.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Politics and Hierarchy in Shakespeares As You like It Essay Example for Free
Politics and Hierarchy in Shakespeares As You like It Essay In William Shakespeare’s play, As you Like It, there are lots of interesting themes which both drive the action and speak to the culture that the author lived in. Among those interesting themes are the classic Shakespearean ideal of love, issues dealing with family relationships, and perhaps more importantly, politics and hierarchy. In this comedy, the dichotomy between certain characters becomes evident early on and continues for the entirety of the work. Over time, the reader comes to understand that many of the decisions made by Orlando and Oliver in their conflict are due to the perceived hierarchy of the society and the politics that would result from the decisions. In addition, the relationship between Duke Frederick and Duke Senior is one that explores lots of hierarchical themes associated with living in England at the time. These pertinent examples and more are explored in a light, intellectual way throughout the play.            Politics and hierarchy are primarily relevant when one considers the relationships between the various characters. One important plot aspect is the relationship between Orlando and Oliver. Orlando is a victim of circumstance and he is fully aware of his plight. In a way, he is a sympathetic character that has no recourse in trying to make his situation better. In his relationship with his older brother, Orlando is constantly under emotional torment from Oliver. Their conflict is at the heart of the story and it is an important theme throughout. Where does this conflict come from? Ultimately, it is the result of a decision that was made by the father of the two boys. Oliver received the inheritance from the father and took advantage of the land in his father’s estate. From that, there exists a hierarchical battle between the two brothers for the rest of their life.            The stark contrast in the hierarchy is best represented by these two brothers because the example is so pure. Oliver is different from Orlando not only because he owns the estate, but also because he has other advantages that put him above Orlando in social status. During the comedy, there are many times when Orlando can be found telling his servant Adam that Oliver refuses to educate him and provide anything for him. Though the reader does not know much about the relationship of the brothers before their father died, one can reasonably infer that they had a decent relationship. Once Oliver elevated himself to a greater status in the hierarchy, he not only abandoned Orlando, but even took the initiative to make his brother’s life harder. This even comes to a violent head when the two brothers engage in a fight when Oliver comes to see Orlando. Orlando gets the better of that conflict and makes sure that Oliver understands that. Since this is a comedy, Shakespeare makes sure that the conflict between the brothers is presented in a sarcastic nature that the readers can enjoy. Clearly, Orlando makes light of his own plight and even makes a comment about his relatively low status in comparison to his brother. In the play, Orlando remarks to Oliver, â€Å"I am helping you to mar that which God made, a poor, unworthy brother of yours, with idleness†(Shakespeare). This sarcasm is put into the play to provide a light moment, but it also represents the fact that Oliver looks upon his brother as being something of a joke.            There is another hierarchical aspect of their relationship that must be considered. During that time, there was a huge gap in education for the wealthy and the poor. As such, those with money could go to the few schools that existed, while people without money had to learn skills in order to survive. From this, a certain perception began to exist that colored uneducated people as being somewhat barbaric. This interesting dichotomy is presented well by Shakespeare, as he attempts to inform the reader that Orlando is both a better fighter and a more vindictive person, while his brother Oliver was much more cultured. This was one of the many ways that people were separated by class during that time. It was all based upon money, wealth, and power, but other things came as a result of that.            As only Orlando’s brother, Oliver should have never taken a role of sovereignty over him. Instead, their relationship should have still existed like a normal one during that time. However, William Shakespeare uses the relationship between the two brothers in this play as a means of displaying his own political thoughts during the time. A Paul Yachnin article published in the HighBeam Encyclopedia indicates the fact that Shakespeare did this in many of his plays. In that article, Yachnin writes, â€Å"In the play, the political and social relations between masters and their subjects places loyalty at the center of the system of relations devoted to instituting a regime of absolutist politics†(Yachnin). The loyalty between the brothers is at the center of their conflict, as Orlando feels that his brother has not been loyal to him because of social status. On the flip side of that, Oliver feels that Orlando should look up to him as something of a master, when in fact, they are just brothers. This is an interest dichotomy between the two characters that plays itself out in a series of fights, both physical and verbal.            In addition to the aforementioned hierarchy in Shakespeare’s play, politics also play a huge role in driving the action. Though politics are not a major player in the relationship between Orlando and Oliver, they do power the relationship between Duke Frederick and Duke Senior. In fact, this is one of the primary plot sequences that is very important to the storyline. Duke Frederick oversteps his bounds in this comedy, as he is not supposed to move to the top of the political latter over his brother. In English society at the time, people were locked into their roles in society. This was true even among the rich people. Though they were clearly above poor people in society, they had to worry about staying put in their position in the upper crust of the political scene. When Duke Frederick supplants Duke Senior in the political scene, a huge conflict is born. Interestingly, Shakespeare finds a creative way to intertwine the two separate stories, drawing connections between the social roles of the various characters in the story.            Politics play a substantial role in the plight of the two dukes because they cause Duke Senior to have to live somewhere else. When Duke Frederick takes the place of his older brother, there is no option that allows both of them to just live in harmony in the same area. Instead, Duke Senior is banished from the duchy and has to live with plain nobles in a wooded area. Though he did not get banished to living with the peasants who were living completely off of the land and good graces of the upper crust, Duke Senior did not get to take advantage of the life with which he had become accustomed. That is a very important theme for the story.            The Alan Bloom book, Shakespeare’s Politics, has an interesting take on the inner workings of how the author thought. There is lots of speculation about what sort of political thinker William Shakespeare was and the majority of that can be seen in his works. In As You Like It, it is clear that Shakespeare both searched for and figured out the answers to many of the most important questions of his day. According to Bloom, the author tosses harsh criticism on some of the systems that existed during his day (Bloom). Some examples of this include Shakespeare’s constant criticism of the class system, which he believed was bad for English society. While Shakespeare may have taken harder political stances in some of his other works like Julius Caesar, he certainly addresses the current landscape in each of his works. When dealing with the two Dukes in As you Like It, Shakespeare makes light of how their folly makes both of their lives more difficult. It was an interesting approach to take because most of the political thought during the time was breaking down the class distinctions between the reach and the poor. Very few authors or thinkers had even considered the politics that existed among the distinct groups. Shakespeare had the progressive vision to try his best to understand what sort of political motives drove advancement within certain social castes. In this comedy, he finds that even the rich jockey for position, as Duke Frederick used â€Å"creative†means to get rid of his older brother and take control of the power in the society.            Robin Headlam Wells wrote a book about how Shakespeare used politics as a major theme in his work. In the book, Shakespeare, Politics, and the State, Wells writes about how Shakespeare constantly uses the voices of his characters to present problems within the political and hierarchical system (Wells). In this particular comedy, the beauty of the work is that each of the characters has their own role in the madness that existed within the English political system at the time. He uses all of the characters to make it well known that no one individual person or individual group was affected less or more by the makeshift caste system that England used.            Shakespeare himself was one of the people who understood how the political system could impact just about everyone. In order to understand the uses in his book, one has to understand Shakespeare’s political opinions and his experiences with politics. One website indicated that, â€Å"Shakespeare knew people who had been arrested and tortured friends and family members†(William-Shakespeare.org). This is interesting to consider in that he knew that people who did not have affluence had a hard time surviving in the current political system. As such, his criticisms of the current political system had to be somewhat hushed by the constant fear that he might be prosecuted for such comments. Given the fact that Shakespeare had family that had been the victim of political happenstance, it is interesting to consider his take on the dynamic of Orlando and Oliver. The author understood the plight of Orlando more so than he did the situation of Oliver, so in many ways, he favors Orlando in his writing.            As you Like It is an interesting play by William Shakespeare that addresses many different themes that were prevalent in English society during the time of the author. Among those are the common themes of politics and hierarchy. In his breakdown of the various relationship of individuals within the comedy, Shakespeare actually sheds a little bit of light on what it might have been like to live in England during that time.  Works Cited Alexander, Catherine. Shakespeare and Politics. 13 September 2004.  Cambridge University Press. Bloom, Allan. Shakespeare’s Politics. 1 December 1996. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Wells, Robin Headlam. Shakespeare Politics and State. December 1986. Palgrave McMillan Publishing. William Shakespeare and Elizabethan Politics. http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/william-shakespeare-politics.htm Yachnin, Paul. High Beam Encyclopedia. Shakespeare’s Politics and Loyalty. 22 March 1993. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-14363559.html
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Customer Satisfaction Using a Same Marketing Segmentation
Customer Satisfaction Using a Same Marketing Segmentation INTRODUCTION Nestlà © is a multinational company and is of the worlds largest in food and beverages industry. Heinrich Nestlà ©, whom also known as Henri Nestlà ©, was the founder of Nestlà © Company (Nestle. 2010, Introduction, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com), which headquarter is in Vevey, Switzerland in the year of 1866. Nestlà © Malaysia was established in the year of 1912 in Malaysia as Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Nestlà © Malaysia head office is now located in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and has 6 sales offices with more than 5000 employees nationwide. Besides, Nestlà © manufactures its own products in 7 factories and markets over 300 Halal products across the nation. (Nestlà ©. 2010, Nestlà © in Malaysia, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) Nestlà © specialized in foods and beverages industry, a few of the many well known brands Nestlà © has in Malaysia includes Maggi, Nescafà ©, Milo, Kit Kat, Nesvita (formerly known as Ne stum), as well as pet care products such as Purina and Friskies. Nestlà ©s vision (Nestlà ©. 2010, Corporate Philosophy, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) is to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by delivering world-class products of the highest consistent quality, reliability, and convenience based on business excellence principles throughout the operation. Nestlà ©s mission (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.4) is to enhance the quality of life with good food and beverages, everywhere, so people could live a healthier life. In order to achieve their vision and mission, Nestlà © Nutrition Research Centre (Nestlà ©. 2010, Research Development, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.co.jp) pays great attention to understand the consumers nutritional and emotional needs and utilise todays world superior science and technology to produce high quality products to the world. MARKET SEGMENTATION Every consumer has different needs. Hence, it is not possible to satisfy every customer using a same marketing segmentation, which is also known as mass marketing by offering a single marketing mix to all consumers. Moreover, as a global market has become extremely competitive, and consumers are increasingly demanding which is very difficult to satisfy. Therefore, Nestlà © uses target marketing for every product to their customers. For example, in consumer product, Nestlà © baby milk product such as Nestlà © Neslac Excella Gold is segmented only to infants and toddlers. However, baby does not have the capacity or capability to buy the food they needed. Therefore, to market this baby milk product, Nestlà © does not fully focusing on babys basic need which is hunger, but also to the babys parents in terms of how the nutrition provided will give their children the best possible advantages in the childrens life and development. Another example is Nestlà © Milo, the milk beverage with chocolate and malt. Don Howart, the executive director of Nestlà © and Singapore Coffee and Beverages claimed that Milo remains popular among the young and has a 90% (The Sun. 2010, Milo with ProtoMalt to get through the day, Sun2Surf [Online] available at www.sun2surf.com) market share among chocolate malt drinks in Malaysia. Besides the youngsters, old people and active people are also part of the target markets of Nestlà © Milo drinks. However, at first, Nestlà ©s business was launched internationally and realised the fact that food products have to be taken into account to the local eating and social behaviour due to the particular countrys practices, cultures, and traditions. Therefore, (1) Nestlà © has always shown respect for diverse cultures and traditions and trying to integrate itself as much as possible into the cultures and traditions, adding also to the local environment its own set of values. Therefore, (2) Nestlà © embraces cultural and social diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of origin, nationality, religion, race, gender or age. (The Nestlà © Management and Leadership Principles 2006, p.9) STRENGTHS Nestlà © is a multinational company, not to mention Nestlà © is also the largest industry in foods and beverages, hence Nestlà © has every capability to attract more consumers compare to the local companies. On account of its high market share and high financial power, Nestlà © also has greater financial capability in altering existing products in terms of packaging, the formula of the particular product and others or creating new products, as well as to adapt or upgrade latest information system technology in manufacturing, order processing and other related fields in order to sustain their competitive advantage by delivering lower cost of goods and services than their competitors in this dynamic environment. Secondly, Nestlà © has quite an effective strategic marketing capability. For example, Nestlà © Maggi instant noodles has built a stable patent and is very well known in many countries especially in Australia and Malaysia. This is because Maggi instant noodles is easy to be differentiated from its competitors such as Cintan Instant Noodles. Moreover, Nestlà © has also developed a very strong brand name for Maggi instant noodles because of strong advertising, which has indoctrinated most of the people to name the other brands of instant noodles as Maggi instant noodle instead of the brands original name. Furthermore, Nestlà © also has a strong Research and Development operations that helps the company to achieve cross-border synergy such as packaging its global products to local preferences. Nestlà © also emphasises on using todays information technology, which Nestlà © believe it will present a long-term opportunity for them to smoothen the companys operation or to increase efficiency in packaging, among any other companys operations. Besides, Nestlà © also has better technological capability, for instance, to renovate the existing products to be more innovative, higher quality, and much healthier product as Nestlà © realised that consumer-centred innovation and renovation is the most important pillar of Nestlà ©s worldwide strategy, which would accelerate Nestlà © to advance from good to better. (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.34) And because of Nestlà ©s commitments, more people trust on the products delivered by Nestlà © because of its prope r health and safety measures. Besides, Nestlà © also has great leadership attributes. The leaders such as the top executives, branch managers, and others are responsible in building organisation capability. For example, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlà © S.A., Peter Brabeck, (Castelarhost. 2005, Nestlà © LC1 S.W.O.T Analysis, Castelar Articles [Online] available at www.articles.castelarhost.com) emphasises internal growth worldwide, which means to achieve higher volumes of sales by adding value to the products, renovate existing products, and innovate new products, to keep pace in the industry because of rapidly changing of consumer expectations. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Nestlà © produces hundreds of products, has a global network of suppliers, and multiple distributions and selling channels. Hence, to anticipate and respond in this rapidly changing in market demand condition is very difficult. When forecasting a market demand, Nestlà © will need information to detect shifts in demand early so they could adjust for trends and send the right messages to the suppliers, shippers, and distribution centres before they are flood with unwanted or defective goods or shortages. (Manhattan Associates. 2010, Planning and forecasting: Anticipate and Respond to Changes in Demand, Manhattan Associates [Online] at www.manh.com) However, every company has its weakest links, so is Nestlà ©. The weakest links are issues they are unable to control. (Labs. 2010, Supply Chain Efficiency Starts at the Top, Food Engineering [Online] available at www.foodengineeringmag.com) Firstly, the most common problem is the sources of supply of raw materials. This is due to a sudden and unexpected increased in demand, which will cause extreme supply shortages for commodities that will result in major price increases. For instance, bad weather and natural disasters have always been an issue affecting incoming raw materials. Secondly, the inaccuracy of orders received in inventory. No company can ever achieve the requirement of zero defects especially in foods and beverages industry. For example, when the purchasing department of Nestlà © ordered 10,000 of mixed berries yoghurt from its dealer, but what the retailer received was only 8,000 of mixed berries yoghurt, or on another occasion they might received defective inventori es. Another example is, when Nestlà © tells its dealer that they needed extra orders of a particular product to be shipped right away because of unexpected increased in demand, but in fact, the supplier may already has orders from other customers. This usually happen during special occasion such as Chinese New Year, the demand of Nestlà © Cornflakes cereal will increase because many people will buy this product to make cookies. This will causes Nestlà © to encounter a great loss because of inaccurate order of magnitude because they could not produce the actual output needed. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it is crucial for Nestlà © to engage with multiple suppliers or dealers in that particular region, so they could acquire inventories from multiple dealers, which will definitely decrease the risk of shortage due to incontrollable situation. Besides, Nestlà © should also base on their demand and purchase planning on last couple of years of sales to forecast current year of demand and supply. Other than that, mutual trust and strong relationship with all the dealers are needed in order to increase the flexibility of material supply management, as well as to enhance the bargaining power of Nestlà ©. However, if there is a surplus, Nestlà © may need to plan a promotion to clear their inventories, otherwise Nestlà © will encounter a great loss such as paying high material handling cost, waste of warehouses space, or inventories that are not sold became defective and may need to be disposed which no profit will earn. Therefore, when there i s a big event organized such as Jom Heboh Carnival. Nestlà © will set up a booth at the carnival to sell its products, which are close to the expiry date at lower price such as Maggi products, Nescafà ©, Milo, yoghurt drinks, Nestlà © ice creams and so on. People often buy the products in big quantity because of the lower price than the market price. As a result, Nestlà © could clear their inventories rather fast and save some space in the warehouses. which is a win-win situation. Thirdly, even though Nestlà © has a logistics department but it doesnt deal with transportation logistics. Nestlà © outsourced its supply chain transport to the third-party logistics (3PL) as Nestlà © tries to cut their supply chain costs and to concentrate more on their in-plant operations. Although Nestlà © doesnt have a transportation logistics department, but they do have a delivery team to cooperate with the third-party logistics in routing protocol. Nestlà © is using a Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), which is a simple and efficient routing protocol designed specifically for use in multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks of mobile nodes. The protocol is composed of the two main mechanisms of Route Discovery and Route Maintenance, which work together to allow nodes to discover and maintain routes on-demand to arbitrary destinations in the ad hoc network. (Maltz. 2003, The Dynamic Source Routing Protocol CMU [Online] available at www.cs.cmu.edu) Therefore, the delivery team is there to help Nestlà © and the 3PL that DSR is working as per company direction as well as DSR performance. Next, it is the poor partnership relationship between dealerships and consumers. Dealers need these capabilities because they, in close partnership with manufacturers Nestlà ©, are a connecting hub of services for the consumers, and other stakeholders. However, Nestlà © solved this problem by using the Dealer Management Systems (DMS) as well as their dealers. DMS is a software solutions that provide tools for managing sales, services, parts and inventory management, business management, integration, and core architecture. DMS help manufacturers and dealers create integrated marketing campaigns to offer inventory to target markets. This will integrate innovations into traditional in-store sales and service processes and offer technologies for non-traditional merchandising, sales, and service strategies through alternative channels for consumer engagement via Web, by phone, or in-vehicle. (Microsoft Corporation. 2008, Microsoft Offers the Dealer Management Solution Microsoft [Online ] available at www.microsoft.com/automotive) RECOMMENDATIONS After the reviews stated above, those were not the only solutions that are available. MDZ has come up with a few recommended suggestions that may work or solve the problems that were encountered by Nestlà ©. Instead of just finding or having multiple suppliers, Nestlà © could acquire the inventories from the other outlets from the other region. Because some regions have different demographics, for instance, race. Some areas have higher percentage of Malays such as Kuantan, Pahang, and some may have higher percentage of Chinese such as Ipoh, Perak. The Chinese New Year (CNY) example stated above, in Kuantan area, there might be less demand during CNY, so to prevent shortage, Nestlà © could just acquire the inventories from Kuantan. However, if there is a surplus, and unable to clear the inventories at a short time, Nestlà © could consider donation for short-run purpose, this could help to clear the old stocks, as well as to help the donation receivers and build better goodwill and name of Nestlà ©. Secondly, Nestlà © is a multinational company; it definitely has the capability in owning a transportation logistics department. Because of the hundreds variety of Nestlà ©s products, 7 manufacturers in Malaysia, as well as thousands of customers such as retailers, wholesalers, distributors and so on, Nestlà © could handle its own transportation service. Nestlà © could gain the whole power in such as mode selections, routing, and others. They could do almost anything such as consolidating different type of products but to the same outlet. Besides, they could save every penny they use in transportation cost compare to third-party logistics (3PL) because 3PL charges according to the quantity, inventory storage space, value added processes such as special handling, and more. It may benefit in the short run, but definitely not in the long run, as Nestlà © centred in the long-term business and strives to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Lastly, Nestlà © could use both manual and automation system in managing sales, services, and others. This is because one cannot trust wholly to a machine, as it may not be documenting the steps in its own processor. Because some steps cant be automated and may required operator intervention to prevent the escapement processing steps, even though adapting advanced technologies could help saving cost as labour cost is reduced, but if there are still problems occur, it will affect the business such as loss of customers because of the mistake. Therefore, Nestlà © must update the system software regularly and full utilisation of available technology as well as the manual operators, which will effectively increase the efficiency and dependability of the supply chain systems. CONCLUSION Nestlà © exerts great efforts to achieve its visions to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by producing better quality of products to the consumers. Nestlà © also study about the consumers needs from time to time and satisfy the consumers as much as possible. Nestlà ©s strengths such as high financial capability, effective strategic marketing capability, strong research and development, as well as great leaderships have helped them through the obstacles. Above all, Nestlà © focuses on its missions and ensures consistency by making the right decisions to manage and build its business to deliver the promise of Good Food, Good Life all over the world.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Are Computers Putting Our Childrens Education at Risk? :: essays research papers
Computers are woven into every aspect of our lives. From the microwave oven that small children can learn to use to heat up a hot dog, to the computers under the hoods of our cars, we interact with computers whether we realise it or not. (Campbell, 1999). But when it comes to the education of our children, the use of computers becomes a controversial issue. Of course, as stated above, computers are an everyday tool in the education of children, but the question being asked is, what effect do these computers really have on our children? Are computers being used in age-appropriate ways? Do program designers take into account the developmental needs of children? Are teachers receiving sufficient technology training? Is "learning software" really what it purports to be, or is it simply "edutainment" that reinforces impulsive point-and-click behaviour in the pursuit of a trivial goal? (Healy 1998) Many people are beginning to wonder about these questions, and are comin g to the conclusion that computers may be very harmful to the development of our children. Academically, physically, socially and emotionally. There are many negative issues surrounding the use of computers as educational tools. These range from ineffective learning, impacts on children’s health, creativity, brain development and social and emotional growth. Also, besides the issue of computers affecting children’s development, there is the ongoing issue of costs of this new and constantly updating technology. These issues, combined with many others, are beginning to emerge, and we can see why many people are reconsidering the validity of computers in education, especially that of young, primary school-aged children. In relation to the issue of the negative effects computers have on the physical development of children, Jane Healy has presented the following fact: The American Academy of Paediatrics has expressed concern about the amount of time children spend in front of various types of screens, and several experts in eye development have stated that computer use is creating problems in children developing visual systems. (Healy 1998, p.18) Healy also cites literature that suggests that during the first six years of life, misuses of technology may adversely affect brain maturation and development. Computers do have physical effects on those who use them, and these effects can be serious and long lasting, even permanent. Moreover, they contribute to a wide range of disorders – to muscle, joint and tendon damage, to headaches and eyestrain, to seizures and skin problems.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Metaphysical One in Platonic and Augustinian Thoughts Essay
The legacy of Plato left its distinctive brand of influence on St. Augustine's beliefs and writings, of this there is no doubt. In Confessions, Augustine himself professed that it was the Platonic books that enabled him to attach himself to his God. However, it is evident that Augustine re-augmented much of the Platonic thoughts and, combining them with the early Christian doctrines, configured the hybrid into what became the foundation of Catholicism. The differencesâ€â€as well as similaritiesâ€â€that exist between the two thought systems can be dissected from two points: the nature of the metaphysical supreme One and its relationships with the Many. At the heart of Platonism is the concept of eidos, or Forms: the theory of an absolute and unchangeable Idea that is manifest in all things that are made so by its essence. One of the best definitions of the concept is offered in "Meno" in regards to the Form of Virtue: "†¦what is this very thing, in which [the individual virtues] are all the same and do not differ from each other? †¦ Even if they are many and various, all of them have one and the same Form which makes them virtues." ("Meno", 72c, p61.) Plato searched for not individual aspects of a concept but the exact, complete definition of it. It is clear that he did not concern himself with the physical realities of the world but rather The Reality, the Immaterial which supercedes the Material. The questions then rises about Plato's attitudes towards the pagan gods and his belief about the totality of the universe. Judging from the absence of Greek deities from the Dialogues, one is compelled to believe that Plato thought of the conventional gods as unnecessary and sought after the very Being of the universe, which is the eterna... ...ate Good the soul can achieve nothing. In addition, Augustine evidently was most anxious to attack Manicheism, hence altogether rejecting that God is within human beings (a notion echoed by the Manicheans) would have been essential. In his Confessions, Augustine successfully remolded Platonism to match his Christian ideals and interpretations. According to Platonism, the abstract eidos is the metaphysical perfect existence and the primal Universal Principle can be perceived as the Form of Being. Augustine took after Plato in his belief of an eternal, immaterial and unifying One, but his God departs from its Platonic counterpart in that He is active, personal, and ultimately the only hope of human salvation. Still, through Augustine and the Catholic Church, the pantheistic Platonism and its metaphysical One has survived throughout the Middle Ages into the present.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Irresponsibile Biff in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays
Irresponsibile Biff in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman       Have you ever felt as if you do not know what to do with your life? Everyone does sometimes, but certain people are like that their whole life. These people are irresponsible and depend on others to survive. In "Death of a Salesman", Biff is one of these people. He is irresponsible because he depends on Happy, depends on Willy, and does not know what to do for a living.      Biff looks up on Happy as an example of good life. It seems to him that Happy's life is stable and successful. Even though this is not true, Biff lets it bother him. He wants Happy to get him a job in New York so they could work together. This shows some of his dependency and irresponsibility. Biff does not seem as if he could live on his own successfully. This disappoints both Happy and Willy. But this is not the only problem Biff has.      Biff also depends on Willy to get him through life. Willy's low morals cause Biff to think it's all right to concentrate on football when he was in high school. Biff does not think he has to work in school. When he flunks math, he does not know what to do and once again turns to Willy. Now Biff cannot go to college and since he has been concentrating on football, he has little or no skills at anything else. He depends on Willy's support to help him. But since Willy's expectations of Biff are not met, Biff does not receive the help he needs and moves off on his own. This leaves Biff to find a goal in life and reach it.       Finally, Biff does not know what to do for a living. He is constantly moving around, unsure of what to do next. This may be because of his uncertainty of a future. Biff has never held a steady job. Because of this, he has never held a steady home. This shows a lot of irresponsibility. Until he knows what he wants to do, Biff cannot settle down and become an adult. This inconsistency in employment makes Biff irresponsible.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Pastoral Reflection Paper
After returning home from the mission field and going on staff at a Church, it wasn’t long before I found myself being used by God to counsel people. There was a lot of fear involved in the counseling, not from those who were being counseled, but from me, because I never had any formal training. Different life situations have caused me to receive counseling, but that was the extent of my counseling experience. After seeing God use me, an unqualified servant help marriages be restored, I felt the call to return to school to obtain a formal education in Pastoral Counseling.I will share how it all came about, what I have learned and what I expect the Lord to do through this formal training from taking PACO 500 Introduction to Pastoral Counseling. LIFE EXPERIENCES CHANGED MY FUTURE Fear doesn’t describe what I went through while serving the Lord as a M, in Northern Africa. My family and I where in the middle of a civil war, between Rebels and the President’s forces a fter being in the country for only three weeks. Gunfire, sounds of tanks shooting their guns and RPG’s flying through the sky happened throughout the day.The first night of the civil war, thieves decided to take the opportunity to invade our home while there was no police force; because they were helping the army fight the war. After going through a home invasion and being shot at during the invasion, three days later we were finally evacuated out of the country by the French Military. My family and I along with other expats arrived in France to a crowd of reporters and a small group of counselors. THE CHANGES My first experience with any type of counseling came that day we exited the plane in France.My family and I had gone through more than we signed up for as M, living through those three days of a civil war. The personal emotions we went through from that experience, at that time I did not know how to describe, but after reading The Pastor’s Guide to Psychological Disorders and Treatments, I now know we went through a form of an anxiety attack. The authors, Johnson and Johnson (2000), define anxiety as â€Å"a universal human emotion. It is a general feeling of apprehension about possible danger. †(p. 8).Reading through the symptoms of anxiety described by Johnson and Johnson (2000), â€Å"sweating, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, hot or cold flashes, trembling, dry mouth, and difficulty swallowing. †(p. 9) we experienced almost all of them to a certain extent during the war. After sitting with the counselors while in France over a five day period, having opportunities to share all that had happened to us, allowed us to exhale and realize someone cared about what happened to us. Those days of meetings, along with a period of five months, we were allowed to return to the country we had been evacuated from.Not only did we return to the same city, but to the same house that we experienced the home evasio n. God used that counseling team to help restore us so we could return to the work we were called. Upon our return we were able to see four different people come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. After the two years we spent in Northern Africa, we returned home and I went on staff at Church as a Associate Pastor. One of the major things I learned while living overseas, you need a spiritually strong family to have a spiritually strong ministry. If your family is not healthy your ministry or job will not be healthy.Over the past four years while living in the states, I have noticed a great need to help family become stronger. After being approached by the second family, asking me to help them grow their family spiritually, I asked them why they were coming to me? Their answer opened my eyes to the truth about how God uses bad situation for His glory. They told me after hearing about all my family had gone through while living overseas and seeing how we had not just survived, but we t hrived as a family, they wanted to meet and talk. I could not call it counseling, but in my heart knew that is what it would lead too.Then as my eyes were opened to all the men in my church who were struggling with pornography, addiction, and anger issues, I knew I could not just sit back and watch them walk that road of darkness. I started meeting with these men alone at first, and then when I met with them and their wife, I would invite my wife into the meeting. It was at that point I was labeled the unofficial counseling Pastor of the Church. As I looked back on the way I handled those meetings as a unqualified counselor with those different men and their wives, I have realized I did some things right and a lot of things wrong.Because of this time of reflection and feeling the Lord’s leading, I enrolled back in school to obtain my degree in Pastoral Counseling. In doing this, I know God will use this class to teach me different methods, style and techniques to better help people and families in need. Since enrolling in PACO 500, I have been reflecting back on those unofficial counseling times, and I have realized that listening to the counselee is just as important as having a personal quiet time daily with God. In Petersen’s (2007) Why Don’t We Listen Better? Rev. Dr. Petersen shares one of the things he has learned.He states, â€Å"I have leaned the value of communication balancing: listen awhile, talk until the other person stops hearing, and listen until the person calms enough to hear again. †(p. 5). While I was meeting with these different families, I realized I did not have a balance in my listening skills. I would battle with the feeling of wanting to interject my thoughts or opinions. Petersen’s (2007) statement â€Å"real listening gets us inside each other and there seems to be something in such human connection that touches and changes us. †(p. 7) This statement taught me that if I want to follow myhea rt’s desire to truly help people, I must become a better listener. Looking back on my time when I went through counseling in France, I realize the counselors had a great amount of balance in their sessions. Reflecting upon my life experiences with counseling sessions, I am excited to learn how to be a better listener and how to ask the right questions to show I care. One of the things I am expecting out of this class is to learn how to effectively use the Solution – Focused Counseling taught in the first edition of Solution-Focused Pastoral Counseling: An Effective Short-Term Approach of Getting People Back on Track.Kollar’s new edition (1997/2011), because it offers a different approach to counseling. Dr. Kollar states that much of the time within sessions, counselors use the process of remaining centered on the problem, he calls this, â€Å"problem-focused†(p. 14). I am looking forward to learning how to change the focus from the problem, to visualizin g the outcome first. Dr. Kollar states when we do this, â€Å"we become solution-focused rather than problem focused. The outcome dictates the process rather than the process dictating the outcome. †(p. 15).That method was during my session while I was in France. The counselors had my family and I focus on the call on our life by the Lord to minister to those people in Northern Africa, who needed to hear about Christ and what would it take to get us back there. CONCLUSION The things I have learned already from the reading assignment required in PACO 500 are invaluable. I cannot wait to dig deeper into the different methods and ideas taught in my reading assignments. God has a plan for everything that happens and prepares us for His will to be done.As families and individuals deal with different life issues, with the training I will receive through this class and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I pray God will allow me to be equipped to help them have victory of those issues. I know God has given me a heart to help individuals and families grow closer to Him. With the Lord’s blessing, maybe one day I may be that counselor on the mission field helping others through difficult times, just as my family and I went through.
Composing an Impartial Jury & Balancing Multi-Racial Representations Essay
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to trial by jury in state court. This amendment makes the 6th and 7th amendments applicable to the states. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution grants a criminal defendant the right to a trial â€Å"by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed. †The Seventh Amendment provides a similar right in civil cases. The United States Supreme Court has defined, an â€Å"impartial†jury as a jury drawn from a representative cross-section of the community in the district or division where the court convenes. The framers of the constitution sought to create an independent judiciary and to protect the people against arbitrary action by that judiciary. The right to be tried by a jury of his or her peers safeguards a person accused of a crime against a corrupt or overzealous prosecutor and against a compliant, biased, or eccentric judge. The requirement of a jury chosen from a fair cross-section of the community is fundamental to the American system of justice; it plays a pivotal role in ensuring impartiality. The first step in the process consists of the creation and maintenance of a master list from which the jury pool is drawn. This can include source lists such as voter registration, driver’s license, state income tax files, unemployment records, and public assistance rosters. The second step is the selection of the actual trial jury from the pool of citizens. Lastly is the instillation of the trial jury as a non-biased and fair representation of the defendant’s peers. Notwithstanding the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of the right to an impartial jury, there are inherent flaws in the jury selection process. It is the second step that is most likely to be the downfall of the third. Randomly selected pools of potential jury members do not always accurately represent the entire community. These randomly selected pools often under represent both racial and ethnic minorities. The American Bar Association works to promote justice, professional excellence, and respect for the law. In doing so it has a natural stake in the selection of fair jury pools. The ABA is the largest voluntary professional association in the world. They provide many important resources including programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public. In line with their standards for the ethical practices of jury trials, the ABA has established two goals in regards to the juror master lists. The first is inclusion of all eligible citizens. The second is representation of all portions of the community, These goals often prove difficult to accomplish in practice. This paper will focus on three aspects of a process, which together constitute the definition, selection, and empanelment of a fair and impartial jury. Lastly it will summarize these points and then suggest a model to aide in overcoming the shortfalls evident in the current systems. Part I lays the foundation for what constitutes an impartial jury. Part II identifies general racial stereotypes jurors may hold about defendants and address the importance of combating those stereotypes to insure impartiality. Part III highlights the key players in the empanelment of an impartial jury and the need for collaboration among them during the voir dire process. The report will also discuss placing limits on the voir dire process, including the possibility of eliminating it all together. Part IV, the summary, proposes a two-point model that strives for both fairness and consistency. The intent is to preserve the role of the adversary system in jury selection. This should strengthen the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an impartial jury. I. DEFINING AN IMPARTIAL JURY The Sixth Amendment’s reference to an â€Å"impartial jury†has served as the basis for the broadly accepted definition of a jury composed of the defendant’s peers. Additionally, an impartial jury is one that will decide the case on the evidence and law given to them by the judge. This must occur even if they personally disagree with the law. The process should be free from the bias of either prosecution or defense, and the jury members should represent the class, race, and gender scheme of the community where the defendant resides. Racial diversity within a jury has been a favored method in which to bring about impartiality and the idea of procedural fairness. This understanding is based upon the statement that â€Å"diversity on the jury enhances its ability to consider a variety of perspectives in evaluating the evidence at trial, that ability is reduced when juries fail to reflect the diversity in the community from which they are drawn. †Although an adversarial process is an essential part of our legal system, the goal of empanelling an impartial jury may require more collaboration and less competition at the voir dire stage. A jury derived from a source that excludes certain people based on race is non-representative and thus unconstitutional. Racial, ethnic or other stereotypes can lead to bias and a lack of impartiality among the jury members. There have been several models used over the years to create a jury panel that accurately represents the community and offers impartial fairness. The Blank Slate model and the Merger model are amongst them. The â€Å"Blank Slate†model assumes that all potential jurors arrive in court with no knowledge of the case, prior expectations, preconceived notions, or particular dispositions. The court instructed potential jurists to set aside all personal experience on entering the courthouse. However, courts and other social scholars soon realized that it was not only impossible, but also unproductive to use jurors with no opinions available to them, aside from those presented in the court. It was recognized that â€Å"jurors come to the courthouse with a variety of beliefs and experiences, but assumes that each juror who is selected to decide the case will put aside any biases, group allegiances, or predispositions in order to decide a case impartially. †This model was also contrary to the selection of a cross-section of the community, lacking both diversity and cultural identifications. The United States Supreme Court observed, â€Å"Impartiality is a group, rather than an individual, characteristic. †This stance led to their approval of the Merger Model over the Blank Slate Model. The Merger Model focuses on the requirement that the pool of jurors itself needs to be a cross section of the community. It attempts to balance the need for everyday experience with the desirability of a blank slate with regard to the facts of the case. This model recognizes that while individual jurors may not be able to be impartial, the exchange of viewpoints and opposing opinions in the jury room will result in an impartial jury. This balancing factor recognizes and respects the differences in jurist opinions, which stem from uncommon life experience, but allows impartial compositions based on the checks and balances of a group system. Much as the ABA discovered concerning their stated goals, the model encouraged by the Supreme Court is more difficult to defend in practice than it is on paper. Opponents of the model argue that the courts can not achieve the selections of a representative cross section of the community. â€Å"A small sample of twelve or a few, even one that is randomly drawn, and particularly one that is molded by excused for cause and preemptory challenges, is unlikely to mirror the composition of the community on race, ethnic background, and gender. †A. The Venire The first step in composing an impartial jury is to ensure that the venire will draw from a cross-section of the community. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote, â€Å"[w]hen any large and identifiable segment of the community is excluded from jury service, the effect is to remove from the jury room qualities of human nature and varieties of human experience, the range of which is unknown and perhaps unknowable. †Washington State selects jurors’ names at random from voter registration and driver’s license and â€Å"identicard†records. The use of voter registrations in the compilation of other states lists exclusively has created disparity. In a majority of other states, present jury selection procedures often result in juries composed predominantly of persons who are white, middle-aged, members of the middle and upper socioeconomic classes, and from suburban or rural areas. This results in the exclusion of African Americans, the poor, the young, and various other minority groups. The disparity created by use of voter registration is especially clear in the numbers of minorities represented on the lists. The sole use of these records is therefore tantamount to willful systematic exclusion. According to a 1980’s voting and registration report completed by the Bureau of the Census, only 35. 5% of voting age individuals of Hispanic origin in the United States registered to vote in the 1988 presidential elections. African Americans showed a higher rate of registration than the Hispanic population. However, in the United States they still had a lower registration percentage (64. 5%) than white voters (67. 9%). In areas where a sizeable minority population exists, as in California where the racial minorities together outnumber the total Caucasian population, voter registration lists are likely to be inherently under-representative of a minority populace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)