A Brief Guide to Byzantine Icons

Eikona is a Greek term for Icons. The four subjects shown in Byzantine Icons are God, Jesus Christ, Virgin Mother, and the Saints and Martyrs. Byzantine refers to the Byzantine Empire where representations became an essential element of the Orthodox Faith.They are illustrated in vibrant colors and frequently gold tinted backgrounds. The intention of Byzantine art was the veneration of God, and Jesus. Icon creates an admiration in worship and serves as an existential link to God.The Second Commandment relates to what God is not an idol and about idolatry. It teaches us about worshipping things that are not God. Idolatry is something that takes the place of God as the center of our lives. Anything that is greater than God in our precedence can be considered as an idol.The Second Commandment says that we are not to make idols for ourselves, not to put anything other than God in the center of our lives. It situates that we should not build or adore any idols. The consequences are not goo d because the punishment for disregarding this Commandment is retribution for generations. But to those who comply with the Commandment is rewarded for a thousand generations.Byzantine Icons exemplify an exceptional cultural victory. It uses Greek philosophical class and thoughts. European religious art generally represent a specific person or religious occasion. Each piece presents symbolism local to that religious party.They attempt to revolutionize the ancient legacy from within and in radiance of the Gospel, bringing about the missionary mission of Christianizing their direct cultural background. The synthesis of Christianity within the Byzantine tradition has become a classic and significant for the whole history of the Church.As justification that Byzantine Icons or art is not an idol, they are regarded as wonders functioning to present spiritual and secular blessings. They are respected as instruments of phenomenal intervention. They give courage and strength in a world full of misfortune and suffering. They grant joy because Icons remind us that we are sincerely loved by God.ReferencePW de Ruyter. (2007 May 12). What are Byzantine Icons? The Visual and Spiritual Treasures of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Retrieved November 22, 2008, form http://www.iconsexplained.com/iec/byz_about_byzantine_icons.htmByzantine Sacred Art. (2008). Byzantine Icons. Retrieved November 22, 2008, from http://www.byzantinesacredart.com/byzantine-icons.html

Difference between dogs and cats

Every animal has its own characteristics and features. Generally speaking, each animal is adapted for existence in a certain environment and may be unable to survive or reproduce in other environments. Environment includes such factors as temperature; light; moisture; atmospheric and water pressure; and gas and mineral content of air, water, and soil. The various factors of the environment in which any particular animal lives may not remain constant at all times. Most animals are adapted to withstand certain environmental variations. This paper scrutinizes the difference and similarities between the cats and dogs.Cats are meat-eating animals. The cat family includes not only the domestic cat, but also the tiger, lion, leopard, lynx, bobcat, and many others. Wild cats are dangerous predators, but domestic cat is a pet and companion and is valuable as a means of controlling rats, mice, and other rodents. The young of most wild cats are called cubs; the young of domestic cats are kitten s. All cats, from lion to housecat, are adapted for hunting. The head is large and broad, with powerful jaws and sharp, slashing teeth. Long whiskers on the sides of the face are believed to aid the cat in feeling its way through narrow places.The eye has a vertical pupil that closes to a narrow slit in bright sunlight and opens wide in dim light, maintaining the keen vision so necessary to a hunter. A cat, like a dog, is largely color-blind. Its sense of smell and hearing are very well-developed. The cat has a lithe body, with a loose skin. There are five toes on the front feet and four on the hind. The feet are padded for silent motion. Except for the cheetah, which has feet that look much like a dog’s, all cats have claws that can be drawn backward and upward into protective sheaths. Some cats are good swimmers, but most avoid water.The traditional belief in the â€Å"nine lives† of the cat can be traced to the animal’s cleverness in getting out of trouble, a nd to its vigor and strong hold on life. Cats can live for several days without food, and recover from injuries that would kill most other animal . Kittens should be fed crumbled bits of cereal in milk, finely chopped cooked meat, or canned baby food four or five times a day. Gradually the number of feedings is reduced, but the amount increased until at 9 to 12 months the cat is receiving an adult diet. Adult cats do best on two meals a day.Suitable foods include ground lean meat, cooked, non-oily fish, canned cat food, or dry cat food. Fresh clean water should also be provided. Cats not intended for breeding purposes should be kept indoors, it should be provided with a sanitary tray. New kittens should be confined to the tray area until they begin to use it. Most cats over thee months of age use the tray readily. A fixed, padded post for the cat to scratch on will help to keep it from scratching on furniture. On the other hand, the dog is a carnivorous mammal that was domesticated by humans thousands of years ago.It serves in a variety of ways—as a companion, hunter, herder, and protector, and as a draft animal. For the blind, dog serves as guides. In some places, dog racing is a popular sport. Because of its loyalty, obedience, courage, and friendliness, the dog is often referred to as â€Å"an’ best friend. † Dogs have held a prominent place in mythology and literature. Dogs are mentioned in the Bible and in such historic works as The odyssey. The domestic dog is Canis familiaris of the family Vanidae, which also includes the coyote, jackal, and wolf. Domestic dogs retain some wild instincts.This explains why some dogs chase moving objects, scavenge for food, and turn around several times before lying down, as their ancestors did to trample down high grass for a bed. Domestic dog often sleep curled up with their tails over their faces, just as wild dogs do to protect their faces from the elements. Domestic dogs, like wild dogs, eat quic kly and are protective of their food. Dogs have very acute senses. The most highly developed are hearing, smell, and sight. Dogs can hear sounds at high frequencies, higher than the upper limit of human hearing.The sense of smell is the most important sense to a dog. Dogs can locate particular scents, follow them when reencountered. Taste buds on the tongue help the dog distinguish sweet, sour, salty, and bitter tastes. Dogs see in black and white. They have a relatively wide field of vision but a limited capacity to judge distances. A third eyelid, called the nictating membrane, is hidden behind the lower eyelid. A dog can feel pain, pressure, cold and heat. Certain hairs on the body are especially sensitive organs of touch. In addition, dogs communicate by a variety of means.The sounds they make, such as barking, growling, and whining, can indicate a number of things, including aggression, excitement, fear, and submission. Puppies are active and need three meals a day until the ag e of six months, when they need to two meals a day. A puppy needs a balanced diet containing protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. A diet of cooked meat, eggs, milk, and cottage cheese, or commercial puppy food provides necessary nutrients and calories for a growing puppy. By the age of one year, a dog needs food only dog food or a diet of meat, eggs, and cheese. Water should be provided with meals and after exercise.Since many dogs develop tartar, a thick deposit of bacteria and food particles on the teeth, knuckle bones or commercial dog biscuits are recommended to help break down the deposits. It is believed that cats were first domesticated in northern Africa. Egyptian carvings made more than 4, 500 years ago depict cats as domestic animals. The cat was a sacred animal in Egypt, associated with the goddess Pasht, or Bast. Many mummies of Ehyptian cats have been found. On the other hand, dogs are descended from Miacis, a small carnivorous mammal that lived in Nort h America over 60,000,000 years ago.Miacis was a civet-like mammal that had a long body and tail, short legs, and large teeth for tearing and chewing meat. In conclusion, cats and dogs have a common ancestor in small, extinct meat-eating animals called Miacindae, which lived about 40,000,000 years ago. Cats have seen to have developed rather suddenly from the civet branch of the carnivore group of animals. Both cats and dogs are helpful to man. Although they have different characteristics yet these animals show similarities of some ways in food and its physical features.

The Klan of the 1930s

The Klan of the 1930’s In 1865, the bloodiest war in American history drew itself to a much-needed end. However, the gory war had severe repercussions. One of which is the Ku Klux Klan, or as it is more commonly known, the ‘KKK’, or even ‘the Klan’. The Klan was not originally meant to perform filthy crimes against humanity, but any group started by individuals with such dark beliefs is bound to morph into something unintentionally. Something horrible. Something that would burn fear into the minds of every Catholic, every Jew, every African American, and anyone else who seemed unfit.That omniscient ‘something’ is the Ku Klux Klan, an organization equally as treacherous as the Nazi’s to anyone who truly know of them. The Ku Klux Klan is beyond doubt one of most terrifying things in all of American history, and still present day. From it’s unassuming beginnings, to it’s cruelty to their fellow man, to their . After the civil war, many ex-confederate soldiers had nothing to do- their bones ached with boredom. That very boredom is what ushered the beginning of the Klan in May of 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee.Boredom is what started this horrible, seemingly cult-like, group. The group was given its rise by approximately six ex-confederate soldiers as merely a racist, social gathering. Something to lift their sunken spirits. But, gradually, talk began to turn violent. At first, just little practical jokes, then as fate would have it, they evolved into a violent hate group and performed murderous and treacherous hate crimes that society seemed to turn it’s back on and God seemed to flinch at. How could men do such horrible things?Had we no souls? Klan violence worked to suppress black voting. Over 2,000 people were killed, wounded and otherwise. Klan members adopted masks and robes that hid their identities and added to the drama of their night rides, their chosen time for attacks. Many of them ope rated in small towns and rural areas where people otherwise knew each other's faces, and sometimes still recognized the attackers. During the mobbing the Klan would riot by yelling out racist things. They would also hurt people who spoke out against them.Sometimes they would disrupt a certain black organization and rob people. During the hangings that they did, the KKK would find some black people, whether it meant kidnapping them or taking people just walking by and would take them to a hidden place where they were hung. When shootings occurred, the Klan were often the ones who started it, most likely by going and shooting at rallies for black people. The Klan also just started shooting at cars with black people going by or at a black family’s houses.Although the Klan did these horrible things, they were very rarely arrested for doing them. Although some police agreed with the Ku Klux Klan, others tried there hardest to find and arrest them. It was hard to find the Klan, bec ause they never stayed in one place for long due to the fear of capture. 3 years ago Report Abuse Additional Details my grand pa was a confederate general, i have nothing against it†¦ 3 years ago the question is what is the third thing i can use for my thesis? 3 years agoI WANT HELP WITH MY THESIS, NOT ADVICE. THANK YOU THOUGH. ————————————————- Explain how the KKK are supposedly the â€Å"ghosts of the Confederate soldiers† (after they lost the Civil War) and how they hanged Blacks in retribution, bombed Black churches, burned crosses on lawns and killed people during their infamous night rides. The first Klan was founded in 1865 in Tennessee, which had about 550,000 total members. Key members in the second klan were Nathan Bedford Forest, a Civil War veteran.Forrest allegedly responded, â€Å"That's a good thing; that's a damn good thing. We can use that to keep the ******* in their place. † That demonstrates that the KKK's main goal was reactionary, to keep Blacks down after they lost rights to slavery during the Civil War. In 1915, the second Klan was founded. At the turn of the century, the new KKK focused on more groups, such as the Jewish and Catholics. The created the movies called â€Å"The Birth of a Nation† that portrayed the KKK as heroes. Also, they were rather infamous in their case with Leo Frank.Leo Frank, a Jewish man whose controversial death sentence for the rape and murder of a young White girl named Mary Phagan had been commuted, was lynched near Atlanta against a backdrop of media frenzy. Also note the second KKK had about 6,000,000 members total and was VERY successful in terms of numbers and political power. The third klan formed in 1946 and opposed the later Civil Rights Movement. However, the third klan lost most political influence because racism was getting less accepted as times changed. Also not e, around this time, they began committing questionable assassinations and bombings of Black churches.They, in 1963, assassinated NAACP organiser Medgar Evers in Mississippi. In 1994, former Ku Klux Klansman Byron De La Beckwith was convicted. Of course, the racism resulted in the Blacks forming their own groups for protection. Also put that many KKK groups, from the third re-birth, exist today, in which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 187 active KKK groups supposedly exist in the United States. The state with the most KKK groups, is Texas, containing 26 total. ————————————————-

Community Corrections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Community Corrections - Essay Example The National Institute of Justice created and funded a program and devised a multi-year and multi-site federal effort; The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative. This initiative was created in confidence of improving reentry outcomes and evaluating this with five factors; criminal justice, employment, education, health, and housing. The program initially began in 2003, allowing the national Institute of Justice to track the success of the program (National Institute of Justice, 2012) Sixteen programs were divided among 14 states and included 12 adult and 4 juvenile facilities. The purpose of the program was not starting a new program but to increase funding and resources available to existing programs. Partnerships were formed between supervision agencies, correction agencies, state and local level agencies and any faith based agency’s that have approved programs with the Department of Corrections. Participants were each considered a violent offender, each below the age of 35, and represented all three stages of reentry; in prison, post release with supervision and post-supervision. The evaluation of this program sought to define how and if the program could lead to more integrated services among agencies, to what extent were participants in this program receiving services as compared to those who were not in the program and did the outcomes and benefits far exceed the cost of the program (Lattimore, & Steffey, 2009, p Es-5). In February of 2012 a final report was released with the findings of this study and recommendations for this community corrections program and initiative. Prisoner Reentry Services The program focused on 12 different reentry factors that were identified as crucial pre-release. These factors were known to be contributive to the success of the offender once released. The offender should have a case manager, who has assessed his /her needs, a reentry plan; the offender should have completed some programs while incarcerated; d id the offender attempt or successfully achieve this? Were life skills evaluated and any life skills education courses taken or available, did the offender take part in any prerelease employment services, mental health treatment or substance abuse treatment should have been available and provided to the offender, were personal relationship skills developed during incarceration?, Attitude counseling related to criminal thinking and behavior provided, were anger management programs utilized, and was the offender able to receive a GED or other education during incarceration (Lattimore, Barrick, Cowell, Dawes, Steffey, Tueller, & Visher, 2012, p Es-2). Those who participated in the program had longer times between arrests and fewer arrests after release from the program across all demographics. Those services associated with a longer time period before being arrested again were personal relationship counseling, criminal thinking and behavioral counseling, anger management and a solid re entry plan. These conclusions maintain the popular theory that personal development and programs that promote individual change may be more useful and successful than those which promote practical skills. This was true of female, males and juvenile offenders. Needs assessments and evaluations, reentry plans and participation in a reentry program, employment counseling, and criminal attitude and thinking counseling had no affects in any of the three groups on

Risk in Multitasking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Risk in Multitasking - Essay Example Managing different projects at the organization is important. Tasks need to be assigned to employees accordingly. If too much tasks are assigned, then it will result in chaos and employees would not be able to complete the tasks. Therefore a project manager needs to make sure that tasks are assigned appropriately and employees are not overburdened because they can give only a limited time at work and if more work is assigned to them then they may not be able to complete the work within the time or maintain high quality of work (Kerzner, 2003). The main findings of the article are similar to what I have encountered at the workplace. Even at my organizations, manager tends to assign different tasks without even asking whether the previous task has been completed or not. Such a situation impacts the concentration of the employees. If tasks are given one at a time to employees, then they would be able to better manage the task and complete it with better quality. Organizations should also manage the tasks in a way that too many tasks are not assigned to the employees at a time. In this article, it has been analyzed that the projects were not managed appropriately. Managing the resource in projects is critical in making sure that the project is completed within the cost, time and scope. If the projects are not managed considering the resources the organization has, then it will result in such situations and the projects will not be completed (Hamilton,

A Modern View on the Kid's Complex Development Essay

A Modern View on the Kid's Complex Development - Essay Example There were constant queries made by parents regarding the ways of upbringing a child and knowledge which would contribute to and support the welfare of their children. These various demands made by the society to gain a comprehension regarding the development of children and different related aspects directed towards the need and the development of numerous theories related to this particular subject.The concept of research on the subject of child development is stated to be a current attempt. This attempt was not witnessed until the later phase of the nineteenth century and the initial phase of the twentieth century. However, the concepts and thoughts regarding the development and the transformation of children subsisted for centuries. These existing assumptions were pooled with the conducted researches which promoted the structure of theories related to development. A theory is stated to be an arranged, incorporated collection of declarations which explains, portrays and forecasts behaviors. The existence of theories is considered to be significant as they help in putting in order the structures associated with the development regarding children. To be specific, it provides a direction and implication to the made observations. The theories are believed to be confirmed with the help of researches which frequently provides a sound foundation towards realistic actions.There are believed to be three issues that are considered to be basic and regarding which majority of the existing theories take a stand. The first issue takes into concern that whether the process of development needs to be considered as continuous or discontinuous. The aspect of continuous development is stated to be a course which entails slow but sure contribution of similar kinds of abilities that existed since the beginning years. However, the course of discontinuous development entails fresh ways of comprehending and acting in response to the rest of the world. These ways have been observed to surface or come forward at particular instances. The second issue states that whether an individual process of development portrays all the children and whether there are other numerous probable processes. And the third issue deals with the fact that whether the hereditary or the environmental features are to be considered extremely significant in manipulating development. This has been referred to as the nature & nurture controversy. Nature implies to the natural biological characteristics. It signifies the inherited knowledge that is gained from the parents since birth. Nurture implies to the multifaceted energies related to the social as well as a physical world which manipulates the biological formation along with the psychological familiarities prior and subsequent to birth.

Mongol Impact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mongol Impact - Essay Example Moreover, under the Mongolian regime the communication system greatly improved. As regards to the negative impact of the Mongol invasion, their plunders, devastations and loots executed throughout the continents of Europe and Asia is viewed as their potent negativity. They also raped and brutally treated the innocent citizens thrusting upon them their religion which can be seen as another negativity of the Mongol Conquest. Also, the blood-thirsty image of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan is a well-accepted fact unanimously affirmed by all the historians which cannot be undermined. Overall, the Mongol invasion did have much negative sides when they are treated as plunderers and invaders. However, the great development and unification the Mongols brought about throughout the continents of Asia and Eastern Europe cannot be undermined. The all-around socio-economic development did occur throughout the continents holding the hands of the Mongols under whom the Persian silk trade or the rapid development of communication took place (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2013; Stetson University,

First Presbyterian Church of Coral Springs Dissertation

First Presbyterian Church of Coral Springs - Dissertation Example The Presbyterian Church is a church whose roots originate from the Protestant Christian denomination having started in the United States. The church has developed its standards based on the doctrines that govern its followers with an indication of respect for God almighty that they serve. The church relies heavily on the doctrines to educate the people. These have worked in successfully revealing the needs and lives of Christians in a moral approach. The church established in 1983 through a merger of two churches has survived over the years and slowly created its own space that it fills each time. The church has a grown membership that has seen over 1667767 members present in the book while 20383 represent the number ordained ministers (Summary of Statistics). Despite the decline in membership in the church, many other factors have influenced the need for the church to vigorously apply management skills and understand the aspects that will play a role in describing the ideal cloth. T hese form the basis of the research. The literature review below provides support on the application of strategic planning and other formal approaches in planning for the success of the church. The first article seeks to detail the approach that many churches seek to employ in their strategic planning process. The author provides an exploratory approach to detailing the application of strategic planning by the churches in a bid to improve their business position.

Human Resources Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Human Resources Development - Essay Example The oil spill proved to be a violation of the water act, migratory bird act and related acts on the conservation of natural resources (Graythen, 2013). The reader also gets an overview of the five-month oil disaster and a detailed background on how the leakage resulted. Moreover, the author narrates how the explosion occurred and outlines the government response to the incident. As expected, the spill affected the American energy policy something that the author also gave attention. In addition, the article mentions the efforts that taken to bring the exploded well back into control and the setbacks hindering rescue by the team charged with that responsibility. The article also mentions the probable recovery after the disaster. This article relates the saddening truth about the mine disaster in 2010 that left 29 dead in West Virginia. The author describes the desperation evident in the families of the victims concerning the loss. In addition, the author emphasizes on the long hours taken by the rescue teams in their effort to uncover the debris in the collapsed mine and unearths the bodies. Moreover, the moving story mentions that the tragedy resulted because of the mines negligence to abide by the stringent safety rules in place to protect the welfare of workers in the risky mines. It becomes clear from the story that the rescue task was difficult because of the state of the collapsed mine (Urbina, 2010). The West Virginia mine disaster highlights the surging problem in many mines and that concerns safety of the workers. Occupational safety in the mining industry deserves a priority in any mine because risk assessment reports have shown that the workers are always at a great risk. This explains the stringency of the rules and regulation that govern mining. However, the West Virginia case just highlights the reluctance with

The Revival of Roman and Greek Architecture in The Palace of Fine Art, Essay

The Revival of Roman and Greek Architecture in The Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco - Essay Example The particular event lasted from February to December of 1915. The event that became a tradition marks the commemoration of both the recovery of the state from an earthquake in 1906 and the conclusion of the construction of the Panama Canal1. The Palace of Fine Arts has different important structural components and architectural elements that can be considered as an integration of both the Roman and the Greek architectural designs. This is due to the fact that the main objective of the architect Bernard Maybeck is a representation of the ruins of Roman and Greek culture combined through the amalgamation of their unique styles. Due to the said objective a unique architectural style was given birth2. The Palace of Fine Arts is a unique structure that was built for a temporary purpose, an exhibition to last less than a year, but the effort that was put in the building of the edifice stretched it life for half a century. The Roman structure and architectural style can be recognized in the columns that line the building specially the central rotunda and the arch3. These columns are specifically described to be Corinthian, the fourth to fifth century Roman architectural design4. Central part was located near the lagoon which added to the attraction of the Palace, giving its visitors an extraordinary experience. The display rooms that can be counted to 113 room... The particular part where artworks are kept was constructed at the rear of the arched area to be able to provide a larger space for what is considered to be the focal point of the Palace, the central rotunda. Circular dome and the eight Roman columns make up the central rotunda linked by a bridge to the pergola. This form of structure can be observed in Roman temples in the early times. A total representation of the grandeur of the Roman architecture but humbled by the evident reconstruction of the ruins5. This interaction of element to bring about a message to the observers is the real objective of the constructed structure. The elements of Greek art can be observed in the decorations and added designs to the Palace of Fine Arts. The sculptures, the murals and the ornate decorations mark the architectural design of the Greeks that can be observed in the Palace6. Some of the priced artworks are murals of Robert Reid which is composed of four sections that describe mainly the development of art in the different regions of the world, in relation to the concept presented by the exhibition. Other art pieces that adorn the Palace depict the extravagant architectural design of the Greek. Some of there are the sculptures such as the Aspiration by Leo Lentielli, a statue that offers himself for art, and the columns lined with statues by Ulric Ellerhusen depicting the strong feeling in the absence of art. The ornaments mainly depict the Greek culture. In addition to the decorations, the eight panel located underneath the dome was described to represent the Greek culture, specifically the importance of arts in the culture of the Greek7. On the basis of the described Palace of Fine Arts according to published works, it

Analysis Paper on Komatsu, Ltd. (B) Profit Planning Product Costing Article

Analysis Paper on Komatsu, Ltd. (B) Profit Planning Product Costing - Article Example The fact that the remaining operations (construction, real estate, unit housing, chemicals and plastics, and software development) brought forward only 20% of the corporate revenues would have been considered the need for a change in planning It seems that the 3G† strategy of growth, globalization, and group diversification adopted in 1989, was able to make a financial progress by following correct processes of Profit Planning and Product Costing. The act that Komatsu’s profit planning process consisted of three major stages: policy making, profit planning, and evaluation to be a good starting point towards progress. Similarly, the decision to change/revise the Profit planning to be done on yearly basis, instead of the previous semi-annual practice, is a prudent move based on the given three reasons. It is true as it takes a lot of pre-preparation time, as everyone has to devote a substantial amount of their working time in preparing reports. This has been found out as counterproductive as it happens at the expense of their working time. It is also true, that semiannual report is based on a short-term perspective. Perhaps, it may not give the relevant picture as some of the processes take time to produce the expected outcome. It is also correct to understand that if allocations of fixed costs have to be changed based on the figures emanating from the semi-annual, it may not be realistic as well as too arbitrary to be me aningful. While analyzing the processes followed under Policy Making Stage, it can be clearly seen that they followed correct procedures, instead of taking arbitrary decisions by the policymakers. The fact that the development of the long-term plan began with the preparation of a preliminary long-term plan by the corporate planning and control department is an exemplary procedure to follow, which is ignored by most of the contemporary businesses. Their practice of submitting the approved preliminary long-term plan to each division is very practical and commendable.  

Rule of Merger & Demerger Essay Example for Free

Rule of Merger Demerger Essay 1.These rules are called Rules of Merger Demerger amongst the Firms registered with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 2.Concept of Merger Demerger: i) The Partnership Act has not prescribed merger demerger of partnerships. In the corporate world, merger and demerger have become universal practices for securing survival, growth, expansion and globalization of enterprise and achieving multitude of objectives. Merger is the fusion of two or more existing companies. On the other hand, demerger signifies a movement in the company just opposite to merger. `Demerger’ is also used to describe spinning off of an â€Å"undertaking† of a Corporate entity. The concept of `Merger’, `Demerger’ `Acquisition’ are arising out of the `Arrangement’ under Sections 391-394 of the Companies Act, 1956. Merger and Demerger are natural corollary of globalization. ii) To incorporate the spirit of Corporate World and to imbibe the consolidation creed, the Council used the term ‘merger’ and ‘amalgamation’ of CA firms. The Council in its 198th Meeting held from 25th to 27th February, 1999 and in 223rd Meeting held from 2nd to 5th February, 2002 considered the Seniority and Mergers of the firm and implications of the decisions. iii) In order to have an orderly and sustainable growth of the CA firms, it is desirable that the coming together of the firms begins with networking and then matures to mergers. Networking will enable the firms to develop working relationships with each other. However, it is not to suggest that there cannot be mergers without networking. iv) The mergers should be effected to develop core competencies and to render professional services of a larger range spread over bigger geographical area. A merged big entity will always be superior to a network arrangement. 3.Merger i) To effectuate merger, a merger agreement in Form ‘E’ (enclosed) is to be filed with the Institute within 30 days from the date of the agreement. The re-constitution agreement/partnership deed shall be filed with the Registrar of Firms. ii) Upon the merger of the firms, the Institute will freeze the names of the merging firms and shall not allot the same names to any other firm. 4.Demerger i) The merger has to precede the demerger. The merger agreement itself shall contain the terms and conditions for demerger. Therefore no concurrence/acceptance is required from the continuing partners. The merger agreement shall stipulate that in case 75% or more of the continuing partners of one of the erstwhile firm(s) are willing to demerge then they can do so after giving due notice in Form ‘F’ (enclosed) to the other partners and to the Institute. ii) In case 75% or more of the continuing partners of one of the erstwhile merging firm have demerged after giving due notice to the other partners, then in such case, the merger shall come to an end and if the remaining erstwhile merging firms/partners of the erstwhile merged firm decided to continue, then they should enter into a fresh Merger/Partnership Agreement. iii) The Demerged Firm is entitled to practice in its old trade name, which existed at the time of merger. iv) The Constitution Certificate issued by the Institute to the demerged firm shall state the original date of establishment, the date of its merger and the date of the demerger. For the purpose of computing the seniority of the firm, the total period will be reckoned from the original date of establishment.

UK Fashion Industry: Strategic Analysis

UK Fashion Industry: Strategic Analysis Introduction Fashion industry is one of the most thriving and profitable industries of the world. The advent of globalization has led to greater penetration of fashion into the mind of individuals. Mega fashion shows are being held in many nations across the world which has generated considerable interest among the individuals. The present study deals with the fashion industry of UK. The choice of the nation assumes significance as it is one of the largest fashion hubs of the world. The nation also houses some of the most popular brands in the fashion industry. A study conducted by research firm Grail puts UK as among the top hubs in the global fashion industry along with USA, France, Italy and Japan. London Fashion Week which happens to be the largest fashion related event in the nation is the only fashion event that promotes works done by students thus highlighting its commitment and presence in the global fashion industry. Prestigious awards like River Island Gold Award have their origins in U K (Grail Research, 2009, p.6, 8). The present study would focus on the industry analysis of the fashion industry particularly that of the UK market. The report would include an industry analysis along with the analysis of the competitive framework prevailing in the UK market. Subsequently the key success factors and strategic groups would be analyzed in the report. The report would also feature examples of the strategies that have been adopted by the market leaders to continue their sustainability in the industry. Industry Analysis Global Fashion Industry- An Overview Fashion industry includes fashion designer houses, retail chains and the firms engaged in the manufacture of apparels. A report published by Levis Strauss Co has pegged the value of the global fashion industry at US $ 1334.1 billion as on 2008. The report also predicts a northward trend for this figure in the subsequent years. Apart from being a style statement, fashion also generates creativity, well being and identity. The report also states certain shortcomings of this industry which primarily includes aspects like poor working condition of workers in the industry, wastage of resources and also encouragement of unrealistic consumption. Certain other shortcomings include unavailability and high prices of raw materials which also emerge as a major challenge for the firms engaged in manufacture of fashion apparels across the world. Numerous opportunities also exist for the industry from the emerging markets like India, China, Brazil and Russia which have started emerging as fashion hotspots of the world (Levis Strauss Co, 2010, p.5). Overview of the UK Fashion Industry UK has been among the pioneers in the global fashion industry whose association with the world of fashion dates back to the 1960s popularly known as the swinging sixties, the punk and romantic 1970s and Cool Britannia Image of 1990s. Present age fashion designer label brands like Vivienne Westwood, Burberry and Mulbery, to name a few, are some of the numerous brand names housed in the nation (British Council Fashion Oxford Economics, 2008, p.9). A recent trend observed in the industry is that the nation is shifting from home based manufacturing units to sourcing products from foreign retailers. This has been attributed to the aspects of high labour costs coupled with the rise in prices of raw materials which has forced manufacturers to outsource their production units to nations like China which offer a significant pool of talented resources and raw materials at cheaper rates (British Council Fashion Oxford Economics, 2008, p.16). UK is one of the pioneers in the fashion industry, and the nation is accredited with numerous innovations in the industry segment. A research study conducted on the fashion industry in UK states that consumer spending on fashion apparels in UK saw a growth rate of 6.5 percent in 2009 with sales figures reaching 2.5 billion Pound. One of the major market players in the UK market Newberry reported 19.1 percent growth on an annual basis. The growth of fashion industry has been fuelled by large levels of spending by the local people. Over the last ten years spending levels of individuals have grown by approximately six percent on a real term basis. The fashion industry also has made significant contributions to the economy of the nation. In the year 2009, the industry is said to have contributed approximately 20.9 billion pounds towards the economy of UK which forms about 1.7 percent of the total GDP figure of the nation. Retailer GVA alone has contributed approximately 6.5 billion pound s towards the economy of UK. Indirect contributions to the economy include providing employment options to about 816,000 individuals in a direct or an indirect manner. This figure represents about 2.7 percent of the total workforce in the nation which highlights the growth and importance of this sector towards the economy of the nation. On a standalone basis i.e., excluding the employees at the retail stores, the sector employed about 155,000 individuals or about 0.5 percent of the total workforce based in the nation. The fashion industry is also one of the major contributors to the nations exchequer with contribution figures ranging about 13.2 billion pounds which stands at 2.6 percent on absolute percentage terms. These contributions have mainly come from VAT and through the income tax paid by the employees engaged in this industry (British Council Fashion Oxford Economics, 2008, p.14). The magnanimity of the fashion industry can be adjudged from the fact that the contribution of fashion industry towards the GDP of the nation is significantly higher than chemical and publishing industry. Fashion industry is the fourth largest employment provider in UK and comes only next to travel and tourism, telecommunications and real estate (British Council Fashion Oxford Economics, 2008, p.20). This implies the huge potential of the fashion industry in UK. The following chapter would provide an analysis of the competitive framework prevalent in the UK market. Porters Five Forces Model Competitive framework for any industry can be analysed by using Michael Porters five forces framework. The analysis of a market using the framework proposed by Porter helps an organization to analyse the market potential of other players in the market. This helps in generating sustainable competitive advantage for the firms. According to this framework, the competitive framework can be analysed by using five factors namely, Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of Consumers Competition from existing players Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes (Haag, 2007, p.72) Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers have a high barraging power when the raw materials are available in scarce quantities. It also rises when the number of suppliers for a particular product or raw material is quite limited. In case of fashion industry, suppliers constitute of vendors who provide raw material like cotton and other textiles which serve as raw material for apparels. The UK fashion market is characterised by the presence of a few suppliers which is generally due to high costs of raw materials. The suppliers also use traditional practices which again increases the cost of goods sold (Karra, 2008, p.27). High cost of real estate also serves as a major source of concern to the fashion retailers. This analysis implies that suppliers have a fairly high bargaining power. Market leaders in UK have started outsourcing their manufacturing departments to vendors based in nations like China and India where cheap raw material is present at affordable cost of labour (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2004, p.2). Bargaining Power of Consumers Bargaining power of consumers arise when the market is characterised by the presence of numerous players who have a large product line. Presence of large number of competitors puts consumers in the drivers seat as they have numerous options. The present status of the consumer market in UK reveals the presence of large number players. Most of these players have high brand values products to suit every type of customers. This provides ample choices for the consumers. Hence it can be concluded that consumers have a high bargaining power in the UK market. Major players in the market like Marks and Spencer, Austin Reed have started providing value added services to consumers to woo them to their stores. Celebrity promotions have also been used to target consumers like Lane Crawford roping in supermodel Maggie Cheung for its promotions. Competition from Existing Players UK is characterised by the presence of large number of global players like Marks and Spencers, Next, Arcadia, Matalan and Bhs all of which have formidable brand image and an impressive product line to target consumers. Competition exists in almost every segment of the target market. This implies that competition from existing players has a significantly high impact on the fashion industry in UK. Market leaders have formulated policies that tend to win the consumers in favour of their brands. Fierce competition has prompted leading market players to vouch for newer locations like for example Marks and Spencers eyeing the Indian market. Threat of New Entrants New entrants do not pose sufficient threats to the existing players. This is mainly due to the fact that the present market in UK is completely saturated with big brands like Marks and Spencers, Next etc. Moreover, high cost of establishing a business deters new players from entering the UK market. This implies that new players do not have significant power to challenge the existing players. Threat of Substitutes Substitutes are those products which have attributes that are highly similar to the original products. The customer segments of firms like Marks and Spencers are highly niche in nature and are unlikely to switch to substitutes which basically constitute low priced products. Hence it can be concluded that substitutes do not present significant threats to the existing players present in the market. Key Success Factors The key success factors for the fashion industry are stated below: Government support Customer Awareness Ability to bring in continuous innovations Government Support Government support is a key element in the success of the fashion industry. Pro active policies by the government favour the emergence of new players as well as boost up the existing players by creating market conditions that tend to provide greater value to the customers. Creation of competition would automatically generate innovations which is the backbone of the fashion industry. Customer Awareness The success of fashion industry depends on high levels of consumer awareness. Consumer awareness implies that consumers get regular updates about the new products that are being innovated by the fashion industry. Events like London Fashion week, Paris fashion week and other such festivals have emerged as a platform for fashion designers and retailers to showcase their products and creativity. These festivals are characterised by presence of high profile celebrities who endorse products of different designers and fashion labels. In these events, awards and accreditations are given to talented individuals who generate creativity in their designs (London Fashion Week, n.d.). This also serves to motivate individuals to produce greater creativity. Ability to bring in Continuous Innovations Innovations are the key to success in the fashion industry. The basic tenets of this industry are based in continuous innovations. Firms like Hilfiger have created competitive advantage by introducing continuous innovations in their product line (Manlow, 2009, p.242). Innovations in fashion include amalgamations of modern and traditional fashion. Mega events like Paris fashion week and London fashion week serve as major forums where market players can showcase their products to the target audience. Firms are also roping in celebrities and supermodels to promote their designs. These innovations and subsequent endorsements by popular celebrities generate substantial interest among the target audience with regards to the diffusion of innovation among the general masses. Broad appeal and glamour of these events generate enthusiasm among the target markets with regards to adopting new products. The analysis of key success factors reveals the importance of factors like government, awareness among the target market audience. The aspect of innovation also generates sufficient interest among the firms to innovate their products. The UK market represents numerous potential for the market players as all the three key success factors can be achieved by organizations. A suitable mix of the three key success factors would help in generating sustainable competitive advantage for the firms in the highly competitive market. Strategic Groups Strategic groups are defined as a group of firms and organizations which operate within a specific industry who have similar strategies. It has been observed that in most of the cases the difference among the different market players is generally captured by the presence of strategic groups within the industry (Kim Mauborgne, 1999, p.86). The fashion industry in UK is characterised by market players like Marks and Spencers, Next, Arcadia, Matalan and Bhs who are global market players having operation in all major markets across the world. All these firms have the same target market and have a similar marketing mix for their products. The basis of forming a strategic group is based on the fact that all the above stated market players operate in a similar macroeconomic set up and have a similar target market. These firms intend to have similar positioning strategies. The presence of a strategic group also creates entry barriers for new entrants as well as generates sustainable competi tive advantage for these firms in the market. Presence of strategic groups tends to stabilise consumer preferences, it also generates greater competition and rivalries among the market players, as all the players in the strategic group are known to target the same customer segment. This leads to aggressive marketing by the firms to beat their rivals in the business markets. The scenario in UK market resembles a similar situation with firms trying to use every possible strategy to beat their rivals and capture the market (Hoskinsson, Hitt Ireland, 2008, p.87-88). Conclusion The concept of fashion has been prevalent in UK since time immemorial and the nation has been among the pioneers with regards to creativity in this sector. The study reveals that fashion industry is one of the most happening industries in UK. This can be gauged from its contributions towards the economy of the nation both in direct as well as in indirect terms. The UK market also represents tremendous opportunities for market players as it has a large customer base with high levels of disposable income which makes it an attractive destination for fashion brands across the world. The study also shows certain challenges which mainly arise due high cost of raw materials and labour. Presence of strategic group also tends to increase the competitive rivalry among the market players. In spite of this, the huge potential of the target market serves as an incentive for most of the market players to eye the lucrative market of UK. Hence, it can be concluded that success of an organisation pre cisely that of fashion, lies in its ability to generate continuous innovation and to mould the advantages of the market to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Novelty Preferences in Infants: Effects on Infant Cognition

Novelty Preferences in Infants: Effects on Infant Cognition Discuss the method of ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ and consider its contribution to psychologists’ understanding of infant cognition. One of the keystones in an infant’s development is the ability to group similar items and experiences together. This, on the surface, may seem a trivial skill but it forms the basis for much of the infant’s cognitive development in the first months of life. Once similar things are identified into groups, structure and order can form around them. This process is referred to as ‘categorisation’. In fact, the development of the process itself provides a useful insight into the developmental progression of an infant more generally. One of the major tools psychologists have used to study this phenomenon is that of the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique: Fantz (1963) noted that infants showed a strong tendency to pay attention to novel objects, compared with those they had previously encountered. If an infant is presented with an object for an extended period of time, that infant will gradually reduce the attention it bestows upon the object. The baby will begin to look away, until eventually it no longer pays the object attention at all. This process is known as familiarisation (or ‘habituation’). Subsequently, if the infant is presented with the same object as before, alongside a new object (with which the infant has had no previous experience), then vastly more attention will be paid to the novel item. This is called ‘novelty preference’. Presumably this pairing of phenomena (familiarisation and novelty preference) comes about from a biological tendency (genetically hard-wired) which ensures an infant experiences as much of its environment as possible, in order to learn at an optimum rate. Psychologists have produced a lab-based version of the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ phenomenon in order to examine its effect on the cognitive development of infants. The technique has two stages: In stage 1 an infant is shown a number of different objects belonging to the same category (e.g. Siamese cat, Persian cat, Tabby cat). In the second stage the infant is presented with a pair of novel stimuli. One of the stimuli belongs to the category the baby has just encountered (e.g. Manx cat), the other belongs to an entirely new category (e.g. Labrador dog). The infant is then graded on the preference they pay to each stimulus. The infant normally shows a greater preference for the stimulus from the novel category. This is because they have formed a representation of the familiar exposed category (i.e. cats) which became habituated, so more examples of this category will hold less attention. When a new category is encountered (i.e. dogs) more attention is due to th is novel item since it has not been seen before. This process is used to examine many aspects of infant development which relate to categorisation, for example: how do infants form categories? How are these categories remembered? How are they organised? Also, since categorisation and language formation are so strongly linked the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique is used to understand the development of language in infants. In order to examine this process simply some of the first studies of infant cognition resorted to using very basic stimuli. Younger and Gotlieb (1988, see also Bomba and Siqueland, 1983; Quinn, 1987) used simple dot patterns, known to be effective in examining adult categorisation. Infants were familiarised with six pairs of distorted dot patterns, which had been derived from a single (undistorted) prototype (and hence were considered to belong to the same category). The infants were then shown a test pair which included the prototype of the exposed category, and a prototype of an entirely different dot category. The amount of time the infants spent looking at the novel dot pattern was recorded. When the prototypes were very simple patterns the infants (aged 3-7 months) spent a significantly larger amount of time observing the novel prototype than the familiar one. This indicated that they had all formed a representation of the dot category, without ever seeing the pattern which defi ned the category (the prototype). As the prototype patterns became more complex only older infants (5 months and above) showed this significant trend. So, older infants appeared to be better at forming a prototype from the series of distorted examples, although all showed evidence of category formation. Younger and Gotlieb (1988) went on to use this finding to examine how infants actually store their category representations. They hypothesised two possibilities for category storage: 1. all possible exemplars are stored in memory and are available for comparison with new instances (‘exemplar memory’); 2. an average of all observed exemplars is stored as a prototype (‘prototype memory’). Initially it would seem plausible that prototype memory is the more likely as this is the most efficient form of storage and retrieval. Comparing an example with all previous examples would be very time-consuming. Once another cohort of Younger and Gotlieb’s (1988) infants had been exposed to the distorted dot pattern exemplars (see above) they were then shown the prototype paired with one of the previously seen distorted exemplars. If the infant produced a prototype when it was exposed to the exemplars earlier (by averaging the features of the distorted patterns) then the prototype the infant formed should look much like the actual prototype. In this case the infant should perceive the distorted pattern as less familiar (and thus attended to for more time) than the prototype. If the infant was in fact just remembering each and every pattern it was presented with then the distorted exemplar should be more familiar (and attended to less) than the prototype, which was not seen until this point. However, it seems that infants use both of these category storage mechanisms, depending on the exact parameters of the experiment (i.e. if there are a few simple exemplars then it is more efficient to encode each one, when there are many complex exemplars a prototype is more appropriate). More importantly, infants use the same mechanism as adults performing the equivalent test. This not only indicates that infants are able to form prototypes (an essential mechanism for category formation), but are capable of adult-like cognitive tasks from a very early age (ED209, Child Development Course Team, 2008). Experiments like those described above have been criticised for their lack of environmental validity. In order to address whether or not infants can actually categorise items that are relevant to their surroundings a number of authors have used the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique. Quinn, Eimas and Rosenkrantz (1993, see also Eimas and Quinn, 1994; Quinn and Eimas, 1996) gave infants exposure to pictures of domestic cats from different breeds and in different orientations. Subsequently, the infants spent less time viewing novel cat pictures (as they considered them familiar) than pictures of animals from other species (which belonged to novel categories). These experiments show that infant categorisation is reproducible outside of the ‘lab’. Moreover, the experiments indicate that infants can produce categories that are both environmentally valid and useful, without the assistance of a vocabulary. Knowing that similar things go together is the first stepping stone to producing useful categorical knowledge. The next step than an infant makes is to organise their categories into hierarchical structures. This step brings the child closer to forming a strong basis for a lexical framework (i.e. towards speech). To illustrate: A Siamese cat belongs to the super-ordinate category of ‘cats’, which in turn are ‘animals’. Construction of this categorical framework is commonly investigated using the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique: Behl-Chadha (1996) set out to discover if infants were truly able to form hierarchical structure. Infants aged between 3 and 4 months were familiarised with a set of twelve photos of chairs (which included sub-ordinate categories like desk chairs and rocking chairs etc.). Following this the infants were shown pictures of novel chairs along with other items of furniture. This infant paid more attention to the novel items than the chair-related items. This standard ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ effect showed that the babies had successfully formed the category ‘chair’. However, when the infants were familiarised with a set of ‘couch’ pictures they subsequently treated new ‘couch’ pictures as familiar, but pictures of other chair-types were treated as novel, attracting more attention (indicating the babies knew couches were an individual category, whilst at the same time knowing that chairs were a category also). This experiment proved that infants are in fact able to ‘nest’ categorical information into a hierarchical structure, needed for the formation of a vocabulary. Another aspect of categorical grouping that is a pre-requisite of early speech formation is that of spatial relation. This form of categorisation is more abstract than the types summarised above as it cannot rely on perceptual features. Quinn (1994, see also Quinn et al., 2003) showed that infants can categorise abstract spatial relations, grouping objects that are ‘above’ or ‘below’. If an infant was familiarised with stimuli that were all of the same spatial relation they would subsequently show preference for stimuli in another spatial relation. These kinds of experiment show that infants produce seemingly complicated categorical information without the a priori powers of speech and vocabulary. Infants therefore have the cognitive ability to form many complex representations of their environment. In fact, many authors believe this forms the basis for communication and language development. Waxman and Markow (1995) suggest that language acquisition is promoted due to the ability it provides the infant in referring to objects. In fact the onset of speech and the so-called ‘vocabulary spurt’ have both been attributed to categorisation. Gopnik and Meltzoff (1992), for example, note that children who are better at categorisation on the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ test are those who also use more words and names for items in their first months of speech production. Goldfield and Reznick (1990), note that half of all early words spoken by infants were object names, further strengthening the link between object category and cognitive development, and language in particular. The ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ method is therefore key in understanding the building-blocks of infant cognition and speech. Bibliography Bomba, P. C. and Siqueland, E. R. (1983) ‘The nature and structure of infant form categories’, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol. 35, pp. 294–328. ED209 Course Team (2008). Cognitive and Language Development in Children, Milton Keynes: The Open University. Eimas, P. D. and Quinn, P. C. (1994) ‘Studies on the formation of perceptually based basic-level categories in young infants’, Child Development, vol. 65, pp. 903–17. Fantz, R. L. (1963) ‘Pattern vision in newborn infants’, Science, vol. 140, pp. 296–7. Gopnik, A. and Meltzoff, A. N. (1992) ‘Categorization and naming: basic-level sorting in eighteen-month-olds and its relation to language’, Child Development, vol. 63, pp. 1091–103. Quinn, P. C. (1987) ‘The categorical representation of visual pattern information by young infants’, Cognition, vol. 27, pp. 145–79. Quinn, P. C. (1994) ‘The categorization of above and below spatial relations by young infants’, Child Development, vol. 65, pp. 58–69. Quinn, P. C. and Eimas, P. D. (1996) ‘Perceptual organization and categorization in young infants’, Advances in Infancy Research, vol. 10, pp. 1–36. Quinn, P. C., Eimas, P. D. and Rosenkrantz, S. L. (1993) ‘Evidence for representations of perceptually similar natural categories by 3-month-old and 4-month-old infants’, Perception, vol. 22, pp. 463–75. Quinn, P. C., Adams, A., Kennedy, E. et al. (2003) ‘Development of an abstract category representation for the spatial relation ‘‘between’’ in 6-to 10-month-old infants’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 39, pp. 151–63. Younger, B. A. and Gotlieb, S. (1988) ‘Development of categorization skills: changes in the nature or structure of infant form categories?’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 611–19. Waxman, S. R. and Markow, D. B. (1995) ‘Words as invitations to form categories: evidence from 12-to 13-month-old infants’, Cognitive Psychology, vol. 29, pp. 257–302.

Transportation 1788-1868 :: Free Essays Online

Transportation 1788-1868 The process of transporting convicted criminals to Australia came about as a result of Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence. With the loss of this colony, Britain also lost its primary depository for its surplus criminal population; and, for a time, these excess numbers were housed in floating jails - 'hulks' - moored on the Thames. This proved an unpopular policy and so, in 1787, a British fleet set sail to build a penal colony at Botany Bay in New South Wales - seventeen years after James Cook had landed there. Robert Hughes, in his study The Fatal Shore, describes this undertaking as 'a new colonial experiment, never tried before, not repeated since. An unexplored continent would become a jail.' The choice of New South Wales was an unusual one, for Cook had described it as barren, and A.G.L. Shaw notes in Convicts and the Colonies that 'it seemed wholly useless for trade'. It would appear that all the British government required was a place to dispose of its criminal classes and subsequently forget about them, ignoring commercial considerations. The inhospitable nature of the place seemed ideal for ne'er-do-wells, and its distant location meant that few were likely to return. Many crimes, from petty theft to murder, were deemed worthy of transportation, and there seems to have been little distinction made between types of criminal, which concerned social reformers of the time. Household Words expressed concern that 'hardened ruffians of the deepest dye were chained hand to hand, during a six month voyage, with simple country poachers, pickpockets of tender age, and sailor smugglers.' All prisoners were treated alike, and conditions were harsh; appalling living conditions, disease, hunger, floggings and general neglect were prevalent and many convicts died en route or upon arrival. However there was hope on the horizon for some prisoners; those who behaved well were hired out to emigrant farmers to become, like Dickens' Magwitch, 'sheep farmer(s), stock breeder(s) and other trades besides.' Thus convicts could make some sort of return to respectability. Not only that: those who had completed their terms were granted small plots of land, with the aim of boosting the local economy and ensuring that these undesirable - regardless of whether their crimes were 'worked out and paid for' - did not return to British shores. The response from the metropolitan centre to these emancipist settlers who flourished was one of outrage; they feared that transportation would be perceived as a great blessing by the criminal classes, rather than as a deterrent.

Habitat Destruction and Biodiversity Loss Essay -- Loss of Biodiversit

"If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us." -- David Suzuki Imagine this: bulldozers growl and grind through a local field, while the whine of chainsaws echoes from a nearby grove of trees. The trees crash to the ground, only to be cut up for firewood or sent to a sawmill, and the remaining ground is cleared of stumps and plowed. The tall grasses and brush in the field are demolished, leaving behind churned-up soil. Any birds or other small creatures that lived in the freshly cut trees have long since flown or run away in terror as their homes fell. The moles, mice, and other animals that lived in the field were either killed or forced to abandon the area in search of a new home. Soon to come on this land: a subdivision consisting of huge, two- or three-story houses with pristine front lawns and the occasional small, decorative tree placed by the main door. The scene painted above is becoming more and more common today; people want more space, more houses, more roads, more big buildings, more cities all over the world. However, what the population does not consider is that construction destroys natural habitat, or â€Å"the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows† (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). While humans may think nothing of this habitat destruction, it is actually the number one cause of extinction worldwide (Dudley 17) and influences many other species, including humans, that are not endangered or threatened. Habitat loss causes loss of biodiversity, which adversely affects the health and economy of human life. We as humans need to take more ... ...vernment. 08 Nov. 2008 . "Biodiversity.† Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2007. Dudley, William, ed. Biodiversity. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2003. â€Å"Habitat.† Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2007. Heimlich, Joe E., and Mitchell Smith. "Environmental Impact Statements.† FactSheet. Ohio State University. 09 Nov. 2008 . Novacek, Michael J., ed. The Biodiversity Crisis. New York: The New Press, 2001. Primack, Richard B. Essentials of Conservation Biology. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 1993. David Suzuki Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/biodiversity.html#xFwgQLK5MbhLMRjG.99

Deviance and Crime (Sociology)

One of the ways in which sociologists theorize deviance is through the control theory. This theory was first pioneered by Travis Hirschi in 1969. The control theory suggests that a person who does commit serious crimes is free of any emotional, social feelings and for those that do not commit crimes are able to control themselves to not commit crimes and behave in an acceptable manner in society without being a danger to others. Basically, this theory emphasizes that a person from birth is capable of acting in criminal behaviour, but the social factors affect a person from committing criminal acts or not.Within this theory there are four factors in which someone will not commit in any deviant behaviour. These factors are attachment, commitment, involvement and belief . Attachment applies to affection that a person has for their parents or friends, etc. and does not want to disappoint or hurt by involving themselves into delinquent behaviour. Commitment is used to describe what a pers on has to lose when they involve themselves in committing crimes, etc. such as having a high standing in society or whether they are in school or are employed.Involvement refers to the amount of time a person invests in something that keeps them busy such as any extracurricular activities, for example, which would prevent them from having the time to commit crimes. The final factor belief refers to a person’s own belief system and whether or not they choose to follow societal rules and that if they do believe in these rules, they would be less likely to act in a deviant manner. These bonds that are presented by Hirschi are meant to represent that they control our behaviour through social contraventions and are not necessarily laws that are within our society.Basically, this theory best describes the reasons in which deviance is theorized because it takes into effect all of the reasons in which a person would or would not act in a deviant manner. The four bonds that were menti oned above highlight the factors that are important in almost everyone’s lives and that if any of those are missing in our lives, it would lead us to act in devious ways. An example in which describes the way in which these social bonds can present hemselves when they are no longer there are described in the article â€Å"Key Idea: Hirschi’s Social Bond/Social Control Theory† when they describe how a person would still stop at a stop sign in the middle of nowhere with no other traffic and no police cars observing. This is a good example because it shows that a person is still worried about any possible implications that a bad decision would affect them. The control theory is a theory, which could best to explain deviance and why people act in a deviant manner. The reason why is that the manner in which people are raised and who they are surrounded by.For example, someone does not commit any crimes because of the fact that they have family and friends and conform to society’s rules so that they could continue to have the bonds that they have with their friends and family, but when that bond is broken, that leaves room for the person to partake in deviant acts. Some of the weaknesses that can be pointed out in this factor could be that some delinquents who are underage could possibly have less parental supervision and that they would be free to experiment with different things whether it is illegal or not.Another weakness in this theory is that a person is not essentially capable of committing criminal acts from birth, but there are events in a person’s life where they need or want to involve themselves in criminal acts. This theory is the better theory when describing deviance. This is the better theory because it takes into effect most of the reasons why a person would or would not take part in deviant behaviour. The four social bonds that are described within this theory are things that a person would hold dear and would not jeopardize these relationships or beliefs and feelings by partaking in criminal or deviant behaviour.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Prufrock Paralysis The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, written by T. S. Eliot, is a truly depressing poem. The poem concerns with a character (Prufrock) that can see and understand the values in life – love, joy, companionship, and courageousness – but is unable to act on his longings. The poem shows constant struggles of Prufrock’s uselessness. The worst part about his uselessness is that he is conscious of it. T. S. Eliot uses the theme of Paralysis, the incapacity to act, throughout the whole poem. Eliot uses the theme of paralysis to demonstrate Prufrock’s struggle his social, maybe even sexual, struggles.Prufrock is a middle-aged man, who seems to be going through a mid life crisis, and is afraid to commit to anything. He lives such a depressing life. From the start of the poem, the readers can see a sense of paralysis in Prufrock. â€Å"Like a patient etherized upon a table,†(603). Ether was once used as an anesthetic, which is a drug that pu ts patients to sleep for surgeries. The use of ether in line three has two different meanings to it. The first being how Prufrock views himself; he feels as if he cannot achieve anything, as if he is in a constant state of being etherized.The second use of â€Å"being etherized,† is that he incapable of relating to the beauty of the world, which is an immensely depressing thought to have. This is a constant struggle with Prufrock because he always feels as if he is not good enough. Beauty plays a crucial role in Prufrock’s paralysis. His constant thoughts of not being beautiful enough, and always feeling as people are judging him, make him feel not strong enough; thus leading to not being able to pursue anything. â€Å"With a bald spot in the middle of my hair – (They will say: ‘how is hair is growing thin! ’),†(604).The readers get a clear image of what Prufrock looks like. He is a somewhat of an old man. The readers can see from this quote how Prufrock has little to no confidence in himself at all. Look at the line â€Å"they will say,† this is a clear image of Prufrock’s fear of being judged. He does not feel good enough, which explains his reason for him to â€Å"Descend the stair,† (604). He descends the stair, because Prufrock is too nervous and does not feel youthful enough or beautiful enough to pursue any social activity. The use of questions throughout the poem shows Prufrock’s indecision.Eliot uses questions as a way to show how Prufrock escapes having to act with courage and decisiveness. â€Å"I grow old†¦I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? † (606). Here, the reader see’s that Prufrock knows he is getting old, and by saying he will wear his trousers rolled and part his hair, he wants to appear young. Appearing young to him, means being beautiful, thus being noticed by others. Prufrock has not mo tivation at all, and no confidence in himself. All of this contributes to his paralysis.Posing questions like â€Å"do I dare eat a peach† and â€Å"shall I part my hair to the side,† shows Prufrock accepting his flaws and in the end, making himself less motivated and somewhat depressed. A perfect example of Prufrock’s depression, lack of confidence, and absolutely no motivation at all, is when Eliot writes about mermaids. â€Å"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me,† (607). Eliot presents a clear image of Prufrock recalling a time of listening to mermaids sing to each other, but not singing to him.Interesting how he believes that a fictional and mythological creature will not even notice him. Prufrock has zero self-confidence thinking that a mermaid will not bother to sing to him. This leads to his paralysis; If a fictional being will not even take the time to notice him, why waste time with humans? Asi de from beauty, the feeling of always being watched, judged, and analyzed plays a monumental role in Prufrock’s paralysis. Eliot uses an insect metaphor to illustrate how Prufrock feels judged by everyone all the time. And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, when I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,†(605). The quote here shows an image of an insect being pinned up on a wall, ready to be inspected and analyzed. The insect metaphor used here reveals Prufrock’s state of misery. He sees himself as being painfully trapped by the thoughts of others, as if his actions are constantly being watched. Prufrock feels pressured to be accepted, and most of that pressure comes from him. Constantly thinking that he is not welcomed and not good enough for anybody. Do I dare disturb the universe,† (605). Eliot uses this question to depict a clear example of how Prufrock feels about himself, by stating that his presence disturbs the universe. This blends two fundament al ideas in the poem where Prufrock is, as usual, constantly being self-conscious of his own actions and what he thinks he is supposed to act in social gatherings. â€Å"Prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet,†(604). Prufrock believes that he must ‘prepare a face’ so that he can be accepted by the people is about to be around.Prufrock thinks being himself when meeting people is unacceptable, and in order to be socially accepted he must prepare himself to become someone he is not. All these factors restrict him, causing him to be in a greater state of paralysis. When one is drowning, they are downright hopeless. The same thing goes with paralysis; when one is in the state of paralysis, they are hopeless and cannot do anything. Eliot does a fantastic job creating an image of Prufrock drowning in a pool of criticism and judgment. â€Å"Till human voices wake us, and we drown,† (607).Here, the use of drowning is not literal, he is not drowning it water , but drowning from stress. The human voices wake up Prufrock to reality, and he cant handle it. One can only handle so much, and by the end of the poem Prufrock hits his limits, and drowns in his pool of uselessness. He convinces himself that he is not good enough, feeling people are judging his every move, and feeling criticized. As a result to all of this, the anxiety hits him hard. This finalizes his state of paralysis, and finally drowns from being overwhelmed. Eliot plays with minor themes like beauty, age, and women, to show Prufrock’s state of paralysis.Although Eliot’s poem about a depressed fictional character, it teaches the audience a lesson. By using themes and metaphors in his poem, Eliot makes a point of telling the audience that there is a Prufrock in everyone. It is not an easy task to live up to everyone’s expectations, let alone your own expectations. This is exactly the struggle we see Eliot’s character go through throughout the poem. He struggles to impress himself, and impress others. Prufrock has the incapacity to act on very simple things. He is too scared to confront women in social gatherings, he is too self-conscious, and he lacks motivation.Similar Prufrock no one is perfect. There will always be a point in time where one feels that they cannot do anything, whether its talking to women or convincing yourself that you are good enough. Everyone suffers a state of paralysis at some point in their lives, the hard part is how they over come it, but with Prufrock we see him â€Å"drown† in his paralysis. Works Cited Eliot, T. S. â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. † Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 603-07. Print.

Intercultural Communication between China and American.doc

It means If someone communicate with foreigners, how could he notice the differences and communicate with them gracefully because they have different languages and cultures. Nowadays, with the development of the world economy, the globalization has become an irreversible trend. Today's society, unlike the previous which is closed, is a society of cultural fusion. Everyone in the world is easy to communicate with others by using lots of chat tools. So, intercultural communication is a very useful course both in international trade and in understanding foreign culture.When we talk about other countries, the most important thing we have to point out is culture which including religion, history, customs, rules, moral sentiment, academic thought, literature, art and so on. What people talk about, how they talk about It, what they see, and how they think are all influenced by their culture. Culture Is a way of life that Is developed and shared by lots of people who share similar sets of tr aditions, beliefs, values, customs and norms that are passed down from generation to generation. For instance, American is influenced by religion, Protestant culture of Europe.Puritanism, rationalism and idealism have been the three main sources of American culture. It including individualism, freedom, equality, heroism and so on. The heroism is a very norm idea in American life, we can see it from Holly Wood movies, like Superman and Captain America. And equality is reflected in all social activities and relationships, it refer to everyone has same rights and chances in doing something. But Chinese culture which Influenced by Confucianism. It doesn't like religion, but ad made lots of principles for how deal with things and how get along with people In our dally life.The core of Confucianism Is Rene, which Including love, tolerance, kindness, modesty and so on. Meanwhile, Confucius also said that relationship between people is very different, they have different positions, like eld er brother and younger brother, the grandpa on mother side and grandpa on father side. And in Confucianism, family is the basis of the society and people relate to other groups and the country in the same way they relate to their family members. The type of social legislation represent its cultural values and social structure.Greet Hefted offers an approach to understanding the range of cultural differences in value orientation. Hypotheses approach is based on the assertion that people carry mental programs or â€Å"software of the mind† that is during childhood and is reinforced by their culture. These mental programs contain the Ideas of a culture and are expressed through Its dominant values. To Identify five dimensions along which dominant cultural patterns are ordered: Individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity versus femininity, orientation to time. From Book Intercultural The first is power distance.Although in the low said everyone has equal pow er, all the people in a culture do not have equal power. Depending on the culture, some people may be in higher position than others because age, education, achievements. In Chinese culture, the more elder you are the more power you may have. But in American culture, personal achievements are more important than age. So countries with a larger power distance will believe that each person has his own position in order, and freedom is limited, so they should not disobey their boss' decisions. In entrant, in low distance power, they have same equal right in talking about decisions.The second is uncertainty avoidance. There always have lots of changes and uncertain things we must face, but different cultures have different levels in accepting these things. In high uncertainty avoidance cultures, people prefer to using ways to avoid uncertainty. So, they want to be more safe by draw up strategies of their country and company. But in low uncertainty avoidance countries, they don't willing to think about strategies and Just by their experiences. In this thesis, Chinese culture is similar to American culture. The third is individualism and collectivism.Individualism means the relationship between self and other people is loosed. Personal interests are more important than the group's interests. So, collectivism means the group's interests are more important than personals. Chinese culture is collectivism while American culture is Individualism. In China, members must obey the group and the group is in top position. On the contrary, American is much respect personal ideas and interests. The fourth is masculinity vs.. Femininity. Femininity means people more care about operate with others and be willing to keep well relationship with boss.They very care about the quality of life and guarantee of work. But masculinity is more care about material possession and income. In this point, Chinese culture and American culture are same. Time orientation is the fifth concern of al l cultures. â€Å"The time orientation refers to a person's point of reference about life and work. † Cultures with a long term orientation means raising and encouraging quality that longing for rewards in the future, firmness and saving money specially. China is a long term orientation country while American is not. We can find evidences from real life of American and China.Most of Chinese people are more like to buy a house not to rent house, so they like saving money for the future. But American has completed credit system, they can spend money in advance. Each of five dimensions has deep influences of culture on the communication process. Accompanied Chinese culture and American culture, we may not difficult conclude that power distance, individualism and collectivism, time orientation are the Americans with these ideas in our mind. Further more, we could solve lots of problems in foreign area by using this thesis.

The Marshall Plan

THE MARSHALL PLAN By the end of World War II much of Europe was devastated. The region’s economic structure was ruined and the devastation to agriculture left millions starving and homeless. During the war, Axis powers targeted the transportation infrastructure, leaving railways, bridges, and roads in a state of severe disrepair. Much of the civilian merchant shipping industry had also suffered severe damage. Due to the economic strain placed on the European countries during the war, many had exhausted their treasuries. If not for The United State’s aid in the form of the Lend-Lease program during wartime efforts, this damage would have been much worse and the outcome may have been different. The United States however, did not suffer the same severity of destruction on its own territory. Consequently its massive agriculture and manufacturing base was still intact. For these reasons, The United States saw it necessary to offer goods, services, and monies to any European or Asian country, be it an Allied or Axis power. The U. S. continued providing aid after the war was over. Between 1945 and 1948, the U. S. ent $12 billion in aid to European Nations. The world’s major economies were crumbling and the U. S. realized the global impact. General George C. Marshall introduced a recovery plan in 1947, the European Recovery Plan or ERP. This plan, which later became known as the Marshall Plan, was the primary program for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe during the post-war era, 1948-1952. The Marshall Plan provided an additional $13 billion in aid to European nations. Post-war relief from the U. S. totaled $25 billion. With a GDP of $258 billion, U. S. post-war investment in foreign countries totaled 10% of its GDP. For all Marshall Plan participants, the economic output was 35% higher in 1951 than the 1938 pre-war era. Poverty and starvation disappeared and Western Europe began two decades of growth in which it saw a drastic increase in the standards of living. This plan was a key element in European recovery and integration. It erased trade barriers and set up institutions to coordinate a global economy. Efforts were made to model European industrial and business practices using the more efficient American models. The Marshall Plan and the Bretton Woods system mandated free trade throughout the region. Through these acts, European nations standardized international exchange rates, set up the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is now part of the World Bank Group. The European Coal and Steel Community which eventually became the European Union has roots in the Marshall Plan. Today, the term â€Å"Marshall Plan† has become a metaphor for any large scale government program that is designed to solve a specific social problem. It is usually used when calling for federal spending to correct a perceived failure of the private sector. The Marshall Plan has played an integral part in establishing a global economy. References http://www. polsci. ucsb. edu/faculty/cohen/inpress/bretton. html http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/featured_documents/marshall_plan/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#Criticism http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan http://en. wikiquote. org/wiki/George_Marshall#Essentials_to_Peace_. 281953. 29 The Marshall Plan By the end of WWII the political map of the world was distinctly shaped. The former allies in anti-Hitler coalition entered into the era of ideological, military and industrial confrontation the humanity had never a chance to experience before; a confrontation used to be known as the Cold War with its iron curtain, unprecedented arm race and the support of various regimes including those which built their state doctrine on the ideology of terrorism.The political map of the post-war Europe was divided into two political camps, a pro-Soviet Eastern alliance and the Western Europe exhausted by the bloody war. The natural disasters of 1947-1947 ruined the agricultural infrastructure of some European countries. Especially damaged was transportation infrastructure, as railways, bridges, and roads had all been heavily targeted by air strikes, while much merchant shipping had been sunk.By and large the small towns and villages in Western Europe had suffered little damage, but the destruction of transportation left them economically isolated. None of these problems could be easily remedied, as most nations engaged in the war had exhausted their treasuries in its execution. With the formation of the confronting political camps the urgent political and economic actions were required first of all to reconstruct the economy of the countries opposed to the pro-Soviet block and secondly, to restrain the further expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe.The Marshall Plan (from its enactment, officially the European Recovery Program (ERP)) was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding the allied countries of Europe and repelling communism after World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary of State George Marshall and was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan. 1 In fact the Plan was offered to the Soviet Union if it accepted certain conditions like the changes in the political system and the outer control.It was understood that the conditions suggested by the US Administration would never be accepted by the Soviet rulers. The general idea of the Marshall Plan presupposed the elimination the tariffs, close economic integration and it could be said that the Plan was the beginning of the Euro integration process which is taking place nowadays. The attitude towards the idea of the European reconstruction was rather controversial in America. First of all such foreign policy was new for the United States and changed the foreign policy of the pre-war isolationism.At the same time the lessons of the WWII showed that the global security could not be provided under the isolationism doctrine. The State Department under Harry S. Truman was dedicated to pursuing an activist foreign policy, but the Congress was somewhat less interested. Originally, it was hoped that little would need to be done to rebuild Europe and that the United Kingdom and France, with the help of their c olonies, would quickly rebuild their economies.By 1947 there was still little progress, however. A series of cold winters aggravated an already poor situation. The European economies did not seem to be growing as high unemployment and food shortages led to strikes and unrest in several nations. In 1947 the European economies were still well below their pre-war levels and were showing few signs of growth. Agricultural production was 83% of 1938 levels, industrial production was 88%, and exports only 59%. 2It was the objective reality that the United States was the only country the economy of which was not seriously damaged by the war and the bipolar nature of the post WWII world needed some action restraining the Soviet influence. The ruinous effect of the WWII was the fertile soil for spreading the Communist ideas and consequently the influence of the USSR which was not limited by the ideology only but by the growing military, political and economic presence.On June, June 5, 1947 Se cretary of State George Marshall gave the address to the graduating class of Harvard University in which he stated the preparedness of the United States to give the aid to European countries. The most important provision of the speech was that the Europeans should create their own plan of the economic reconstruction and the United States would finance such reconstruction. UK and France considered it necessary to invite the Soviet Union to join the European program of the post war reconstruction.Such appeal to Stalin would exclude possibly hostility from the USSR on one hand but on the other hand it was clear that the USSR would never accept the offer because the Cold War had already started by that time by the Soviet leaders. The major reason the aid was rejected by the Soviet rulers was that the Plan presupposed the creation of the unified European economy which was incompatible with the command economy of Soviet socialism. The US Administration considered the global economic stabi lity to the guarantee of the political stability and security which was stated in Marshall Plan Speech in Harvard.â€Å"It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist†. 3The position of the Soviet Union and it allies towards the Marshall Plan was rather predictable. Soviet rulers considered the Marshall Plan to be an attempt to destroy the Soviet domination in the Eastern Europe. The USSR allies influenced by the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia rejected the offered aid. Finland also declined in order to avoid antagonizing the Soviets. The So viet Union's â€Å"alternative† to the Marshall plan, which was purported to involve Soviet subsidies and trade with eastern Europe, became known as the Molotov Plan, and later, the COMECON.4 Some scholars consider the Marshall Plan to be a milestone and even a starting point on the long term global confrontation known as the Cold War. â€Å"Our analysis of the Marshall Plan will show that it was American policies as much as (and perhaps more than) Soviet actions that finally led to the division of Europe and thus to the Cold War itself. Many historians will feel uncomfortable with this conclusion; and it is certainly not a point of view that is popular with American historians, especially now. Nor should this much surprise us.After all, the Marshall Plan has always tended to receive favorable reviews within the United States—partly because few appear inclined to think critically about an act of generosity involving something close to $13 billion;19 partly because in the context of 1947 the Marshall Plan stood in sharp contrast to its shrill predecessor, the Truman Doctrine; and partly because of the huge reputation of George Marshall, whose role in the Marshall Plan was commemorated by the British government with the scholarships that still bear his name. †5Cox and Kennedy-Pipe suggest that the Marshall Plan was one of the major reasons of the division of Europe and it led to the Cold War. But this approach looks like that which is a little bit simplified. The confrontation of the USSR and USA was unavoidable no matter what political processes took place in the post WWII globe. First of all the confrontation was originally programmed in the ideological difference of the two systems. Nowadays we can observe the nominally Communist China and Vietnam integrating in the world market economy.The modern economies of China and Vietnam have nothing common with the traditional communist command economy. It could be said that the ideological basis of the modern China and Vietnam contradicts completely to the traditional communist approach to economy when the market and the competition according to classics of Marxism-Leninism are aimed to exploitation of the working class and prosperity of the ruling class. Nobody knows what kind of confrontation would be if the Marshall Plan were not introduced.One of the possible scenarios could be that the Europe remained in ruins, Soviets gained the unlimited influence and the greater part of Europe would get involved into the crazy arm race without any restrictive factor which would lead to the new global conflict. The Marxian ideologists interpreted the Marshall Plan as the manifestation of the US neo-colonial global policy. â€Å"US imperialism has never had need to operate in the traditional manner of the British, French or German imperialisms. These countries had to acquire direct political possession of the colonial areas in order to control, subjugate and exploit them.American imp erialism, with its overwhelming capacity to produce, has always used economic penetration as its main weapon of gaining economic and political control over another country. †6 The American Marshall Plan was heavily criticized both in the United States and abroad. The opinions ranged from â€Å"the betrayal of the American interests† to â€Å"the attempt of global domination† but there was no any reasonable alternative suggested. The political aim of the Marshall Plan as it was stated above was to restrain the Soviet expansion and influence in the post War Europe and the entire world.The United States and the USSR were two global superpowers which defeated the Hitler block. At the same time as it was stated above they have basic system ideological differences which in their essence were incompatible. The United States and the USSR were destined to confrontation due to such differences. The first post – war political initiative of the USSR was the creation o f the pro-Soviet block in Europe. Germany, Italy and Japan were destructed and demoralized to oppose the growing Soviet influence. The spread of the Soviet influence created the real threat to the entire world.What is more, the situation looked like paradox because the United States assisted to strengthen the position of its ideological opponent in the world. Due to its geopolitical position the United States could not provide the symmetric political presence in Europe. The Great Britain ran its traditional isolationist policy. France was not economically and politically strong enough to oppose the Soviet influence. â€Å"If Russia came to control Europe and Asia, this control could be founded only on communist dictatorships maintained against the will of the majorities of the peoples.The mere existence of a great free country like our own, to which anti-Soviet forces could gravitate, would then be a major danger (even more than it is today) to the security of the Soviet political structure. For this reason, the Russians would inevitably focus the full force of their economic and military power upon the destruction of our society, with a view to establishing here a regime subservient to themselves which would make no further trouble for them. They would hope that in this way the conscience of the world could be finally silenced†. 7Such attitude towards position of Russia was a little bit exaggerated especially when Mr. Kennan said about the direct Russian aggression against the United States but still it indicated the real threat of Russian influence in the world. It is worth reminding that Mr. Kennan spoke about the Soviet threat to American society in 1948 when there were only two dominating military and political forces in the world, the USA and the USSR, one of which started forming the military and political block risking the superpower global balance. It is worth noting that the initial confrontation of the superpowers was the battle for minds.The Europeans with their destructed economies had the options to choose either the ideology of Communism with its dictatorship and command economy or find the way to rehabilitate their post-war economies on the basis of free market and the United States entered this battle for the sake of the Europeans. The post-war situation is similar to that of nowadays when the United States faces the problem of battling the global terrorism including the economic measures. As Gordon O. F. Johnson notes â€Å"Today we are fighting for the minds of those throughout the world who are inclined to support and sympathize with international terrorists.Just as the aim of the Marshall Plan was to â€Å"drain the swamps† where communism was drawing support, so we today must â€Å"drain the swamps† where international terrorism recruits and draws its support. †8 The outcomes of the Marshall Plan are of great significance for Europe and entire world. The most important of them is that the United States and the civilized community introduced and implemented the unprecedented tool of collective reconstruction. It is worth mentioning that the post-war European economies were rehabilitated by the Europeans themselves with the assistance of the United States.The essence of the Marshall speech at Harvard was that the European countries were supposed to reconstruct their countries themselves and the United States was not supposed to interfere into this process. That is, the United States provided only the tools for reconstruction without imposing any dictatorship. Another important outcome of the Marshall Plan was that the former enemies in the World War II succeeded to join their efforts in building the new Europe taking away the political, economic and ideological disagreements of the former enemies in the bloodiest war of the human history.The Marshall Plan apart from its economic value became the factor consolidating Europe. â€Å"The objective of the Marshall Plan wa s not to solve the problem of poverty by handouts and welfare systems, but rather to foster successful enterprises which would create productive jobs with a genuine future. Jobs and a strong middle class were key to fighting communism. They were key for Europeans to rebuild from the rubble and offer hope for their youth who were the most susceptible to the message of international communism. †8The history of the mankind knows a lot of examples when the political and economic actions were imposed from outside. The Marshall Plan gave the brilliant example when the effective assistance program had the local character. It was taken as fair and sincere action because of its transparency and the complete lack of the outer dictatorship. It had a great ideological value as well indicating that people of the countries which were completely destructed by the devastating war were able to rehabilitate their economies and rebuild their home countries. Citation 1. Wikipedia 2. Ibid 3.Text o f the Marshall Plan Speech 4. Wikipedia 5. Cox and Kennedy-Pipe 6. Homer Paxon 7. George F. Kennan 8. Gordon O. F. Johnson 9. Ibid Bibliography †¢ Marshall Plan, Wikipedia, available at http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#searchInput, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Text of the Marshall Plan Speech, available at http://www. marshallfoundation. org/marshall_plan_speech_harvard. html#top, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Cox and Kennedy-Pipe, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy? Rethinking the Marshall Plan, available at http://www. polisci. ucla. edu/faculty/trachtenberg/cv/jcws(marshall%20orig). pdf, retrieved 9.11. 2006 †¢ Homer Paxon Marshall Plan: Road to Conquest Analysis of the American Way of Imperialism, From New International, Vol. 14 No. 5, July 1948, pp. 138-143. , available at http://www. marxists. org/history/etol/newspape/ni/vol14/no05/paxon. htm#top, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ George F. Kennan on the Strategic Background, available at http://www. marshal lfoundation. org/marshall_plan_information. html, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Gordon O. F. Johnson, Lessons for Today from the Marshall Plan, CIPE. ORG Feature Service: Technical Paper Series January 2002, available at CIPE. ORG, retrieved 9. 11. 2006.