Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essays

Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essays Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essay Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essay Jay Gatsby’s life is revolved around a series of lies and dreams; he believes so strongly in these lies and dreams that he eventually believes them to be true. Gatsby is one of the most hopeful characters in literary history; he has an incredible ability to convince others, and himself, that what he says is always true. Despite Gatsby’s money and tremendous backstory, he has one dream that is the centerpiece for every single action he does after the war, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy had a romantic history from before the war, and while Gatsby was away, Daisy married and had a child with Tom Buchanan. Despite this, Gatsby still truly believed that he could win Daisy back and have everything go back to the way it was when they were teenagers, which sparks the famous quote, â€Å"can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!† (110). Gatsby has an elaborate plan to win Daisy back: he will become very rich (assumably through illegal means), and he will move into a mansion just across the bay from her where he will throw elaborate and wonderful parties in hopes that Daisy will stop by. Gatsby’s dream is that Daisy will see what Gatsby has done, and that now he is wealthy enough for her, and she will run away with him. Gatsby’s dream takes a slightly different course than her wandering into his house randomly; Gatsby’s new neighbor, Nick Carraway, is cousins with Daisy, prompting Gatsby to ask Nick to arrange a get together at Nick’s house. After rekindling, Gatsby and Daisy begin a romantic affair, and it seems that Gatsby’s long anticipated dream was about to come true. There is a brief moment in the climax of the story where if Gatsby would have taken his chips and walked away from the table, he would have achieved his dream of winning Daisy back, but Gatsby keeps playing, and ends up losing everything. Daisy had confessed that she no longer loved Tom, and that she was in love with Jay, but when Gatsby insists that Da

Free Essays on Obscenity Laws

Obscenity in today’s world is a word that means many different things to many different people. Obscene is defined as that which is â€Å"disgusting to the senses†, or â€Å"abhorrent to morality or virtue†. Obscene material can include that which can incite lust, and also includes language regarded as taboo. Laws regarding obscenity vary by state, and cover everything from the sale of pornography to minors to using profane language in public. Most state obscenity statutes generally outlaw the sale and distribution of pornography to minors, the showing of pornographic material in public, and child pornography. Each state has a different statute and may or may not include other obscenity laws, depending on the demographics of that state. Obscenity laws are debated upon between persons; naturally each person has a different opinion of what is obscene or objectionable material. The main challenge lies in finding the â€Å"middle ground† in the field of the public’s opinion, while maintaining integrity and providing safety for those who are not yet old or wise enough to deem what is obscene. The truth of the matter is that this â€Å"middle ground† is not easily identifiable. The â€Å"middle ground† in this scenario is closer to that of an extremely thin wire among the entire field of public opinions. The previously mentioned â€Å"extremely thin wire† has already been placed, but some think that it borders on repressing their rights to freedom of speech, yet some think it borders on violating morality and overall decency. Society as a whole naturally necessitates obscenity laws. These laws provide guidelines for those adults who might otherwise subject children to viewing or hearing material that could be disturbing to them. Furthermore, there is a certain amount of innocence that must be preserved in children. If children are exposed to profane language, nudity, or pornographic materials freely, or if they are themselves ... Free Essays on Obscenity Laws Free Essays on Obscenity Laws Obscenity in today’s world is a word that means many different things to many different people. Obscene is defined as that which is â€Å"disgusting to the senses†, or â€Å"abhorrent to morality or virtue†. Obscene material can include that which can incite lust, and also includes language regarded as taboo. Laws regarding obscenity vary by state, and cover everything from the sale of pornography to minors to using profane language in public. Most state obscenity statutes generally outlaw the sale and distribution of pornography to minors, the showing of pornographic material in public, and child pornography. Each state has a different statute and may or may not include other obscenity laws, depending on the demographics of that state. Obscenity laws are debated upon between persons; naturally each person has a different opinion of what is obscene or objectionable material. The main challenge lies in finding the â€Å"middle ground† in the field of the public’s opinion, while maintaining integrity and providing safety for those who are not yet old or wise enough to deem what is obscene. The truth of the matter is that this â€Å"middle ground† is not easily identifiable. The â€Å"middle ground† in this scenario is closer to that of an extremely thin wire among the entire field of public opinions. The previously mentioned â€Å"extremely thin wire† has already been placed, but some think that it borders on repressing their rights to freedom of speech, yet some think it borders on violating morality and overall decency. Society as a whole naturally necessitates obscenity laws. These laws provide guidelines for those adults who might otherwise subject children to viewing or hearing material that could be disturbing to them. Furthermore, there is a certain amount of innocence that must be preserved in children. If children are exposed to profane language, nudity, or pornographic materials freely, or if they are themselves ...

HOW IS INTERNET RECRUITING IS CHANGING WORLD OF HIRING Research Paper

HOW IS INTERNET RECRUITING IS CHANGING WORLD OF HIRING - Research Paper Example Recruitment processes are no different. Internet recruitment or e-recruitment refers to the recruitment processes that take place on the web. The conventional modes of recruitment and job seeking have been substituted by internet recruitment; the online platform where job vacancies are uploaded by organizations and job seekers apply for the appropriate positions in the most reliable and fast-paced manner. Earlier, the technical concept was limited till the technologically savvy individuals but now, it has become one of the mainstay components of the modern recruitment activities. Internet Recruitment Internet recruitment industry is thriving year after year. Younger discussed the conclusions of a study; the annual revenues of the respective sector accumulated to more than $3 billion in 2003. This figure increased to $16 billion by the year 2007 and it was expected to reach $20 billion in 2008. Younger quoted some other results from a series of surveys that conducted studies on the nu mber of applicants and job seekers who use internet to search for jobs. In 2003, the number of such job seekers accumulated to 45 %. In 2006, the number had increased to almost 96%1. The two main actors in this domain are job seekers and organizations. There are different platforms on the web on which the recruitment processes take place; job portals, company’s websites under the ‘careers’ sections and professional networking sites. The advantages and disadvantages will be analyzed in this paper, with respect to both of the identified actors: Changes in Recruitment for Job Seekers Advantages of Internet Recruitment a. Time saving and cost effective Job seekers can upload their resumes on the online recruitment agencies’ websites where organizations can select most suitable candidates from the uploaded resumes. The resumes are uploaded instantaneously on the job portals’ websites in a reliable manner, rather than mailing the resumes through an unpred ictable and time consuming mode of postal system. This medium tends to be cost effective for the applicant, especially if the job application has to be sent across the border; international postal mail costs significantly more than the regional ones. b. Effective search options for suitable vacancies The search features of the job portals permit the job seekers to find jobs with specific requirements and experiences. Such search results can present suitable jobs for the job seeker and save time in browsing through hundreds of job advertisements. c. Detailed descriptions for available jobs Job seekers can benefit from detailed job descriptions of vacant positions that are posted on the web. The details can help the applicants judge their aptness for the position. The absence of details in other mediums gives the applicant counterfeit hopes about getting the position. On the contrary, the availability of the job descriptions gives him a pragmatic position of his chances of getting the job. Disadvantages of Inter

Introduction to philosophy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to philosophy - Assignment Example The two are modern philosophers and their ideas lay a foundation to much human thought and examine the modern thought as they have developed a unique philosophy that extends to both rationalism and empiricism worlds. Examining both Hume and Descartes contributions to philosophy shows their critical contribution to the foundation of Kant and thus the basis that united rationalism and empiricism. Descartes contributions He is a rationalists who believe that some knowledge is attained other than by or via human senses, for instance, he says, â€Å"I therefore think I am† is a crucial element of this concept. More significant, the knowledge is heavily determined by knowledge of God – that is God and the idea of God is outside the senses realm and thus exists only through thought. Through his meditation, he indicates that with minds and thoughts people can make decisions around them. Descartes believe on two metaphysical substances – the thought and the matter. Contra ry to traditional philosophy and their beliefs, Descartes holds that matter is without form and that certain ideas such as ideas of the God and mind are senses-centered and innate. The main limitation with Descartes contributions is that most of his work is highly grounded on God’s existence and thus it needs God to aid prove certain innate ideals concept outside the sensible universe. Descartes contributions gives a easy example to support because it does not require much support as one cannot truly deny God’s existence and people can argue that God exists because they believe in his existence and may twist this idea to consider it as innate thought. If a person has faith in God, he cannot reject this faith; therefore, Descartes supports his ideas through this faith. The philosophical concept of innate ideas can be used as evidence to support God’s existence because it does not require any other basis. David Hume’s contributions He is an empiricist who o pposes Descartes ideas of knowledge of God, as Hume does not believe in God. He started by arguing for the empiricism significance, the idea that peoples’ knowledge is anchored on their experiences and he employed this strategy to analyze various philosophical concepts. He argues that all of peoples’ complex ideas originate from simpler ideas that are formed based on the impressions received via their senses, thus, ideas does not essentially differ from experiences. Hume also stresses on matter of fact – he considers them matters that people must experience and not instinctually arrived at or reasoned. Because of the above claims, Hume opposes systems of metaphysic utilized to prove soul, divine creation, and God ideas existence. Therefore, because people have no experience of these ideas and cannot get straight impression of them, people do not have to believe in their truth. Hume systematically believes that facts and ideologies emanate from experiences and th at unless people have experience of concepts like universe size, time and space such a concept would be meaningless. He argues that both our ideas and impressions are not infinitely divisible and if we insist on simplifying them further we would eventually reach at an increasingly small level that is hard to conceptually understand and perceive, therefore, because people have no experience of infinite divisibility, then the idea if infinitely divisible an idea is meaningless. According to Hume, mathematics is a system of pure ideas relations and thus it maintains its value although people cannot directly perceive its phenomena because most of mathematical principles do not make sense, but it is a realm of knowledge because perfect certainty is attainable. Irrespective of Hume’

Area of Study †The Outsider Essay Example for Free

Area of Study – The Outsider Essay How have the texts encountered in your studies enriched your understanding of The Outsider? â€Å"You dont get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies. † An outsider is interpreted as someone who separates themselves from the rest of the society, intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes, it is this outsider’s insecurities or physical appearance that contributes to this factor of their ‘isolation’. The play Othello by William Shakespeare and the 2010 film The Social Network directed by David Fincher are conclusive in portraying and analysing a significant outsider or group of outsiders through literary and cinematic devices, which enrich my understanding of this concept, later used to my benefit, demonstrated through my visual representation. Written by the famous English playwright William Shakespeare circa 1603, Othello explores the idea of ‘The Outsider’ through the two significant notions that enriched my understanding – insecurities and physical appearances, both of which are used to advantage and disadvantage the characters in the play. Othello is immediately introduced as the titular black general and the Moor of Venice, who has overcome racial prejudice to hold a renowned position in society and a marriage to a beautiful young woman, Desdemona, the senator’s daughter. The metaphor in the line, â€Å" an old black ram is tupping at your white ewe † indicates a sense of hostility that the other members of society have against Othello, using physical appearance and racist slurs to downplay the general, the majority of these comments being made by Iago, Othello’s advisor. Iago could be seen as an outsider in the play, but uses this characteristic to his advantage, being desperate for power and authority; he raises Othello’s suspicions about his wife’s fidelity. Iago is also known for foreshadowing events, as seen in the personification used in the line, â€Å"O beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on † indicative of Othello’s future actions in the play. Othello, oblivious to Iago’s exploitations, undermines himself- an insecurity- seen in the pitiful tone, â€Å"Haply for I am black, and have not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have † evident of his lack of self worth and vulnerability to issues relevant to his colour or race, enhancing my comprehension of The Outsider. The 2010 American film The Social Network- written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, strongly delves into the concept and deepens my understanding of the Outsider from the beginning. The protagonist, Mark Zuckerberg, like Othello, is instantly presented as a character who does not wish to interact with society directly and uses social networking to express his opinions, thereby the invention of Facebook. The lighting throughout the movie is an example of the many cinematic devices that are effective in demonstrating the different societal groups. As an individual, the dim lighting on Mark, in contrast to the bright lighting on the others in his group is indicative of Mark being an outsider, even within his own group. Also, the repetition of the word ‘asshole’ in several situations in the film is suggestive of how similar Mark’s character is to Othello’s – he allows himself to be looked down on. Erica Albright, Mark’s ex- girlfriend says at the start of the film, â€Å"†¦Itll be because youre an asshole,† and this is contrasted when Marilyn Derpy, the psychiatric nurse has her final statement at the end of the film, â€Å"Youre not an asshole, Mark. Youre just trying so hard to be. † Albright’s vindictive tone is representative of how an outsider can be portrayed when he or she is put down by others, further supported by Derpy’s somewhat sympathetic yet wary tone. Mark’s tolerance of being exploited further enhances my knowledge of the concept of the Outsider, especially through the characters that manipulate him the most – the biggest of these being Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and the first president of Facebook. Sean’s character is much similar to Iago’s, as he is as much as an outsider as he is an insider. The repetition of ‘cool’ as Sean defiantly says to Mark, â€Å"A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars,† shows how using such simple socially acceptable terms can influence a person’s decisions, especially characters like Mark, whose insecurities play a massive role in creating the atmosphere of ‘The Outsider’. My visual representation is an amalgamation of the perceptions of the Outsider that I derived from analysis of Othello and The Social Network. Using the same template as the given image, I drew the figure and his surroundings on the inside of the room in black and white, also giving prominence to the central figure, outlining ‘him’ in a darker colour in contrast to the chair he is sitting on. The personage is looking outside, into a colourful world, of which I have used many different colours to show the difference between the inside world and the outside world. As in Othello, colour plays a major role in distinguishing between outsiders and insiders. Using colour, I represented the character to be the salient black and white figure in a black and white environment, but this is merely the ‘inside world’. I have chosen the persona’s gaze to lead the viewer to focus on the colourful outside world, demonstrating the differences between the inside world and the outside world. The individual is recognised as an outsider, not only in his own micro world, but in his larger macro world. Therefore, the conceptualisation of ‘The Outsider’ has been enforced through cinematic and literary devices used in the texts Othello by William Shakespeare, through the notions of colour and physical appearances and The Social Network directed by David Fincher, which reiterates how manipulation and downplay of colour and physical appearances can lead to being in a solitary state as an individual. My visual representation incorporates these ideas into a single ideology, evidence of how these texts have enriched my understanding of ‘The Outsider’.

Critical Analysis of Theme for English B Essay -- American Literature

When I first read Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B", I did not particularly like it. But after reading it a second time and discussing it in class, I came to appreciate the poem on several levels. The way Hughes describes the setting of Harlem/New York is brief, but evocative. He also gives us insight into the thoughts and emotions of the main character, the young "colored" student, and ends the piece with several thought provoking passages. In the first stanza we find the student, who is also the narrator, having gotten his homework assignment to write a paper, is returning home to Harlem. The school he attends is "on the hill" (line 9), and apparently is in a "better" part of town, so he has to travel through the various areas of the city. The streets he crosses are named, and then he gets "to the Y" (line 13). The usual meaning of a "Y" is a point in a road that splits in two directions. In this case, though, it refers to the YMCA, where the student lives. I think the author is aware of this double meaning, because in the next line he clarifies the term by...

Times Roman and D. Williamson

Case Study 1: Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson Due Week 3 and worth 240 points Read the case titled: â€Å"Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson† found in Chapter 2. Write a 3-5 page paper in which you: 1. Critique the prioritizing process at D. D. Williamson. 2. Suggest at least one (1) recommendation to improve the prioritizing process. 3. Create a scenario where the implemented process at D. D. Williamson would not work. 4. Project five (5) years ahead and speculate whether or not D. D. Williamson will be using the same process.Justify your answer. 5. Use at least four (4) resources in this assignment. Your assignment must: ? Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. ? Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s na me, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: ? Assess organizational strategies that contribute to effective project management of human resources. ? Use technology and information resources to research issues in managing human resource projects. ? Write clearly and concisely about managing human resource projects using proper writing mechanics. Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Disputes between the European Union and the Rest of the world Essay

Disputes between the European Union and the Rest of the world Introduction                   The sheer size of the EU sheer markets as well as its vast experience of more than forty years in negotiating international trade agreements has made it become the most powerful trading bloc in the world. Moreover, it has become a formidable power through trade, hence creating more problems with the rest of the world. The EU has increasingly used its market access as a bargaining chip to obtain changes within the domestic arena of its trading partners, starting with labor standards to development policies, and internationally, ranging from global governance to foreign policy. Therefore, this paper mainly analyses EU’s power in trade a factor that has made it create tension with the rest of the world. The analysis includes major dilemmas that are associated with how it exercises its trade power and point out why these strategies create tension with other international states. The argument also includes the need for the EU to refine it initial strat egies of accommodation for it to successfully transform its structural power to be more effective and hence have a more legitimate influence.                   Among the first goals of the EU as a trade power is using its power to secure concessions from others on market access. This makes it function as an economic globalization determinant or shaper. Basically, the EU is using its trade power to achieve non-trade objectives that range from the export-specific rules flanking market integration such as social, environment and safety standards to a more political or strategic linkage (Haughton, 2007).The rest of the world is therefore left to wonder if such use of trade power ultimately matters in geopolitical terms. Power in trade                   When we compare the EU and the US, there is no significant difference in the way the two exercise their power in trade at the bilateral levels mostly through agreements that they often have over their access to the market for their goods, capital and services in other regions. Agreements with EU have usually been involved more on reciprocal concessions over tariffs, quotas, and technical barriers to trade. However, concessions can sometimes be asymmetrical, either due to the fact that the EU could be making steeper cuts, or due to the fact that the value of the EU cuts could be greater following the size of the market. Failure to withstand such asymmetries means that the EU, similar to the US, uses preferential bilateral agreements to pry open the available markets that are found in the South as an exchange for accessing its own markets. Regionally, EU power has taken the form of less specific reciprocal concessions. As more nations across the world join regional trading blocs, the aim of the EU is to realize economies of scale through bloc-to-bloc deals. Such first bi-regional trade agreement is still being negotiated since 2000 mainly involving the EU and Mercosur, which is a customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay created in 1991. It is to be followed by ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) as new economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with, among others, the Caribbean countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council. It cannot be denied that in Latin America especially, have taken such moves partly in consideration to reaction by USA’s own drive towards regionalism.                   EU’s involvement in multilateral bargaining at the global level has been shaped by its relationship to the US. These two great trade powers have for so long been engaged in what is seen by the rest of the world as a battle of the titans, as each side has been trying to ensure that each of them has a continued access balance towards the market through trade and regulatory deals, if not, to resort to dispute settlement (Grabbe, 2006). As that continues, they have also tried using their trade power to exert their rule of ‘western hegemony’ over the developing world, especially towards the so-called ‘new issues’ that pertain to services as well as intellectual property that were initially introduced during the Uruguay Round. Of late little co-operation has existed between the EU–US regulatory and these two powers have kind of began pursuing sharply diverging tactics, that came up with opposing alliances during the Hong Kong meeting of the Doha Round in December 2005. Power through trade                   The EU tends to be more attached to not only multilateral forms of trade relations but also to the premises of embedded liberalism. Contrary to the US case; the EU’s use of trade in order to achieve non-trade objectives has some pride as a potential instrument of Europe’s geopolitical power. Whilst little doubt exists in regards to the EU being considered as one of the top players in world trade, there has been a lot of keen interest while assessing EU’s identity as a ‘power’ in general. They have however put across various qualifiers in characterizing a mode of influence that can enable them to manipulate others and make them perform according to the interest of the EU.                   Existence of the shift from a post-war to a post-Cold War paradigm of economic hegemony does not seem to be towards only increasing interventionism inside the affairs of trading partners, that even other nations apart from EU promotes. It has also taken other forms absent in the subservience of trade to security imperatives, the power to be yielded from asymmetries in such interdependence, and the ends of increased interdependence, as scrutinized under a mode demanding criteria of legitimacy. Even as the US tries to promote some specific features of an open trading system that tend to serve its domestic interests, the EU instead has been increasingly engaged in a more clever game where values, interests, and model are blurred. It does not just try to promote openness, but are more concern with openness ‘the EU way’. Considering the fact that the EU itself is a system of market liberalization, external efforts that it encourages are regarding replication more than domination                   Most groupings that have come up in the last decade seem to have done so majorly to increase their bargaining power within the trade negotiations against the EU and the US. They forget that having a closer relation to other regions around the world tend to be a means of enhancing the normative power of the EU and a reflection of this power. This is because such EU outstanding context and unique character as an integrative policy among other states is shown to be important. It is not US as a federal state which is relevant to integration among countries, but the EU as a federal union. Therefore, it seems the EU’s support for regional organizations like the Pacific Islands Forum and the African Union is linked to a particular expectation of contribution not only to the economic integration but also to the prevention, management and resolution of inter-state conflicts.                   However, while the EU has considered itself to be the judge of what is right or wrong as a trade power, there is some evidence showing that as a union it is indeed a conflicted trade power. This is a fact since within its different guiding principles; there are various policies which directly contradict each other (Teorell, 2010). Regionalism vs. Multilateralism                   A lot of debate has been going on, whether regional trade agreements have been indeed building blocks or they are just stumbling blocks for multilateralism. The claim by the EU has always been that they are indeed building blocks. This was demonstrated when it defended the relevance of its own approach to the Uruguay Round agenda; as both the EU as well as the GATT at the same time tried to explore the fresh basis of trade in services, of course, with diverse ambitions as to the extent of liberalization. While it was a key player in the launching of the Doha Round, it is also becoming an active promoter of regionalism.                   The question then left to ask is whether these two factions are compatible. Following the sudden jump in terms of free trade agreements to more than 300 like in 2001, the shocking thing is that the WTO has not been able to reach agreement even on a single case report towards any regional agreement in spite of them vowing to participate in the role of regional trade committees. This is in contrast to the Appellate Body which has taken on the issue, for example, they suggested on the need to apply some kind of ‘necessity test’, towards a recent ground-breaking case, where by Turkey and EU were condemned after they increased unnecessary barriers to Indian textiles when Turkey decided to enter its customs union with Europe. Following the move the EU is still drawing lessons. Of course, such judgment may act as an inspiration to the EU policy-makers in their endeavor devise strategies of accommodation trying to tame the trade-diverting effects on regionalism. As an alternative, on the region-to-region front, there could be a possible insertion of clauses that link the implementation of market access deals with progress on the multilateral front, just like it was done with ASEAN. EU’s regionalism can also come under conflict with bilateral agendas of their own partners. Trials by the EU’s strategy of encouraging regional co-operation in the Balkans have come into conflict following its use of trade linkages for domestic change.                   Also, as was realized in the Euro-Med context when the EU sought to draw lessons from past relations with the Mediterranean after its multi-lateralized its relations and encouraged trade among the southern partners by changing its rules of origins and allowance of accumulation, for example, aggregation between the value added to the southern nations. However, following lack of consensus between these economies, such approach has not yet been judged to bear fruit, (Knodt & Jà ¼nemann, 2007). There could be a need for more drastic incentives. Continued systematic promotion of regionalism could be of harm indeed to the EU’s proclaimed development goals. Like, when some analysts argue that being engaged in urging of rapid regional integration in Francophone West Africa was seen as a great contributing factor towards the subsequent instability in the region. The EU sought free movement of goods in this case, but not people, but failing to provide a re distributive wealth mechanism that was to deal with adjustment costs and at the same time undermined government social programs.                   Moreover, most of the deals negotiated throughout the 1990s under the watch of the New Transatlantic Agenda between the EU and the US tended to be vulnerable to similar criticism. In a way they have had a trial to the feasibility of exporting the approach by the EU of market integration through regulatory mutual recognition by the US. However, still it is important for the EU and the US to design such agreements as well as their supporting mechanisms better and make them be open to those who are new who might take the approach of respecting the standards adopted trans-atlantically. Non-discrimination vs. Bilateral preferential relations                   What can be seen as a major variant on the multilateralism –regionalism dilemmas tend to be increasing tension between the vowed commitment of the EU to international trade law, more specifically the highly favored-nation (MFN) principle, as well as the desire of the EU to be able to maintain preferential trading relations with specific countries. The agreement by the EU to the concept of ‘trade distorting’ regimes that stems from some of its members’ colonial pasts, exceeding the entire preferential market access granted to ACP countries, may of course sound as an objective even more commendable as compared to the MFN pursuit of global justice. However, it is important for EU to be clear on the price it has to pay for this moral luxury. Therefore, establishing such tension between international law and special relations tend to be acting geopolitically pitting two sets of developing countries against one another.                   Likewise, the 2001 Everything But Arms initiative (EBA) involvement in granting duty and quota-free access to the entire exports but not where arms and munitions are involved from the least countries that are less developed has faced criticism for excluding the key crops such as sugar, rice and bananas until 2009, as well as for leading in discriminatory practices among developing countries. Vulnerable and small economies that have been included tend to be bound to displace the exports of the same but some countries were excluded. Some States like the Caribbean or the Bangladesh members of the ACP group got a chance to benefit from this preferential trading arrangement with the EU. The WTO has many times condemned such policies. However, most of the member states, like UK, France, or Portugal who are former colonial powers, would not be keen on abandoning a system that is designed to eradicate poverty for the poorest farmers around the world who have bec ome dependent on inflated EU prices. In this instance, the EU has chosen a classic strategy of accommodation: progressive graduation as well as the negotiation of transition systems. Based on the multilateral constraint, EU’s only remaining power tend to lie with determining the speed of transfer of adjustment costs with its trading partners and its import intermediaries.                   This kind of negative power is doomed to unpopularity. Therefore, by EU presenting a new deal like in 2005 of cutting guaranteed sugar prices by 36 per cent over four years, it was predictably criticized on all sides, attacked based on the fact that it was reforming the detriment of poor sugar exporting countries and it was failing to move much further. Somehow, the EU seems to have taken firm grounds stand, ironically, even playing around with the non-discriminatory obligations that are contained within the GSP, at least as under the rule of the WTO 2004 appellate body ruling on EU vs. India. In this case, India was challenging the EU’s modified GSP which tend to provide an additional margin of preference on the part of recipients with drugs enforcement policies where the Commission was involved in inventing the entire list of beneficiaries of the programme without considering any objective criteria. Seen as a brilliant compromise given to the EU given by the AB, the benefit of the doubt based on the fact that indeed the right to modify preferential treatment was not subject to a simplistic constraint of identical treatment among beneficiaries, (Tocci, N., 2007). The AB argued that different developing countries were not situated on the same way when it comes to their different needs and hence could possibly be subject to ‘performance requirements’ as long as the approach were objective, transparent, as well as non-discriminatory in the broad sense. What question perhaps remains to be tested is what are acceptable conditionalities more generally? In a sense, it was important for the EU to develop a more universal approach as to where to draw the line. Western Hegemony Vs. Mediating Power                   An area which has also brought tension is in the EU’s alliance strategy as well as the light it portrays on what kind of actor it really wants to become. As a matter of fact, is it possible for the EU to play the part of the nervous protectionist North (agriculture), the rich liberal North (services), as well as the mediator between the South and the North? Taking the ‘rich North,’ is it necessary for it to generally to always take the US side for it to protect their shared commercial interests? Or it should go for emphasizing its vocation as a mediating power on the global scene, especially between the developing world and the US but at the same time, increasingly, between different interests in the developing world itself? Just as was recently demonstrated by controversies in the Doha Round, not only do multilateral trade negotiations are asking how much liberalization, but they are also asking what kind of liberalization as well as for whose benefit The Uruguay Round basically represent the culmination of an assertive US–EU alliance bent towards a commercially driven line in addition to a grand bargain between their reluctant acceptance of (partial) opening on some tropical/agricultural products and a (delayed) opening on textile, as an exchange for introducing fresh issues within the newly created WTO. In particular, intellectual property issues have exposed the EU to a lot of criticism that comes from the developing world due to the fact it sided with the interest of US multinationals.                   This tension between the North – including the EU – and the developing world started way back. However, a lot of attempt has been made by the EU to establish a reputation as a champion of development including through its 2001 role, when it launched the ‘Doha development agenda. Some other promoted path-breaking declaration on trade and public health has been going on. Like it has opened the way for legalizing broad exemptions from intellectual property constraints during any imports on generic drugs to treat diseases such as AIDS. There are also other initiatives, for example the databank which was set up by the Commission’s Directorate General for Trade in order to assist developing countries in their market access strategies, and have enabled the EU begin to change the image it has in the WTO.                   Following what recently came up in the Doha Round is an indication again to the lack of commitment that the EU has in seeking to marry its natural alliance in most of the domains (not all) with the US and its development advocacy. For example, when a World Bank Study questioned the EU’s ‘demonstration strategy’ through EBA stating that once requirements such as standards as well as rules of origin were taken into account, it was realized that the US was actually more open to LDC exports as compared to the EU. On the other hand, there is failure by the EU to promote multilateral solutions that is capable of addressing perhaps the single most important factor that links trade and poverty such as the massive volatility as well as decline in the price of primary commodities. As a result if the EU is indeed committed to uphold an image as a ‘mediating power’ within the global political economy, it will have no option but to ac tively promote changes in the WTO which the US is likely to actively resist, (Marshall, M., & Jaggers, K.,2010). However, a lot of failure has been manifested by the EU in exploiting a potentially promising strategy of accommodation like putting transatlantic economic as well as regulatory co operation at the service of multilateralism. Internal vs. external objectives                   Somehow, the manner in which the EU is exercising power through trade should be held up to special standards. Claiming consistency between its internal and external actions tend to be at the heart of its legitimate exercise of power. The EU has indeed faced difficulties in an attempt to lead by example in the area of trade. Like, in case where the single market has been premised based on the assumption that free movement of people is a key dimension of market integration, as a matter of fact, what will this one mean for the position taken by the EU on the freedom of movement of people in order to deliver services? In order for EU to be consistent, it will need to invest political capital and more creativity in ‘globalization with human faces’ as well as the manner in which there could be encouragement of back-and-forth movement of people as an alternative to permanent migration.                   The existing tension between the internal and external is well evidenced over agriculture, and came up in the Doha Round. A lot of questions have been raised over the conflicted position taken by the EU regarding agricultural tariffs and subsidies in its commitment to putting multilateralism at the service of development. As a matter of fact, there is no need for denying European citizens their landscape, food security, and way of life. However, it is important to tell them the much it costs, like the number of people who are now living under $1 a day. Also the question can be whether region-to-region agreements tend to be more about promoting regional integration outside the EU ‘per se’ but not taking the form of a worldwide strategy pushing for convergence with European standards as well as mutual opening of markets, thereby supporting EU incumbents. Time and again representatives of Mercosur have stated that they are aiming to follow the EU’s example, which according to them has made Europe ‘less dependent on the outside world, (the EU has stressed market opening). What is interesting is that the current political leadership in Mercosur, particularly President Lula in Brazil, have kind of supported the EU project over the US-led Free Trade of the Americas Agreement, indicating that the EU’s leverage through trade does not show some indications of legitimacy as compared to that of that of the US, (Stephanie Hanson, and Brianna Lee, 2012).                   Moreover, it seems that EU assumes that the liberal recipe of ‘peace through commerce’ which has indeed seems to have worked so well with them applies uniformly anywhere else. Generally, trade is capable of fueling conflict especially when carried out within a context of corrupt governance, deep social inequalities, and unfair rules, as well as without enough attention being paid to its destructive byproducts like export dependence, adjustment costs, price volatility or illegal trafficking. For EU to bring its external action to be in line with its internal philosophy, it needs to establish trade policies that are also sensitive to these potential conflicts. The current certifications efforts for diamonds or timber constitute tend to be a promising starting point. Equal Partnership vs. Conditional Opening                   There is a fundamental contradiction that exists as well within the very idea of ‘normative’ or ‘soft’ power. The language the EU is speaking is of shared norms which are developed through consensus and co-operation. But on the other hand, trade power tends to be the use of ‘carrots and sticks’ in enforcing such norms on trading partners. We are not even surprised that the incorporation of non-trade conditions in trade deals faces great resistance from developing countries, as they just see this to be a blunt coercion. A growing debate is now going on regarding the effectiveness of conditionality, which is now kind of spilling over from the field of aid to that of trade. Regardless of any instrumental argument, what is still being asked is whether a post-colonial power is not suppose to rely on voluntary change as well as the provision of public goods like its markets in bolstering the likelihood of such change. Do we miss to see a contradiction as the EU tries to export norms of its making, which is predicated based on voluntary co-operation between states using its quasi-coercive leverage through trade? Some of the policies such as the EBA undoubtedly tend to lie at the other end of the spectrum; unconditional opening to be a tool for development; having trust that new export opportunities in themselves is likely to encourage desired changes in the beneficiaries. Nevertheless, is it true that this policy is genuinely taking the interests of developing countries to heart, or it is just a public relations coup on the part of the EU? This is a signal to the rest of the world that the EU was eventually acting upon its pro-developing world rhetoric, the EU managed to find their way out in Hong Kong in generalizing the principle under WTO. So far giving way duty/quota-free access to 97 per cent of the products that originates in least developed countries is not welcomed by majority. Trade Liberalization vs. Domestic Preferences                   There is great tension for the EU as a trade power based on the embedded liberalism compromise. The conflict is in the manner of combining a trade liberalization credo with a primary concern for the social effects of market integration. Often, the EU has been facing social demands for protection that somehow may be going beyond the spirit of embedded liberalism. In response to such demands, the Commission’s trade policy-makers under the leadership of Pascal Lamy have developed a fresh conceptual apparatus based on the fact of collective preferences setting up institutions that are capable of forging collective preferences. The end result is diversification of social choices over health care, inter alia food safety, precaution in the field of biotechnology or welfare rights, cultural diversity, public provision of education and health care. However, it is argued that if these concerns justify protection then the EU has the obligation of providing c ompensation to its trading partners. Conclusion                   Indeed, it seems like EU exploits its formidable trade power for pursuing non-trade objectives through conditionality or through fostering regional trade blocs in its own image. This highlights the way the divergences between member states objectives makes it hard for the EU to signal its resolve to the outside world more clearly. Nonetheless, such divergences are themselves a byproduct or an expression of existing tensions between various alternative priorities or even norms that must simultaneously be committed to by the EU machinery, such as nondiscrimination and bilateral preferential relations, regionalism and multilateralism, western hegemony and mediating power, trade liberalization and domestic preferences, internal and external objectives, equal partnership and conditional opening. Due to the fact that legitimacy tends to be the main currency for an aspiring normative power, it will be difficult for the EU to effectively become a power through t rade without addressing what majority of the world considers being unsustainable contradictions. References Haughton, T. (2007). When does the EU make a difference? Conditionality and the accession process in Central and Eastern Europe. Political Studies Review, 5(2), 233–246. Knodt, M., & Jà ¼nemann, A. (2007). Introduction: Conceptionalizing the EU’s promotion of democracy. In A. Jà ¼nemann & M. Knodt (Eds.), Externe Demokratiefà ¶rderung durch die Europà ¤ische Union-European external democracy promotion (pp. 9–32). Baden-Baden: Nomos. Marshall, M., & Jaggers, K. (2010). Polity IV project: Political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800–2009. Fairfax: Center for Systemic Peace, George Mason University. Stephanie Hanson, and Brianna Lee (2012) Mercosur: South America’s Fractious Trade Bloc. Retrieved 3rd 10, 2014. http://www.cfr.org/trade/mercosur-south-americas-fractious-trade-bloc/p12762 Teorell, J. (2010). Determinants of democratization: Explaining regime change in the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Tocci, N. (2007). The EU and conflict resolution. Promoting peace in the backyard. London: Routledge. Source document

A Fable for Tomorrow Essays

A Fable for Tomorrow Essays A Fable for Tomorrow Essay A Fable for Tomorrow Essay The moment I read the first paragraph, I immediately was able to picture everything that the author had described in the piece. This story has spiked my curiosity and I would like to read the book to know more on what happens in this story. What the author writes about could actually become a reality some day. But overall, this was a great story and it really made the reader feel as if they were going through the beauty and tragedies. Maman and America This was a good story to read, but not my kind of story. I can understand how the two divorced parents have two different ideologies on how to raise a child and with which culture to follow. I’m really surprised me that Maman was hateful towards the American culture and thought that Americans were the problem, but she thought that a parent’s divorce and that the woman keeping the respect in society was ok in her book. That’s something that I understand, but to me she sounds like someone who wants her cake and wants to eat it too. You’re not going to get a perfect culture and no culture will ever be close to perfect. You shouldn’t slander other cultures, by doing that you are just creating more hate in this world and that hate is what corrupts societies and culture. Plus, on a side note†¦. they spoke about the mother the whole time and rarely about the father. Chinese Space, American Space This essay was nicely written and I could picture the detailed descriptions of the homes. I didn’t enjoy this piece as much as the other stories that we read. Overall, the story was good and had a good flow to it.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a federal lending agency created by the U.S. government under President Herbert Hoover to rescue banks on the brink of failure and restore Americans faith in the financial system while minimizing the crises of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation eventually grew in scope to finance agricultural, commercial and industrial endeavors through billions of dollars in loans until it was disbanded in 1957. It played a significant role in funding New Deal programs under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help the United States recover from its worst financial crisis. Key Takeaways: Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was created by Congress on Jan. 22, 1932, amid the Great Depression to provide emergency capital to financial institutions. The support provided to those banks has been likened to the bailouts provided in modern times.The Reconstruction Finance Corporation helped minimize bank failures and improve monetary conditions prior to the banking crisis of 1933 by financing agriculture, commerce and industry.Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation became the largest investor in the economy, representing a relocation of Americans economic power from Wall Street to Washington, D.C., according to historians. Creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Signed into law by Hoover on Jan. 22, 1932, the Reconstruction Finance Act created the federal lending agency with $500 million in capital from the U.S. Treasury to provide emergency financing facilities for financial institutions, to aid in financing agriculture, commerce, and industry.   Hoover, describing the agencys role at the White House signing ceremony that day, said: It brings into being a powerful organization with adequate resources, able to strengthen weaknesses that may develop in our credit, banking, and railway structure, in order to permit business and industry to carry on normal activities free from the fear of unexpected shocks and retarding influences. Its purpose is to stop deflation in agriculture and industry and thus to increase employment by the restoration of men to their normal jobs. †¦ It should give opportunity to mobilize the gigantic strength of our country for recovery. The agency was modeled after the War Finance Corporation, the federal governments effort to centralize, coordinate, and fund the procurement and supply operations that accompanied formal U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland research officer Walker F. Todd. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation distributed nearly $2 billion a year in loans in its first three years of existence, though the money was not enough to lift the country out of its economic woes. The money did, however, provide liquidity to the financial system and prevent many banks from failing by allowing Americans to remove their savings. Criticism of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation endured criticism for bailing out some banks and railroads and not others- particularly larger institutions instead of smaller, community-based ones. For example, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was hit for lending $65 million in the early years to Bank of America and $264 million to railroads controlled by some of the wealthiest families and corporations in the nation. The original plan for the agency was to help rescue small banks in rural parts of the United States that typically did not have access to Federal Reserve loans. According to Hoover: It is not created for the aid of big industries or big banks. Such institutions are amply able to take care of themselves. It is created for the support of the smaller banks and financial institutions and, through rendering their resources liquid, to give renewed support to business, industry, and agriculture.† Jesse Jones, chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, pictured at the hearing of the Senate banking and currency committee. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images The agency was also subject to scrutiny because of its secretive nature, at least at first, and because it was seen as corrupt under Chairman Jesse Jones, a Houston businessman, in the final stages of its existence. It was revealed, for example, that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation had loaned $90 million to a Chicago bank whose chairman had served as president of the agency. Eventually the agency was forced to disclose the name of all of its borrowers under the Emergency Relief and Construction Act. The agency revealed that many of the borrowers were, in fact, large banks not intended to benefit from the corporation. The agency stopped lending money in 1953 and ceased operations in 1957. Impact of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation The creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation is credited with saving many banks and it also provided an alternative to the controversial plan of making the Federal Reserve the so-called lender of last resort to failing financial institutions during this crisis. (A lender of last resort is a term used to describe the central bank of a nation that works to rescue troubled institutions. The Federal Reserve acts in that capacity in the United States.) Critics of the Federal Reserve plan worried it would lead to inflation and even deepen the nations depression. The agency also served to strengthen the capital structure of the banking system and eventually morphed into a convenient agency through which to extend government credit to many additional groups which the Roosevelt administration sought to aid, wrote B.W. Patch in the 1935 CQ Press publication The R.F.C. under Hoover and Roosevelt. As supporters of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation noted at the time of its creation, the agencys mission was not merely saving the banks but to provide relief to millions of Americans who had deposited their money in them. Allowing the banks to fail, in other words, would have led to hardship beyond which the Depression had already inflicted. Sources â€Å"Records of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.†Ã‚  National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/234.html#234.1.Patch, B.W. â€Å"The R.F.C. Under Hoover and Roosevelt.†Ã‚  CQ Researcher by CQ Press, Congressional Quarterly Press, 17 July 1935, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?idcqresrre1935071700.Saving Capitalism: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the New Deal, 1933-1940. Olson, James Stuart, Princeton University Press, Mar 14, 2017.

Analysis of the Political Propaganda Image Essay

Analysis of the Political Propaganda Image - Essay Example The image is a type of political propaganda; this is because the words used on it are of hatred and targeting certain nations. The words used are a clear indication that they are not humble, instead, they portray both blackmail and threats. The reason why the words used are in form of threats is due to the term â€Å"Shut Your Mouth!† In my opinion, this is an order, whereby the image is declaring that the US is the only nation in control and nobody can oppose its decisions (â€Å"Political Propaganda†). The warplanes are many on the image and this shows the nation’s dominance in matters of war. This image is a direct target to the Middle East nations such as Afghanistan and Iraq that the US has been at war with for many years. Although the US is ever attacking nations from the Middle East in the name of curbing terrorism, the truth of the matter is that the US wants to be in control of these nations due to their vast richness especially in terms of petroleum production. Apart from threatening, the image also portrays blackmail, this is due to the saying, â€Å"†¦you are either with us or you are with the terrorists†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The reason why the message is blackmail is that it is indirectly stating that it is either nation back the US attacks to Arabic nations or they too be treated as terrorism supporters. The words at the top are in an uppercase form and bold, this is in a move to catch the attention of anybody that will have a glimpse of it. The first word at the top, â€Å"YOU†, apart from its exclusion from the others, it appears in a much bigger font than the rest (â€Å"Political Propaganda†). The main colors used on the image are red, blue and white.

Art- Principles of Design Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art- Principles of Design - Term Paper Example This paper will first discuss Luis Barragan’s Torri Satellites in the context of Modernist architecture. Then it will proceed to Benvenuto Cellini’s metal sculpture of the salt-cellar for King Francis I, created during the Renaissance period. Finally, the essay will turn its focus on Albrecht Durer’s metal craft entitled, Melencolia I created during the Italian Renaissance movement. Luis Barragan is one of the most renowned architects due to his firm devotion to modernism of the 20th century. Given this primary devotion to a new feat in the history of architecture, it can be said that Barragan’s philosophical leaning when it comes to the context of his field is towards the propagation of this new movement in architecture. It is with such philosophy that his works are transformed into structures of simplicity, elegance and unorthodoxy- one that is very new to the eyes of the people. Barragan is one of those who revolutionized the Modern Movement which began in the 1920s. The architect shares the same approach to this new phase of architecture with his colleagues like Lina Bo Bardi, Jose Antonio Coderch, Fernando Tavora, and Jorn Utzon (UNESCO 144). In 1957, Luis Barragan created his memorable piece, the Torri Satellites, which became well-known in the world. A joint-effort between him, the painter Jesus Reyes Ferreira and the sculptor Mathias Goeritz catapulted Barragan into the international line-up of architects and making him a recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture in1980. The epitome of the Modern Movement of architecture is ever present in Luis Barragan’s Torri Satellites. This 4-piece structure is erected in a high class zone; each piece is a symbolism of utter simplicity because of its simple triangular cylinder. This is very modernist in nature – the very style that explains Luis Barragan’s talent for architecture. Also, the color of each tower patterned in primary shades of red, blu e and yellow with the addition of a simple white for the last tower all explain how the concept of the Modern Movement caters minimalism in its designs (Ulloa 4). Going back several centuries in the annals of art history, Benvenuto Cellini was an exceptional goldsmith who surpassed the precepts of metal craft and was transformed into a painter and sculptor, thus a full-bred Italian artist of the early Renaissance period. All of Cellini’s mastery, his high class metal crafts and his intricate designs as both sculptor and painter, can be seen in a single work that he had created for King Francis I of France, the famous salt-cellar. It is in this salt-cellar that one can see the intricacy of Cellini’s style and the careful use of iconography as part of his designs. The salt-cellar for Francis I was one to be considered as Cellini’s exceptional works because the piece of art was a small-scale figure. The tight attention to detail and the symbolism attributed thereof was the highlight of Cellini’s masterpiece. The minute scale of Cellini’s piece was not a hindrance for his artistic capabilities to show. The salt-cellar for Francis I was a perfect example of the fusion of pre-Renaissance to the Renaissance precepts of art. Pre-Renaissance focused on the material value of an object which gives it the proper indication for social status. Renaissance, on the other hand, focused on the artistic value of an object. Cellini’