Monday, December 23, 2019

Racial Bias And Racial Stereotypes Essay - 1127 Words

The issue of race representation which becomes even more serious and cause for concern at the moment existed in the past until now, specifically the problem of racial bias and racial stereotypes. Well development of the media is one of the significant factors which influences the issue, especially in the medium of news reporting, for example, the newspaper, network and television news, etc. News contributes to transmitting incident information, but the appearance of news misrepresentation and the language in the news will affect the objectivity and the authenticity of the news, which the cause of intensification of the racial stereotypes and bias issues. News misrepresentation is one of the main cause create and intensify the issue of stereotyping and bias in ethnic minorities. Yet the concept of moral panic and deviancy amplification is used in news reporting. Moral panic is a concept suggested by theorist Stanley Cohen in his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics in 2002. Stan Cohen (2002) suggests moral panic occurred when something, for example, a condition, a person or a group of people, was ascertained as a threat to the societal values and benefit, it s characters will be presented in stylization and stereotyping by the mass media. The organization or people, such as editors, bishop, with right thinking will manipulate the moral barricades and the diagnoses and solutions will be enunciated by the socially authorized experts. That is mean moral panic is a mediaShow MoreRelated Racial and Cultural Test Bias, Stereotype Threat and Their Implications3799 Words   |  16 PagesRacial and Cultural Test Bias, Stereotype Threat and Their Implications A substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to receive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo Parker, 1987; Simmons, Brown, Bush, Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970; Herring, 1989; Reyes Stanic, 1988; SimmonsRead MoreDoes Racial Bias Affect The Lives Of Americans? Essay1593 Words   |  7 PagesThis is why we must look at the causes of this racial bias and the effects. We cannot ignore the obvious disadvantages minorities face in America. When examining the ways that systemic racial bias affects the lives of Americans, it is important to first define what systemic racial bias actually is. For the purposes of this research paper, it is the tendency of racism to exist in a specified process. Throughout the past centuries, the presence of this bias changed significantly but not disappeared. InRead MoreStereotypes And Stereotypes Of Stereotypes771 Words   |  4 PagesStereotypes: â€Å"...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.† (Cardwell, 1996). Stereotypes create an unconscious perception on a group of people. Generalization ignores differences between individuals; therefore we pass assumptions towards others that may not be accurate. Stereotypes enables us to respond quickly to situations because we may have had similar experiences before. The use of stereotypes is an involuntary way we simplify our social world; they reduceRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Breakfast At Tiffany s 1502 Words   |  7 Pagesfor diversity in favor of stereotypes. Movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Scarface (1983), and Pan (2015) are all guilty of this. The depiction of non-American characters in Hollywood movies are constructed around racial stereotypes and whitewashing because non-ethnic/white actors are casted in ethnic roles. Thus, by suggesting that there is a preference for non-ethic/white actors, racial stereotypes are inadvertently reinforced; thereby, influencing racial bias in our modern-day societyRead MoreThe Effects Of Media On The Media Influences Viewers1587 Words   |  7 PagesRacial Bias in the Media Influences Viewers Television reaches more consumers for more time than any other source of media. Its use for entertainment or news is overly influential, persuasive, and authoritative. Through these characteristics, any type of information or message influences its massive audience. Because of this, what Americans see – or fail to see- has a powerful impact on how they view other races. Young children are especially vulnerable to the information they are exposed to. TVRead MoreIs There A Racial Bias? The Judicial System?1433 Words   |  6 PagesIs There a Racial Bias in the Judicial System? When looking at illegal actions and activities, also known as crimes, people of all color commit them. Whether people commit lesser or more excessive crimes, the action will be committed by a multitude of races. People of all colors are able to achieve the standards that have been set by society. When looking at the statistics, the evidence shows that people of color, especially African Americans tend to get harder and more solemn charges for the crimesRead MoreRacism : Racism And Discrimination1432 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican life. This country’s history is rooted in slavery and inequality among races. While there has been significant progress to realize a fair and equal America now and in the future, many citizens stubbornly cling to old, outdated and preconceived racial prejudices. For my experiment, I seek to further study and assess ongoing racism and discrimination by discovering and exploring the difference in potentially racist views between men and women (i.e., by gender). For instance, are white males withinRead MoreThe World Is Not Black And White : Racial Bias1688 Words   |  7 PagesIn the article The World Is Not Black and White: Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot in a Multiethnic Context Implicit racial biases were examined in the decision to shoot potentially hostile targets in a multiethnic context. Results of two studies showed that college aged participants and police officers showed anti-black racial bias in their response times: the participants were quicker to â€Å"correctly† shoot armed black men or targets and to indicate â€Å"don’t shoot† for unarmed Latino, Asian andRead MoreRacial Bias By White Police Officers Essay1228 Words   |  5 Pageseffect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham). Research centers for the study of racial bias have developed experimental studies to help understand how race can, for instanceRead MoreRacial Bias From The Console1273 Words   |  6 Pages Racial Bias from the Console Kathy Vo A10694259 â€Æ' Introduction Researchers regularly research the media’s influence on race perception, but rarely examine one specific form: video games. Unlike formats such as television and newspapers, video games provide an interactive platform for users to live in an alternative world and perform acts considered socially wrong in real societies (Burgess et al). This form of virtual simulation can reinforce how one perceives stereotypes at higher

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21 Free Essays

string(93) " we were having to do more mundane searches, like looking for telltale patterns in the news\." Five minutes after Seth left, I realized I’d made a mistake. Not about refusing him – that was the right thing to do. But I shouldn’t have let him walk out like that. We will write a custom essay sample on Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21 or any similar topic only for you Order Now It was no way to end a fight. I was still angry after all these years that Andrew had died helping those people. I was still pained by his loss. To this day, I believed my stand in the garden had been correct, but nonetheless, I’d always regretted the separation that followed. Anger and pride had come between us, keeping us apart until it was almost too late. Even disagreeing with each other, we shouldn’t have stayed away. We should have talked and tried to find some compromise. I refused to let this fight foster more bad communication and confusion between Seth and me. I wouldn’t let it take away from the time we could have together. I had to fix things. Resolved, I grabbed my coat and purse and headed out the door after him. I half-walked, half-jogged down to the bookstore, where he’d left his car, but it was gone. I’d missed him. I stared at the empty parking lot for a few moments and then went inside. I’d finally bought Carter’s stupid Secret Santa present and had left it in my office earlier. But when I went back inside and stuffed the gift in my purse, I found I didn’t have the will to head back out. Instead, I sank into my chair and buried my face in my hands. How had things gotten so muddled with Seth and me? Had the shooting really given him such a new perspective on life? Would this have happened anyway? Yasmine’s signature suddenly filled the room, and I looked up just in time to see her and Vincent materialize in front of me. Immediately, Seth left my mind. â€Å"Hey, Georgina,† Vincent said. â€Å"I got your mess – â€Å" â€Å"I know about Nyx,† I blurted out. Astonished silence hung in the air. I couldn’t say for sure with nephilim, but I knew angels were rarely caught by surprise. Yasmine clearly had been. And, being an angel, she didn’t try to deny anything about Nyx. She simply asked, â€Å"How?† â€Å"Because she’s using me to do her dirty work.† Their looks of amazement grew. â€Å"Only†¦I’m not exactly sure how she’s doing it.† The two of them glanced at each other, then back at me. â€Å"Start from the beginning,† said Yasmine. â€Å"That’s usually the way to go.† And I did, first telling them about the dreams and the energy loss. After that, it was on to my weird knowledge of tragic events and the residual feelings of Nyx’s activities. Finally, I explained how Erik and Dante had pieced it all together, linking what was happening to me with all of those unfortunate news stories. Yasmine sat down in a folding chair, tipping her head back as she thought. It was kind of like what Vincent had done in the hospital while ruminating. I wondered if it was one of those unconscious gestures couples sometimes picked up from each other. â€Å"Hmm†¦brilliant. That’s how she’s doing it without us finding her.† â€Å"I never would have even thought of that,† agreed Vincent, pacing. â€Å"Which, of course, is the point.† â€Å"You know what she’s doing to me, then?† I asked eagerly. The not-knowing was killing me. â€Å"Yep,† said Yasmine. â€Å"But let’s get the others first.† â€Å"The other – â€Å" The question faded from my lips as three figures materialized in the room: Carter, Joel, and Whitney. Angelic auras crackled around me. I couldn’t help a little envy. It might take me days to hunt down higher immortals, but Yasmine could do it with a thought. Carter smiled when he saw me. Joel looked outraged. Whitney looked confused. â€Å"What’s going on?† Joel demanded. He seemed as angry as the last time I’d seen him. It was a good thing he was immortal, or he probably would have died from high blood pressure ages ago. â€Å"Why have you brought us to this†¦this†¦place.† You would have thought he stood in an opium brothel, as opposed to a tiny office with badly painted walls. Yasmine leaned forward in the chair, hands clasped under her chin and elbows on her knees. Her dark eyes sparkled with excitement. â€Å"We’ve got her. We found her – or rather, Georgina found her.† Joel and Whitney appeared flabbergasted. Carter didn’t. From the look on his face, I felt like he’d been expecting it. â€Å"I can’t believe it took you this long to figure it out,† he joked. Whitney was not amused. â€Å"Explain this.† Yasmine did, and when she was finished, the others were as impressed as she and Vincent had been earlier. Even Joel looked a little less pissed off. â€Å"Ingenuous,† he murmured. â€Å"Every time she escapes, she always thinks up a new way to elude us.† I looked from face to face. My emotions were raw after the blowout with Seth, and I was really low on patience at the moment. â€Å"Will someone finally tell me how I fit into this?† Carter walked over to me. He wore a beat-up blue flannel shirt and a Mariners baseball cap that looked like it had been put through a wood chipper. He was still smiling. â€Å"You must know by now that Vincent’s a psychic. He’s attuned to our world and in some ways has a higher sensitivity to supernatural activity than some of us do. It happens with humans sometimes.† It was true. Angels weren’t omnipotent and didn’t possess all gifts. I nodded along, not letting on that I knew Vincent was actually a psychic nephilim. â€Å"Normally, he’d be able to find her trail pretty quickly. When she runs amuck feeding off mortal chaos, there’s a kind of, I don’t know†¦magical residue left where she’s been. The energy she steals only sustains her; it isn’t actually enough to obscure her. Someone like Vincent can†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Vincent helped him out. â€Å"†¦sniff her out. I’m a paranormal hound.† Yasmine snickered. â€Å"He hasn’t sensed anything so far,† Carter continued, â€Å"which is why we were having to do more mundane searches, like looking for telltale patterns in the news. You read "Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21" in category "Essay examples"† â€Å"So†¦she was hiding her trail.† I shrugged. â€Å"How do I fit in?† â€Å"She was using you to hide it. In a couple different ways. Kind of a fail-safe, really. In taking energy from you and human victims, she was able to double her stash. It made it easier to hide from us. When her power dipped, I think she was actually†¦hiding in you.† â€Å"Ew.† I suddenly felt violated. â€Å"How is that possible? Is she†¦is she there now?† I glanced down at my lower body, as though I might actually see something. He peered at me. â€Å"No, I don’t think so. She’s probably got enough energy to run loose for a while. As for how she does it†¦well, life and energy move in and out of you, and at some level, she’s both of those things. You’re a conduit for those forces.† â€Å"I wish people would stop calling me that. It makes me feel like a machine.† â€Å"Hardly. The merging she does with you is how you occasionally get a sense for what she’s been doing. Some of the details of her mischief leak into you, though she goes to great pains to hide it – and herself.† â€Å"How?† â€Å"The dreams,† said Vincent. â€Å"She’s distracting you with them. Happy, consuming dreams that you’re starting to obsess on. Your subconscious is so enmeshed in them at night that you don’t notice her leaching the energy while you sleep.† I leaned back in my chair, dumbfounded. I’d dealt with a lot of weird shit in my life – an exceptional amount of it occurring in the last few months, actually – but this was shooting to the top of the list. My skin crawled, and I had the surreal sense that my body was no longer my own. I was also kind of bothered by the fact that my dreams had been red herrings, meant to throw me off the path of what was going on. They were so sweet†¦so powerful. I treasured them, yet it seemed they were nothing but lies. Illusions created by a monster to hide her parasitic control of me. That knowledge cheapened the beauty of what I’d seen. I loved the little girl. I wanted to believe in her. I wanted her to be real. â€Å"Well,† said Joel brusquely, narrowed eyes fixed on me. â€Å"We’ve got to use the succubus to lure Nyx out.† He gestured to me. â€Å"Go. Go out and seduce some poor soul, so Nyx’ll come back.† I flinched. Yasmine glared at him. â€Å"Can’t you see she’s upset? Show some compassion.† â€Å"Denizens of evil deserve none,† he muttered. Across the room, Whitney stood by the door. She’d spoken little, so her voice startled me. â€Å"All creatures deserve compassion.† I looked up and met her eyes. They were dark and bottomless, filled with power and emotion. I had the sensation of falling into that blackness, much like I experienced with Carter sometimes. I decided I didn’t like hanging out with angels. They did a lot of soul searching – and usually it involved mine. More awkward silence fell. â€Å"Okay, okay,† I said. â€Å"We don’t all have to spill our feelings and hold hands here. Tell me what you need me to do.† â€Å"You’re going to be bait, Georgina,† said Carter. â€Å"I’m always bait,† I grumbled. â€Å"Why is that? Why do these things keep happening to me?† Not too long ago, I’d had to play bait for a date-raping demigod. I hadn’t been any happier then than I was now. I expected a joke, but Carter’s response was serious. â€Å"Because you’re one of those unique individuals whom powers in the universe tend to gather around.† That was worse than being a conduit. I didn’t want any of those things. I didn’t want to be a target. I wanted my quiet life back where I worked in a bookstore and had a blissful, perfect relationship with my boyfriend. Okay, I’d never had such a relationship yet, but a girl can dream. Dream. Bad choice of words. â€Å"Unfortunately,† said Yasmine delicately, â€Å"Joel is right to a certain extent. We do need you to, um, replenish your energy in order to lure Nyx out.† Joel grimaced. I sighed. â€Å"I know this is important†¦I don’t want her to hurt anyone else, but well, does it have to be tonight? Can we do it tomorrow? I just†¦I just don’t feel up to it.† Not after Seth. Not after any of this. I was so, so mentally exhausted. Sex sounded nauseating, energy or no. Joel clenched his fists. â€Å"Don’t feel up to it? This is no time for whims! Lives are at stake – â€Å" â€Å"Joel,† said Carter. It was one word, but it was hard and powerful. I’d never heard lax, sarcastic Carter speak in that sort of tone. He and Joel locked gazes. I couldn’t assess higher immortals’ power, but I knew Carter was pretty damned strong. Stronger than Jerome, even. â€Å"Leave her alone. Nyx only attacks when she steals more energy anyway. We should be okay for one night.† If I didn’t know better, I’d say Joel was afraid of Carter. Joel looked very much like he wanted to say a lot more, but he backed down. â€Å"Fine,† he said through gritted teeth. I shot Carter a relieved glance. With the way I felt tonight, I probably would have had about as much luck trying to seduce someone as Tawny. Thinking of the other succubus, I wondered if I should mention my suspicions about Tawny being drained by Nyx too. In the end, I decided against it. That whole situation was still circumstantial. I let it go. Yasmine stood up and laid a hand on my shoulder. â€Å"Rest up. You look terrible. You need to be ready for tomorrow.† â€Å"Yikes. I can look like anything I want. When someone tells me I look terrible, it’s pretty serious.† She smiled. â€Å"It’s more than physical.† She vanished. Whitney and Joel did the same a few moments later. Only Carter remained with Vincent and me. â€Å"It’s going to be okay,† Carter told me. â€Å"I don’t know. There’s a crazy chaos-eating monster flitting in and out of me,† I said. â€Å"You’re going to try to frisk her out. Seems like there’s a high likelihood things might end up pretty not okay.† â€Å"Ye of little faith.† He too disappeared. Vincent and I stood there for several moments. Finally, I sighed once more. â€Å"Fucking angels.† He touched my shoulder. â€Å"Let’s go back home.† We ventured back into the cold and walked to my apartment, saying little. Vincent look tired and thoughtful, no doubt from all the Nyx stuff. As we approached my apartment, however, his expression began to change. At first, he simply looked puzzled. Then he grew surprised, then startled, then horrified, and finally, disgusted. We stopped on the building’s steps. â€Å"What’s wrong?† I asked. He pointed upward. â€Å"There’s something†¦evil in there.† â€Å"Like†¦my apartment? Because, you know, I’m technically evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Vincent shook his head. â€Å"No, no. It’s a different kind of evil. You’re evil by nature – no offense. This is something different. A created evil. It’s black and wrong. Unnatural. You know of anyone else who lives in the building that plays for your side?† â€Å"No. Just me.† He grimaced. â€Å"Well, let’s go in then and see where it’s coming from. Ugh. To my senses, it’s like†¦rotting garbage.† We went inside, and it didn’t take him long to figure out where this different evil was coming from. My own apartment. â€Å"Told you I was the only evil thing in here,† I joked. But I was a little uneasy at his reaction. Vincent didn’t respond and simply pushed past me, searching in a way that brought the earlier hound reference to mind. He disappeared into my bedroom and reemerged with Dante’s arts and crafts project. â€Å"This,† declared Vincent, holding it at arm’s length. â€Å"That?† I asked, astonished. â€Å"That’s†¦nothing.† â€Å"Where did you get it?† â€Å"This guy I know made it. The one who was helping me. He’s, I don’t know†¦a pseudo psychic. Maybe a real psychic. Interprets dreams and claims to be a magician.† I stared at the wicker ball. â€Å"Are you saying he really is a magician?† â€Å"Oh, he’s something all right. This thing is so filthy, I can’t believe you can’t feel it. Well, I can believe it†¦I mean, it’s a different sort of magic than you’re attuned to, but Jesus. It makes me feel like I just†¦I don’t know, went swimming in a sewer.† â€Å"Well†¦I know he’s supposed to be, like, bad†¦he and another friend have said as much. But†¦I don’t know. I thought it was just hype.† â€Å"There’s bad and there’s bad,† Vincent said. â€Å"And this is bad. This thing’s a repellent, right? Did he give it to you to keep Nyx away?† â€Å"Yeah†¦but he wasn’t sure if it’d work†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Oh, it’d work. It’d keep about anything away. To make something like this†¦man, Georgina. It’s incredible – the kind of power required. Very few humans are born with this kind of power. He certainly wasn’t. This is stolen power.† â€Å"Everyone steals power,† I noted dryly. â€Å"Me, Nyx†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Vincent’s eyes were hard. â€Å"You and she suck it from people. This was ripped out of someone. The way you’d rip someone’s heart out of their chest.† â€Å"So, what†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stared. â€Å"Are you saying Dante killed someone to make this?† â€Å"To make this specifically? Perhaps. But someone would need to already possess great power – independent of what he might put in this – to even attempt making it. And to be someone with that kind of power in the first place, he had to have done something, at some point in his life, that was bad.† â€Å"Like†¦killing someone.† â€Å"More than that. A special killing – something sacrificial. You know the kind of power those can yield.† I did. I didn’t have a choice in the succubus soul-stealing thing, but I tried to keep my hands clean of other atrocities. Still, you couldn’t work for Hell and not know about the full range of evils out there and how to achieve them. â€Å"And,† continued Vincent, â€Å"you know that the greater the impact – the greater the meaning – of a sacrificial killing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Right. The greater the power.† Goosebumps rose on my neck as I started to see where Vincent was going with all this. â€Å"Whatever he did to get this kind of power wasn’t just some random, clean killing. It had meaning for him. And it was horrible. He would have had to turn on himself – give up part of his humanity – to get this kind of power.† I stared at the wicker ball. I couldn’t sense what Vincent could, but now I too was feeling disgusted and uneasy by its presence. And suddenly, Kayla’s repulsion suddenly didn’t seem so strange after all. I’d had the charm in my purse when I saw her. She’d said I was ‘bad’ because I was probably covered in the charm’s power. What had Dante done? What act could sarcastic, laconic Dante have done to achieve the kind of power both Vincent and Hugh had said would be needed to make this kind of charm? Whatever it was, it was the reason Erik hated him. I shivered. â€Å"Can you destroy it?† Vincent nodded. â€Å"You want me to?† A tiny part of me remembered that it had the ability to repel Nyx. But it wouldn’t make her disappear, and we needed her to come back if we were going to stop her for good. Swallowing, I nodded. â€Å"Yeah, go ahead.† It took only a few seconds. Green light encased the wicker sphere, then Vincent’s hand was empty. I’d felt no change in power or anything, but the nephilim looked relieved. I exhaled. â€Å"Well. There’s nothing to stop her now, huh?† â€Å"Nope,† he said, rubbing his hands together. â€Å"Get ready.† How to cite Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Analysis of Porter’s Proposition

Questions: 1. Porter (1985) suggests that there are two essential routes to achieving long term superior performance: to be the lowest cost producer, or to differentiate products/services in such a way as to offer consumers greater added value in comparison with competitors. Discuss and evaluate this contention, and the role of marketing in creating added value? 2. Kotler and Armstrong (2012, p. 267) describe brand equity as the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing. With reference to a brand of your choice critically analyse the strategies that have been employed to create brand equity? Answers: 1. Analysis of Porters Proposition Introduction: Businesses aim at achieving higher level of profitability and also the sustained performance so that they can achieve long term growth. Long term sustainable growth has been the emphasis of majority of the businesses because they knows that success over the short term period is not important, rather long term business growth is essential. In pursuing long term business growth, they consider the adaptation of large number of business strategies. In this context, Porter (1985) suggests about the strategic implication to businesses in achieving long term superior performance and sustained growth. This can be achieved through either pursuing low cost strategy or it can be through differentiating the products and services from that of the competitors. The analysis is therefore focused towards analysing this contention by Porter, and it also assesses the role of marketing in adding value (Papp, 2001). Analysis of Porter (1985) Proposition of Achieving Long Term Sustainable Growth: An analysis of the proposition as made by Porter (1985) indicates that businesses can achieve long term sustainable growth by way of focusing towards either of the two strategic options as available to them. The long term sustainable growth according to him can be achieved by becoming the low cost producer, and this has been an important strategy available to businesses. The position of low cost producer can be achieved by businesses through putting efforts towards achieve efficiency in respect to all the major areas of their business operations. The benefit of becoming low cost producer is that it will allow businesses in meeting out the needs and expectations of their customers in a positive manner in an efficient manner. This will ensure better level of satisfaction to them, and ultimately improved profitability performance to the organisation. However, this low cost strategy is highly difficult to ac hieve because it requires extreme level of efficiency on the part of all the employees within organisation. They need to focus towards performing the organisations processes in a cost efficient manner. It is mainly the employees that are responsible in allowing organisations in achieving the position of low cost producer in a highly efficient way (Porter, 2008). In order to accomplish the position of low cost producer, it is essential that the businesses should perform the production process or their service delivery process in bulk so that they can achieve cost efficiency in their processes. Economies of scale is essential in pursuing this strategy of low cost products or services, and this can therefore be possible to the well established seller of products and services. There are various such examples of companies in different sectors that have considered the application of this strategy of low cost producers. In respect to airline industry, the companies such as Ryanair, Southwest Airline etc have successfully adopted this strategy of becoming the low cost provider of services. They have achieve sustained growth opportunities because they have occupied the top most position in the industry, and this is therefore likely to ensure them the attainment of higher level of sustainable long term growth. This low cost producer strategy is theref ore highly effective from the point of view of allowing businesses in making significant level of impact in their industry, and thereby in making sustainable long term growth opportunities for themselves (Armstrong, 2006). Apart from the strategy of low cost producer, Porter (1985) indicates that the alternative available to businesses is mainly the differentiation strategy. Businesses that do not look for pursuing the low cost strategy can consider the adaptation of differentiation strategy. This has also been an important strategy from the point of view of achieve long term sustainable growth by businesses. This differentiation strategy as suggested by Porter (1985) implies that it is concerned with making significant level of differences in the products and services as offered by businesses. This differentiating factor is likely to ensure businesses in achieving competitive position to them in front of their competitors. The resulting impact is the better possibility to them in sustaining long term growth and development. As for instance, there are various such examples of companies that have pursued this strategy of differentiation and this has resulted into not only the attainment of competitive l evel of advantage to them, but it also ensured them long term sustenance of higher growth in their business. The example of such companies includes Apple Corporation which has been a US based electronic product manufacturing company. The company has differentiated itself from that of its competitors by way of integrating innovation in its business processes which allows it in delivering highly innovative products and services to their customers and they are significantly different which cannot be imitated by others. This differentiating factor has brought significant level of growth and development to Apple, and it has achieved the leading position in the industry (Kotler and Keller 2008). Role of Marketing in Creating Added Value: Marketing has been an important activity that is required to be carried out by businesses. This activity involves creating adequate level of awareness within the target audience concerning the products and services as offered by businesses so that they can be positively persuaded to buy the offerings as made by the company. Role of marketing is therefore crucial and this is mainly because it is the way through which larger targeted audience can be attracted towards the products and services as offered by business. As a result, it is highly essential that businesses should focus towards performing this practice with higher efforts and contribution so that it accounts for the addition of value to them in their business processes (Ungson and Wong, 2008). Conclusion The analysis of the proposition by Porter (1985) indicated that businesses can positively accomplish longer term success in their business performance by way of either considering the low cost producer strategy or they can look at differentiating their products and services offerings so that their consumers are provided with something extra which can become a source of competitive advantage to it in sustaining long term growth and success. The role of marketing is also identified as significant in creating value for the organisation. 2. Creating Brand Equity Introduction: Brand equity is an important concept that indicates about the value of having well known brand. There are various kinds of products and services available in the market, and at the same time, there are various providers of those goods and services creating adequate level of substitution effect to the buyers. Amidst such market comprising of large number of brands, it is highly essential that the good brands should aim at distinguishing themselves from that of others in order to better serve their customers. The concept of brand equity is applicable in this type of situations whereby various types of brands are available in the market which makes it difficult to the customers in selecting any one of them (Kotler and Armstrong 2008). This section of analysis is therefore aimed at analysing the concept and role of brand equity, and also evaluates a brand that has created brand equity through adapting a range of strategies for the same. The brand as selected for analysis is Apple Corporation. Brand Equity and its Importance: Brand equity as identified above is an important concept that describes the value of being a well known brand name. Businesses aim at establishing themselves as the well established brand so that they can create differentiation within their customers and easily identify their target customers. As indicated by Kotler and Armstrong (2012, p. 267), brand equity is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing. This signifies that there can be differential effect that could be created through building brand equity whereby businesses can target their customers easily through establishing themselves as the well reputed brand. With respect to the importance of building a brand, it is highly essential that businesses should focus themselves as creating a well known brand because there are wide availability of brands in the market and in order to achieve sustainable growth and development, it is h ighly essential that businesses should establish themselves as the most reputed brand. As it is highly important to establish oneself as the best reputed brand, an analysis indicates that it is extremely difficult to establish oneself as the reputed brand because of the existence of large number of challenges and difficulties in the process (Kotler, 2012). Strategies used by Apple in Establishing Brand Equity: An analysis of the case of Apple Corporation indicates that the company has been highly successful in establishing itself as the most reputed brand. This is evident from the fact that Apple has occupied the leading position in the industry, and its customers are always ready in paying premium prices for the electronic products and services offered by the company. This development of brand equity is ensured at Apple through the highly focused strategy of the company which has been to focus only towards the quality factor, and at the same time, aiming to achieve innovation in its processes as carried out within the organisation. The core focus of the company towards quality and innovation has been the most significant factor that has contributed towards the development of good brand equity in case of Apple. The smart phones as offered by Apple in the name of iPhones have been able to revolutionise the market and this is all because of the brand equity as developed by the company over the years (Griffin, 2007). An analysis of the case of Apple indicates that the core products and services as offered by the company are easily distinguished within its customers. The customers of the company can easily identify the offering as made by Apple over the other products as available in the market. Its customers see its product as that of the premium quality products, and they are always ready to pay premium prices for them. This has been the powerful impact of the brand as developed by Apple and all this is because of the ability of the company to provide innovative products on continuous basis. The company has been able to manage a differentiating image of offering premium class electronic gadgets to its customers, and this is turn has resulted into separate identification of customers for its products. Apart from this, an analysis of Apple strategy in creating brand equity is also evident from the management and leadership style that has been followed across the organisation (Griffin, 2008). The previous CEO of Apple i.e. Steve Jobs was highly innovative and it is his innovative determination that has allowed Apple in creating itself as a separate brand. The strategy that has positively supported the development of a premium factor in respect to Apple brand is also the pricing factor. The pricing strategy of Apple has been highly significant which has positively contributed towards establishing itself as the most reputed brand in the industry. Customers of Apples products are always ready to pay premium prices for the products and services of the company, and this has been the most significant factor which identifies that Apple has been successful in creating a brand equity that allows its customers in differentiating its offerings from that of its competitors. Thus, the strategy of Apple is identified as highly significant from the point of view of creating positive level of brand equity by the company. This strategy has been significant in allowing Apple in differentia ting itself from that of its competitors (Chernev 2009). Conclusion A critical analysis of brand equity strategy has been carried out in the context of Apple Corporation and the performance of analysis indicated that there has been significant level of strategies being considered by the company in creating itself as the most reputed brand. The continuous level of focus of the company towards achieving innovation in the activities it carries out has enabled the company in becoming the most premium provider of quality electronic products to its customers. Apart from this, the strategy of charging higher prices has also accompanied the companys desire of creating premium brand in a positive manner. References Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of management techniques: a comprehensive guide to achieving managerial excellence and improved decision making. (3rd ed.), Kogan Page Publishers. Chernev A (2009) Strategic Marketing Management, 5th Edition. Brightstar Media. Griffin, R.W. (2008). Management. (9th ed.), Cengage Learning. Griffin, R.W. (2007), Fundamentals of Management, 5th ed., Cengage Learning. Kotler, P. (2012), Kotler On Marketing, Simon and Schuster. Kotler P and Armstrong G (2008) Principles of Marketing, 13th Edition. Prentice Hall. Kotler P and Keller K L (2008) A Framework for Marketing Management. Pearson Education. Papp, R. (2001). Strategic Information Technology: Opportunities for Competitive Advantage. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Porter, M. (2008), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Simon and Schuster. Ungson, G.R. and Wong, Y. (2008), Global Strategic Management, M.E. Sharpe.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

why do good things happen to bad people

why do good things happen to bad people-vice versa Essay College WritingEng. 10111/16/95Why DO bad things happen to good people. This is an age old question, that for years has stumped even the best of scholars. The thing people need to realize is that there is no black or white, yes or no answer to this question. It can not be analyzed, or sorted out by scientists or analysts to create a simple why or why not answer for the lay person. The simple fact is, heartache, tragedy, and suffering is something that everyone experiences. The thing people need to grasp hold of is understanding and the dealing of these tragedies when they arise. We will write a custom essay on why do good things happen to bad people-vice versa specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Take the story of a man named Job for example. Twenty-five hundred years ago when the earth was ridden by sin and disarray Satan appeared to God and told him to look at all the sin that was going on in the world. Gods simple reply to that was, Yes, but have you observed my servant Job? He is obedient and faithful to me even though all around him are sinning against me.The reason for that is because of all that you give to him! Take from him all that you have granted , and then see how loyal he is, replied Satan. Very well, said God, It is done. And with that, he accepted Satans challenge. With out warning to Job, God destroyed Jobs house, killed his children, and slaughtered Jobs cattle. He then cursed Job with painful boils all over his skin, so to make his every movement filled with excruciating pain. Many times Jobs wife asked him why he didnt just curse God, and ensue Gods wrath to strike him dead. Jobs friends told him to denounce his faith in God, after all look where it got him. Yet Job remained faithful to Gods will. When God saw how devoted and trustworthy this humble servant was to him, he appeared to Job and rewarded him with a new home, new children, and a new fortune. God came through for a servant who was faithful and true. Most people in this situation would have questioned God at the first sign of problems. Job on the other hand knew that God had a plan for his life, and that the things that were happening to him, all though painful, were all part of Gods intricate plan. Job put his trust in God even in the worst of circumstances, and God rewarded him for his faithfulness. Where is God when things in your life just arent making any sense? Is he even around all the time, or is it just at his convenience? How much does he really care about the little stuff? These questions pose a great, thought provoking topic! The fact is, God is there all the time. He does interact with us on a daily basis- especially in four specific areas.11. God is working in our lives, even when it seems like he isnt listening or it seems like he has taken an extended vacation from your life. Whether it seems like it or not, God is always working in your life. His intricate plan is constantly being spun out. Just because there may be a point in your life where it seems like things are going slow or that it seems like God isnt working, doesnt mean that he isnt. With God, even when nothing is happening-something is happening.2 That is the cool thing about God. He is always at work in our lives in his own unique way, even when our prayers seem to be going unanswered. It is important that your faith in God is not based on ephemeral emotions, but on the authority of the written Word.3 Jesus told us that he would never leave us(Matthew 28:20).4 He said, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also.(Matthew 18:20).5 He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.(Proverbs 18:24).6 God promises to us time and time again in his Word that he will always be there for us no matter what the circumstances. All we need to do is call on his name and he will answer. .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .postImageUrl , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:hover , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:visited , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:active { border:0!important; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:active , .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub8c56a4bbc68d304af77593c1856697c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Principle Events In The Evolution Of The Earths Atmosphere Essay2. Gods has

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Merchant of Venice was offered to Shakespeares audience as a comedy Essay Example

The Merchant of Venice was offered to Shakespeares audience as a comedy Essay Example The Merchant of Venice was offered to Shakespeares audience as a comedy Paper The Merchant of Venice was offered to Shakespeares audience as a comedy Paper Essay Topic: Merchant Of Venice Play The Merchant of Venice is a story of love and hate, power, control and inequality. It evolves around Shylock, a rich Jew moneylender who lives in Venice and Venetian Christians, which have constantly abused and humiliated Shylock. The moneylender tricks Antonio, one of his abusers, to sign a bond that will entitle him to one pound of his flesh if he doesnt pay back the money he borrowed in three months. Antonio borrowed this money to lend it to his friend Bassanio who needs it to try for the hand of Portia, a rich and beautiful heiress. After Shylocks daughter, Jessica runs away with a Christian and Bassanio wins Portias hand, news come that Antonios ships have been destroyed and he isnt able to pay Shylock in time. The spiritually wounded Shylock wants revenge and demands a pound of Antonios flesh but Portia turns the tables on him during the court hearing. He not only doesnt get a pound of Antonios flesh but half his wealth is confiscated by the venetian state and hes forced to become a Christian, the very thing that humiliated and reduced him. The reason Shakespeares work is so popular today is that he wrote about human nature and how people behave. That is why The Merchant of Venice is as relevant now as it was four centuries ago. Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice to be viewed in front of white people in the 16th century. The Merchant of Venice followed other plays where Jews were involved like the Jew of Malta. Unlike in these other plays where Jews involved performed all kinds of outrages; Shylock is someone who the Christians pick on. In Shakespeares time white people were very racist towards the aliens. Venice was one of the few cities in the world that had laws and gave rights to the ethnic minorities but even so the rights of Christians were superior. If you prick us, do we not bleed? The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instructions. We do not know whether Shakespeare himself was racist or not. But from these words said by Shylock we realise that that Shakespeare understood how Shylock felt and where his anger and hatred came from. This story was written to be viewed in front of a racist audience who would expect Shylock to be humiliated and reduced yet Shakespeare managed to create sophisticated characters that can be played in a number of different ways. Shakespeare points out in this play to stories that only educated people would know about such as Portias reference to the Hercules and sea monster legend that she uses to be compared to Troys virgins: I stand for sacrifice. The rest aloof are the Sardinian wives. This reveals that the play was also written for high classes that would attend when the play was shown. Educated people like these would understand more of the plays complexity and characters. They would analyse the play and see which actions sparked, which feelings, but from my point of view theyd have similar views towards Shylock and other characters as the rest of the audiences. The Elizabethans audience would have seen Antonio as noble gentlemen. On the contrary today we see Antonio as a self-seeking, arrogant, racist. Antonio abuses Shylock in many different ways simply because he is a Jew. He calls him a misbeliever and many other names offending his Jewish faith, he spits on him, he kicks him. This would look normal to the Elizabethans audiences while today in the 21st century we would be outraged and disgusted by such behaviour. Such behaviour as Antonios would not be tolerated and if Antonio was to abuse Shylock today he would be arrested charged and probably sentenced to jail. The fact that Shylock is a Jew would have automatically made him the bad guy and a subject of abuse ion by the audience. He would have probably been played as an evil and dark also comic character. Unlike us the Elizabethans audience would have not been interested in Shylocks complexity. They would have not been listening to him nor interested in figuring out where do his feelings of anger and rage towards Christians come from. On the contrary theyd found it hilarious when Shylock is deeply hurt. Despised as an alien and unconverted Jew they would believe that he was a sinner bound for hell. Shylock can be played in very altered ways. In the two versions that I have seen hes portrayed in the Modern version as businessman that speaks with a Jewish accent who is a good, warm but strict father and who wants to teach Antonio a lesson. He is broken to pieces from Jessicas elopement. When he is given the right to cut a pound of Antonios flesh he firstly hesitates and then is stopped by Portia. He is represented colder and darker in the Oliver production therefore more malicious. Depending on how you represent a character gives the audiences a view angle to look at this character. The Elizabethan stage Jew would have been someone who showed hatred towards the Christians and would do anything to harm them. Portia appeals herself as a confident and composed young woman yet gives herself to Bassanio as unschooled girl. She can be depicted in opposed methods. In the Oliver production Portia is presented as more in control, someone that knows herself and capable of hiding feelings. In the courtroom she is very professional and formal. She makes her speech on mercy standing up, talking to Shylock from across the table. On the other hand, in the Modern production Portia is also in control but is represented as slightly softer and gentle. In the courtroom she takes a chair, sits next to Shylock and looking him in the eyes, gently explains him about mercy as thought he is a child. On the contrary with her behaviour in the Oliver production shes desperate to change Shylocks mind. The Elizabethan audiences would admire Portia and simply see her as angel who saved a poor merchants life. Theyd have been delighted when Antonio is saved and Shylock starts to get charged. To them he just was a bloodthirsty moneylender. Now we see Portia as a touch of cruelty. We understand in the trial she carefully plans her actions against Shylock. She knows about the loophole in the bond all along, gives him three chances to back down and waits until the very moment hes going to cut Antonios flesh when she stops him. Tarry a little, there is something else. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood Portias suitors Morocco and Aragon can either be interpreted as comics or serious. In the Oliver production Morocco was a comic who wore traditional clothes and talked to himself while Arragon was an old man about 70 years of age who clearly did not deserve Portias hand. In the Modern version Morocco was a wealthy black businessman while Arragon was a Spaniard who used Spanish gestures and talked with a Spanish accent. Although Aragon looked serious he was made to be a comic. The gestures and accent formed a rather racist humour that managed to get me laughing. As it was described as a comedy Shakespeare must have made the two characters comics. The audiences would have been entertained and would probably insulted these two if they thought they were not worthy of Portias hand. Humour races and different traditions is still present in blockbuster films made today like Scary Movie or Black Night. The difference is that today the humour is not humiliating for a race. Solanio and Salarino make Shylock the subject of their jokes after his daughter runs away with Lorenzo. Referring to him as the dog Jew they say that Shylock is bothered more about his money than his daughter running away: My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! They continue their victimisation although they know Shylock is grieved at his daughters disappearance. While the Elizabethan audience would have found this amusing, we see it as racist and senseless. Throughout the play there are moments were the emotional intensity is high and others where its low. The main, most powerful excitement in The Merchant of Venice starts to rise when we hear about Antonio ships and drops Shylock has been punished. The courtroom is a very tense scene. Although we know what happen we would follow the action in silence. To the Elizabethan audience the play would have been unknown. In Elizabethan times Jews were not expected to hit back to the Christian abuses therefore Shylocks actions would not have been understood by the audience and regarded as immoral. The law of Venice itself prohibited Jews from retaliating. Shylock used the law to reciprocate against Antonio. He used the Christian law against a Christian. This would have made him an even more hated figure by the audience. The Elizabethan just like the rest of the white Christian population thought themselves as being superior to other races, like Jews. Shylock had tricked Antonio, showing more int elligence than him. The Elizabethan audience would have shouted out rude remarks. Theyd have become furious when Shylock refuses the money and some could have even thrown food on the stage. Finally when Portia stops Shylock the Elizabethans would have been overjoyed. As we look at Gratiano as an unfeeling racist the Elizabethans would have loved it when he discriminates and torments Shylock, joining in the discrimination. According to them Shylock got the punishment he deserved for such wickedness. Although todays audiences sees Shylock as a man who has been controlled by his feelings and goes too far in his search for revenge, we do feel sorry for him. Nevertheless what he was trying to do is wrong. It is impossible to watch this play today without big feelings of discomfort because we see each other as equal and think it is wrong to maltreat people because of their race. The humour is practical rather than jokes said by the characters. For example in the end Portia and Nerissa torment their husbands for giving their rings away when it is they who have them. They share this secret with the audience while the husbands do not know yet that their wives were the doctor and the clerk. It is amusing the situation Bassanio and Gratiano find themselves in. Alternatively this scene can be played as a very serious one because their husbands have been persuaded to give the rings, which they swore theyd wear until death. The play was originally described as a comedy while in fact it is a drama. The views on races have completely changed and today we have totally different views and treatments towards the outsiders. Unlike the Elizabethans we think its completely wrong to abuse or mistreat people because of their race. We see the play as a drama rather than a comedy as it was originally described. The needs of the audiences have changed. Today we have different views towards racism. Rather than being prejudice we judge people on their actions. The only parts of the play that todays audiences could look at as comical are the scenes with Morocco and Arragon and when Portia and Nerissa torment their husbands in Act 5. This is of course if the characters are played in comical ways. The Merchant of Venice is a story of love and hate. Shakspeare has joined together hatred and racism evolving around Shylock with love and romance story developing with Lorenzo and Jessica, Basanio and Portia and Gratiano and Nerissa. The amorous scenes like the gentle night with Lorenzo and Jessica sharply contrast in the scenes where is shown hatred, revenge and racism like the court scene. There is love and hatred language used before. For example when Portia gives herself to Bassanio her gentle spirit/ Commits itself to be directed and when Shylock reveals his hatred for Antonio I hate him for he is a Christian. But in my opinion the moonlight night is the most romantic scene and the courtroom shows more of the issues of racism and hate. The romantic language used by Lorenzo and Jessica while speaking gently to each other, remembering famous lovers contrast with the language for revenge used by Shylock and the racist language used by Gratiano towards Shylock. The moon shines bright, in such a night as this, When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, And they did make no noise, in such a night. contrasts with My deeds upon my head! I crave the law, The penalty and forfeit of my band. and O be thou damned, in execrable dog. It looks a little absurd for racism and hatred to unfold with romance and love. Nevertheless it does make a powerful combination of contrast and provides us different with aspects and ways to look at the play. Through years people have been concentrating in different points. As we tend to focus in Shylocks tragedy the Elizabethans would focus in the love story. After Shylock leaves the stage the atmosphere lightness up. Right after the court scene we meet the episode of romance and rings. We are transported from the tense atmosphere of the courtroom in to the world of the couples. After getting what they wanted and expected, Shylock to lose, the Elizabethans would have enjoyed the poetry between Lorenzo and Jessica and the torment of Bassanio and Gratiano by their wives. The sudden change in temper and variety would look bizarre to us. Focusing on Shylock we fail to adapt as good to the romance and jokes of the next few scenes. We would be left shocked by what happens in the courtroo m. However Shakespeare gives us time for the tragic feelings evoked in the audience to soften and mellow by adding the ring episode. Act 5 draws us from Shylocks world. It would have also been too abrupt to end the play with Shylocks exist. At the end there is a happy ending for all except Shylock and Jessica, the outsiders. Shakespeare could have given the play another title like The Jew of Venice, The Gentleman of Venice or The Lady of Belmont but he chose to call it The Merchant of Venice. Antonio is the merchant of play. So why did Shakespeare name the play after this character? Antonio is the fountain of the play. He is racist and arrogant that takes pleasure in humiliating outsiders without taking in configuration that the victim would one day hit back. Antonio is one Venices principal anti-Semites. Antonio is one of the characters that represents how the white Christians would feel towards the outsiders in Elizabethan times and how the whites would treat them. He is the one that triggers everything. He has invested his money and is exposed to Shylock by Bassnio. Being against money lending he borrows 3000 ducats and is tricked into signing the bond. You dont expect favours from someone you have maltreated but Antonio being arrogant easily falls in Shylocks trap. Maybe this explains Shakespeare action. Antonio has called Shylock misbeliever, cut-throat dog and spat upon my Jewish gabber dine, simply because I am a Jew. Shylock tells he has cooled my friends and heated mine enemies. Antonio arrogance shows when hes asked by Shylock why he expects money from someone he has abused and humiliated. Antonio answers: I am as like to call the so again, To spit on the again, to spurn thee too, If thow wilt lend this money, lend it not. As to thy friends, But lend it rather to thine enemy. Antonio regards Jews as less than human. In the court scene Antonio offers his share if Shylock turns into a Christian which looks as a merciful act from him. But in fact Antonio strips Shylock of the last things he has left. By becoming a Christian Shylock abandons his religion nor can he lend money because the law does not allow it for the Christians. Antonio has separated Shylock by the last things identifying him as who he is. Jews are originally from Israel. Many Jews migrated in other countries to seek new lives. They are known as hard working and clever people that know how to deal with business matters. Jews kept their religion, culture and traditions. Through the history they have been persecuted and tortured. Many countries have records of crimes against Jews. Shylock is the Jew of this play. He is identifiable as member of an alien race by appearance, manners and speech. The Christians need his services to borrow money but hate him for being a usurer. Shylock is one of the most complex characters Shakespeare has ever written about. He can either be interpreted as a dark villain, an insensitive moneylender that makes money from peoples misfortunes and takes great delight on his way to kill a merchant that has exposed his corrupt ways. Or as the victim of the society, someone who has been humiliated because of his race and becomes obsessed in his search for revenge. Audience over the years have regarded Shylock in different ways and have had different feelings towards him. Of course Shylock is a bit of both but today we look at him as a victim rather than a villain. Being a successful usurer Shylock has suffered humiliation and racism. The main fountain of his suffering is Antonio and his friends. Just like the other Jews Shylock has tried to ignore and rose over the prejudice following him. Shylock has kept his traditions and religion. Tubal is willing to help Shylock in searching for his daughter which would suggest that Shylock is respected in the Jewish community. What happens to him represents what has happened to Jews through the history. We firstly meet Shylock in scene three, when Bassanio and Antonio see him to borrow 3000 ducats. Shylock is intelligent and a good businessman. He manages to hide his feelings towards Antonio and reveals them aside to the audience. He says that I hate him for he is a Christian, lends out money gratis and he hates our secret nation. Although Shylock gives three reasons I believe that the only real reason he hates Antonio is that he is a racist anti-Semitic who has humiliated and abused him and other Jews. Shylock informs us that his treatment has been taking place before the play started by referring to ancient grudge I bear him. Some people may think that Shylock is an unfeeling money leader who was given a chance to be accepted and is being rejected because of his intensively and ruthless ambitions. They would rely on Shylocks hatred I hate him for he is a Christian and what Jessica says about her fathers intention he would rather have Antonios flesh therefore say that Shylocks true purpose was to kill Antonio. But I dont agree. A lot happens in this play that could change Shylocks intentions. I look at him as a man with a darker side that is pushed too far. Antonio many times has insulted him by calling him a misbeliever and cut-through dog disrespecting his faith, has spat on him and kicked as though he was an animal. Shylock brings up the bond as a merry sport and tricks the arrogant Antonio into signing it. Although he doubts the safety of Antonios ships he lends him the money but I believe he just wanted to teach Antonio a lesson. Shylock has suffered in human treatment in the hands of the Christian. Although the ethnic minorities had some rights the law of Venice prohibited the outsiders like Shylock from retaliating when Christians abused them. Even Shylocks servant, Lancelot has no respect for him. Shylock uses this Christian law to hit back at Antonio. He has been bullied and wants revenge but has no intention of harming Antonio. Shylock is a good loving father but strict. He has planned Jessicas future and is devastated when she steals from him and runs away. As a father he fails to understand Jessicas feelings. In the Modern version of the play Shylock and Jessica sing to each other. We realise they love each other and have a good father and daughter relationship by the eye contact, how they sing to each other warmly. Shylock touches Jessica with love and gently kisses her hand. Then Lancelot mentions that there is a mask ball and Shylock suddenly slaps Jessica. This suggests that hes very strict and does not want his daughter to have anything to do with Christians. He immediately shows signs of regret. You can tell by his body language that he is sorry and feels bad about what he did but does not actually apologise to her. This night the Christians conspire against Shylock. They invite him to dinner while Lorenzo and others get Jessica. What Jessica has done is the most appalling disaster that can happen to an orthodox Jewish family. She defies her father and steals from him. In such cases the daughter would be considered dead. Shylock has been abandoned by his own flesh and blood, which really wounds him. Leahs ring has big sentimental valve to shylock. The fact that Jessica gave it away for a monkey deepens his wound. She is seduced by Christians to run away leaving behind her father, her house, her religion, culture and traditions. Shylock is torn to pieces. The repetition of words in the conversation with Tubal adds to the dramatisation, shows how saddened Shylock is. -Why there, there, there, there! This is what causes the fire of revenge within Shylock to start burning out of control. When he hears about Antonios ships he feels the need for revenge. He could not control his daughters actions nor how the Christians treat him but he is able to control the life of Antonio and the Christian law itself gives him this right. He chooses to plea for Antonios flesh and revenge all the humiliation that he has suffered from him. If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? Shylock argues that a Jew and a Christian are the same therefore he will take revenge just like a Christian would. He says to Salerino and Solanio that The villainy you teach me I will execute. Modern plays make The Merchant of Venice Shylocks play. Shylock stops tolerating his in human treatment and rebels against it. He knows that suffering is the badge of his tribe and wants to change the way the world treats Jews. He refuses the money but is touched by Portias speech. He insists that he must cut a pound of Antonios flesh. Shylock knows what he is doing is wrong but he must avenge his treatment, daughter and wife. His social side tells him to take the money but his emotional side insists on revenge. So deep in his pain to push him in extreme circumstances. But he was wrong in thinking that the law could be exploited for him. Portia stops him announcing that Shylock has been breaking the law. As consequence half his wealth is confiscated by the state, his life is forgiven but he is forced to convert into a Christian. Once again Shylock is a looser in a Christian world. His humanity is laughed at. He is reduced to the very thing that humiliated him, stole his daughter and spat on him. He abandons the fight to change how the world treats the Jews and learns that suffering will always be his tribes badge. His liability to obsession has dragged him to the brink of death. But he does not die physically. By forcing him to become a Christian Antonio and the Duke strip away the last things he has left. His money, his proud, his daughter, his religion and everything that makes him who he is, is taken away from him by the Christian society. There is nothing left to indicate that this man is Shylock. By being a Christian he cannot even practise his occupation. The Oliver version of the play ends with a Kaddish, a song sang to the Jews dead. For a man like Shylock this is spiritual death. The true him does not exist any more. Shylock threatens no further revenge, on the contrary he quietly with draws saying that he is not well. Portia is the lady of Belmont. It is her hand that Bassanio wants to win. She is described by Morocco as this shine, this mortal breathing saint, by Arragon as my hearts hope, by Lorenzo as awarded with god-like amity, by Bassanio as of wondrous virtues and even by Jessica as the joys of heaven here on earth. During the play Portia changes from one identity to another. She moves from her soft existence to the harsh, strict young advocate in the court of law and than back again. Portia has one true friend that she confides in, her maid Nerissa. She has a variable character. She is gentle and nice to those that she likes and ruthless to those that she dislikes. She communicates gently and politely with Bassanios friends but ruthlessly punishes Shylock and makes racist remarks on her suitors. These characteristics of her character allows on actress to develop her role. Portia compares herself to the Dardanian wives considering herself as a victim that she cant choose her own husband but has to marry the first, no matter whether she likes him or not, that chooses the right casket. She acts differently with Bassanio. She enjoys staying with him and opens herself to him. I think that she does have feelings for Bassanio but Portia believes that women should keep quite about their feelings and that is what she does. Bassanio does not see Portia only as the woman who he loves but also as a rich prize and a source of wealth. Portias reference of the rack suggests that she doubts Bassanios love. Nevertheless she is happy when Bassanio chooses right.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Apple App Store VS. Google Play: The Security Showdown Essay example

Some of the topics that will be discussed and compared and contrasted between the two application (app) stores are, developer registration, application code signing, and the application vetting process. Let it be reiterated that these security controls apply to just the app stores themselves and not to the overall security and the security controls that are also available as part of the device and its operating system. These are the precautions that are taken by the companies w... ... Painter, M. (2012). HP – Top three mobile application threats. Retrieved from: http://www.informationweek.com/whitepaper/download/showPDF?articleID=191738558site_id=profileCreated= Sabatini, M. (2012). Google Play (Android Market) vs Apple App Store – 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-vs-apple-app-store-2012-76566/ Signing Your Applications. (2014). Retrieved February 11, 2014 from http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html Svajcer, V. (2012). When Malware Goes Mobile: Causes, Outcomes and Cures. Retrieved from: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/medialibrary/Gated%20Assets/white%20papers/Sophos_Malware_Goes_Mobile.pdf Symantec Corporation (2013). Internet Security Threat Report 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/other_resources/b-istr_main_report_v18_2012_21291018.en-us.pdf

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

International Business - Export Business Plan - China Essay

International Business - Export Business Plan - China - Essay Example That’s why economists and pundits expect that China’s GDP (presently 3rd largest) will easily surpass the Japan’s GDP (presently 2nd largest) in next few months or within a year. China has not become an Asian tiger in just 10 years rather it has covered a long journey in past 30 years. In fact, the open-door policies of successive Chinese governments and their business friendly strategies not only attracted the private sector in China but also the foreign investors who shifted their assembly lines, plants, manufacturing units and factories to China to make the most of its cheap labor and infrastructure to become competitive and maximize their profit margins. In short, the business friendly policies although enabled China to now become a 2nd largest economy and ‘a place to produce goods for customers across the globe’, however, these strategies, policies and tactics have adversely affected its environment. Many industrial cities such as Beijing (capital), Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou in China have seen an increase in pollution as factories dispose their waste including, paper, dye, fertilizer, chemical waste, and many other different products. Also, the increase in standard of living has increased the demand of cars, automobiles and other means of transport. Simultaneously, the demand of fossil fuels has skyrocketed in recent years, thereby heavily contributing in environmental pollution. Many different organizations especially the manufacturing businesses such as consumer goods producers, plastics, chemicals, cement, textiles, fertilizers, pharmaceutical etc. get rid of their industrial waste by dumping it in lakes, rivers, and canals, thereby contaminating the water and making it pernicious for any human-being to drink. It must not be forgotten that these rivers, lakes and canals are the main source of drinkable water for millions of Chinese residents. (Halasz, 2009) Taking the above facts and

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Traditional vs modern makes the diffrences Essay

Traditional vs modern makes the diffrences - Essay Example The import of this is that while the traditional forms of advertising were more localized, because of the use of then conventional forms media, the latter become more global in scope and approach, because of the use of the World Wide Web. An example of traditional form of advertisement for Burger King Products is Have It Your Way: Make It a Whopper, dated in 1976. The picture is attached here below, and can be traced back to http://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/retrotisements-burger-king-76 An example of modern form of advertisement for Burger King Products is, It Just Tastes Better, It’ll Blow Your Mind Away: BK Super Seven Incher, dated in 2009. The picture is attached here below, and can be traced back to http://www.examiner.com/article/burger-king-oral-sex-ad One can clearly see that there is a world of difference between traditional and modern form of advertising. The difference between the two is underpinned by a radical shift in social values, not just in America, but throughout the entire globe also. The shift in social values involves a departure from conventional and familial values to values that are more liberal. With the embracing of liberal values, there is the use of raunchy culture and individualism as a way of appealing to the market [through advertising]. This is in diametrical opposition to the traditional form of advertising which appealed more to family and social values than parochialism and hedonism. It is noteworthy that the radical shift in values is also evident in the pieces of advertisement that have been availed above. In the first case (Have It Your Way: Make It a Whopper), there is an appeal to more collective values than individual interests. Burger King managed to do this by portraying its products [burgers, beverage and fries] as things to be enjoyed by the entire family. The family is portrayed as joyous when taking Burger King food, in the comfort of its

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Minimum Wage Debate Essay Example for Free

The Minimum Wage Debate Essay Minimum wage laws set legal minimums for the hourly wage paid to certain groups of workers (Gorman). Minimum wage laws were invented in Australia and New Zealand with the purpose of guaranteeing a minimum standard of living for unskilled workers. In the United States, workers are generally entitled to be paid no less than the statutory minimum wage. In the United States, amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act have increased the federal minimum wage from $.25 in 1938 to $7.25 in 2013. Some states and municipalities have set minimum wage levels higher than the federal level, with the highest state minimum wage being . 19 per hour in Washington State as of 2013 (Wikipedia). President Barack Obama’s call for increasing the minimum wage during his State of the Union address has renewed debate among policy experts, politicians and economists, who argue that if enacted the proposal could either drive up unemployment or create more stability for America’s poor. President Obama wants to increase the minimum wage from its current $7.25 to $9.00 an hour, which he said would reduce the number of people in America who work full time but who live in poverty. President Obama states â€Å"this single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families; it could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets† (White, 2013). This paper will examine President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage by evaluating the history of the minimum wage, the people affected by the minimum wage, the economic way of thinking, and the writer’s perspective of the debate. In conclusion, this paper will provide an alternative to President Obama’s call for an increase in the minimum wage. - The Minimum Wage The minimum wage has a strong social appeal, rooted in concern about the ability of markets to provide income equity for the least able members of the work force. The obvious solution to this concern is to redefine the wage structure politically to achieve a socially preferable distribution of income. Thus, minimum wage laws have usually been judged against the criterion reducing poverty (Wikipedia). Minimum wage laws were also proposed as way to control the increase the spread of sweat shops in manufacturing industries. Sweat shops employed large number of women and young workers, paying them substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their workers, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay their workers fairly. Eventually, the focus changed to helping people, become more self-sufficient. Today, minimum wage laws affect workers in most low-paid fields of employment (Wikipedia, 2013). There is great disagreement as to whether the minimum wage is effective in attaining its goals. From the time of their introduction, minimum wage laws have been controversial politically, and have received much less support from economists than from the general public. Despite decades of experience and economic research, debates about the costs and benefits of minimum wages continue today. - Literature Review Researching the minimum wage resulted in an abundance of scholarly reviews as well as opinionated news articles which provided the pros and cons of the minimum wage increase proposed by President Obama in his State of Union Address. David Neumark and William Wascher evaluates the effects of the â€Å"Minimum Wage and Employment† states there is a wide range of existing estimates and, accordingly, a lack of consensus about the overall effects on low-wage employment of an increase in the minimum wage. However, the oft-stated assertion that recent research fails to support the traditional review that the minimum wage reduces the employment of low-wage employment of low-wage employment is clearly incorrect. They characterize economist in the debate as those economists who claimed the low-wage labor market at the time as â€Å"marginalists† and those who claimed that it was not as â€Å"institutionalists† (Wascher, 2006). Their findings resulted in studies that provide evidence of positive employment effects of minimum wage, especially from those studies that focus on the broader groups (rather than a narrow industry) for which the competitive model predicts disemployment effects. They also found that studies that focus on the least-skilled groups provide relatively overwhelming evidence of stronger disemployment effects for these groups. Also, John Schmitt reviews evidence on eleven possible adjustments to minimum-wage increases that may help to explain why the measured employment effects are so consistently small. He states that the most important channels of adjustment are: reductions in labor turnover; improvements in organizational efficiency; reductions in wages of higher earners; and small price increases. His report found that little or no employment response to modest increase in the minimum wage and evidence on a range of possible adjustments to minimum-wage increases that may help to explain why the measured employment effects are so consistently small (Schmitt, 2013). As mentioned, online articles from Newsweek, Wikipedia, and Deseret News provided background information as well as opinions that determined the direction in which the writers would approach in this paper. - The people affected by the Minimum Wage Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over (See Table I). About 6 percent of women paid hourly rates had wages at or below the prevailing federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men. (Of minimum wage earners overall, 67 percent are women, and 33 percent are men). The percentage of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnicity groups. About 5 percent of white, black, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the federal minimum wage or less. Among Asian hourly paid workers, about3 percent earned the minimum wage or less. Among hourly paid workers age 16 and over, about 10 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 4 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and about 2 percent of college graduates. Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the federal minimum wage or less (about 11 percent versus about 2 percent). About 7 in 10 workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2012 were employed in service occupations, mostly in food preparation and serving related jobs. Among the states, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennes see and Oklahoma had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage (about 6 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California and Oregon (Rampell, 2009). Table 1. Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage by selected characteristics, 2012 annual averages| Characteristic| Number of workers (in thousands)| Percent distribution| Percent of workers paid hourly rates| | Total paid hourly rates| At or below minimum wage| Total paid hourly rates| At or below minimum wage| At or below minimum wage| | | Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| | Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| AGE AND SEX| | | | | | | | | | | | Total, 16 years and over| 75,276| 3,550| 1,566| 1,984| 100.0| 100.0| 100.0| 100.0| 4.7| 2.1| 2.6| 16 to 24 years| 14,909| 1,797| 862| 935| 19.8| 50.6| 55.0| 47.1| 12.1| 5.8| 6.3| 16 to 19 years| 4,044| 854| 484| 370| 5.4| 24.1| 30.9| 18.6| 21.1| 12.0| 9.1| 25 years and over| 60,367| 1,753| 704| 1,049| 80.2| 49.4| 45.0| 52.9| 2.9| 1.2| 1.7| Men, 16 years and over| 37,113| 1,263| 567| 696| 49.3| 35.6| 36.2| 35.1| 3.4| 1.5| 1.9| 16 to 24 years| 7,454| 673| 333| 340| 9.9| 19.0| 21.3| 17.1| 9.0| 4.5| 4.6| 16 to 19 years| 1,922| 366| 207| 159| 2.6| 10.3| 13.2| 8.0| 19.0| 10.8| 8.3| 25 years and over| 29,659| 591| 235| 356| 39.4| 16.6| 15.0| 17.9| 2.0| 0.8| 1.2| Women, 16 years and over| 38,163| 2,287| 999| 1,288| 50.7| 64.4| 63.8| 64.9| 6.0| 2.6| 3.4| 16 to 24 years| 7,455| 1,124| 529| 595| 9.9| 31.7| 33.8| 30.0| 15.1| 7.1| 8.0| 16 to 19 years| 2,122| 489| 278| 211| 2.8| 13.8| 17.8| 10.6| 23.0| 13.1| 9.9| 25 years and over| 30,708| 1,163| 470| 693| 40.8| 32.8| 30.0| 34.9| 3.8| 1.5| 2.3| RA CE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY| | | | | | | | | | | | White (1)| 59,180| 2,760| 1,185| 1,575| 78.6| 77.7| 75.7| 79.4| 4.7| 2.0| 2.7| Men| 29,691| 984| 444| 540| 39.4| 27.7| 28.4| 27.2| 3.3| 1.5| 1.8| Women| 29,490| 1,776| 741| 1,035| 39.2| 50.0| 47.3| 52.2| 6.0| 2.5| 3.5| Black or African American (1)| 10,049| 533| 277| 256| 13.3| 15.0| 17.7| 12.9| 5.3| 2.8| 2.5| Men| 4,522| 183| 85| 98| 6.0| 5.2| 5.4| 4.9| 4.0| 1.9| 2.2| Women| 5,527| 350| 193| 157| 7.3| 9.9| 12.3| 7.9| 6.3| 3.5| 2.8| Asian (1)| 3,403| 117| 48| 69| 4.5| 3.3| 3.1| 3.5| 3.4| 1.4| 2.0| Men| 1,568| 39| 16| 23| 2.1| 1.1| 1.0| 1.2| 2.5| 1.0| 1.5| Women| 1,835| 78| 32| 46| 2.4| 2.2| 2.0| 2.3| 4.3| 1.7| 2.5| Hispanic or Latino (1)| 14,404| 718| 337| 381| 19.1| 20.2| 21.5| 19.2| 5.0| 2.3| 2.6| Men| 8,114| 295| 127| 168| 10.8| 8.3| 8.1| 8.5| 3.6| 1.6| 2.1| Women| 6,290| 423| 210| 213| 8.4| 11.9| 13.4| 10.7| 6.7| 3.3| 3.4| FULL- AND PART-TIME STATUS| | | | | | | | | | | | Full-time workers (2)| 54,745| 1,261| 501| 760| 72.7| 35.5| 32.0| 38.3| 2.3| 0.9| 1.4| Men| 30,052| 491| 197| 294| 39.9| 13.8| 12.6| 14.8| 1.6| 0.7| 1.0| Women| 24,693| 770| 304| 466| 32.8| 21.7| 19.4| 23.5| 3.1| 1.2| 1.9| Part-time workers (2)| 20,411| 2,286| 1,063| 1,223| 27.1| 64.4| 67.9| 61.6| 11.2| 5.2| 6.0| Men| 6,998| 772| 370| 402| 9.3| 21.7| 23.6| 20.3| 11.0| 5.3| 5.7| Women| 13,413| 1,513| 693| 820| 17.8| 42.6| 44.3| 41.3| 11.3| 5.2| 6.1| Footnotes: (1) Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. (2) The distinction between full- and part-time workers is based on hours usually worked. These data will not sum to totals because full- or part-time status on the principal job is not identifiable for a small number of multiple jobholders. Full time is 35 hours or more per week; part time is less than 35 hours.| NOTE: Data exclude all self-employed persons whether or not their businesses are incorporated (U. S. D. o. Labor, 2013). - Economic Thinking When considering the debate about President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage, it can be framed around select guideposts of economic thinking. The first guidepost that can be applied to the minimum wage debate is â€Å"beware of the secondary effects: economic actions often generate indirect as well as direct effects† (Gwartney, 2013). The direct, immediate effect of increasing the minimum wage is an intended one, but secondary effects, or unintended consequences also present themselves. The law of demand states that the quantity demanded will decrease as the price of the good increases, with all other variables holding steady at constant. In this case, according to the law of demand, an increase in the price of labor, the minimum wage, will cause a decrease in the amount of available positions in the job market. The higher minimum wage will draw more workers into the market, but simultaneously, the higher price of labor will cause employers to offer less employment opportunities for lower skilled workers. Opponents of this viewpoint argue that an increase in the minimum wage will have a more positive secondary effect: $18 billion injected into the economy, along with 100,000 new jobs by 2015, supporting economic growth (White, 2013). President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage appeals to a moral sense; people prefer to see fairness in the job market when it comes to wages. The conservative side of the argument echoes the law of demand. The true test of an economic theory is its ability to accurately predict, another guidepost of economic thinking. The law of demand is a strong one, but considering the changes in other economic variables, it cannot be considered absolute. In New Jersey, the number of fast food jobs actually increased after an 18 percent increase in the minimum wage was instituted (White, 2013). - 2 Sides of the Debate (the writers’ perspective) Increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960s. Meanwhile, worker productivity has doubled. If the current minimum wage seems low, raising it would cost jobs. But there’s evidence on that question. And while there are dissenters, the great preponderance of the evidence points to little if any negative effect of minimum wage increases on employment (Krugman, 2013). It is also important to understand how the minimum wage interacts with other policies aimed at helping lower-paid workers, in particular the earned-income tax credit. The tax credit is also good policy. But it has a well-known defect, some of its benefits end up flowing not to workers but to employers, in the form of lower wages. And guess what? An increase in the minimum wage helps correct this defect. It turns out that the tax credit and the minimum wage aren’t competing policies; they are complem entary policies that work best in tandem (Krugman, 2013). President Obama’s wage proposal is good economics. It is also good politics; a wage increase is supported by an overwhelming majority of voters. Yet G.O.P. leaders in Congress are opposed to any rise. Why? They say that they’re concerned about the people who might lose their jobs, never mind the evidence that this won’t actually happen. We will learn that an increase in wages will restore strength to the economy. We will see room that even more increases in wages will improve the economy. Social costs of labor will be better covered and the economy will work better. The US economy is a mature economy, and that means that labor needs to be paid more of the % of national income as real GDP increases. The real job creators are the bottom 90 percent, including those right at the bottom who would benefit from a minimum wageconsumers, those who spend nearly all of their income on real goods and services and hoard very little of it. And truth be told, without spending there are no sales; without sales there are no profits; without profits there is no demand for workers; without demand for workers there is no job creation; and without job creation there is no recovery. Overall raising the minimum would help some family live a little better and not stress as much with paying for food and utilities. It will help build a sense of pride and self-esteem†¦ after all is this not the land of opportunity (Krugman, 2013). The minimum wage makes it harder for unskilled workers to gain the labor market experience and on-the-job training that would raise their productivity and future pay. Unskilled workers are less attractive with a higher minimum wage because they produce less per hour and th eir hiring diverts more senior workers from revenue producing activities to training and supervision (Shemkus 2011). Firms will only invest in human capital if they expect to receive a return on their investment. Firms will not pay for general skills if workers are likely to leave before firms recoup their investment costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that 69% of jobs started by workers age 18 to 24 last less than a year. Turnover is even higher for teen age workers. Young workers must therefore pay for the general (often informal) training they receive by accepting a lower wage (Shemkus, 2011). The good news is that once these workers have some experience and training they can command a higher wage. A higher minimum wage encourages firms to hire already trained and experienced workers, eliminates some opportunities for experience and training, and puts an even bigger burden on our vocational schools to train unskilled workers. The effects on employment rates would be exactly the opposite of those supporters foresee. A higher minimum wage, they claim, would be too heavy a burden on employers, especially small business owners. And those employers, in turn, would be unable to hire as many people an undesirable result when unemployment continues to hover at about 8 percent (Shemkus, 2011). When legislators raise the price of low and unskilled labor, it is usually low- and unskilled laborers who end up paying the price, increasing the minimum wage has not proven to be effective at lowering the poverty rate. Multiple studies have demonstrated little to no relationship between a higher minimum wage and reductions in poverty. So it looks like the minimum wage will probably be staying right where it is for some time to come (Shemkus, 2011). - Conclusion In conclusion, the writers’ personally support the President’s call to increase the minimum wage to $9 per hour. However, the writers’ must realistically look at both sides of the debate and recommend an alternative that will ease the minds of US citizens, politicians, and economists (on both sides of the debate). We recommend continuing to allow individual cities and states to mandate the minimum wage deemed necessary for the citizens of their jurisdiction. The Department of Labor states that there are 4 states that have a minimum wage set lower than the federal minimum wage and 19 states (plus DC) with minimum wage rates set higher than the federal minimum wage. There are 22 of the states that have a minimum wage requirement that is the same as the federal minimum wage requirement. The remaining states do not have an established minimum wage requirement (D. O. Labor, 2013). With this said, the Federal minimum wage law will always supersede state minimum wages w here the federal law minimum wage is greater than the state minimum wage. In those states where the state minimum wage is greater than the federal minimum wage, the state minimum wage prevails (D. O. Labor, 2013). This recommendation would protect the minimum wage employees in less than statutory minimum wage states, while granting the federal government a reprieve until the economy get back on its feet. Along the same line, the writers’ also recommend allowing states to regulate their citizen’s minimum wage, the minimum wage would be linked to a consumer price index. This linkage would increase the minimum wage each year. Currently, there are 10 states (AZ, CO, FL, MO, MT, NV, OH, OR, VT, and WA) which already have this recommendation in place (D. O. Labor, 2013). The economy in these states has not been affected by the increase each year. Employees earn enough to live on in their prospective state and the employer’s bottom line is not affected because their charges for products or services are also increased due to inflation. - References Gorman, Linda.). Minimum Wages. Retrieved April 4, 2013, 2013, from http://www.econlib.org/cgi-bin/printcee.pl Labor, Department Of. (2013). United States Department Of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Retrieved April 30, 2013, from http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm Labor, United States Department of. (2013). Characteristics Of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm Rampell, Catherine. (2009). Who is affected by a higher minimum wage? Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/who-is-affected-by-todays-minimum-wage-hike/ Schmitt, John. (2013). Why Does the Mininmum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment? (pp. 2-24): Center for Economic and Policy Research. Wascher, David Neumark and William. (2006). Minimum Wages And Employment: A Review Of Eveidence From the New Minimum Wage Research. National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER Working Paper No. 12663, 2-432. White, Mercedes. (20 13). The great minimum wage debate: how Obamas proposal to increase the minimum wage will impact the economy. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573603/The-great-minimum-wage-debate-how Wikipedia.). Minimum wage in the United States. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States Wikipedia. (2013). Minimum Wage. Retrieved April 14, 2013, 2013, from

Thursday, November 14, 2019

1950s Story :: essays research papers

The wilsons are what you would call a typical 1950s american family. They consist of the father and husband Frank, housewife linda, oldest child Tommy age 17, Cheryl age 16, Mikey age 10, and Suzie age 8. Thay are a white middle class family that lives in the suburb autside little rock, Arkansas. The neighborhood was modled after Levittown, a famous sururb community outside of New York. Right now it's monday morning and the wilsons are starting off their week. "Breakfast is ready", yells linda. She has just prepared pancakes, sausages, and orange juice for her whole family. Also, she just finished ironing her husband's dress shirt for work. On her way back to the kitchen, she recieves a huge kiss from her husband, seeing as she felt her identity was riding on him; since she never managed to finish college. "Oh Mother, the food smells so good!", suzie enthusiastically bellows in excitement. They all sit sit down and happily eat their foos together, while linda goes around and serving them seconds, pouring them juice and cofee, and washing some disshes. Tommy and sheryl finish and are ready to go to school, Central High. "Bye mom and dad, we love you" they both say. "We love you too kids, have a fun day" they replied back Tommy and cheryl getbin the car, and tommy drives them to school. Frank had jus gotten the car from the dealer. It was a 1958 chevelle, with all the luxuries. Frank Wilson could afford it, since he was an executive workng with a prestigious farming products factory; where he worked for the animal feed division. The bank was more than happy to lend him the money for the car, seeing that his job with the factory was stable, the farming industry was growing and he qualified perfectly as an average middle class white man. He was no different th at any of his coworkers. "Jailhouse Rock is really good... By elvis right?" Asks tommy "Why yes!" says cheryl. The tune was blasting on a radical radio station playing rock music. It was 1957, the year of the little rock nine. Tommy and Cheryl were rather neutral towards segregation, they had good moral values. They had heard about the incident earlier that year, but they didn't pay any attention to it. Furthermore, Cheryl brought her slynky along to school. She was one of the first to have a slynky in her group of frineds.