband. Just like her husband Varin snores and sleeps on his back. Lying next to Varin in bed, she was â€Å"heartbroken† (De Maupassant 515). Surprisingly through out the story a narrator never reveals the woman’s name, she is referred to the reader as a â€Å"she† (De Maupassant 512). This is not an accident of a narrative. De Maupassant shows that while the woman is married, she cease to exist as her own person. The woman is simply controlled and imprisoned by her family and all the responsibilities as a mother and wife. In contrast, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber illustrates that not only women may experience a feeling of being imprisoned by marriage. The main character in the story, Walter Mitty is fully controlled by his wife and seems to be unable to stand up for himself. Mitty is trapped in a world that is full of dull responsibilities and offers few possibilities for adventure. He spends much of his time escaping into fantasies in which it is him who is in control, and in which his life is full of excitement and adventure. Mitty dreams of flying planes in hazardous conditions and causing scenes in courtrooms, but his life consists of buying overshoes and waiting for his wife to have her hair done. His wife obviously worries about Walter’s health and welfare; she observes that he is nervous, suggests a visit to a doctor, notes that she intends to check his temperature when they return home, and reminds him to wear his gloves and buy overshoes. Unfortunately, at the same time she is breaking the spirit of the man in his life which makes him feel imprisoned. Mitty keeps escaping into fantasies to forget at least for few minutes about his miserable life. Many people recognize marriage with happiness and joyful life. Unfortunately, as we learn from the three stories above, married people often find their life more dull than enjoyable. Lack of excitement and pleasures in marriage, make spouses’ life unhappy and that’s why they often look for a way to escape from it. Thus, in reality marriage differs from its written definition and in fact imprisons people. Works Cited Baush, Richard and R.V. Cassill, eds. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: Norton, 2006. Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† Baush and Cassil123- 125. De Maupassant, Guy. â€Å"An Adventure in Paris.† Baush and Cassil 511- 516. â€Å"Marriage.† The ‘Lectric Law Library’s Lexicon On. 2007. Lectric Law Library.15 Nov 2007. Thurber, James. â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.† Baush and Cassill 720- 724.

Allegory of the Cave Summary

Allegory of the Cave Summary Plato’s Allegory of the Cave presents an enthralling concept that holds strong to this day. In the allegory three main ideas are illustrated : that we have been conditioned to a definite reality since birth, we scorn being brought into the ‘light’ of knowledge, and that we (as a society) reject anything that contradicts the notions of our preconceived reality. Clever Plato took these ideas and weaved them into an intriguing story of prisoners trapped in an underground cave, and then what happens when one of them was enLIGHTened.Surprisingly it applies in many ways to our society in modern times, nowadays no one questions what is true and what is false. It’s exactly as Aldous Huxley feared, we’ve become lost in a sea of information which debilitates us to gain conscious understanding of information. We’ve been raised in a society of ‘don’t question it’ which leaves the people vulnerable to the pe ople carrying the statues across the fire, creating our sense of reality. When we are first brought into this cave at the beginning of the allegory, it contains prisoners bound by chains in such a way as to force their heads to stare at this wall.It continues to tell us that they’ve been this way since birth, and that a massive fire behind them that allows them to see shadows broadcast onto the wall, periodically people go be the fire with statues of people and creatures which cast shadows onto the wall and this ‘shadow world’ is what the prisoners consider their reality. They are all content with this knowledge and nothing changes until one of the prisoners is set free. The prisoner, once he’s set free, is blinded by the fire the moment he turns his head to face the fire.He looks back to the shadows which he identifies as reality, and looks back and forth between the fire and the wall until he finally accepts that the fire may be more ‘real’. His enlightenment is continued as he’s forced up the stairs and forced into the sunlight to view the real world. He begins slowly only identifying shadows at first and slowly progresses until he’s able to identify the sun, and contemplate the sun as an idea and not just as an object.He continues learning about this new reality until he is fully convinced. Remembering his former companions he grows full of pity for them, knowing that they don’t share his knowledge of what is ‘real’ and what is a mere shade of reality. With this thought in his head he heads back to the cave. Once he’s back in the cave his eyes are full of darkness and he’s unable to see things as clearly as his companions, for he had grown accustomed to the reality of light, because of this his former companions made fun of him.They knew he wasn’t as adept to their reality, which they perceived as being the right one. Seeing what happened to their former companio n when he was taken into the light, they decided that they’d never ascend because if they ascended they’d lose their sight of ‘reality’. With that the enlightened one left, knowing that his companions were lost in blissful ignorance, and he could do nothing to convince them for fear of death.

A Model Of Customer Value For Consumer Market Marketing Essay

A Model Of Customer Value For Consumer Market Marketing Essay Satisfying customers wishes is a challenge for many companies in the todays rapidly changing and keenly competitive environment. A thorough knowledge of customer needs is even considered to be the foundation on which a company is built. (Mohr-Jackson, 1996) Hence, the researcher in this research has decided to focus the research on customer values. 2.0 Definition of Customer Values Walters (2002) explains that â€Å"value is an interesting concept. The underlying motivation for changes in customer expectations is a shift in the consumer perspective of value which has moved away from a combination of benefits dominated by price towards a range of benefits in which price, for some customer segments, has very little impact. Value is assumed to be the benefits received from a product choice less their costs of acquisition†. The benefits can be measured in price, quality, convenience, flexibility, response time, dependability of delivery, style and fashion, ethical issues, technol ogy and personalization. All these values are very important especially for the first time customers as in this high competitive business environment, customers will compare the value of product or service the competitor is offerings. The more values a company willing to provide, the more likely the customers are willing pay for the product or service. 3.0 Customer Value Models According to Fuller (1993), identify customer’s characteristic and develop customer value model are a very important part in satisfying the customer needs. The product and service characteristic must be produced and delivered and these tasks raise questions concerning the capabilities and capacities. Diagram 1: A Model of Customer Value for Consumer Market According to Day (1990), the original idea of â€Å"value equation† and emphasizing customers’ perception. This model (Diagram 1) integrates descriptive and normative points of view about consumer behaviour, including the consumer value s expectation before purchase, customer value evaluation at the time of buying, and value actualization in consumption or possession. According to social psychologists, people’s perception of objects and events is influenced by their cognitive traits such as personality and attitude, personal values, and consumption schemata. Besides that, it can also be influenced by the demographics such as age, education, income, wealth, and time resources. As indicated in Diagram 1, these factors of â€Å"Customer Characteristics† are the background of the customers’ perception. The buyers’ evaluation of a product purchase begins from their perceived product benefits. The earlier discussions of consumers’ product valuation have proposed a framework about how the customers perceive product benefits based on their terminal personal values and instrumental consumption values. In addition, the discussion has suggested and illustrated a typology of generic product b enefits with eight categories. As indicated in Diagram 1, the model suggests that â€Å"Perceived Product Benefits† could be a single type or a combination of the eight categories of product benefits. The model suggests that customer value is a consequence of subjective evaluation which in turn results from the summing up of the various perceived benefits and perceived costs, taking into account the differently weighted factors. In other words, the â€Å"perceived customer value† in the model is defined as the surplus or the difference between perceived benefits and perceived costs (Day 1990).

The Concept of Audience Impact Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Concept of Audience Impact - Assignment Example Sayles responded by stating that: â€Å"what I tend to do is to make these guys a little bit more appealing than they really were so that people would believe them† (Foner and Sayles 138). This was clearly corroborated by Fischoff who asserted that talk shows exist to satisfy the demands of the audience. As content, â€Å"the audience provides tribal impact, people provoking people to say and do things they would never say or do† (Fischoff: The Jeering Crowd par. 1). Thus, these authors have similarly affirmed the relevance of the audience in the creation of a film or a talk show, for that matter. Another concept that emerged from the essays is the relevant facet of catering to a particular gender. In â€Å"Movies and History†, Foner openly disclosed that â€Å"not many historical films are really that interested in women† (Foner and Sayles 149); of which, Sayles responded that â€Å"about ninety-five percent of them were directed by men. The decision-mak ers who finance the big films are also ninety to ninety-five percent of men. So part of it is just a lack of interest in women’s stories† (Foner and Sayles 149). On the contrary, in Fischoff’s essay, it was revealed that â€Å"like the soaps, shopping networks, and endless women-in-jeopardy movies of the week, talk shows owe their popularity primarily to women. They constitute over 70 percent of the viewing audiences†. These authors have disclosed that gender influences the creation of a film or talk show. Although it was taking the perspectives of the creators for the creation of historical movies, who were identified to be predominantly male, it was interesting that the gender of the audiences was not taken into consideration. On the other hand, in talk shows, it was clearly identified that since the composition of the audiences were predominantly women, therefore, the subject should actually cater to the demands of these women. There has been some revel ation regarding the concept of taking diverse perspectives or points of view when creating or viewing a film or a talk show. It was therefore insinuated that â€Å"talk shows occupy two realities.

The Legal Environment and Business Decisions Essay

The Legal Environment and Business Decisions - Essay Example It is the costly nature, and the complexity of determining the cost of psychologically-related damages that has inspired the development of alternative ways of compensation. Modern Trends Modern tort law was repeatedly faulted, especially between 1970s throughout 1990s mainly in England and the United States as a slow and complex, and unreasonably expensive, process that is beneficial mainly to the legal representatives concerned (Sugarman, 1985). Whereas, the reservations were merited, the proposed options of direct compensation for injuries failed to win universal approval. In light of this, tort law, as a system of processes and regulations governing part of the implementation of remedies, moved into the current world in its original state. Its existence as a detailed structure of law cannot be linked exclusively to the lack of a strong alternative; rather its continued existence is also exhibited in the level at which the regulations, once projected for use in a fairly nascent so ciety, have translated into a more convenient legal system for a more complicated society. Differences in legal systems According to Best and Barnes (2007) different rules of compensation do not have precise alternatives in all legal systems, but similar issues tend to be considered when determining the eventual amount of damages. In a number of Western systems, such as France, the final figure of damages is considered as an issue of fact and the judges are obligated to offer a determination on it. In UK Law, since the closure of civil courts handling personal injury suits the country has achieved a significant standardization for particular headings of compensation. Common Law Sugarman (1985) indicated that under English Common law jurisdictions order lump sum compensation, whereas in Civil law litigations periodic compensations are preferred. In many cases the difference seems to be theoretical as opposed to practical measures (Sugarman, 1985). In light of this, even in cases wher e the damages are in order to be settled in instalments, courts prefer to order the expending of the damages at once, partly because the beneficiary-victims tend to favour this approach and partly in order to avoid any complications arising in the future. A third reason in support of lump sum damages in Civil Law settlements is that advocates can more easily determine their dues arising from legal representation services than from fairly small instalments, irrespective of its frequency. Best and Barnes (2007) indicated that in case of the death of the victim, all legal systems prefer his estate to lay claim for he or she could have during his lifetime. The circumstances for determining this case differ, however, English law provides for the determination of the compensation. The law also provides the deceased’s kin to seek legal redress. In the legal systems dealing with common law, this is clearly established by the wrongful death statutes. Common law systems also seem to va ry over the issue of who ought to be permitted to litigate under this heading. Edwards, Edwards and Wells (2011) indicated that Common law structures specifically elect the list of the eligible persons, maintaining that their actions are favoured by the victim upon his or her death or when

Diversification of Firms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Diversification of Firms - Essay Example The needs of the customers constantly changes and the firms are often challenged to keep pace with the changes. In order to reduce these risks, a firm needs to diversify its portfolio of stocks (Solnik, 1995, p.89). In the current market, firms should not only focus on how to produce their goods and services and avail them to the clients in the market. Rather, the market dynamics require the firms to develop corporate strategies and respond to these market forces will providing balance to the objectives and goals of the firm (Thinking Made Easier, 2011). In response to the changing market trends, some firms have opted to diversify their operations. Diversification is a business strategy that has experienced significant growth in the recent past. Diversification involves the production and delivery of new products and service. It is mainly aimed at ‘increasing market profitability, smoother earnings, and greater capital markets and accumulating diverse expertise in diverse envir onments’ (Thinking Made Easier, 2011). However, it may be noted that these objectives of diversification are not often met. Diversification is a way of hiding from the inability by a firm to acquire and maintain competitive advantage over its competitors producing similar products. This paper asserts that diversification is not an effective strategy in the current market by focusing on the challenges associated with this business strategy. Types of diversification Diversification in business organizations can be considered in terms of the business processes or in terms of the products ad services involved. In the first respect, there are three types of diversification namely: vertical integration, horizontal diversification, and geographical diversification (Kotelnikov, 2011). Vertical integration refers to bringing together two or more businesses that are at different production stages to add on to the value chain (The Economist, 2009). Horizontal diversification involves ex tending operations to new business industries to produce new products in order to reduce the risks that are specific to a given industry sector (The Investor, 2009). On the other hand, geographic diversification involves moving into new markets to make use of the opportunities in these regions (Kotelnikov, 2011). In terms of the product, diversification can be grouped as related or unrelated (Kotelnikov, 2011). Related diversification occurs when a firm extends its operations to produce products and services that are still in the same production line as the existing products and services. On the other hand, unrelated diversification is a situation in which the firms extend to produce products and services in a completely different production line (Thinking Made Easier, 2011). Objectives of diversification Business organizations diversify their operations with certain fundamental objectives. Firstly, diversification is aimed at improving the implementation of the organizational proce sses and strategies (Kotelnikov, 2011). It enables the management of organizations to create some value for the shareholders of the organization. In this way, diversification is also aimed at improving the organizational structure and enhancing the structural position of each business unit in the organization (Kotelnikov,

Socially Desirable Merit Goods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Socially Desirable Merit Goods - Essay Example This report declares that the private sector primarily operates under the dynamics of the free market system. Many individuals in the society would miss enjoying the benefits of merit goods if left to the private sector because they would appropriate a high price for the good or service, limiting the individuals who can have access to the good. Therefore, many people would be unwilling to access the merit goods at a high cost. The inaccessibility would lead to underproduction of the good, and ultimately leading to underutilization of the good or service. In most cases, government institutions are tasked with handling the provision of merit goods. This paper makes a conclusion that education is usually considered a merit good, and especially the basic education from early childhood to the university or college. An educated society results in reduced cases of hard crime, increased productivity, higher rates of employment and a growing economy because of direct input of high-quality labour. An educated society also translates into strong governmental and non-governmental institutions and interests from foreign companies who would thrive with good quality employment. The government would also benefit directly from increased tax collection from employed individuals. The present secondary education system in the UK is an improvement of an older system that allotted students at the age of 11 years to either of the three school types through performance and selection examinations.

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Investing the entire sum of money in a single stock exposes the investor to the risk of that asset. So, in case when the price of that security falls in the market due to any reason, the investor will suffer huge losses. This, risk of concentration of money in a single stock is mitigated through diversification. As per the preliminary interview conducted with a married couple named Kevin and Katia we came to know the following details: Katia aged 43, is a primary school teacher earning ?35,000 per annum and contributes 7.6% of her gross annual salary to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Kevin aged 45, is a construction site project manager earning ?80,000 per annum and contributes 6% of his gross annual salary to a defined contribution scheme. The couple has two children – Tilly and Jemima aged 7 and 9 years. The couple seeks advice for their retirement planning that is after 17 years when Katia is 60. The couple would like to achieve a combined retirement income of approxi mately ?45,000 in today’s terms. ... Kevin has identified a range of investments that the couple might consider to help achieve their retirement planning objectives (including index-linked gilts, corporate bond funds, authorised investment funds and offshore equity funds) but is not sure about the option to choose. With an investment of ?10,000 annually a target of 7% is required to achieve their target objectives. Therefore, in this paper we would analyze and evaluate the various parameters to achieve the desired objectives and return. Part 1: Identification of Appropriate Investment Options Portfolio management is the fundamental work of investment management. It can be done by minimizing the risk through diversification. In order to manage an investment portfolio, three steps are considered by portfolio manager i.e. planning to execution to feedback. In the planning step, the objectives and policies of investment are formulated, strategic asset allocations are ascertained and capital market expectations are formed. I n the execution step, a portfolio is constructed by portfolio manager. And, in the feedback step, the portfolio manager examines and assesses the portfolio compared with the plan (Villanova, No Date, p.5). The steps discussed here were in the short form. Taking in account the large form, the portfolio manager have to consider the following steps in order to manage his investment portfolio. The steps are as follows: Specification of investment objectives: In order to manage an investment portfolio, the usual objectives sought by investors are capital appreciation, current income and safety of principals. Choice of asset mix: Asset mix decision is the most

Environmental Issues in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Environmental Issues in Canada - Essay Example Sooner or later the ozone layer is going to split wide open and the human beings and the animals will affected largely because of this. Skin cancer will become very common in human beings and this will also have other serious repercussions on human beings. This paper will largely focus on the environmental problems that exist in Canada. A comprehensive analysis of some of the most predominant problems in Canada will also be provided in this paper. The levels of acid rain are unprecedentedly high in Canada and this is because of the pollution. "On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that the evidence of a warming trend is "unequivocal," and that human activity has "very likely" been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years. The last report by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2001, had found that humanity had "likely" played a role." (Science, 25 March 2008). Global Warming, Acid Rain and the depletion of the ozone layer will heavily affect the life of human beings; the depletion of the ozone layer will make human beings more vulnerable to skin cancer. The flora and fauna will inevitably get affected because of all the above concerns. Acid rain is acidic in nature and any rain which consists of unusual amounts of acid can be called as acidic rain. The main cause of acidic rain is the emission of nitrogen and sulfur; this is because of the human activities. There have been many laws introduced by the government to keep a check on human activities which trigger off acidic rain. Acidic rain is believed to have devastating impact on aquatic life, animals, and most importantly on the health of human beings. "Acid rain is a problem in eastern Canada because many of the water and soil systems in this region lack natural alkalinity - such as a lime base - and therefore cannot neutralize acid naturally." (Where is Acid Rain A problem 25 March 200 9). Areas like Nova Scotia are severely affected because of acid rain and the damage done in these areas are beyond repair. Canada has to join hands with the US in order to stop the devastation caused by acid rain; Canada alone cannot fight against acid rain. Only if Canada joins hands with the US this potential problem can be solved. The US is largely responsible for more than 50% of the acid rain caused in Canada and this is exactly why the country must join hands with the US in order to deal with this big problem. "In 1995, the estimated transboundary flow of sulphur dioxide from the United States to Canada was between 3.5 and 4.2 millions of tons per year." (Where do sulphur dioxide emissions come from 25 March 2009). The following diagram will bring to light the environmental condition of Canada These figures were recorded for the year 2000 and now the level of SO2 is exceeding high. These factors contribute largely toward issues like global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer. The Green House Effect There are many green house gases present on Earth, for instance Carbon dioxide which is exhaled by human beings is abundantly present in the Earth's atmosphere. Other gases include Methane, Ozone, And Nitrous oxide etc. There are some very important gases without the presence of which the green house effect can never take place, those gases include

The meaning of life Essay Example for Free

The meaning of life Essay Introduction: According to Saint Exupery in The Halo (2006), â€Å"Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something moulded. † The meaning of life has a no specific definition; it depends on how each individual give meaning to their lives. It is a natural thing for an individual to curiously know about their life since their birth till death. Moreover, human beings are also curious to find out why they were put in this earth that is why babies keep touching everything in order to experience all their surroundings from the very beginning (Taylor, 2000). In this essay, the concept of meaning will be significantly analysed. Firstly, by defining the meaning which will secondly be followed by discussing the different types of needs an individual must meet to experience the meaning of life. Thirdly, the types of things that enhance and curb the experience of the meaning of life will be highlighted. Lastly, various practical steps will be described to enhance the experience of the meaning of life. This essay will be intertwined with personal reflections and aspirations that have enhanced the meaning of life for the writer. What is the meaning of ‘meaning’? Subjectivism: According to Eagleton (2007), everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal or complex. The meaning of life is very simple and people experience it when they understand the universe, themselves, their identity and their goal in life (Bennet, 2005). Subjectivists state that the meaning differs with individuals’ psychological and mental states and their desires and goals. For example one individual can find meaning of life in music or art while other may find it in attaining goals or in religion (REF). In addition to this, (REF) states that life only becomes meaningful when all the needs and wants are fulfilled and when the individual is content and satisfied with themselves. Super naturalistic views: On the other hand, spiritual beings consider their lives to be consequential and significant when they can reach the pious pathway God has set (REF). The God-centred view points out that the definitive meaning of life is holistically attained. Moreover, an individual will only figure out the meaning of life when they are not attached to the worldly desires (REF). Personal reflection: Personally, the meaning of life for me is constantly being in search for my identity and accomplishing the goals I have set in life. I explore my identity through my art work as it helps me express my feelings and emotions about everything. My art work makes me realize who I am as a person and what people interpret me as a person through my paintings. What types of needs must be met for a person to experience meaning in life? Searching the meaning of life is a motivational force in an individual however; the degree of motivation to which they search the meaning of life differs in all individuals (REF). Despite individuals having different degrees of motivation, there are some needs and conditions that must be met for the individuals to experience the meaning of life. Individuals do not necessarily have to meet the same needs and conditions to experience the meaning of life. Some individuals are inspired by other individuals like great artists, inventors and thinkers, some individuals need sense of belonging, some need to experience certain events to make sense of life while others need to attain autonomy and self efficacy to experience the meaning of life. In short, individuals can discover the meaning of life through social work, experiencing something or someone or reactions towards unavoidable circumstances (REF). For example, an individual who is very emotional needs to experience the need of belonging in order to experience the meaning of life. They need to have many friends and a good relationship with their family in order to satisfy their need of belonging; this helps the individual to live a happy and full life. However, if they do not feel the sense of belonging, they have no hope hence do not have anything to look forward to and see no point of living. Conversely, not all individuals need to meet the need of belonging to experience the meaning of life. Some may have to experience the need of autonomy and self efficacy. These types of individuals usually have certain goals and tasks in life which they believe they can attain thus that would help them experience the meaning of life. For example, an individual whose goal is to become a doctor tries to attain that goal by being a hard worker and devoting all his time to attain their goal. They would experience the meaning of life when they achieve the title of the doctor as it would help them conquer a place in the community and gain some prestige. In addition to this, if an individual fails to attain this need might gain a very low self esteem which would then impact on the choices they makes in life. They would become very dependent on others and would not be able to cope with that leading them to suffer from various health issues. What types of things enhance the experience of meaning in life? The meaning of life can be enhanced by sustaining life, accepting a teaching, giving life or creating wisdom (REF). For example things that would enhance the meaning of life for mothers, doctors and nurses is when they deliver as links in a biological chain by giving life from one generation to the other. Young artists are inspired and enhance their meaning of life when they authorize and respect and accept their teacher’s work (REF). Personally, as an artist, the meaning of life for me is enhanced when I can appreciate the work of different artists and what they are trying to express in their paintings. Art work makes me understand the different feelings individuals go though and how they express it through drawings. It also makes me see different viewpoints of life and experiences people are going through. Despite all individuals having different needs to discover the meaning of life, there are certain things that all individuals require to enhance the meaning of life like: Hope Inspiration Goals High self esteem. What types of things curb the experience of meaning in life? Many individuals curb their experiences of the meaning in life due to: No inspiration or goals and failure: If an individual constantly fails and has no potential and inspiration of achieving his goals may feel ineffective and hopeless. They may start feeling that they have no purpose in life and life is completely meaningless for them. Loss of loved ones: loss of a loved one through death or divorce may affect an individual mentally and emotionally. They may feel the are not loved and do not belong anywhere as their loved one does not exist anymore. The loss brings suffering and misery which makes an individual believe that like if meaningless. Lastly, experiences like these pushes an individual to have a low self esteem and become reserved (REF). Personal Reflection: If individuals are not open, emotionless or afraid to be seen as themselves due to low self esteem cannot enhance their meaning of life and hence would curb this experience. As an artist, my goal is to become an art teacher and help other children to express their feelings through painting if they cannot through words. However, I have a clear goal and always have been inspired by my father to attain this goal. If I had a low self esteem and did not believe in myself, I would have no hope hence that would curb the search of meaning of life as I would feel I am worthless Practical steps to enhance the experience of a meaningful life As mentioned above, many individuals curb their experiences of the meaning in life due to low self esteem, no inspiration, no goals and being reserved. However, they can enhance their experience firstly by accepting and believing in themselves. This would help them make a contribution to life and share their best. According to (REF) self-destructive behaviour can be conquered by increasing self-efficacy and self-esteem. This can be done through counselling so that they can start believing in themselves. Individuals who need the sense of belonging to experience the meaning of life should try and fit in and socialize with people they are close to and have good relationships with them all. Furthermore, individuals who are trying to attain a specific goal should always reward themselves every time they are a step closer towards the goal. This would keep them motivated and not lose hope. Personally, I enhance my experience by acknowledging the great artists and how they are an inspiration to other young artists. Conclusion Finally as mentioned there is no specific meaning of life. All individuals need to meet different types of needs such as the need of belonging, experiencing life threatening incidents, need of autonomy and self efficacy to experience the meaning of life. An individual’s perception, values, needs and feelings centre him and help in organizing the world around him. Feelings help in expressing oneself. If an individual has a great skill in expressing himself, he can change the larger world. Great artists found expressions in their art work which helped them change the world that came after them. The creations around us are the different individuals trying to express themselves and their experiences of the meaning of life. All the inhibitors that we posses such as low self esteem and inner struggles should be resolved to make life more creative and enhance the meaning of life.

Building Services Engineering Science Construction Essay

Building Services Engineering Science Construction Essay This essay will discuss the available green and advanced renewable technology systems to be used in new built extension, the impact on Carbon footprint and effects on the thermal comfort for end users and discuses the building regulations apply. Building services system Building services engineers provide the internal environmental conditions that enable business processes to function at an optimum level while providing comfort conditions for occupants to achieve their maximum performance potential. (CIBSE, Choosing Building services). Designing a building services system is typically a great challenge for designer and the first element to consider is the client needs; this is the key to provide satisfaction and value. However clients relay on advisers to avoid spending great deal of time and effort, and its vary from client to another and use of building therefore each and every client needs should be studied carefully, clients should provide all necessary information in depth to the advisor to help him gain full understanding of what is the client business about and how the proposed project will enhance the business. Many researchers identified environmental factors provided to work force are fundamental to achieve good productivities specially in commercial or service environment, they have reported relationships between air quality and factors such as; speed and accuracy of work, sick leave, accidents and injuries and cost of product or service. Carbon footprint has become a popular name in political meetings, media and almost in all commercials advertising for heating products and services, but what is carbon footprint. A good understanding of the carbon footprint and its effect on the environment should enable designers to understand the importance of selecting the most suitable system to fit the purpose of proposed building, a definition for carbon footprint according to British Petroleum (BP/2007) the carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted due to your daily activities. How the selection of building system will have effect on carbon footprint? The UK has passed legislation  that introduces the worlds first long-term legally binding framework to tackle the dangers of climate change. The Climate Change Bill was introduced into Parliament on 14 November 2007 and became law on 26 November 2008. The  Carbon Plan  published in December 2011, sets out the Governments plans for achieving the emissions reductions committed to in the first four  carbon budgets,  on a pathway consistent with meeting the 2050 target. This publication brings together the Governments strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deliver our climate change targets, as well as the updated version of our actions and milestones for the next five years; replacing the draft Carbon Plan published in March 2011. Buildings are responsible of using nearly 40 percent of global energy and therefore they are major emitters of Co2 and other gases, the main common types of end use in buildings are: Heating (Ventilation and air conditioning systems). Water heaters. Lighting Computers (data centres and electronic appliances). Refrigerators and all white goods. Research by Centre for Research in the Built Environment has revealed a significant amount of over- estimating in the amount of internal heat gain in UK office design. The over design in building services system can lead to over sizing plant, maintenance cost and surely increase in operating cost which leads to emitting extra carbon in to the environment, as well as the under sizing could have same if not larger effect on carbon footprint as the demand for the source (heat, lightingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc) will continue the satisfaction for the comfort not met will result in continues use of energy. Ground source heat pumps The ground source heat pump system extracts heat from the ground, where temperature will be warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer. For this reason they are more efficient than air source heat pumps, especially in the coldest weather when they are most needed. They last for many years some manufacturing companies generate for minimum of 25 years, the noise from operating very little, and minimal servicing. The most practical way of extracting this energy is through water circulating through pipes in the ground. The pipes for the ground loop are usually laid in horizontal trenches at two metres deep, but vertical boreholes are an alternative, if more expensive, way of achieving similar results where there is not enough land to lay pipes horizontally. At depths below six metres, the ground temperature does not vary much from the Mean Annual Air Temperature (around 9 °C -11 °C in the UK depending on location). At a depth below two metres, there is a large store of warmth that can be tapped for heating in the winter. However, this temperature will drop quickly where a heat pump is extracting a lot of heat from a small ground loop it is therefore very important that the size of the ground loop matches the heating load of the building. Advantages of Ground Source Heat Pumps Heat pumps save money. Heat pumps are much cheaper to run than direct electric heating. They are cheaper to run than oil boilers and can be cheaper than running gas boilers. Because heat pumps can be fully automated they demand much less work than biomass boilers. Heat pumps save carbon emissions. Unlike burning oil, gas, LPG or biomass, a heat pump produces no carbon emissions on site (and no carbon emissions at all, if a renewable source of electricity is used to power them). Heat pumps save space. There are no fuel storage requirements. Heat pumps are safe. There is no combustion involved and no emission of potentially dangerous gases. No flues are required. Heat pumps require less maintenance than combustion based heating systems. Heat pumps can provide cooling in summer, as well as heating in winter. Disadvantages of Ground Source Heat Pumps GSHPs are more expensive to install than air source heat pumps because of the need to install a ground heat exchanger. However, this connection to the ground is what enables a GSHP to perform much more efficiently than an ASHP particularly when the external air temperature is low in winter and you most need heating. Problems arise with ground source heat pumps if the installation is poorly designed or not matched to the heating needs of the building. 1-s2.0-S0378778811004385-gr1.jpg Interseasonal Heat Transfer (IHT) The Interseasonal Heat Transfer offers sustainable energy source by using new technology observed from the site where installed, by storing the direct heat from the sun to the ground in summer and back the building in winter without using any other source of heat or burning fuel. By integrating solar thermal collected in summer to heat storage in Thermal Banks to increase the efficiency and coefficient of performance of ground source heat pumps in cold days. It works also in reverse by transferring captured cold in winter stored in Thermal Banks in the ground to the building to cool down in summer. (IHT) advantages and disadvantages Advantages Could save up to 50% of carbon emission in compare to other heat source such as gas boilers for heating. Could save up to 80% of carbon emission in compare to the use of standard air condition for cooling. Could save up to 100% of the cost in running heating system when claiming for producing renewable energy. Low maintenance. Disadvantages Cost of installation Poor installation will reduce the efficiency of the system. Solar Panels The sun provides a rich, free source of clean energy in the form of natural light and heat. It is likely to capture some of this free energy directly to exchange sunlight into electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Solar PV systems convert light into electrical power using a thin layer of semi-conducting material, typically silicon, enclosed between a sheet of glass and a polymer resin. The variety in size from a not many square centimetres, for instance on calculators and watches to systems of hundreds of square metres made from interconnected modules that form any range. When exposed to daylight electrons in the semi-conducting material turn into energised, these electrons are then able to flow through the material producing a direct current (DC), the DC is carried through wiring to an inverter which converts the current to 240V alternating current (AC) so it can be associated to the building electricity supply. http://www.which-solar.co.uk/wp-content/themes/victoria/images/howimage.jpg Summery The new technology, the fast developing to the technology and the responsibilities on the building owners and designers encourages the use of green technology and reduce carbon footprint emitted from buildings. In the proposed office extension that faces southwest it would be recommended to use combined of two systems for electricity and heat of solar panels and Interseasonal heat transfer (IHT) to achieve a maximum reduction of carbon footprint and maintain the comfort for staff and end user. Task 2 Class room 309 according to readings on dry and wet bulb readings were as follow 17 wet 21 dry Using the Psychrometric chart the wet and dry readings met to 66% Humidity According to CIBSE (Health Issue in Building Services, TM40, 2006) publication there are no regulations on moisture however its recommendations for normal building are set to be 40% to 70% and the target for design to be 60%.

Pettiness of the Wealthy Exposed in The Stolen Party Essay -- Stolen P

Pettiness of the Wealthy Exposed in The Stolen Party  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In Liliana Heker’s short story, "The Stolen Party," Senora Ines invited Rosaura to the party for only one reason, to serve. Rosaura was a very smart girl in school, but she lacked people smarts. Senora Ines told Rosaura that she would be a guest there but tricked Rosaura into being a helper instead of a guest. Senora Ines needed Rosaura to help at the party so she mislead Rosaura by making her tasks seem as if they were privileges. Senora Ines’ deviousness ultimately devastated poor, innocent Rosaura. Rosaura was a smart yet naive girl. Heker tells us that, "she was barely nine, and one of the best in her class" (1133). But as her mother, Herminia, says, "Get away with you believing any nonsense you’re told" (Heker 1133). Rosaura felt like she was equal to Lucinda, but to Senora Ines she is nothing but the maid’s daughter, another pair of hands. Rosaura wanted a better life than her mother’s, and she thought that this might be the first step in that direction. Senora Ines was very secretive in her true intentio...

Ancient Greek Beliefs Of Religion And Death Differs From Other Culture :: essays research papers

Ancient Greek Beliefs of Religion and Death Differs From Other Cultures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How does the Ancient Greek beliefs of religion and death differ with the view of other cultural groups? Death, the way it is represented in Homer's book, The Odyssey, is always caused by human error. Whether their death was caused by greed, selfishness, or just being curious, many people died in The Odyssey. Still, the question of what happens after we die remains. Many religions have different beliefs of religious ideas from the Ancient Greeks. Afterlife, is a belief where the comparisons among religions become extremely close. The Greek beliefs of gods and death are different from the modern day beliefs of other religions such as Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, The Odyssey begins with a scene containing a conversation among the gods. The goddess Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, is discussing the matter of Odysseus with Zeus, the head god and god of sky (Homer 10). Of course these are not the only Greek gods and goddesses. Other examples of Greek gods and goddesses are Apollo, god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and young unmarried men and Hestes, goddess of the home. As you can see, the Greeks believed in many gods unlike the people of the Jewish fate who believed in one god. The Jewish god does not have an emblem that which it is represented by. The belief is that the god is represented by everything. For example, members of the Jewish religion believe god is everywhere, in everything, and represented by everything they do. Another example of the religious differences is how Ancient Egyptians believed in idol gods which are gods represented in statues. Ancient Greek beliefs are different from those of other societies because of differences between how gods are represented in Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Equally important are the Ancient Greek views of death. Death caused by human error is widespread throughout the book. Human error is encountered in each one of Odysseus's adventures on his return home. The Kyklopes represented the greediness, selfishness, and uncilvilization of Odysseus's men. Odysseus fell asleep and his men unleashed a bag of bad winds, throwing them off path (Homer 315). Skylla and Kharybdis was a representation of death from nature when Odysseus's men stopped rowing and six of the men were killed. The Seirenes, with their beautiful singing voices represent suicide death. Hades, probably the most down to Earth adventure, represents time and fate. Many religions use time and fate as representations of why people die. Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died, they were hand picked by god and therefore sacrificed.

Mexican/Latin American “War” on Drugs and Trafficking Essay -- Drugs,

The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs. It can be hard to differentiate between conflict and issue in regards to Latin America’s drug war and International Relations. The Mexican drug war is a global issue because it interferes with the states ability to collaborate and form policy in order to address the issues between international borders. Conflict arises because certain states want to resolve the situation and are willing to do what is necessary to do so. While drug-related violence in Mexico receives considerable attention, the Northern Triangle of Latin America is far worse. Venezuela has emerged as a major departure point for cocaine trafficked to Europe. Between 2006 and 2008 over half of all detected maritime shipments of cocaine to Europe came from Venezuela. (Crime 2010) These ports in Latin America have had an impact on the cities in the Bahamas as well with the drug cartels exporting their drugs quicker to the surrounding countries; they use the ports of the Caribbean to refuel while on the way to Amer ica. The waters of the Caribbean islands are patrolled by navies from the United States, France, Canada and the Netherlands. (Barnes 2010) However, the patrolling of the waters has not had a significant impact in the delivery of drugs to other countries. As the international drug trade continues to spread and grow, Mexican dru... ...it is their states right to produce these illegal substances if they wish. Supply and demand also shows that as long as people are willing to do illegal drugs states and people will continue to produce them. The United Nations, an international organization, has set up an office called the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, this office is authorized to set up field based projects, research and analytical work, and normative work in the effort to counteract illegal drugs, crime, and terrorism. This office reports directly to the general assembly and is part of a larger Intergovernmental Organization. (U. N. Crime 1997) With this office and the principles of reciprocity, a response to another’s actions when states that help one another in times of trouble or need, governments across the globe are uniting their efforts to stop the trafficking of illegal drugs.

Environmental Ethics: Not Beneficial Anymore Essay

Environmental problems stemming from the human population, pollution, conservation of resources, and preservation of species are complex and difficult to resolve. Increasingly, it is understood that one difficulty of resolving them is due to the fact that they are fundamentally problems of ethics that possess broad descriptions and characteristics (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). Thus, one sometimes hears the accusation that some self-proclaimed environmental ethicists are not really environmental ethicist at all since their speculations on the rights of future generations to a healthy environment represent more than extensions of inter-human ethics (Cooper & James 2005 3). Environmental ethics has more often focused on public benefits and public harms. In such scenario, individual’s autonomy is quite often seen as a source of harms, and there has been a steadily increasing emphasis on the consequent need to limit individual’s autonomy (O’Neill 2002 4). Environmental ethics is a relatively new field of philosophical ethics concerned with describing the values carried by the non-human natural world or basically the natura flora and fauna itself, and prescribing an appropriate ethical response to ensure preservation or restoration of those ethical values (Light and Rolston, 2002 1). In a strict sense, environmental ethics is concerned with three areas of inquiry concerning our relationship with the environment: (a) meta-ethics involves clarification method for answering morality queries; (b) normative ethics concerns the determination of what moral principles are valid and how we ought to act; and lastly, (c) empirical ethics focuses on what facts are necessary and relevant to inform our moral questions (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). This often urgent concern arises especially in view of threats to nature posed largely by humans. These threats are both to other humans and to non-humans/nature, placing in jeopardy the communities of life on Earth (Light and Rolston, 2002 1). More broadly speaking, environmental ethics seek a reunification of humans with nature. Consequently, they draw upon more fields of inquiry than merely philosophy (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294; Light and Rolston, 2002 1). Environmental Ethics: Climatic Changes  Remarkably, the current definition of environmental ethics excludes problems of environmental justice within the very nature itself, the generations both present and future, and problems of intergenerational fairness from the discipline of environmental ethics (Light and Katz 1996 119). Climatic changes are vastly increasing its phase, particularly global warming and the changes that it brings. Environmental policies to correct such scenario are very much unorganized and lesser attention is placed into. Especially for those communities that do experience little part of the afflicting climatic change, the tendency is to act-out or save-face for play-safe mechanisms. The concept of environmental scope lies more on human-centered instead of climatic problems themselves; hence, the ethical scope produces lesser effect to correct the problems that occur in the environment. Climatic changes are vastly covering the conditions of our society but invisible to little acts are being made. Some think that environmental ethical policies should be evaluated solely on the basis of how they affect humans. This entails a human-centered environmental ethics; although, for example, the classical utilitarians include animal suffering in their ethical calculation, a variant utilitarianism, which enjoins us to maximize the surplus of human happiness over human unhappiness depicting an actual human-centered approach (Singer 1991 285). The primary problems of environmental ethics nowadays are the macroethical character that causes differentiation of definitions and broad statement, and the human-centered link that deviates from the deontological concepts (Warren 2000 74; Singer 1991 285; Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). In one example the ethical policy for preservation of endangered species, and protection of those animals near extinction are very much known already since the problems have been widely recognized ever since. On the irony, the controversies about global warming and the climatic changes have been occurring even before the recognition of animal endangerments; however, little attention has been given to this problem of climatic change. The only time the condition in climatic changes has been recognized is during the time of its severe progression wherein the signs and symptoms of climatic changes have been vastly evident. The rationale of human being’s recognition of the environmental problem is only due to the point wherein human civilizations are effected by the problem. Unfortunately, the ethical approach of mankind over these problems is not even problem-oriented, which is nature-oriented, but rather, to protect themselves from the natural devastations caused by the problems they have created. Summary and Conclusion Environmental ethics in the present generation concerns the benefit of human civilization instead of the benefit of environmental aspect. The duty of mankind is to conceal the intrinsic character of the environment instead of playing-safe from the moral requirements by conducting ethical policies that only concerns human-sake. The focus on environmental approach should be the prime center of the ethics itself, and the benefit of man should be prioritized secondly. Let us view one example, the policy of green environment, which entails tree planting to counter logging system, is one example of a play-safe act. Practically speaking, logging benefits humans; however, with lesser tree sources do not justify the approval of environmental centers to continue the logging process granted that such program has been initiated. Trees take time to grow; hence, it would be much better to stop the logging process and utilize other areas instead of nearly depleting the resource area. The ethical considerations involved in this practice needs to change to a more deontological concept. The present policies involved are no longer beneficial to the environment and humans attempt to address climatic problems, since the entire focus is not the problem itself but those that are afflicted. Environmental ethics should change towards the benefit of the environment itself and more on humanities duties over it.

Globalization and the new world food crisis Essay

Since the dawn of civilization, man has always ventured and made developments for his betterment. Man’s basic need like any other animal on the planet has been his food. Initially man devised new hunting skills and innovate new weapons to hunt and feed. As time passed by he understood the basics of agriculture and ended his nomadic life. This was a turning point in mankind and the need for growing food to survive was well understood. With the passing of more time, agricultural science was used to enhance agricultural outputs with most of the countries at least going through one form of agricultural revolution. The need for food is still an essential need in this world full of technology and finances. Globalization brought the world closer and resources of one country started being used for resources or capital from other country. The concept of open trade became evitable and food was traded in plenty. It didn’t matter, where one was and could buy vegetables and fruits from other countries. Staying in the United States of America once could have Chinese mandarins. This was the extent in which globalization had upsurge trade amongst countries. Today the scenario has changed drastically, even though there is trade available, there is a major scarcity of food available in the world to be traded. The surplus quota of food which always used to be exported by countries is now being used for keeping out in reserves and in storage. Today the prices of exports have reached as high as 80% of the original cost as the other countries have started banning exports. Food today has become more expensive and scarcer than oil and other extinguishing resources. Today the world has entered into a new world ‘food crises’. Prices of bread in grocery store have changed and risen more in a week that it has over the years. It is a very grave situation and the world is in serious mess for it. Food prices have really soared up making it very difficult for buyers in terms of finances, but they still have to buy it as it is food and one cannot live without food. It has been estimated that wheat prices are up by 120%, rice prices are up by 75% and it has been efficiently calculated by experts that on an average a poor family today is spending 80% of its income on food. Food which is a basic necessity for a man to survive is a matter for daily struggle for about billion people. Because of this callous increase in food pricing, there has been huge increasing in malnutrition and it has been estimated that more than 3. 5 million children are dying per year because of food shortage. Further more the food crisis, which had been lingering around for some time, but somehow world leaders failed to acknowledge it and due to which about 100 million people have crossed below the poverty line in the last 2 years. The situation is considered to be very grave as this problem is here to stay at least till 2015. This problem is there for in the future as situations have been created where food will become more expensive than gold. The situation has now been officially declared out of hand situation and rapid measures are expected to control the situation at least for the near future. Globalization has been of the main issues that has caused this food crisis in the world. Everything being connected if has its advantages then it also has a lot of disadvantages. Today because of globalization and international trade every country is dependent on some country for its commodities and export. One thing that was clear in the world was not everything could be made in one country, so it has to be bought from another country. Today if natural disaster strikes at one country and if that country is one of the biggest exporters of a particular food item, then it is seen that prices of that food item goes up in the international market. Today the sorrow of one country is proportional to international markets. For instance an example of how globalization affects the food crisis is seen below: ‘The price of maize has never been higher, and the future has seldom seemed rosier. Carleton is booming, with $200-million put up for a new bio fuel factory and, after years in the doldrums, there is full-time, well-paid work for 50 people. The same fields that surround houses may be bringing new money to rural America, but they are also helping to push up the price of bread in Manchester, tortillas in Mexico City and beer in Madrid as Challenged by President George Bush to produce 133-billion liters of non-fossil transport fuels by 2017 to reduce United States dependency on imported oil, thousands are patriotically turning the US corn belt from the bread basket of the world into an enormous fuel tank. Only a year ago, their maize mostly went to cattle feed or was exported as food aid. Come harvest time, almost all will end up at the new plant at Carleton, where it will be fermented to make ethanol’ (Yale Global). Globalization has taken its toll on fossil fuels. Today it’s known that fossil fuels will extinguish in the coming years and the world might come to a halt. For this scientist devised ways of making bio fuels with the help of corn and maize. As the current United States of America’s president George Bush has vowed to stop imports of oil and fossil fuel from other nations by 2017, he has started a massive operation for making the country self sufficient on bio fuel. This has made the farmers giving away corn and wheat for the production of the fuel. The United States of America had made special subsidy for the American farmers to compete with globalize rates and due to which actual wheat producing nations like Mexico had to lose out on its farming out wheat and corn as because of the amount of international trade norms imposed due to United States of America. Because of that farmers in Latin America had major crisis for their wheat and became dependent of the American policy. Today when America is giving away its corn and wheat production for making away bio fuel, bread has become a major issue for the world and the following will explain problems created by it for poor countries: ‘Ever since the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund broke down trade barriers in the global south-thus opening the gates for the dumping of subsidized grain from the U. S. and Europe-farmers in poor countries have steadily been driven out of business. Under the banner of â€Å"comparative advantage,† many poor countries that had previously been self sufficient in food were turned as a conscious matter of US foreign policy into food importing countries. But with the U. S. hoarding its corn and selling the rest of its food dear, these nations are left holding the poor end of an expensive stick’ (Eric Holt-Gimenez). After America, Australia is one biggest wheat production nation on the world and is also a large responsibility for the world’s food production. Globalization has taken its toll on the environment. Today industries and technology have shifted to a new level often overlooking environmental issues. This high amount of globalization has accelerated the phenomenon of global warming which itself is responsible for many issues. Because of global warming, there suns rays are directly affecting the planet through the depleting ozone. This rise in temperature brings in lots of disasters on its way, like meting of polar caps, abrupt changes of climate and worst of all no rain but more heat. Because of the globalization Australia has been suffering more lately and it is having multiple year droughts. These droughts caused by global warming are taking its toll on the wheat productions making the wheat and corn an expensive item for the world. The following will explain the condition of Australia’s wheat woes. ‘After America, Australia is normally the second largest exporter of grain, and in a good year it would hope to harvest about 25 million tones. But the country remains in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which is why the 2006 crop yielded only 9. 8m tones. Last year saw one of the best starts to a growing season for years, but dry weather in recent weeks has forced the Australian government to slash its crop forecasts by 30%’ (BBC). Globalization has taken its toll on two massive exporters of wheat and since these two countries are affected it becomes very hard for the world as the remaining wheat that is available becomes very expensive making it impossible for poor people to think of having bread. Hard as it may seem to believe but it is quiet true now that globalization has been the food stealer of the world. Today many people are being pushed below poverty lines as they cannot afford to buy food and the deaths related with starvation or malnutrition has increased to new heights. Everything is proportional to every activity in the world and since the prices of wheat have soared up, people are getting poorer and the buying capacity of people is getting directly affected because of it. The following piece will shed light on the relationship of poverty and globalization: ‘The relationship between globalization and poverty is complex, Harrison acknowledges, yet she says that a number of persuasive conclusions may be drawn from the studies in Globalization and Poverty. One conclusion is that the relationship depends not just on trade or financial globalization but on the interaction of globalization with the rest of the economic environment: investments in human capital and infrastructure, promotion of credit and technical assistance to farmers, worthy institutions and governance, and macroeconomic stability, including flexible exchange rates and Globalization and Poverty yields several implications. First, impediments to exports from developing countries worsen poverty in those countries. Second, careful targeting is necessary to address the poor in different countries who are likely to be hurt by globalization’ (Matt Nesvisky)

Anticipatory Socialization

Graduating high school students usually get very excited when they finally realize that they are going to college soon. Anticipatory socialization can take place in this kind of situation, since anticipatory socialization is a process or condition wherein an individual prepares to accept new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors in a certain place or event. Looking back, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation when I realized that I was about to leave high school and get a taste of college life.I tried to visualize the campus, my future professors, classmates, and other things that I would be seeing in college. Choosing a college was quite difficult, so I did a lot of research in the internet and asked several friends about their opinions on which university is the best to study and get my degree. When I was able to choose a school, I gathered information through the internet about the campus, the different courses that the school offers, and the requ irements for applicant students.I took time to look at the college’s website and see all the information that will be helpful, such as the location of the school, facilities, curriculum, and all the information or details that can be seen in the college website. I took the opportunity to visit the school so that I would be able to see it for myself and make an impression whether I was going to like it there or not. I asked different people that I know about the school and the culture inside. It was fun getting varied information and feedback from them.I even learned about the style of clothes that most people wear to that school, so I made a mental note of shopping for clothes before I start going to that college. I was able to set my expectations already in college, and it made me feel ready to accept everything, whether it was a positive or negative thing. It was also because of my expectations that I felt excited instead of nervous about joining a new environment and start ing a new chapter of my life. Thus, anticipatory socialization greatly helps individuals in adapting, making necessary adjustments, and evaluating whether or not a certain thing suits him or her.

Pip and Magwitch Essay

Throughout the novel Great Expectations the reader will find that Magwitch plays a significant role to the plot of story. Not only does Dickens use Magwitch to form the main foundation of the story he also uses the character to convey Dickens’s view on important themes such as crime, punishment, social status and betrayal. In this presentation I will explore the ways in which Magwitch is presented and talk about and his significance in the novel. We are first introduced to Magwitch in chapter one. The reader becomes familiar with the character Pip; we learn he is a child who is alone in the graveyard and is mourning over the death of his family. The reader knows that not only would this upset Pip, it could make him feel frightened because as a child you are dependant on your family members to keep you safe. He makes it sound as if Pip was recalling what it felt like to be a child, like when we get the impression that he could have been exaggerating about wilderness and so on before him. An image is described, such as ‘the low leaden line beyond’ and this then is revealed as what it actually is; the river. This gives the effect that not only Pip is confused and lost by his surroundings but also and therefore scared and intimidated by them. Dickens delivers Pip’s emotions cleverly because there is no direct reference to how he is feeling at first. This is very good building up to the shock of first meeting Magwitch. The writer uses direct speech for his first words, which come out suddenly, at no particular starting point and with impression that they are loud! He says ‘Hold your noise. ‘ which sounds at first so abrupt it could be almost like he is trying to save Pip, that he fears for Pip too. We then read on to see how Magwitch is presented physically. He is wet and muddy, and is described as being stung by nettles, so he obviously does not look after himself properly. He is shivering and limping, so he may be unwell as well as cold. His shoes are broken and he has no hat or proper clothes which shows he cannot afford them. He has a very informal way of speaking, and is eager to see the scrap of food he finds on Pip, so this also shows that he is poor and working class. This could be because, or the results of being a criminal. The first chapter is important; we now know exactly what Magwitch looks like and how he is presented. As mentioned in the introduction, Magwitch is significant in the plot. The fact that he appears in the very first chapter makes us assume he is a main character, even though he does not reappear until later in the book when the reader either has completely forgotten about him or thinks it is very unlikely that he will appear again with the current story line, especially as at the end of chapter three it says ‘the last I ever heard of him. ‘ When he does make his unexpected reappearance in Chapter thirty-nine, he reveals news that causes him to become the centre of almost every aspect of the story line. By the end of Chapter fifty-four and when mysteries are revealed and loose ends tied we come to realise that Magwitch is somehow connected to every character. Pip, obviously because of the money he gives that cause him to become wealthy and middle-class. His lost past with Molly and Estella, his daughter, who was adopted by Miss Haversham. Also he is connected to Joe because it was his whittles and file he used to set him free. Perhaps he is connected to Mrs Joe because he murdered her. When Magwitch dies during chapter fifty-six, it impacts the plot and the characters, especially Pip. Magwitch influences other characters, especially Pip and sometimes they influence him too. Had it not been for Magwitch the way people behaved may have been very different! We do not know much about Pip before he meets Magwitch, but afterwards we find him to be cautious, for example how nervous he was when he meets Miss Haversham. This could have been a lasting effect from his fears upon first meeting Magwitch. Pip may have been so shocked by the way that the poor lived that he becomes even more determined to become a gentleman. It gave him an insight to the lives of the very poor. In chapter three Magwitch seems to wait all night just for the food Pip has brought him. Pip may have recognised his determination and perhaps used this will when he is seeking Estella as his wife later during the book. Magwitch may have been so grateful towards Pip that it made him feel like he should try and become a better person. Both Pip and Magwitch taught each other that you should not always be judgmental. For Pip, it was that he was at first very afraid of Magwitch and thought he was going to be scary. Later on he realises that he only was behaving in a threatening way because he was hungry and desperate for food.

Barack Obama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Barack Obama - Essay Example It covers it covers many aspects of his life, starting from his birth in Hawaii to his relocation to Indonesia and back to Hawaii. It carries on with his life at Occidental College in Los Angeles, then at Columbia University in New York and finally at Harvard. It also examines Obama's life as a community organizer in Chicago. It then gives an account of Obama's political life from the days he served as an Illinois State Senator through to his days as a United States Senator and finally his decision to vie for the United States Presidency. The conclusion section highlights the main items of the paper and gives inferences where appropriate. It confirms the thesis of the paper. Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the US, was born on the 4th August 1961. Obama happens to the first ever African American president. Before the presidency, Obama served as a junior Senator in the United States Senate from the state of Illinois between January 2005 and November 2008. He later resigned after he was elected president. Obama graduated from both Harvard and Columbia Universities. While at Harvard Law School, Obama was the Harvard Law Review president, the first ever African American to hold the position. Before he earned his law degree, while in Chicago, Obama served as a community organizer. Between 1992 and 2004, Obama became an attorney of civil rights in Chicago. During the same period, he served as a constitutional law teacher at the University of Chicago's Law School. Obama served in the Illinois Senate for three terms between 1997 and 2004. In 2000, he bid for the House of Representatives seat but was unsuccessful. Later in 2004, Obama successfully ran for a senate seat in the Unites States Senate. Obama's victory amid a crowded field in 2004, together with his keynote speech at a Democratic National Convention made him a rising national figure. Obama's election to the US Senate in 2004 had the biggest margin in the history of Illinois. Obama began his race for the US presidency in February 2007. He won the primaries against Hillary Clinton in 2008 and won the party's nomination to become the first ever African American presidential candidate of a major party. Obama went ahead to beat the Republican Party flag bearer John McCain in the 2008 elections. His inauguration as president was held on the 20th January 2009. Background Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the United States to Barack Obama Senior and Stanley Ann Dunham. Dunham was an English decent American from Wichita in Kansas. Barack Obama Senior was a Luo who came from Nyang'oma Kogelo village in Nyanza Province of Kenya. Obama Senior and Dunham first met at the University of Hawaii in Manoa during a Russian language class. Obama Senior, a foreign student, attended the university on scholarship. They married in February 1961, with Barack being born later the same year. Barack Obama's birth was announced in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and The Honolulu Advertiser. At the age of two years, Barack's parents separated and later divorced in 1964. Obama Senior returned to his home country, Kenya and only saw his son once before he met his death in a road accident in 1982. Dunham joined the University of Washington while living at Seattle in Capitol Hill with her son as a single mother (Ripley, 2008). She left Seattle together with her son in the 1962's summer and rejoined the University of Hawaii. After Dunham's separation with Obama Senior, she

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Critical Thinking - Essay Example In her opinion, when such people are shamed because of something they are either doing or did in the past, many learn and quit. She however condemns the act of shaming people basing on things that are unavoidable such as maturity Towards the conclusion, the author dwells on two examples, which justify her claim that shame is good. She talks of a glutton who eats greedily and states that if such person is shamed, he or she will learn and stop the habit. After shaming them, they will stop eating too much, hence cut on their weight. 1. Angela states that everybody is ashamed of one thing or another. She provides examples such as the fact that some people are ashamed of being fat, having thick eyebrows or even failing a test and dropping out of school. 4. Angela claims that it is okay to make some people feel ashamed. To justify her claim, Angela brings out the example of somebody who eats because of pure greediness and gets fat to an extent that they are too big to fit a single bus seat. According to her, shaming such an individual will make him or her ashamed of themselves, hence lose weight and avoid health risks like heart attacks. 5. Angela also brings out an example of a woman who makes a fashion mistake like wearing a short dress yet she has short thick legs. Shaming her will make her feel embraced and she will not go out looking bad again. 6. Finally, Angela states that people should not be ashamed about some things such as early and late maturity. According to her, shame is inappropriate in a situation where something is beyond the control of an

The Reasons for the Fall of the Inca Empire Essay

The Reasons for the Fall of the Inca Empire - Essay Example The people in this kingdom used assimilations to incorporate the majority of the western part of south America. They also used violence to spread their rule within the region. The kingdom was spread from the mountains in Andrea to Ecuador over to Bolivia and into the countries of Chile and Columbia. Their official language was called Quechua though many dialects of the language were spoken. The people of the kingdom worshipped the sun god and considered their king as a son of the sun god. 2 Most of the people in the kingdom were pastoralists. After the attack and occupation of the Spaniards on the capital, Cusco, the Inca people constructed other strongholds in the towns of Vilcabamba along with Vitcos. The fall of the Inca Empire came as a result of their defeat in war by the Spaniards among many other reasons. The Spaniards had already managed to conquer the Indians of Mexico in the year 1519 under the leadership of Hernan Cortes. 3 The Incas though had no information concerning th e conquest of the Indians. The Inca people only realized that the white man was around in the years between 1523 to 1525. There was an attack by the Spaniards accompanied by the Indians of central Mexico and under the leadership of Alejo Garcia, a Spaniard, on the Inca at Gran Chaco. This helped in creating awareness among the Inca of the white man’s presence.4 In the year 1527, an outbreak of small pox affected the people of the empire leaving very devastating effects on the community. The Inca’s leader known as Huayna Capac passed away in the same year leaving a very large kingdom that encountered many wrangles on his progression. The leader had 500 boys and two of them seemed the favorites to succeed their father. They were Huascar and Atahualpa who resided in Cusco.5 This culminated in the outbreak of a civil unrest that lasted for a period of five years due to the power struggles between the brothers. The war was fought between two factions each being led by eithe r of the step brothers. Atahualpa won the war but his victory did not last long enough. This is because after two weeks the Spaniard Pizzarro arrived for his second trip to the region accompanied by one hundred and seventy seven men. Among these men only sixty seven of them were soldiers and they arrived in the year 1532 at Tumbes.6 The Inca leadership under Atahualpa had precise information concerning the whereabouts of the Spaniards.7 They however made faulty interpretations of the details since they were told that the white’s guns were only thunderbolts which could fire twice. Their soldiers were also told to that the whites man horses were not appropriate at night. 8 They claimed that the horse and the man were the same thing and the survival of one depended on the other. This implied that if one of them fell, the other was completely useless. The Inca people were also led into believing that the Spanish swords would do no harm to them. The perpetrators of this propaganda claimed that their swords were just as inefficient like a woman’s plank used for weaving purposes. The Spanish people did not however attack immediately.9 They invited the Inca leader, Atahualpa, to visit in their walled city and the leader foolishly walked into their trap. He was accompanied by many of his tribesmen though they were unarmed. They came in this condition as a result of being convinced by a Christian priest and a demigod of the Inca. The Spaniards laid an ambush on the Inca’

Human Factors and Ergonomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Factors and Ergonomics - Assignment Example Suggestions to improve these conditions i. Place study samples of interest onto a table where he or she will work in upright manner ii. Raise the work to a better view where he or he will be aligning with samples to avoid bending head. iii. Avoid bending wrists more than 300 by using in-line appropriate tools when working on things that are lying on flat surfaces. iv. Use low stools especially when he or he is collecting samples but not for a prolonged period. This is to avoid bending of neck. 2. i. Adjustable Driver’s seat and its belt - A person based on an individual’s height is capable of setting both seat and belt such that he or she can hold the steering wheel appropriately without reaching it from behind or operating when it is very close to the chest. ii. Appropriate size of a steering wheel - When negotiating a corner one executes this task with ease without struggling with big or a small steering wheel.

International Business Theory and Practice Essay

International Business Theory and Practice - Essay Example Starbucks is one of the leading coffee chain businesses in the world which has been exemplary in their strategies for domestic as well as global expansion processes. Starbucks Corporation in a Washington based company but over the last decade, the company has employed different innovation strategies to expand their business internationally and has increased its number of stores across the world at an accelerated rate making it one of the fasted internationally growing multinational corporations across the globe. The company is specifically focused on expanding into the emerging markets with high potential for growth like Middle East, Europe, and Asia pacific including China, Korea, India and the Latin America markets. This paper focuses on the different strategies of Starbucks in entering the emerging market of North Korea. There are a number of studies and theories presented by different scholars and researchers who have studied the different factors related to the international expansion of various multinationals. The Uppsala model for internationalization expansion processes was one of the earliest developed models for global expansion policies of multinational companies. The Porter’s diamond model for competitive advantage of nations is a critical model used to understand the different locational and company specific advantages to be considered in the international expansion process. According to the study of Chen and Mujtaba (2007) the entry mode factors considered for the expansion strategy are based on transaction cost model and can be considered the most critical step in the global expansion process (Chen and Mujtaba, 2007, p.322-337). The transactional cost model states that the implementation cost of an entry mode is a critically relevant factor in choosing the entry mode for implement ation. According to the work presented by Tang and Liu (2011), the evaluation of the

Criminology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Criminology - Case Study Example The availability and computing of crime statistics is a vital component of law enforcement. Crime statistics provide us with important facts that theories must then explain. During the increased crime rate of USA during 1980s, the criminologist's strugged to justify the unexplained increase in crime rate throughout the nation. However, during 1990s the same country experienced a reduction in the crime rate and thus it is now essential for criminologists to discover the root causes of crime in order to understand this trend. The who, when, where, how of crimes is addressed by the quantitative techniques of measuring crime and which are vital in answering the why of crimes. Measuring criminal behavior is not just an academic exercise in futility, for it can fruitfully be used in evaluating criminal justice policy initiatives, policing, judicial and correctional administration amongst various other uses. Siegel, (183-227) believed that criminal behavior was a function of the human ability to choose an individual course of action. Psychological theories of crime which justify the reduction in crime rate during 1990s began with the view that individual differences in behavior may make some people more predisposed to committing criminal acts. These differences may arise from personality characteristics, biological factors, or social interactions. There are many other theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior, but that is beyond the scope of this essay. Now, having learnt about crime and criminology, it is now necessary to throw some light on the root causes of crime. Discussion Although there were several specific crimes which were on the rise during the increased crime rate of 1980s, those crimes experienced a reduction during 1990s. However, while interest in crime has always been high, understanding of why it occurs and what to do about it has always been a problem. Public officials, politicians and 'experts' offer simple and incomplete solutions for obliterating crime, whereas academe invariably offers abstract interpretations and suggestions that often have little practical value. As in most areas of human behavior, there is no shortage of experts but there are very few effective solutions (American Journal of Sociology, 3920-4259) According to Siegel (183-227) criminologists studying the trend of crime rate in USA during 1980s and 1990s have rarely shown interest in the aspect of situational crime prevention. Criminologists develop theories and conduct research to understand and explain criminal behavior. A theory attempts to make sense out of many disparate observations (or facts) by stating a general principal that connects, integrates and explains them. A good theory is extremely valuable in that it extends our knowledge beyond the facts in front of us (the raw data), enabling us to predict how others might behave at another time and in another place (Ojp.usdoj.gov, 2007). Criminological theories based on biology, psychology were both, at one stage dominant in the field; however the vast majority of current criminological text employs sociological theory and research. Biological and psychological explanations will be examined in the following essay; however there will be a focus on sociological theory. It has been said that a theory of criminal conduct is weak indeed if it is uninformed by a general psychology of human

Shakespeare's Midsummer night's dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Shakespeare's Midsummer night's dream - Essay Example The two woman are treated so differently because â€Å"the feminine either rebels against the restraining social order or presides in alliance with force that challenge its hegemony romantic love ,physical nature ,the love of pleasure in all its form .†Biana rebels quietly as Kate rages and use the masculine realm of language as a weapon. Biana’s rebellion is then not seen until her sister becomes silent. Hermia , white she openly challenges her father’s authority ;does not take on a masculine role as Helena are treated with distain because they directly challenge the masculine self by adopting its features Biana and Hermia instead embody the attribute of country love , because they are off limits. Biana is unattainable because her sister will not marry and Hermia because her father wants to marry one man and the heart belonged to another. This embodiment allows them to preside over the realm of romantic love which is outside the control of masculine social order (male gaze) (Natanson

Disneyland and history of it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disneyland and history of it - Essay Example Ultimately, rather than merely being an entertaining environment for families to spend leisure time, Disneyland was intended to be something of a historical/cultural interpretation of America, the American dream, the American past, the American future, and the American president. Through such a delineation and discussion of these different time frames and interpretations, it was Walt Disney’s distinct hope that Disneyland could be representative and indicative of the way in which individuals understood the country in which they live or indeed the country in which they visited. As a function of understanding this particular dynamic, the following analysis will be concentric upon discussing the way in which Disneyland was representative of the United States, its experience, culture, and potential future, as well as discussing whether or not this representation was merely imaginatively fanciful or in fact was effective and ultimately represented a realistic/crude interpretation o f life. Moreover, a unique discussion of what defined American greatness, at least with respect to Walt Disney himself, will also be engaged. ... However, within this â€Å"Main Street USA†, Walt Disney represented a close-knit community that, although exhibiting a level of development and modernity that reflected the era in which it represented, nonetheless had a very small town feel and emphasize the importance of community interaction above many other aspects. Yet, rather than representing Disneyland as something that was entirely concentric upon an idealized nation of Midwestern life, Walt Disney also created another identification of the United States with respect to what was termed as â€Å"Adventureland†. This particular representation was unique in that it represented the global reach and power that the United States was able to impact upon the world. A psychological or sociological analysis of this particular representation might lend the reader to assume that an element of colonize Asian or empire building was contingent upon Walt Disney’s personal interpretation of what made the United States gr eat. In short, â€Å"Adventureland† represented a Caribbean or Asian complement of the United States; indicative of territories that the United States held overseas as a result of both the Spanish-American war and the second world war. Naturally, and identification of Hawaii and the global reach of the United States, as well as the interaction between different cultures that represented the United States, was also part and parcel of this particular representation. Interestingly, â€Å"Adventureland† is one of the only interpretations the United States the Walt Disney made which emphasized cultural diversity. Whereas Walt Disney was continually criticized for representing only a handful of African-American employees at Disneyland, first opened in the early 1950s, this representation of a

Evaluating the non-survival of best technologies in the long-term Essay Example for Free

Evaluating the non-survival of best technologies in the long-term Essay Abstract The essay under consideration analyzes the factual statement that best technologies do not survive in the long term. The statement has been considered under real life incidences, scenarios, and personal experiences, by virtue of which, several conclusions have been obtained and justified through relevant logic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technology, for the purpose of this paper, has been restricted to the IT only; however, there are other implications and applications. There are several reasons for failure in long term survival of even the best technologies. Some of them are found to be of the highest probability of occurrence, others seem rather less risky.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, analyzing these is extremely important because technology research and development, and implementation require major cash outflows that need to be controlled and planned well in order to avoid struggle for survival. It is also worth mentioning that in majority of the circumstances, latest technologies are implemented without prior research of their impact. Avoidance to this can also make things much easier. Introduction As the facts state, and are known to all, that not more than 10% infact even lesser projects are successful across the IT industry due to several reasons [1]. Similarly, technologies that are really tremendous also do not survive in the long run. Technology may have several definitions, however, the easiest to comprehend definition is: Technology can be defined as the applied part of research and development. Elaborating on the above-mentioned definition, any organization may conduct RD activities but just the part of it that is applied is converted into technology [2]. Technology is generally associated to IT and pertinent topics only; however, technology applies to enhancements and advancements of any entity. Despite this, the scope of this paper restricts the view of technology to IT hardware and software, and pertinent entities/issues only. There are several issues and causes that pertain to the long term success of a technology. Relevance Study of this non-survival is not just important, but is critical to know and analyze. The prime reasons being that it is only its study and exploration that possibly may lead to non-repetition of such issues in the future [7]. However, the past shows history otherwise i.e. repetition of these issues has been witnessed in several failure cases. Also a point where this study gains extreme criticality is the fact that research and development costs and involves huge some of money that needs to be compensated (pay-back) once the technology is commercialized. If it, however, fails to deliver and sustain, survive in the long term, all efforts of RD simply go to waste [3]. Analysis of Issues For deeper analyses, it is most important to define the exact meaning of the topic. Survival in the long run implies that as a technology grows in its PLC (Product Life Cycle), it should have added customer base. When it is being said that best technologies do not survive in the long run, this statement implies that even the best of technologies are unable to sustain their competency in the long run, thus losing out the customer base. Or in other words, the possibility and cases that lead to a decline, referring to the query that why are technologies not able to survive for a longer term of life [16], [4]. Therefore, hypothetically, if the technology losses its clients due to some issues pertinent to the technology itself, the technology may be pronounced as a failure or non-survivor during the long term [17]. For further analyses of the issues that lead to the non-survival of some great technologies, the initial step should be their identification and then exploration. Following are the major issues pertinent to this: Extra-ordinary Expectations It can also be called as the inability of technologies to deliver what is actually expected from them. This can be a dual-sided problem. On one side, it is possible that during the phase of research and development, many technologies are elaborated and exposed to media and other stakeholders as the ultimate benchmarks beyond which no further development may take place. In such a scenario, technologies are bound to perform much below the ‘speculation-built’ expectation of the target audience. The other side is the fact that the technology may be elaborated upon parity to what it actually is, however, it may truly be below par. Thus gradually, those who adapted that technology, move towards a substitute or the previously run satisfying technology, as the case may be, in the long run; this is a trend that leads to the new technology not surviving in the long run [5]. Timing of Updates Updates are another wide issue why technologies may fail. Updates can be identified as patches or additional utilities that enhance the working of a technology. As the world is highly dynamic, technology keeps advancing, thus requiring timely updating of technology. In this regard, there are two prime concerns why a technology may fail [8]: Mistimed Updates The updates may not be timed as appropriately as required. For example, a software vendor may provide an anti-virus update of their software 6 months after that virus has started its destruction. Such updates are mistimed updates that do not satisfy the customers and may cause a technology failure. Irregular Updates A similar concept is of irregular updates. For example, a software vendor may actually provide updates with the first one in first month and then on randomly after any variable interval of time. This again is a hassle for the customer to actually update the technology as per a random walk. The issue might be as critical as it may not sound, and may actually cause the customers to walk away from such technologies causing them to fail. The implementation of a modern technology, which is definite to be costly, leads to the customer expectation of after sales services including regular updates and renewal versions are the primary expectation that a customer may hold. Failure to deliver these may cause the customers to shift to alternatives, causing a decline in the usability of technology. This decline denies the chances of survival in the long term. Costly Maintenance The technology may effectively be the best and most advance; however, its maintenance cost may be on the similar height due to lesser expertise in the advance technology, costly equipments, etc. The lesser expertise may increase the dependency on a single vendor, pushing him into premium charging from the customers, and as a result, customers might want to shift to an alternative or to the previously held technology, that again leads to survival issues for new technologies in the long run [11]. Compatibility Issues In the long run, organizations need to interact with their value/supply chain and thus requiring compatibility among the systems of the two organizations i.e. the technology each has implemented respectively. Failing to endure compatibility may lead to an eventual failure of the technology; primarily because organizations are most definite not to prefer technology that is incompatible with others, unless the organization stands tall in a commanding position in the value chain. Further Advancements in Technology Also referred to as Constructive-Destruction by some authors, technology may fail due to rapid development in the similar field enhancing the scope of accomplishments through enhancements, while these enhancements may fall beyond the scope of the previous technology, causing customers to shift to the latest technology for added services obtainable from the same. Thus, technological advancements may actually lead to the existing technologies not surviving for long. This can also be rephrased as the obsolesce factor [9]. Consider the example of type-writers; these were considered a tremendous technology of their time. However, the advent of computer (keyboard and printer) actually ruined the existing technology of type writers. Another example can be the shift from Infrared to Bluetooth technology in terms of wireless mediums. Alignment of Business Strategy Vs. IT Strategy At times a tremendous technology may just not survive due to absence of in-built/default best practices that may align the IT strategy to the business strategy. Generally, the best practices are indulged, particularly in case of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) tools, whereby organizations while implementing these technologies, tend to perform BPR (Business Process Re-engineering). This in-turn has an effect on the whole of the business strategy and of course; BPR at that stage assures the appropriate alignment of the two strategies. Failure to align suitably may not be depicted at once; however gradual illustration of the same would encourage firms to shift their IT solutions and vendors, causing the decline of users and thus, creating a survival struggle. Lack of Vendor Support The best of the best technologies may not survive for even a shorter spam of time if the vendor support is lacking or missing. Many individuals and corporate clients may, for instance, find Linux a better operating system than many others even including Windows. However, lack of support leads to the survival struggle. There are firms working on providing its support but the current market share of it vs. windows says the whole story [10]. Lack of Monitoring Control on the Implementation Due to lack of monitoring and controlling the implementation of a technology, things may seem alright as implemented for a short spam of time. However, in the long run, as soon as problems start to appear, the think-tanks may blame the actual technology. Again, the reduction in usage rate assures a decline and a struggle for survival in the long run. Lack of Creativity Innovation Technological development is no short term or ‘once-done’ sort of a task. For staying in business, a technology related firm must assure constant creativity and innovation in the technology launched in the first go. Creativity, innovation, and basically something new; if these factors missing from the approach, mission, and vision of a technology provider organization, in that case it is certain that the organization itself may not survive in the long run, let alone the technology it is developing. Life Expectancy Expected useful life of technologies has decline tremendously over the past decade. With new technology developed almost all the time anywhere in the world, the product life cycle has reduced x-axis value. In such a scenario, even the best of the best technologies struggle to survive in the long run. This primarily pertains to the competition that has developed so drastically that no technological advancement actually remains advancement over a period of time. In such a scenario, firms should come up with new research and development that could actually be deployed in technology useful for an organization in developing its competency [6]. Technology Migration Strategies A technology should be adaptive in nature, and should be able to comprehend migration strategies across different technologies. Migration here may also imply the development of compatibility with other technology. This becomes more crucial when technological platform has to be changed or back ups need to be regenerated. A weak technology in this regard is most definite to create a non-survival scenario among existing technologies [12]. Conclusion Understanding the root causes of failure is the first step towards its elimination [18], [19]. Technology is useless without application. It can be viewed from the above argument that technology that has the above-mentioned loopholes, may not survive in the long run. A simplest and most routine example that can be considered is the WINDOWS vs. DOS operating systems. Most of the above mentioned problems, if not all, were presence in the DOS systems and absent from the WINDOWS platform, and the stories of survival and accomplishments are known to all [13]. To conclude, it can actually not be said with extreme confidence that best technologies do not survive in the long-run at all. In the long-run, there are further advancements that lead to the non-survival of previous technologies [14]. However, there are some technologies that are still existent in the world from the past and are expected remain so. One of the prime examples of the same is a wheel. Wheel probably is man’s finest creation, and possibly the advent of technology in human age [15]. Despite of prospering a lot today, wheel exists in this world today even in its basic form, let alone the advance version. But yes, mostly technologies do not survive in the long run because they are substituted through their or a substitute advance versions [20]. References James A. O’Brien (1999) Management Information Systems: Managing Information technology in the Internetworked Enterprise, 4th Edition Adas, Michael (1989). Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2303-1. Monsma, Stephen V., et al. (1986). Responsible Technology: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0175-7. Noble, David F. (1984). Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-51262-6. Roussel, Philip A.; Kamal N. Saad, and Tamara J. Erickson (1991). Third Generation R D: Managing the Link to Corporate Strategy. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 0-87584-252-6. Davis, Aquilano Chase (2003) Fundamentals of Operations Management, 4th Edition Applegate, Austin McFarlan (2003) Corporate Information Strategy Management, 6th Edition R. Ray Gehani (2003) Management of Technology Operations Rory Burke (2000) Project Management: Planning Control Techniques, 3rd Edition Camp, J. (2000), Trust and Risk in Internet Commerce, MIT Press, Cambridge MA Goodhart, C and M Krueger (2001) The impact of technology on cash usage, London School of Economics Financial Markets Group Discussion paper no 374, April. NARA/Long-Term Usability of Optical Media [Internet]. Available from: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/electronic-records/electronic-storage-media/critiss.html [Accessed 9 April 2007] How Failure Breeds Success [Internet]. 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